p. 352 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 22. (6/9/1914)

"The Earth Is Utterly Broken"

EVERY little while, the scientists inform us of some section of the world that is not subject to earthquake. There may be slight tremors felt in some of these places, they tell us, but destructive earthquakes in those regions are quite an impossibility.

They base their assumptions on "the geological formation." There are no "faults" or other conditions that would cause the ground to tremble. But God's word says of the time when iniquity is heavy upon the land, and when it is about to fall and not rise again, that—

"The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently. The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His elders shall be glory." Isa. 24: 19-23.

Violent earthquakes and ruinous storms will be seen in many places where it is not usual for such things to occur. And these things will continue to increase as the violence and wickedness of this time increase.

"Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is naught but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against Me: I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of My people, and set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings." Hosea 4: 1-9.

This scripture is worthy of the closest study. It speaks of a time of great wickedness and of God's controversy with the people because of it. And it is a time, too, when there are great professions of religion, because there are the prophet and the priest, but they are stumbling and have rejected knowledge. They have even forgotten the law of God, and they actually feed on the sin of the people that profess the name of God.

Think of this scripture closely, think of the many other similar scriptures that the wonderful word of God contains, and compare them carefully with the conditions in this time. Take your stand with God to lead a clean, strong, Christian life, and the Word abounds in promises of His infinite protection in the times of trouble and disaster upon which the world has entered.

The Press in Exposures of Crime

By Editor

A RECENT editorial in one of the best-known dailies of the nation is very exultant over the success achieved in exposing the corruption of certain men connected with the New Haven Railroad. The writer of that editorial is sure that the exposure has been so thorough that such a thing "can not possibly happen again," and that a "better public sentiment has been aroused," so that "numerous thefts which were committed a few years ago with small risk" are "now out of the question," and that a "higher standard" has been set up "in the business world itself."

The exposure of vice, crime, and fraud is one of our continued performances. It is in progress all the time; and but for these exposures and the public sentiment that is created by the strong influence of some good journals, there is no knowing what the conditions would have been in this world ere this.

But we make a mistake in believing that these exposures are going to eradicate the evil. The facts are against us. It is the duty of the press to speak out against the evil. The exposures must continue. But we nevertheless should understand that the divine Book has told us "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

The view that the world is getting better all the time is a very popular one. There is something about humanity that likes to create a certain style and then follow the style regardless of fact, reason, or common sense. But when God's word speaks upon a given topic, it is safe to follow that Word regardless of anything men may say to the contrary. God is right, and His word is the one-infallible guide that mortals should follow in every subject upon which it directly speaks.

Some of the best men that have ever lived are now on the stage of action. The very times serve to call out strength from those who will stand for the right against the corrupting vices of these days. Were it not for the influence of the army of righteous men and women who are found in church and state positions contending for correct standards, the immorality, frauds, and injustice that are a great submerging contagion would soon overwhelm the world. But in the face of these truly heroic efforts of the good, conditions will continue to grow most rapidly from bad to worse until the flood-tide of sin shall be met by the great event of the second coming of Christ.

"He Will Not Fail"

THE inspired writer gives us these words: "Behold, My servant, whom I uphold; My chosen, in whom My soul delighteth: I have put My Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry, nor lift up his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law." Isa. 42: 1-4.

Matthew quotes from this prophecy, and applies it to Christ. How good are the words, "He will not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set justice in the earth"!

When here in person, Christ spoke as never man spoke. His labors had the endowment of all the mighty power of the divine and the infinite. He gathered to Him a dozen rather obscure men. One of them turned traitor; and on the night of His betrayal, they all forsook Him and fled. When He went to Calvary, He had to go alone. He had no sympathetic supporters or brave defenders. His cause has had to suffer the apparent defeats of hypocrisies, apostasies, and all sorts of misrepresentations; but in the face of all these stands the divine Word, "He will not fail nor be discouraged."

Soon the triumph of His work will come. Soon His voice will be heard calling the righteous dead from their graves, and together with the righteous living, they will be robed in immortality, to enter upon their eternal reward. The work of the plan of salvation will be complete. The Master's courage will be rewarded.

When we are laboring, under difficulties, to advance the cause of Christ, we may draw both consolation and strength from Him whom the failures and difficulties incident to human weakness can not discourage, and who eventually surmounts all the obstacles and obstructions that satanic cunning or fury can throw in His way.

Millions in a Few Years

ON May 9, in a town in southern California, Mr. Post, of cereal coffee fame, shot and killed himself. His fortune is estimated as high as a hundred million dollars. Twenty years ago Mr. Post was a poor man, and an invalid as well. He visited a sanitarium where cereal coffee was manufactured and used. He conceived the idea of commercializing this, and the result was that in these few brief years he bounded from a poor man to a multimillionaire.

The next day after Mr. Post's suicide, Col. John C. C. Mayo, of Kentucky, died in a hotel in New York City. He left a fortune of twenty millions. Twenty-five years ago Mr. Mayo was a schoolteacher struggling with poverty in the eastern Kentucky mountains.

These are among the illustrations that are constantly occurring which show the vast amount of wealth that one man may heap together in these times within the limits of a small portion of his natural life. And these vast fortunes, no matter how much we may excuse them, are the occasion for the great rumblings of discontent that are threatening to visit the whole world with a mighty upheaval.

Collisions of Worlds

ONE of the world's most renowned scientists, who is connected with one of the great astronomical observatories, was recently asked the question, "Is our small earth absolutely safe from collisions with any other planets or the sun?" and the scientist's reply is: "No, our small earth is not absolutely safe from collision with bodies in space, but is safe from collision with any planet in the solar system and with the sun. To be hit by a planet, either the earth or the planet must leave its orbit. This is impossible, and it is also impossible that the earth can leave its orbit and fall to the sun." The bodies that he thinks might hit our planet are designated as small asteroids and meteorites.

Inspiration, through the prophet Isaiah, has answered the foregoing questions in regard to heavenly bodies' colliding with each other. The words are:

"To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth." Isa. 40: 25, 26.

People may get an unsatisfactory and limited consolation from the suggestions of science that nature, through the forces of gravitation, is holding the suns and their attendant worlds in their respective orbits; but the Christian gets a joy that is complete, full, and indescribably precious when he knows from experience the creative power that sets him free from sin. And he knows that this same creative power is infinite, and that the Infinite One is his heavenly Father; and his heavenly Father having limitless power, there is nothing beyond Him. "For that He is strong in power; not one faileth."

The scientist who has not been contented with studying the laws of nature, but who has reached above and beyond, to come in contact with nature's God, our divine Father, has reached a degree of development and a condition of soul blessedness that can not possibly come to the man who shuts God out of his calculations. We may gain something by merely coming in contact with and studying natural law, but we shut ourselves away from untold blessings and the supremest joys when we hide our eyes from the great Author of creation.

For Your Convenience

By G. C. Hoskin

WELL-ORGANIZED and thoroughly equipped depositories have been established throughout the world. The North American list is given on page 15 of this issue. You may be interested in some of the subjects presented in this journal, and may desire to make further study. A complete line of moral, temperance, and gospel literature, in various forms, is obtainable at these offices. Our own publications are now classified in 300 distinct bound books under different titles, 300 pamphlets, more than 1,000 tracts, and 124 periodicals. Literature can be furnished in 75 languages. You can be supplied with literature on the topics discussed in these columns from week to week.

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