1. By what term is that combination of apostate powers against God's work characterized?
"A BEAST . . . having . . . seven heads, . . . and upon his heads NAMES OF BLASPHEMY. . . . And he opened his mouth for BLASPHEMIES AGAINST GOD, to BLASPHEME HIS NAME, and His tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven. . . . And all that dwell on the earth shall WORSHIP HIM, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb that hath been slain." Rev. 13: 1-8.
What Worship Is
2. What does worship imply?
Service, obedience. "Thou shalt WORSHIP the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou SERVE." Matt. 4: 10.
3. What mark, or badge, or seal, of service will apostasy seek to enforce?
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13: 16, 17.
NOTE.—We will not, nor can we in this issue, take the space to define the beast or the image of the beast. See the SIGNS of Feb. 12, 1908. Suffice to say that the beast represents the apostate powers of the Old World, centering in the latter days in the system of the Papacy; and that the two-horned beast and the image it forms are apostate Protestantism in the New World, turning the world itself back to the apostasy of the Papacy. The beast and the image demand worship, obedience, service. God demands worship, obedience, service. The beast is satisfied that the service shall be either willing or nominal, of the mind or of the hand; God demands that His service shall be willing service only. Therefore apostasy stamps its mark on the forehead or in the hand; while God places His seal, or mark, on the forehead alone. Needless to say these are not visible marks, but symbols of worship, service. It is clear, too, that the respective "marks," or distinguishing characteristics of worship or service of God and the beast, will be the difference of conduct, consequent upon obedience to different commands. Obedience to like commands will not distinguish the one class from another. Obedience to opposite commands will distinguish the two classes of worshipers.
4. What have we learned God's distinguishing mark to be?
CREATIVE POWER. Ps. 96: 5; Rev. 14: 7.
5. In what part of His law is this recognized?
In the Sabbath commandment. Ex. 20: 8-11.
6. What does that commandment require?
"Remember the SABBATH DAY, to keep it holy. . . . The SEVENTH day is the SABBATH."
7. How does the teaching of the Papacy differ from this?
"Ques.—Say the third [our fourth] commandment.
"Ans.—'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.'
"Ques.—What is commanded by the third commandment?
"Ans.—To SPEND THE SUNDAY IN PRAYER and other religious duties."—Butler's Catechism.
NOTE.—Now every one knows that nothing of the kind is commanded by the Sabbath precept, Roman Catholics as well as others. God says, the seventh day, and commands its observance. Apostasy says, the first day, Sunday, and commands its observance. It is very easily seen what the mark of distinction is between the worshipers of God and the beast power.
8. What do Roman Catholics claim this change to be which they have sought to make in God's law?
The DISTINGUISHING MARK OF HER POWER. Read from their own authorities:
Eusebius, a church Father, friend of Constantine:
"All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we [Pope Sylvester, Eusebius, Constantine, et al] have transferred to the Lord's day [Sunday]."
From the "Doctrinal Catechism:"
"Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
"Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
"Ques.—When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, do they follow the Scripture as their only rule of faith?—do they find this permission clearly laid down in the Sacred Volume?
"Ans.—On the contrary, they have only the authority of tradition for this practise. In profaning Saturday, they violate one of God's commandments, which He has never clearly abrogated,—'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.'"
From the "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine:"
"Ques.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."
(See other and Protestant authorities quoted in the SIGNS of Feb. 26, 1908.)
NOTE.—The Papacy boasts of the change she has made in the Sabbath as the mark of her power; that the [Roman Catholic] church has power she declares is proved by "the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday." The Sunday-Lord's day, then, is the mark of the papal system; and if the Papacy be apostate, the Sunday is the mark of apostasy.
Apostate Protestantism is acknowledging these claims, not in the quiet acquiescence of ignorance, but in loud demands that this mark of apostasy shall be enforced by law.
From Apostate Protestantism
"This day [Sunday] is set apart for divine worship and preparation for another life. It is the test of all religion."—Dr. W. W. Everts, in Elgin (Ill.) Sunday Convention, November, 1887.
"The sabbath [Sunday] is the corner-stone of Christ's kingdom. Let us recognize each recurring sabbath [Sunday] as the sign of God's covenant. By this sign the world largely judges the depth of our Christian character, and by this sign God judges us."—Mrs. J. C. Bateham, "Sabbath Leaflet" No. 33.
