Review and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 4. (1/27/1910)

Review and Herald

Jan 27, 1910

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 27, 1910

He Chose the Path for Thee

HE chose this path for thee; No feeble chance, nor hard relentless fate, But love, His love, hath placed thy footsteps here. He knew the way was rough and desolate, Knew thy heart would often sink with fear, Yet tenderly He whispered, “Child, I see This path is best for thee.”

He chose this path for thee; What needst thou more, this sweeter truth to know, That all along these strange, bewildering ways, O’er rocky steps and where dark rivers flow, His loving arms will bear thee all thy days? A few more steps, and thou thyself shalt see “This path is best for thee.”

— Selected.

The CURRENT ISSUES

Liberty

AND

Life and Health

Adapted to Present Public Needs

LIBERTY for the first quarter of 1910 comes forth with the freshness of the new year. Among many stirring themes, LIBERTY, in this number, contains a clear statement of the relation of Seventh-day Adventists to temperance and reform movements, as presented by Dr. D. H. Kress in a Reformers’ Conclave recently held in Washington, D. C.

The following is a partial outline of the contents of this number:—

THE FOUNDATION OF LIBERTY — The gift of God.

MARTIN LUTHER — His great service to mankind.

A GROUNDLESS FEAR — That liberty unrestricted might become fanatical.

A PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN NATION — The United States so defined by National Reformers.

ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL — The fundamental principle that has made our nation great.

THE INTOLERANT SPIRIT RISING — Manifested in the demand for Sunday laws without exemptions.

THE INJUSTICE OF SUNDAY LAWS — Wherein they are inequitable and wherein their enforcement works injustice.

PERSECUTION A GOOD THING — The opinion of a noted chief justice—persecution producing the highest regard for law.

THE GENEALOGY OF SUNDAY LAWS — Illustrated—How Sunday laws were handed down; Sunday legislation traced to its origin.

THERE IS BLAME SOMEWHERE — Protestants condemning public schools because they do not teach religion, and Catholics lamenting because their young men are going to destruction, notwithstanding they have been educated in schools where religion is strictly taught.

RELIGION AND SCIENCE — Portrayed in the discussion of “The Creation Week,” “Darwin or the Bible,” and “The Reliability of the Book.”

TEMPERANCE — As revealed in the discussion of “Liquor and Poverty,” “The Flag Over the Saloon,” “Lincoln’s Stirring Words,” and “Prohibition the Only Solution.”

PUBLIC OFFICE BY RELIGIOUS TEST — Can a religious sect, according to the Constitution, demand the patronage of the government in proportion to its numbers?

A CHRISTIAN FEATURE EXPRESSED — Through the celebration of last Thanksgiving day in Washington, D. C., as an international affair, under the direction of the Catholic Church.

DISCHARGING AN OBLIGATION TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH — The appointment of Mr. Kerens ambassador to Austria as an obligation the President was under because of her support in his election.

FOR GOD AND LIBERTY IN THE DAYS OF OLD — Portraying, illustrating, and comparing the wicked practises in the persecution of sincere and conscientious men of old, with similar conditions and circumstances now present.

A CENTURY’S RETROSPECT OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY WORK — Tracing in a short, concise, interesting, and practical manner the different acts, with dates, directed against the principles of American liberty, from 1810 to the present time.

SHALL WE HAVE A NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW? — A plain statement of the principles jeopardized in Sabbath legislation, the errors in teachings and practises resulting in enforced religious observance; the change of the Sabbath, and the evil results.

This number is very attractive in appearance, and should meet with ready sales in the hands of agents.

as will be seen by the following partial contents, deals with many of the important questions in which the general public, and thousands of individuals, are especially and vitally concerned:—

AS WE SEE IT

Shave Off the Germs of Cold — Open-Air Schools — The Plague and Ground-Squirrel — Liquor Revenue Decreases — The Control of Narcotics — Are the Tonsils Needed? — San Francisco Free From Plague — Typhoid in the District — Public Education Regarding Disease Prevention — Constipation in Children — The Delectable Sausage — Care of Food in the Home.

