Signs of the Times for 1949
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S S 11 TIMES THE WORLD'S PROPHETIC WEEKLY ti Vol. 76, No. 15 Because He Lives—see page 16 April 19, 1949 •• ,5•••• .0, • r'''Sk•• , your Bible Questions flowered SIGNS Dying Without the Gospel When a man has heard the word of God, he may accept it or reject it; but how about the individual who dies without ever having heard the Editor Arthur S. Maxwell gospel? E. D. TIMES Associate Editor . Merlin L. Neff Only God knows to what extent a person Assistant Editor . Francis A. Soper has had opportunity to learn of Him, either through His revelation in nature, or through divine providence, or by means of His written word. The decision in all such cases rests with Him, and we can accept without qeestion His verdict, whatever it be. It behooves us who have the opportunity to hear the word of God, to accept it in its fullness and allow it to trans- APRIL 19, 1949 Vol. 76, No. 15 COHTEHIS form our lives. F. A. S. Joshua's "Long Day" YOUR BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED 2 Is there any record by astronomers of the "long day" caused by Joshua's having the sun stand EDITORIALS: To ALL THE WORLD 3 still? What is the date of the dark day? REQUESTS FOR THE "SIGNS" 4 E. 0. H. Professor Henry Norris Russell, who was ANYWHERE ANY TIME" " 4 director of the Princeton University observa- A PREVIEW OF WORLD HISTORY . Roy F. Cottrell 5 tory for thirty-five years, in a personal letter dated October 13, 1948, says: "There are no TRENDS OF THE TIMES 6 astronomical records from which the observed WHY GOD CHOSE ISRAEL . Carlyle B. Haynes 7 time of any event can be accurately determined which go back as far as the days of Joshua." A CAPTAIN THERE WAS . Arthur W. Spalding 8 The dark day, mentioned by the Saviour as PETER'S TITLES Mary E. Walsh 10 being a sign of His second advent (Matthew 24:29), occurred on May 19, 1780. F. A. S. THE LAST CALL Beatrice Wornow 11 The Millennium THE LAW THAT CHRIST ABOLISHED Dallas Youngs 12 Will there be anyone on the earth between the BECAUSE HE LIVES Fenton E. Froom 16 first and the second resurrection? What will take place here during that time? Mrs. J. D. L. The Bible makes it plain that there will be no human being left on the earth during the millennium. At Christ's second coming the OUR COVER living righteous are "caught up" to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17), while the wicked are destroyed by "the brightness of At this season of the year the thoughts of Chris- His coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8). tians everywhere turn to the resurrection, the basic fact Thus the second advent will result in the and doctrine of the Christian religion. Calvary truly temporary depopulation of the earth, also the revealed the infinite love of God, but the resurrection destruction of all the works of man. For the revealed the infinite power of God—His power to keep next thousand years the globe will be in a state all His promises and to give to all who love Him ever- of utter desolation, as described in Jeremiah lasting life. See "Because He Lives," on page i6. 4:23-27. Not until the end of the thousand years will any human being set foot on the earth; but "when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the CIRCULATION MANAGER H K. CHRISTMAN four quarters of the earth" (Revelation 20:7, 8),—that is, the wicked of all ages who are Printed and published weekly (50 issues a year) by the Pacific Press raised at this time for a brief period to hear the Publishing Association at Mountain View, California, U. S. A. Entered as final judgment of God upon them. second-class matter September 15, 1904, at the post office at Mountain Regarding your second question, it is ob- View, California, under Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, vious from the foregoing that there will be and authorized September 18, 1918. no human activity of any sort on the earth RATES in U. S. A.: Single copy, one year $2.00 during the millennium. The only occupants Clubs of five or more to one address, each 1 75 of the desolate globe will be Satan and his To Canada and other countries taking extra postage: angels, who will have this long period to con- Single copy, one year (U. S. funds) $'7.50 template the awful results of their rebellion Clubs of five or more to one address, each, (U. S. funds) . 2.00 against the government of God. Verse 2. Please make all checks and money orders payable to Signs of the Times, A. S. M. Mountain View, California. Two Anointed Ones In requesting change of address, please give both old and new addresses. Who are the two anointed ones referred to in No papers are sent except on paid subscriptions, so persons receiving the Zechariah 4:14? J. J. M. Signs of the Times without having subscribed may feel free to accept it. Undoubtedly "the two anointed ones" refer to Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the governor mentioned earlier in -the chapter. Both needed to be anointed with grace in order to be instruments to furnish it to others. F. A. S. Page Two SIGNS of the TIMES ACME Gift-packed freight cars of the French gratitude train being lo'aded on flatcars after their ocean journey. Each car is destined for one of the forty-eight states, an expression of thanks for EDITORIAL America's gifts to France. comes from our readers who are anxious Perhaps we should let you see this list, to see the message of the Signs spread even though it does take up several To All the World ever farther afield "to every nation, inches of our precious space. You will kindred, tongue, and people." The find it on page 4 of this issue. N this our seventy-fifth year of pub- money comes to our Signs World Ex- We would direct special attention to I lication it is inspiring to note that tension Fund and is used exclusively to the first eleven items on this list. These More than 20,000 copies of the Signs of add new overseas names to our list, or represent a remarkable new opportunity. the Times are dispatched every week to to renew clubs already going to the far Never before have we been asked for readers in more than fifty countries and corners of the earth. i,000 subscriptions for distribution in the islands around the world. The Signs May we take you into our confidence Middle East. Surely we must not turn has become, in a new and larger way, in this matter? We need more money down a request such as this. Perhaps what it has so long claimed to be, "The for this fund, and we need it now. Our some reader will be moved to pay for World's Prophetic Weekly." The over- circulation manager has just handed us them all. We hope so. seas distribution of the Signs today ex- a list of nearly seventy requests, new and Look down this list. See if there is ceeds the total weekly circulation of the old—requests which we shall never be any place mentioned which particularly paper during the first thirty years of its able to meet unless many of our readers interests you, where you would like to history. act generously in the very near future. send the Signs. Then write and tell us Who receives these papers? Several thousand go to Missionary E. L. Cardey for distribution all over Africa through his Voice of Prophecy Bible Correspond- ence School. Thousands are sent to India and Burma for a similar purpose Smaller quantities go to all sorts of far- away places—to a missionary in the Solomon Islands, a preacher in Scotland, another in Siam, Singapore, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, the Philippines—the list is truly remarkable. Many Christian workers in the British Isles distribute the Signs regularly as part of their evange- listic endeavors. Always the call is for more and more. Scarcely a day passes but we receive some new request for copies of the Signs for free distribution somewhere around the globe. How we wish we could an- swer all affirmatively! We do our best within the limits of the funds available. This matter of funds is most impor- tant. It takes thousands of dollars each year to maintain this world-wide minis- ACME To make the pilots of fighting planes safer and more comfortable in handling the controls, a pilot try of the Signs. Every penny of it bed has been developed and is being tested. for APRIL 19, 1949 Page Three any time," tersely remarked Captain 1%. ..... ..... .55 ..... ....... ..... ••• ...... •• James Gallagher, a few minutes after the wheels of his globe-circling B-5o touched ground again. The fact that man has so far pro- Requests for the "Signs" gressed in his conquest of the air that he can fly "anywhere any time" was also 50 Ayazpasa, Istanbul, 6 Luisenstrabe, Germany 200 Assam Training School, graphically illustrated in connection Turkey 2 Les Signes Des Temps, Shillong, Assam, India 50 Baghdad, Iraq Melun, France 50 New Delhi S.