"When the people, through their representative, legalize the first day of the week as a day of rest and of worship for those who choose so to observe it, it is the sign of the Christian nation."—From a sermon reported in the "Christian Oracle," Jan. 12, 1893.
"For nothing were the noble men who planted true Christianity and an evangelical church in the wilderness now constituting the United States, since distinguished than for their reverence for the sabbath [Sunday]. It is quite a prominent feature of their character—a sign between them and the heathen world around; and, to a large extent, it has continued to be a mark of American religion in the present day."—Rev. J. G. Lorimer, in "Christian Treasury."
In a large National Reform assembly at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., of Chicago, presided. Rev. Herrick Smith, moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly (1894), presented the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the fundamental principles of the National Reform Association . . . are true and Scriptural principles, and that these principles must control our national life, or we shall perish.
"Resolved, That the sabbath [the Sunday] is a sign between God and man, and its reverent observance a mark of the nation whose God is Jehovah."
The Michigan Christian Advocate of Sept. 3, 1892, says of this convention:
"There were present large numbers of very prominent leaders from different parts of the United States. These representative men from so wide a range of territory were unanimous in their agreement on the principles and measures set forth in the resolutions."
Says the Advance (Congregationalist) of Aug. 2, 1894:
"The sabbath [Sunday] serves the same purpose to-day as did the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden; a prohibition is laid upon it that men may not use it for their own pleasure. This prohibition is to test them and train them. It is designed continually to teach them reverence for law. That man is an anarchist at heart who deliberately flaunts at the sacredness of the sabbath [the Sunday], or sneers at any other distinct revelation of the law of God."
In all these references to "the sabbath," the Sunday is referred to. God's Sabbath never sought human legislation, and if its devotees are Christians it never will. To call Sunday "the sabbath" does not make it so.
9. What, then, is the mark of apostasy?
There can be but one conclusion—the SUNDAY is the RIVAL OF THE SABBATH, the true Lord's day. Rev. 1: 10; Mark 2: 27; Isa. 58: 13; Ex. 20: 10.
10. What, then, is the mark of the beast, or apostasy clothed with civil power?
### The SUNDAY ENFORCED BY LAW.
11. What is the reception of this mark of apostasy?
(a) It is NOT the mere observance of Sunday; for thousands have kept the day, in both Catholic and Protestant churches, believing they were doing God's will; and God will justify the perfect heart and faith, not because they observed Sunday, but in spite of it.
(b) It is not the mere keeping of Sunday as an individual, knowing it to be contrary to God's Word. That would be apostasy, but not the reception of the mark of the beast.
(c) The reception of the mark of the beast is, in the light of God's Word and the Sabbath truth, to turn from that truth and yield allegiance to a MAN-MADE SABBATH ENFORCED BY MAN-MADE LAW IN OPPOSITION TO THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD. That is the crisis not yet upon us in the sense of the prophecy, but toward which the world is forging with mighty strides. Men in heart are forcing the awful issue and demanding it; and when a foolishly blinded people and corrupt politicians shall grant the power, we will have the enforcement of the mark of the beast.6(Continued on page 9)
Our Bible Reading
(Continued from page 5)
12. What warning has God uttered against this culmination of apostasy?
"If any man WORSHIPETH THE BEAST and his IMAGE, and receiveth a MARK on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that WORSHIP THE BEAST and his IMAGE, and whoso receiveth THE MARK OF HIS NAME." Rev. 14: 9-11.
13. How are those described who heed the message?
"Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and the FAITH OF JESUS." Verse 12.
14. What eternal victory do they thus gain?
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the
THE BIBLE SABBATH
By A. T. Robinson
What Does the Bible Say?
The Foundation
JESUS declares, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27.
Two facts are here clearly stated: (1) that the Sabbath was made; (2) for whom it was made.
To learn when, where, how, and by whom the Sabbath was made, we must turn to the record in Gen. 2:1-3, where we learn that the Sabbath was made by three specific acts performed by the Creator.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made."
The first of these three acts, the resting upon the day, was performed upon the first seventh day of time. He blessed and sanctified the seventh day, "because that in it He had rested." The two acts, of blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath, could not pertain to the first seventh day of time, as that day was already past. The blessing and sanctification of the Sabbath must therefore have pertained to the future seventh days, as they should occur at the close of each weekly cycle.
