A. FRIEND B., did you ever retire at night and have such perfect sleep that it seemed that you had been to sleep only a few minutes when morning came?
B. Yes, tho not often. Few people have such experience because of the human family being subject to so many physical disorders which disturb the sleep.
A. What did you know at those times when you had perfect sleep?
B. I knew nothing.
A. Were you alive?
B. Certainly.
A. And yet you knew nothing?
B. I certainly had no knowledge of anything while in that state of perfect sleep.
A. When you were in perfect sleep what was the condition of the senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and feeling?
B. At rest, I suppose.
A. When these are active, you have knowledge; and when they are inactive, or at rest, you have no knowledge?
B. It seems to be that way.
A. When one or more of the senses and the brain are in a normal condition, you have thought and consciousness, do you?
B. Yes, sir.
A. Could you have consciousness and thought without the senses or the brain—the central organ of the nervous system, the organ of knowledge and thought?
B. I think not.
A. Now, B., if while in the condition of perfect sleep, but in the possession of life, you are wholly unconscious because of the inactivity of the organ of thought, do you think thought, activity, and consciousness would be suddenly restored and increased by some agency that would cause the heart to cease beating, and every organ and cell of the body to become lifeless?
B. It does not seem reasonable that I should know more; but rather that the sleep and unconsciousness should become more profound.
A. If in perfect sleep you have no knowledge, what must be the condition of that part termed the soul?
B. Well, it would seem that it must be in the same condition as the brain,—asleep.
A. Then if the entire man, including the soul, can be asleep for an hour, or during an entire night, could not the man entire sleep from death till the resurrection?
B. It would seem so, truly.
A. And would not the lack of knowledge of the lapse of time be just as great, and more so, than in the case of a few hours of perfect sleep in life? Would it not be to the one closing the eyes in the sleep of death only a moment till the opening of them in the morning of the resurrection?
B. It really seems so.
A. What do you think of that theology which teaches that a person in death knows more than when alive?
B. I have always taken for granted that it was all right. But I see that it must be wrong.
But A., is it not stated in the Bible, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it?”
A. Yes. But it does not follow that that which returns to God is a something constituting the real individual, possessed of the powers of thought, capable of experiencing pleasure or sorrow, and yet separate from, and independent of, that organism which made such experience possible when in life. We have found that individual thought and consciousness could be, only by the existence and activity of the living, individual body,—that upon the activity of certain organs of the body depend individual thought and consciousness.
B. That is true.
A. And when we appeal to the Word of the One who created man, we read, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146:3, 4.
“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything. . . . Also their love, and their hatred and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
Man in death, with the spirit having returned to God who gave it, is as he was when “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,” but had not yet “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” But when he received “the breath of life,” he “became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7. And now with this union of “the breath of life” with the body, mental activity and the development of character occurs. When dissolution takes place, when God takes back to himself the “breath of the spirit of life” (Gen. 7:22, margin), mental activity and the development of character ends,—man is dead. And the next thing he knows is the resurrection to that experience which he merits by the character which he chose to form while in life. Read John 5:28, 29.
Bishop, Cal. A. J. OSBORNE.
How They Became Convinced
By Editor
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
CXXI.
THO the son of non-church-going parents, and without religious instruction to speak of, yet I had great reverence for the Bible. I fully believed that the God whom it revealed was a sin-pardoning God, able to relieve me at any time of the weight of the burden of sin which seemed to increase with the passing years. In early childhood mother had taught me to pray, and the influence of this never left me. Finally, in 1888, when twenty-three years of age, some tent meetings were begun near our home. I attended, and for the first time the wonders and the value of the prophetic parts of the Bible came forcibly to my mind. I saw that the Sabbath truth for the last days was a matter of prophecy. The law of God was unchangeable, and the seventh-day Sabbath of Jehovah was in the very heart of it—a sign between God and His people. Eze. 20 : 12, 20. I saw that it was a test for the last generation of men. Principles of righteousness were at stake. The Scriptures were convincing. Historical evidence corroborated the prophetic utterances of Dan. 7 : 25 that a power was to arise and think to change the law and the holy time. Revelation 13 and 14 were beacon lights to me. I understood from the first. My mind had not been previously filled with errors; it was free to receive the truths of God's Word. I acknowledged all, but did not immediately obey. "Behold, to obey
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Rest was what I longed for, was what I needed. After procrastination for a time, I yielded to that "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," and became obedient. O, what a burden rolled off! His strength was sufficient, His love abundant, His promises sure. So in Christ, commandment-keeping became what it was ever intended to be—rest, eternal rest, to the penitent, weary, sin-sick soul.
