> ....nALL NEWS IS GOOD THAT REVEALS THE HAND OF GO �
DGZ 
Our racial pride was faithfully dealt with 
a few days ago by the director in Aus-
tralia of the Chinese ministry for informa-
tion, Professor Chau, at a luncheon ar-
ranged by the Federal Institute of Ac-
countants. "I do not think the East has 
profited very much from a century of con-
tact with the West, which came with a 
gun in one hand and a Bible in the 
other," the professor said. "The Japanese 
became more interested in the gun than 
in the Bible. . . . The race prejudice 
shown by most Western nations is very 
similar to what Hitler has been preaching 
for years. . . . The West can learn from 
the social conduct of the East, its loyalty 
to country, its filial piety, and its readi-
ness to trust. We might overdo it regard-
ing filial piety, but I do not think so 
when I look around your cities and see 
aged and widowed people living in board-
ing houses and apartments, often in 
meager circumstances, while their chil-
dren flourish in the same town." Chris-
tian Century. 
"God is no respecter of persons." Acts 
10:34. 
Reconversion is the big word now—chang-
ing the world and every thing and per-
son in it from war thinking and tempo 
to peaceful pursuits. Already, too soon 
for the thorough termination of the war, 
there is a great breaking away toward 
unhampered civilian life. This is quite 
in contrast with the situation at the 
close of the last war, when the end came 
suddenly and all unprepared for. There 
is still total war ahead—and after that is 
over, total work to temper the excess of 
joy. The peace we want cannot come 
on a V-day. 
"Peace, then, and the building up of 
each other, these are what we must aim 
at." Romans 14: 19, Moffatt. 
The earthquake that shook eastern Can-
ada early in September caused sufficient 
scares and did sufficient damage to re-
mind us sharply that, whereas at the 
turn of the century these temblors oc-
curred on the average of one in fifty 
years, now they average every four years. 
Christ was just as right in what He said 
in the sermon on the Mount of Olives, 
recorded in Matthew 24, as He was in 
His sermon on the Mount of Blessing, as 
recorded in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. And 
He said on Olives that He is coming 
again, and that earthquakes will be a 
sign that His coming is near. Since earth- 
quakes have occurred from time imme-
morial, there would be no sense in what 
He said unless in these times earthquakes 
were more frequent, more widespread 
or more destructive. And they are. May 
earthquakes not only give us a scare, but 
make us aware and cause us to prepare. 
"What shall be the sign of Thy com-
ing, and of the end of the world? . . . 
There shall be famines, and pestilences, 
and earthquakes in divers places." Mat-
thew 24:3, 7. 
Insect pests are on an alarming increase. 
The war may stop, but the fight be-
tween man and insects will continue. 
For human survival, the spray is the or-
der of the day. As old pests increase and 
fresh pests attack, new methods are dis-
covered and invented to exterminate 
them. Yet we would meet tragedy if all 
were exterminated; for all of them are 
benevolent to a degree, if for no other 
reason than that one consumes another. 
Wherein they plague us, they are mis-
chievous rather than predatory. As dirt 
is said to be matter out of place, so in-
sect pests are insects eating the wrong 
thing. The best cure for pests is redirec-
tion of their activities. But by whom and 
how are they to be redirected? The fol-
lowing text suggests the cause and cure: 
"Thou shalt.carry much seed out into 
the field, and shalt gather but little in; 
for the locust shall consume it. Thou 
shalt plant vineyards, . . . the worms 
shall eat them . . . because thou heark-
enedest not unto the voice of the Lord 
thy God, to keep His commandments." 
Deuteronomy 28:38, 39, 45. 
The Victoria Cross, highest military award 
in the British Empire, has been given to 
five Canadians so far in this war. Men of 
British Columbia have won four of these 
medals. One of these heroes of the far 
west made a worthy observation on do-
nating some blood for his wounded com-
rades. He said, "Each man donating 
blood was given a pint of beer. It was 
good Canadian beer, so the men figured 
they had made a good trade. Being a 
teetotaler, I didn't get anything out of 
the deal, but I hope the blood will be 
used to good advantage." He was mis-
taken, for he got much more out of the 
deal than the beer drinkers. And his 
stand makes him all the more worthy of 
the Victoria Cross. 
