Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Feb 18, 1904
Table of Contents
Education
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE
A book for children, young or grown up.
A book for the aged: we're never too old to learn.
To parents, teachers, and students, all pupils in earth's preparatory school, this book is dedicated. May it aid them in securing life's greatest benefits, development and joy in service here, and thus a fitness for that wider service, the “higher course” open to every human being in the school of the hereafter.
Table of Contents
First Principles:
Source and Aim of True Education.
The Eden School.
The Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Relation of Education to Redemption.
Illustrations:
The Education of Israel.
The School of the Prophets.
Lives of Great Men.
The Master Teacher:
The Teacher Sent from God.
An Illustration of His Methods.
Nature Teaching:
God in Nature.
Lessons of Life.
Other Object Lessons.
The Bible as an Educator:
Mental and Spiritual Culture.
Science and the Bible.
Business Principles and Methods.
Bible Biographies.
Poetry and Song.
Mysteries of the Bible.
History and Prophecy.
Bible Teaching and Study.
Physical Culture:
Study of Physiology.
Temperance and Dietetics.
Recreation.
Manual Training.
Character-Building:
Education and Character.
Methods of Teaching.
Department.
Relation of Dress to Education.
The Sabbath.
Faith and Prayer.
The Life-Work.
The Under-Teacher:
Preparation.
Co-operation.
Discipline.
The Higher Course:
The School of the Hereafter.
Scripture Index.
General Index.
This intensely interesting and instructive volume is not at all intended for those alone who seek merely a worldly education. “Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. . . . True education means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world, and for the higher joy and wider service in the world to come.”
Dedicated to Parents, Teachers, Students—to All.
Bound in cloth, beautiful cover design, postpaid, $1.
Tracts That Will Answer
By Editor
Questions, such as, What does it all mean? Why wasn't this found out before? Who changed the day? How may we know anything about Christ's coming? etc., etc., are invariably asked of those presenting present truth. The following lists of tracts, arranged according to subjects, will furnish ready answers to these questions, and in many cases are more effective than verbal discussions:—
What Does It All Mean?
Signs of the Times .......... 1
What Do These Things Mean? .......... 1
Wonders of the Nineteenth Century .......... 2
Great Day of the Lord .......... 2½
Truth for the Times .......... 1
God's Message for To-day .......... ½
Heralds of His Coming .......... 1½
Without Excuse .......... 1
Sabbath or Sunday, Which?
Which Day Do You Keep, and Why? .......... ½
Is Sunday the Sabbath? .......... ½
Who Changed the Sabbath? .......... 1½
Day of the Sabbath .......... 1
Bible Authority for Sunday Observance .......... ½
The Seventh or One-Seventh .......... ½
New Testament Sabbath .......... 1
Scripture References .......... 2
Elihu on the Sabbath .......... 1
Rome's Arraignment .......... 1
Seal of God and Mark of the Beast. .......... 2
Christian Sabbath (Catholic authority) .......... 1½
Mortal or Immortal?
Immortality of the Soul .......... 2
Tormented Forever and Ever .......... 1
Thoughts for the Candid .......... ½
Jesus and the Resurrection .......... ½
Thief on the Cross .......... ½
Scripture References .......... 2
Rich Man and Lazarus .......... 1
Spiritualism
Spiritualism, Its Source and Character .......... 1
Samuel and the Witch of Endor .......... 2
Hypnotism, What Is It? .......... 3
What Must I Do to Be Saved?
Some One Cares for Your Soul .......... ½
Jesus Died for You .......... ½
The Name—Help to Overcome .......... 1
What Must I Do to Be Saved? .......... ½
The Way to Christ .......... ½
Privilege of Prayer .......... ½
There Is Help in God .......... 1
Salvation through Christ .......... ½
Sure Promises of God .......... ½
Power of Forgiveness .......... ½
The Christian's Privilege .......... 2
Have Faith in God .......... ½
Religious Liberty
United States as a Christian Nation. .......... ½
Shall Christ and Cæsar Yoke Together? .......... ½
Church and State Distinguished .......... 1½
Limits of Civil Authority .......... ½
Religious Liberty and the Mormon Question .......... 1
The Civil Sabbath — Disguised Legislation .......... ½
The Immaculate Conception .......... 1
Christ and the Pharisees .......... 2
Our Answer .......... ½
Discount in Quantities
There are 50 of the half-cent tracts in a package; and of the one-cent, or larger tracts, there are 25 in a package. To those who will order sufficient full packages to equal 100 or more tracts, we will allow a discount of forty per cent, postage to be added at the rate of two cents for each package.
