"IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE."
By Editor
This Inquirers' Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer these questions does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeated in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply. 4114 — The Thief on the Cross
Will you please explain Luke 23:43,—
Jesus speaking to the thief, "To-day shalt
thou be with Me in Paradise"? Was that
thief supposed to be saved?
A. Brother. Let us turn to the passage and note the context. First, the request of the thief, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." This thief, or robber, belonged to a roving band, seeking plunder wherever he might obtain it. Doubtless he had been in the throngs which surrounded our Lord in His country preaching. He had listened to such discourses on the kingdom as Jesus often gave. He had seen more or less of our Lord in His mock trial, or in Pilate's judgment-hall. He may have been a Jew who imbibed truth regarding the kingdom of God from the teachers of his nation. At any rate, he had some idea of what our Lord Himself taught; that He was going away to receive for Himself a kingdom and return, for the territory of the kingdom of Christ is this earth, and this earth when it shall be made new. See Matt. 25:31, 34. Therefore his request,—not, "Lord, remember me when Thou goest to heaven," and not, "Lord, remember me when Thou diest;" but, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." 2. The reply of our Lord. This must have had reference to the thief's request. "Verily I say unto thee to-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." We have given it without punctuation, for the original Greek was so written. Nay, more, it was written without any separation of letters into words, as follows: "VerilyIsayuntotheetodayshaltthoubewithMeinParadise." The real question is, then, Did Jesus mean to say, I am telling you this to-day, or did He mean to say that to-day the thief would be in Paradise? The adverbial expression "to-day" can either modify "say" or it can modify "shalt be." This must be decided by other great facts of Scripture: (a) Where is Paradise? By comparing 2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2, we learn that Paradise is the third heaven. It is where God dwells, and His throne is in that Paradise, at the very fount of the water of life, and hard by the Tree of Life, where shines the ineffable glory of the Father's presence. (b) Jesus did not go to the Father on that day, for on the third day afterward, when He was raised from the dead, and Mary saw Him and was about to embrace Him, Jesus said to her, "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father." John 20:17. That is, He had not presented Himself before the throne since He had cried that "it is finished" upon the cross. Therefore our Lord did not say, Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise upon this day; for if that was what He meant, He was certainly mistaken, according to the after-events, and we believe that our Lord knew the program of His work better than that. (c) Therefore our Lord meant to say to that thief, I tell thee to-day that thy prayer will be answered, and thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. Note the pertinence and force of such application. When our Lord was arrested, His own disciples forsook Him and fled. Only John afterward gathered courage and went in with his Lord. Another, the most ardent disciple of all, Peter, "followed Him afar off," and then denied Him; and even the holy women stood afar off beholding what was done when He was crucified, afterward coming nearer. There were only two souls at that time who were willing to acknowledge Jesus,—one a Roman centurion, who declared, because of the supernatural manifestations at that time, "Truly this was the Son of God," and the other the poor thief who was dying by His side. When all others had forsaken the Lord, he acknowledged His divinity. When His own nation in their blasphemy were saying, in mockery, that "He saved others; Himself He can not save," the thief could petition with all the earnestness of his soul, "Lord, remember me;" and Jesus could say, dying tho He was, a victim of sin upon the cross, As thou hast faith to ask, I even now have power to grant, and therefore I declare to-day — to-day when even the very heavens seem against Me in their blackness, and My own nation have forsaken Me, and I seem utterly helpless upon the cross — even to-day do I declare that thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. (d) When our Lord comes, that prayer will be fulfilled. He shall call to the sleeping dead, and among those that shall awaken at that time will be the one whose faith triumphed over all outward circumstances and grasped the arm of divine power, who hung beside Him upon his cross, and then with Jesus and all the holy angels shall he ascend to the Paradise of God on high. 4115 — The Working of Satan
Our correspondent does not tell us what particular thing he wishes us to explain. Of course he must take in the context. The eighth verse speaks of "that Wicked," or the great apostasy which shall be developed, in its fulness, just previous to Christ's coming. That apostasy shall be consumed in the forthshining of Christ's presence, or His coming. The question really lies, perhaps, over the term "after,"—"whose coming is after the working of Satan." This is held by some to refer to time. The working of Satan will be manifest with all power and signs and lying wonders; and then, immediately after this, comes our Lord Jesus Christ. That, of course, will be true in point of time. But the Revised Version has "according to," which is one of the proper renderings of the Greek term. And this also is literally true; for while Satan will work with all power and signs and lying wonders, our Lord will work with great power accordingly, so much so that His triumph over all the powers of evil will be manifest. Therefore, looking upon it whichever way we will, it will be true; Christ's coming will transcend all the working of Satan, and it will immediately follow the most important manifestations of that working. 4116 — The Punishment of the Wicked
The verse is a simple statement regarding the end of the wicked: "Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might." This is from the American Revised Version.
