p. 138 | SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS by W. H. Littlejohn

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · March 3, 1885

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 62, No. 9

SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS.

By W. H. Littlejohn

ANSWERS BY W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

306.—ENTER INTO REST.

M. L. M. D.: If you will obtain a copy of the Revised New Testament, and read in it from Heb. 3:7 to Heb. 4:13, you will have no trouble understanding Heb. 4:4. The perplexity which arises from the mention of a Sabbath rest in the fourth chapter of Hebrews, springs from the awkwardness of the translation in our King James version, and the fact that the word “Jesus” is used therein instead of “Joshua,” where the latter ought to be employed. By reading as suggested above, you will discover at once that Paul is exhorting his brethren not to fail of entering into the antitypical or final rest which God has prepared for his people, in the same manner that the Hebrews in the wilderness failed to enter into the land of Canaan—the type of God’s rest—while led by Joshua. He shows that their failure is attributable to unbelief, and intimates that unbelief in Christians would shut them out of God’s final rest. He instructs them that the rest that Joshua offered to the people must have been simply typical; since, long after this time, and after the people had entered the land of Canaan, the Psalmist was still offering them rest on condition that they hardened not their hearts.

In verses 1 and 2 of chapter 4, the apostle makes it very clear that the rest that he is talking about is not simply a day of the week, but rather the rest which God has provided for his people in his everlasting kingdom. In verse 1 (A. V.) we read: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” In verse 2 he continues: “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” The gospel, or good news of salvation, which was preached to the Hebrews in the wilderness was the same, evidently, as that which was preached to Paul and his brethren. But the word which was preached to the Hebrews in the wilderness, was not rest on the first day of the week. They knew nothing about that. The rest to which they looked forward was that to be found in the kingdom of God, of which the rest in the land of Canaan was but a type. The rest, therefore, of which Paul alludes must also be the rest in the kingdom of God; else there would be no comparison between the experience of the Hebrews in the wilderness and that of the Christian in Paul’s life.

The allusion to the seventh day of the week furnishes additional proof that the rest to which Paul alludes is not to be found in this world. It intimates that when we have entered into our rest, we shall cease from our labors, even as God ceased from his labors on the seventh day of the week after creating the world. But Christians never cease from their labors in this life, and therefore their rest must lie beyond its boundaries in the kingdom of God, of which God’s seventh day rest was an emblem.

307.—THE BENEDICTION AND LOCAL ELDERS.

C. E. B.: It would be irregular for a local elder to pronounce the benediction.

308.—BORN AGAIN.

I. L. T.: I understand that in John 3:3 the Saviour teaches that a man must be born again or experience the new birth in this life through the operation of the Spirit of God, or else he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. See “Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. II., p. 127, and onward.

309.—JOSEPHUS AND THE KING JAMES’S BIBLE.

C. T. S.: There is no foundation whatever for the silly story that the translators of the King James’s version of our Bible came within one vote of adopting the works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, as a part of the Scriptures. It originated either in the malice or ignorance of some infidel brain.

310.—MANY SLEEP.

A. H. M.: The expressions, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep,” found in 1 Cor. 11:30, relate to the sickness and death of many of the Corinthians who viewed these things as a consequence of a sacrilegious perversion of the Lord’s supper, which, according to the context, they turned into a sort of revival of drunkenness and gluttony.

311.—SATAN’S ANGELS COUNSELED TO REPENT.

W. C. M.: I harmonize the statements of which you speak, found on pages 20 and 22 of “Spirit of Prophecy,” in this way: On page 21 it is stated that the good angels counseled those angels who actively sympathized with Satan to return to their allegiance to God with a view to receive pardon for their offenses. It appears, however, from a statement made on page 22, that no such pardon could have been granted by the Father, as no provision had been made for angels in case that they should violate his law.

There is really no necessary conflict between these declarations. Satan’s offense was the first of the kind, probably, that had ever occurred in the universe. The good angels therefore had no precedent upon which to base a judgment in the premises, and erred in supposing that their former associates had committed a sin which could be pardoned.

Be aware that this explanation will be objected to by some, on the ground that it proceeds upon the hypothesis that it limits the knowledge of the angels. Such an objection, nevertheless, would not be well founded. It is susceptible of demonstration that angels, even though sinless, are liable to err. Were they not, they would possess at least one of the attributes of the Deity; i. e., perfect knowledge. That they do not possess such knowledge could be proved in a variety of ways. The illustration that I have room to give here will be drawn from the present condition of the fallen angels. Once they were holy and happy beings in heaven. Now they are wretched beyond description. This change is attributable to their rebellion in the past. Had they known the results of that rebellion they would never have been where they are. It must be true, consequently, that they were not infallible in judgment; but if they, when good angels, could make such a mistake as they made, then it is an established fact that other good angels at the time in question were liable to mistake. If we should ever be fortunate enough to enter heaven, I trust that we shall find that the distance between the angels and God himself is infinitely greater than we have ever conceived it to be.

312.—OLD MEN AND CHILDREN IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM.

J. C.: The prediction in Zech. 8:4, 5, that old men and children should be seen in the streets of Jerusalem, was fulfilled after the return from Babylonish captivity. You will notice by the date at the head of the chapter, B. C. 518, that Cyrus had already (B. C. 536) issued his decree for rebuilding of the Temple.

313.—PLANTING ORCHARDS.

B.: I think that it would be perfectly consistent for S. D. Adventists to set out orchards, although they should never eat of the fruit of trees thus planted, there is a strong probability that the time will come when many of them will be anxious to sell their homes. Should this be the case the presence of fruit trees on their premises, though not fully grown, would facilitate the sale of the property very materially.

314.—MILKING ON THE SABBATH DAY.

W. B.: There certainly can be no doubt in relation to the propriety of milking cows on Sabbath morning. Such an act would come under the head of deeds of mercy. In many cases cows would actually suffer were they allowed to go from Friday night until Saturday night without milking.

315.—THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

H. R.: The star of Bethlehem so-called, or the star that appeared to the wise men in the East and guided them to the infant Saviour, was nothing more nor less than the effulgence which emanated from a group of angels who were appointed to lead the Magi to Bethlehem. See “Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. II., pp. 20, 21.