Order of State Tract Societies
Order of State Tract Societies; Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Review and Herald, Washington, D. C.; Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn.
The American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible
MANY of the readers of this paper have availed themselves of the opportunity of securing one of these Bibles. We feel confident that many others will appreciate this American Edition when once they have it for study.
To those who do not know about it, we will say that it is the Revised Version of the Bible as approved by the American Committee on Revision, and it has but recently been published.
Of its value, the editor of The Signs of the Times says: “The most perfect translation of the Bible into English there is in the world.” The Northwestern Christian Advocate says: “There can be no doubt that in this version we are nearer the thought, and therefore the spirit, of the Master than in any version now existing in English.”
REFERENCE BIBLE, BOURGEOIS TYPE (same size of type as is used in this notice), American Standard Revised Version, with Scriptural references, topical headings, and marginal readings; size, 5¼ by 8 inches. Will be sent post-paid at the following prices:—
Style R.—Black cloth, red edges, $1.
Style R1.—Leather, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.75.
Style R2.—Leather, with overlapping edges (divinity circuit style), leather lined to edge, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.75.
Style R3.—Same binding as R2, but printed on the famous India paper, thus making the Bible very thin and light, $4.
TEACHERS’ EDITION. A Teachers’ Edition of the American Standard Revised Bible has just been issued. It is printed in the same type as the above, and contains a concise Bible Dictionary of 118 pages, a new Combined Concordance of the Revised Version, 234 pages, besides Bible Atlas and 12 Maps. It is printed on India paper, and therefore only about 1½ inches thick, weighs 1 pound and 9 ounces, and is furnished at the following prices:—
Style TR2.—Same binding as style R2, but on India paper, and with Teachers’ Helps as described above, $5.25.
Style TR3.—Better leather binding than style TR2, $6.25.
WITHOUT REFERENCES. A new edition has just been issued in minion type (same size as used for obituaries in this paper, see page 23). It has no references, and is 4 by 6¼ inches in size. We can furnish it as follows:—
Style R10.—Leather, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.40.
Style R11.—Leather, divinity circuit, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.60.
AMERICAN STANDARD REVISED NEW TESTAMENT. In same size of type as style R10. It has no references, but is printed on a smaller page, the size being 3¾ by 4½ inches.
Style R6.—Leather, limp cover, round corners, red under gold edges, 55 cents.
Style R7.—Leather, divinity circuit, round corners, silk book mark, red under gold edges, 70 cents.
Good and Only Good
By Editor
Editorial
Good and Only Good
THOSE who know God most intimately are the most positive in their testimony that he is good. From experience they can say, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in loving-kindness unto all them that call upon thee.” And the proof of God’s goodness is not dependent upon our ability to interpret favorably the outward and changing experiences of life, but is demonstrated once for all in that all-inclusive act of goodness—the gift of the only begotten Son. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?” When we are tempted to question the goodness of God, and the enemy whispers the suggestion into our ears that if God were really good, he would spare us this trouble or that grief, we need only to call to mind “the unspeakable gift” in order to silence the question and to counteract the suggestion. For it is forever true that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” When, sustained by this everlasting love, we wait patiently for him,—
“E’en the hour that darkest seemeth,
Will his changeless goodness prove;
From the gloom his brightness streameth;
God is wisdom, God is love.”
Thus the faith which rests secure in the Lord’s own assertion of his goodness enables us to say, “Only good is God,” and, “We know that to them that love God all things work together for good.” In the storm and stress of life, when promising plans are thwarted, and cherished hopes are disappointed, happy is he who does not forget that God is good, and only good. His soul shall be kept in perfect peace.