JOHN S. WIGHTMAN.
CXXII.
PERHAPS some one would be interested to know how the Sabbath came to me and my little daughter. Less than two years ago, while living in Illinois, Brother J. P. Henderson, of Indiana, came to our town and held a series of meetings. I had never seen a Seventh-day Adventist, nor did I know that the seventh day was the Sabbath. I did not belong to any church, nor did I attend church very often; but, for some reason, I know not what, I went to these lectures, and became very much interested, especially in the Sabbath. Gladys was a child of but ten years, but she understood as well as I did that we were keeping the wrong day. So we made the change right then, and have kept the Sabbath of the Lord ever since.
ALMA MCCORMICK.
LET GO.
By Ada D. Wellman
It was once necessary for me to pass from a ship to a life-boat, in mid-ocean, at a time when the sea was very rough. The boat was secured alongside the ship; still it was tossed about by the waves.
The captain helped me over the side of the ship, and there I hung, clinging to the railing, waiting for an opportune moment to drop into the boat. In that position I could not see the boat all the time, tho sometimes I espied it away fore or aft, and knew that then nothing intervened between me and the dreaded deep.
The captain directed, “When I tell you to let go, then you must let go immediately.” His words seemed almost like a death sentence. But I had confidence in his purpose and ability to land me safely in the boat; and when he commanded, “Let go,” I obeyed instantly, and dropped—a few inches—into powerful arms reaching up from the boat to receive me.
Had I delayed one minute, the boat would have changed position, and then to drop would have been to fall into the raging water. Verily, tardy obedience is not obedience.
Sometimes, when we are clinging to something which seems indispensable to our well-being, our Captain commands, “Let go!” Then, how wont is faithless humanity to hesitate, not realizing that He sees the life-boat directly beneath us, tho we do not see it. Many persistently cling to the poor, visible support, and never know the blessings which had been prepared for them.
Soul, let go the sinking ship of worldly policy, of carnal indulgence, of selfish ambition. These things are going down, and they will drag you under unless you let go of them quickly. Trust Him who is able and willing to save! He has better things for you! Let go now! ADA D. WELLMAN.
Driven to My Knees
By Abraham Lincoln
I HAVE been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. —Abraham Lincoln.
OUR GUIDING SHEPHERD.
It is an impressive, helpful, comforting thought which Ex. 13:21, 22 presents before the child of God. "And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people."
This covers forty years of Israel's journeying in the wilderness from Egypt to the promised land. The manifest token of God's presence was ever before them. Whenever they desired they could behold the visible evidence of God's goodness.
The blessedness of that presence had been with them from the beginning. When Egypt's host pursued, it passed over the children of Israel, and became an impenetrable wall to separate the pursuer from his prey. It selected the best camping places as it led the host by the safest way.
And yet, notwithstanding this visible, living token of Jehovah's presence, it came to be regarded as a sort of camp paraphernalia, so to speak. In the light of its splendor men murmured and cursed. In the grateful shade of its coolness in the desert heat, men despised and turned from the God who had wrought all His wonders in Egypt and worked mighty miracles for the deliverance of His people.
Are we better than they—we, Christians of the twentieth century? God's guiding hand and manifest presence have been with His church through all the ages. The light of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the deliverance and leading of Israel are ours to-day. The voices of the prophets, recorded in prediction, instruction, and fulfilment are with us now as never before. To us also the Son of God came, and lived, and died, and lives again. And all the after apostasies of the church and her suffering are known to us. In these last days God in His providence has kindled anew the light of His Word, and the clear shining of prophecy gleams in no uncertain light out over the great world. All that we need to do to be convinced is to look with open, heavenward gaze to see the glorious intensity of its guiding rays. Or, like the rebellious among Israel of old, we may choose Egypt and turn from the leading of our God.
