4-Wil...Ari:e42•11:111,,,,,,W ',ZVI" THE WORLDS. PROPHETIC WEEKLY

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'-sgit;421.'" Vol. 75, No. 2S Whose Palestine. See page July 20, 1948 CORRESPONDENCE

SIGNS Life Changed DEAR SIR: Since I started with your Bible studies; I am quite changed in life. My heart is beating TIMES so east for Jesus, and I can say you have com- forted me so much with your Bible course. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111 T. M. Johannesburg, Africa. ED TOR ARTHUR S. MAXWELL ASSOCIATE EDITOR . MERLIN L. NEFF ASSISTANT EDITOR FRANCIS A. SOPER Methodist 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 DEAR SIR: Through the kindness of some friend I am receiving Signs of the Times each week. I have been a Methodist for fifty years, and yet VOL. 75, No. 28 JULY 20, 1948 I read this little paper and am spiritually up- CONTENTS lifted. I trust it will be received in like man- ner in every home into which it may go. F. B. M. CORRESPONDENCE 2 Lodi, California.' EDITORIALS: WHERE FEAR STILL REIGNS 3 Baptist IS THERE VALUE IN PAIN ? 4 DEAR SIR: I am a reader of your paper and get so LESSONS IN MURDER 4 much spiritual food from it that I don't want WHOSE PALESTINE ? A. W. Anderson 5 to be without it any more. I pray that God will bless you in your work. THE CHANGELESS WORD (POEM) Julia H. Johnston 6 I am a Baptist. I pass the papers on to others when I have read them. ON AFRICA'S HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS E. L. Cardey 7 J. A. B. Doniphan, Missouri. ROME'S SUPREMACY PREDICTED . Taylor G. Bunch 8 WHEN ISRAEL INVADED PALESTINE W. L. Emmerson 10 Marine PROOF POSITIVE CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD DEAR SIR: I am a young man twenty-five years old, W. E. Read 12 but love the Bible. The Signs of the Times TEACH US TO PRAY Mrs. E. E. Andross 16 has done me so much good after returning from four years in the service as a Marine. L. H. Leavenworth, Kansas. OUR COVER Self-Supporting Missionary DEAR SIR: The call to prayer, sounded daily from every Moslem I am one of the regular readers of the Signs, mosque, has become virtually a call to war throughout and I want to congratulate you on the March 16 issue. Keep it up. the Arab world, where strong feelings prevail against This letter is to tell you a little of our plans the setting up of a Jewish state in Palestine. to go to South America to take the Lord's message to those who have never heard it. We are going in our own boat and will take necessary machinery to build houses and other buildings necessary for the work. We CIRCULATION MANAGER H K. CHRISTMAN intend to be self-supporting there and teach the natives modern self-supporting civilized methods. Printed and published weekly (50 issues a year) by the Pacific Press L. B. G. Publishing Association at Mountain View, California, U. S. A. Entered as Hammondsport, New York. second-class matter September 15, 1904, at the post office at Mountain View, California, under Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at Dear Friend special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, and authorized September 18, 1918. DEAR SIR: I see my subscription expires sometime this RATES in U. S. A.: Single copy, one year $2 00 month. So I am enclosing $2 to pay for the Clubs of five or more to one address, each 1 75 To Canada and other countries taking extra postage: Signs of the Times another year. It is just Single copy, one year (U. S. funds) $2 50 like a dear friend coming to see me every week. Clubs of five or more to one address, each, (U. S. funds) . . . 2.00 Mrs. C. A. L. Please make all checks and money orders payable to Signs of the Times, Tunbridge, Vermont. Mountain View, California. In requesting change of address, please give both old and new addresses. Lost Without It No papers are sent except on paid subscriptions, so persons receiving the DEAR/SIR: Signs of the Times without having subscribed may feel free to accept it. The Signs is certainly a wonderful magazine. My husband and I both enjoy it. We would be lost without such a Christian help, as this— a God-sent visitor. E. W. S. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.1110111111111111111111111111111111111 Phoenix, Arizona.

Page Two SIGNS of the TIMES ACME Paratroopers line up to board a C-82 plane for maneuvers at Camp Campbell, Kentucky— largest operation of its kind since World War II.

tional News-letter" for May 6, 1948, Ste- people are justified, we will not discuss phen King-Hall reports a recent inter- now. But the fact that the fears exist, view with an "enlightened and high- and on such a wide scale, is a matter of principled family" in that country—one great significance. When so many peo- Where Fear Still Reigns which "endured the German occupation ple, in so many countries, are, as this correspondent suggests, "verging on hys- ARTLY because of the wave of post- with fortitude and resource, helped the war prosperity now sweeping Amer- Dutch underground, outwitted the Ger- teria and panic," one cannot but ask if P this may not be a fulfillment of the ica, partly because of growing interest mans on many occasions, and never lost prophecy of Christ concerning the state in the forthcoming election, there has of heart." Now, at last, they are frightened. late been a definite easing of tension in The son admitted negotiating privately of mind to prevail among the masses just prior to His second advent. In those the matter of another war. Scare head- for an airplane to carry his mother, fa- days, He said, men will be "swooning lines are not appearing so frequently in ther, sisters, and bride to England "at a with panic and foreboding of what is to the newspapers, and the general opinion 'moment's notice." The mother and befall the universe." Luke 21 :26, Moffatt. seems to be that, though war may come daughters openly discussed committing We would not suggest for one moment again, it will not be for some time yet. suicide rather than fall into Russian that this is the only sign, or even the As Time said on June 7: "Many a U. S. hands. All seemed to be living in a state most important sign, of the imminent citizen felt as though he had just walked of semipanic, despite an outward appear- return of Jesus. It is not. But it is one out of a triple horror feature, and had ance of poise and calm. of the signs and, taken together with the found the sun shining and- the streets Whether or not the fears of these poor crowded with sunny people. As spring merged into summer the world seemed to have become, at least for the present, an astonishingly cheerful place. . . . "Just at the moment, it looked like a beautiful morning." But if we think that this feeling of un- concern is shared by the people of other nations, we are much mistaken. The fact is that all who live close to the iron curtain are filled with desperate fears which they cannot shake off. A well-known diplomat who recently visited Scandinavia reported that "the fear of war is now verging on hysteria and panic." In Sweden people are laying bets on whether war will come this sum- mer or not. In Norway there is apprehen- sion of Russian pressure for "facilities" in Finnmark or Spitzbergen. In Finland it is feared that the communists may precipitate a crisis which the Russians would use to justify intervention. Even, Holland, usually so sedate and HLASETTI, ACME level-headed, is much agitated over the Italy's first freely elected parliament since Fascism came into power twenty-five years ago, possibility of another war. In his "Na- meets for the first time in Rome. for JULY 20, 1948 Page Three many other fulfillments of prophecy now in any other way. Pain and trial are a shot it out with the police in another evident in so many phases of modern life, part of the course of study in the school Western city—all of which they learned it adds emphasis to the warning words of Christ. Pain warns us of our weak- in the comics. of the Master: "When ye shall see all ness; it proclaims that we are not self- Surely it is high time for all parents these things, know that it is near, even sufficient. to give more attention to the reading at the doors." Matthew 24:33. A. S. M. In times of suffering God is never far matter which is coming into the hands from us. When human resources fail, of their children. Too many fathers the resources of heaven are unlimited. and mothers who would cry out in Is There Value in Pain? If we take pain and suffering from our horror and indignation if someone were EVERLY SMITH is a baby who sel- lives we take away forces that are used so to offer their children poisoned candy, B dom cries. According to the news often to strengthen and enrich character. stand by indifferent while unscrupulous God help us to see the value of pain and dispatches, she did not cry when she publishers feed poison to their minds suffering and to learn the lessons from bumped her head, and she did not even under the camouflage of "comics." them that He desires to teach us. "For cry when she burned her hand on a hot If the comics were just pure fun, stove. Examinations by neurologists re- whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He re- no one would criticize them. But they vealed that the tiny girl suffers from "a are not. To no small degree they are defect in the central nervous system," ceiveth." Hebrews 12 :6. M. L. N. -<> lessons in crime. Under the thin dis- which makes her insensitive to pain. guise of '"doing good" and "the triumph The mother of the little girl has been Lessons in Murder of right," they depict all sorts of sav- given special advice. She has been told to ICK, aged, fourteen, did not want to agery and sadism. watch her baby constantly. Beverly go to his sister's graduation. When Sometimes, we think, it is a pity that might break her arm or leg, and it would D his parents urged him to do so, he re- these perversions of the printing art do never be known until the bones knit in plied that he would rather stay home not bear the imprint, "Printed in Mos- a deformed way. She might develop and read the comics. Eventually they cow." What a hue and cry there would appendicitis without nature's warning left for the high school without him. be then! What Congressional com- signal to help the doctor. Burns on hot On the family's return, father went mittees of investigation! What efforts stoves or cuts by sharp knives will be a to Dick's room to bid him good night. to suppress their publication! How the menace to her, for the little girl has no He found the boy dead, hanging from headlines would shriek, "Communists fear of them, since they do not hurt her. a clothesline which had been thrown Trying to Ruin America! Diabolical All of this causes us to philosophize a over a heating pipe on the ceiling. Plot Against Our Children!" bit on, the value of pain. Why does God On the boy's bed lay a comic book, permit His children to suffer? Why do The fact that they are not printed in. we know heartbreaks and disappoint- open at a page showing the hanging of Moscow, but in America, does not make a bandit, with the caption, "A Lesson ments ? If such things did not come to them any less harmful, or any less of in Murder." At the inquest the coroner us, we might grow so insensitive to our a menace to the rising generation. And said that Dick had apparently been ex- need for divine help that God could if the Government cannot prohibit their never speak to our hearts. perimenting with the manner of hang- publication because of the freedom of ing shown in the cartoon, and had A world without pain would be a the press, then parents must use their world in which there is no law. The uni- slipped from the bed to his death. own God-given authority to prevent verse is subject to laws; and when they This tragic story, which appeared in this debauching of their children. No- the San Francisco are transgressed, there is suffering. Chronicle of June 3, body, of course, wants to be too strict; A world without pain would be a 1948, is of a piece with that of the but when men with poisoned pens offer world without liberty. Where there is two primary-age children who recently our little ones lessons in murder, it is freedom of choice we may decide our dressed up as cowboys, stole guns, and more than time for action. A. S. M. course of action, knowing that the result can bring siiffering or happiness. Yes, freedom has its perils, but who would wish to live in a world without the right to choose? If man never suffered for his trans- gressions, if he had no troubled con- science or remorse, he would degenerate into a fiend. Nature punishes man for breaking her laws, and thus she endeav- ors to teach him to live in harmony with her ways. The Son of God passed along the road of human experience—the road we must follow. "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their sal- vation perfect through sufferings." He- brews 2:1o. Jesus is our Example. If it was necessary for Him, the Captain of our salvation, to endure suffering, surely BOYER, ACME we can never expect to be made perfect Jewish troops march under the banner of Israel, a blue star of David on a white ground. Page Four SIGNS of the TIMES Does the Holy Land Belong to Jews or Arabs? WHOSE PALESTINE