It Gives Light
IN these days when many have been thrown into doubt and uncertainty by the confident assumptions and assertions of an aggressive unbelief, there is a comfort in turning to the clear light of this advent message. Resting upon the simple statements of God’s Word, it delivers us from the uncertainties of human speculation; accepting the Word as a genuine light, it dispels the darkness which has obscured the spiritual vision; in itself a fulfilment of prophecy, it has been the agency through which light has been shed upon the prophecies, and in its teaching alone is there found a consistent exposition of those divine predictions which deal with present-day events. It refreshes the spirit wearied and perplexed by the cries of “Lo here” and “Lo there” to feed upon the simple truths of this message. It rests the mind troubled by the unsatisfying claims of modern infidelity to contemplate the solid foundation upon which this message is established. It restores confidence to one who has been groping in the dim twilight of philosophical speculation, and wandering in the mazes of scientific sophistries, to see the clear light shining along this advent path. There is comfort and hope in the simple truth, and in receiving it as a little child. Many are needing this comfort and this hope. “O send out thy light and thy truth.”
Christ in the Temple of God
At the close of his ministry, after saying to the Pharisees, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” we are told that “Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.” And concerning that magnificent building in which was performed the ancient and elaborate ritual of the sanctuary service, he declared to his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” When the true sacrifice was offered on the cross, “the veil of temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” indicating that the new and living way had been “consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” When the risen Saviour ascended to the right hand of the Father, he entered the temple of God in heaven, of which the sanctuary of old was “a copy and shadow.” “For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.” Heb. 9: 24. Therefore the assurance is given to us that “we have —
Such a High Priest
who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” Heb. 8: 1, 2. This is the basis of “the hope set before us: which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil; whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Heb. 6: 18-20. On these facts are based the exhortation given to us, “Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need.” Heb. 4: 14-16. Thus it is clearly revealed that the typical service has found its fulfilment, and that Jesus, having made the true offering, now pleads the efficacy of that sacrifice for sin in the sanctuary above, the temple of God in heaven, and that as our great high priest he ministers to us the benefit of his mediation in our behalf. Thus is the blood of Christ applied to cleanse from sin, and thus are we enabled to lay hold of his merits and righteousness.
The Law in the Earthly Sanctuary
The earthly sanctuary consisted of two apartments. The first was called the holy place. “Beyond the inner veil was the holy of holies, where centered the symbolic service of atonement and intercession, and which formed the connecting link between heaven and earth.4In this apartment was the ark, a chest of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold, and having a crown of gold about the top. It was made as a depository for the tables of stone, upon which God himself had inscribed the ten commandments. Hence it was called the ark of God’s testament, or the ark of the covenant, since the ten commandments were the basis of the covenant made between God and Israel.”
“The law of God, enshrined within the ark, was the great rule of righteousness and judgment. That law pronounced death upon the transgressor; but above the law was the mercy-seat, upon which the presence of God was revealed, and from which, by virtue of the atonement, pardon was granted to the repentant sinner. Thus in the work of Christ for our redemption, symbolized by the sanctuary service, ‘mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’”
The Law in the Heavenly Sanctuary
In holy vision “in the isle that is called Patmos,” John was permitted to look into the heavenly sanctuary, and there he saw in the first apartment “seven lamps of fire” corresponding to “the seven lamps” of the “candlestick of pure gold” in the first apartment of the tabernacle. Of his view of the second apartment, the holy of holies, he writes: “And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant.” Thus again it is evident that the earthly sanctuary was “a copy and shadow” of the one in heaven, “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.”
The service of the ancient sanctuary had special reference to the law of God on the tables of stone in the ark of the covenant. In bringing an offering to the tabernacle to be slain in his stead, the penitent sinner acknowledged himself a transgressor of that law, and that he was therefore under the condemnation of death, but he also professed his faith in “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The whole ritual service was a great object-lesson, constantly setting forth the need and the provision for the forgiveness of sin, and “the obedience of faith.” “Important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s redemption were to be taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services.” In the heavenly service Christ is both the sacrifice and the priest, and his ministry is with reference to the broken law. “Now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin [‘the transgression of the law’] by the sacrifice of himself.” And he has not merely paid the penalty for sin, but he has made provision to save from further sin by the ministry of his own life of obedience to every believing soul. Of his experience in the flesh the psalmist prophesied thus: “Then said I, Lo, I am come; in the roll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” He himself spoke to the same effect when he said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.”
