1. Unless this world is inhabited, its creation will have been in vain. What is true of this world is true of all others also, which shows, incidentally, that all the worlds are inhabited. This world is the lost sheep of the universe. Jesus came to seek and to save all that was lost as a result of sin. This will include a restoration of the dominion which was lost by Adam because of transgression, and man's restoration to his home in the new earth.
2. The lives of the wicked will not be prolonged in an eternal state of suffering to curse their Creator throughout endless ages. No such blot will remain to mar the work of God. The marks of the Crucifixion, which the Redeemer carries in His body, will be the only reminder of sin that will remain. See "Great Controversy," page 674.
3. "There I saw most glorious houses, that had the appearance of silver, supported by four pillars set with pearls, most glorious to behold, which were to be inhabited by the saints, and in which was a golden shelf. I saw many of the saints go into the houses, take off their glittering crowns, and lay them on the shelf, then go out into the field by the houses to do something with the earth; not as we have to do with the earth here; no, no. A glorious light shone all about their heads, and they were continually shouting, and offering praises to God."—Early Writings, page 14.
4. "The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed, but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin, the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity, where the King of glory lived and suffered and died,—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men, 'and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.'"—Desire of Ages, page 26.
The Sabbath-school lessons, at the close of this series, are discontinued in this paper. The Lesson Quarterly may be obtained, containing three months' lessons and notes, for five cents. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. The Sunday-school lessons will continue.
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Scripture References
This pamphlet groups the more important references on twenty-four different subjects in a very helpful way. Some of these subjects are; Signs that Show Christ’s Coming Near, The Millennium, The Sanctuary, The Sabbath, Spiritualism, The Soul in the Old and New Testaments.
Price 2c each. $1.40 per hundred, post-paid.
ADDRESS PUBLISHERS OF THIS PAPER.
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
“The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
But the light of the whole world dies
With the dying sun.
“The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
But the light of the whole life dies
When love is done.”
THE COURAGEOUS BLIND.
OF all the physical afflictions which come to human life, hopeless blindness, seizing on its victim in youth or in active middle age, seems in anticipation the most terrible. Even the agonizing forms of mortal disease, like cancer, are self-limited, and their very acuteness invokes all that sympathy and nursing can do for their alleviation. But the blind are soon left to settle down to the dreary round of semi-helplessness, and their imprisonment suggests sympathy only to the stranger. To their own little world it becomes a matter of course.
Yet, in spite of this appalling test of human endurance, the blind are distinguished for sweetness and lofty resignation. The finality of their doom doubtless contributes something to their courage. But when we get to the heart of their resignation, we generally find that out of their enforced darkness has sprung a communion with God more sustaining than that enjoyed by others. The gulf between the seen and the unseen narrows for them day by day. They learn to believe in friend, child, wife, husband, whom they can not see. Why not in God?
They live much within themselves, and think deeply of the things of the spirit. Soon they begin to reckon their blessings instead of their miseries. With that change comes peace.
Of those blessings there is none more often counted than a well-stored memory. An able New York lawyer spent weeks one summer among the White Mountains. He was much alone, and he had a new gravity of demeanor. One day a lady asked him if he were not taking a longer vacation than usual.
"Yes, I am," he replied, "My oculist tells me that in three months I shall be blind. I am spending the time in looking at the mountains, and in learning by heart the Psalms of David."
A strong, active woman was stricken with blindness when she was forty years old. For the first year the burden was almost greater than she could bear. Then the depression was slowly lifted, and she became the light and cheer of the household.
"There's one thing for which I can never be thankful enough," she said to a visitor. "I had made it a practise ever since I was a girl to read the Bible through every year. Just three years before I lost my eyesight it occurred to me that for a year or two I would give the time I had for the Bible to learning some of my favorite chapters by heart. So I memorized passage after passage, and they have been worth everything to me since I have been blind. Wasn't it a wonderful blessing that I should have had that thought? It seems to me I never appreciated my memory until I was blind, and I am sure I did not know what comfort there was in the Bible."—Youth's Companion.
OUR WORK IN THE RIVER PLATE DISTRICT.
By Sadie R. Town
BY SADIE R. TOWN.
