“WHO is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” Rev. 5: 2. John, in apocalyptic vision, saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice this searching question. The book is the book of the future, closed to all created beings. The seals are the bonds that hold secure from creature sight the events of coming days.
Who can open that book, and read there the things that shall be? Whose eye can run down the line of coming years, beholding the events of the future? Who can read to-morrow in the light of to-day? Who can discern the signs of the times? Will the clouds of to-night break in fury on the morrow, or will yonder lowering sun rise in cloudless glory with the breaking day?
Who is worthy to answer these burning questions?
Is the claim of the poet Virgil, after all, but a poet’s boast, “I will declare thy people’s unshaken destinies, and causing them to revolve far in the future, will set in motion the secrets of the fates”? We find his declarations mere conjectures and plausible suggestions, that rise nowhere into clear predictions. And for all the wit of mortal mind, we must say as Cicero said, that he is the wisest prophet who can guess the best.
But it is not left for mortals to answer as to what mortals can do regarding the things that shall come to pass.
The question from the book of God is answered by that book: “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.”
KEPT SECRET FROM TIMES ETERNAL
How sweeping the denial as to human ability! Not able to open the coming days to the sight! Not able even to look upon them! Truly “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God.” And these mysteries have been kept secret from times eternal, and would be still hidden even unto times eternal, for all that man might do.
But the question of the angel, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?”—is not that the question which to-day is echoing and reëchoing in the minds of millions? In some form or other, is not that the thought which is to-day uppermost among the hosts of humanity?
Various are the forms the question takes, but at heart the question remains the same: What of the future? Who will win the war? Will the Turk be driven out of Europe? Will Russia and England eventually quarrel? Will any of the nations now at war be destroyed? Will the war debts be repudiated? Will the people rise against their kings, or will the war but further intrench the power of the rulers? Will this war end in the final battle of Armageddon? Will there be no wars after this present war? Will peace come soon?
THE BOOK OF THE FUTURE
And so the questions run. But at the best, they are the questions of the mighty angel—Who is able to open the book of the future and to unloose its seals?
But you protest: It does not say, “the book of the future.” It reads only, “the book.” True; but the contents of that book are given in Revelation 6, 7, and 8, and there we find events of earth’s history symbolically disclosed. Moreover, we are told that the book of Revelation is a prophecy (Rev. 1: 3; 22: 10, 18), recording “things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev. 1: 1), “the things which must shortly be done” (Rev. 22: 6).
And so we reiterate, The question of the angel is a question relating to events of the future. It is the question above all questions that God wants us to ask. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on”—heedless of what is before—“and are punished.” “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”
To cause us to ask the question in reference to the future, events of weighty portent are occurring daily. As Christ declared of our times, so has it come true,—“Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21: 26. Does not this statement of Christ refer to the future—to what is “coming on the earth”?
There can be no doubt about it. The question raised by the angel will not fail of its purpose. Though spoken and recorded nearly two thousand years ago, it was the word of a mighty angel, commissioned of God for the task; and the question will come to thousands, and burn upon the brain until, after God’s own order, it has been fully answered.
SATAN KNOWS NOT THE FUTURE
No one in heaven or in earth or under the earth was found able to read the mystic future. That is to say, it is not within the ken of the mightiest angels around the throne, the keenest intellects among men, or the sagacious cunning of the devil himself, to know one day ahead of the present.
We may all gather some meager idea of what will be, in a general way, by a study of the law of cause and effect; but this is not certainty. A powerful cause we did not see, may arise at any time, and put all our speculations in disarray.
No one on earth to-day can of himself tell you or me what our lives may hold for to-morrow. The palmist and the clairvoyant may advertise their boastful claims; but they do not know one thing of what is to be, more than they may shrewdly conjecture.
But above the level of created intelligences we lift our gaze, and behold One who can read for us the events that are to be. Yes, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . hath prevailed to open the book” and its seals. Christ predicts future events. He reads the scroll of coming activities. The book of Revelation is named “the Revelation of Jesus Christ,” “things which must shortly come to pass”; and the testimony of Jesus is solemnly declared to be the very spirit of prophecy itself. Rev. 19: 10.