The Law in the Heart
By his life of obedience Jesus Christ wrought the law of God into sinful flesh, and thus made it possible that he might minister that same law to us as “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” In this way transgressors of the law are transformed into keepers of the law. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This ministry is further described in these words: “But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. . . . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them.” The psalmist thus speaks of the man for whom such a work has been done: “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” That this is the experience of righteousness by faith is shown by the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Thus the same law which in the service of the earthly sanctuary was written on tables of stone and deposited in the ark, is by the ministry of the heavenly sanctuary written on the heart and deposited in the mind.
The Law and the Gospel
There is a great and widespread misapprehension of the true relation between the law and the gospel. In the gospel the law of God has been neither abolished nor changed. In his sermon on the mount, which is simply another giving of the law, Jesus said, “Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy but to fulfil.” Matt. 5: 17. In his teaching he corrected the misinterpretations of the law which the Pharisees had put in place of the law, and set aside the traditions which they had added to the law, but the law itself was in his heart and revealed in his life. “Through Satan’s temptations the whole human race have become transgressors of God’s law; but by the sacrifice of his Son a way is opened whereby they may be enabled to render obedience to the Father’s law. Thus in every age, from the midst of apostasy and rebellion, God gathers out a people that are true to him, — a people in whose heart is his law.”
By his work Christ did not abolish the law, but he “abolished death,” which is the result of a transgressed law. Christ did not change the law, but he made provision that we might be “changed into the same image from glory to glory.” Christ did not destroy the law, but he hung on the cross, that “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Through the gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation,” and in which “is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith,” death is abolished, the devil is destroyed, and we are changed into new creatures in Christ Jesus, but the immutable and unchangeable law of God remains to all eternity. The liberty of the gospel is not the liberty to transgress the just and holy law of God, but the freedom from the condemnation of the law, through the ministry of power for “the obedience of faith.” And so the psalmist writes: “Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thine ordinances. So shall I observe thy law continually forever and ever. And I shall walk at liberty; for I have sought thy precepts.” This is the liberty of the gospel.
The Coming of the Seed
The Final Call out of Babylon
Ancient Babylon is evidently a type of modern Babylon. Much of the record of the experiences of ancient Babylon is historical prophecy, and the principles which were wrought out then have since been repeated in a different setting. The cause of the downfall of ancient Babylon was plainly revealed through the prophet Daniel before Belshazzar the king on that fateful night which marked the end of his life and of his kingdom. His words are of present application, and are worthy of earnest study: “O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts’, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the most high God ruleth in5the kingdom of men, and that he setteth up over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine from them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. Then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.”
Overweening pride, the exaltation of self in opposition to God, and the refusal to glorify God, led to the humbling of Babylon at the hand of her enemies. This experience is thus described through the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up.”
Through the prophet Habakkuk the Lord sets forth the only means of deliverance from Babylon. In the first chapter of the book we have a dialogue between the prophet and Jehovah. First the prophet inquires concerning the scenes of violence and strife which are presented before him. Verses 1-4. The Lord answers him that it is the coming of the Chaldeans, “that bitter and hasty nation,” for the overthrow of Jerusalem. Verses 5-11. Then the prophet inquires for a way of deliverance. “Shall he therefore empty his net, and spare not to slay the nations continually?” Verses 12-17. The reply is given in these words: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” In contrast with all that pride and lifting up of self, as seen in Babylon, which ends in utter destruction, is that righteousness by faith which has in it the assurance of life. “What is justification by faith?—It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.”
When the time drew near for the deliverance from Babylon, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Daniel “understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet.” Thus the time for the call out of ancient Babylon was plainly determined by the prophecy, and as the end of the period drew near, Daniel as the representative of his people set his face to seek the Lord God with all humility and confession of sin. It was in answer to this prayer that the information was given to him by which could be located that long prophetic period of the twenty-three hundred years during which the sanctuary and the host should be trodden under foot. This period closed in the autumn of 1844, and in the summer of that very year the cry went forth, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,” and there was a movement to get out of Babylon. The work that was begun then has gone steadily forward, and the basis of it has been the threefold message of Revelation 14, a message of deliverance from Babylon and preparation for the coming of the Seed. This is the final call out of Babylon, and we have reached the time for the closing work of the final call. Here is the prophecy of this phase of the message and the final call: “After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”
But, as was plainly shown to the prophet of old, the hope of deliverance from Babylon is found in the power of “the everlasting gospel” of righteousness by faith, and this, then, must be the very substance of the threefold message in which a people is called out of Babylon, and prepared for the coming of the Seed.
