February 6, 1969 Vol. 146 No. 6 REVIEW AND HERALD • GENERAL CHURCH PAPER OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS The Better Land By W. H. HYDE © BY THE REVIEW AND HERALD HARRY ANDERSON, ARTIST We have heard from the bright, the holy land, We have heard of the palms, the robes, the We have heard, and our hearts are glad; crowns, For we were a lonely pilgrim band, And silvery band in white; And weary, and worn, and sad. Of the city fair, with pearly gates, They tell us the pilgrims have a dwelling All radiant with light. there— We have heard of the angels there, and saints, No longer are homeless ones; With their harps of gold, how they sing; And we know that the goodly land is fair, Of the mount, with the fruitful tree of life, Where life's pure river runs. Of the leaves that healing bring. They say green fields are waving there, The King of that country, He is fair, That never a blight shall know; He's the joy and the light of the place! And the deserts wild are blooming fair, In His beauty we shall behold Him there, And the roses of Sharon grow. And bask in His smiling face. There are lovely birds in the bowers green— We'll be there, we'll be there, in a little while, Their songs are blithe and sweet; We'll join the pure and the blest; And their warblings gushing ever new, We'll have the palm, the robe, the crown, The angels' harpings greet. And forever be at rest. There is the sound of steps in the tops of the Baka-bushes, which tells us that now is the 'imp for the Last ADVANCE By ARTHUR S. MAXWELL Editor, Signs of the Times trees, or Baka-bushes. They may have lain there for hours, possibly all night, waiting for the promised signal. Then, of a sudden, they hear the sound of movement. It is as if someone is walking in the trees—not on the ground, but "in the tops." The trees begin to sway in the morning breeze; the sound becomes louder and louder. Here, surely, is the promised sign. God has spoken. God has gone ahead, walking as it were in the [Sermon preached at the quadrennial council of the North American Division tops of the trees. Publishing Department, Dallas, Texas, September 19, 1968.] As one man, David's soldiers rise and, breaking cover, NE OF the most familiar passages in the Old rush forward, confident of victory. Testament is 1 Chronicles 14:15: "And it shall Today we face a similar situation. As a people we have be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the been lying for a long time as it were in ambush—out O of sight and unnoticed—waiting for a sign from God tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the that the moment for the final onrush, the last great host of the Philistines." advance, has arrived. We have been waiting to hear His The new Anchor Bible renders this verse: " 'And steps in the tops of the mulberry trees. when you hear the sound of steps in the tops of the Today we hear them. The trees are swaying as God Baka-bushes, then proceed to battle for God has gone moves in upon the world to make possible the final ad- out before you to destroy the Philistine army.' " * vance of His people. The Jerusalem Bible says: " 'When you hear the All about us are signs—great unmistakable evidences— sound of steps in the tops of the balsam trees, launch that the hour for action has arrived. One and all they your attack, for that will be God going out ahead of cry out to us, Get up! Break cover! Launch the attack! you to rout the army of the Philistines.' " f Move out and on to the finishing of the work! This is the story of an ambush—a successful ambush 1. First, there is the rapid deterioration of the interna- —carried out with divine approval and aid. The report tional situation—resembling in many respects that is so graphic it is easy to relive the scene. David's men preceding the outbreak of World War I and World War are in position near a clump of mulberry or balsam II. Recent events in Central Europe, in the Middle East, in the Far East, have shocked the whole world into realiza- tion that World War III and global disaster are rushing * From 1 Chronicles (Anchor Bible), translated and edited by Jacob M. Myers. Copyright © 1965 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. upon us. .1- Excerpt from The Jerusalem Bible, copyright © 1966 by Darton, Long- man & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday & Company, Inc. Used by permission of the From the tops of the mulberry trees God is saying, publishers. "I knew this would happen, for I am the Lord of history. 2 REVIEW AND HERALD, February 6, 1969 Now it has come. Rise up and finish My work while All these developments present Seventh-day Adventists you have time." with the greatest challenge since the movement began a 2. There are the startling achievements of science— century and a quarter ago. For this cause we were born. not only in outer space but in every phase of our modern To meet these mighty issues we were brought into life, making possible the rapid dissemination of God's existence in the providence of God. last message to mankind. In a special way this challenge comes to our publishing Look at Telstar and all its electronic wonders. This, houses and to everyone involved in the distribution of in part at least, could be God's answer to the rapidly our literature. increasing population all over the world. He could be saying, "Make use of it by brand-new, up-to-date radio Response to the Challenge and TV programs." If we respond aright to the challenge, with the great- 3. There is the emergence of the Pope as a champion ness of faith, vision, and courage commensurate with the of world peace; not as a tyrant, as once expected, but greatness of the hour and the opportunity, we shall ex- rather as an advocate of international brotherhood— perience an expansion of every phase of this work beyond visiting country after country to improve his "image"— our wildest anticipations. The volume of literature pro- backing the United Nations and lending new meaning duced by our publishing houses will double and triple to the prophecies of Revelation. and quadruple. Every press will be used to capacity, and 4. There is the amazing revolution within the Roman we shall run every press 24 hours a day. Every square Catholic Church that is rocking that great organization foot of space will be needed for this fantastic develop- to its foundations. This revolution has revealed itself— ment, and we shall live to thank God for the faith of the a. In the crisis of disobedience, which is spreading all brethren who built large and equipped amply in years through that organization, demonstrated recently by the gone by. open revolt against the papal declaration on birth Because this work is of God and because God's hour control. has come, there is no limit to its possibilities. This work b. In the large number of priests, monks, and nuns must go forward with ever-increasing success in ever- who are leaving the church seeking freedom and a new widening circles. life they have never enjoyed before. But the challenge comes also to every phase of the The tide used to flow the other way. We kept hearing church's life and activity—to every congregation, every of famous Protestants who had joined the Catholic minister, every layman. Church. Now the tide has turned and is flowing fast, There is a sound of a going in the tops of the mul- and God cries to us: "Look! I have opened the gates of berry trees. It is God's signal to all of us that the last great Babylon to set My people free. Go after them—now!" battle is about to begin. It tells us that He has "gone c. In the action of the Roman Catholic hierarchy ap- out ahead" and is waiting for us to follow His provi- proving scholarly Biblical research, permitting the use dential leading. of Protestant versions, and urging the laity to read and There is the sound of steps in the tops of the Baka- study the Bible—something we never dreamed possible. bushes—God's steps. He is going on before us. Let us rise d. In the approval of our literature by cardinals, arch- up this day and follow Him to victory. The moment for bishops, bishops, and other clergy—also by prominent the last advance has come. The time to "break cover" Anglican prelates, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury and move out into the open has arrived. The God of and the Archbishop of York, and the famous Scot, Dr. heaven is calling to us, beckoning to us. We must not H. C. Whitley, dean of St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. fail Him now. ++ Surely the hand of God is in all this. He has gone out ahead of us and is calling us to follow Him with courage, faith, and urgency. 5. And then there is the ecumenical move- ment, represented by the World Council of Churches, which is rushing pell-mell toward full cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church.