FULFILLED THE HORRIBLE SPECIFICATIONS
In the book of God are many prophecies,—specific, definite predictions of events future at the time, some of which have282been literally fulfilled, others of which are yet to be fulfilled. From the clear, definite, and unquestionable fulfillment of the first, we may know the surety of the fulfillment of the second. Could clairvoyant or palmist predict with equal accuracy, how high their powers would be proclaimed among the deeds of men!
In Deut. 28: 56, 57 is foretold, hundreds of years before it happened, an event that took place in A. D. 70, when Mary, the daughter of Eleazar of Bethlezob, within the sight of the besieging Roman general, fulfilled all the horrible details of the prediction. And this one chronicled event gives us large ideas of similar instances that must have occurred at this awful time, in fulfillment of that one prophecy.
Another example is given in two very definite specifications concerning one incident in connection with the taking by Nebuchadnezzar of the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah foretold of King Zedekiah, “Thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.” Jer. 34: 2, 3. But Ezekiel says of this same occurrence, “I will bring him to Babylon; . . . yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.” Ezek. 12: 13. Here are very explicit prophecies, seemingly contradicting each other. But the record of the times of Zedekiah make it all clear, and show how fully God’s prophecy is fulfilled in the reality. The king of Judah saw his captor Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah; but there his eyes were put out, so that when carried to Babylon, he never beheld it. 2 Kings 25: 6, 7.
NAMED 150 YEARS BEFORE HIS BIRTH
Cyrus is mentioned by name in Isaiah, a hundred and fifty years before the monarch’s birth. And of him it was foretold, “He shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor reward.” Isa. 44: 28; 45: 13. Yes, God even stated beforehand the very year in which these captives would return from Babylon. What worldly sagacity could even have dreamed of such service as this of Cyrus’ being performed by a heathen monarch for the troublesome Jews?
As definite as these is the prophecy regarding Mohammedanism, declaring the number of its soldiers who took part in the siege of Constantinople to be twice ten times ten thousand. And Myers, ignorant of the specifications of the prophecy, records in his history the fact that the soldiers of Mohammed II numbered two hundred thousand. And we may say, in passing, that among the other numerous predictions regarding these Mohammedan activities, the use of gunpowder is very plainly included. Rev. 9: 16, 18.
Christ “hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals.” In the book of Revelation alone, we have uncounted prophecies of future human or divine events. God makes these known to His servants. Rev. 1: 1-3. If it were merely knowledge held by Him alone, it would avail us nothing. We might know that He is able to discern all coming events, but be none the wiser concerning the days ahead.
But Christ is with His children. He has promised to be with them to the end of the world. In Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Col. 2: 3. Yes, in Him dwells all the fullness of Deity (verse 9), and by this fullness His children are made complete (verse 10), for “of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” John 1: 16.
HAS CHRIST A CRIPPLED BODY?
There are therefore the world to-day those who share with Christ in His knowledge of what is to be in days to come. It is against such a people that Satan’s wrath is vented; for they know and make known all his devices to his ultimate destiny, as revealed in the Word. Against those having Christ’s prophetic insight he particularly makes war. Rev. 12: 17, with Rev. 19: 10.
Inspiration declares that those gifted with spiritual powers are set in the church, Christ’s body, as the different members of the human body are placed in their proper positions. And it is averred that “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,” etc. 1 Cor. 12: 28. But men declare to-day that the prophetic gift is no longer within the church. By this charge they really say that from the body of Christ these parts are now lacking. Has there been a surgical operation? Has there been an amputation? Or has some terrible accident robbed the body of its perfection? We ask, in all seriousness and solemnity, Is the body of Christ but a crippled body? The very thought seems blasphemous, if we would give it even a second’s condoning. No, indeed; His body, the church, is full and complete, notably in these last days. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.” 1 Cor. 12: 18. All the gifts, including the prophetic gift, are to be in the church until all have “come in the unity of the faith . . . unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph. 4: 13. And of those living in the end of time it is also declared, “The testimony of Christ [that is, ‘the spirit of prophecy,’ Rev. 19: 10] was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1: 6, 7.