Prophecy Will Be Fulfilled
By L. A. S.
“We are nearing the most important crisis that has ever come upon the world.” “We may have to plead most earnestly before legislative councils for the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience.”
By these words, which the reader may remember having read in Sister White’s article in the previous issue of this paper, we are again reminded that a period of oppression and persecution such as we have not yet known is before us. The prophecy of Revelation 13, concerning as the work of a power that would attempt to force the conscience of those who worship God, and compel them to receive the mark of antichristianity under penalty of death, is surely to be fulfilled. This prophecy has not become lost in the procession of world events; it has not been turned out of its course, as a comet sometimes when it encounters the solar system’s forces of gravitation. It is pointed our way; it is coming, and at this present hour is close at hand.
Both in the political and in the religious realm the signs of the coming crisis are more numerous and more striking than ever before. The papacy is doing its work, extending its influence, and strengthening its hold upon the nation, steadily nearing the goal of an alliance under which provision will be made by the government “for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions,” as the spirit of prophecy has foretold. In the political realm we have seen within the last few years the crumbling and disintegration of the structure of civil liberty reared by the founders of the nation, so that to-day, in vast sections of the country, only the shell of republican government remains. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have been made subjects of contemptuous speech in the national legislature, set aside as the outgrown swaddling clothes of the republic’s infancy, now to be exchanged for the appropriate garb of empire. In the industrial world capital on the one hand, and labor on the other, have ruthlessly overridden every principle and law constituting the supposed bulwarks of individual rights. All this means that when the enemies of God’s truth shall rise up in rage against those who keep his commandments, neither in the institutions of the government nor in popular sentiment will there be any barrier to the enforcement of the most oppressive measures against them. The mere forms of republican government without the spirit will offer no effective resistance to the tide of religious persecution.
Evidently, now is the time to prepare for that which we may soon have to do,— plead before legislative councils for the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. These reminders are not sent us to be passed by unheeded. An important part of the work of witnessing for the truth will be done in just this way. “Thus in his providence God has designed that the claims of his law shall be brought before men in positions of highest authority.” We must be prepared not to escape the crisis that is coming, but to improve the opportunities it will bring us. Christ must dwell in the heart by faith, else he can not speak through the lips. It is the voice of God that must be heard before the legislative councils of the nation.
L. A. S.
Admonitions to the Wise
By L. A. S.
The year 1904 is scarcely more than a month old, but already it has become a memorable one in American history and in the history of the modern world.
The greatest conflagration since the Chicago fire of 1871 has just laid in ruins the business district of Baltimore, than which there are but five larger cities in the Western hemisphere. In the Old World, war has broken out between Russia and Japan, the first war between two great powers since the Franco-Prussian conflict more than thirty years ago. Whether or not this war will start a military conflagration that will sweep Europe and Asia, is a question that troubles the statesmen of the world.
Those who know that we are in the hour of God's judgment, which began with the entrance of our great High Priest into the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary at the end of the prophetic period of twenty-three hundred years, in 1844, know that at this time just such events are to be expected. The judgments of God are in the land. The end of time, when the very earth itself will be laid in ruins, is swiftly approaching. But those who do not know the times and the seasons which prophecy has pointed out, wonder at these events, but remain in ignorance of their import. They know not that the day of the Lord is coming, to overtake them as a thief in the night.
This is the time of which the heavenly messenger spoke to the prophet Daniel: “Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
There is something about these fateful events which upsets all human calculations,—something no human foresight, however aided by history or experience, has been able to provide against. There is something which speaks of the existence of destructive natural or supernatural forces, of which, notwithstanding the discoveries of modern science, we know little or nothing. How contrary to all that could be anticipated was the sudden visitation of death that fell upon the inhabitants of St. Pierre, in Martinique, only a short time ago. Who could have thought that there was lurking, under the surface of Mont Pelee, a titanic and deadly force which would suddenly burst through the mountainside and slay the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of St. Pierre, five miles away, almost in a moment of time? Who could have thought that in Chicago's most modern theater building, apparently fire proof, such a train of circumstances would utterly override all human foresight, and in ten minutes' time pile its interior with hundreds of dead bodies? It is true that the investigation revealed negligence and disregard of safety regulations on the part of the owners of the building; but even taking this into account, the fact remains that in its appalling swiftness and deadliness the catastrophe came as though its component train of circumstances had been planned for in advance, and directed by a malignant intelligence.
