JANUARY, 1952
m
On! let all the soul within you For the truth's sake go abroad! Strike! let every nerve and sinew Tell on ages, tell for God.
Worlds are charging, heaven beholding, Thou hast but an hour to fight; Now, the blazoned cross unfolding, On, right onward for the right!
■Arthur C. Coxe
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The content of The King’s Business is soul inspiring and helpful. We believe that no Christian can afford to miss what is provided for the readers every month. In the Reader Reaction depart ment we sometimes read criticisms of your policies, teaching or contributed ar ticles. We find no fault at all. Our rea son for reading The King’s Business is to gain helpful information which we do not fail to receive. We believe the editors and contributors know much more than we do, and we respect their superiority. We read The King’s Busi ness that our spiritual lives may be en riched; that we may be stronger, better Christians. In this we are not disap pointed. If we believed ouf knowledge to be greater than that of Dr. Talbot and the contributors who provide us with a wealth of knowledge, and a better un derstanding of the teaching of the Bible, we would discontinue our subscription rather than renew it. May the Lord bless you and multiply the results of your labor even as He did the “ loaves aiid fishes.” D k . and M rs . C. H. W right Fredericktown, Ohio The Bible in the News In the October issue of The King’s Business there are two statements in The Bible in the News about which I felt I should write to you. The state ments are under the titles, “ Drum Ma jorettes” and “Wrong Emphasis.” The matter contained in both statements is very true and needs to be emphasized more on every hand. The disturbing fac tor in both was the fact that both were quotations of Roman Catholics. I feel that there are sufficient Protestant Christian men and women who can be quoted along similar lines without quot ing the statements of those seeking to undermine the very freedom for which we stand. J ess P aschall West Linn, Ore. Appreciation Every article of The King’s Business is interesting to me. Thanks to all those who are giving their best on the pages of the magazine for us readers. It was very interesting to visit mission fields and missionaries with Dr. Talbot. May our Lord richly bless all of you and make you a blessing to many. M arie B elehrad Cedar Rapids, Iowa I have enjoyed especially Dr. Rim- mer’s articles. I do hope they will be resumed. M argaret L. A llen Quarryville, Pa. (Continued on Page 25)
Official Publication of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Incorporated
Louis T. Talbot, D.D.
Betty Bruechert Managing Editor
William W. Orr, D.D
Editor in Chief
Associate Editor
Copyright, 1951, The King’s Business No part o f this magazine may be reproduced without permission. All Rights Reserved. Vol. 43 January, 1952 No. 1 Reader Reaction ............................................................................................. 3 Editorially Speaking ..................................................................................... 4 Dr. Talbot’s Questions Box ........................................................................ 6 Poem, Watch Night, Betty Bruechert ................................................... 6 Vision for Today, John Wilmot Mahood ............................................ 7 Israel Lives Again! George T. B. D a v is .............................................. 8 A Dangerous Dame, Herbert L ockyer ..................................................... 10 The Work and the Workers, William W. O r r ........................................ 11 Poem : Tardy Warrior, Georgena Hallman ............................................ 11 Jonah, the Whale, and the Word of God, Harry R imm er ................. 12 The Tide Carries the Gospel, George Phillips ...................................... 14 Christ or Mohammed? Robert I. B rown ................................................ 16 Poems: I Have Seen the Sea; The Year Is Gone, Anon; The Prince o f Life, John Oxenham ..................................................... 17 Old Age and How to Meet It, Nan Swigert ........................................ 18 Biola Family Circle ...................................................................................... 19 Junior King’s Business: Marjorie’s New Year Verse, “ Thou Art With Me,” Martha S. H o ok e r ........................................ 20 The Bible in the News, William W. O r r .............................................. 21 Book Reviews, Donald G. Davis ............................................................. 22 Young People’s Topics, James H. Jauncey ............................................ 23 Sunday School Lessons, Homer A. Kent, Allison Arrowood ............. 27 Object Lessons, Elmer L. Wilder . . . ..................................................... 33 Picture Credits: Cover, pp. 7, 17, Eva Luoma, Weirton, W. Va.; p. 8, 'Israel O ffice of Information, Los Angeles, Calif. ; p. 9, G.I.S., Tel Aviv, Israel; p. 11, H. Armstrong Roberts, Philadelphia, Pa.; p. 13, Wilde Bible Pictures, Boston, Mass. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION— “The King’s Business” is published monthly; $2.00. on» year; $1.00, six months; 20 cents, single copy. Clubs of three or more at special rates. Write for details. Canadian and foreign subscriptions 25 cents extra. It requires one month for a change of address to become effective. Please send both old and new addresses. REMITTANCES— Payable in advance, should be made by bank draft, express, or post office money order payable to “The King’s Business.” Date of expiration will show plainly on outside wrapper or cover of magazine. ADVERTISING— For information, address the Advertising Manager, 558 South Hope Street Los Angeles 17, California. MANUSCRIPTS— “The King’s Business” cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to manuscripts mailed to us for consideration. Entered as second-class matter November 7, 1938, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, Cali fornia, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in the Act of February 28, 1925, embodied in paragraph 4, section 538. P. L. and R ., authorized October 1, 1918, and November \8, 1938. ADDRESS: The King’s Business. 558 So. Hope St.. Los Angeles 17, California.