SHARE HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE
Again we say that Christ has opened the book of the times that are to be; and those who are Christ’s share His knowledge of future events. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” Ps. 25: 14. “None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Dan. 12: 10.
“Weep not.” We may know what is coming. “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” Rev. 5: 5.
That Lion is the Lamb slaughtered (“slain” is too feeble a word for the original Greek here), who has the sevenfold Spirit of God. And this Spirit has gone forth into all the earth (Rev. 5: 6), to show to all God’s children, through His word, the “things to come.” John 16: 13.
READING THE FUTURE BY L. A. REED
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TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN SOULS
By Editor
DURING recent days, the New York papers have been describing a beautiful young woman about twenty years of age who suddenly dropped out of sight. Her picture has appeared in the papers, so that individuals who might chance to see her could identify her. Her parents, it is needless to say, are both frenzied and heartbroken.
Presumably this young woman of refinement has been seized by one of those venomous creatures in human form who make their living by capturing girls and selling them to a life of infamy in the brothels. Every year, there are thousands of young women who drop out of sight in this way, and are never heard from again.
The question has been agitated; and strong men and women, in strong organizations, have endeavored to break up these dens of white slave traffickers, and to make it safe for our young women to traverse our city streets. But regardless of all these efforts, the infamous work goes on. The men and women engaged in that sort of traffic can make money out of it, and they are so calloused that their hearts cannot be touched by the piteous cries or the suffering of an innocent girl who is dragged from a home of refinement into a life of such indescribable debasement and horrors.
God has said that the love of money would make the last days perilous (see 2 Tim. 3: 1-3); and when we think of the combinations of men that are promoting war in order that they may make money; that are promoting the liquor traffic, with all its degrading, degenerating tendencies, in order that they may make money; and of the other men who are even trafficking in the lives and the chastity of innocent girls in order that they may make money; who are willing, through graft, robbery, murder, and all the rest of the criminal and fraudulent methods of the time, to crush out every sacred tie of life just merely to make money,—who can doubt that we are in the time that is indeed perilous because of the satanic greed and sensuality that have gripped the souls of men?
How can men who recognize the conditions in our world at the present time think that it is growing better? Why can11they not see that God's word is true when it says that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse"? A just and merciful God cannot look much longer upon such Heaven-daring infamies as the traffic in women and the other crimes that are cursing this generation. He must soon arise to strike it down; and happy will be the men and women in that time who have foreseen what was coming, and have forsaken their evils, and who stand with God and Christ upon the side of righteousness, mercy, and truth.
FASCINATED WITH BRUTALITY
By L. E. F.
Echoes of the Cruel Glee of the Antediluvians Reverberating in the Twentieth Century
THE god of brutish strength and bestial savagery is not without his modern votaries. The brutality and violence that proved the undoing of the antediluvian world, has been reincarnated in the twentieth century. Unabashed, and almost unchallenged, it boldly stalks abroad through every land, treading in every walk of life, and entering even the sacred precinct of the church.
MINISTER REFEREES A PRIZE FIGHT
Some time ago, a Protestant church in one of the Southern cities of our country sent out cards bearing an astonishing invitation — to attend a prize fight to be held in the church. The cards read:
"Dear Brother: You are cordially invited to attend a prize fight at — church, Monday night, April 4, at eight o'clock. Be sure to bring this card for admittance."
The press report continues: "Officials of the church admitted there would be a boxing bout, but declined to give the names of those who would put on the gloves. It is believed the fighters will be two members of the church's athletic club. Indications are that the church will be much too small to hold the crowds which will gather."
From across the Atlantic comes the report of a professing minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ acting as master of ceremonies at a prize fight, and uttering a yell of triumph when one of the pugilists "knocked out" the other. According to the newspapers, his "popularity has greatly increased."
What a picture! A professed ambassador of Him who taught men to turn the other cheek to the fighter, and who lifted not even His finger in retaliation, when abused in the Roman hall of injustice, refereeing a prize fight! Oh, the shame and pity of it all! If a minister chooses to officiate at a prize fight, let him, in the name and for the sake of the gentle Christ and the holy gospel, refrain thereafter from officiating in a Christian church. The church and the prize fight have absolutely nothing in common. If Christians deliberately choose to attend the prize fight, let them sever all connection with the church. Let them not play the hypocrite.
