1. What did Daniel say at the close of chapter 8 concerning the vision of that chapter? Verse 27, last clause.
2. What part of Gabriel's commission then remained unfulfilled?
3. At the conclusion of Daniel's prayer, in the ninth chapter, who again appeared to him? Verses 20, 21.
4. What does Gabriel tell Daniel he has returned to him for? Repeat verse 22.
5. Repeat verse 23. When does Gabriel tell Daniel he has received the commandment to come to his assistance? For what does he again say he has now come? What does he tell Daniel to consider? What vision? Dan. 8:26.
6. How much of the 2,300 days does Gabriel say was to be allotted to Daniel's people, the Jews? Verse 24, first clause.
7. Repeat verse 25. What event does the angel say would mark the beginning of this great prophetic period?
8. How many years from that event does the angel say would reach to Messiah, the Prince?—Sixty-nine weeks—483 prophetic days—483 literal years.
9. What three decrees constitute “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem”? Ezra 6:14.
10. Read carefully Ezra 7:11-28. What is the date of this royal commandment to restore and build Jerusalem? See date in margin of Ezra 7. Notice that the fifth month, Jewish, would be in the autumn, according to the modern calendar.
11. Beginning in the autumn B. C. 457, to what date do the 483 years reach?—To the baptism or anointing of Messiah the Prince, in the autumn of A. D. 27. Mark 1:10, marginal date.
Proof: To 456 3/4 years before Christ (B. C. 457, autumn)
Add 26 3/4 years after Christ (A. D. 27, autumn)
Total, 483 years.
12. How much remained, then, of the period allotted to the Jewish people?—One week, or seven years, reaching to A. D. 34.
13. What was to take place during this week? What in the midst of the week? Verse 27.
14. Beginning in the autumn of B. C. 457, when would the entire 70 weeks, or 490 years, allotted to the Jews, terminate?—A. D. 34.
Proof: To 456 3/4 years before Christ (B. C. 457, autumn)
Add 33 1/4 years after Christ (A. D. 34, autumn)
Total, 490 years.
15. Did the Gospel cease to go to the Jews exclusively in A. D. 34? See Acts 8:1-5, 25 (date in margin).
16. Beginning in the autumn of B. C. 457, when must the whole period of 2,300 years terminate?—The autumn of 1844.
Proof: To 456 3/4 years before Christ (B. C. 457, autumn)
Add 1843 1/4 years after Christ (A. D. 1844, autumn)
Total, 2,300 years.
17. What event was looked for in the autumn of 1844?—Students of prophecy looked for the second advent at that date, when they saw that the prophetic period would be fulfilled.
18. What two events had they confused?—The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the destruction of the earth by fire at the second coming of Christ. (Future lessons will explain.)
NOTES.
1. Since the vision of chapter 8 was in the last year of Belshazzar, and the prayer of the ninth chapter in the first year of Darius, who took the throne on the death of Belshazzar, the time between the chapters need not have been more than a few months, or even weeks.
2. Since it takes the commandments of Cyrus (B. C. 536—Ezra 1), of Darius (B. C. 519—Ezra 6), and of Artaxerxes (B. C. 457—Ezra 7), to constitute “the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem,” it is apparent that we must date from the last one, since the “commandment” was not complete until Artaxerxes’ decree was issued.
3. In the midst of this last seven-year period, or week, just three and a half years from the autumn of A. D. 27, when Jesus was anointed the Christ at His baptism, He was crucified (the spring of A. D. 31), thus causing the sacrifices to cease.
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The Great Day of the Lord
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THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD. By M. C. Wilcox. This tract of 40 pages sets forth in brief some of the more important events of the Great Day of God Almighty. It discusses the character of that day, shows when it begins, the coming of the Lord, the events in connection with that coming, the Millennium, the Saints in Judgment, when the Day of the Lord Ends, and the Eternal Home of the Redeemed. Bible Students' Library No. 65. Price, 5 cents.