Here are two of His many promises: "The meek will He guide in judgment; the meek will He teach His way." "Jehovah is my Shepherd. . . . He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. . . . He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."
God wishes to guide us, reader, at all times. The pillar of fire and cloud led always, "that they might go by day and by night." It may seem dark to you, but trust the guiding of our God and leave all with Him.
God wishes to guide us through all places. Never were the desert sands so drear, the mountains so steep, the way so rugged, the heat so pitiless, the steps so small and feeble, but that God guided. "He knoweth the way that I take," said one of old, because God in His Son had been over the way. Every step that He calls us to take is marked by the blessed footprints, often blood-stained, of the Christ of God. He will lead us all the way. Let the constant prayer of this year be:—
"Guide me O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy powerful hand."
"Open wide the crystal fountains
Whence the healing waters flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,
Lead me all my journey through."
"And Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."
A SACRED RIGHT.
HUMANITY has been given rights which even divinity will not invade. Choice, choice, runs through the whole Gospel plan. God urges men with all the earnest pleadings of a loving Father, but only to choose. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve,” said the prophet of God; and God Himself declares: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Again: “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?”
God knows that to turn to Him means everlasting life, and that to turn away from Him means eternal death; yet there is no compulsion, no force. God wants men to serve Him because they prefer to do so—not because they fear to refuse.
Christ who came into the world as the chief herald of the freedom of conscience, declares of His mission: “If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge Him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” And yet by Him and for Him the world was made.
Because God would not invade the sacred right of choice, the worship which He receives is the worship of the heart; of the soul, instead of the performance of dead, heartless, outward ceremonies; and because He would not invade that primal right, the only rule in the universe, when sin has been removed, will be the rule of love; the worship performed will be the worship which love inspires. The campaign of force, which crushed out consciences in its torture chambers, will then have been swept out of every portion of God’s dominion. Worship performed with a conscience free from the dictates of men is the only worship that is an honor to God. True heart-worship is the only worship that is not idolatry. In heartless forms and ceremonies we worship the custom or the law that requires them. When we yield to a law that is in opposition to the law of God, and obey that law in preference to His, we are worshiping the makers of that law rather than the Maker of the heavens and the earth. In such things we are professing to do what we do not do—we are hypocrites.
Notwithstanding this fact, custom has continually invaded that right of choice in religious matters. Bodies of religious men, forgetting the example of their Creator, have frequently invaded that right. A religious despotism in the earth has always claimed the right to invade that right; and men who have fled from the power of that despotism have taken with them, and exercised its wicked claim to the right of invading conscience, and have carried that invasion so far even as to commit murder; and all this in spite of all the Creator has done and taught, to show His followers that liberty of conscience is a sacred inheritance, and the right of choice a sacred right.
Paganism never has recognized that right, tho it has frequently tolerated the choice; but when paganism invaded the church and pervaded it, it brought with it the spirit of intolerance and persecution toward everything it did not control. The refusal to recognize that right worked itself out in the establishment of the Inquisition. It is what must follow when full sway is given to any government that claims the right to invade the right of choice in religious things. That institution and the claims which made it possible are arrayed against every precept and every practise of Christ. Many and cruel have been the dark deeds of that institution because of its refusal to recognize the sacredness of the right of choice. Claiming to do Christ service, the exponents of that system have inflicted upon their fellow-men the very sufferings that Christ spent the time of His earthly ministry in relieving. Christ never forced upon any person the worship of Himself or the recognition of His messiahship. And what Christ would not do men can not do and do right.
The Christian will seek to follow the example which Christ set. He respected the right of choice; He invited, but did not compel; He warned, but did not persecute. He has set us an example, that we “should walk even as He walked.”