by A. W. ANDERSON

N one previous article we considered That the land of Palestine was prom- great indignation, and cast them into an- the apparently irreconcilable claims of ised to Abraham no one who believes the other land, as it is this day." Deuteron- Arabs and Jews regarding the proposal Bible can question. But the promise was omy 29:22-28. to divide Palestine into two separate conditional upon the obedience of the While conversing with an Arab in Pal- states. children of Abraham. In the twenty- estine over the vexed question of the Jew- In the Moody Monthly for December, eighth chapter of Deuteronomy the bless- ish "home," I pointed out to him that in 1947, a writer offered some suggestions ings for. obedience and the curses for dis- ancient times God had set apart Palestine on this matter which we invite our read- obedience are set forth in detail. There as a home for the Jews. To this he readily ers to examine with us. The Rev. T. De we learn that it was God's purpose to set assented, but he added this thought: Courcy Rayner, pastor of the Knox Pres- the Israelites "on high above all nations "The Jews forfeited their right to the byterian Church, Quebec, Canada, in an of the earth," but only upon the condi- land because of idolatry, and God drove article entitled, "Hidden Hands in Pal- tion that they obeyed His laws, which them out of it and scattered them in all estine;" stated : they had solemnly covenanted to keep. the world; therefore Britain should not "The Jews will eventually be given not Looking down into the far-distant fu- attempt to bring them back to Palestine." a partitioned Palestine, but the whole of ture, Moses wrote some thrilling predic- While conversing with this Arab, I the land, and ultimately the whole of tions concerning the inevitable results recalled the words of Moses in the book Trans-Jordan as well. This," he says, which would overtake the children of Is- of Deuteronomy: "If thou wilt not ob- "may sound fantastic, yet I dare to assert rael if they transgressed God's laws. serve to do all the words of this law that it on the authority of One who cannot "So that the generation to come of are written in this book; . . . then the lie, and whose revealed word can never your children that shall rise up after you, Lord will make thy plagues wonderful." fail. and the stranger that shall come from a "And the Lord shall scatter thee among "I dared to say this to Jewish leaders far land, shall say, when they see the all people, from the one end of the earth in Montreal in 1938 when the first parti- plagues of that land, and the sicknesses even unto the other." Deuteronomy 28: tion plan for Palestine was before the which the Lord hath laid upon it; 58, 59, 64. British Parliament. My reasons are just "And that the whole land thereof is as cogent in 1947 as they were then." brimstone, and salt, and burning, that Mr. Rayner concludes his article by it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass stating: "The title deeds from the orig- groweth therein, like the overthrow of inal Owner of the earth, naming the Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Ze- Jews as legal owners of Palestine, are still boim, which the Lord overthrew in His extant in millions of Bibles the world anger, and in His wrath: around. The Land of Promise is not "Even all nations shall say, Wherefore merely the, ten thousand square miles hath the Lord done thus unto this land ? of what is known today as Palestine, or what meaneth the heat of this great an- Western Palestine, but an area far ger? greater. Read Genesis 15:18. 'In the "Then men shall say, Because they same day the Lord made a covenant with have forsaken the covenant of the Lord Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I God of their fathers, which He made given this land, from the river of Egypt with them when He brought them forth unto the great river, the river Euphrates.' out of the land of Egypt: "Despite the present confusion and "For they went and served other gods, strife, the lingering disillusionment that and worshiped them, gods whom they faces modern Jewry, God will someday knew not, and whom He had not given bring His people back into the Land of unto them: Promise." These positive declarations of "And the anger of the Lord was kin- Mr. Rayner concerning the future of dled against this land, to bring upon it Palestine are worth careful examination. all the curses that are written in this What did God promise to Abraham and book. BOYER, ACME Two Arab children pause to play at the famous his posterity, and under what conditions "And the Lord rooted them out of Wailing Wall, now barred from the Jews be- was that promise made ? their land in anger, and in wrath, and in cause it is in Arab territory. for JULY 20, 1948 Page Five While Israel remained true to God, While descending the Mount of Ol- them : "They which are of faith, the same the Lord fulfilled His promises to them; ives, Jesus wept over the city and said: are the children of Abraham. . . . So but when they transgressed His com- "If thou hadst known, even thou, at then they which be of faith are blessed _ mandments and forsook Him to serve least in this thy day, the things which be- with faithful Abraham." Galatians 3: the gods of the surrounding nations, then long unto thy peace! but now they are 7-9. "To Abraham and his seed were failure overtook them in their enter- hid from thine eyes. For the days shall the promises made. He saith not, And prises. All of God's wonderful promises come upon thee, that thine enemies shall to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to the Hebrews, we repeat, were condi- cast a trench about thee, and compass to thy seed, which is Christ." Verse 16. tional upon their remaining true to Him. thee round, and keep thee in on every It cannot be too strongly emphasized Their lineal descent from Abraham did side, and shall lay thee even with the that "there is none other name under not entitle them to a sure inheritance of ground, and thy children within thee; heaven given among men [except the the promises made to Abraham. This and they shall not leave in thee one stone name of Jesus], whereby we must be was most clearly taught by Jesus as He upon another; because thou knewest not saved." Acts 4:12. Whether we be Jew discussed the question of national de- the time of thy visitation." Luke 19: or Gentile we can have no part in the scent with the Jews in the temple. 42-44. benefits of the gospel unless we accept Boasting of their lineage, the Jews The only means by which the Jewish Christ as our personal Saviour. The said: "We be Abraham's seed, and were people today may enter into the prom- scriptures we have quoted clearly teach never in bondage to any man: how sayest ises made to Abraham is acceptance of that the promise made to Abraham and Thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus an- the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. his seed was not made to the Jews accord- swered them, Verily, verily, I say unto Thus they would become the spiritual ing to the flesh, but to the spiritual Is- you, Whosoever committeth sin is the children of Abraham; for "if ye be rael who accept Christ. servant of sin. And the servant abideth Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, What do we see in Palestine today? not in the house forever: but the Son and heirs according to the promise." Two nations engaged in war, both of abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall Because of their rejection of the gos- whom claim to be the literal children of make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I pel the Jews forfeited their right to the Abraham, but showing by their deeds know that ye are Abraham's seed; but inheritance promised to Abraham, and that they are by no means the children of ye seek to kill Me, because My word hath not until they accept the Lord Jesus Abraham, for, as Christ told the Jews of no place in you. I speak that which I Christ can they have any part in the king- His day who claimed Abraham as their have seen with My Father: and ye do dom promised to Abraham and his seed. father, "If ye were Abraham's children, that which ye have seen with your father. In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul ye would do the works of Abraham." "They answered and said unto Him, clearly sets forth this great truth. Cer- John 8:39. Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto tain Jewish teachers had sought to im- Mr. Rayner says: "The Jews will even- them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye part "another gospel" to the Galatian tually be given not a partitioned Pales- would do the works of Abraham. But converts to Christianity. This subver- tine, but the whole of the land." His now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath sive teaching Paul corrected by assuring view that the promise made to Abraham told you the truth, which I have heard applies to the literal Jew, we cannot ac- of God: this did not Abraham. . . . Ye cept, for the Scriptures make it clear that are of your father the devil, and the lusts THE CHANGELESS WORD the Jewish, people, because of iniquity, of your father ye will do." John 8:33-44. forfeited all right to the inheritance of This teaching is surely explicit enough 0 changeless word of life and light, Abraham, and that only those who ac- for anyone to understand. Mere lineal de- A perfect rule to guide me; cept Christ can participate in the prom- scent from Abraham, unaccompanied by I take thy counsels, trust thy truth, ises made to Abraham. the faithful obedience which Abraham And in my heart I hide thee. Mr. Rayner's further assertion, "The rendered to God's will, is not sufficient to title deeds from the original Owner of ensure participation in the promises Thou Book divine, thy pages shine the earth, naming the Jews as legal own- made to Abraham. The apostle Paul With heaven's unfading glory; ers of Palestine, are still extant," is only carries this thought still further: "Know Thou dost reveal to mortals here partly true, because their right to Pales- The geat redemption story. ye therefore that they which are of faith, tine depended entirely upon their con- the same are the children of Abraham. Here law and love and wisdom stand tinued obedience to God. Had the Jews And the Scripture, foreseeing that God Revealed through bygone ages: remained true to God, they would have would justify the heathen through faith, And children read a message sweet retained their possession of the Holy preached before the gospel unto Abra- Upon thy simple pages. Land, and God would have fulfilled ham, saying, In thee shall all nations be His purpose to set them "on high above blessed. So then they which be of faith Untouched by time or men's assaults, all nations of the earth." But they failed are blessed with faithful Abraham." This word remains unshaken, to comply with the condition laid down "Now to Abraham and his seed were the And those who build upon this rock by God, and as a result they have been promises made. He saith not, And to Will never be forsaken. "removed into all the kingdoms of the seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to —Julia H. Johnston. earth." Deuteronomy 28:25. thy seed, which is Christ." "And if ye The fact that the Jews are now a scat- be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, tered people in "all the kingdoms of the and heirs according to the promise." Ga- earth" is a powerful testimony to the latians 3:7-9, 16, 29. truthfulness of the word of God. Three When the Messiah came to teach God's thousand years ago Moses described the people the gospel, they rejected Him and pitiful conditions which would come crucified the Lord of glory. "He came upon them if they failed to keep the law unto His own, and His own received of God, and those predictions are now Him not." John 1 :Ir. fulfilled. Page Six SIGNS of the TIMES On fifRICITS HIGHUBYS

With the Message of The Voice of Prophecy by E. L. CARDEY

N old friend came to visit me to- day, one I had not seen for twenty-five years. It was the American Signs of the Times." With these words one of our NOTE students wrote us a short time ago, tell- More than 100,000 persons in Africa are ing how, a quarter of a century ago, now studying the Bible through The Voice of Prophecy Bible correspondence when her mother was still living, she had school. It is the earnest wish of the di- received a number of copies of the Signs rector, E. L. Cardey, that all these should of the Times. Years had passed, and she receive the "Signs of the Times" weekly Six thousand copies are now being sent had seen no more of the paper; but the to South Africa weekly, the funds being copies her mother had sent her had sown provided by readers in America through seeds of truth in her heart and a strong the "Signs" World Extension Fund. Thou- sands more are needed. If you would desire for a deeper spiritual experience. like to help this wonderful work, send Later she began praying for the Lord your gift to "Signs" World Extension to send her light on the Scriptures and Fund, "Signs of the Times," Mountain View, California. peace to her longing soul. She had re- cently moved into a new community in one of the large cities of South Africa. most wonderful experience that can ever She was therefore unacquainted with the come to one, and I feel I want to shout, people in the neighborhood. A neigh- `Thank God, thank God!" borly woman felt impressed to send this More than a century ago laborers were lady some tracts from The Voice of brought in from India and the Malay a Voice of Prophecy advertisement fell Prophecy, which invited the reader to States to South Africa to work in the into her hands, and from then on she had take Bible lessons. sugar plantations, and in other lines of a longing desire to know something This lady wrote in for the lessons, and agriculture. Through the years this num- about the Christian faith. She had she became an earnest student. In time ber has increased, until today there are learned to read and write English in a we sent her the Signs of the Times, and hundreds of thousands of the people of public school until it was almost like her in response came this good letter, thank- the East who make their home in South home language. She sent in for the les- ing us for the Signs and saying it was Africa. As a rule they have adhered sons and became an earnest student, ac- like an old friend visiting her. strictly to their forms of religion and cepting gladly all the points of faith as Gladly she accepted the light as it was have not been drawn toward the Chris- they were presented to her. She signed revealed to her from the word of God as tian faith. This is especially true of the the card to be a Christian and gave her she studied the lessons and read the pa- Mohammedans, from whom very few heart to Christ in this manner in the pers, until at last she took her full stand have been drawn to Christianity. The early part of the studies. with those who keep the commandments Malayan people in this country are Our lesson on health reform, especially of God and are looking for the Lord to largely Mohammedans. They live on'the abstention from tobacco, liquor, and return. Recently, after her baptism, she byways of South Africa, in the cities and pork, was not new to her, for the Mo- wrote us: towns, in the market places, and along hammedans also teach the same. But "I am the only witness for Christ in the coasts. But God has, even among with the presentation of the Sabbath this home, and I intend to let my light these, those who will dare to face oppo- truth a new light came to her heart, and shine in such a way that in the end the sition and even death when they find the she saw with clearness that God would others will realize what a wonderful "pearl of great price." have her keep the Sabbath. Then she re- change has come into my life since I have One of these jewels is a girl living in 'vealed to her parents her desire, and she accepted this blessed truth. This is the one of the small communities. By chance (Continued on page 13) for JULY 20, 1948 Page Seven Cicero, before the Roman senate, described in no uncertain words the far-reaching extent of the empire. ROME'S SUPREMACY PREDICTED