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primary task of the church is to preach the gospel to all the world, not forget ting the section in which the church is located or adjoining areas. Then lifting eyes to mission fields the world around, the church will invite missionary speak ers. A missionary budget will be stressed and the young people of the church will be reminded repeatedly that to be one o f God’s missionaries is one of the greatest calls in all the world. Strong emphasis will be placed upon young people’s work, for the young peo ple are the future leaders, not only of the local church, but also of world-wide Christendom. The church will invest much of its local energy upon reaching its own young people. Then there should be a consistent program for the training of workers. No work advances beyond its own leadership. The church is under real obligation to train those who will assume a God-approved place of leader ship. Then there should be a careful community contact. The fact that the church is placed in the local community gives it a responsibility that cannot be ignored. Finally, the church is to furnish a place for warm Christian fellowship. It should be a place where folks love to meet one another. It should be a place of the right kind of social activity and a spot where folks can laugh as well as cry. Surely here is a splendid outline for churches to follow. in 1952. May God give us the grace to continually look to Him for His loving guidance over the affairs of His church, even the church which the Lord loved and for which He gave Himself. The Mysterious Picture In many papers throughout our land, during the past month, there appeared a picture taken from the air showing two bombers flying in a cloudy sky for mation. Between these two bombers could be seen clearly a likeness of Christ with His hands outstretched in a gesture of peace. The story of the pic ture was interesting. A young airman flying over Korea had supposedly snapped a dogfight between a UN plane and a Communist plane. He had sent the picture home to his mother in Chicago to be developed. The mother was amazed to see the image in the clouds and she supposedly sent the copy to her brother in Ashland, Kentucky. A certain Mrs. Dobbins received a copy of the picture from a neighbor who got it from her daughter-in-law who bought it for a dol lar from a woman who got it from an unnamed man. The Daily Independent of Ashland printed it in its columns. It was an unusual success and the picture went out far and wide. Reprints were given away or sold at a dollar apiece and it appeared in many other papers the country around. But in spite of all the publicity, no body seems able to track down the mother in Chicago, the brother in Ash land or the photographer son in Korea. Then the truth came out. A certain air force Staff Sgt. Roy C. Burnham T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
we want a year of power, a year of con quest, a yeas of enablement, it must be the result of a year of prayer. There should be private prayer, prayer without ceasing, concerted prayer where two and three gather together and where hundreds meet. This is God’s own basis for success. This is God’s own pattern for victory. “ In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6 R.V.). Emphases for 1952 From the busy pastor of a small but highly successful church, we have re ceived the following outline of what the emphasis on the church life will be dur ing the coming year. In the first place, a large place is to be given to Bible preaching and teaching. The Word of God will be accorded great honor. The people in the church will be encouraged to bring their Bibles to service and the young people in the Sunday school will be given recognition for bringing their Bibles with them. The sermons are to be expository in nature and mid-week services will emphasize the direct study of books of the Bible. The church Shall be in every way possible a Bible-believ- ing and Bible-studying church. There will also be emphasis upon prayer. In every service which is held prayer will form a* part. As often as possible a list of objectives for which to pray will be presented and the friends of the church will be asked to partici pate in concerted prayer. The bulletin of the church will carry prayer requests and accounts of answers to nrayer. The members of the church will be exhorted repeatedly to pray without ceasing. God’s graciousness in giving the answer will be noted regularly and praise given to Him. The church will endeavor to live in an atmosphere of prayer. Then there will be missionary en deavor. It is to be understood that the
A Year of Prayer for a Year of Power
The world stands on the threshold of a new year. Before us are 365 days which can be filled with a demonstration of the power of God or the weakness of man. In today’s world stands the church of Jesus Christ which, in the minds of many, is the last surviving bulwark of civilization and peace. Shall the church be a poor, inefficient, powerless, mean ingless group of people or shall it be a strong, efficient and efficacious power for God, in the face of the world’s great problems ? The difference between fail ure and success on the part of God’s people in a very large measure depends upon their faithfulness in prayer. Consider now. The very basis of the church’s operations is a spiritual, super natural one. The church claims to have connections with the limitless, exhaust less, resistless God. This power is nec essary because Christian people face a supernatural foe. Satan is no myth. The Scriptures never treat him lightly. He is a cruel, cunning and merciless tyrant, a liar and father of lies, the enemy of all that is good and the opposer of God’s will in the world. Christian people are in themselves no match for his might. There is absolutely no hope that the church will ever do an effective job un less some method of curbing his machin ations is advanced. How then shall this be accomplished? In great wisdom, God has given to the church a most marvelous weapon of defense and offense. It is prayer. By simply lifting one’s heart to God, pray ing on the basis of what Christ has ac complished, the believer may lay hold of God’s omnipotence. This power may be used to stem the artful schemes of Satan and to bring to pass the will of Christ. There is no power comparable to it. In fact, it is absolutely indispens able to the performance of the Christian life. What utter folly for Christian peo ple to endeavor to do the will and work of God on any other basis than that of a constant prayer life! As we look forward then to 1952, may God give us grace to see clearly that if Page Four
