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The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 9

GOD'S BOW IN THE CLOUD

The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

Thursday, February 26, 1880

Seventh-Day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Thursday, February 26, 1880

GOD'S BOW IN THE CLOUD.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
SOME time ago, we were favored with a view of the most glorious rainbow we ever beheld. We have often visited galleries of art, and have admired the skill displayed by the artist in paintings representing God's great bow of promise. But here we saw the varied tints,—crimson, purple, blue, green, silver, and golden, all perfectly blended by the great Master Artist. We were entranced as we looked upon this glorious picture in the heavens.
As we look upon this bow, the seal and sign of God's promise to man, that the tempest of his wrath should no more desolate our world by the waters of a flood, we contemplate that other than finite eyes are looking upon this glorious sight. Angels rejoice as they gaze upon this precious token of God's love to man. The world's Redeemer looks upon it; for it was through his instrumentality that this bow was made to appear in the heavens, as a token or covenant of promise to man. God himself looks upon the bow in the clouds, and remembers his everlasting covenant between himself and man.
After the fearful exhibition of God's avenging power, in the destruction of the Old World by a flood, had passed, he knew that those who had been saved from the general ruin would have their fears awakened whenever the clouds should gather, the thunders roll, and the lightnings flash; and that the sound of the tempest and the pouring out of the waters from the heavens would strike terror to their hearts, for fear that another flood was coming upon them. But behold the love of God in the promise: “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature, of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
The family of Noah looked with admiration and reverential awe mingled with joy upon this sign of God's mercy, which spanned the heavens. The bow represents Christ's love which encircles the earth, and reaches unto the highest heavens, connecting men with God, and linking earth with Heaven.
As we gaze upon the beautiful sight, we may be joyful in God, assured that he himself is looking upon this token of his covenant, and that as he looks upon it he remembers the children of earth, to whom it was given. Their afflictions, perils, and trials are not hidden from him. We may rejoice in hope, for the bow of God's covenant is over us. He never will forget the children of his care. How difficult for the mind of finite man to take in the peculiar love and tenderness of God, and his matchless condescension when he said, “I will look upon the bow in the cloud, and remember thee.”
Oh! how easy for us to forget God, while he never forgets us; he visits us with his mercies every hour. We would feel that it was a calamity indeed to be forgotten of God. But our Redeemer says, “I will not forget thee. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Graven his children with the deep prints of the nails driven through those dear hands which he presents to the Father. He says, I will that those who accept my merits be with me where I am, that they may enjoy the mansions which I have prepared for them at an infinite cost; and angelic songs ring through Heaven, Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath all power and might and dominion and glory.

“THE SABBATH; IS THE LAW DEAD, OR AM I?”