The good old patriarch Abraham faithfully observed these same commandments and laws. Of him the Lord says, "Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Gen. 26:5. Thus the Sabbath, as an existing institution, spans the arch from Eden to Mount Sinai, when it was embosomed in the heart of the Decalogue.
No one questions the binding obligation of the Sabbath from Sinai to the Cross. We will therefore consider another great archway spanned by the Edenic Sabbath.
Christ's Regard for the Sabbath
Turning to the New Testament record, we find at the very beginning of His public ministry, the Lord Jesus declares that His mission was not to do away with any part of the law. His own words were:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot [the smallest Hebrew letter] or one tittle [the smallest distinguishing corner of a letter] shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:17, 18.
Concerning His public ministry, we read:
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and, AS HIS CUSTOM WAS, He went into the synagog on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16. "And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days." Luke 4:31.
The Apostles
Passing on to the record of the apostles, citing the chiefest of them as an example, we read:
"And Paul, AS HIS MANNER WAS, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17:2. After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. . . . And he reasoned in the synagog every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." "And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them." Acts 18:1, 4, 11.
As late as A.D. 96 we find the "Lord's day" referred to as an existing institution. John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10. There is only one day referred to in all the Bible which the Lord claims as His own day. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." Isa. 58:13, 14. Here the Lord calls the Sabbath His holy day. We are not left in doubt as to which day is the Sabbath; for we read, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10. Therefore we know that a day referred to in A.D. 96 as "the Lord's day," is none other than the Sabbath, which is the seventh day. Here again we have another arch, from the Cross to the close of the New Testament record, spanned by the Edenic Sabbath.
The Remnant and the Sabbath
After an antichristian power, as predicted in Dan. 7:25 and other scriptures, has thought to change the Sabbath from the day which God rested upon, blessed, and sanctified, we behold a world-wide movement—which is also a direct fulfilment of prophecy—calling the attention of God's people to the downtrodden Sabbath of Jehovah. The sun does not set upon those who have responded to this movement, by turning away their feet from the Bible Sabbath. The lonely seer of Patmos, looking through the telescope of prophetic vision, beheld the remnant church, and exclaims, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. He saw this commandment-keeping people in deadly conflict with the powers of darkness. "And the dragon was wroth with the woman [the church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12:17.
Describing the next scene, after beholding the remnant church keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, the prophet exclaims, "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. . . . And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." Rev. 14:14-16.
Turning to secular history, from the point where the inspired record closed, we find that during the first centuries of the Christian era the Bible Sabbath was observed by Christians; that gradually, as the church departed from the simplicity of the faith, it also departed more and more from the Sabbath, until it nearly lost sight of it. But traces of adherence to the Bible Sabbath are on record, showing that even throughout the Dark Ages that have intervened, God has not left Himself without witnesses for the Sabbath. And now, in these last days, we behold a people, true to the prophetic announcement, proclaiming to earth's remotest bounds the message of the "everlasting Gospel" for this time. We behold thousands of honest people in every part of the earth responding to the trumpet call, rallying around the standard, and holding aloft the banner of truth, inscribed with "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Thus we have the one remaining arch, from the close of New Testament history to the second coming of the Son of Man, spanned by the Sabbath of all the ages.
Christian Religion Exclusive
By David J. Burrell
OUR religion is an exclusive one, as exclusive as light is exclusive of darkness, as inertia is exclusive of momentum, as life is exclusive of death.—Rev. David J. Burrell.
What Is Its Bible Status?
By Abdiel
KEPT as the Sabbath by thousands of good Christians in the past. Kept by thousands of good Christians in the present. It is worthy of your consideration.
The Bible Christian says, "Prove all things [by the Word], hold fast that which is good." Jesus said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up." Matt. 15:13.
Every Mention of the "First Day of the Week"
What then do the Scriptures say in regard to a first-day sabbath? — Well, here is every text in the New Testament which speaks of the first day of the week:
1. "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher." Matt. 28:1.
2. "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen." Mark 16:1, 2.
3. "Now when He was risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons." Mark 16:9.
4. "And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared." Luke 23:56; 24:1.
5. "And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was threescore furlongs from Jerusalem." Luke 24:13.
6. "Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb." John 20:1.
7. "When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 'Peace be unto you.'" John 20:19.
8. "And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight." Acts 20:7.
9. "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come." 1 Cor. 16:2.