Baptism: Its Significance, Its Nature, and the Necessity for It
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BAPTISM: Its Significance, Its Nature, and the Necessity for It. By E. J. Waggoner. Bible Students' Library, No. 79. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents.
THE DESIRE OF AGES
By Editor
The SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS are again taking up the life of our Saviour. While there are many books on this subject, yet it is safe to say that never before has that Life of lives been treated so reverently and so helpfully as in
THE DESIRE OF AGES
"The Desire of Ages" is a large volume of 866 7x10-inch pages, the key-note of which is the grand truth that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself."
Christ said, "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." The working out of this purpose is traced in the life of Christ on earth. It is shown how Christ, as man's representative, endured the temptations by which man is overcome, and conquered in his behalf, and that man, becoming partaker of God's divine nature, is enabled to overcome as Christ overcame. God in Christ, and Christ in His followers, can withstand all the power of Satan. And as Christ came to reveal the love of God, so His followers are to reveal the love of Christ.
From another standpoint this volume is a study of the life of Christ and His disciples.
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The lessons prepared for the International Sabbath-school for this quarter are on the Prophecies of Daniel. There is just one standard exposition of those great prophecies, and that is contained in
DANIEL and the REVELATION
The Response of History to the Voice of Prophecy. A verse-by-verse study of these important books of the Bible.
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A Just and Discriminating Judge
By Editor
Apropos of our first-page article is an incident in the life of Franklin. When nineteen years of age, he visited London, and, desiring work, he called at a printing-office. The foreman, having little faith in the knowledge of colonial boys, said, "Ah, a lad from America seeking employment as a printer. Well, do you really understand the art of printing? Can you set type?" Franklin stepped to one of the cases, and, in a short time, set up these words from the first chapter of John: "Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see." The delicate reproof in the matter put into type had its effect, and the work was done so quickly and correctly that Franklin was at once given a position. So with the Greater than Franklin, the works that He did bore witness of Him; it mattered not where He lived. And so with all: it matters little where we live if duty calls there, but how we live.
A Just and Discriminating Judge.
A Tacoma, Wash., city paper tells us that in Department No. 2 of the Superior Court Judge Chapman excused a juror from duty on the seventh day, because the juror had conscientious convictions against serving on the Sabbath. In stating the case before the court Mr. Shindler said, "Before I was a Christian I was honest in the service of my employer; now, judge, would you have me be otherwise in my service to God?" Mr. Shindler did a right and wise thing in thus candidly presenting his case; and the judge did a right and just thing in continuing the case over the Sabbath day.
Vices Sapping Society.
By Editor
'Rita' (Mrs. W. Desmond Humphreys), the noted English moralist and essayist, presents a fearful picture of the 'smart set,' the frivolous fashionable leaders of society. Among these she notes gambling, and especially among women, and the worse drug habit, stimulation to goaded, overstrained nerves.
She says (San Francisco Examiner): "I once made a practise of watching the tables at various teashops and restaurants at the hour usually sacred to that 'cup which cheers.' I noted with surprise that for one woman who took tea or ordered it there were at least half-a-dozen men. The woman, if alone or with a very intimate friend, often ordered wine, brandy and soda, or a liqueur of some sort. With the decline of womanly dignity, delicacy, and moral rectitude must come the inevitable degradation of home life and public life. To be ashamed of one's mother or one's wife is, of all fates, the worst that can befall a man, for it saps the very life-blood of his heart and drives him to despair."
And what of all the lower grades of 'society' which follow in the wake of these 'leaders'? Surely we can see evidences of the divine predictions of the degeneracy of man recorded in Holy Writ.
Outlook.—The World's Final Great War—How They Do It in Russia—The Spirit of Sunday-law Enforcement—Reform, False and True—The Lord and the "Vicar" . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9
The Home.—Comparative Values, LILIAN MCPHERRON—Others Before Self—Buried Under a Mountain of Gold—Is This Your Wife or Mother?—An Accuser Silenced—The Man Who Makes Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11
Missions.—The Strangers at Your Door, K. DOI—Some Grave Missionary Problems—Mexico and the Religious Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13
International Sabbath-school Lesson, The Two Thousand Three Hundred Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A congregation of ten earnest, faithful, living, devoted Christians is better than a congregation of one thousand who are united with the world, or tolerating worldly principles and customs.