TER witnessing the lion, bear, by TAYLOR G. BUNCH The prophet sought for further infor- and leopard, symbolic of Baby- mation concerning the meaning of the lon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, fourth beast. "Then I would know the ikF subjugate her enemies until Roman come up out of the surging sea of hu- truth of the fourth beast, which was di- laws, religion, language, and customs manity as the result of the cyclonic winds verse from all the others, exceeding extended over the world. No man or na- of war, the prophet Daniel said : "After dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and tion dared speak or act without her con- this I saw in the night visions, and be- his nails of brass; which devoured, brake sent. When a strong nation was con- hold a fourth beast, dreadful and ter- in pieces, and stamped the residue with quered, it was literally broken to pieces, rible, and strong exceedingly; and it had his feet." Daniel 7:19. There seemed to that is, divided up into small rival states. great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in be no question in Daniel's mind regard- Napoleon followed the same policy with pieces, and stamped the residue with the ing the meaning of the first three sym- his conquered states. feet of it: and it was diverse from all the bolic beasts. His interest and queries Speaking of the Roman conquerors, beasts that were before it; and it had ten centered in the fourth. Diodorus wrote: "When they were lords horns." Daniel 7 :7. Gabriel, the angel of prophecy, gave almost of the whole world, then they Bible students are in almost universal Daniel a clear-cut answer: "Thus he strengthened and confirmed themselves agreement that this symbol applies to said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth in their dominions; by severity, and raz- Rome. Indeed it would be difficult even kingdom upon earth, which shall be di- ing towns and cities to strike a terror into to imagine any other interpretation. verse from all kingdoms, and shall de- Rome was diverse, or different, not only their enemies. For they utterly destroyed vour the whole earth, and shall tread it Corinth in Achaia, Carthage in Africa, from the other three universal empires, down, and break it in pieces." Verse Numantia in Spain, and rooted up the but "from all kingdoms." Verse 23. 23. "Which shall be greater than all the kingdom of Macedonia, in the ruin of Rome was the world's first republic with kingdoms" (Douay). The fourth king- Perseus, and became a terror to many." a representative form of government. dom was to rule with universal sover- —Fragments Collected by Constantine, Even under the emperors it was differ- eignty, "devouring the whole earth, Seventh Eastern Emperor, b. 26, ch. 83. ent, having a constitution and a senate. crushing and shattering it" (Moffatt). It was so different from the others that Romans wrote of their nation as "the no beast in nature could be found to rep- empire of the whole world." resent adequately its character and ca- The historian says : "The empire of reer. It is therefore symbolized by a non- the Romans filled the world, and, when descript beast designated by the prophet that empire fell into the hands of a sin- as "dreadful and terrible, and strong ex- How Divine Prophecy Foretold gle person, the world became a safe and ceedingly" and with "great iron teeth." dreary prison for his enemies. . . . To The Roman symbolic beast "devoured That the Empire of the Caesars resist was fatal, and it was impossible to much" (Fenton). "It devoured and tore fly."—Edward Gibbon, The History of its victims to pieces" (Moffatt). Lust for Would Rule the World the Decline and Fall of the Roman Em- blood, position, and dominion were the pire, ch. 3, par. 37. chief characteristics of the Romans. Of Speaking of the contrast with other all nations, Rome alone fits the prophetic nations and the universality of Rome's mold. The policy of the nation was to conquests, another author declared: Page Eight SIGNS of the TIMES The Prophecy of Daniel Seven-5 They conquered, robbed, and crushed further declared that this power would the world under their iron heel. "stand up against the Prince of princes," Not only does the Bible prophecy de- but would finally "be broken without "The Roman conquest, on the other clare that the Roman power would be hand." Daniel 8:24, 25. The "Prince of hand was not partial, nearly the whole "terrible" and "exceeding dreadful," princes" is Christ, and it was a Roman inhabited world was reduced by them to governor who sent Him to the cross. obedience: and they left behind them an but also that it would wax "exceeding great." In Daniel's second vision it is Rome was indeed the great destroyer. empire not to be paralleled in the past In the conquest of Palestine by Vespa- or rivaled in the future."—The Histories predicted that the Roman power would come out of one of the four divisions of sian and his son Titus these prophecies of Polybius, b. r, par. 2. Rome was in- were fulfilled, and the destruction of life deed "diverse from all kingdoms." Alexander's dominion, symbolized by one of the four horns that arose in the was indiscriminate and terrible. Cities The Iron Monarchy head of the goat in the place of the with their entire populations perished. In Daniel's interpretation of the sym- notable horn that was broken. The In the siege and destruction of Jerusa- bolic image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream prophet wrote: "And out of one of them lem more than one million Jews were he declared that the "legs of iron" rep- came forth a little horn, which waxed slain. Also during the second and third resented "the fourth kingdom" which exceeding great, toward the south, and centuries the pagan Roman emperor would be "strong as iron: forasmuch as toward the east, and toward the pleasant destroyed many millions of Christians iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth land." Daniel 8:9. in a series of bloody persecutions in an all things: and as iron that breaketh all The ram, representing Medo-Persia, effort to defend the Roman gods and re- these, shall it break in pieces and bruise," became "great;" the goat, symbolic of ligion from the ever-onward march of Daniel 2:40. The strikingly similar lan- Greece, became "very great," but the the soldiers of the cross who "went guage describing the legs of iron and the Roman power, "exceeding great." While forth conquering, and to conquer." fourth beast of the vision under con- it is called "a little horn," like the "little The accuracy of the "more sure word sideration identify them as one and the horn" of the previous vision, it is small of prophecy" is convincing proof of the same power. The name of the fourth only in its origin. It later "waxed exceed- dependability of divine revelation. It of the four universal kingdoms of Dan- ing great" and became "a strong horn" should therefore inspire increasing con- iel's prophecies is nowhere mentioned (Theodotion). It would become far fidence and deepening devotion. Be- in the Old Testament, because it arose greater than the horn out of which it cause the prophetic utterances of the after the completion of the ancient arose. The four were comparatively Scriptures have never failed, we can be canon of the Scriptures. It is, however, weak, but from one of them "sprang a sure that all the "exceeding great and identified in the New Testament as strong horn" (Septuagint). precious promises" in the Book of books Rome. See Luke 2:1. The directions of conquests indicate will be translated into glorious realities. For five centuries, under various clearly that this power, like the goat, forms of government, Rome ruled the came from the west. It is therefore not world with a rod of iron. It was a des- an Eastern or Asiatic power. It must potism of the worst type and is appro- come from the continent of Europe. priately called "the iron monarchy." The Palestine was to be among the con- historian Gibbon wrote in the first par- quered countries, and is designated "the agraph of his general observations on pleasant land," "the glorious land" Chapter 38 of his great work already (R.V.), and "the fair land of Palestine" quoted : "The arms of the republic, (Moffatt). In Psalm 106:24, Palestine sometimes vanquished in battle, always is called "the pleasant land," and in victorious in war, advanced with rapid Jeremiah 3 :19, "A pleasant land, a goodly steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the heritage." Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of It seems unreasonable to question that gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve the little horn of this vision represents to represent the nations and their kings, Rome in its pagan phase. Rome came were successively broken by the iron out of the Macedonian, or western, di- monarchy of Rome." vision of Alexander's empire and is the When the Roman armies invaded the only power that fits the specifications of British Isles, the Scottish chieftain Gal- the prophecy and its further interpreta- gacus said: "These ravagers of the tions given in succeeding chapters. world, after all the earth has been too Rome did wax "exceeding great" south- narrow for their ambition, have ran- ward toward Egypt and Northern sacked the sea also. If their enemy is Africa; eastward toward Asia Minor rich, they are covetous; if poor, they, are and Syria, and toward the Holy Land ambitious. The East cannot satiate them of Palestine. It was a Roman army that —no more can the West. To plunder, captured and destroyed the city of Jeru- to murder, to rob, is their delight. Vio- salem, together With its magnificent lence they call dominion: and where- temple, and then dispersed the Jews ever they can make a dreary solitude among the nations of the world. they call it peace." Cicero said: "Where- In the interpretation of the little horn ever you are; remember that you are the angel declared that the power sym- equally within the power of the con- bolized would be "mighty" and would queror." In Daniel 11:14 the Romans "destroy wonderfully" and would "pros- C) EGGERS, .131100KLYt4 MUSEUM are called "the robbers of thy people," per, and practice" and would "destroy Upon its well-equipped soldiery Rome depended to or, "the children of robbers" (margin). the mighty and the holy people." It is make effective its power in every part of the world. for JULY 20, 1948 Page Nine When Israel Invaded Palestine