There they are, reader, every one of them. Read them over and over till every word is familiar. Take your Bible and read the context till you are familiar with the record. Know, as you read, that you have before you every instance in all God's Word where the "first day of the week" is mentioned.
What Do They Mean?
The first seven of these passages, including Luke 24:13, refer to one and the self-same first day of the week, the day on which Jesus arose from the dead. They record this rising, and the events of that day. In that record there is not an intimation that the day was sacred or to be made sacred. When Christ the Creator founded the Sabbath in the beginning, He did it by three specific steps; namely, resting upon that day, blessing it, setting it apart. But no such record is given of the first day. His resurrection upon that day was as it were in a moment, occurring before the day dawned, and, some contend, on the Sabbath day previous. The very uncertainty as regards the exact moment shows clearly that the resurrection was not to be commemorated by a Christian day, but by a Christian life.
The day was one of fearful suspense to the disciples. They disbelieved, they doubted, they hoped, they feared. The very meeting held at the close of the day, was in their own common abode (Acts 1:13), not to celebrate the day or the fact of the resurrection; for when Jesus appeared He upbraided them for their unbelief (Mark 16:10, 12, 14; Luke 24:38). Most certainly the fear and unbelief are not consonant with the claim that they met together to honor that day. The simple fact is that Jesus met with them as soon as they were all together, at the very close of the day.
The eighth passage merely records a night meeting at Troas by the apostle Paul on his way to Jerusalem, on what is our Saturday night (the Bible day began at sunset); and the apostle spent the light part of that day in journeying on foot to Assos. The great event of the meeting was the restoration of life to Eutychus. The day was one of activity both to Paul and his companions.
The ninth passage quoted above is simply an order from the apostle to each member of the church to set apart, as God prospered, a certain amount on the first day of the week. The labors of the previous week were in the past, and the members could better calculate their store. Note also that this money was not to be taken to the church or placed in a contribution box, but was to be laid up "by him in store," in his own house, or home. The whole thing speaks of business, not a holy day.
The First Commandment for First-day Observance
There is a first-day observance commandment, the very first on record; but unfortunately not as old as the Bible, nor given by a holy man. It is given at the top of this page. Its author was the heathen emperor Constantine, a sun- and self-worshiper. All the Sunday observance of the early centuries crept into the church through half-converted heathen philosophers and teachers, who corrupted the faith. Choose between these commandments in the headings of this and the previous page.
I am not, dear reader, condemning the good of past generations or of to-day. The old counterfeit of God's Sabbath is well worn. Many have accepted it as genuine, even as honest men accept counterfeit bills as genuine. But no honest man would continue to pass a counterfeit bill, knowing it to be such. If he could not collect from the man who passed it to him, he would pocket his loss.
God's plan is infinitely better. When He reveals the counterfeit by His great Detector, the Scriptures, He gives us the eternal genuine.
"Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted," says Jesus, "shall be rooted up." Will you take planting of error in the soon-to-perish tradition, or the plant of truth forever to grow and bloom and fruit in the evergreen garden of God?
The True Basis of Religious Liberty
THE only true, permanent basis of religious liberty has regard for the rights of other men, even for bitter opponents. He who is insistent on demanding his own "rights," if sufficiently successful in obtaining them is quite likely to demand more, and so infringe upon the rights of his fellows. But that people who demand equality of rights for others, who insist that their opponents, even their enemies, shall be assured liberty, by that very principle place their own liberty on an enduring basis.
The Works of His Hands
"The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are sure. They are established forever and ever; They are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8.