Avenue Congregational Church in Pas adena, The First Brethren Church of Long Beach and the Faith Bible Church of San Bernardino. Speakers for the con ference will include: Rev. Curtis B. Akenson, Dr. Vance Havner, Dr. Herbert Lockyer, Rev. Angelo LoVallo, Dr. John G. Mitchell, Dr. Walter M. Montano, Dr. Clarence S. Roddy, Dr. Gordon H. Smith and Dr. Louis T. Talbot. The con ference director is Dr. William W. Orr, head of the Extension Department. Fold ers giving a list of speakers and hours of meetings are available upon request. Dr. John Mackay, President of Princeton Theological Seminary, has re cently reported concerning his special mission to study the status of Protes tants in predominating Roman Catholic countries. Belgium, he reports, is benevolently neutral towards religion with the Pro testants confident, happy and grateful to God and to the government for the freedom which they enjoy. France is rigidly detached from religion but the 700,000 Protestants are important even out of all proportion to their numbers. Italy, strives to impede Protestant growth although the minority are supposedly guaranteed religious freedoms by the constitution. Italian Protestantism is not only holding its own but growing some. Portugal has about 15,000 Protestants and they enjoy relative freedom. Pro testants can get permission to open new places of worship and to hold public meeings, but Spain is a Protestant ghet to, worse than can be imagined. More than at any other time since the 16th cen tury, there is that feeling in Spain which believes that unity can only be main tained with complete adhesion to the Roman Catholic Church. Spain’s 20,000 Protestants are virtually isolated from normal life. What Dr. Mackay did not report on was the continual advance of Roman Catholicism in America. Without a doubt the Roman Catholic Church is training its greatest guns upon the- American nation, hoping to control some of the stupendous ability that America possesses. But while the American con stitution guarantees open church and free distribution of the Word of God, it will be some time before Catholicism can gain the strangle hold it desires. May God enable us to realize that liberty is the direct product of a complete faith in God and His Word. NEXT MONTH A Remarkable Series of Articles entitled “ INSIDE HOLLYWOOD” written by Mrs. Dorothy Clark Haskin, who spent eighteen years behind the footlights be fore her conversion to Christ, will begin in the February issue. The European Protestant Picture
look as good as possible. It is not our purpose to berate the school system. The task of training young Americans in this day when the youths themselves are careless, irresponsible and lazy is a hereulean one. What we do want to point out is this: The close affinity be tween modem educators and the liberal camp of religious thinkers is that the two go together. It seems that those who fail to believe in the truths of the Book of God are also those who espouse the cause of modem education. They turn their backs upon God’s power and in fluence in life and turn their faces toward so-called “ advanced methods of teaching.” Does it not stand to reason that if God, in the beginning, created the men tal capacity of men and children, He would be the one who would know best how this mental capacity could be in creased to fulfill its normal purpose ? Could there be any genuine education where God’s power was left out? Is it possible to really advance in learning when you wholly ignore the source of all true wisdom ? The Scriptures are quite emphatic to say that the fear of God (reverent trust in the Lord) is “ the beginning of wisdom.” Put God back into the curriculum and you have made a good start toward education. Leave God out of your lessons and the result is confusion and chaos. There is a book in the Old Testament which is packed full of wisdom. It is the book of Proverbs which ought to be in the curriculum of every school. It has something to say about the teach ing process as it points out that children need several things. They need first to be encouraged in their study by the use of stem methods, then the learning process is one that takes concentration, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. The re sult is a fully-educated person. Perhaps our modem educators, in the face of this shameful exposure, will be honest and sincere enough to turn back to the Book of God and start again where America left off a hundred years ago and once more come down the road of true learning. January 13 to 20 are. the dates of the 17th annual Torrey Memorial Bible Conference to be held in Southern Cal- fomia. This yearly feast of good things in the Word of God is held in honor of Dr. Reuben A. Torrey, one of the men of God who was invited by the foun ders, Lyman Stewart and T. C. Horton, to aid in bringing the Bible Institute into a place of real usefulness for the cause of Christ. The sessions this year will be held in the large and spacious downtown auditorium of the Church of the Open Door, at Sixth and Hope Streets in Los Angeles and in the newly-enlarged Lake Torrey Memorial Bible Conference to Open