"They are out of the way through 
strong drink; they err in vision, they 
stumble in judgment." Isaiah 28:7. 
A supergrain is about to be developed in 
Russia. The Soviet's famous plant wiz-
ard, Nikolay Tsitsin, has to his credit a 
new annual wheat yielding 144 bushels 
per acre, and a cross between rye and 
wheat that will grow almost anywhere. 
Also he has grafted beans on willows and 
tomatoes on fruit trees. Lately he has 
developed a self-sowing wheat. It grows in 
all seasons, two crops a year, is drought-
and rust-proof, pollenizes itself, and has 
6o per cent gluten. Experimental yields, 
68 bushels a year per acre. Its chief de-
fects, which this wonder-worker is sure he 
can eliminate, are that it bears wrinkled 
grain, is hard to mill, and is not as frost-
proof as desired. The success already at-
tained in these experiments promises to 
revolutionize the food-grain production 
of the world. 
"God causeth the grass to grow for the 
cattle, and herb for the service of man: 
that He may bring forth food out of the 
earth, . . . and bread which strengtheneth 
man's heart." Psalm 104:14, 15. 
The R. A. F. cooks 
build an ingenious 
chimney of gaso-
line cans, which 
carries the smoke 
from the field kit-
chen into the near-
by trees. 
I 
411 
• 
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Vol. XXIV �
Editor, ROBERT BRUCE THURBER �
NOVEMBER, 1944 �
No. 11 
• Published monthly, except in the tn,nth of May, when two numbers are issued, by the Signs of the Times Publishing Association, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. 
Entered as second-class matter at the Post Office, Oshawa, Ontario, January, 1921. Subscription Rates: Single yearly subscription, $1.00; six months' trial sub-
scription, 60 cents: single copy, 10 cents. • Change of Address: Please give both old and new addresses. Expiration: Unless renewed in advance, the magazine 
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having subscribed may feel perfectly free to accept it. • Printed by Maracle Printing Company, Oshawa, Ontario. 
2 �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
A LEAF OF FULFILLED PROPHECY 
"THIS IS THAT WHICH 
WAS SPOKEN BY 
THE PROPHET" 
Some of the many thousands of Italians who heard Pope Pius XII address the nation 
from St. Peter's balcony, Rome, following the liberation of the city. 
be worked out for the end of the war to 
come in 1946. 
The truth is that the originator of this 
forecast had a wishful thought that the 
war will soon end—which wish we all 
share—and beginning there it was easy 
to concoct a system of numbers and 
letters that would fulfill his dream, and 
give to the whole an appearance of re-
markable foresight—if the war had ended 
Sept. 7. 
Peter, one of the Bible prophets, in- 
spired by the only One who can predict 
events, says of such prophecies: "We have 
not followed cunningly devised fables 
when we made known unto you the 
power and coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." And He goes on to say that he 
and James and John had the evidence of 
all their senses when they saw Christ 
transfigured on the mount—which was a 
type of His glorification at His second 
coming—but even such evidence was not 
as certain as the "sure word of prophecy." 
II Peter 1:16-21. 
Peter continues concerning divine pro-
phecy, "Whereunto you do well that ye 
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in 
a dark place, until the day dawn, and the 
day star arise in your hearts. Knowing 
this first, that no prophecy of the scrip-
ture is of any private interpretation. For 
the prophecy came not in old time by 
the will of man; but holy men of God 
Prophetic Fables 
A friend sends us what appears to be a 
remarkable forecast of the time of the end 
of the present war; and informs us that 
it was being proclaimed with all sincerity 
in certain sections. 
This prophecy takes the names of the 
world leaders in this global conflict—
Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt, Ii Duce, 
Stalin, and Tojo—and makes the name 
Christ from the initial letters. This no 
doubt to give the prediction a religious 
aspect; though why Christ should be 
• 
evolved from a mixture like that we can- 
not tell. Unless, maybe it means that 
whereas men have failed to weld hu-
man beings into a world power and world 
peace, Christ will accomplish the same 
end by using similar human beings who 
have been transformed by His saving 
grace. 
Then this would-be prophet sets down 
the year of birth, the age, the year of 
assuming office, and the period of years 
served, of each of these men, adds the 
figures, and behold each sum is 3,888! 