By Wm. Penniman

BY WM. PENNIMAN.
(Continued.)
Referring to the sermon on the mount, the author of the tract we are reviewing says: “It is said that it sets up and spiritualizes the law. If it does, the Sabbath is left out, as having no part in that spiritualization.” The law was set up amid the thunders of Sinai, ages before the sermon on the mount was delivered. Paul says (Rom. 7 : 14), “For we know that the law is spiritual.” In his memorable sermon Christ says, “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” In the same sermon anger and hatred are condemned as a violation of the law, “Thou shalt not kill.” Lust in the heart is also condemned. Two commandments are therefore plainly spiritualized. Unconsciously, his own language spiritualizes the law, as in conclusion he says it refers to moral principles and obedience. It is true that the Sabbath is not mentioned in the sermon on the mount; but if two-tenths of the law are recognized as spiritual, then the whole must be. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law [nine-tenths], and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2 : 10. This shows that the moral law is to be taken as a whole. Christ said nothing about the command against stealing, nor that against taking the name of the Lord in vain; and since these commandments and some others are not mentioned in the sermon on the mount, does it follow that we are not to keep them?
The one we are reviewing, like many who undertake to overthrow the Sabbath, has more than one string to his bow. He started out with the determination to kill the person to the law; but not succeeding very well in this, he begins to send his arrows toward the law itself. After denying its spirituality, he accuses it of being weak and unprofitable; and being apprehensive of objections, he says: “Is therefore morality gone? No; but it is not maintained in Christianity by the law.” Here he quotes Rom. 8 : 3: “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” His idea seems to be that sin is condemned in the flesh.
He also says: “If I walk after the Spirit, I am not under the law.” He next quotes that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, patience: against such there is no law.” The fruits of the Spirit are but the spiritual effects of keeping the law, and it can with no show of reason be urged that because one walks after the Spirit, he is not under the law in the sense of being obliged to keep it.
Of Rom. 8 : 3 Mr. Barnes says, “The weakness was in the flesh, and not in the law.” By reference to Rom. 7 : 12, it can be seen that the law had its office. “It was not sin; it gave a knowledge of sin. It was holy; it was just and good; it was spiritual.” Can a perfect law be said to be weak? But “the law of the Lord is perfect.” Ps. 19 : 7. It was weak through the power of sin, and the evil desires of the unregenerate heart; hence it could not accomplish the great plan of salvation without the death of Christ. According to Mr. Barnes, the words “in the flesh” have reference to the humanity of Christ, and not to the sinful nature of man. He says: “The flesh being the seat and origin of transgression, the atoning sacrifice was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, that thus he might meet sin, as it were, on its own ground, and destroy it.”
The “ten words” seem to have suggested the question, “Is the law dead, or am I?” as the following indicates: “I make a difference as to the ten words, of which I will speak. God spoke them out of the midst of the fire, and added no more. They were laid up in the ark. All this made a difference, but as terms of a covenant, they are clearly set aside with the rest.” The psalmist says: “They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Ps. 111 : 8. The Sabbath itself was given for “a perpetual covenant.” Ex. 31 : 16. It was God’s memorial. The covenant was commanded to “a thousand generations.” Ps. 105 : 8. “Thy law is the truth.” Ps. 119 : 142. “The truth of the Lord endureth forever.” Ps. 117 : 2. The law is righteousness, and God says his righteousness shall not be abolished. Isa. 51 : 6. The decalogue is not so easily “set aside.”
Another arrow: “I keep the law de facto by not being under it de jure, because the life and spirit of Christ make me love my neighbor, and he who does this fulfills the law.” The sense of the first part of this quotation seems to be: “I keep the law, from the fact that I am not under it by law; and the reason why I thus keep it is because I love my neighbor, and thus fulfill it.” This arrow does not have effect either on the law or the Sabbath, as Matt. 22 : 37–40 teaches that there are two great commandments of the law, one enjoining love to God, and the other requiring love to man. Therefore, to carry out the designs of the law, the Sabbath must be kept, as it is a part of the duty we owe to God.
Referring to the sermon on the mount, he again speaks as follows: “It [the law] is not spoken of as an obligation, but as certain of fulfillment.” If Christ did not speak of the law as obligatory upon his hearers, why did he say, “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.”
Our author makes one more effort to get rid of the law, or to get it out of the sermon on the mount, as follows: “The sermon was given to Jewish disciples; and Christ had not died out from under it, neither had they.” Christ had not died out from under it, when he taught the lawyer the first great commandment of the law, and that the second was like unto it. Neither had he thus died when the young man came to him to know what good thing he should do to inherit eternal life, and was told by the Saviour to keep the commandments if he would enter into life. As late as the year A. D. 60, Paul had not died out from under the law, as he refers to five of the “ten words” in Rom. 13 : 9. James had not in A. D. 60. James 2 : 11. John had not in A. D. 96, as he writes the words of Christ, “Blessed are they which do his [the Father’s] commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22 : 14.
(Concluded next week.)