branded it a fake. He had an identical picture in color which he had obtained from an air force laboratory technician in England in 1944. It had been taken over Europe and the picture of Christ had been painted in. Burnham had spoken out in the interest of truth, feel ing that the thing was being carried much too far. What is the lesson to be learned out o f this? While it is not impossible that such a likeness should appear in the sky, if it did so what would be its value ? Who, living today, knows at all what Christ looked like ? And if His image would appear in the sky, what would be its meaning? On the other hand, we hold in our hands a most unusual phe nomenon. It is not an uncertain picture hut rather the infallible, inerrant, eter nal Word of the living God, which con tains not merely a portrait of Christ, but every last thing a poor, needy sin ner needs to know as well as the com plete rules for a life that will be pleas ing to the God of the ages. The book can be purchased for as little as 26c and even within the pages of such an inex pensive volume can be found enough vital truth to save the world. This is the important thing in life: not signs or pictures, but the rich living treasure which is the Holy Scripture. May God give us the wisdom to put our faith in the Book which has been demonstrated overwhelmingly to be what it claims to be, the Book of all books, the Word of the living God. Modern Education To say that residents of Los Angeles were surprised, shocked and chagrined, would be putting it mildly! As a result of a survey in the Los Angeles high schools many amazing conditions about the educational processes and their re sults among Southern California young people were disclosed. The tests were given to students with a normal IQ of 75 or better and were not aimed to measure the students’ scholastic achieve ment levels but were designed to test their knowledge in the minimum essen tials of arithmetic, English, history, civics and geography. Some of the results were these: Three per cent of the Juniors could not tell the time of day. Eighteen per cent didn’t know how many months there were in a year. Nine per cent didn’t know how many 3-cent stamps could be bought for 75 cents. Sixteen per cent didn’t know anything about the Fourth of July ex cept that they didn’t have to go to school on that day. Four per cent didn’t know the alphabet. Fifty per cent didn’t know how many United States Senators were permitted each state. Fourteen per cent didn’t know that the word “ writting” was misspelled. This then is the result of modern edu cation and as it comes from the edu cators themselves it is quite safe to assume that they have made the report
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o Please explain this verse found in Second Peter 1:20, No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpreta tion. The explanation of this statement is that we may not take a Scripture out of its context, or interpret this one verse apart from the whole Word of God. It is not to be treated as an isolated verse making it mean anything under the sun that, we may want to make it mean. This is exactly what many would-be critics of the Bible have ever done, but they only show their ignorance, as well as their defiance of the living God, by such perversion of the inspired record. How subtle Satan’s wiles are! We need to “ study to shew [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). No, I do not. There is not one line of Scripture in any of the writings of the apostles in support of this false teach ing of Romanism concerning a special ministry, the worship of saints, purga tory or penances. All their teaching con cerning salvation by works, prayer for the dead, and the canonization of saints is unscriptural. Wattty J l t g i j t Because the Old Year, at its close Leaves me imperfect in Thy sight; And I have need of cleansing blood, I'm on my knees, my God, tonight! Because the New Yea’r, near at hand, Is full of promise and of light; And I am weak without Thyself, I’m on my knees in prayer tonight. Because, with all the past forgiven, I Would rise up to walk aright, And live victoriously for Thee, I'm on my knees in prayer tonight. Because there's work for me to do In fields to harvest lying white, And time for reaping is not long, I'm on my knees in prayer tonight. Because another year may bring Thy Son, returning in His might, And I would meet Him unashamed— I’m on my knees, dear Lord, tonightl —Betty Bruechert T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S Do you not think that Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, was sent to earth for a special ministry?
ter eleven, declares that a woman may prophecy; that is, she may “tell forth” , or “foretell” the message of salvation to sinners. But the place of woman to day as pastors of churches, exercising authority over the men, even in the worship hour of the assembly, is one of the signs of the last days. Can I, as a consistent Christian, send my boy to a military academy? I must do something along this line for my young son, but I do want to do what the Lord would desire for him, and for myself. Military academies do not specialize in the science of war, in spite of the association of the name. They offer a curriculum such as may be found in any regular school, plus a rigid training in discipline. Whether such a school has any advantage over others depends much upon who is guiding its policies. Why did God tell the children of Israel to borrow jewels of silver and jewels of gold from the Egyptians, when He knew they would not return to Egypt to pay them back? (Ex. 11:2.) You will find this expression used on several occasions in the book of Exodus. It does not mean borrow in the literal rendering of the term. It means ask and is so translated literally from the orig inal Hebrew. The King James Version translated the word borrow, but the Re vised Version translates it correctly ask. Now you ask why did God tell His people to ask these things from the Egyptians? Because they had earned them! For four hundred years they had been slaves, building cities for Pharaoh and yet had never received any wages. Therefore, God told them to ask for what was theirs by rights. When you read the whole book of Exodus carefully you will find that one important reason why God told them to ask for these important jewels was be cause they were to build the tabernacle which was to be a beautiful costly struc ture, temporary though it was. The golden candlestick alone, made from a talent of gold, cost $29,085. (Ex. 25:39.) Then let us consider the pieces of furni ture covered with brass—some covered with gold. There were the sockets of silver for the boards, and the mercy seat of pure gold. Remembering the precious stones in the breastplate and on the shoulders of the high priest, you can easily see that for this tabernacle alone Israel had to have great wealth. And God provided this wealth by giving them their just wages earned over a long period of time.
