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Signs of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 10.

And There Was Violence in the Land
Earlier text: THE CURATIVE VALUE OF WATER

Our Depositories

By Editor

Alabama Tract Society, 316 Lyric Bldg., Birmingham, Ala.
Alberta Tract Society, Drawer U, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada.
Arizona Tract Society, 417 West Fifth St., Los Angeles, Cal.
Arkansas Tract Society, 37 E. South St., Fayetteville, Ark.
British Columbia Tract Society, 1708 Maple St., Vancouver, B. C., Canada.
California Bible House, 537 Twenty-fifth St., Oakland, Cal.
California-Nevada Missionary Society, 341 E. Lodi Ave., Lodi, Cal.
California Tract Society, Southern, 417 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, Cal.
Canadian Publishing Association (Eastern Canada), Box 308, Oshawa, Ont., Canada.
Central California Bible House, Box 1304, Fresno, Cal.
Chesapeake Tract Society, 1611 Ellamont St., Baltimore, Md.
Colorado Tract Society, Eastern, 1112 Kalamath St., Denver, Colo.
Colorado Tract Society, Western, 122 S. Eighth St., Grand Junction, Colo.
Cumberland Tract Society (Eastern Tennessee), Graysville, Tenn.
District of Columbia Tract Society, 708 McLachlen Bldg., Washington, D. C.
Florida Tract Society, Room 11, Yowell-Duckworth Block, Orlando, Fla.
Georgia Tract Society, 169 Bryan St., Atlanta, Ga.
Hawaiian Tract Society, 767 Kinau St., Honolulu, H. T.
Idaho Tract Society, Southern, Room 327 Somna Building, Boise, Idaho.
Illinois Tract Society, Northern, 3645 Ogden Ave., Hawthorne Sta., Chicago, Ill.
Illinois Tract Society, Southern, 304 W. Allen St., Springfield, Ill.
Indiana Tract Society, 521 E. 23d St., Indianapolis, Ind.
Iowa Tract Society, Nevada, Iowa.
Kansas Tract Society, Room 614 Butts Bldg., cor. First St. and Lawrence Ave., Wichita, Kan.
Kentucky Tract Society, Nicholasville, Ky.
Louisiana Tract Society, 810 Jackson Ave., New Orleans, La.
Maine Tract Society, 75 Grant St., Portland, Me.
Manitoba Tract Society, 290 Bannerman Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Massachusetts Tract Society, 606-608 Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.
Michigan Tract Society, East, 426 Trumbull Ave., Detroit, Mich.
Michigan Tract Society, North, 510 Petoskey St., Petoskey, Mich.
Michigan Tract Society, West, 1214 Madison Ave., Grand Rapids, Mich.
Minnesota Tract Society, 336 East Lake St., Minneapolis, Minn.
Mississippi Tract Society, 932 Union St., Jackson, Miss.
Missouri Tract Society, 203 W. Franklin St., Clinton, Mo.
Montana Tract Society, 411 S. Black Ave., Bozeman, Mont.
Nebraska Bible Supply House, 905 N. California Ave., Hastings, Neb.
Nevada (See California-Nevada Missionary Society).
New England Tract Society, Northern, 136 N. Main St., Concord, N. H.
New England Tract Society, Southern (Rhode Island and Connecticut), 51 Whitmore St., Hartford, Conn.
New Hampshire (See Northern New England).
New Jersey Tract Society, 200 Columbus Ave., Trenton, N. J.
New Mexico Tract Society, Box 286, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
New York Tract Society (Greater), Room 904, 32 Union Square, New York, N. Y.
New York Tract Society, Eastern, 317 W. Bloomfield St., Rome, N. Y.
New York Tract Society, Western, 527 Garson Ave., Rochester, N. Y.
North Carolina Tract Society, 234 Summit Ave., Greensboro, N. C.
North Dakota Tract Society, Drawer N, Jamestown, N. Dak.
Ohio Tract Society, Box 8, Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Oklahoma Tract Society, P. O. Box 644, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Oregon Missionary Society, Western, 508 E. Everett St., Portland, Ore.
Oregon Missionary Society, Southern, 1164 Military St., Roseburg, Ore.
Pennsylvania Tract Society, Eastern, 4910 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Pennsylvania Tract Society, Western, 7155 Mt. Vernon St., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Saskatchewan Tract Society, Box 244, Regina, Sask., Can.
South Carolina Tract Society, 1208 Calhoun St., Columbia, S. C.
South Dakota Tract Society, Drawer R, Redfield, S. Dak.
Tennessee River Tract Society (Western Tennessee), 509 Cole Bldg., Nashville, Tenn.
Texas Tract Society, North, Box 15, Keene, Texas.
Texas Tract Society, South, Box 755, San Antonio, Texas.
Texas Tract Society, West, Box 16, Abilene, Texas.
Upper Columbia Tract Society, College Place, Wash.
Utah Tract and Bible Society, 776 E. Sixth St., Salt Lake City, Utah.
Vermont (See Northern New England).
Virginia Tract Society, 2705 W. Main St., Richmond, Va.
Washington Missionary Society, Western, Box Q, Auburn, Wash.
West Virginia Tract Society, 124 Marion St., Fairmont, W. Va.
Wisconsin Tract Society, Box 57, Grand Rapids, Wis.
Wyoming Tract Society, Crawford, Neb.
Above is a list of our authorized agencies and depositories, and we invite you to communicate with them if you wish to secure any books of periodicals advertised in this journal.