*"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."*
HOW often we see this verified in mission work! But the only path of peace, the only way of blessing and success lies along the way of His leading, however mysterious it may appear to us. If we could only learn this lesson once for all, it would save us the many fruitless efforts, discouragements, and difficulties we get into by expecting the Lord to co-operate with us in our leading.
When the three young men from Pennsylvania who were the first missionaries sent here in the interests of the everlasting Gospel, landed on these shores in 1891, they had knowledge of only three persons in this country who were conversant with the message for this time. These were three French Swiss families who had been in correspondence with Bale, Switzerland.
Not knowing the language of the country, these young men started out in search of English and Germans with whom they could converse, and labored among them while acquiring the Spanish language.
In the province of Entre Ríos they found two or three families of German Russians who had received the truth in Kansas, and had come out here to communicate the good news to relatives and friends. This province has many colonies of their nationality who are attracted by a soil and climate favorable for their home industry, which is wheat-growing.
General View of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
When Brother F. H. Westphal came out from home three years later to work among them, he found a soil receptive of the good seed of the Word, and raised up several churches near each other which still form the backbone, so to speak, of the believers here.
Their first appearance to a stranger is unique indeed,—rustics with unkempt hair and beard, brightly-dressed women with head enveloped in the never-failing kerchief, and barefooted children dressed like diminutive men and women. But in their meetings one discerns the unmistakable Spirit which binds us all together, whether we be Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free. And their singing is something soul-inspiring, or was before they became timid about it through imbibing some idea that singing should go by note. Every one sang with all his might; and each different part sliding up and down (each voice seems to carry a distinct part) and breaking time with the rest, but all bringing up suddenly at the last in perfect unison, rhyme and rhythm, and with an emphasis peculiar to themselves,—really it must be heard to be appreciated.
Our industrial school is located near these colonies, some fifteen miles away. When the ground was first broken on an eminence of the rolling prairie exposed to the glaring rays of the sun and the incessant winds; when the ants repeatedly destroyed every green thing planted, even peeling the bark from the young trees and leaving them bleached and bare; when the long, rainy winters prevented us from receiving the mails for weeks together, and boyish feet kept all bedaubed with adhesive mud, we were tempted to wish that our school were otherwise located.
But time, hard work, and God's blessing have done wonders. If there were a photograph doing justice to the school as it is now, I should be glad.
A long drive lined with rows of paradise trees leads up to the house through a beautiful vegetable garden on one side, and a flourishing young fruit orchard on the other. In front of the house are nicely laid-out flower-beds and a row of pine trees. The galpones are filled with grains, vegetables, and peanuts from the farm, and one by one the necessary horses, cows, and farming implements are being brought together.
The school is an object lesson in order, neatness, industry, and hygienic living, not only to the families represented in it, but to the Russian brethren round about who visit it from time to time, as needy as it still is of class-room facilities. Students are drawn from the other provinces and from Uruguay; Spanish, English, and German are taught; the Lord's blessing seals the institution as His own; and souls are being converted through it. About fifty students were enrolled last year.
The neighboring province of Santa Fe is that which follows Entre Ríos in the number of Sabbath-keeping representatives. In its southern part are several French and German Swiss companies, and farther north in the same province there are Spanish-speaking churches.
Uruguay, too, which is included with Argentina and Paraguay in the River Plate district, has two or three strong companies. There is one North American family where the mother and two daughters are in the truth. One of the daughters is a music teacher, is well educated, and is a help in the many translations of which we have need from English into Spanish.
Ever since the work began here, the practise has been followed of celebrating a general tent-meeting once a year. At first these were always near the companies in Entre Ríos. One was in Diamante, where passengers from Buenos Aires disembark on their way to the school four leagues inland. And, by the way, viewed from the side one nears in coming from the school, Diamante looks a second Nazareth with its flat roofs and eminent position.
But to return to the subject, a general interest was manifested among all classes while the meeting was going on, but the company who finally stepped out was composed almost entirely of very poor and humble people, as is many times the case. Among these was an Italian who afterward came to the province of Buenos Aires to seek work. He finally brought his family down, and settled. About a year ago my husband began to receive letters from him to the effect that there were people there who were deeply interested in the truth. After a considerable, but unavoidable delay, those interested ones were visited; and their experience in accepting the truth is such a typical one as showing how one finds the people, that I give it.