DR. L. T. TALBOT In your opinion "just what is the place of the women in the church? You have expressed your opinion plainly that women should not preach the gospel. What can we do? In discussing the subject of woman’s ministry we need to recognize the breadth of Scripture as well as the clearly defined limitations in regard to the subject. When Adam took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he was not deceived. He knew what he was doing. Adam sinned against the light, consequently Adam was in the deeper transgression. Satan deceived the woman, saying in substance: “ You will know more than you know now. God knows you will benefit by eating the fruit, so perhaps He did not say that you should not eat it.” Eve was deceived, but when she brought the fruit to Adam, he knew what he was doing, and to please her he partook of the fruit. For this reason God has put woman in the place of subjection. This is a type of Christ and the church, the greatest type given in the Bible of the bride and the Bridegroom, Christ and the church. Moreover, if God demands that the woman be subject to the man, He also demands that the man be ready to die for the woman. That is greater still. Why? Because “ Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (See Eph. 5:25-32.) Read what Paul has to say, First Timothy 2:11-14, and again in First Corinthians 14:34, “ Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.” These verses make clear what the place of the woman is in the assem bly when the congregation is gathered together for worship in a scriptural way. It is one of silence so far as the ministry is concerned. She is to recog nize the headship of the man, because it speaks of Christ who is the Head of the church. It is not a matter of su periority or of inferiority; it is a mat ter of order. However, there are conditions arising in the church which are not governed by these passages of Scripture. Teach ing a Bible class and evangelizing sin ners do not constitute the assembly which is the organized church. Paul, in his message to the Corinthians in chap- Page Six
VH'°"
John Wilmot Mahood*
eclipse. They have no vision of Him. And is not this the reason for na tional and international conditions to day? “ Where there is no vision, the people perish”—literally, “ the people run riot, the people cast off restraint, the people get a craze.” Thus we have the craze for amusements, for gambling, for gaudiness in dress, for the immoral show. To know God and to tell His message with power we must have life. Jesus said, “ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” This is what we must have if we would see God—abundant life, for abundant life is necessary to have spir itual vision. We are having a great vitamin re vival these days. Many carry a bottle of vitamins in our pockets or have one on our tables. Radios and newspapers are continually advertising the life-giving qualities of certain'brands. But the most effective life-giving vitamin in the world is not sold over the drug counter; it is free to all. This gift is the Holy Spirit who reveals Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, and brings life and power to all who receive Him by faith. A life regenerated by the Holy Spirit will have a vision of God and know Him. In the second place, a life enlightened by the Holy Spirit will give us a vision of the world’s supreme need. Millions are perishing because they have never known and accepted the source of life— the Lord Jesus Christ whom the Holy Spirit reveals to every regenerated man and woman. The true Christian will al ways be a witnessing Christian. The church of Jesus Christ must be a mis sionary church: “ Ye shall be [my] wit nesses . . . unto the. . . [end] of the earth.” It is when the church has no vision that the multitudes perish. Today many young people have caught this vision, and the missionary training schools and theological seminaries are crowded with young people preparing to take the gos pel message of redemption through the blood of Christ to the ends of the earth. In these young people who have had a vision of responsibility and opportunity, and have heard the call of the Holy Spirit, is found this world’s most en couraging hope for world peace. *Founder of the London Bible Institute and Theological Seminary
H AVE you had a vision? The Bible says “ Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Visions were all important in the Old Testament economy. Many of God’s messages to men were given by the medium of visions. Some of the greatest of the prophets were taught in the school ^of visions. There were Daniel and Isaiah and Ezekiel, not visionary, but vision prophets. It would be interesting to study the peculiar physical and psycho logical conditions of these Old Testa ment visions. But let us leave that for another time, and inquire whether men have visions today, and what is the na ture of spiritual vision. In the first place we may have a vision of God. Isaiah had such a vision. He said: “ I saw . . . the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” Do you say, “ Can we see God?” That question has been asked all down the ages. People have even made images of what they think God is like. In the wilderness the children of Israel wanted to see God, and when Moses tarried in the mountain, they became rebellious, and said to Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us.” And Aaron made them a golden calf. This was blasphemy. He was more anxious to be popular with the crowd than with God.