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FOR SALE

By M. S. Dickinson

Alfalfa honey in five-gallon cans, $4.00 per can. It is light colored and fine flavored. Sample free. Satisfaction guaranteed. Correspondence solicited. M. S. Dickinson, Los Banos, California.

THE WORLD’S CRISIS

In Great Demand—Over 100,000 Already Issued

THE WORLD’S CRISIS

In the Light of Prophecy
A NEW book, just off the press. Gives a little history of events that led up to the present European war. Tells why God permitted it.
With a positiveness born of knowledge, this book, with the use of Bible texts, shows the real meaning of it all.
What will become of the Turk? Every thinking person is seeking a reliable answer to this query. It is your privilege to know. A chapter is devoted to one of the best presentations of the Eastern Question that has ever appeared in print. Fifty or more large and small illustrations—places, armies, munitions of war, charts, and diagrams—brighten the pages. 128 pages, and most appropriate cover in two colors.

Chapter Headings

Foreword The Portent of the Times The Eastern Question in Prophecy Approaching Armageddon Waymarks to the Kingdom The Primitive Faith the Standard for This Generation Christ’s Second Coming Signs of the Approaching End The Gospel Message for This Generation The Home of the Redeemed
You will wish at least one copy for yourself. Many Signs of the Times readers will wish quantities for selling. Some will give them to neighbors, and mail them to friends and relatives. A special price of 12½ cents a copy will be given to those who order 10 or more copies. Forwarding charges collect. Let our depository in your state know at once how many you can use.
12½c a copy
Single copy, 25c postpaid.
Pacific Press Publishing Assn. MOUNTAIN VIEW, CAL. Kansas City, Mo. Portland, Ore. Calgary, Alta. College View, Neb.

“The Federation Trend in International Affairs”