He divides this sum by two, and gets 1944. 
Mystifying! Then he further divides by 
two, and gets 972. Spreading this num-
ber into its three figures, g - 7 - 2, he 
comes to a grand conclusion: The war 
will end in 1944, in the ninth month, the 
seventh day of the month, and the sec- 
► 
and hour of the day; namely, Septem-
ber 7, 1944, at 2:0o A.M. Wonderful! 
Marvellous! 
Now let us take some of the wonder 
and marvel out of it. If you take the 
date of any living person's birth, and add 
his age to it, of course you get the pres-
ent date, 1944. And if you take the be- 
• 
ginning date of any period which is not 
yet ended in the life of any living person, 
and add to it the number of years of that 
period, which have passed so far, you 
are sure to get 1944. And the two sums 
added together equal 3,888. 
To illustrate: Toby Nitwit was born in 
1930. Add to this his present age (14), 
the date when he started to school (1936) 
and the number of years he has been in 
school (8), and the sum is 3,888. So every 
one in the world has this 3,888 in his life. 
We are sorely tempted to try our hand 
at this same game and get Satan into the 
initial letters of famous generals or cru-
cial battles, and announce a date for the 
continuance of the war—but we desist. 
Other fallacies: In order to bring Christ 
into it, the names of these leaders are 
given, except Mussolini whose title is 
• 
given. Why this switch? Why divide by 
two, rather than by some other number? 
'Two years hence the same scheme could 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." 
The Word of God warns us against 
time prophecies and date-setting in these 
times. Of the one great event, the second 
coming of Christ, we are told, "Of that 
day and hour knoweth no man, no, not 
the angels of heaven, but my Father only." 
Matthew 24:36. 
On the other hand, we are warned 
against "false prophets" who "shall show 
great signs and wonders." Matthew 24:24. 
And the only wonder about them is that 
they are "cunningly devised." 
However, let not this fact blind our 
eyes to the truth that we may know that 
the end is coming soon, and is now "even 
at the doors." Matthew 24:33. 
111. 
Religious Teaching in 
Public Schools 
On a recent Dominion pole of opinion, 
the following question was asked, "Do 
you think all public schools should offer 
a course in religion, or do you think 
they should leave the subject to the 
churches?" The returns showed that 
fifty per cent approved of teaching re-
ligion in public schools, forty-one per 
cent disapproved, and nine per cent were 
noncommittal. Quebec gave seventy per 
3 
Refugees in liberated France are fed by British soldiers. 
Beginning the new peat industry on Lulu Island, B.C. 
cent approval. In the Martime provinces 
and British Columbia the majority was 
for religious teaching only in churches. 
However, in British Columbia public 
schools, beginning this year, the reading 
of selected passages of Scripture will be 
compulsory, with no comment by the 
teacher. Conscientious objectors may 
leave the classroom during the reading. 
Highly in favour of the Bible being 
read to children, we believe it safer to 
confine it to the home and the church. 
Complaint is made that in such a case 
half the children of the country will not 
get such instruction. A pitiable admis-
sion! Then let us concentrate on the 
churches and the homes, rather than the 
schools; not by law, but by persuasion. 
As a newspaper editor recently wrote 
on this question: "The drive to place re-
ligious education in the public schools 
is, whether the advocates admit it or not, 
a drive to increase church power in secu-
lar affairs, something that has as its ulti-
mate objective the consolidation of 
church and state. Fortunately the dif-
ferent denominations do not agree and 
this is the most effective barrier to such a 
development. 
"Advocates of religious instruction in 
the public schools speak of teaching the 
Bible. They do not specify which Bible, 
the Catholic, Protestant, or the Jewish 
Talmud or other Bibles or religious books 
followed by various religious denomina-
tions, or sects. . . . 
"To take a stand on the question of re-
ligious education in the public schools 
is not to take a stand either for or against 
religion. It is to take a stand on the 
question of religious liberty, freedom of 
conscience. We believe that religious 
education in the public schools would, in 
the end, destroy religious liberty and so 
tend to destroy all liberty. And liberty 
is what we are fighting for in the greatest 
war in history." 