We do not do that today. Yet some have a golden calf and worship at a false altar. They dethrone Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and worship at the shrines of theosophy, spiritualism, hu manism or modernism. Or they spend their time collecting gold and silver and other material things, and give no time to developing spiritual sight. Yet God is near in the mountain, and they do not see Him or know Him. The material things they seek are only temporal. Only the spiritual things like love and joy and goodness and peace are eternal. They are the realities of life and we want reality. But we cannot spend this life seeking things that are only tem poral, and know reality. Someone has said, “ If we spend sixteen hours a day dealing with tangible things, and only five minutes a day trying to find God, no wonder the tangible things of the world are two hundred times more real to us than God is.” It is with the mind and the spirit that we see the things that are real. And the world’s best microscopes can never reveal love and truth. Yet, strange to say, in these days when men are spending so much time dealing with things they have never seen, like protons and neutrons and elec trons, some are still saying we cannot know God. And so to many God is in
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ISRA E L L IV E S AGA IN ! Fifth in a Prophetic Series By George T. B. Davis*
D URING our stay in Jerusalem the Hebrew University celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary. The celebration was held in the Y.M.C.A., as due to present boundary difficulties, the University’s own beautiful buildings on Mount Scopus are inaccessible. Great throngs attended the cere monies. The most interesting exhibit in connection with the celebration was that of portions of the famous Biblical scrolls, discovered in a cave near the Dead Sea. We had the privilege of seeing parts of these scrolls under glass and two of the large earthen jars in which the scrolls had been found. The manuscripts as a whole constitute the most remarkable and valuable archaeological discovery of our generation. We were so deeply interested in this remarkable Biblical discovery that later we got in touch with Professor E. L. Sukenik, head of the Department of Palestinian Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. We told Professor Sukenik that we were writing a book on Israel, and that we desired to include in it the story of the finding of these ancient scrolls of the book of Isaiah. The Professor very kindly and graciously invited us to visit him in his home. When we arrived at his house at the appointed hour, he took us into the study, lined with many shelves of books. We told him that we would like to hear from his own lips the story
of the discovery of the Isaiah manuscripts. We had a most interesting and thrilling hour as he gave us the narrative of the oldest Bible manuscripts in the world today. Professor Sukenik also gave us additional material which he had used during his recent lecture tour in Great Britain where he delivered lectures in various universities in Eng land, Wales, and Ireland and showed pictures of the scrolls. The Professor took one of the scrolls with him to Great Britain and it was on exhibition for several weeks at the British Museum. While in London Professor Sukenik said, “Many miracles have come to pass in Israel in the past two years, and not the least of them is the discovery, in a cave in the Judean hills, of the ancient Hebrew scrolls.” After we were seated in the Professor’s study we asked him to tell us the story of the discovery. In reply he said, “ In the spring of 1947 some Bedouin were camping with their grazing goats near the northwest end of the Dead Sea. The Bedouin saw a cave and went into it. They discovered many large earthen jars and began to examine them. They found that they contained many rolls of old goatskin leather, on which there was some kind of writing. They thought the scrolls might be of value and brought them to some antique dealers in Bethlehem. Part of these scrolls were acquired by an Assyrian Bishop in the Old City of Jerusalem. “ The Bishop did not know what the scrolls were but thought they might be of some value. He showed them to a number of scholars, both Jewish and Christian. They told him that the scrolls were of no value and were not of ancient date. I was in America at this time on sabbatical leave. After I returned to Jerusalem I received a telephone call from an Armenian friend in the Old City, asking for an appointment. Jerusalem then resembled a besieged city, and it was not possible for a Jew to go from the New City of Jerusalem to the Old City without a pass. However we met in No Man’s Land with three feet of barbed wire entanglement between us. I asked the friend what he wanted. He took from his pocket a piece of leather on which there was some Hebrew writing. “ As soon as I saw the inscribed leather or goat’s skin, I realized that the scrolls were of great antiquity and of great importance. I could scarcely believe my eyes. The scrolls were written in beautiful Hebrew. I tried to get a closer look. At first I could not make sense of the Hebrew writing with which I was probably better acquainted than anyone else, for in the past twenty-five years I had excavated about forty tombs which dated back very many centuries. But until that moment I had never seen those ancient letters or characters written with a pen. I had only seen them engraved on stones, obviously by skilled engravers using sharp instru ments. “ I asked my friend where he had obtained the piece of inscribed leather. He told me that a Moslem merchant in Bethlehem had a number of leather scrolls, similar to the piece he showed me, that had been found in some jars in a cave near the Dead Sea. A few days later my friend tele phoned me that he had the scrolls. I obtained a pass to enter the military zone and to go to Bethlehem to examine the scrolls. “ The night I went to Bethlehem to see the scrolls was an historic night. It was the twenty-ninth of November, 1947, the night in which at Lake Success, New York, the United Nations made the far-reaching decision to partition Palestine, and to establish a Jewish State. At this time the tension between the Jews and Arabs was very great. “ When I met my friend in Bethlehem he showed me two scrolls. I tried hard not to betray the interest and excitement I felt, as I examined the scrolls, which were very fragile. I realized that I was being privileged to see books that had not been read by Jews for two thousand years. That night I secured several bundles of scrolls, together with two complete T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Street in the old city of Safad *Executive Secretary of the M illion T estaments C ampaigns . Reprinted from the hook, I srael R eturns H ome A ccording t o P rophecy , obtainable at 1505 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pa. Page Eight
