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Review and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 38.

Questions and Answers

Review and Herald

Sep 10, 1914

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 10, 1914

Questions and Answers

In this department there will be considered from time to time helpful and practical questions relating to the various phases of this message, church government, Christian doctrine, duty, experience, etc. The editors reserve the right to consider only those questions which in their judgment will prove of benefit to the readers of the REVIEW. All questions should be addressed to the editor.
21. When Turkey is driven out of Europe, what will occur?
There is arising among our people considerable speculation over this question. Several correspondents have inquired whether that event will mark the close of probation and the standing up of Michael. Just how soon after Turkey withdraws from European soil before she comes to her end, the prophecy of the Scriptures does not indicate. When Turkey is forced to give up her European possessions, it is probable that she will move her capital to some city in Asia. She may go at once to Jerusalem; she might choose some other city in her Asiatic possessions. We may be sure of this, that at Jerusalem she will make her last stand, and here, according to the prophecy of Daniel 11 and 12, she shall come to her end and none shall help her. How long after she leaves Europe before the consummation of her history the prophet does not say. While probably it will be a very short time, yet it might be months or even years, so far as the teachings of the prophecy show.
As a matter of fact, the Scriptures say nothing about the king of the north leaving Europe. The Bible record indicates that the Turkish power will be dried up; that it will waste away and finally reach its termination. When that time comes, the close of probation will be reached, and Michael, or Christ, will stand up to take his kingdom. But while the driving of the Turk from Europe will be a long step toward the consummation of this scheme, and while we believe that in the rapidly shaping events of the last days it will be a short time after Turkey is driven out before the end of all things is reached, yet at the same time let us be careful not to read into the prophecy that which it does not contain.
And in the prophecy relating to the Ottoman Empire, as in every other line of prophecy, let us not seek to build up an argument or evolve a theory that is not fully warranted by the Scriptures of Truth. The fulfillment of prophecy in the momentous events of the last few days is sufficiently thrilling in its plain, unvarnished state, without the addition of any speculative philosophy regarding it.
22. Does the Seventh-day Adventist Church make tithe paying a test of fellowship?
Before believers are received into the church they should be thoroughly instructed with reference to the fundamental principles of the gospel. The Bible method for the support of the gospel ministry and the work of God in the earth should be clearly set before them. They should be made to feel that it is their duty to contribute of their means to the support of all the activities of the church. The candidate who feels opposed to this doctrine, or in fact to any other cardinal doctrine taught by the church, should be asked to wait until further study makes clear the question to his mind. On the other hand, the church cannot take it upon itself to regulate the practice of tithe paying on the part of its members. This is a matter which must be settled between the individual and his God. In fact, as a rule no one but the individual himself can tell whether or not he is rendering to the Lord a true tithe. It is better to secure promptness and faithfulness in the paying and freewill offerings by setting before the church not only the duty of such service, but above all the blessed privilege which God affords his children to show their appreciation of his goodness. Let us make appeal to the heart and to the conscience, based upon the instruction of the Word, rather than to criticism or threatened discipline.
23. Is it proper for local elders and deacons to officiate in the Communion after their election, but before their ordination.?
No, it is not. The election of one by the church alone does not constitute him an elder. The election is only the expression of the will of the church that he officiate in that capacity. In addition to the action of the church, he must be set apart for his work by prayer and the laying on of hands. Therefore he has no right to officiate at the Communion until after his ordination. The same principle applies to the deacons of the church.
24. Is it right for a woman who has obtained a divorce from her husband on account of his violation of the seventh commandment to marry a second time? Is it proper to elect the brother who unites with her in her second marriage as a deacon of the church?
To both these questions we answer yes. The teachings of the Scripture permit a second marriage on either of two conditions: namely, the death of either the husband or the wife, and divorce following the violation of the seventh commandment on the part of either one. This is made clear by reference to Rom. 7: 1-3, also Matt. 5: 31, 32; 19: 3-9. Our Saviour clearly indicates in these last two references that the violation of the seventh commandment constitutes a sufficient ground for divorce, and that the one separated from the faithless companion on this account is entitled to unite with another in marriage relationship. We see therefore no ground to exclude one who has done this from occupying the office of deacon in the church.
25. Is it proper for a local elder of the church to pronounce the benediction at the close of the services?
We know of no reason why this should not be done. The benediction is nothing more or less than a closing prayer to God for his Spirit to descend upon the congregation. We believe it is entirely proper for any member of the church to be asked to make this prayer.
26. Should Adventists have lightning rods on their buildings?
We are not prepared to discuss the merit of lightning rods. If their presence will preserve a building from fire, we see no reason from the standpoint of right and wrong why they should not be employed, the same as noncombustible material is used in the building of a house or shelter provided to protect flocks and herds from sun or storm. We see no reason to regard the burning of a building or the destruction of life from a lightning flash as a special judgment of God any more than where such disasters come from the effect of heat or storm. We are inclined to question, however, the value of lightning rods as ordinarily employed. In matters of this character let us accord to our brethren liberty of conscience and action. Let us not regard our own convictions or practice as a standard by which to gauge the conduct and practice of those around us.