COMING TO ZION,

By Uriah Smith

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isa. 35:10.
Soon shall we come to Zion, Come with glad shout and song; Come to the thrilling rapture Of a just-ransomed throng. Sorrows forever vanish, Sighing is heard no more, Trouble can cast no shadow Upon that radiant shore.
What if the way be thorny, And the dull sky overcast? Soon shall we pass the shadows; It will be “Heaven at last”— Heaven beyond our dreaming, Joys all unthought before— And this our greatest wonder, We had not prized them more.
Then oh! eternal glory For ills so few and light; Then oh! unending sunshine For this our one brief night. Then will all thoughts of trials Drift off beyond recall; One plunge in Heaven’s glory Will bury and banish all.
U. S.

The Twenty-Three Hundred Days.

By J. O. Corliss

BY ELD. J. O. CORLISS.
TEXT: “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Dan. 8:14.
THIS language is found in the midst of a very important line of prophecy, one which all commentators are agreed can be understood, though all are not so well agreed as to its importance. We think, however, that since God has seen fit to give it to his people, and our Saviour has said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand” (Matt. 24:15), it is not only right and proper to investigate the prophecy, but highly important that we understand it. In this investigation, the first question that arises is, To what sanctuary does the text refer? Certainly not to the earthly sanctuary, for that was cleansed once every year, and 2300 literal days would cover a period of more than six years. Besides, in verse 17 the angel tells Daniel that the vision will be at the “time of the end,” at which time the earthly sanctuary with its offerings and sacrifices was to be no more, having been superseded by the substance, the heavenly sanctuary, with its better sacrifices, of which the earthly was but a shadow.
When will this heavenly sanctuary be cleansed? Not at the end of 2300 literal days; for then the event to transpire at their close would have taken place in the time of Daniel and his people. But it did not take place then; for Daniel was commanded to seal up the vision (verse 26); and we further learn from the next chapter that Daniel himself did not understand it for a number of years.
Now, as “God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7), and since he did not reveal this to Daniel for more than twice the number of literal days mentioned in the prophecy itself, we are shut up to the conclusion that they must be symbolic days. The leading expositors of prophecy are unanimous in teaching that a day in symbolic prophecy represents a year. In this they are in harmony with the Scriptures. God said to Ezekiel, when he sent him to Jerusalem to symbolically lay siege to it, “And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Eze. 4:6. Other scriptures might be produced, but this is enough to establish the point. Hereafter, then, we will speak of the days mentioned in our text as 2300 years.
Having learned the nature of these days, the next point that claims our attention is, When do they end? Although Gabriel was commissioned of God to explain the vision, and make Daniel understand the matter, yet after his interview with Gabriel, the prophet said he “was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Dan. 8:27. But did the angel ever fulfill the command of God, and make Daniel understand the vision? We shall see. After looking the matter over a long time, Daniel concluded that the vision referred to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, which had been long trodden down; and as the time had nearly come for it to be restored, according to former prophecies, he offered an earnest prayer that God would turn away his wrath, and let his face shine upon the desolate sanctuary. Dan. 9:3–17. While he was thus supplicating before God, the angel Gabriel came again to the prophet, and said, “O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” Verse 22. After commending Daniel for his zeal in trying to settle this perplexing question, he adds, “Therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” He then commences to explain: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.”
The Hebrew word here rendered “determined,” is defined by Gesenius to mean, literally, to cut off; tropically, to divide, and so to determine. But from what were the seventy weeks, or 490 days, cut off? From whatever was in the vision; for this is what Daniel was considering with the angel. Then the 490 days were cut off from the 2300 days, and were to end with the privileges of the Jewish people.