The immediate future will give us many occasions for remembering these examples of Christ. Religious legislation is being insistently demanded, and deep plans are being laid for accomplishing it; but religious legislation means the invasion of the sacred right of choice. It is as wrong to yield to the demands of religious legislation in opposition to the commands of God as it is to enact the legislation that makes the demands. Sin is sin, whether we do it willingly, or at the demand of another. God wants men who will be loyal to Him no matter what the pressure from a disloyal source. The rights which He has given us we can not surrender to His implacable enemy. We must choose our master, and we must abide by the consequences of our choice.
THE DOCTRINE OF HELL FIRE.
IX. The Unquenchable Fire and Undying Worm.
AMONG the passages which trouble many sincere souls is Mark 9:43-48. There are two reasons for this; namely, not the best translation and a misunderstanding of the terms used. Verses 44 and 46 are identical with verse 48, and are omitted by the best ancient authorities. We quote verses 43 and 48, as in the revised versions:—
“And if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off: 7it is good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than having thy two hands go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. . . . Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Let us study three of the terms used, and ascertain their literal meaning as well as their use in other scriptures. By this we may determine their meaning here.
1. The term “hell.”—The word rendered “hell” in the New Testament, with one exception, comes from either “Hades,” meaning the state, condition, or abode of the dead, both righteous and wicked, or “Gehenna” “the valley of the son of Hinnom.” The latter term is used to represent the place of future punishment. The word “hell” in our text comes from “Gehenna.”
The origin of this term is the name of a valley just south of Jerusalem called also “Tophet,” by Jeremiah. 2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31-34. Here Sennacherib’s army of 185,000 men were slain. Here also children were offered in fire to the horrible god Moloch. Because of this it was used by the city of Jerusalem as a place in which were cast the filth and offal of the city and the carcases of animals and malefactors. Upon this mass of corruption worms constantly preyed, and the remainder was consumed by constant fires which were kept burning for the purpose. The Valley of Hinnom (in Hebrew) or Gehenna (in Greek), thus became the symbol of destruction and annihilation of all that was corrupt and vile, but never a place of eternal torment where the things cast into it were eternally preserved to be eternally burning. The place was set apart for the purpose of the destruction of what was cast into it; and that which was cast into it was not cast in to be preserved, but to be destroyed.
2. The term “unquenchable fire” (not “where the fire is not quenched” as in the common version), comes from the Greek words, pur asbestos, “fire unquenchable,” that is, fire which effectually burns what it preys upon, which ordinary means do not quench. Eusebius says that after Cronion and Julian (two martyrs) were tortured in various ways, they were consumed in “an unquenchable fire” (puri asbestos). “The pur asbestos,” says Wetstein, denotes such a fire as can not be extinguished before it has consumed and destroyed all.
Two Biblical illustrations of its use will suffice. In Jer. 17:27, the Lord tells Judah that if they will not “hallow the Sabbath day” in the city of Jerusalem, “then I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” The fulfilment of this is recorded in 2 Chron. 36:19-21. The Chaldeans “burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, . . . to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah.” Jeremiah predicted the fire which should not be quenched; the Chaldeans kindled the fire, and the fire burned the temple and palaces and went out. But it did its work. And therefore we read of the wicked, likened to the chaff: “He will gather the wheat into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:12.
3. The “worm” that “dieth not” is already made plain to the candid reader. In the Valley of Hinnom it consumed the carcases and filth on which it preyed. In the future place of punishment it will consume the “carcases” (“dead bodies,” A. R. V.) of the men who have transgressed against God, and will not die till it has done its work. To the wicked the fire will be everlasting and unquenchable and the worm undying; his last moments of consciousness will witness and feel them both operative. “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever, and My salvation to all generations.” Isa. 51:8.
Truly, “the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; in smoke shall they consume away.” Ps. 37:20.
Friends, readers, fellow-sinners, will you choose to be the chaff, the refuse, or the wheat? Is it sin and death, or righteousness and life?
“Tormented Forever and Ever” will be our next study.