What the Tell el-Amarna Tablets Reveal

by W. L. EMMERSON Tablets such as these tell the wonderful story of Israel's advance into their Promised Land. BRITISH MUSEUM ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM Light From the Land of Bondage-11

TANDING amid the ruins of the ern Canaan, not a few of which link in another letter that only he and Abdi- Hall of the Correspondence of Pharaoh up in a remarkable way with the Bible Khiba were holding out, but evidently at El-Amarna, where the important Tell story. Particularly is =this true of the Keilah soon fell and cities as near to el-Amarna tablets were discovered, I re- letters of Abdi-Khiba of Urusalimu, Jerusalem as Bethlehem had capitulated. called the thrilling story they told of whom Lieutenant Colonel Conder iden- So Abdi-Khiba writes again: the success of Joshua's campaign against tifies with Adonizedek of Jerusalem in "The Habiru have wrested all the Palestine. Certainly no more wonderful the book of Joshua. provinces, and no provinces remain to corroboration of Bible history has ever Abdi-Khiba writes to Pharaoh: "The the king, my lord. If troops come this been found! country of the king is being destroyed, year, the provinces of the king, my lord, Frantically the Canaanite chieftains all of it. Hostilities are being carried will be preserved; but if no troops come, of the El-Amarna correspondence urge on against me as far as the mountains then the provinces of the king, my lord, Pharaoh to "send hired soldiers" quickly of Seir and the city of Gath-Karmel. will be destroyed." to Palestine, for "if there- be no hired . . . But now the Habiru are capturing Evidently by this time the idea of soldiers, the land of the king will go the fortress of the king. Not a single flight was definitely in his mind, for over to the Habiru," or Hebrews. governor remains among them to the he concludes his letter: "So now failing Here we have the first intimation king, my lord; all have perished. . . . those who were chiefs of the garrison from the Egyptian province of Canaan May the king, my lord, send help to his of the king, let me fly to the king." of the advance of the Israelites under countries. . . . Behold, if no troops Then comes a letter telling of his Joshua toward the Jordan. come this year, all the countries of the abandonment of Jerusalem, the defeat Then comes a report of one of the king, my lord, will be utterly destroyed." of his own and confederate armies at local kings, Mut-Baal by name, to Ian- Shuwardata of Keilah had reported Ajalon, and their sending away their hamu, The Egyptian governor of Pal- harems, with the intention of flight to estine, to the effect that Aiah, king of Egypt. Pella, on the other side of the Jordan, Perhaps this was the last letter he ever had fled from his city. wrote, for the Bible tells us that he and As this news was apparently treated four other chiefs were eventually tracked as without foundation, Mut-Baal sent down to a cave at Makkedah, captured, another letter in which he caustically and put to death. suggested that if he is not believed, "ask Yapa'a is mentioned in one of the then Benenima (Benjamin), . . . ask letters from Gezer. Evidently the Egyp- then Iashuia (Joshua)," who surely tian troops had been withdrawn about must be the Israelites of those names the time the Hebrews attacked. From mentioned in the Bible. Gezer, Yapa'a writes: Mut-Baal tells Ianhamu of many other "But as I fear what shall befall, help towns on the east of Jordan, -like thou my region from the power of the Damah, Edrei, and Aroer, which had people of the desert lands." fallen into the hand of the enemy. Yapa'a is very close in spelling to This corresponds with the period Japhia, king of Lachish, and it is pos- when the Trans-Jordan region was sub- sible that he ruled both towns. He, too, jugated and divided among the three is one of the five kings rounded up by and a half tribes before the passage of Joshua at Makkedah. Joshua to:3, 16.