The Kingdom Not Taken by Entertainments

Many feel today that the proper method of gospel extension work is through entertainments fostered and carried on by the churches. Of the spirit attending these modern plays and of their influence on religion, the Biblical World for May, 1914, says:—
It is amazing how mad our modern world is after amusement. The feudal lord kept his fool, who was anything but a simpleton, but our modern world is content with nothing that is not highly spiced with entertainment. Our preachers must have their stories, our professors must be clever as well as learned, and our evangelists (God forgive us) must be vulgar before our attention is much attracted.
Is it any wonder that our world has lost a sense of reverence?
Play is a legitimate right of children, but any person who thinks that a child’s needs are satisfied on the playground simply does not know children. Quite as truly that man has much to learn who thinks that sturdiness of character, abhorrence of sensuality, heroism that scorns delicate living and welcomes sacrifice, can be produced without listening to the Hebrew prophet and the English Puritan.
The world in which we live is not good-natured. We have not yet quenched the lust for war, nor abolished sin, nor ended death. A religion that overlooks men’s sins, men’s sufferings, and men’s death is only a diversion. It does not save men—it hardly keeps them out of mischief.
The sensuousness of our day will not be driven out by amusement. The only message of salvation that will cut into our selfishness and recklessness is one that makes us morally uncomfortable; that does not distract our attention from sin; that makes us feel the doom impending upon lives and social orders which have taught themselves to believe that we live in a good-natured universe, and are responsible to a good-natured God.
A minister should not speak comfortably to comfortable people. He ought to make such folk morally uncomfortable.
One reason why men prefer golf to church is because they have drifted into the notion that golf and churchgoing belong to the same general class of interests. Truth need not be deadened in order that it may find one’s conscience, but a church crowded with people who want to be entertained is a poor recruiting ground for the army of the Lord. . . .
Seriousness and gentleness, candor and fraternity, solace and inspiration,—these are some of the characteristics of a genuine religion. To doubt their power and to seek crowds by cajolery, by appeal to that which is frivolous, hysterical, cheap, and vulgar, is to publish a lack of faith in the gospel of the kingdom that is love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.

If I Could Know

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
If I could know Life’s every step, and view its winding way, There would be no surprises for each day; I would not lean so heavy on His might If all the paths I tread were in the light; And so I could not learn his gracious love, Nor could he lead me to his home above.
If I could know Whate’er befalls the way I fain would choose, How much of discipline my life would lose; And e’en the angels in the courts above Have borne the test to trust God’s sovereign love. My self-will on the altar is my need. That I may hinder not where he would lead.
But this I know; He leads through pastures green to waters still, Where every want my fainting soul may fill; E’en through death’s shadow I need have no fear, For still the Mighty One is ever near. He who is Wisdom chooses best for me That I may dwell with him eternally.