I& 
A Forty-Dollar Guarantee 
The Archbishop of Winnipeg, under 
date of March 1, 1944, sent a letter to the 
"Catholic parents" in his bishopric, urg-
ing them to enroll their sons who are in 
the armed services, in a certain Society. 
The fee is $40.00. Wrote the churchman, 
"What better guarantee for any boy ex-
posed to all the hazards of war! A guaran-
tee, should he be killed, that he will go 
at once to his Maker, to be with Him for 
all eternity." 
"Shades of Fetzel," went the cry 
throughout the country, "has the Catholic 
Church returned to the sale of indulg-
ences?" What other interpretation could 
be placed on such a letter? 
True, the archbishop, in a later letter 
to a newspaperman, tried to place some 
other interpretation upon it. He is 
quoted as explaining, "I did not say that 
$40 would insure salvation, any more 
than $40,000 would. I said, 'what better 
guarantee,' in the sense that, if there be 
a guarantee (which there is not) what 
better title to God's mercy," etc. 
We accept the explanation for what it 
is worth; but the fact remains that the im-
pression was conveyed in the letter to 
parents that there is such a guarantee by 
the Church, on the payment of $40.00. 
The pertinent question has been asked, 
"How far would he have gotten in his 
membership drive if he had incorporated 
the explanation into the original letter to 
parents?" 
No doubt, in official pronouncements, 
the Roman Catholic Church has not per-
mitted or encouraged the "sale of in-
dulgences" for past or future sins. But 
the practice ha? often cropped up. 
Did the good archbishop slip? We are 
sorry. But the Catholic Church should 
make it plainer than ever that it does not 
favour buying one's way into heaven. 
"Whosoever will, let him take the water 
of life freely." Revelation 22:17. 
A Council of Churches 
for Canada 
A "Canadian Council of Churches" has 
been formed by seven church bodies unit-
ing— the Church of England in Canada, 
the United Baptist Convention of the 
Maritime Provinces, the United Church 
of Canada, the Presbyterian Church in 
Canada, the Baptist Convention of On-
tario and Quebec, the Canadian Confer-
ence of the Evangelical Church, and the 
Churches of Christ (Disciples) of Canada. 
Each denomination is to hold the presi-
dency for two years, with the Anglican 
body having first turn. 
We have no doubt that such a Council 
may do great good in presenting a united 
front against crying evils such as intemp-
erance, juvenile delinquency, social im-
morality, etc., but the power wielded by 
a great aggregation of churches is also 
fraught with danger. The churches are 
prone to use the potential political in-
fluence which their members may exert 
at the ballot box, to bring pressure to 
bear on the Government for the passage 
of purely religious laws, a function out-
side the prerogative of civil rulers. 
If the officers of the Canadian Council 
of Churches would laugh at our fears in 
this regard as groundless, and would 
maintain that they have no such inten-
tion, let them prove it by petitioning the 
Government of Canada to repeal its Sun-
day Law. It is a strictly religious law, is 
fostered by religious prejudice alone. and 
is unjust to those who keep some other 
day than Sunday. Religious liberty should 
be applied universally. 
4 
4 �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
Should CHRISTIANS 
PROTEST a 
MONDAY 
LAW? 
By 0. B. Gerhart 
• 
• 
P
ROBABLY this sounds like a purely 
hypothetical question. On the con-
trary, it is a practical one that all Chris-
tendom will have to answer when the na-
tions gather around the peace table once 
more, if the Calendar reformers have 
their way. 
Earlier this year press dispatches in-
formed the public that those primarily in-
terested in the new calendar were bending 
all their efforts "to get the World Calen-
dar adopted on Saturday, December 3o, 
1944." Whether this new time reckoning 
is accepted that soon or not, the reformers 
seem confident of eventual success and ex-
pect to have it accepted at the peace con-
ference to come. They point to fourteen 
nations who approve their scheme. A 
large number of scientific and educational 
associations, the International Astronom-
ical Union, and many Kiwanis, Lions, 
and Rotarian clubs and Chambers of 
Commerce have passed resolutions of ap-
proval. If the optimism of the World 
Calendar Association is justified, every 
Christian will soon have to answer the 
question raised by the heading of this 
article. 