The Glad Tidings of God
By Editor
We are sorry that so much of the time of God's servants given to preaching the Gospel, is taken up by protesting against the error. But it is often necessary, because the error hides from us God's truth. Yet in exposing and protesting against the error we must not forget the blessed "Glad Tidings" of God, glad tidings of a Saviour from sin and sinning and death; for this is what the Gospel is.
ARTICLES TO COME.
By Editor
In the Home.
WE shall begin in a few weeks some articles which will be of great interest and profit in the home life, by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle. These articles will be short, pithy, suggestive, helpful, full of Christian sweetness. Here are some of the topics treated:—
Love in the Home,
Family Prayer and Its Importance,
The Influence of Family Prayer,
Bedtime Talks with the Children,
Sympathy with the Children,
Companions in Books, Good and Pure,
The Bible First of All,
Reading History and Biology,
Reading Poetry, Memorizing,
Sunshine in the Home,
Order in the Home,
Economy in the Home,
Thrift in the Home,
All a Part in the Home Work,
Gentleness and Tenderness in the Home,
Helpfulness in the Home,
Soft Answers Turn Away Wrath,
Conversation in the Home,
Evils of Gossip, Narrowing, Poisoning,
Talking of Things, not Persons
These form only a rough outline of a series of home articles which are needed and will be helpful in many homes. Will you not help to give the paper a wider circulation because of them.
In Our General and Outlook Departments.
There has already begun a valuable series of articles on the History of Government. Are you reading them? The information they impart in tracing the history of human attempts to establish a permanent beneficent rule among men from ancient Babylon to the present day, are worth much more than the price of the paper for one year. Moreover the principles underlying true, permanent government are so well set forth that by them we can safely predict the results of all human government.
Prof. George W. Rine will contribute an illuminating series of articles on Capital and Labor, a subject always of interest and importance.
Then there will be other articles on prophecy, on the signs of the times, on the blessed Gospel and its consummation at the coming of our Lord, on health and temperance, and all that makes for practical godliness.
Where can so much information on Biblical subjects be found for $1.50,—the price of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES for one year?
Have You Read It?
By Editor
Have You Read It?—We mean "Outlines of Modern Christianity and Modern Science," by Geo. E. McCready Price. If not, you have missed a good thing. These are days of evil in the religious world; the trend is downward. Science, falsely so-called, under the terms of "Divine Immanence," "Evolution," "Geology," etc., would set aside the Word of God. Many have been led to believe that these "scientific guesses" are conclusions from actual demonstrations. Now the author does believe that there is a true science, and that true science does not conflict with God's Word. But his aim in this book—and some of his readers feel that he reached the mark—is to show, frequently and generally from scientists themselves, that a large part of these hypothetical conclusions are utterly baseless. The scope of the work and contents of the book are in part indicated by the following chapter headings: The Terms Defined, Divine Immanence, Scientific World-building, Molten the Rigid, Geological Guessing, Biblical Geology, Despairing Darwinism, Some Moral Aspects of the Evolution Theory, Evolution and the World Problems. There are in all nine chapters and 272 pages, neatly bound in cloth, and the price is only 75 cents. Get it and read it.
Moral or Mental
It is better to be moral than highly mental. The rightly moral is for eternity; the merely intelligent is only temporal. The highest knowledge is the knowledge of God. "Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth Me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah."
Faith in Present Truth
Present faith always lays hold of present truth, the truth that is with us. The Sadducees thought that they believed Moses, but they would not believe in Him of whom Moses wrote. There are many who believe in the Jesus of nineteen centuries ago, but they will not believe in the second coming which Jesus predicted. But the mighty moving faith among God's people always has been faith in present truth and present work.