GENERAL ARTICLES

What Boston Is Doing to Lessen the Hazards of Infant Feeding — Personal Experience With Girls — That Boy of Yours, the Background of Boyhood — Physical Culture and Its Advantages to Women.

CURRENT COMMENT

Tobacco’s Effect Upon High-School Pupils — Inexcusable; Manslaughter — Alcohol — Mind-Cure, After All — Interstice and Crevice — Spinal Anesthesia — Barber-Shop Danger — Why Is the Treatment of Skin Diseases Often Ineffectual?

ABSTRACTS

Habit-Forming Drugs — Treatment of Constipation in Children — Baldness — The Importance of the Ordinary Germ of Sour Milk.

MEDICAL FORUM

The Educational Value of the Rockefeller Gift — Disguised Starvation — Tuberculosis and Infant Mortality.

THE MEDICAL MISSIONARY AT WORK

Preaching and Healing in a Buddhist Temple in China — Argentina, South America.

Order from State Tract Societies or

Review and Herald Publishing Assn.

South Bend, Ind. TAKOMA PARK, D. C. New York City

First Review and Herald

By Editor

Editorial

First “Review and Herald.”—The first number of the first volume of this paper began as a monthly, and was dated Paris, Maine, November, 1850. The full title was, SECOND ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD, and the motto the same as to-day, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

The Missionary Campaign.—There was a publishing committee for the paper,—Joseph Bates, S. W. Rhodes, J. N. Andrews, and James White, the latter the manager and editor. The publication list advertised six tracts. These were free to all inquirers. “How shall we circulate publications?” the editor asks, and adds: “Every brother and sister should do all in their power to seek out those who would read with profit, and obtain suitable publications for them.” The missionary campaign was already on in those days.

A Clear Note.—Six of the eight pages of this number were solidly devoted to Sabbath arguments. James White, in a brief editorial note, calls attention to the “discussion of questions foreign to present truth” into which the First-day Adventist papers had fallen since 1844, and, in a few stirring words, he sets the aim for the REVIEW, which it has endeavored to follow from that day to this:—

Among other charges given to Timothy by the apostle Paul is the following: “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.” This we intend to do. And with much pleasure do we look forward to the predicted period, when the sheep, that have been scattered on the mountains of Israel since a cry at midnight, shall be gathered into the unity of the faith.

The Gathering Call.—This “scattering” of the flock after the disappointment in 1844, and the “gathering” call under the third angel’s message, was a figure of speech much used, and very plain and expressive to the advent believers in those days. And still the trumpet peal of the third angel’s message is the gathering call to the scattered flock in many lands. Every year thousands are coming to the fold. Annie R. Smith’s hymn of the gathering time, composed in the pioneer days, still stirs hearts in our churches with the fervor of the advent hope,—

“Long upon the mountains, weary, Have the scattered flock been torn; Dark the desert paths, and dreary; Grievous trials have they borne. Now the gathering call is sounding, Solemn in its warning voice; Union, faith, and love, abounding, Bid the little flock rejoice.”

Wandering Feet Recalled

By W. A. S.

WE know by the promises of God that his care is over all his works. “If I take the wings of the morning,” said the psalmist, “and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

Here is an experience, reported from one of the uttermost parts of the earth, bearing witness to the fact that the Lord knows the path that straying feet may take in the wilds of Africa, and that his angels can turn the wanderer about. We know it from the Word, and believe it; but these incidents of actual experience—simple though they may be—help to make it real to us. Brother E. Kotz, of our German East Africa Mission, writes from Europe, where he has been seeing the four Gospels through the press in the Chasu language:—

I will tell you briefly of a little experience we had at Kihurio. One of our Christians, who is called Filipo, had left us. We did not know exactly where he was. As I was on the point of leaving Africa for Europe, I had a prayer-meeting with our station boys, Christians and heathen, and asked them to pray for our Filipo, that he might be led to come back. They all did so unitedly.

The next morning I wrote a letter, two of our boys added some words, and I sent a man to carry it to the pastor of a Protestant mission two days’ journey away. The pastor is a friend of mine, and I asked him to look for our Filipo, and hand him my letter if he could find him. The next morning my friend was out making inquiry for the boy. But that morning also, some one knocked on the door of our mission house at Kihurio. Who was it?—Filipo!