The family consisted of an Italian farmer, his wife and two unmarried sons who had grown up in the country. The father had been a successful contractor and builder until intemperance caused his undoing. They had been thoroughly instructed concerning the "beast" and the "mark of the beast," theoretically, but understood little of what constitutes a true Christian life. They had not the slightest knowledge either of the contents of the Holy Book, or the practise of direct prayer to the Father, and had to be taught just like little children.
Suffice it to say that they willed to do His will, and realized the promise that such "shall know of the doctrine." They took up each duty as it was presented to them. The woman renounced her Virgin, took off her jewelry, and gave up mate. The men had a real struggle when it came to tobacco and wine. However, they were also victorious through the Lord's help and the use of the temperance pledge, altho the father assured us that he loved the Lord a great deal, or he should never have given up wine. But such a happy family as they were when they had decided to leave all for Jesus, especially so for the marvelous change in the father whose intemperance had led them all an intolerable life, until the older son had refused longer to call him "father." Now all is changed, and love and harmony prevail. The mother says she wants to look at her husband all the time, his face looks so like the face of an angel. And he has altered very much, gaining rapidly in appetite and flesh.
As there was no water near the premises, a sepulcher of convenient size was dug beside the well, lined with canvass and filled with water. Then seven souls (three beside this family) were buried with their Lord in baptism, while we sang in Spanish,—
"O happy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Saviour and my God."
Before the mother went down into the water she went to a neighbor who was present, kissed her good-by, and asked her pardon for anything she might have done to grieve her. This touched her friend's heart very much. From that time on this neighbor began to study the Bible she had bought, and has since been baptized with her husband and uncle.
When we came away they sent a case of wine unopened, ten pounds of tobacco, a jar of cherries preserved in spirits, a mate cup and bombilla which they had used nineteen years, two images of the Virgin of Lujan, two of the Sacred Heart, and some jewelry. They have been very generous in their money donations from time to time. They say that the truth saves them so much expense that they have considerable to give. The new members generally are very free to support the work with their means.
At the general meeting recently held, the first resolution presented was that we give expression as a conference to our gratitude to God for the blessings of the past year. A young man who had been converted in the school last year, arose, and, with some touching and appreciative words for what God had done for him, put a bill of ten pesos on the pulpit. One by one others followed his example, until nearly every one in the congregation had taken part in this voluntary contribution.
In Misiones and Paraguay where there were but three or four scattered believers, seven companies have been gathered out during the last year. From Entre Ríos and Santa Fe there is also good news of additions to the faith; and a call has come from Santiago del Estero, a province never visited by our workers, asking for baptism. These families had learned of the truth through our little Spanish monthly paper El Faro (The Lighthouse). They were so interested in seeing and hearing the missionary that no one retired the night of his arrival, not even the children. Four were baptized there, and left as witnesses.
The enemy of all righteousness is not asleep at this time either, as he shows in various ways. One of these is the Sunday-closing movement set on foot by the Catholic Church and the labor organizations, and heartily entered into by the Protestants as well. The boycott is already advocated against those business houses who refuse to close.
These, however, are only incidents to be expected on the way, and in no way affect the final outcome of the conflict in which we are engaged.
"We wait Thy triumph, Saviour King;
Long ages have prepared Thy way;
Now all abroad Thy banner fling,
Set time's great battle in array.
"On mountain-tops the watchfires glow,
Where scattered wide the watchmen stand;
Voice echoes voice, and onward flow
The joyous shouts from land to land.
"O, fill the church with faith and power,
Bid her long night of weeping cease:
To groaning nations haste the hour
Of life and freedom, light and peace."
A HYMN OF TRUST.
By Henry Hartshorne
O GOD, whom we adore,
Our faith increase!
Bid fears oppress no more;
Let doubting cease.
Our spirits yearn for peace;
Our trembling trust increase:
Give us Thy peace!
Thou, Lord, once crucified,
Support our trust.
Except in Thee we hide
We are but dust.