Before considering this question, it 
should he explained how this new calen-
dar contrives to introduce a Monday law, 
while abolishing the law that now en-
courages the observance of Sunday. This 
new time reckoning is like our present 
calendar insofar as the number of months 
and days are concerned. But for business 
reasons (the repetition of which would 
carry us too far afield here), it reckons 
only 364 days in its weeks. The last day 
of the year is not reckoned as any day of 
the week at all. 
Under the present calendar, December 
31 will fall on a Sunday this year. But it 
would not if the new calendar were intro-
duced December 30. Under that calendar 
millions of churchgoers would go to bed 
Saturday night, December 3o, and for the 
first time in their lives they would awaken 
the next morning to find that it is not 
Sunday. The friends of the new calendar 
would doubtless have coined some pleas-
ing name for this blank day, but it would 
not be Sunday. 
Nor would this be all. After the novel 
experience of awakening on a Sunday 
NOVEMBER, 19 4 4 
The world is serious-
ly considering a 
change in the meas-
urement of time that 
has existed since 
long before the 
building of the 
Sphinx. 
morning and finding that it is not Sun-
day, they would arise the day after to 
find that it is not Monday either, for that 
would be New Year's morning, and the 
reformed calendar begins every new year 
with a Sunday. Thus Monday would 
be called Sunday throughout next year, 
and the Lord's Day Act of Canada that 
encourages Sunday observance would be 
thereby encouraging Monday observance 
throughout 1945, since every Monday of 
that year would be termed "Sunday", the 
"Monday" of that calendar being our 
present Tuesday, and so on. 
This all means that the day of Christ's 
resurrection, the first day of the true 
week, would bear the name "Saturday", 
thus obliging all who observe Sunday in 
honour of Christ's resurrection to become 
Saturday keepers through 1945. Likewise 
those who observe the seventh day of the 
true week, in obedience to the letter of 
the fourth commandment, would become 
observers of Friday, inasmuch as the 
present Saturday would then be chris-
tened "Friday". This arrangement would 
immediately bring the seventh-day ob-
servers into conflict with the school laws, 
since they of course could not conscien-
tiously send their children to secular 
schools on a day they consider holy. And 
their plight would be shared by the con-
scientious first-day observers as well in 
1946, for the blank-day principle of this 
new calendar would operate December 
31,1945, just as it would on that date 
this year, and once more the true seven-
day week would fall back one day, and 
then every conscientious observer of the 
day of the Lord's resurrection would find 
himself observing "Friday" just as the 
seventh-day observers had to do the year 
before. 
But what about the churches? Would 
they tolerate such a calendar? Judging 
from editorials and press reports, it would 
appear that the great majority of Chris-
tian organizations would not only toler-
ate but welcome this reform. Under the 
headline: "Churches Agree on New Cal-
endar" the Winnipeg Free Press re-
ported: "With the exception of a few 
minor Sabbatarian sects, such as Seventh-
day Adventists, the Protestant and ortho-
dox world is now in complete calendar 
reform agreement. While it has not yet 
officially spoken, the Roman Catholic 
church is represented as looking on the re-
form without disfavour." Some years ago 
when this question of calendar reform 
was being agitated, a news journal re-
ported a questionnaire sent out by the 
United Press to a number of clergymen, 
declaring that "opinions were sought 
from 1,178 ministers, including leaders of 
fifteen Protestant denominations. They 
5 
favoured general reform of the calendar 
by a vote of nine to one." 
Scenting propaganda in such reports, 
the writer interviewed forty leading 
clergymen of eight denominations in one 
of Canada's largest cities. Personal inter-
views revealed but four favouring such re-
form, whereas nineteen signed a petition 
protesting it. The remaining seventeen 
were indifferent or (in a few cases) 
simply non-committal. 
But lest an overly optimistic impression 
obtain concerning the depth of protest 
that this revealed, let a few of the posi-
tions taken be quoted: 
"I am not a legalist. I could keep Sat-
urday, Monday, or any day. But because 
of the confusion this calendar might 
bring, I will sign the petition."—Baptist. 
"If this new calendar is adopted over 
our protest, we can go no farther than 
protest."—Mennonite. 
"Protestantism has departed from 
'Scripture only' as a platform. In fact, we 
know that particularly the Old Testa-
ment is not reliable on some matters. I 
would protest this new calendar on the 
tradition that Sunday has always been the 
first day of the week. I would not like to 
see that changed."—Presbyterian. 