EX-PRESIDENT TAFT recently made a speech in New York City under the auspices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His subject was “The Federation Trend in International Affairs.” In speaking of the advantage of an international supreme court, Mr. Taft said:
“It is therefore federation to the extent that a permanent international court offers the solution of the problem of how to escape war, how to induce nations to give up the burden of armaments, and how to broaden and make certain our system of international law.
“It will be natural that a court thus established, and with the closer union that it will necessarily bring between the various powers, that the congresses shall be called at convenient periods in which by treaties an international code may be adopted to meet the defects in its accepted scope which the issues and judgments in the arbitral court may develop, and which the judicial discretion of such a tribunal may not supply.
“Such a court and such a code will greatly promote justice in the world and the peace of nations.”
The people of this generation have convinced themselves that they are more highly civilized than any former generation. The doctrine has been promulgated that the leading nations of earth are Christian; and working upon the ground that these assumptions are fact, the theory has been advanced that we are to have international justice, international peace, and consequently no further wars. The big war in Europe broke in upon this delusion, still the idea is such a pleasing one that it will not be given up. Hence there is a regular craze sweeping over the world now for “internationalism.” It is believed that if we can only have an international federation among the nations, with international courts, etc., all our difficulties will be solved; but in these theories men do not seem to take into account the important fact stated by the prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jer. 17:9.
The wickedness of mankind, together with the shortcomings of our race, has kept the people embroiled in wars to a greater or less extent all through our history, and God’s word makes it perfectly plain that the last years of time will be marked by the greatest wars that have ever been seen. It may be well enough for people to seek for international agreements that will promote peace, but we make a mistake in believing that such things will be successful while wicked men are reigning upon this earth. Those who are following the Bible will not be deceived by any human dreams, theories, or speculations. But all others are doomed to a bitter disappointment in the end; for the Book says, “When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall in no wise escape.” I Thess. 5:3.

Is Sunday the Sabbath?

NOT very many years ago, by far the greater part of the people believed that their ministers could readily turn to texts in the Bible which would show that Christ and the apostles had changed the Sabbath from Saturday, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day. We used to hear it affirmed, on every hand, that such a change had been made. But when persons were asked to show the Bible text or texts that prove it, these could not be found.
One of the texts, however, that has often been used in the attempt to show that Sunday was observed by the early church, is the following:
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gathering when I come.” 1 Cor. 16: 1, 2.
The argument was made, from this text, that since they were commanded to lay by a certain portion of their earnings on the first day of the week, therefore they had gone to church on Sunday, and a collection was taken up for the poor at Jerusalem. Several important things in the statement, however, do not occur in the text. In the first place, it says nothing about a meeting; and in the second place it says nothing concerning a collection to be taken at such a meeting. Indeed, the language of the text forbids such a thing as a general collection in public. It says, “Let every one of you lay by him in store.” The individual who “lays by him in store” is not putting his funds in the contribution box.
Some of the modern translations of this text, which give the idea of the original in modern speech, will help to make very clear just what the text says. For instance, the New Testament in Modern Speech gives verse 2 as follows:
“On the first day of every week let each of you put on one side and store up at his home whatever gain has been granted to him; so that whenever I come, there may then be no collections going on.”
The Twentieth Century Version gives the same text thus:
“On the first day of every week each of you should put by what he can afford, so that no collections need be made after I have come.”
The language of the text shows the exact opposite of the popular contention. It shows that in place of the people being assembled on that day, they were at their homes transacting business; and in their homes they were to lay by whatever they could spare, for the relief of the suffering brethren at Jerusalem. There is no means whatever by which that text can be made to set aside the Sabbath law of the great Jehovah. That law is specific in saying that the seventh day is the Sabbath; and it has never been supplanted, as divine authority, by any other commandment.

Cardinal Gibbons and the End of the World

A NEWS dispatch, under date of February 17, reports some comments made by Cardinal Gibbons on the war news from Europe which he spoke of as “terrible.” A few of his sentences are:
“We cannot grasp its magnitude or what it means. Does it not seem that the Scriptures are being fulfilled—‘Nation shall rise against nation and there shall be sorrow throughout the world, and then shall the end come’? Loss of life in great numbers occurs only once in a while. But now in this greatest war of the world a thousand—nay, ten thousand—lives are being sacrificed every hour the war continues.”
The impression is deep and strong among all classes of men, that the war of Europe has a momentous significance. This conviction is upon Catholic and Protestant and agnostic alike.
God’s prophecies are very clear, and show the doom toward which this wicked world is rapidly driving. And God’s Spirit is impressing the minds of men with the meaning of the great events of this time. We may shake off these convictions if we will; we may have destruction if we insist upon it; but God is seeking to draw each and every individual to Himself, that He may give them the salvation that He has to offer, and thus save them from the destruction that Satan is offering instead.
Statements of the character reported to have come from Cardinal Gibbons should make a deep impression upon Catholic people, and lead them to study God’s word for themselves, to see the clear light of prophecy that is shining from its sacred pages. There can be no question but that the end of this wicked world is almost come, but it will not be the end of the individuals who are prepared for it. It will be only the beginning of the eternal joys that will begin when Christ bestows upon them the crown of immortality at His second coming