Till death our bonds release,
Our clinging hope increase:
Give us Thy peace!
Fearful, our eyes behold
Fire, earthquake, flood;
War's horrid garments rolled
In brother's blood.
Till man's confusions cease,
Our waiting trust increase:
Give us Thy peace!
Beneath thy temple's eaves
Sparrows may nest.
To every soul that grieves
Thou givest rest;
Rest, bought with faith's increase.
Give us, dear Lord, thy peace:
Give us Thy peace!
O, give us eyes to see
Through earthly gloom,
Beyond Gethsemane
The riven tomb.
Ours be thy cloudless peace;
Our darkening faith increase:
Give us Thy peace!
In thee we breathe each breath,
In thee we move.
What matters life, or death?
Thou, God, art Love.
Our trust, our love, increase;
Thy love is perfect peace:
Give us Thy peace!
—Henry Hartshorne.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
the brethren at Ridgefield, Wash., are erecting a church-school building.
a new sanitarium building at Otter Lake, Mich., is about ready for occupancy.
at Belleville, Mich., a house of worship and schoolroom are being erected.
as fruit of the labors of Brethren A. C. Shannon and J. P. Gaede, at Sidney, Ohio, ten persons have begun the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord.
the church at Afton, Iowa, was increased by the addition of two members, husband and wife, July 23. They were baptized by Brother C. A. Washburn.
meetings held in Ute, Iowa, by Brethren N. C. Bergensen, and P. E. Brothersen, have resulted in the baptism of four candidates, and the organization of a Sabbath-school of thirty-two members.
the new house of worship at Ann Arbor, Mich., was dedicated in connection with meetings held July 23 and 24, and the Daily Argus gave quite an extended notice of the dedication services. Brethren E. K. Slade, L. G. Moore, and O. B. Butcher were the ministers present.
the Union College Messenger of July 15 is a report of the Young People's Convention of the Central Union Conference, held in College View, Neb. It is a pamphlet of 88 pages, and contains much matter of interest and profit, especially to those who contemplate such convocations, or who are engaged in young people's work. Price 10 cents. Address the Messenger, College View, Neb.
from the Magnet, a weekly paper published in Jamestown, Tuolumne County, Cal., we learn that Brother M. C. Israel recently baptized six candidates in Sullivan Creek, near that place. "A goodly congregation from Tuolumne and Sonora were assembled on the bank of the stream," and "at the close of an interesting discourse" the candidates were baptized. Brother Israel hopes to organize a church at Sonora, in the near future.
a report in the Union Conference Record, by Brother S. M. Cobb, president of New South Wales Conference, Australia, notes the dedication of a house of worship at Eugowra, and the baptism of two candidates on the same occasion. The building is also used for a church school. He also reports the baptism of five persons, and the organization of a church of twelve members, at Orange. Five others had accepted the Sabbath truth who had not yet united with the church. A few days later, at Blayney, seven candidates were baptized, leaving as many more awaiting a future opportunity. The brethren at Bathurst are now building a house of worship, to be dedicated in September.
at Titikavika, on Rarotonga Island, in the Cook Group, the Sabbath-school lesson is taught in the church school during the week. This has greatly stimulated the interest in the Sabbath-school. Of this method the teacher, Sister Evelyn Gooding, writes to the Record (Cooranbong, N. S. W.): "In 'review,' instead of the adults alone finding the scriptures and reading off the answers in a formal way, the children just answer up before they can find the place in the Bible. The faces of the children show their eagerness to answer what they have so well mastered during the week. Their quick answers also stimulate the older ones to try to do better, as parents naturally feel ashamed when their children know more than they do."
the manner in which the last message of warning is permeating the different countries may be inferred from a brief report in Eastern Tidings of labor in Upper Burma, by D. Ella Smith and Enid Sloan. From their report of six weeks' labor we take the following: "We took about two hundred orders for Oriental Watchman and Good Health, sixty-two orders for 'Patriarchs and Prophets,' and twenty-six orders for 'Christ's Object Lessons.' The field had been canvassed twice for these books. In a large number of homes we found one or both of them with other literature of ours. In some homes we found as many as four different books which had been placed there by our canvassers. We can see that the truth is doing a quiet work among the people."