earthen jars in which the scrolls had been preserved in the cave for long centuries. “ The disturbances between the Jews and Arabs over the partition of Palestine had now begun, so it was impossible for me to go again to Bethlehem to secure further bundles of the manuscripts. But several of the Arabs with whom I was negotiating came to see me. We met near the Y.M.C.A. in Jerusalem. After several weeks of negotiations I was able to secure all the manuscripts that were available from the dealer in Bethlehem. “ In January, 1948, the Assyrian Bishop who had acquired the first bundle of manuscripts sent word to me that he would like to see me to get my opinion on the value of the scrolls, for others had told him they were of no value and not of ancient date. The Bishop did not know that I already had secured part of a second manuscript of Isaiah, and I had not known that he had secured the first manuscript of the book of Isaiah. As I mentioned before, I had been in America on my academic sabbatical year when the Bishop had ac quired his manuscript. The Bishop sent me the manuscripts which he had, by the hands of an acquaintance of mine, a member of the Assyrian community. We met in the Y.M.C.A., which was a neutral meeting ground. “ I saw at once that the Bishop’s manuscripts and those I had secured were of the same origin. The Bishop’s manu scripts included the book of Isaiah and a commentary on Habakkuk. I asked the gentleman whether the Bishop would sell the manuscripts to the Hebrew University, and the answer was in the affirmative. I took the manuscripts to my home for a few days and kept them in this very room in which we are now sitting. This room, by the way, is probably the only room in the world where all the manuscripts found in the cave have been assembled together. “ You can imagine my excitement as I examined the scrolls the Bishop had sent to me. Here I had in my hands the complete text of the book of Isaiah. I spent days and nights reading it. But I had to return it to the Assyrian Bishop.^ I made my way through No Man’s Land in Jerusalem to try to make a deal with my friend who represented the Bishop. It was agreed that we should meet again in a week’s time when he would bring the Bishop and I would bring Dr. Magnes of the Hebrew University, and we would talk over the price and the purchase of the manuscripts from the Syriacs. “ You can picture my feelings as I parted with the precious scrolls. The thought flashed through my mind that perhaps I would never see them again. And it turned out that I did not see them again! When they learned that the manuscripts were of great value, friends of the Bishop took them to the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, and the Americans obtained the right to publish the manuscripts. The Syriac Bishop then decided to take the manuscripts to the United States and there they were photographed and the original manuscripts were exhibited in the Library of Con gress. The Bishop asked a million dollars for the manuscript of Isaiah that he had. Some American institutions were interested in buying the manuscripts but they were afraid of legal problems. So far as I know they have not been sold. “ There were two Isaiah manuscripts found in the cave. We had one and the Bishop had the other. A portion of the leather of my manuscript had decomposed and a black mass had spread over parts of the scroll, making it difficult to read the manuscripts. This black mass also made it difficult to photograph the manuscripts by the usual process. In Feb ruary, 1949, I took the manuscripts to New York to the Pierpont Morgan Library and had them photographed by the infra-red process. This made it possible to read the writing of the manuscripts. “ In the light of many years of study of ancient Hebrew manuscripts, I am dating these scrolls before the Maccabean period—that is, not later than the second century B.C.” We asked Professor Sukenik whether the finding of the ancient manuscripts of Isaiah disproved the contention of the higher critics that there were two Isaiahs who wrote the book at different periods. He stated that there was absolutely no evidence in the complete scroll of the book of Isaiah that it had been written by more than one author. Professor Sukenik added, “ In fact we know that as far back as the
third century B.C., the book of Isaiah contained the same chapters that we now have in our modern versions.” The manuscripts found in the cave and now in the possession of the Hebrew University include one-third of the book of Isaiah and a number of ancient Hebrew hymns, hitherto un known, and a manuscript which Professor Sukenik has named, “ The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Dark ness.” When we asked Professor Sukenik why it was that the scrolls had been hidden in a cave, he replied, “ There are evidences that those who copied the manuscripts had to leave Palestine and go to Damascus. It was a custom among the ancient Jews never to destroy or throw away books or writings that contained the name of God, but to bury them. These were likely old or disused Biblical books, so they put them in jars in the cave when they left the country.” In conclusion Professor Sukenik said, “ There were two Isaiah manuscripts found in the cave. They were both written in the pure Biblical Hebrew. They are the oldest Biblical scrolls or Bible manuscripts in the world. They are one thousand years older than any Hebrew Biblical manuscripts now extant.” Professor Sukenik told us that he was preparing a publi cation in Hebrew and English about the manuscripts. It will contain a full translation of the Hebrew text, not only of the book of Isaiah, but of religious hymns that were used at that period. This book will probably be obtainable later on from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. We thanked Professor Sukenik most heartily for the most interesting and inspiring information he had given us. And we went our way with hearts full of joy and gratitude to God for giving us this narrative which we feel sure will be a blessing to both Jews and Gentiles in America and other lands.
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A DANGEROUS DAME
By Herbert Lockyer, D.D.