the Jordan. STANDARD PUB. CO. Another chieftain of Megiddo still Then there are numerous letters from The capture of the city of Jericho by the He- brews struck- terror into the hearts of the tribal farther north writes that he is day and the kings of cities in central and south- kings in all Palestine. night protecting Megiddo, but that the Page Ten SIGNS of the TIMES Habiru are pressing him hard. The Knowledge About the Old Testament, provinces and because 'of the increasing whole land, he asserted, was falling into page 152. neglect of home affairs. the hands of the Habiru, and some of Whatever the reason be, no Egyptian Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife, stood by the neighboring chiefs had even given army entered Palestine for fifty years her husband, but Meri-Aten, their eldest bribes to the Habiru to induce them to after the accession of Amenophis III. daughter, and her husband, Smenkh- attack Megiddo. And during that half century north kara, sided with the queen mother. Syria passed into the hands of the Hit- The outcome was that Smenkhkara No Letter From Gibeon tites, Phoenicia became independent, and Meri-Aten were appointed as co- Significantly enough, none of the let- and Israel established themselves in the rulers with Akhenaten and returned ters seem to have come from the Hivite country of Palestine. with Ty to Thebes to try to placate region of central Palestine with its Akhenaten's political enemies and the "The Criminal of Akhetaton" center at Gibeon, which the Bible states priests of Amen. went over to the side of Joshua. But from the point of view of the Joshua's gathering of the tribes at empire-minded Egyptians it is little Tutankhamen Returns to Thebes Shechem almost at the end of his life wonder that the name of Akhenaten, When Akhenaten died, Queen Ne- lends special significance to one of who had lost their great empire, was fertiti defiantly placed Tutankhaten, Abdi-Khiba's letters in which he men- accursed. then only about nine years old, on the tions that "Labaya and the lord of Without a doubt the violence of the throne, and then she retired to the Shechem have given all to the Habiru." destruction of Akhetaton after its found- palace of Hat Aten, which her husband Thus from the actual letters of Pales- er's death was the result not only of had built for her in the north city. tinian vassals of the period, as well as, outraged religious feelings, but also the Evidently, however, the Amen priest- from excavation on the sites of the an- wrath of his political enemies. hood, in conjunction with the political cient cities of Canaan, we have conclu- sive evidence of the wonderful accuracy of the Bible record of the progressive conquest of the land. Well may Lieu- tenant Colonel Conder, who published a translation of many of the letters, declare: "These letters are the most important records ever found in connection with the Bible . . . and fully confirm the historical statements of Joshua." Why Help Never Came Why the letters received no practical answer in the way of supporting troops is understandable from the contempo- rary picture of Egypt in the days of Amenophis III and Akhenaten. The former was too interested in his building operations and his devotions to concern himself with maintaining order in Syria. And Amenophis IV, or Akhenaten, in the seclusion of El- EMMERSON Amarna, was concentrating on elabora- Primitive methods characterize excavating work at Tell el-Amarna, where has been uncovered the tion of the new faith of Aten, and paid Bible-corroborating tablets telling the thrilling narrative of Joshua's conquests. little heed either to internal affairs or to the foreign policy of the empire. Even during Akhenaten's lifetime, enemies of Akhenaten, took advantage The indifference of Akhenaten de- pressure was being put upon him to of the youthfulness of the new king and stroyed the last chance of holding the renounce his revolutionary faith, and soon forced Tutankhaten to change his Asiatic provinces. As was Britain after it seems likely that the visit of his name to Tutankhamen, abandon Akhe- the withdrawal of the Roman legions, mother Ty was to this end, for she was taton, and return to Thebes and to the Syria was left in confused disunion and never in sympathy with his religious worship of the great god Amen. well-nigh defenseless against the ma- aspirations. Smenkhkara must have died in Thebes rauders who pressed in from north, Out of deference to her he built a before Tutankhamen arrived, for we east, and south. colonnade in his House of Rejoicing to know nothing more of him save that It may have been, of course, as Sir which he gave the name, The Shadow his body was found in a cache at Thebes Charles Marston suggests, that Akhena- of Ra. with that of his mentor, the queen ten was not unfavorable to the mono- Little, however, did he realize how mother Ty. theistic Habiru from whom his own soon the "shadow" would become a The officials of the court of Akheta- new faith was perhaps partly derived. great cloud and blot out every vestige ton returned with the young king, but In which case his inactivity may indi- of his lifework. thinking that they might go back when cate that he was not sorry to see "the Perhaps while Ty was at El-Amarna, the king was old enough to assert him- pack of rascals" disclosed by the El- she also took the opportunity to tell self, they merely sealed up the doors of Amarna tablets "replaced by a God- Akhenaten of the discontent of many the houses and public buildings, leaving fearing people like the Israelites."—New of the nobles at the loss of the Asiatic (Continued on page 15) for JULY 20, 1 9 4 8 Page Eleven The Resurrection of Jesus Christ-8