"I am more interested in seeing Chris-
tians keep the same day than I am in 
what day is kept. The man in the street 
sees some keeping Sunday and others, 
Saturday, so he concludes it can't make 
much difference. So he pays no attention 
to our Sunday laws."—United Church. 
"Sunday is only a man-made day; and 
a law made by the church can be changed 
by the church."—Baptist. 
"The church changed the day of rest 
once; so I guess they could change it 
again, could they not?"—Salvation Army 
Official. 
If these statements are indicative of the 
position that clergymen in general take, 
then the churches are ready to fall into 
6 
step with a calendar that makes com-
mon the day of the resurrection and sets 
up another day in its place. 
The reasoning employed by nearly all 
of the ministers interviewed, seems well 
summed up by the last two quoted. If 
the church changed the day of rest to Sun-
day in apostolic times, why should she 
not to-day have the right to change it 
again, if law or convenience should so 
dictate? Before proceeding to settle the 
Christian status of a Monday law, there-
fore, we should examine this claim. 
"What day of our week corresponds to 
the Jewish Sabbath?" 
"Saturday." 
"What day of the week do zve sanctify?" 
"Sunday, the first day." 
"Why?" 
"Because on that day our Saviour rose 
from the dead." 
"Is there any command in the New Testa- 
ment for the observance of the first day 
of the week as a day of rest?" 
"No; we observe it on the authority of 
the Church." — The Church Teacher's 
The God who set the 
stars in their courses 
instituted the week at 
creation, and it has 
remained unaltered to 
the present day. 
Manual by M. F. Sadler, Tenth Edition, 
page 216. 
Thus do catechisms in general state 
the authority for Sunday observance. 
And it is rather generally agreed that it 
was the ancient apostolic church that in-
troduced this change in Sabbath keeping. 
This understanding explains at once the 
willingness of many church-men to accept 
a calendar that might call Monday Sun-
day next year were the nations to as-
semble at the peace table early enough to 
meet the hopes of the Calendar reformers. 
For, as one clergyman expressed it, "Sun-
day is only a church-made day; and a 
law made by the church can be changed 
by the church." 
This must be admitted as good logic. 
If the Church were empowered to alter 
the Sabbath once, why should it not to-
day have like power? If St. Paul nine-
teen hundred years ago could in all good 
conscience have observed the first day of 
the week in place of the day God once 
sanctified, could he not in 1945 then ob-
serve the second day of the week instead 
of the day the Church once sanctified? 
But many Christians who now observe 
Sunday are reluctant to admit this con- 
clusion, logical though it is. To their 
minds it smacks of sacrilege to endorse a 
calendar that makes common the day of 
their Lord's resurrection and elevates to 
its place a common working day. They 
cannot bring themselves to admit that 
the great apostle to the Gentiles would 
observe the Sunday that this new calen-
dar would introduce. They find them-
selves in much the same position as the 
small boy who, supposing that only birds 
laid eggs, one day learned that turtles 
also follow that custom. Faced with the 
necessity of admitting turtles to the bird 
family or of revising his understanding 
about the source of eggs, he wisely chose 
the latter. 
Whenever a logical conclusion produces 
an illogical situation, reasoning crea-
tures revise the basic premise from which 
that situation sprang. Thus the Chris-
tian who cannot picture the early apostles 
treating the day of Christ's resurrection 
as common in deference to another day. 
is driven by this calendar agitation to 
question the basic premise that the apos-
tolic Church changed the day in the first 
place. 
Let us examine then, St. Paul's posi-
tion on Sunday observance. If he ob-
served the day, on what authority did he 
do so? In all his writings, the apostle 
mentions Sunday but once (1 Cor. i6:2), 
and then by no holy title such as "Sab-
bath" or "Lord's Day", but simply as the 
first day of the week. Nor does the coun-
sel tendered in this solitary reference sug-
gest any practice that could not be fol-
lowed by an observer of either the seventh 
day or the first. "Upon the first day of 
the week let every one of you lay by 
him in store, as God hath prospered him." 
Or, as Weymouth translates it: "On the 
first day of every• week let each of you put 
on one side and store up at his home 
whatever gain has been granted to him." 