writing to the Minnesota Worker, of the work in Tennessee, Brother C. A. Graves says: The "work is onward in Tennessee. Many of the church companies are helping a canvasser to stay in the field by supplying what is lacking of the necessaries of life for his family. We have none yet, in the Earlyville church, but hope to be able to get some one soon. Brother Howell is working away at the school building. Going into the primeval forest with no backing but the Word of God, he has cleared about three acres of heavy timber, and now has the logs sawed, and has commenced the foundation of the house. We expect to begin school work as soon as we have a small building up. We will probably have to make our own furniture at first, and do the most of the work ourselves, altho some of the people near by will doubtless aid some about the heavier work."
writing to the Welcome Visitor concerning the work at the Life Boat Mission in Chicago, Brother W. S. Sadler says: "After counseling with other brethren, we decided to organize a company of Sabbath-keepers at the Mission. This was done Sabbath, July 9, and consisted of twenty-two members. The writer was chosen as leader of the company, with Brethren Van Dorn and Widgery as assistants. Brother D. K. Abrams was selected to be secretary and treasurer. Sabbath services and Sabbath-school are regularly held, and a baptistry has been built in the Mission. The Sabbath after the company was organized, it was my privilege to baptize four candidates, three of them being sisters. It is our plan to have Sabbath-keeping converts who are baptized, hold their membership in our regular churches in Chicago, and accordingly, we have arranged with the church elders so that they will examine the candidates with us before baptism."
OUR WORK IN CHINA.
THE Wisconsin Reporter gives the following from a letter received from Sister Ida Thompson, who writes from Canton, China, under date of May 29:—
“We have many interesting experiences here. Things are not done according to American fashion, I assure you, but we are learning the customs gradually. It is a great blessing to the work here that it requires months to learn the language, for the practices are so different that we would be sure to make great mistakes were it not for this waiting time.
“Elder Anderson is daily holding meetings with the natives, and has quite a congregation each time; but it is somewhat different from holding meetings in America. Here men will be passing, carrying large burdens—perhaps two large baskets containing as much as two or three bushels of fruit or various other articles. The baskets are placed on the floor while they listen to the talk, perhaps from five to thirty minutes, according to their time and inclination, when they will go away again. Some remain during the entire service, of course, but the above is a very common occurrence. Some will, by this means, however, receive the seed which germinates, and leads them to further investigate.
“At present there is a favorable prospect for a boys’ school here, which Mr. Anderson hopes to open in the fall. We so much need some good teachers. The girls’ school, which opened March 17, surprises us. Not one pupil has dropped out. We teach them from the Bible and from Bible stories, and while with but one exception they are heathen, they seem to enter into it with deep interest.
“I am pleased for invitations to visit and teach in nice homes. Of course I can not do very much thorough teaching yet, but I am making a little advancement. Our health has improved this year, and this encourages us.”
EVEN IN AFFLICTION.
A GIRL, belonging to a church society, went to call upon a cripple, says Young People's Weekly, taking some sweet spring flowers to the invalid. After a little conversation, the visitor asked:—
"Don't you get tired of being tied to that bed day and night, Miss Grey, week after week?"
"Yes, I think I do sometimes; that is, I grow bodily tired," was the response. "But I try not to think of that. I only want to remember that God is good and merciful. In His love He spared me, even tho I am crippled, to live that I might learn to know Him here. You see, before I was hurt I never thought about Him as being a real Friend and Helper. But since I have been compelled to lie here quiet and helpless, I can even find joy and thankfulness in my affliction; I live to serve Him, and that crowds almost every other thought out."
And the one who had come to minister went away feeling that she had received more than she had given during that brief visit. "Joy and thankfulness in affliction."
Truly, only those who know Him for the loving Saviour that He is can say this.
(4) "For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me, and ye shall live: (5) but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to naught. (6) Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. (7) Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, (8) seek Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is His name); (9) that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
(10) "They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. (11) Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat; ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof. (12) For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins—ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right. (13) Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.