“Did you get my letter?”

“No,” he answered.

“Well, how did you come to return just at this time?”

“I had no peace,” he said; “I felt impressed that I ought to go to Kihurio.”

So, when we commenced to pray, the Lord heard our prayer and began to send the answer. We all feel much strengthened by such experiences.

We, too, thank God that all those African paths are known to the angels. This is the ground of our confidence that a few short years will see the light of the advent message piercing every region of the Dark Continent.

W. A. S.

Blasting at the Gospel

By C. M. S.

Astonishing as were the statements brought out in the article of last week under this title, as showing the direct antagonism between modern theologians and the Bible—modern philosophy and God’s purpose and gospel—we did not exhaust, by any means, the antiscriptural utterances of the one article from which we quoted. The quotations given showed a direct attack upon the Bible, upon the principles of the gospel, and upon the deity of Jesus and the fact and necessity of his sacrifice for man. His miracles were discounted, and the power by which he wrought his works was virtually attributed to the one now deceiving the world through spiritualistic and mesmeric demonstrations. We do not wish to weary our readers with a setting forth of the claims of these teachers; but we do wish to show the connection between the results of such teachings and the work of the adversary of souls. We wish to show that there is a direct connection between such teachings and the agencies that are at work to advance the interests of the kingdom of darkness.

From the day when discord arose in heaven, the author of that discord has sought to disparage the Son of God and cast discredit upon his position and work. Evolution and the Higher Criticism carry on that work by seeking to take creation out of the hands of Christ and bring it about through an interminable process of autogeneration; when they

have worked that out, they seek to disparage Christ and his work still further by teaching that men are unfallen beings, needing no Saviour, and that Christ’s only accomplishment in our behalf was the teaching of great moral truths and the living of a life that is an inspiration to others.

For centuries the larger portion of the Christian church has believed in the inherent immortality of man. If that proposition were true, there was of course no need that One should come from heaven to “bring life and immortality to light;” no need of One coming that his body might be broken and his blood be shed for man. But generally speaking, those holding to the view of man’s natural immortality have also, though inconsistently, held to a belief in the necessity and sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of man from the death penalty. Of course it was an illogical thing to do. Both ideas can not be true. Either we have immortality inherently, or we obtain it as the gift of God, through Christ. Either we are fallen beings, forfeiting, through the fall, our right to life everlasting, and have that life purchased for us through the sacrifice of Christ, or else we are unfallen, we have immortality and are bound to live eternally without any regard to what Christ has done. We can not hold to both propositions at the same time. We are either mortal or immortal. If mortal, that means we are subject to death; if immortal, beyond its reach.

The idea of the inherent immortality of man brought in the idea of the eternal torment of the wicked. The immortal wicked must be separated from the immortal righteous; and Christ was given credit for making a way whereby men might gain immortal joys and escape immortal miseries. But modern theologians have flung aside the truly unscriptural doctrine of endless torment. On such a hypothesis, they have left Christ a Redeemer with nothing to redeem, a Saviour with nobody to save and nothing to save him from.

To give the position of modern theology upon this phase of the question, I quote again from Dr. Abbott’s article, previously cited:—

If I thought, as many seem to think, that death is the extinction of life, and resurrection is a new creation of life, resurrection would indeed seem to me incredible. But death is not extinction of life, and resurrection is not a new creation of life. Death is simply the dropping off of the body from the spirit; resurrection is simply the upspringing of the spirit from the body. There was nothing extraordinary in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every death is a resurrection. . . . The return of the spirit of Jesus Christ to reanimate his body does not seem to me an incredible event. That the spirit has often returned to the body and reanimated it is the testimony of history and of science. Every resuscitation of a person pronounced dead by the onlookers is such a return of the spirit to the body which it has apparently left.