The next verse tells us that sixty-nine of these weeks reach from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah. In sixty-nine weeks there are 483 days, or literal years. These reach to the time when Messiah will be revealed. The word Messiah means “anointed.” John 1:41, margin. By comparing Acts 10:37, 38, with Mark 1:10, we learn that Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. The chronological table in my Bible at the head of the first chapter of Mark says that Christ was baptized A. D. 26. Now if we shall reckon back from this point 483 years, and find the date to which it reaches exactly agreeing with the time when the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given, the starting point of the 2300 years will be established beyond a doubt. But when did the command to restore and build Jerusalem go forth? From the seventh chapter of Ezra we learn that it was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, or 457 B. C. Now let us see if our former computation agrees with this. Subtract A. D. 26, the time of Christ’s baptism, from 483 years, the time specified to reach forward to that point from the command to restore and build Jerusalem, and we are carried back to 457 B. C. Or, if we choose to let the chronological table settle the date of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, we can reckon forward 483 years to ascertain when the anointing of Christ should take place. As 457 B. C. does not cover the entire period of 483 years, we subtract the 457 B. C. from the 483 years, which leaves 26 years, the time the 483 years extend this side of the Christian era; and, as we have before shown, this is the very time when Christ was baptized. This conclusion is strengthened by the Saviour’s statement immediately after his baptism, when, evidently referring to the sixty-nine weeks, he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:15.
But if sixty-nine of the weeks reach to the anointing of Messiah, what of the seventieth week? What marks its termination? The angel said to Daniel: “And he [Christ] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Christ preached three and a half years, and died in the middle of the seventieth week. After his death, the disciples preached to the Jews the remaining three and a half years, or until the Jewish Sanhedrin formally rejected him by persecuting his followers, and God gave the great apostle his commission to the Gentiles. Afterward, when referring to the matter, we hear him say: “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46. See also Rom. 1:16, and Matt. 10:5, 6.
Having now disposed of the seventy weeks, which we have already shown to be a part of the 2300 days (years), and which consequently began at the same time, we are ready to answer the inquiry, When do the 2300 years end? Having learned that they commenced B. C. 457, we have only to subtract that date from the 2300 years, which leaves 1843 years this side of the Christian era. But let it be noticed that it requires all of 457 and all of 1843 to make 2300 full years, so that if the 2300 years began with the commencement of B. C. 457, they would not end till the last day of A. D. 1843. But as the work of building Jerusalem did not commence till the seventh month of B. C. 457, to make the entire time of 2300 years, these seven months should be added to the end of A. D. 1843, which would carry us to the seventh month of A. D. 1844, as shown by the following diagram:—
“But,” remarks one, “these are the very conclusions reached by Wm. Miller and his associates, when preaching the end of the world.” Very true, and all the learned men of their day failed to refute their computation of the time. And why? Simply because they followed the Bible, which sustained them in their reckoning. The objector may ask, Then why did not the Lord come, as they predicted? Because they were mistaken, not in the time, but in the nature of the event to transpire. The cleansing of the sanctuary is not the coming of the Lord.
By referring to the book of Hebrews, we showed, last night, that the earthly sanctuary was built after the pattern of the heavenly, and that the services of the earthly were a shadow of those in the heavenly sanctuary. If so, the services of the heavenly sanctuary must be the same as those in the earthly. To illustrate: You see the shadow of my fingers on the wall; there are just as many fingers in the shadow as are on my hand, and no more. Now if I were to lose one of my fingers, and hold up my hand again here, you would notice the loss of that finger in the shadow on the wall. So you see the shadow can represent no more than the substance contains.