roof ositive

Christ Rose From the Dead

Further Evidences of the Greatest Fact of History

by W E. READ

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and overjoyed at the greatness of the irig stranger, or even a gleam of light harvest of souls."—The Acts of the for Him they sought, but so slow to Apostles, page 44. believe, so scornfully incredulous of We have already given study to the resurrection, so resolutely skeptical, and appearances of Jesus to the disciples, and so keenly alive to the possibility of de- we might think of these experiences as lusion, that they vowed nothing would HEY "preached through Jesus the direct evidences of His resurrection. satisfy them but the test of touch and resurrection from the dead." "With There are, however, what might be sight."—W. Robertson Nicoll, The Ex- great power gave the apostles witness called indirect evidences, of which we positor's Bible, vol. 5, p. 702. of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." will consider seven: This was a real experience to these Acts 4:2, 33. I. The disciples never really expected believers, and the evidences Jesus gave What mighty power accompanied the Jesus to rise from the dead. They cer- were so convincing that their whole proclamation of the everlasting gospel tainly heard Him tell about His death conception was completely changed. in the days of the apostles! Everywhere and resurrection, but these matters left The evidences were so strong that, con- they went, the Spirit of God worked little or no impression on their minds. trary to all their worldly desires and with them and through them. Miracles They entertained the expectation that interests, they gave themselves over of healing, as well as miracles of grace, He would redeem Israel; but when He absolutely to the preaching of a risen were wrought. Through their Heaven- died at Calvary, their hopes were shat- and glorified Saviour. blessed ministry, thousands were won tered, and their hearts were filled not 2. Then there is the empty grave. to the truth. only with grief, and sadness, but with How are we to account for. that ? That "Then they that gladly received his keen disappointment and despair. The it was empty even the critics of the word were baptized: and the same day light had gone out of their lives, and Christian faith admit. there were added unto them about three for a time they were groping in the "It is an indisputable fact that in the thousand souls." Acts 2:41. darkness of doubt and bewilderment. early morning of the first day of the "The Jewish leaders had supposed When word came to them that their week following the crucifixion the grave that the work of Christ would end with Lord and Master was risen from the of Jesus was found empty."—David His death; but instead of this, they wit- dead, they were incredulous; but when Schenkel, The Character of Jesus, vol. nessed the marvelous scenes of the Day the Master was seen by them; "He was 2, p. 313. of Pentecost. They heard the disciples, recognized, not by persons who ex- This being the case then, where was endowed with a power and energy pected to see Him alive, but by women the body of Jesus? The disciples could hitherto unknown, preaching Christ, who went to anoint Him dead; not by not have taken it away at night as the their words confirmed by signs and credulous, excitable persons, but by men Jewish authorities alleged. They were wonders. In Jerusalem, the stronghold who would not believe till they had powerless to do such a thing against of Judaism, thousands openly declared gone to and into the sepulcher; not by the forces of Rome. their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the persons so enthusiastic and creative of 3. There is the fact that the soldiers Messiah. The disciples were astonished their own belief as to mistake any pass- fled from their post of duty. This was Page Twelve SIGNS of the TIMES a most unusual thing for members of once came forth announcing the resur- support the great platform of truth are the Roman army to do. What caused rection of Jesus as a leading part of the critically investigated, the brighter and this dereliction of duty ? These men had message to men. At a moment when it more glorious the light of the gospel of been trained in the arts of war; they was yet possible to test every incident, Christ shines. This is true of the resur- were brave men accustomed to meet the to examine every witness, to expose rection story. On this, note the testi- enemies of the state and put to flight every trace of fraud, the apostles openly mony of James Orr: those who would challenge the might and unhesitatingly, proclaimed the fact. "The resurrection of Jesus stands fast and authority of Rome. What, then, And all this liability to exposure, if the as a fact, unaffected by the boastful caused them to run away ? Only one witness was false, _continued upwards waves of skepticism that ceaselessly reason can be assigned, and that is the of twenty years. until at least the First through the ages beat themselves against one found in the word of God. The Epistle of Corinthians was written. Nor it; retains its significance as a corner- fact is, they were filled with fear. The does any serious attempt seem to have stone in the edifice of human redemp- authorities apparently did not charge been made by rulers or Pharisees to tion; and holds within it the vastest the soldiers with neglect of duty. They contradict the testimony."—The Resur- hope for time and for eternity that hu- would gladly have done so under other rection of Our Lord, pages 52, 53. manity can ever know."—The Resur- circumstances; but they needed the help 6. What wonderful results followed rection of Jesus, page to. of these men, and in return they prom- the preaching of their new-found faith! Observe the testimony of Dr. Arnold, ised to stand by them before the repre- In spite of persistent opposition from a historian of Rugby, England, as he sentatives of the Roman state. those in authority, the apostles went sums up the general belief : 4. Further, the Jewish leaders did not forth with a courage born of God, with "I have been used for many years 'to demand an investigation. Doubtless unshaken faith and heroic fortitude. study the history of other times, and to they felt that it was better to leave things The Spirit of God brought conviction examine and weigh the evidence of as they were, for an investigation would to the hearts of men, and the little band those who have written about them; have only thrown their own motives of disciples increased rapidly. Ambrose and I know of no fact in the history and sinister designs into greater prom- Fleming remarks concerning this: of mankind which is proved by better inence: They were extremely anxious "The witness of these 120 people was and fuller evidence of every sort, to to silence the apostles from preaching so emphatic and unanimous, that six the understanding of a fair inquirer, the resurrection of Jesus, and a signifi- weeks later the society grew, to 3,000 than the great sign which God has given cant thing is that the Jewish leaders members, and in less than sixty years us, that Christ died and rose again from offered no real proof against it. All filled the whole Roman Empire with the dead."—Ibid., page 288. they endeavored to do was to stop by so many adherents that Pliny took the Albert Barnes in his popular com- force the giving of such a proclamation. advice of the emperor Traj an as to his mentary gives us the following: There is no definite denial on their part treatment of them."—Miracles and "The resurrection of the Lord Jesus that Jesus rose the third day from the Science—The Resurrection of Christ, . . . is one of the most important doc- dead. It is true that, to cover them- page 13. trines of the Christian religion, and, is selves, they bribed the soldiers to spread 7. Then we have the existence of the attested by the strongest evidence that a lying report. These men apparently Christian church. This is a definite wit- can be adduced in favor of any ancient were easily bought. The report was ness to the truth of the resurrection. fact."—Popular Family Commentary, widely circulated that the disciples came Had it not been for the resurrection of vol. t, p. 321. by night and stole the body of Jesus. Jesus, there would have been no Chris- As we review the evidences of this, 5. Again, what a mighty transforma- tian community. Faith in mere visions the greatest miracle of all time, do, not tion took place in the apostles them- or phantoms may produce phantoms, our hearts burn within us ? Ought we selves! They were changed from abject but not a phenomenon like the Christian not to praise God for the certainties of fear to heroic courage, from silence and church, the greatest fact and the might- "the faith which was once delivered despair- to preaching publicly with as- iest institution in the world. unto the saints"? surance and great joy. This change was Centuries ago the apostle Paul de- so complete that they had the utmost clared: "The foundation of God stand- faith in their new-found belief; they eth sure." What a comfort and assur- Africa's Highways based all their hopes and all their ance it is to know that the grand truths (Continued from page 7) preaching upon this wonderful revela- of the gospel stand the test of time and told them that she wanted to be a Chris- tion and were ready to announce it criticism. The more the word of God tian and keep the seventh-day Sabbath. everywhere. is examined, the more the pillars which In a recent letter she said: "I spoke to my Notice the following from William parents about my desire to be a Chris- Milligan: "We ought not to forget that tian. My mother is satisfied to allow me the evidence was published to the world to follow God, but my father is against on the very spot where, and at the very it. I am glad to tell you I visit the church time when, the event was said to have free Bible Correspondence Course every Sabbath after my father goes to happened, and that no one was able to Readers of the "Signs of the Times" who work, and quietly I am preparing my- controvert it. Forty days indeed passed, are especially interested in Bible study will self to be baptized by immersion and be- during which there was little occasion be glad to know that a free Bible corre- come a Christian. I pray that God will spondence course is now available to them. help me, and I want you to pray that I for contradiction, because the disciples, There are no fees, and the only textbook is in obedience to their Master's own com- the word of God. For full particulars, write will succeed in this matter, that I may mand; made no proclamation of the become a Christian and be baptized." fact. Ten days more followed, while gkE iton Thus another jewel is gathered out of they waited in silence and seclusion for SIGNS OF THE TIMES the darkness, and although it may mean Mountain View, California the promised Spirit. . . . No sooner persecution for her, we believe God's were the ten days over, than they at hand will be over her life. for JULY 20, 1948 Page Thirteen "This little tract speaks to me." Thus a woman wrote to us some time ago, tell- ing us how her husband had died and left her with a little boy to rear, and she felt entirely discouraged with life. She was a member of the Catholic Church and could find no satisfaction for her soul in going to the morning mass. She was returning from church one day when her little boy picked up from the street a Voice of Prophecy tract in which was a message that seemed to be exactly fitted From the pen of to her needs. With it was an invitation to write in for Bible lessons. As she read the tract, it seemed to be what her heart was longing for, so she ARTHUR L. made this interesting statement that the tract talked to her. She said that she had BIETZ never read a Bible and did not own one; but she knew she was dissatisfied and lost in sin, and she wanted to know if an understanding counselor there was salvation for her. As we of young people! pointed her to the cross of Christ and in- vited her to go to Jesus direct and not through the medium of some human.in- strument, she found great peace for her soul. "Prayer changes things." How often we find this is true in our Voice of Proph- ecy work in Africa. We are touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of per- R. BIETZ, pastor of a large church in sons. From the streams of letters rolling D in to us, we learn of their spiritual and Los Angeles, knows and loves young people. More physical needs. Knowing that God has than that, he knows how to give young people the His eye on every individual as though guidance and "down-to-earth" counsel they need. He were the only one in the world, we You will find these books invaluable and a real ask Him to touch the lives and the bodies contribution to the faith of youth. of those who will bring glory to His name if they receive of His healing power. IN QUEST OF LIFE In one of our cities a widow was strug- gling to keep up her home by carrying on A dynamic presentation of the issues facing modern a small business. There was so much youth. Dr. Bietz discusses the problems of friendship, work to be done that she had little time love, and marriage, choosing a vocation,- and facing to think of spiritual things, yet a great the problems of a consistent Christian life in a realistic longing filled her heart to know God bet- way. In Quest of Life is written with the conviction ter. Conditions in the world seemed to that all facets of truth in the moral, social, physical, speak a message to her heart that the and spiritual realm unite to glorify God. Price, $2.00, time of the end was at hand and that a' postpaid. great world change was soon to take place, but even with the longing she found little time to read the Bible. CONQUERING PERSONAL PROBLEMS Then her eyes began to fail her, and a great fear possessed her lest she should be This book is the result of intimate contacts and unable to care for her family. About study of the deep problems that confront young Chris- this time she saw in the newspaper a tian men and women. Christianity is pointed out as Voice of Prophecy article headed, the solution to man's problems, and the major per- "Prayer Changes Things," and with it sonality problems are solved directly from the Bible. a statement that we maintain a daily Price, $1.75, postpaid. prayer circle on behalf of those who re- quest prayer. She wrote in for the les- sons which we offered free. In her first ORDER EXTRA COPIES FOR GIFTS letter she told us of her physical condi- tion and also of her longing for light, and she asked us to pray for -her eyes. PACIFIC PRESS. PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF Shortly she wrote as follows: "The Lord has answered your and my prayers. I