Testimonies Regarding the Sabbath

C. E. HOLMES
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS are called a peculiar people. This is largely due, no doubt, to the fact that they keep the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, while the large majority of the remaining Christians observe the first day of the week.
While we thus differ in the matter of the Sabbath day, it is a matter of great importance and interest to know that the observers of the first day frankly confess their lack of Scriptural proof for Sunday observance.
Why Sunday instead of Saturday is set apart as holy time is a question continually arising in the minds of many persons. The following question and answer was published in a Baptist paper:—
“Will you please give me a few thoughts upon the Sabbath question as Adventists stand for it?”
“This is too indefinite, and would cover the whole Sabbath discussion, for which there is not room here. We are not sufficiently familiar with all the Adventists stand for, in that connection, to reply, except at a venture, and that would not be prudent. We believe the Seventh-day Adventists hold that the Sabbath of the Mosaic covenant is still in force, and obligatory on all men; and that it should be observed on the seventh and not on the first day of the week; and that such only is ‘the Sabbath of the Lord our God.’ All that can here be said is this: The Scriptures furnish no evidence that the day of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first was ever changed by divine authority. Changed it has been, but not by divine authority, so far as any evidence has yet appeared. To pursue the subject further now would open too wide a field of discussion.”—Western Recorder, Dec. 25, 1913.
This is a very candid and honest statement of our position. The many readers of that paper must feel embarrassed to know that they have no more grounds for their Sunday rest than mere tradition. Two weeks later the editor wrote a similar article. One of his readers seems to have become stirred, and writes:—
“He [the editor] makes some statements on the ‘first day Sabbath’ that have a strange ring. He says the Sabbath was certainly changed in the days of the apostles from the seventh to the first day of the week, yet in the same connection he admits that there is no specific mention of such a change in the New Testament. The question would arise, If the Bible does not tell of the change, how are we to know it? The Bible settles all questions with Baptists. Then again, as Christ is our only ‘lawgiver,’ what right had any one to change it after his ascension?”—Id., March 13, 1914.
In the Word and Way (April 17, 1913) a contributor, in referring to a writer in that paper, says:—
“I should like to ask him where the command or moral law is given for the observance of the first day of the week. We have the command for the seventh day Sabbath. Why not observe it? In Rev. 1: 10 we find where John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. When is the Lord’s day (Ex. 20: 10)?”
“Christ said that he came to do his Father’s will, and he was obedient unto death (Phil. 2: 7, 8). Christ kept his Father’s commandments (John 15: 10), and he told us to walk as he walked (1 John 2: 6).”
“Jesus said: ‘Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.’ Matt. 5: 19.”
“The psalmist says that the commandments are sure and unchangeable, and stand fast forever. It seems as if one command has been broken or changed. We are saved by grace, but God forbids us to make his law void (Rom. 3: 31).”
In his book “Idea of the Church,” John A. Kern, professor of practical theology in Vanderbilt University, says:—
“In the case of the observance of the Lord’s Day as a substitute for the ancient Sabbath, there is no direct testimony to its institution, either in the Scriptures or in the earliest Christian literature.”—Page 54.
Another writer testifies:—
“After a most careful and laborious research, it is asserted with confidence that there is not one writer of the first or second century who suggests that Christians of their time regarded the Lord’s Day as a substitute for the Sabbath. . . .”
“Those who maintain the theory that the obligation of the Sabbath was transferred to the first day of the week cannot tell us by whose authority or at what time or in what manner the transfer was made.
“Besides, is it credible that if a command to change the day of the Sabbath had been given by either Christ or his apostles, we should not find some reference to it in the pages of the earliest Christian writers? We do not find in their writings the faintest allusion to such a command having been given.”—“The First Century of Christianity,” pages 324, 327, by Homersham Cox.
Before the last great test can come, the people are to thoroughly understand the Sabbath question. They will know that in respecting the first day of the week theyare obeying the dictates of the Church of Rome. God is author of only the seventh-day Sabbath. All discussions will help to educate the people for this time.