To take such a position is to deny the possibility of the Almighty doing what he has plainly declared he will do. It plainly contradicts John 3:16, that great epitome of the gospel: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” To “perish” certainly means extinction of life; and without the gift of Christ and man’s acceptance of him as the Saviour, extinction of life is certain. The teaching of Dr. Abbott and the school of theology to which he belongs casts aside the divine plan and substitutes a human plan; it repudiates divine help in the attainment of eternal life, and teaches the present possession of the very thing which Christ gave his life to bestow upon us. It gives such an interpretation to the resurrection as makes it meaningless and worthless, and makes the death of every human being equally important with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What can human ingenuity invent beyond that to belittle and discredit Christ in his sacrifice and work on behalf of man? It would strip him of all credit and all glory in connection with the redemption of man as completely and as truly as he stripped himself of his glory and dignity when he left the courts of heaven to enter upon redemption’s task.

Says the theologian: “Death is not the extinction of life.” Such a statement, if true, would make Jesus a deceiver rather than the only thing they allow him to be,—a great teacher,—because he declared of his mission, “I came that they may have life.” Imagine Jesus teaching men, “I came that they may have what they have already”! Again he said: “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Interpreted according to the teachings of modern theologians, we must understand that to mean: “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have what ye have already.” But did Jesus come from heaven to earth to bear what he bore that he might put himself in such a ridiculous attitude? He believed that men were in danger of perishing unless he came and did the work which the Father sent him to do. He believed that men needed to accept him and believe in his mission in order to have eternal life. The modern school of theology does not believe that. Whom shall we believe? Who was in the best position to know?

The century-old belief in the immortality of the soul robbed Christ of his title of life-giver, so far as those who believed it are concerned; but they gave him credit for saving believers from an ever-burning hell. Later theologians eliminated the ever-burning hell and eternal torment, but they left Christ the honored position of a great moral teacher; modern theologians virtually take from him that title by setting forth doctrines which, if true, would make his entire work on earth unnecessary and his teachings ridiculous contradictions of fact. There has been a determined and deliberate progress, step by step, in this work of dishonoring Christ, until it seems now to have come to the full. What further indignity can man invent? To be sure it is not done with avowed purpose to discredit him. But avowals are unnecessary where results are so apparent. God said, “Ye shall surely die.” Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die: . . . ye shall be as gods.” The modern theologian declares there is no death, and that man has what the Bible declares only God has—immortality. He therefore asserts what Satan asserted: “Ye shall not surely die: . . . ye shall be as gods.” Whose work does such teaching advance, God’s or the adversary’s? Is it consistent to pose as a Christian while reiterating the declarations of the one who tempted Eve?

C. M. S.

The Manner of Christ’s Coming

By F. M. W.

IN these days of doubt, and unbelief, and apostasy from the truth, every effort is being made by the enemy of all righteousness to throw discredit upon the great fundamental doctrines of the Word of God. The necessity of a final resurrection is discounted altogether on the part of many. The doctrine of Christ’s second coming has been so spiritualized and distorted as to be made to mean almost anything or nothing. It is claimed that he comes in the Spiritualistic séance, at the conversion of sinners, or at the time of death. None of these theories have any foundation in the Scriptures of truth. One who is acquainted with the teachings of the Bible need not be confused as to the manner of his Lord’s return. The Bible bears plain and unmistakable testimony regarding this question.

1. Christ’s coming will be personal. This is clearly proved by his own words, as recorded in John 14: 1-3. He says, If I go away, I will come again. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

2. Christ’s second coming will be a literal coming of the Lord himself. He will not come by a representative or in the person of another. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”

3. Christ’s second coming will be a visible

event. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” At his ascension “a cloud received him out of their sight.” As to his return, the angels bear this witness: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” John adds his testimony to this same truth when he states: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.”

4. He comes attended by the heavenly host. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”

Surely such celestial phenomenon was never witnessed at the conversion of a sinner or at the death-bed scene. The world has produced many false christs, and Satan will doubtless seek to deceive the multitudes in the future by representing himself as the divine Son of God; but the manner of Christ’s coming Satan can not imitate. In the midst of the darkness of these last days an unmistakable light shines from the Word of God to all who will follow its guiding rays. Amid the jargon of tongues the voice of God may be heard calling to his children. Let us learn to distinguish the voice of the True Shepherd. “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching.” God will lead and guide safely every trusting child.

F. M. W.

“Why Do You Go to China?”