In order, then, to understand the nature of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, we have only to trace the cleansing of the earthly, and will therefore briefly review that work. We learned last evening that when a person had broken one of God’s commandments, he brought a victim to the door of the sanctuary, and confessed his sin upon its head. The victim was then slain, and its blood was taken by the priest to minister for the penitent. By this ceremony the sin was transferred from the sinner to the sanctuary. This sin remained there till the day of atonement, when the sanctuary was cleansed, and the sin removed. We also learned that on that day of atonement, the high priest passed from the outer apartment of the sanctuary to the most holy place, taking with him the sins of his people, and the blood of a sin-offering. In the most holy place he presented before God the blood, and atoned for the sins, after which they were placed upon the head of the scape-goat, and borne away from the camp of Israel forever.
This was in one sense a day of judgment to the children of Israel; for if any neglected to bring a victim and confess his sins, and have them conveyed into the sanctuary, they were not taken by the high priest in before God, and atoned for, but remained with the sinner, and he died for his sins. So it is in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, in the gospel dispensation. All have an opportunity to confess their wrongs, and through the blood of Christ have them conveyed into the sanctuary above. But if any have died without confessing their wrongs, those wrongs rest upon them, and when the sins which have been conveyed into the sanctuary by confession are atoned for, the sins of the unrepentant are left out, and will be visited upon the heads of the guilty.
But when does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, or the work of atonement, commence? At the close of the 2300 years, in 1844. Then Christ, our high priest, passed into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to begin the work of atonement. Then the investigative Judgment commenced, and from that point the work of separation has been going on. That this is a time of judgment, is shown by Rev. 11:18, 19, where the prophet speaks of the time of the dead that they should be judged, and adds: “And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” In the earthly sanctuary the ark of the testament was in the most holy place, which was entered only on the day of atonement. Hence when the ark of God’s testament was seen in the open temple above, it must have been on the occasion of our High Priest’s entering the most holy place, at the end of the 2300 years, in 1844.
This Judgment work is clearly announced in the great three-fold message of Rev. 14:6–12. The first angel proclaims in a most solemn manner that the hour of God’s Judgment is come; the second angel follows closely, announcing the fallen condition of the professed church; while the third angel follows the other two, uttering a solemn warning against the worship of the beast, and at the same time presenting a remedy to prepare the world to stand in the Judgment. This three-fold message develops a class of people who, while waiting for the Lord from Heaven, keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.
The Judgment must decide cases by some standard; and by reference to the statement of the apostle Paul, in Rom. 2:12–16, we learn that that standard is the law of God, the very same introduced by the third angel, after the Judgment hour has been announced. How much like our blessed Lord, if when the Judgment hour arrives his people are found breaking his law, to send a warning message telling them of their mistake.
Let us now briefly notice the nature of the Judgment announced by this message. If a man here commits a crime, he is not condemned without a trial; but his case is investigated, and a verdict rendered for or against him, according to the evidence adduced. In other words, no man is properly condemned without first having an examination. Now if God is more just than mortal man (Job 4:17), and if it be true that at the coming of the Lord the dead in Christ rise first—or before the wicked—and are made immortal in the twinkling of an eye, as the Scriptures plainly teach, then we are shut up to the conclusion that the decision in their cases at least had been reached before the coming of the Lord and their resurrection from the dead. Every one, then, will have an investigation of his case, and the Bible plainly declares that every man will be judged according to his deeds. This would necessitate an examination of his entire life-record, and we understand this to be just the nature of the Judgment work commenced in 1844, and announced by the first angel of Rev. 14.