Page Fourteen' SIGNS of the TIMES have just had a thorough examination of more truth like this, so I thought I would medical missionary. All this is the result my eyes by Dr.—. There is no longer send you my name and address and ask of reading that article in the paper about any sign of trouble; I see perfectly. The you please to send me your Bible lessons." the Voice of Prophecy Bible school. I Lord be praised! From my heart I thank Eternity alone will reveal what the want you to pray that I will be successful you for your prayers. Now, please con- result of this little, act of kindness will in my studies and in my spiritual life, tinue to pray for me and mine that our be, both in giving the water and in giv- that I may yet return and help forward `eyes' may indeed be open to our Sav- ing the tract. In this wonderful way the message of Christ's soon coming in iour's leading as well, that we may walk Bible literature today is doing its work the highways and byways of South Af- in all the light He has for us." along the lonely roads of Africa and is rica," We feel that God had a purpose in finding the honest in heart. bringing physical healing to this lady It was in the middle of the war years, Palestine Invaded and that His name will be glorified in when the skies of Europe were aflame (Continued from page 11) her own life. As all 'the light and truth with bursting bombs and flying shells, guards to prevent any destruction or began to come to her through the Bible when England was going through its pillaging. lessons, she responded with gladness. darkest period, that one of her Sons was Evidence of the sudden order to leave When the lesson on tithing came, she chosen to come to South Africa and the city is provided by many partly said: "I did not know before that God train in the R.A.F. A long trip by sea completed houses in the north suburb. would have me pay my tithe. I am enclos- gave this young man much time to think, Sometimes only the foundation trenches ing my tithe for this month of £5." Then not only of the dangers of life, but of the had been cut. In other cases the walls the Sabbath message came, and although need of preparing for the life beyond. had been partially run up. In one house she was faced with the possibility of the As he later wrote us, in his short life- the workmen were about to place a loss of business if she should keep the time he had studied the literature and the door lintel in position when work was Sabbath, she nevertheless took her def- teaching of many religious groups, but stopped. And there it lay beside the inite stand and continued paying tithe without any mental or spiritual satisfac- doorway until it was found more than as well. God stood by His servant, and tion. Shortly after reaching South Africa three millenniums afterward! in the place of a loss, her business in- he read an article from the Voice of But the hopes of a return to Akheta- creased. Prophecy in one of the leading papers. ton were vain. Tutankhamen, the last Recently she wrote us, saying: "I am This so impressed him that he wrote in of Akhenaten's line, died at the early sending you my check for tithe this for the lessons. He proved to be an apt age of eighteen, after a reign of only month for The Voice of Prophecy, but I student of the Bible, and from the begin- nine years, and was buried in the Valley suppose this will be the last time I will ning he seemed to feel that he was get- of the Tombs of the Kings, where his be sending it to you, since I am soon to ting the truth that he had long been seek- rich unplundered tomb was discovered be baptized and will give my tithe to the ing. by Henry Carter. local church. From my heart I thank He gave his heart unreservedly to Eye, who had a partly finished tomb you for all you have done for me and Christ and promised Him that he would at El-Amarna, seems to have secured mine, and for the wonderful experience follow Him regardless of the cost. At the throne for a while through mar- that has come to me since I have been the time he did not know what this riage, but he soon disappeared, and reading your lessons and the Signs of the would mean to him. Later in his lessons Harmhab, probably a general in the Times. I can say that I have truly come he learned of the seventh-day Sabbath army, seized the throne and established out into a new world. I no longer fear and that God calls upon His people to- the nineteenth dynasty. the future. I know we are approaching day to honor Him by keeping the fourth the end of all things, and I await with commandment as well as by keeping the The End of an Era great joy the coming of our Lord." other nine commandments. Surrounded Harmhab's first act was to send work- We were recently reminded of the as he was with worldly influences and by ers to El-Amarna to utterly destroy the statement of Jesus: "Whosoever shall the stiff regulations of the army, never- accursed city of "the heretic king." give you a cup of water to drink in My theless he took his full stand for God's The great temple was razed to the name, . . . shall not lose his reward." truth and began to keep the Sabbath. He ground. Like the temple of Jerusalem Mark 9:41. Someone going along the had now reached the last weeks of the in a later day, "not one stone was left dusty roads of the Orange Free State war, and he soon was greatly strength- upon another that was not thrown stepped into a farmer's house and asked ened in his faith and experience by down." for a drink of water. The lady gladly meeting with a Sabbathkeeping church The other official buildings and the gave him a drink, and in return he located in the city near his station. residence of Akhenaten's court were handed her a paper which turned out to When the war was over, he returned to similarly treated, the tombs were muti- be one of our Voice of Prophecy tracts, England, and after a time he wrote to us lated, and the name of Akhenaten was setting forth some truths about the con- of his joy in finding those of like faith in viciously erased everywhere it appeared, ditions in the world as evidence of the England, and that he was meeting with in order to consign the soul of "the Lord's sOoti coming. He went on his the Sabbathkeeping church there. Then criminal of Akhetaton" to eternal ob- way, but the lady sat down at once and he said : "As you probably may remem- livion. began to read the tract. When she had ber, my introduction to you was during Thus ended a remarkable episode in finished, she reached for her pen and the time I was stationed in South Africa. the political and religious history of wrote:the following letter: "I take great I shall never regret the step I took there Egypt, the record of which fits per- pleasure in sending you my address. To- to keep all the commandments of God. fectly into the Bible story, illuminating day I gave.a gentleman a little water to I am now making preparation for an ex- much that would otherwise be obscure, drink, and he gave me in return a little amination, and, if successful, I shall enter and corroborating in a remarkable way tracOVith your name and address upon medical school on the first of October the accuracy of the records set down for it. 'Phis is the most wonderful reading I this year, my ambition being to qualify us in the early books of the Old Testa- hav-te';er read in my life. I just long for for a doctor and return to Africa as a ment. for JULY 20, 1 9 4 8 Page Fifteen EACH US TO PRAY

by MRS. E. E. ANDROSS

HEN I think of the place of prayer in truly successful living, there often flashes before me the pic- ture of Ishmael Ellis, the missionary who blazed the gospel trail among the Guaymie Indians of Panama. He was an optimist, indeed. I think I never saw him when his face did not beam with the love and joy of his Lord. Many discouraging trials were crowded into the early pioneer days of that mission, but Mr. Ellis never turned back. Enemies burned his house and nearly everything he possessd. "But," said he, when writing to our office about it, "God has spared to me my family, the little folding organ, and my courage." So he con- tinued to press forward cheerfully in the rugged path where God had called him to serve. Again and again GENDP,AU he faced the question: How can we ever make these God never fails to hear a prayer that comes from a sincere heart. heathen understand the blessed story of salvation ? Another missionary once toured the Indian country with Mr. Ellis. He told us how one morning, very The disciples who walked with Jesus during His early, he lay thinking about the work among the In- earthly sojourn felt that the secret of the power in His dians. Prospects were discouraging. There seemed so words and life lay in His prayer habit; so one day they many impossibilities in the pathway. Presently he came to Him with the earnest request: "Lord, teach heard the cot near his own creaking; and, turning, he us to pray." And, somehow, as we look at Jesus, is could distinguish Mr. Ellis on his knees by his bed. not that the prayer of every soul that longs to have a He was talking with God about his Indians. That heart like His? that .longs to live and serve as He did? scene spoke hope and courage to the observer. A big John tells us how he received that for which he prayed. burden rolled off his heart. When he returned to the Said he: "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, be- office and related the story to us, he said: "I knew then cause we keep His commandments, and do those things that the work among the Indians would succeed." And that are pleasing in His sight." it has—far beyond our fondest expectations. On that "because" hinges the success of prayer. All Years ago a scientist declared that "prayer is the nature obeys certain laws. All machinery moves in mightiest force in the universe." Jesus uttered the same accordance with the laws that govern it. Health is con- great truth when He walked upon earth; and His life tingent on certain laws of nature. We realize this. Even was a constant demonstration of the truthfulness of so we must realize that in the realm of prayer certain that unappreciated fact. Yes, Jesus knew the value of laws or conditions obtain. These we must learn to prayer. And, somehow, no matter how busy He was, obey. But it is comforting to know that they are so —and He was always exceedingly busy,—He found simple that every honest heart may know them and time to pray. comply with them. Jesus stamped all His prayers with "Thy will be done." So must we. He did not rush away from the Place of prayer after making a few hurried requests. Neither must we. He prayed through. So must we. He believed that His heavenly Father heard Him. So must we. If we do this we shall know that God never fails those who come to Him. He does hear. He will help all who meet' Him daily in prayer and lift their hearts- to Him in the hour of need. *