W HO personalized rumor, making it feminine by entitling it “ Dame Rumor” ? If the inference was that the carrying of rumors is more or less associated with the women, the imputation is not true, for men are just as guilty in such matters. Rumor-mon- gering is no respecter of persons. All may be guilty of this character-destroy ing activity. What, exactly, is a rumor? The dic tionary describes it as an uproar or a flying popular report, or a story or re port current without any known au thority for its truth. In the Bible, “ rumor” is used in various ways. The Assyrians were forced back to their own land by a rumor or report they heard (2 Ki. 19:7; Isa. 37:7). By the rumor from the Lord (Jer. 49:14) we can understand tidings from the Lord. Jere miah also uses the word to describe evil tiding (51:46). Ezekiel speaks of “ ru mor upon rumor” (7:26), one dread report following another. Luke tells us that “rumor of Jesus went forth throughout all Judea” (7:17), suggest ing how quickly the news of His mir acle-working power traveled. Predicting the end-time period, Jesus declared that there would be “wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 24:6). Rumors there are aplenty these days. What we have in mind by a “ rumor” is Webster’s last definition. “ A story (or report) current without any known au thority for its truth.” With all such stories or reports we must shun their repetition. Even when we are convinced of their verity, we should carefully weigh the advisability of assisting “ Dame Rumor.” Rumors of a wrong sort have a way of traveling fastest. D. L. Moody once stated that a lie is able to run around the town before truth can get its boots on. Why do we talk about an “ idle” rumor? Who ever heard of a rumor’s being idle? It is the fastest moving, and most overworked thing in the world. Rumors fly when we sleep. They work the round of the clock, never take a vacation, do big business when other businesses are slack. Factories may be forced to close down, but rumors always move along the assembly line. Money may be scarce, but rumors are always plentiful. They never know a depression. By rumors, then, we understand many reports that come to us of which we have no credible confirmation. All the proof we have is, “ So and so told me.” Too often we repeat what we heard without due investigation and in repe tition and thus slay many an innocent Page Ten
character. Alas, too often there is little protection against irresponsible rumors! In tense times like these, when both nations and men are exposed to fright ening reports, an ill-founded rumor can touch off a chain of tragic events. To speed the flight of an unconfirmed report is a despicable thing, and an act a Christian should shun, even as he would the devil. To repeat, even inno cently, an unverified rumor is a perni cious practice. Not only so, but when “we repeat any report about any person or any public problem without knowing what we say is so, we become partly responsible for the consequences.” Unconfirmed rumors, if repeated, be come the most destructive force this side of hell. The tragedy is that once they pass from us to others, they can never be recalled. Like a pebble thrown into a pond, an irresponsible rumor cre ates ever-expanding circles. Idle rumor! What a misnomer! Why, rumors may cause people to shuttle be tween panic and despair; result in wars; ruin innocent characters; lead friend to forsake friend; crush careers; wreck marriages; break up homes! Reports repeated by people who only know that “ someone” said it was so, may be the very emissaries of Satan. Here is a case in point that can be vouched for: once a Christian received a wholly untrue report about another Christian. Instead of verifying what he heard by asking the one being talked about, he went to this one and the other with the false rumor, until ultimately the one talked about found himself greatly handicapped in his witness. How sad it is when the devil succeeds in using believers to do his dirty work! We know that under the law a person is reckoned innocent until he is proved guilty. Rumors, however, can nullify justice, seeing they can persuade public opinion to accuse a man even without the customary evidence of guilt. Even if a man can acquit himself by conclusive evidence, rumor still finds him guilty in the minds of many. Once a woman continually gossiped about her pastor. As a result, his min istry was being attacked and his testi mony questioned. This pastor went to this gossip and asked, “Will you get a bag of feathers?” She did wondering at its meaning. She was then told by the pastor to let the feathers loose in the wind. Of course, they went in all direc tions. Then the pastor who had been injured by false statements bade her, “ Go, pick up all the feathers.” “ Oh, that
would be impossible!” exclaimed the woman. “Neither can you bring back your idle gossip and unkind remarks which have injured me,” said he. The tragedy of circulated, irrespon sible rumors is that the damage they cause is hard to repair. Impressions, created by false accusations are not easily erased after they have reached the ears of others. Of course, when the rumor-monger discovers he was wrong, he may apologize for hurt feelings, but apologies can never recall the false rumor. Being sorry will not cancel the mischief caused. An unqualified denial will never obliterate the damage done. Loose talk cannot be recalled. Read very carefully what James has to say about the power of the tongue in James. When what we are tempted to repeat, touches the character or affects the future of another, what extreme caution we should exhibit, even in casual con versation. It is not in vain that the Bible has a good deal to say about tale bearing. Before your lips convey a story, look over these verses in God’s Word, remembering that the talebearer de scribed is a whisperer or slanderer. To His people of old, God said, “ Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people” (Lev. 19:16). “ A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” Prov. 11:13). Think of this warning—“ The words of a talebearer are as wounds, but they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Prov. 18:8; 26:22). Again, “ Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceas- eth” (Prov. 26:20). There was once an old savage custom of cutting out the tongues of people who talked too loosely. When we see how disaster can follow in the train of a rumor, we wonder whether we could not invent some less drastic method of dealing with rumor - carriers. There ought to be some kind of a law to deal with those who let their tongues wag in a destructive way. Purveyors of loose talk deserve to be dealt with firmly. One must be careful even about repeating the truth. There are three gates through which we must pass anything we hear before repeating a story: Is it true? Is it neces sary? Is it kind? First, Is it true? Be sure you leave no stone unturned to find out whether a report is true. It will never do to say, “ I heard someone say it.” You must find out its correctness or falsity. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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