In nearly all the great catastrophes that are now becoming so frequent, there is something that speaks of the operation of some unexpected, unforeseen cause, against which human foresight was powerless to give protection.
This element of the mysterious was not lacking in the Baltimore catastrophe. Of the origin of the fire the published account says:—
The fire started in the wholesale dry goods store of John E. Hurst & Co., in Hopkins Place, with a series of loud explosions which were heard in remote parts of the city, and spread with fearful rapidity.
A sharp, splitting roar went up like reverberating thunder. This was followed by a peculiar whistling noise, like that made by a shrill wind. The churches in the central section of the city were filled with worshipers, many of whom became frightened, and, while no panics ensued, hundreds of men and women left their seats and went outside to see what had happened.
In a few moments the streets and pavements all over the city were crowded with excited people. Another deafening crash occurred, and dense columns of cinders and smoke shot up over the central section of the city, and in a huge brown column moved rapidly toward the northeast.
According to all accounts, if the starting of a great conflagration calculated to destroy the city had been carefully planned and the plan executed, nothing more effective to that end could have followed than did follow from the conditions existing in and around the dry goods store mentioned, which we may be sure had not been designed to inaugurate any such visitation of ruin, so far as human foresight could anticipate. The sudden and irresistible destruction was such as might only be expected to follow the touch of the finger of God.
How forcibly does this event remind us of words which were but recently uttered through the spirit of prophecy concerning the visitation of divine judgments: “No matter how large or how strong their buildings, no matter how many safeguards against fire may have been provided, let God touch these buildings, and in a few minutes or a few hours, they are in ruins.”
Looking over the record of conflagrations that have occurred within recent times, it is to be noted that nearly all have come since the beginning of the hour of God's judgment, and most of them so recently as to indicate that such visitations are becoming more frequent.
A partial record is here given:—
Dec. 16, 1835, New York City. The fire destroyed 674 buildings, causing a property loss of $17,000,000.
July 4, 1866, Portland, Me. Two hundred acres of buildings burned. Loss, $15,000,000.
Oct. 9, 1871, Chicago. The direct loss from this fire was $190,000,000. Two hundred and fifty people were killed, and nearly 100,000 made homeless.
Nov. 9, 1872, Boston. Eight hundred buildings were consumed, and fourteen lives lost. Property loss, $80,000,000.
June, 1889, Spokane Falls, Wash., burned. Loss, $8,000,000.
Oct. 28, 1892, Milwaukee, Wis. Thirteen blocks were burned, causing a property loss of $6,000,000.
Nov. 20, 1897, London. Four acres in the Cripplegate district were burned, the property loss being $10,000,000.
April 26, 1900, Ottawa and Hull, Canada. Property valued at $17,000,000 was burned, and seven lives were lost.
June 30, 1900, North German Lloyd pier at Hoboken, N. J. One hundred and fifty lives were lost. Property loss amounted to $7,000,000.
May 3, 1901, Jacksonville, Fla. Property loss, $10,000,000.
Feb. 9, 1902, Paterson, N. J. Property loss, $9,000,000.
Who that knows it can but be reminded also of the message that has recently come to us—“Out of the cities”? How such events emphasize the timeliness of this message! How many hundreds of families are there in Baltimore to-day who would have been saved from great misfortune if, before this calamity came, they had received and accepted such a message. No doubt many will be forced to see the necessity of leaving the cities, and finding in the country a better and safer place for their families, by the judgments that are coming; but Seventh-day Adventists have in this, as they have had regarding other important truths, the opportunity to see far ahead of what can be discerned by the world.
“Out of the cities,” is my message. . . . The time is near when the large cities will be visited by the judgments of God. In a little while these cities will be terribly shaken. . . . The ungodly cities of our world are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities, God is showing us what will come upon the whole earth.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 83.
“The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” It is our privilege to be among the wise.