WOMEN JOIN IN THE WILD GLEE
Not only do men attend these brutal exhibitions, but women too give their unblushing patronage to them. Hundreds and thousands of women in beautiful gowns, jeweled with rare gems, frantically crowd, push, and fight for the opportunity to see two men hammering away at each other. Roused to a frenzy of enthusiasm, screaming with delight, and even standing on their chairs, when the fight is particularly vicious, they applaud every unusually brutal blow, specially if it brings blood.
Press reports tell of how, not very long ago, some of the most fashionably dressed women, at the conclusion of a fight, were thrilled with savage joy as they crowded around the ring, and felt the sweaty muscles of the victor, even kissing his arms and lips in their wild glee.
$175 FOR A SINGLE SEAT
At the recent Willard-Moran fight, 12,000 men and 1,500 women gathered about the two gladiators. The reason the crowd was not larger was because "the walls of the garden are not made of rubber. They bulged as it was." Some of the seats in the topmost gallery were sold for $20; and in the boxes, it is said, the sum of $175 was paid for a single seat, while boxes with six chairs sold for $900.
Men crossed the continent, and even came from South America, to witness the fight, while nearly every large city was represented by a delegation. The most widely known financiers in America were there, the former secretary of war, world-famed actors and musicians, senators, mayors, captains of industry — in fact, "everybody who was anybody in New York," as the newspapers expressed it.
"More women were there than ever before came to see a professional prize fight. Representatives of every social division and subdivision helped swell the enormous gate receipts, which totaled $151,254." It is significant to note that according to the press, "the lure of a possible knock-out blow appeared to be the primal element of a vast majority of those who looked on."
WOMAN ASPIRES TO FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP
And not only do women attend these fights to watch the men, but they are now beginning to enter the ring themselves, to engage in this degrading sport, as is noted on page 16 of this issue.
Courtesy “Illustrated London News”
The ignoble aspiration of the young woman in New York who covets the "fly-weight" championship of the world, and challenges all women of her weight to contest her title with the gloves, is indeed pitiable. It is unwomanly, unnatural. Yet it is but another of the myriad indications of the brutalizing passion of the age that, with growing boldness and ever increasing frequency, seeks for recognition.
In a pleasure park in one of our largest cities, a public slaughtering contest was held, the butchers racing to see which could complete the killing and skinning in the shortest time, to the frenzied enthusiasm of the bloodthirsty crowd that watched. Moving pictures of bullfights, showing the actual goring and disemboweling of the blinded horses by the enraged bull, have, we are told, been accompanied with the wildest applause by the audience.
These hoarse cries of fiendish delight are the echoes of the cruelty that intoxicated the antediluvian sinners, and which, according to the divine Word, is to be repeated in our day. Our boasted civilization is but a thin veneer. It is being sullied beyond all possible purification. And this moral degradation presents a striking analogy to the days before the Flood, when violence reigned and the Sun of Righteousness was eclipsed by the shadow of brutal sin.
According to the Scriptures, the repetition of the scenes before the Flood will furnish ample proof of the approaching end of the age and the return of our Lord the Christ. Luke 17: 26. Of the violence of those days we are not left in doubt. Read Gen. 6: 5, 11-13. And among the distinguishing marks of the last days, the apostle cites that of fierceness. 2 Tim. 3: 1-3. What is it to be "fierce"? — It is to have the characteristics of savagery, violence, mercilessness, ferocity, cruelty.284
Prophecy is in process of fulfillment. The last pages of old earth’s history are being written. And this characteristic phenomenon of the age is all so serious and so significant, though the vast majority of people would call it but a passing fancy. But it cannot be thus brushed aside.
The human heart, hypnotized by sin, is fascinated with brutality, and thus blinded, sees not, heeds not this striking portent of the times.