JUST before the party sailed for China in October, 1909, two young missionaries were asked the above question. The two young people gave the following answer:—

Soon to sail for China! Why are we going? and why are we going to China rather than to some other place? These questions have been fully answered to ourselves.

We are going because we are young, and also because our going will hasten the coming of the Lord. We also believe that every young person truly believing that Christ is soon coming will be constrained to answer a similar call.

We have chosen China, not only because the harvest is ripe, but also because the harvest is great, and the laborers are few. In China we find a double call, hence an urgent call. Is it not the instinct of nature to send immediate aid to the most needy place? Does not man's sympathy and help fly first to those who are in greatest need? So should it be with the third angel's message. That place where numbers are the greatest, and that place where laborers are the fewest, challenges the immediate attention of God's remnant people. And surely one of these is China, with its four hundred fifty millions. The call will swell until every consecrated young person answers, now “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

As our boat widely separates us from our native land, and soon connects us with a stranger's land, the words which float over the waters to our home land will be words of courage, for the God of Israel is leading us.

Note and Comment

Behold, He Cometh!

From Brother Claude Maybell, of New York, we have received a clipping from the New York World, of Sunday, Dec. 19, 1909, giving a striking review of the signs of the coming of the Lord. Of Adventists, it says:—

The idea of a new coming of Christ to-day is an influence, if not an obsession with countless millions of people in all parts of the world. With all Christians it is a thrilling thought, or a devout wish. With some it is a faith and a prophecy. The Adventists, under their various denominations — Evangelical, Advent Christians, Seventh-day, Life and Advent Union, and others — look for Christ’s return at an early date within the present age, according to the same Hebrew prophecies which forecast his birth at Bethlehem of Judea. There are in the United States alone 2,544 Adventist churches, with an aggregate of one hundred thousand communicants.

Lo Here, and Lo There!

Of voices raised for the false coming of Christ the article says:—

The Behaists, or “Truth-Knowers,” whose cult, a modern offshoot of Mohammedanism, has made remarkable headway in Europe and America during the past decade or two, believe that the re-incarnation of the Master has already taken place in our time. . . . The Theosophists, whose “Universal Brotherhood” was founded by Mme. Blavatsky in 1875, and of which Mrs. Annie Besant is president, with headquarters at Adyar, Madras, India, believe the incarnate appearance of Christ in this world to be imminent at the present moment. Mrs. Besant herself, who is now in this country, says in her lecture on “The Coming Race and the Coming Christ,” that the Jesus of our faith, even now incarnate but not manifested to man, will take a new body, manifest himself visibly, and lead mankind in the evolution of a higher civilization, an epoch of Christian socialism.

Signs of the Times

The article goes on to give the following very clear review of our position:—

Although we “know not the day or the hour,” yet the time when the Lord’s coming is at hand is not altogether hidden from us. The signs which are to precede and usher in his coming are plainly and abundantly set forth in Scripture, and we are exhorted to watch for them and know that the time is near. All these predicted signs in the social, moral, political, civil, ecclesiastical, and spiritual spheres, declare the Adventists, are now either fulfilled or fulfilling.

In the New Testament the third and fourth chapters of 2 Timothy and the twenty-fourth of St. Matthew are regarded by many as forecasting the present condition of Christendom. We are living in the divided state of the decadent Roman empire. The nations are torn with strife and contention, and are supporting millions of men in arms in anticipation of vast wars in the near future. Such was the condition of the world at the time of Christ’s first coming. ‘In the last days, perilous times shall come;’ men were to depart from the faith and go in devious ways. Atheism, infidelity, Socialism, and anarchy have risen in a great wave that is eating at the very foundations of our religious, political, and social life.

In the way of physical portents it is estimated that there have been more earthquakes within the last century or so than in all previous times in the recorded history of the world. What do these signs of the times, heavenly and earthly phenomena, political and religious upheavals, mean? To the Adventists they mean that Christ is coming again, and soon.

It is cheering to find great newspapers spreading the warning cry, and such an article suggests how earnestly we should watch for opportunity to call the attention of men in the newspaper world to the significance of these signs of the times.