The Doctrine of Creation

GEORGE MC CREADY PRICE
I WONDER how many of us realize that the doctrine of a literal creation in a definite limited period of time, is as much a Seventh-day Adventist doctrine as is that of the Sabbath itself, and far more peculiarly ours than the doctrine of the second coming of Christ?
With the rise and spread of the modern form of geology, the Protestant churches long tried to harmonize the first chapters of Genesis with the findings of this new science. First it was the interval theory, sometimes called the restitution theory, that was depended upon to make peace between the Bible and science. When this would no longer serve the purpose, the day-period theory was adopted, and prevailed during the greater period of the nineteenth century. It is still held (in a very loose, indefinite way) by a few of the more orthodox Protestants, and by many Roman Catholics. But almost all well-informed Protestants, and that large wing of the Romanists called the modernists, have openly and boldly ceased trying to equate the first chapters of the Bible with the discoveries of science, and call themselves “Christian evolutionists.” But I do not know of an intelligent person in the civilized world, with as much as a high school education, who believes in a literal creation in six days, and in the record of a universal flood, except Seventh-day Adventists. There may be such a person; but I have never seen him.
Hence we see that these doctrines are as truly characteristic of us as a people as is the Sabbath. Indeed, these two doctrines go together. The one is the complement of the other. It is useless to try to prove the importance of the Sabbath to a man who believes that creation was a long gradual process, with no sharp dividing line separating it from the changes now going on. How futile to try to convince him of the Sabbath as a memorial of a thing that he doubts or denies. True, we may by the inexorable logic of the Bible, accompanied by the influence of the Spirit of God, bring even such a person to receive and obey the memorial of a literal creation; but in general it is difficult just in proportion as the people believe the present theories of false science in opposition to the plain teachings of the Bible.
Considering the hundreds of thousands who are yearly being graduated from the universities, the colleges, the high schools, and academies throughout the civilized world, all of whom have without exception been diligently trained to believe in the long ages of the scientists, some of them schooled in the evolution doctrine out-and-out, we see what a tremendous work we have to do to teach the present generation the truths for this time. For the evolution doctrine is no longer a mere scientific speculation; it is a new religion, and all the educational systems of the modern world have been made over into missionary societies for its propagation.
But there is a brighter side to the picture. The great God of heaven has sent us with a special message to this age of evolutionists, calling upon them to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” So we see that he has timed this message just right to meet the present situation; and then he has been bringing from his buried archives witnesses in stone, telltale records engraved by nature herself, that testify to the truthfulness of the Bible record of a universal flood, thus confirming also the record of a literal creation.
It seems to me that we have a duty to perform to bring these scientific facts to the attention of the world. There are facts in plenty that the evolutionists cannot answer; but we are the only people to bring them forward, because we are the only ones now left who believe in the flood as the cause of the geological changes.
The Sabbath is the memorial of a literal creation; and the record of rocks as read by a true science of geology is the strongest material evidence we have of there ever having been a real creation. Hence this true science of geology, correctly interpreting the rocky record, is the younger sister in the circle of truth, the handmaiden of the gospel message, and gives strength and assurance to us as we try to carry this message to the classes who have been so falsely educated away from the truth of God’s Word.
Cannot some plan be devised to train our own workers, our own young people, in these facts about the rocks, so essential for them to know at the present time? And cannot some method be adopted to bring these facts so essential to a correct understanding of the subject of creation to the attention of those people whom we have always found so hard to meet,—the highly educated classes?
Surely we ought to be doing more in regard to this subject.
— Lodi, Cal.

A Word of Caution

R. A. UNDERWOOD
Past experience ought to teach our people a lesson. Land agents and promoters of various schemes promising great advantages have from time to time led many to sell their homes and go to some place reported to be a favored locality that a kind providence had saved for our people. Many families have gone to New Mexico, California, Colorado, Cuba, and other places in hope of bettering their condition. Sometimes flattering promises of school privileges are offered. In other cases, our brethren hope to find in their new-sought home an ideal place, like the Garden of Eden, with fruit, climate, soil, and the association of those of like faith. In most cases, those led to move their families with the hope of great advantages have been sadly disappointed. This has been the experience of hundreds of families. Many have made unwise investments and moves without due investigation, and have repented when it was too late. I have seen so much loss and sorrow come as a result of schemes started by some well-meaning brethren exploiting great blessings to follow some colonizing move, that I feel it a duty to give a note of warning to our brethren to go slow in accepting all that hopeful promoters or agents of land companies may offer.
The General Conference has recommended that no new institution or school above the eighth grade be started without the approval of the local and union conferences of the General Conference. This action was taken to keep out of trouble some of our brethren who move unadvisedly in starting a new institution, either a school or a sanitarium, without experienced counsel as to the real demand for such an institution.
It is much easier to buy than to sell; it is easier to get into trouble than to get out of it; it is easier to lose a home than to make one. Before chasing a mirage,—a promise of great things,—at a large expense, as many have done, we should take the precaution of thorough investigation.