We do not know over what the question arises. It seems as tho it is a very clear statement of the Scripture. What the punishment is, is very clearly defined in the above version,—namely, eternal destruction; and eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might means destruction from God's universe, because God fills heaven and earth. Our Common Version is not contrary to this at all,—"who shall be punished with everlasting destruction." 4117 — "Questions and Answers"
Is the present book "Questions and Answers" the same as that offered as a premium to the subscribers to the "Signs," or is it another? M. It is the same book. It is still furnished to full subscribers to the weekly "Signs." It can be obtained in no other way. It may possibly be put upon the market before a great while, but at the present time it is still used as a premium. The book itself would sell for more than half of what is paid for the book and paper together. How is it known that the writers of the Apocrypha were not inspired of God? Do the Bibles you sell contain the Apocrypha? A. A. The Apocrypha is set aside as uncanonical,—that is, not according to the Scripture rule,—by Protestants mainly for two reasons. First, it is not found in the regular Scripture canon, or collection of books of the Old Testament, which our Lord and His apostles considered as authority. Secondly, the character of the writings themselves shows also that they are not like the writings of the Old Testament. There are in the Apocrypha a great many beautiful things, some very good things. Some have thought that 2 Esdras was inspired. These books were written during the time of the Jewish captivity in Babylon, or from about the year B.C. 200 to a little before — some say after — Christ. They are more or less affected by the traditions and errors of those times. It is for these reasons that they have not been counted in the Protestant Scriptures.
No, the Bibles which we sell are the regular Oxford or the regular Nelson Bibles, both of which are Protestant firms, and do not contain the Apocrypha unless some special edition is ordered which does. There are some editions of the Oxford print, we believe, which contain the Apocrypha. Large family Bibles usually contain the Apocrypha, and so, also, does the Douay Version, the standard English translation among the Roman Catholics. They hold the Apocrypha on the same level as they do the other Scriptures, which is not very high, because they place tradition above them. 4119 — A. A.—The meaning of "ibid." is, "in the same place." That is, it means that the quotation to which it is attached comes from the same book, or same authority, as before quoted. The full word is "ibidem,"—in the same place, meaning that it is found in the same place of the same book; and this is further abbreviated by "ib." Sometimes the "id." is used in the same sense,—"idem," the same. We understand that it does; that all those plagues are literal just as were the plagues upon Egypt, and hail is a literal hail, recalling to the mind of the Bible student the expression used in Job: "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?" Job 38:22, 23. 4121 — The Ten Days of Suffering
Please explain Rev. 2:10. Is this past, or to come? L. S. It is past. Generally considered, it is prophetic of the ten years of the worst of the pagan persecutions under Diocletian, from 302 to 312, each day standing for a year. In what chapter can I find where it says about women voting in the last days? Z. The 29th chapter of Matthew, perhaps, or the 67th of Isaiah. It must be in some such place, for we know of no other. It tells about men voting, in the same chapters. 4123 — S. C.— Regarding an explanation of Isa. 65:20, we would say that if our querist will wait, an article will appear before a great while upon this particular text.