The Mark of Apostasy
Now in God's providence and plan His great threefold message of Rev. 14: 6-14 is going to the world to call men from darkness to light; is going to Babylon to call men from confusion of cruel dogma and tradition back to the Word of God. Some in every nation, tribe, and people, will hear, and heed, and do; will return to "the everlasting Gospel," and be found among those who "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. Others will abide in Babylon, will in Babylon commit spiritual fornication BY UNITING WITH CIVIL POWER TO ENFORCE THE DOGMAS AND TRADITIONS OF ERROR, AMONG WHICH WILL BE SUNDAY. AROUND THIS ALL THE UNION OF CHURCH-AND-STATE FORCES IS GATHERING. This union and consequent conditions between church and state compose the beast and the image, till organized apostasy and church-and-state tyranny are world-wide. THE MARK AND TEST OF ALLEGIANCE TO THIS POWER WILL BE THE LEGAL SUNDAY, THE GREAT MARK OF APOSTASY, the change in God's law; and HE WHO IN THE LIGHT OF GOD'S WORD TURNS FROM THAT LIGHT, FROM THAT LAW, FROM THAT GOSPEL AND ITS POWER, TO THE DARKNESS OF TRADITION AND APOSTASY, TO THE POWER OF THE CIVIL ARM, RECEIVES IN HIS VERY WORSHIP AND YIELDED ALLEGIANCE THE CHARACTER OF THE POWER HE SERVES, AND HE CROWNS THAT WITH THE BADGE OF BEAST AUTHORITY, the MARK of his SERVITUDE, by the OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY AS ENFORCED BY THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, in contradistinction to the true service of God in the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
This is in principle the mark of the beast. Just the particular form it may assume in the future development, we do not know. Just at what stage of character-development men possess that mark and cut themselves off from God, it is not for mortals to say. JUDGMENT rests WITH GOD, NOT MAN. It is for us to proclaim the solemn warning against false worship, the dread consequences of sin; to set forth the eternal principles of the true; to plead with men to come to Christ in the faith that changes character; to entreat them to let that Spirit write God's holy law upon the heart, and make the doing of His every command a delight. But praise God, the judgment of those who reject His truth rests not with us, but with Him.
The Preparation and the Conflict
By R.
NOW and again we hear some one lamenting over the failure morally of a young man or a young woman. "I wish they might have been under better influence. Had they been, they might have continued true."
The influences of life are important; but it was God's plan that our youth should be so fully equipped morally when they leave home for the activities of life, that external influences would not swerve them from the right.
It is true that the issue of every moral battle is a question of the relative strength of the external evil influence as compared with the internal steadfastness of a holy purpose. But even so, it is God's intention not to remove the external influence, but to outweigh and more than outweigh it with the strength of holy resolution.
Men and women are not to evade the conflict by being reared in a sort of moral hothouse, where none but favorable influences prevail. The battles must come, the storms will drive; but they result in the fiber of soul that is like to that of the strong, unyielding oak.
Not that we are to seek evil influences. Not that we are to walk boldly into temptation. Moral purpose, steadfast resolution for the right, is of itself an antagonism against sin that drives one by pure choice, by sheer abhorrence of evil, as far as can be from all that is unholy and impure.
But for all of this, "It is impossible but that offenses will come." They are inevitable. These occasions of stumbling are the accompaniments of a wicked world. "But wo unto him, through whom they come." So long as sin is sin, and results in degradation, ruin, and death, he shall be held accountable who ventures to increase its volume in this already too wicked world.
But God will not keep His own from that measure of temptation and evil influence that is necessary for them to bear as they hold their place in an evil world.
God did not keep Daniel from all the unmeasured, uncounted seductions and blandishments of an idolatrous court in the days of Babylon. Daniel must live daily in the atmosphere of error and folly. But while God did not take him from the world, He kept him, gloriously kept him, from the awful evils of the world. Daniel grew to be a pillar of truth and righteousness. The strength of his life has gone out to nerve countless thousands to do valiant battle against the wiles of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
God associated His chosen people with the Egyptian nation when it was at the very pinnacle of its glory, when it was mightiest for opulence, for conquest, and for idolatry. But in even that seductive age, we see a Moses calmly turning away from it all, and counting the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.
God's people were associated with the Assyrian nation when under its mightiest monarch it threatened the chosen of God with swift retribution and destruction. But in that hour of contest, we see the noble king Hezekiah opening the taunting letter of the idolatrous conqueror toward heaven, and leaving the unseen issue with God. And tho
"The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold,"
Yet
"The might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord."
And so in the days of Babylon, of Persia, of Rome, and of Greece, God matched His spiritual heroes against the martial heroes of the mighty nations, tho these nations stood at the time in the wealth of unparalleled worldly greatness. The steadfast loyalty of these noble citizens of the commonwealth of heaven rent in sunder the armored might of worldly kings, and shook to the earth the very pillars of their existence.
And thus in the closing scenes of time in this mightiest of the dramas of all the ages, God will measure the might of his loyal ones against the might, the arrogance, the cruelty, the oppression of all the nations of all the world, as they concentrate against them not merely the power of one realm, but the power of every king and potentate and ruler whatsoever beneath the canopy of these earthly skies.