A. E. PLACE

“Judge Not”—No. 7

A. E. PLACE

A BIBLE worker once said to one of her readers who was hesitating over the Sabbath question, “Well, I have shown you the truth on this question. The seventh day is the Sabbath, and if you do not keep it you will be lost.”
This judgment may have been right theoretically, or it may have been wrong. It may have been the truth, or it may not.
That the worker was sincere and honest, we do not question. To her, the Sabbath truth was in no sense a question, but to her reader it may still have been, notwithstanding the worker’s earnest efforts to make it plain. The great question is, “What would Jesus have said to that woman? What would he do today?” Of him we read, “The same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Then, if we know how he dealt with humanity while in the flesh, we may know how he would deal with humanity, and how he is dealing with them today.
As workers, we need constant communion with Christ; we must have his Spirit and his way if we would be successful in leading souls to him. We may lead them to the theory or form without a living connection; but how poor, how empty, is the man or woman who has been led to theory, but not to Christ!
But let us note what effect the judgment had upon the lady in question. Without hesitation she replied, “Very well, I will not trouble you to come here to give any further readings.”
Please note the logic. When a judge renders a verdict, or passes sentence upon a prisoner, his work for that prisoner is at an end, and at once the prisoner closes his relations with the judge. A gulf is fixed, which, if the sentence is not suspended, is final.
The sad question comes to me with force as I write, How many gulfs have I made between myself and God’s children by an unwise, un-Christlike use of my tongue? At times an almost inexpressible sadness comes over my soul as I look back across chasms which I can see (and doubtless many have been made which I do not see), chasms which can never be filled in this world, and across each one is written, “Unjust Judgment.”
A word or a sentence, how easily it slips through unguarded lips, and is gone! We can never overtake it, and its influence may never be corrected.
Our only hope is in God. How blessed is the thought that “his hand is stretched out still”! I pray that he will in pitying tenderness place one of those hands over the dark chasms of the past, and with the other lead us in the paths of wisdom for all the future, breathing into our hearts such love for our brethren, his children, that we would rather die for them than misjudge them.
Perhaps I may be permitted to give one of my personal experiences. In a series of tent meetings I had practically finished the Sabbath question. At the close of a sermon of arraignment, a lady whom I had noticed was much agitated during the service, came to me with the question, “Do you mean to tell me that I can’t be a Christian unless I keep Saturday?” I replied, “The Bible says plainly that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, and you know that Saturday is the seventh day.” She replied, “I won’t keep it! If I knew I should go to hell if I did not keep it, I want to tell you that I would not keep it!” And with that she turned and hurried out of the tent, apparently in a rage.
I was young in the ministry then, and I at once judged that poor woman. Do you ask how? I simply said to myself, “That woman is lost!” So convinced of this was I that I did not even look for her. But consider my surprise when in less than two weeks from that time that same woman came into the tent at our Sabbath services. In the testimony meeting she arose, and with weeping eyes and a happy heart she thanked God that she was a Sabbath keeper, a seventh-day Sabbath keeper.
Later she told me that the day she left the tent she was under such deep conviction that she was in agony, and longed to ask me to earnestly pray for her that she might not be lost.
Think of it! That very day when a soul was in agony, longing for deliverance, longing for me to pray for her, I was not only not praying, but I was judging—misjudging. But thank God, there was one who did pray. Jesus prayed for her. He made intercessions for her according to the will of God; and another daughter of Adam was delivered from bondage, and led into the way of truth. Jesus said to her also, “Go, and sin no more.”