MAKING THE ETERNAL CHOICE
To all who have come under the spell of this passion is this appeal addressed. Which shall have possession of your heart, the gentle Christ, or the god of force? It must be one or the other. Both cannot dwell in the same heart. You must choose between the high and the low, between the truer joy of the eternal future, and the wild glee of the passing moment. Which shall it be? Friend, choose well. Choose for eternity.
L. E. F.
Which Had the Bible on Her Side?
By Mrs. E. E. Smith
By MRS. E. E. SMITH
MRS. JONES and Mrs. Brown were discussing the meaning of Christ's words, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matt. 5: 17.
Mrs. B—: Mrs. Jones, don't you believe that "fulfill" means, to put an end to?
Mrs. J—: Most emphatically not; I believe that "fulfill" means, to do, to obey.
Mrs. B—: I believe that it means, to fill full, to put an end to, and that when Christ fulfilled the law, He put an end to it.
Mrs. J—: What rule, then, did Christ give to the Christian to live by?
Mrs. B—: He gave us two new commandments; namely: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;" and, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Mrs. J—: Believing this, and believing that "fulfill" means, to put an end to, read James 2: 8, saying "put an end to" instead of "fulfill," and see what you think.
Mrs. B— (Opening her Bible to the place): "If ye put an end to the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well." (After laughing a little) That won't do. I see that "fulfill" does not mean, put an end to, or we would do well to put an end to one of the new commandments.
Mrs. J—: What does it mean?
Mrs. B—: It means, to do, to obey that new commandment, I know.
Mrs. J—: Now, believing that fulfilling means obeying, read Rom. 13: 8, using "obey" instead of "fulfill."
Mrs. B— (Turning to the place): "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath obeyed the law."
Mrs. J—: To know what law we obey in doing this, read verses nine and ten.
(Mrs. B— reads. In these verses are cited some of the Ten Commandments.)
Mrs. J—: Suppose now we keep the whole of this law, and offend in just one point, are we guilty? Read what the Lord says in James 2: 10, 11.
Mrs. B—: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For He that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law."
Mrs. J—: He that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God"; and He also said, "My covenant [or law] will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips." Ps. 89: 34. (Turning to Matt. 5: 19) "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." Now what about the leaders who break the fourth commandment and teach men so?
(Mrs. B—, smiling, awaits the answer.)
Mrs. J—: This is what the Lord says to His people (reading from Isa. 3: 12): "O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." So remember: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." This text is in Isa. 8: 20; and the law it speaks of, says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
Mrs. B—: Yes, I know it does; but if we count Monday the first day, we have Sunday the seventh day.
Mrs. J— (After a moment's silence): What is the subject of the minister's sermon every Easter Sunday?
Mrs. B—: The resurrection.
Mrs. J—: Does he not tell his people that Sunday is called the Lord's day because on that day Jesus arose from the dead?
Mrs. B—: Yes.
Mrs. J—: Then you know that Sunday is the first day of the week, and Saturday the seventh. And you just said, too, that you knew the Bible says the seventh day is the Sabbath. Now show me one place between its lids authorizing the change from the seventh to the first day.
(Silence. What reply could there be? "For whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.")
Danger of the Crowd
By A. R. Bell
Majorities Often in the Wrong—Truth Will Ultimately Triumph—Wrong Will Swing upon the Scaffold
By A. R. BELL
TRUTH has never been popular. History proves that in almost every instance, majorities have been on the side of wrong. As the poet wrote,
“Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne.”
It is easy to go with the crowd. We first resist, then we follow, then we catch the spirit, and at last we defend the wrong. So it has ever been. The multitude followed Jesus. He fed them. He supplied their temporal wants. He gave them bread to eat. But when He besought them to labor “for that meat which endureth,” they “murmured.” Then they “went back, and walked no more with Him.” See John 6: 26, 27, 60, 61, 66.
CHURCH-SAVING EXPERIMENTS
When they found that to follow Jesus meant to stand for principle, instead of being fed upon the loaves and the fishes, it was easier for them to follow the crowd.