But how is every man judged according to his deeds, if no record of his life is kept? In Dan. 7:9, 10, we find the following sublime description of the Judgment: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the Judgment was set, and the books were opened.”
In this text we are told that the books are opened; but just how many, and what they contain, it does not state. We read again, however, from Rev. 20:11, 12: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” From this scripture we learn the nature of these books. The book of life contains the names of all those who have ever entered the service of God, while the other books contain a record of their lives. From the record made in these books, decision is rendered in the case of each whose name is in the book of life.
Peter says that judgment begins at the house of God. 1 Pet. 4:17. “Let this book in my hand represent the book of life, and we will suppose that Abel’s name stands first on the list. Here is the Judgment open, with the Judge upon the throne, surrounded by all his angels. The book of life is opened, and Abel’s name is called. Then the angel that attended him through life presents a record not only of his words and deeds, but the secret motives of his heart. Eccl. 12:14. If that record shows that Abel confessed all his wrongs and became an overcomer, the Lord Jesus Christ, as high priest, pleads his own blood in Abel’s behalf, and the decision is given, Let his sins be blotted out, and his name be retained in the book of life. But if any whose name has been entered there upon his giving his heart to God, shall afterward have grown careless and indifferent, and shall have neglected to confess his heart-wanderings and put away his wrongs, the record will reveal it, and the mandate will go forth, Let his sins be retained, and his name be blotted from the book of life.
This is not a fancy sketch. Turn with me to Rev. 3:5, and read: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Here Christ is represented as standing before God and the angels when the names in the book of life are being examined, and he declares that he will there confess the names of those who have overcome. My friend, have you entered the service of God, and had your name recorded in the book of life? If so, your case will soon be reached. Oh, how my soul is thrilled at the thought that the book containing my name has been open for more than a quarter of a century, and as record after record is being examined, the time is drawing near when my name will be called, and I too shall pass the test. How shall I meet it?
In the earthly sanctuary the atonement occupied but one day in each year. Evidently the same work in the heavenly sanctuary will occupy but a correspondingly short time. Just how far the record has been reviewed, or how long it will take to finish the work, none can tell; but when the last name shall be reached, then the decree recorded in Rev. 22:11 will go forth: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” The cases of all will then have been decided, and the announcement will be made: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.
At that time, shall we with joy behold his face, and hear him say to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”? If so, then we shall be happy forever. But oh, if it shall then appear that our names are not in the book of life, what despair will fill our souls! What agony will rend our hearts! We may call for the rocks and mountains to fall on us, and hide us from the face of the Lord; but that will afford us no relief, for our doom is fixed, and our cases hopeless.
How much better to seek the Lord now, and put our wrongs away while the opportunity is given. Our probation will soon close; and if the work of the Judgment should decide our cases to-night, how many would be ready? As I ask this question, I feel like crying, O Lord, make me more like thee! My dear friends, if you have not yet made your peace with God, I entreat you, as one who loves your souls, make it now. Give yourselves wholly to his service. And when the Lifegiver comes, may we all share in the overcomer’s reward.