Seeking for Unseen Guidance

In times of great calamity, the human mind instinctively reaches out to something beyond itself. The individual is made to realize his own impotence and to feel the need of superhuman help. Under such conditions, if we turn to God, we will find Him an ever present source of help; but we should not forget that there is a wily foe in the world, and that he is seeking to intrude his person and thus befog the mind and lead the individual into darkness.
A dispatch from Copenhagen states that in some sections of war-stricken Europe, hundreds of superstitious prophets and fortune tellers have been exploiting the weakness of the people. Both men and women have had recourse to the mediums. Some of these astrologers and fortune tellers have made very pessimistic forecasts concerning the outcome of the war, and as a consequence the military authorities in certain localities have forbidden fortune telling and the practices of mediums and astrologers.
It may not seem out of place to remark in this connection that these reports come from what we have been told were the Christian nations of Europe. And yet if those nations had been Christian in fact instead of in name merely, they would have been reading the Christian book, and in that book they would have found these words: “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” Lev. 19:31. And again: “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?” Isa. 8:19.
There is no concord between fortune telling, the practices of wizards and mediums, and the teaching of the Bible. They are definitely opposed to each other. The Bible exposes all sorcery, necromancy, astrology, etc., as the machinations of the evil one. And since the Bible teaches that it is the spirits of demons that “go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:14), it is not surprising to learn of the activity of the agents of demons in the war-distressed areas. But people who actually believe their Bibles, and who personally know the Lord Jesus Christ, will not be easily deceived by any such thing.

Great Wealth and National Decay

In connection with the investigations in New York in regard to the donations that men of great wealth have been making, it was given out that Andrew Carnegie has made gifts totaling $24,657,399. Facts of this character give a little glimpse of the great heaping together of treasure in this time, when one individual can donate such large sums from his private income. Some people draw unwarranted consolation from the thought that such great gifts show remarkable generosity and are a truly good thing. But when single individuals are able to acquire and hold such large sums of money, it has been the invariable rule in history that the nation to which they belong was undergoing decay that would soon result in its destruction. If we would allow history and the Bible to interpret the meaning of present-day conditions, we need be in no doubt in regard to what such things portend.

Mrs. White's Accident

Mrs. E. G. White, who has been a regular contributor to our columns for more than a third of a century, when entering her study Sabbath, February 13, tripped and fell, breaking the bone of her hip where it enters the socket. Her son W. C. White, reports that although accidents of this kind are usually attended with a great deal of pain, yet Mrs. White has been remarkably comfortable through the trying ordeal. Our readers have been greatly benefited by her excellent articles, and we are sure that she will have the sympathy and prayers of all.

Alabama Prohibits Liquor Advertisements

Both houses of the Alabama legislature passed a bill, over the governor's veto, prohibiting newspapers published in that state from printing liquor advertisements, and also preventing the circulation in the state, of papers published outside of Alabama which carry such advertisements. This may seem like rather drastic measures to take; but in view of the destruction of home, life, property, and happiness that must be laid at the doors of the purveyors of alcoholic drinks, is not the measure a wise one? And should not all the prohibition states follow the example of Alabama?

Proposal for Year-Round Wages

In one of the national conferences on unemployment that was recently held, the suggestion was made by one individual of some prominence that “employers be compelled to pay employees wages all the year round whether at work or not.” Such statements would hardly be worthy of passing note were it not for the fact that fanciful ideas of this character are becoming more and more pronounced in the social world of to-day. They show somewhat of the unreasonable things that will be advocated as the contest between capital and labor increases.

Des Moines Refuses Saloon Licenses

The city council of Des Moines, Iowa, has refused to renew the liquor licenses of its more than eighty saloons. The intelligent sentiment of the time is growing stronger and stronger in its conviction that the saloon is an unmitigated evil, and that there is no excuse whatever for its existence

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Signs of the Times · Mar 9, 1915