In a little way from this the beast and the dragon and the false prophet shall muster all the armies of the world to the last great contest. He that dares to disobey, receives the sentence of death. But even so the loved ones of God come off victorious over the beast and his image, and by faith we behold them standing upon the crystal sea before the throne of God. They sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. The might of truth and righteousness9has prevailed above the might of error and sin. The kingdom of God, without the stress of arms or the shout of captains, has conquered. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
And those who are training as candidates for that blest estate, must pass through trial and shame and mockery and seeming death. The temptations will be numerous enough, the way dark and tortuous. The seductions of the evil one will be specious and malign. We can not escape the battle. Endurance gives victory. Endurance produces the spiritual perfection. The ways of affliction are but the roads that lead to heaven. The trials are God's workmen, that fashion us over for the kingdom eternal.
We can not escape trial. The greatest struggle of the ages is impending. But through Christ we already have the victory.
OUR readings begin with Leviticus 26, and close with Numbers 15. The last two chapters of Leviticus are of wonderful interest, the one consisting of awful and blessed prophecies and promises concerning Israel; awful if they fail to meet God's mind, blessed if they are always in harmony with His law. The sad thing is that they refused to do that, and they met the curses instead of the blessings.
CHAPTER 27 is a record of various laws concerning redemption; the last part of which contains the law of tithing — not a new law, because known before to Abraham and Jacob. The law simply shows how it was carried out in Israel.
THE first four chapters of Numbers give us much of detail that is not of special interest only as showing how careful God was in the numbering of His people, each tribe numbered by itself under careful census inspectors.
THE second chapter shows us under what perfect order the tribes encamped; each under its own standard, and then these subdivided so that three were under one larger standard. The four great standards were those of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan. The symbol of these standards respectively were said to be a lion, a man, an ox, and an eagle. Compare with the four living creatures of Revelation 4 and Ezekiel 1. Note the careful division of labor among the Levites; the putting outside of the camp all infectious and deadly diseases, and the various hygienic laws given in the books of Moses, which are the admiration of the best physicians to-day.
IN these chapters in Numbers we have two of the great transgressions of Israel recorded; namely, in lusting for flesh, and the traitorous conduct of the ten spies sent to search out the land. Among many scriptures worthy of memorizing in this week's lesson, let us take home to our hearts that found in Num. 6:24-27.
SELF is the only prison that can ever bind the soul;
Love is the only angel who can bid the gates unroll;
And when He comes to call thee, arise and follow fast;
His way may lie through darkness, but it leads to light at last. — Van Dyke.
Good Motives but Bad Methods in Education
IN The Delineator for February a writer points out some disappointments in education which both parents and children ought to consider. We quote from the excellent article the following of a father who was a hard-working printer, laboring to give his daughter an education:
“ ‘You see,’ he said simply, ‘my girl graduated from college two years ago. When she was a baby in her cradle, her mother and I used to sit beside her and say to each other, “Now she shall have what we didn’t get!” So we raked and scraped, we did without, and we kept that plan in mind until she had graduated from the high school. Then we had saved enough to send her to college. She is teaching now, and they say she is the best teacher in that county.’
“No one could see the light in those earnest eyes or hear the tremor in that earnest voice without a lump in the throat, and the heartfelt hope that the girl, wherever she might be, would make good, in complete allegiance to the home ties, the life-long sacrifice.
“But here, as we all know, the problem is a serious one. Out of the common home with its meager furnishings, bought by the plodding toil of both father and mother, the girl goes to her college life, so foreign to her earlier experiences. Unless she is very wise and unusually well disciplined, she comes to set a false worth upon all that she wins through the college associations, and to underestimate the virtues which have been won by the very life of toil, of sacrifice, from which she is escaping. She does not realize that in many ways her father and mother are educated far beyond her; she does not realize that their toil and sacrifice have won out of the farm, out of the routine which was their daily portion, a strength, a dignity, a virtue which she has yet to win.
“The parents also overestimate the advantage of this life which is foreign to them; and so the daughter often comes back from college virtually estranged from the home, a gulf having been fixed by this very sacrifice. If she is wise and womanly, and has been trained to consider essential values, she ought to reenforce the home life and to bring a generous blessing with her when she returns from college. But if she sees only the awkwardness, hears only the doubtful grammar, deplores lack of convention, and fails to realize the greater virtues which abide in the home, the gift of the father and mother simply results in the loss of the daughter.”