And truth is still unpopular. To stand for truth means to stand for principle. But God is on the side of principle, though it be unpopular. In the modern tabernacle fad, with its brass bands, and its great hurrah, and torch-light parades, and “hit-the-trail” conversions, we are reminded of the prophecy of Isa. 2: 2, 3 and Micah 4: 1, 2, which shows that in the last days, it will be popular to join the church under the excitement of the crowd. Tabernacle campaigns, social service conventions, church unity congresses, and laymen’s movements, and every other sort of church-saving experiment, are the order of the day.
But the study of these prophecies discloses the fact that God is in this very experience, calling attention to a people that “halteth,” who are “driven out” and “afflicted.” Of these He says, “I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” Micah 4: 6, 7.
THE UNPOPULAR REMNANT
Here is indeed a remnant. To follow the crowd would be easier than to endure their taunts and sneers, the ostracism and the persecution. But God is watching over His own. They are standing stiffly for the truth. They refuse to yield to the clamor that would have them violate conscience, and are living His truth and law in their lives.
God will not suffer them to be moved. In the trial of their faith, He is refining His gold, and removing the last particle of dross. It is the “little flock”—unpopular but faithful—to whom God will give the kingdom, and over whom He will delight to reign in His kingdom of love and light.
Under a form of godliness that denies the power of the gospel, the multitude is moved. The commandments of men, and convention resolutions, and legislative enactment, are taking the place of the commandments and word of the living God. Men are turning away their ears from the truth, and are turned to fables. But God has never left Himself without witness: and in spite of every hindering circumstance, He will triumph in the lives of a remnant people. Faithful though unpopular, loyal in the face of persecution, obedient to God in spite of oppression, willing notwithstanding the scoff and the scorn, they are dear to God, even as the apple of His eye.
They will overcome “even unto the end,” and “shall inherit all things,” having a part in that glad day when truth shall ascend the throne, and wrong shall swing upon the scaffold.
Heaven, Hell, or Where, at Death?
By Editor
Some think the dead go to heaven direct; others think certain ones go to hell for sure and at once; and a few who get their ideas from the Bible think the dead are really dead and "know not anything."
Whether your opinion is based upon visible manifestations, or hearsay, or earnest study of the Scriptures, you will find the article entitled "Life After Death" interesting to say the least. Every sentence is a point. The article is almost sure to change the views of "immortality" adherents.
“Prepare War”
Numerous Other Features
Preparedness is the big topic. It is treated from every angle—national, church, individual.
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SIGNS OF THE TIMES MAGAZINE
Mountain View, California
Moonstroke
By Adelaide D. Wellman
A Story for the Little Folks
By ADELAIDE D. WELLMAN
"THAT is funny."
Olive wondered what Perry found that was funny, in the Bible; for he was reading his daily chapter.
She soon learned what it was, for Perry read aloud the verse; and Olive too thought it funny, or at least strange.
"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."
That was what Perry read, and he said it was in Psalm 121.
"Who ever heard of the moon's hurting any one?" he asked.
"I have," replied a voice from across the room.
Both of the children looked up in surprise. It was Mr. Wilbur who had answered. He was a stranger who was boarding for a few days in their mountain home, and he did not talk to them much. He spent most of his time studying plants, and animals, and rocks, and other things in nature.
"How does the moon hurt anybody?" asked Perry.
"In a climate no warmer than this, it perhaps does not hurt any one," Mr. Wilbur said; "but in some very warm countries, the people fear moonstroke more than sunstroke."
"Is he just joking, papa?" Olive asked, in a half whisper; but her father replied, "You may be sure the Bible would not speak of danger from the moon, if there were no such danger."
Mr. Wilbur continued: "Any one who sleeps in the bright moonlight of the tropics is likely to be moonstruck. Sailors sometimes suffer thus from sleeping on ship deck. Mild cases have occurred in this country even."
"How does it affect a person?" the children's mother inquired; and their guest answered: "The mouth is drawn to one side, and the eyes become weak, and there is more or less nausea."
"What is nausea?" Olive asked. Could you tell her?
"Does the face always stay one-sided after that?" questioned Perry; and Mr. Wilbur replied, "In some cases, but others recover."
Then the children's father remarked, "This shows us that when people find things in the Bible that seem to them like mistakes, the people are mistaken, instead of the Bible."