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

The Second Advent Movement — No. 9

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

In the time proclamation from the “little book” (Revelation 10) the angel pointed to the sounding of the seventh trumpet as the time when the “mystery of God,” the gospel work, should be finished. The angel, as before explained, represented those giving the message, while John, who asked for the book, represented those who received the message. In response to his request for the book the angel said: “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” Rev. 10:9.
There are other instances in Scripture where the reception of truth is compared to eating the roll of a book. In Jeremiah we read, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Jer. 15:16. To Ezekiel it was said: “Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” Eze. 3:1-3.
Those fully consecrated in the advent message were filled with joy in the expectation of soon receiving their final salvation and associating with the angels in glory. As admonished in the message, they did, with glad hearts, “fear God, and give glory to him.” So the “book,” the time message upon which they were feeding, was to them “sweet as honey.”
In the proclamation of the message not only did mighty power accompany the work, but there were manifestations of heavenly visions—the gift of prophecy. In 1842 two visions were given to William Foy, of Boston, Mass., an eloquent speaker. These were views of heaven, Christ and his work and his near coming. As Mr. Foy was called from place to place to relate his visions in the cities of New England, the largest halls were not adequate to entertain the crowds of people that came to hear. And when calls were made to seek God, scores of sinners responded. This manifestation, to the believers, was another evidence of divine sanction of the message.
There were countries at that time, like Sweden, where the Lutheran religion was established by law, and one preaching another doctrine was subject to fine and imprisonment. “But with God all things are possible.” He had a way to introduce the truth. In 1843, in Ekeshur, Sweden, the power of God came upon a little girl only five years of age, one who had never learned to read or sing. She, in vision, sang a long Lutheran hymn, and looking more like a grown person than a child, began preaching, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,” and exhorted the unconverted in the family to get ready to meet the Lord. They called upon God for mercy, and were converted. This movement spread from town to town, other children proclaiming the message. In the county of Orebro Laen the work spread until older persons began thus to preach. Then the authorities, instigated by the priests of the established church, arrested two boys, Walbom, eighteen years of age, and Ole Boquist, fifteen years of age, saying they would make a public example of them. They whipped their bare backs with birch rods, and placed them with their bleeding wounds in Orebro prison. When their wounds were healed, they took them out of the prison, demanding of them, “Will you cease preaching this doctrine?” Though they beat them with rods the second time, opening their wounds afresh, all the answer they could obtain from them was, “We will preach what God bids us.” Through the intercession of a prominent lady parishioner to King Oscar, he told the authorities to “let those boys out of the prison, and let that people alone;” so the victory for the truth was gained in Sweden.
In 1844, near the close of the 2300 days, William Foy had another vision. He was shown three steps, or platforms, in the pathway to the heavenly city. He knew of the first and second angels’ messages, but did not comprehend what this third platform could mean. So he stopped his public speaking. As he expected the Lord soon to come, he did not understand. After the close of the 2300 days he heard Sister Harmon (White) explain what she had seen respecting a third step—“there had been two messages, and there was a third yet to be given.”
Soon after Brother Foy failed to relate the vision, the same thing was shown to Hazen Foss, of Poland, Maine. He had a good academic education, and was used to public speaking, although not a preacher. He was told to relate the vision, but refused, partly on the ground that he did not expect a third message. The vision was repeated to him the second time, and he was told if he refused to relate the visions the burden would be laid on one who, physically, was “the weakest of the weak, who would relate them faithfully.” Again he refused. He was then given a third vision, a very short one, being shown in it the instrument on whom the Lord would lay the burden, and was told, “You are released.” This startled the young man, and he made an appointment to relate the vision. But, alas! it was too late. While he was permitted, before a large crowd of people, to relate his experience, when he came to the point where he said, “And now I will relate the vision,” it was taken from him, and he said, “God has fulfilled his word; I cannot remember a word of the vision. O, I am a lost man!” In January, 1845, he heard Sister Harmon (White) relate the same vision, and said it was exactly what was shown to him. When he saw her, he said she was the one on whom the Lord had shown him the burden was to be placed.
The tenth day of the seventh month, Jewish time (Karaite reckoning, Oct. 22, 1844), at last came. It found thousands who were looking to that time for the consummation of their hopes. They had planned their worldly affairs as they would if they expected that day to close their earthly lives. In almost breathless anxiety they assembled in their places of worship, expecting momentarily to hear the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, and to see the heavens ablaze with the glory of their coming King.
The hours passed slowly away, and when the sun sank below the western horizon the tenth day of the seventh month was ended. The shadows of night once more spread over the world, but with that darkness came a pang of sadness to the hearts of thousands, such in kind as can find a parallelin the sorrow of the disciples of our Lord, as they solemnly wended their way back to their homes on the night following the crucifixion and burial of their Lord, whom, but a little while before, they had triumphantly escorted into Jerusalem as their King.
*Lodi, Cal.
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