What Remains to Be Done

The last century has witnessed wonderful progress in the cause of foreign missions. Earnest heralds of the cross have gone out to many of the dark corners of the earth, and the Lord has abundantly blessed their labors. We have only to consider, however, a few figures to realize that a great work remains to be done; but instead of this proving in any sense discouraging, it should be an additional incentive to the church of God in prosecuting missionary operations still more zealously. The following comparison is published in the January number of the Missionary Review of the World, and indicates something of what still remains to be done in the world’s evangelization:—

One third of the people of the world are nominally Christian, but in reality not more than one in thirty has an intelligent knowledge of Christ and his salvation.

Dr. Zeller, director of the Statistical Bureau in Stuttgart, Germany, estimates that there are 1,544,510,000 people in the world, of whom 534,940,000 are Roman, Greek, and Protestant Christians, 175,290,000 are Mohammedans, 10,860,000 are Jews, and 823,420,000 are heathen. Of these last, 300,000,000 are Confucians, 214,000,000 are Brahmans, and 121,000,000 Buddhists, with other bodies of lesser numbers. This means that, out of every 1,000 of the earth’s inhabitants, 346 are nominal Christians, 114 are Mohammedans, 7 are Israelite, and 533 are of other religions.

History of the Hebrew Sanctuary

By John O. Corliss

Its Earliest Dawnings

J. O. CORLISS

A SANCTUARY is a “place set apart,” a sacred, or consecrated, place. The word is now frequently used in the sense of a refuge, or hiding-place, but its original intent was simply a consecrated place of worship. We are informed that Abel made sacrificial offerings to the Lord (Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11:4); but it is not known whether he had some regular, specified place set apart for this purpose or not.

The earliest intimation of a dedicated altar for worship is when Noah came forth from the ark, and offered upon an altar one of every kind of clean beasts saved from the flood. The result of this act was the promise of God to care for the needs of all Noah’s descendants. Gen. 8:20-22. The next account (and this but a bare mention of the fact) of the erection of an “altar unto the Lord,” was when Abraham, more than four hundred years later, journeyed to Shechem, along the level land of Moreh. Gen. 12:6, 7. God appeared to Abraham there, but we do not know the nature of the patriarch’s altar offerings at that time. Soon, however, Abraham removed from this location to a nameless mountain just east of Bethel. In that “high place,” separated from the Canaanitish influence of the plains, he not only “builded an altar unto the Lord,” but also “called upon the name of the Lord.” Verse 8. Shortly after the establishment of this “house of God,” Abraham proceeded to Egypt to escape the rigors of famine which had spread over central Palestine. Returning from Egypt about three years later, the patriarch sought his sanctuary on the rocky hill of Bethel, and there worshiped the Lord as hitherto. Gen. 13:3, 4.

This first “high place” was long held in sacred memory by the descendants of Abraham, because of its continued recognition by God. More than one hundred fifty years after its establishment, the trouble between Jacob and Esau culminated in the former leaving his father’s tented home in Beer-sheba, for the long northeastern journey to Haran, the home of his mother’s ancestors. On his way thither he halted for his first night’s repose on the rocky summit of a certain hill in central Palestine. On the hard ground he sought needed rest, when in the visions of night the stony eminences above him formed into one grand stairway whose top extended into the very heavens. On that long line of steps angels of heaven came and went, revealing to the wanderer that he was the subject of God’s solicitous care. From the top of this angelic passageway the voice of Jehovah came thus to Jacob: “Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land.” Gen. 28:10-15.

Awaking in profound astonishment at the thought of meeting God in such a place, Jacob immediately concluded that he was indeed at Bethel’s “high place,” which had been made sacred by his grandfather’s dedication. He was not before aware of his nearness to that location, but his experience in meeting God there convinced him that it could be none other than the identical spot of Abraham’s “house of God,” and hence the very “gate of heaven.” The place at once became “dreadful,” “full of awe,” and Jacob there vowed to give his life service to his infinite protector. In confirmation of this solemn promise, he took the stone upon which his pillow had rested, set it on end, and poured oil upon it, calling it Bethel,—“the house of God,” or “the place of worship.” This stone was long held by the people of Israel as a memorial of God’s watchful care over their ancestor; and “Shepherd, the stone of Israel,” was a cherished name of the “God of Jacob.” Gen. 49:24; Isa. 28:16.