SOUL-SLEEPING

By D. G. M.

The term “soul-sleeper” is used to-day only as a term of reproach; and those who are so called would do well to carefully examine the Scriptures, and see if they teach the doctrine.
First, we believe there are few thinking people who are not soul-sleepers.
Answer candidly and thoughtfully the following questions: What part of a man sleeps when he retires at night, and sleeps an unconscious, unbroken sleep? “The mind,” says one. True, it cannot be the body; for every member of the body is at work at its proper functions. The heart is forcing the blood to the extremities; the veins carry the blood in the proper amount; the pulse pulsates; the arteries beat; the lungs inhale and exhale the air; the stomach digests its food; and all members of the body are busily engaged. But when man at night sleeps and dreams, what part sleeps? We say the soul. Are we wrong? If not, then soul-sleepers have reason and common sense on their side. But give a “thus saith the Lord” for your doctrine. To the law and to the testimony. Let us search the Scriptures only for the purpose of learning the truth; and may the Spirit guide us in our investigation.
Our first position is, the soul is in the grave. In Ps. 49:15 we read, “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave.” I ask, Will God redeem anything else from the power of the grave except the soul? A queer place this for “an immaterial, thinking substance” (Dwight’s Theology), an immortal soul. When will God redeem “my soul” from the power of the grave? Read the whole verse: “For he shall receive me.” Now if we can find when we are to be received, we can decide this point. “I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” John 14:3. Then we see that the soul lies in the grave until the coming of Christ the second time. Again, in Ps. 89:48 we find this question: “What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?” There have been only two exceptions in the history of the race, from the time of Adam to the present. “Death [is] passed upon all men.” Rom. 5:12. “In Adam all die.” 1 Cor. 15:22. Then we can all agree in our answer to the question asked by the psalmist, and say, without a dissenting voice, “There is no man that liveth, and shall not see death.” But how about the next question, Ps. 89:48: “Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?” Would the psalmist speak correctly if death (spoken of in the preceding question) did not deliver the soul to the grave? Strange doctrine, this; for theology of modern times says that the soul is before the throne or wailing in torment. Again, in Ps. 30:3 we have this declaration in prayer: “O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” This can only refer to the resurrection; for then the righteous shall be kept alive, “live forever,” and not go down to the pit.
Again, in Isa. 38:17 we read, “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption.” Here was good king Hezekiah, who had been very sick, and was now sound and well. He was a perfect man; and now God in love to his soul delivers it from the grave. Bible writers were surely very ignorant of modern theology; for they seem to weep bitterly, and not to understand that “death is the gate to endless joys,” or “the voice that Jesus sends to call us to his arms.” In Ps. 16:10 we read, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.” If modern theology is true, either David’s or some other person’s soul went to hell, and was not left there. Can any one suppose that at the general Judgment some immortal soul, who to-day gnashes its teeth, will be taken out of hell, and not left there? But what says the Bible? Peter explains that it is the soul of Christ which was not left in hell (hades, the grave). Acts 2:25–33. The soul of Christ was offered for sin, Isa. 53:10, and was not left in the grave.
Our second position is, the soul is said to die. “They [Israel] smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them.” Josh. 11:11. This does not look as though “death is the kindly frost that cracks the shell, and leaves the kernel room to germinate.” These souls were utterly destroyed. Was the body only destroyed, and the immortal soul only released from its prison-house? “Utterly destroyed.” No room for mistake here. God declares that the souls were smitten by the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed. The people in those days surely had no idea of a “never-dying soul to save,” for they utterly destroyed them all. “My soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.” Job 7:15. How would you go to work to kill an immaterial soul? How could an immortal soul choose death, when that which is immortal cannot alter, since it has not the principle of alteration? “As I live” [here is an oath], saith the Lord God, . . . the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:34. Will it? “None can keep alive his own soul.” Ps. 22:29. Then it surely will die. How strangely the Bible talks! But, thank God, Christ has once for all conquered death, and against the church “the gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail.”
Thirdly, that which goes to the grave is said to be asleep. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers.” Deut. 31:16. This is a good witness; for it is he of whom it is written, “It is impossible for God to lie.” We have seen that the soul goes to the grave, and now death is referred to as a sleep. This begins to look like soul-sleeping in the Bible. The prophet Nathan, speaking “the word of the Lord” to David, says, “And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,” etc. Are David’s fathers in Heaven? If so, they are asleep, and David is sleeping with them. Let us see. In Acts 2:29 Peter says that David “is both dead and buried,” and in verse 34, he “is not ascended into the heavens.” Where is David, then? Dead and buried. And Acts 13:36: “David . . . fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.” Then sleeping with his fathers means death and corruption, “the sleep of death.” Ps. 13:3. No mistake here. “Some are fallen asleep.” 1 Cor. 15:6. And we learn that they also “which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished,” “if Christ be not raised.” If they were in Heaven or paradise, they would not have perished in any sense; but all depends on the resurrection of Christ, and so the apostle shouts the victor’s song: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” Mark the language—the first-fruits. Christ’s soul was not left in the grave, and the harvest will follow in due time. But “we shall not all sleep,” or die. There will be some alive at the coming of Christ, and these “shall be changed.” There will then be no more sleeping, for “death is swallowed up in victory.”
How long must men sleep in the grave? “As for me, . . . I shall be satisfied, when I awake with [in] thy likeness.” Ps. 17:15. The awakening time is the resurrection at the advent of Christ.
And now we have seen from our investigation that the Bible teaches soul-sleeping. “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep; . . . Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” John 11:11–14. Let us rejoice when we are counted worthy to bear a name given in reproach because we believe a Bible doctrine.—D. G. M., in the Rainbow.
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