King's Business - 1956-04

HOW MANY HUALAPAI INDIANS ARE THERE? WHERE DO THEY LIVE? WHAT IS THEIR GREAT NEED? For the answer to these and other questions about the Hualapai and other Indian People, write to — THE UNITED INDIAN MISSIONS, INC. P.O. Box 6 Flagstaff, Arizona SOUTH A M E R I C A I N D I A N M I S S I O N N E E D S Young Men and Women Called of God Vast areas to be penetrated — 1 Wild Indians to be reached — Indian Churches to be instructed ♦ Address all communications to 1404 Forsythe Street West Palm Beach, Florida OUTSTANDING NEW FILMS GLASS MOUNTAIN Featuring Merv Rose!I and Rose Bowl Easter Sunrise Service 53 min. — Color — Rental $25 MYSTERY OF THREE CLOCKS (Moody) 30 min. — Color j— Rental $12 Large selection of quality Films and Film Strips for all church organizations. Catalog free on request when name of church is given. DO YOU KNOW that "Foreign" Mission work is being done in the U.S.A.? Or— that there are thousands of American Displaced Persons in camps in our country? A mission field of great importance. Your interest solicited! Mission to the Migrants, Inc. 2007 W. 78th PI., Los Angeles 47, Calif. Phone: PL. 9-8636 SACRED PIANO SOLOS "There's a Wideness to God's Mercy" Classical arrangements. Original introductions. Rich harmonies. Brilliant cadenzas. Modulations. Chimes. Suitable for radio performances. Each 35c. ALL THREE $1.00 postpaid. Order from GORDON E. HOOKER 558 So. Hope St. Los Angeles 17, Calif. 37 "Blessed Be the Fountain" "Safe in the Arms of Jesus"

WORDS from the WORD by Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D., Director, Talbot Theological Seminary

China, Ind ia and Ethiopia

S ome names that appear in our daily newspapers and magazines were already known in Biblical times, though they are not generally recog­ nized by the reader of the Scriptures. Among these names are China, India and Ethiopia, areas where the Church of Christ has expended time, effort, funds and lives for the propagation of the gospel. In Isaiah 49:12 the prophet fore­ tells: “Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.” Since the north and west are mentioned, the land of Sinim must be in the far south or east of the world. The Sinites of Phoenicia (Gen. 10:17) can be ruled out imme­ diately because they did not live at a great distance from Israel. Some be­ lieve the Sinim are inhabitants of the areas south of Palestine where are found the town of Sin (Syene), the wilderness of Sin (Ex. 16:1) and Mount Sinai. The difficulty with this view is that the places involved are not remote lands, as required by the context of the Isaiah passage. Another view holds that Elam is intended. In Old Akkadian it was known as Si­ nim (highland), but most interpreters do not agree. Finally, a widely held position, and probably that of the majority, is that the land of China is meant. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) favors the view that a land in the east is indicated. A wide dispersion of Israel had been foretold in Isaiah 11:11. According to Chinese records we are informed that Chinese merchants traveled to foreign coun­ tries even in the 12th century B.C., while foreign traders entered China in the 10th century B.C. Arabians and Asiatics referred to China as Sin, Tchin or Tsin. There was trade at a very early date between the extreme east and southern Arabia and the Pe r s i an Gul f . It is no argument against this view that Israelites were not settled in China at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. Immigration of Jews into China from Persia has been placed under the Han dynasty from

about 200 B.C. to about 200 A.D. Through the Spirit the prophet fore­ saw that Israel would be scattered in the Far East. This has taken place, as we know. Centuries beforehand God foretold the return of the exiles to the land of promise. The name for India ( Hoddu ) oc­ curs in the Old Testament only in the Book of Esther (1:1; 8:9). The He­ brew word is derived from the name of the Indus ( Hondu ) and designates the country washed by that river. Scripture sets forth this land as the eastern limit of the Persian Empire under Aha sue rus (Xerxes). The Greek historian, Herodotus, indicates the great extent of the Persian realm, and specifically states that the In­ dians and Ethiopians had been con­ quered under that monarch. Indian words and articles are found in the records of the foreign trade of Solo­ mon —- horns of ivory and ebony, cassia, calamus, almug (probably sandalwood), apes and peacocks (1 Ki. 10:11, 15, 22). Commerce in an­ cient times was carried on in a larger manner than had been considered possible some decades ago. Cush is the Hebrew name for Ethi­ opia. It cannot have this meaning in Genesis 2:13, however, for there the word designates a territory touched by the Tigris and Euphrates. It is thought to stand for the Kassites. Cush or Ethiopia refers to the land south of Egypt once in the New Testament (Acts 8:27) and more than 40 times in the Old Testament. Sev­ eral bear the name of Cushite (2 Sam. 18:21; Jer. 36:14; Zeph. 1:1), and Moses married a Cushite woman (Num. 12:1). The land is rich (Isa. 43:3), engages in trade with Arabia (Isa. 45:14), its inhabitants have a distinctive color (Jer. 13:23), are careless by nature (Ezek. 30:9), and quite warlike in practice (Ezek. 38:- 5). God loves the Ethiopians no less than His people Israel (Amos 9:7), and has given the promise that Ethi­ opia will yet stretch out her hands to God (Ps. 68:31). May God hasten this day not only for Ethiopia, but for China, India and all lands. END.

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