(14) "Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say. (15) Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Golden Text.—"Seek the Lord, and ye shall live." Verse 6.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) Whence came Amos to reprove Israel? What was his occupation previous to his call to prophecy to this people? Note 1. (2) After reminding the people of their sins, what gracious invitation is given? Verse 4. Note 2. (3) To what were they enjoined not to seek? Why? Verse 5. Note 3. (4) What injunction was repeated? What would be the penalty of disregarding this counsel? Verse 6. Note 4. (5) What class was then specially addressed? Verse 7. Note 5. (6) Whom were these called to seek? How were they to know who he was? Verse 8. Note 6. (7) What reference is made to Jehovah's power? Verse 9. Note 7. (8) How did the official class regard the one who brought reproof? Verse 10; Isa. 29: 20, 21. (9) How was official corruption especially manifested? Verse 11. Note 8. (10) Who knew all about their transgressions? How were their sins again pointed out? Verse 12. Note 9. (11) What counsel is given to the prudent at such a time? Why? Verse 13. Note 10. (12) What counsel is once more repeated? With what grand inducement? Verse 14. Note 11. (13) How is this counsel continued? What prospect is added? Verse 15; Isa. 1: 16, 17.
NOTES.
1. Amos was a herdsman of Tekoa, in the northern part of the kingdom of Judah, but he was called of God to go and utter reproofs against Israel, the northern kingdom. He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam II., king of Israel, about a hundred years after Elijah. Amos first went to Beth-el, which, despite its sacred memories, had become a center of idolatry and the seat of one of the royal palaces. His mission required heroism; as it was like bearding the lion in his den; but he was possessed of the courageous spirit of the faithful shepherd. See ch. 7: 10-17. In delivering his warning message, however, the prophet used marked discretion. He did not abruptly allude to Israel as worse than other peoples, but referred to the judgments of God that awaited Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab; and then spoke of the fire that would yet come upon his own country, Judah, before delivering his special denunciation of Israel. See ch. 1: 1 to 2: 5.
2. Notwithstanding Israel's great sin, there was hope in turning to God. See, also, Isa. 1: 16-20.
3. To seek Beth-el and Gilgal and Beer-sheba meant seeking unto idols, which would result in material loss, as well as in soul famine. See ch. 8: 11-14.
4. "The house of Joseph" is another name for the kingdom of Israel, as Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, were the leading tribes in the kingdom.
5. Turning judgment to wormwood has reference to the corruption of the courts, whose judgments worked oppression to the poor.
6. Oriental shepherds in ancient times, being much of the time out at night, especially in the clear summer season, were close observers of the heavenly bodies, and some of them were well versed in astronomy. Job 9: 9; 38: 31-33. They were not all ignorant men, by any means, as, for instance, Abraham, Moses, Job, and David. They had time and opportunity to study the works of nature and to contemplate their origin and lessons. An idolatrous people were looking to certain planets as gods, in fact worshiping the whole host of heaven; therefore a call to seek Him who made these things was really a call to return to the observance of the Sabbath day. No people can go into idolatry who are faithfully keeping the memorial of the true God. This "sign" between God and His people (Ex. 31: 16, 17; Eze. 20: 20) is designed as a protection against idolatry. When we read of Israel's turning to idolatry, it is a sure sign that they had neglected the Sabbath day. See Isa. 58: 13, 14; Amos 8: 4-6.
7. "Sudden destruction upon the strong."—Israel was then enjoying great material prosperity, and had attained her greatest prestige in military power since the division of the kingdom. But, as is ever the case with nations, as wealth accumulated, men decayed.
8. "Burdens of wheat" refers to heavy taxes on crops. An illustration is found in a Turkish custom still extant in some parts. A wheat harvest can not be gathered until permission is given by a government official, and he often withholds the permit until the danger of loss compels the owner to pay him an exorbitant bribe.
9. Taking bribes and turning aside the needy in the gate—where all complaints of the people were heard, and their causes adjudged—is another reference to the corrupt practices of the judges. See, also, Micah 3: 9-12.
10. The prudent would keep silent in such a time, for the reason that protest would do no good, but would rather increase the oppression.
11. "As ye have spoken."—Israel still fancied themselves God's favorites, and their outward prosperity confirmed this thought, notwithstanding their idolatry. Therefore they were exhorted to conform their lives to His will.