DON'T HINDER THE LORD'S WORK.
The Lord's work is too often hindered because His professed people stand as obstacles in His way. The Gospel work in the earth is the Lord's own work; the controversy with Satan is the Lord's own controversy. The enemy of souls is trying to destroy men simply because he wants to destroy Christ's work, and thereby destroy Him. The Lord takes His people into fellowship in the controversy because He wants them to be partakers with Him in the glorious victory. He could destroy the adversary in a moment, and burn up the effects of sin any day, but that is not all of His great purpose. Out of the sin-stricken race He is working to redeem a people for His name, wherewith to populate the earth after He shall have purified it of sin and made it new. The new earth and its redeemed people will be His eternal monument before the universe of His power to put down all foes, and of His unselfish, self-sacrificing love for His creatures.
But men, after accepting the honor of fellowship in the great work of salvation, are prone to imbibe the notion that the work is theirs, and begin to devise ways of their own for its conduct. When we forget that the battle is the Lord's, and that His Word is the great "Regulations" for His soldiers, we are very sure to hinder effective operations.
This principle is enunciated by the Lord through the psalmist: "O that My people would hearken unto Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries." Ps. 81:13, 14. The Lord would soon do the work, if His people would not insist on injecting ways and doctrines of their own.
The consequence of such a course is stated in the previous verses: "I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people hearkened not to My voice; and Israel would none of Me. So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsel." Now the law of cause and effect is just the same to-day as it ever was. The history of Israel's rejection anciently is too well known to need repetition here, and a like course on the part of God's people to-day will just as surely produce a like result. Will the professed disciples of Christ heed the lesson?
"MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!"
By Editor
CALLS for money to carry on legitimate missionary enterprises are a great blessing to that class of people who are in the habit of complaining about such calls. The complaint itself is evidence that such people think the cause of the Gospel ought to go on without their means. So if they were not called upon periodically, or urged occasionally, to donate to the work, they would have little or no treasure in the bank of heaven. Then they would be begging when the great harvest comes, and have nothing. Really they ought to praise the Lord for the missionary calls made by those who have the conduct of the work in hand.
However, the many formal calls for means, together with the time and expense of making such calls, ought not to be necessary. If the professed disciples of Christ were faithful in returning to the Lord His own; if they were simply honest in bringing in the tithes and offerings due to the Lord, there never need be a single call for means. There would be no sensitive ears to be offended by human calls for the necessary capital to carry on the work. No, the divine call, "Son, give Me thine heart," would be all-sufficient; for the heart and the treasure go together.
Moreover, when men voluntarily go and pay their debts, the creditor is spared the labor and expense of sending out collectors. If this labor and expense were spared in the Lord's cause, it would add much to the sums that go directly to the work, besides saving the oft-repeated money cry, which is so offensive to many who profess to follow Him whose voluntary sacrifice comprised all, even life itself.
THE ONE GOD.
THE only true God is the Creator of all things. All other gods are false, and are, therefore, no gods. No god is worthy of universal allegiance who can not supply all the needs of all creatures in the universe. None but a creator can do this, for, under any and all circumstances, He must be a "very present help in trouble." None but the Creator of all things could be eternal. To be above and over all things, and able to control all things, He must be the fountain of wisdom and power. Such is our God, and all the knowledge of Him that finite beings are able to comprehend is comprised in His Word and works. Many people in the world, who do not know the true God, imagine that it is good policy to worship a multiplicity of gods. But both history and present conditions show the fallacy of this delusion. Permanence in the government of the universe depends upon union and harmony, which can not prevail amid a rivalry of claimants for allegiance. "A kingdom divided against itself can not stand." Therefore, whatever is opposed to the unchangeable law of the all-wise, all-powerful, unchangeable God must come to an end. "The wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." But "the Word of the Lord [the one Lord, the Creator of all things] endureth forever." And the inheritance of him who trusteth in the Lord shall be forever. "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments."
Question Corner
By Editor
From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.
1459.—Absent and Present.
2 Cor. 5:8. How is it possible to be present with the Lord, and yet be absent from the body? From the context I do not think Paul refers to visions.