Returning to Abraham’s experience, we learn that from the vantage-ground of this very spot, Lot had chosen to go to the rich Jordan valley, and dwell among the corrupt inhabitants of Sodom. After this, the voice of God was heard commanding the sturdy patriarch to arise, and “walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” Having at last completely separated from Lot, the only remaining relative of his father’s house, from which he was commanded to withdraw (see Gen. 12:1, 2), all the country was henceforth to be his, and for his seed alone. In obedience to this “voice,” Abraham removed from the “high place” of Bethel, and pitched his tent amid the “oaks” (Gen. 18:4) in the plains of Mamre, “which is in Hebron.” There he built another altar unto the Lord. Gen. 13:17, 18.

For nearly a score of years Hebron remained the permanent dwelling-place of the patriarch, and his place of worship as well. It was here that he entertained the angels who were on their way to destroy Sodom. But becoming desirous of changing his location, Abraham went toward the south, and located in Gerar. Having made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of that country, concerning a well of water, Abraham called the place “Beer-sheba,” that is, “the well of the oath.” Gen. 21:31. Here the patriarch lived “many days,” or nearly forty years, and did not fail to plant there the usual “sacred grove.” Gen. 21:33. At the end of these “days” he again started northward, and at Kirjath-arba, which is also called Hebron, Sarah died. Standing up by the side of his lifeless companion, Abraham pleaded, as a stranger, for a place in which to bury his dead. From Ephron, the Hittite, he bought the field and cave of Machpelah, and there buried the mother of his long-promised son. Gen. 23:3-20. About that memorable spot was destined to cling the reverence of ages. It became the final resting-place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca; there Jacob buried Leah, and his own embalmed body was later transported thence from Egypt to repose in the sepulcher of his fathers. Of all the patriarchal family, Rachel alone was interred elsewhere.

In the distribution of Palestine to the tribes after the conquest of that country, Hebron and its adjacent territory fell to Judah, upon the petition of Caleb, who had traversed its fruitful valleys as one of the twelve spies, sent to obtain information of the nature of the country and its inhabitants. But looking at the course of events of that period, especially of that of bringing back from there the famous cluster of grapes as a sample of the fruit of the land (Num. 13:22-24; Joshua 14:6-9), one is led to

conclude that those events were especially ordered to lead up to a predetermined issue,—that of Judah’s occupation of a country wherein he might be found “binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine,” and washing “his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.” Gen. 49:11.

It does not require a severe stretch of imagination, either, to recognize the relation of this prophecy to that of Isaiah, in which he evidently refers to the Lord Jesus with “dyed garments,” and with clothing like one that “treadeth in the winefat.” Isa. 63:1-3. The correlation of these texts seems more truly warranted when one thinks of Christ’s fleshly relations as identified with the tribe of Judah. And further, when one considers that Christ’s fleshly descent was not only of Judah’s race, but that the shedding of his blood was also the antitype of Israel’s gory ritual, and of all that it signified, these prophetic expressions must weigh heavily in deciding that the import of all those early rites was intended to point to him as the center of hope for all the ages of the past.

San Francisco, Cal.

In the School of Life

By August Kunz

(Published by request)

LEARN to be silent! Be with thy lot content, Such as the Lord has sent; Bury within thy heart Carefully ev’ry smart: Learn to be silent!

Learn with forbearance Meekly to bear the wrong, Lovingly suffer long, Willingly labor on Though human friends you’ve none. Practise forbearance!

Learn to be cheerful! Weeping and mourning cease, Sometime must come release, Though it seems hard to bear, Lighten thyself thy care. Learn to be cheerful!

Learn to be pleasant! Learn how to smile, e’en though Heavily grief and woe Fall to thine earthly lot; Mourning, you conquer not. Learn to be pleasant!

E’er be forgiving! Never resent a wrong, Be the foe weak or strong, Leave it to God above; Show them, for hatred, love, E’er be forgiving!

Ready for either; Live to the praise of God, Slumber beneath the sod. Whether we live or die, Know that the Lord is nigh, Coming to save us!

— August Kunz.

Continue reading: T. F. BOWEN