The context and related passages show that Paul is speaking of these different conditions in which man may be: (1) The terms "earthly house," "in this tabernacle," "mortality," "at home in the body," "absent from the Lord," indicate man's mortal condition in this world; (2) The terms "dissolved," "unclothed," "naked" refer to the passing away of this condition, or death, a condition not desired by the apostle; (3) The terms "a building from God," "a house not made with hands," "clothed upon," "swallowed up of life," "present [at home] with the Lord" refer to the glorious immortal state when Jesus comes. 1 Thess. 4:17. Compare also with Rom. 8:23.
1460. Sin Against the Holy Ghost.
What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? P. J.
It is to reject to the uttermost all the means of salvation in Christ Jesus, the only name given under heaven among men whereby we can be saved. Acts 4:12. See also Heb. 10:29.
WONDERS IN THE EARTH.
THE prophet Joel, looking forward to the great day of Jehovah, sees certain events which will occur as heralds of the day. Among these is "wonders in the . . . earth." Joel 2:30.
This would, as a matter of course, be more clearly evident as the earth nears her end. During the reign and burden of sin, the earth has "waxed old as doth a garment," and unexpected outbursting may occur anywhere.
Our readers have not forgotten the awful news which flashed over the wires in the early May of 1902, saying that the thriving town of St. Pierre on the Island of Martinique had, on May 8, been utterly destroyed with 30,000 inhabitants in a few moments of time, by an explosive eruption of the adjacent volcano, Mount Pelée, which blew off the top of the mountain. Some scientists declared that the news must be false; but later reports confirmed the awful tidings.
Great stone and iron buildings were overthrown, and the iron frames bent and twisted in all manner of distorted shapes, and many of the people seem to have been instantly struck with death.
A few days afterward another explosion followed more powerful than the first. By it the great steel frames of the wrecked buildings were reduced, so one report tells us, to an impalpable powder, as the charred and ground and pulverized. That fair city, in its wickedness, became a vast charnel-house.
Seismologists and scientists in general never saw anything like the strange and peculiar phenomena then manifest.
Now another strange thing has occurred, indicated in our illustration which we reproduce from the Scientific American of the fifth ultimo.
Scientists have been studying the volcano since the fearful eruptions of 1902, and they have noticed a peculiar tooth-like obelisk projecting above the crater of the volcano. It was not a regular volcanic cone formed by cooling erupted lava, for the sides were quite smooth and nearly perpendicular. It looks like a "solid shaft of stone," the Scientific American informs us, and is called the "obelisk of Pelée." It was 295 feet above the rim of the crater before it was discovered, and in March, 1903, it was estimated to be 5,143 feet above sea level, or 1,109 feet above Morne Lacroix. But it has reached a greater height than this.
The peculiar phenomena of the obelisk [we quote from the above named paper] have awakened great interest. How such a huge monument, taller than the Eiffel Tower, could be formed on the top of a violently active volcano is a problem that is not easy of solution. As far as we can ascertain, only one plausible theory has been advanced, and that does not seem very credible; namely, that the needle was formed of molten lava during some previous period of activity, that this lava solidified and formed a plug which closed one of the passages of the crater, and that now it has been worked loose, and forced up by the recent renewed activity. The obelisk has the appearance of having been forced up in a solid piece like a stopper in a bottle, and held by friction to the sides of the opening. The northeast side of the obelisk is very smooth, almost polished in appearance.
All of which, with many other things, emphasizes the great fact of man's ignorance of this earth even, to say nothing of worlds beyond. What a lesson it is of the mighty potencies of God when we see His perverted laws working out such mighty changes!
All these things are mercifully foretold warnings of that time when earth can bear the burden of sin no longer, when God's restraining hand will cease to restrain, when the earth will have waxed old even to change, and amid the great convulsion of a perverted nature, a world in rebellion against God, every mountain and island shall be moved out of their places; and men of earth who never prayed to the God of nature, will pray for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them "from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"—Only the individual souls who are hid in God.