So Paul's only reference to Sunday deals 
with a business matter to be carried out 
by each Christian "at his home". 
But when we turn to the record of 
Paul's practice, this question takes an un-
expected turn. Speaking to Jewish 
hearers of his conduct, this man of God 
declared, "I have committed nothing 
against the people, or customs of our 
fathers." Acts 28:17. This statement 
would obviously have been false, had the 
apostle desecrated the seventh day ob-
served by the Jews and kept another day 
in its stead. Thus it becomes apparent 
that Paul was not a Sunday-keeper at 
all, but rather a Sabbath observer. 
This explains the incident recorded in 
Acts 13:42 which states that "when the 
Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the 
Gentiles besought that these words might 
be preached to them the next Sabbath." 
This would have been a strange request 
if Paul were in the habit of holding first-
day services for non-Jewish audiences; for 
would not these Gentiles have requested 
this sermon for the morrow then, instead 
of "the next sabbath"? And if it be as-
sumed that these Gentiles were unac-
quainted with the apostle's supposed cus-
tom of Sunday services, would he not 
then have acquainted them with that 
practice and issued an invitation for a 
first-day gathering? But the record states, 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
4 
POWER 
1S WHAT 
WE NEED 
By 
Herbert R. 
Thurber 
"The next Sabbath day came almost the 
whole city together to hear the word of 
God." Acts 13:44. This is just what one 
would expect if Paul were a Sabbath ob-
server, however. 
In perfect harmony with these observa-
tions is the New Testament record of 
eighty-five religious services conducted by 
Paul on the Sabbath in every case save 
one. (See Acts 13:14, 16, 44; 16: 13; 17:2; 
18:4, it; 20:7.) The one exception was a 
first-day service of a nature that a Sab-
bath-keeper would be as likely to conduct 
as a Sunday-keeper, for, says the record, 
"Paul preached unto them, ready to de-
part on the morrow." (Acts 20:7.) Now if 
a farewell service held on Sunday argues 
for the sacredness of that day, as some 
contend, then eighty-four regular services 
conducted on the Sabbath must indicate a 
many-fold greater sanctity for the seventh 
day. 
And, again, the passing mention that 
New Testament writers make of the Sab-
bath is the treatment any writer would 
give to a commonly practised, uncontro-
verted doctrine. But in contrast to his 
treatment of the Sabbath commandment, 
is Paul's emphasis on the commandments 
forbidding adultery, theft, false witness, 
covetousness and other wrongs against 
fellow-men. (See Romans 13:9; 1 Cor. 
6:9, 10.) Paul declares there were pro-
fessed Christians in his day breaking 
these commandments (see I Cor. 5:1, 9-11; 
6:6-10), but none of the apostles record 
any instance of Sabbath-breaking. Yet 
when God's professed followers did trans-
gress the Sabbath command, we find that 
command emphasized as much as any of 
the other nine. (See Ex. 16:27-29; Neh. 
13:15-18; Jer. 17:21-27.) 
We find Paul paying considerable at-
tention to matters of controversy be-
tween Jews and Christians. The apostles 
pointed out that the Mosaic law of cir-
cumcision was not intended by God to be 
of universal obligation (see Acts 15:22-24, 
28) and Paul referred to this controversial 
topic twenty-seven times in his writings. 
Furthermore, we find him referring to 
those annual holy days and sabbaths 
(see Lev. 23:24, 27, 32, 39, etc.) which 
were a "shadow of things to come" (Col. 
2:16, 17) as a source of contention be-
tween Jews and Christians, and advising 
leeway of conscience among believers con- • 
cerning such days. (Rom. 14:5, 6.) Yet 
Paul, together with the other apostolic 
writers, fails to mention any disagree-
ment with the Jews over the observance 
of that historic weekly Sabbath,—the 
seventh day. Why should Paul who refers 
so frequently to controversial matters of 
his day, omit this Sabbath-versus-Sunday 
controversy? The answer must be ob-
vious: there was no such controversy in 
apostolic times. 
The modern gospel that elevates church 
authority above God's law had no place 
in Paul's gospel. And he bound himself 
to abide for all time by the doctrines he 
then taught, for he wrote, "But though 
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any 
other gospel unto you than that which 
we have preached unto you, let him be 
accursed." Gal. 1:8. 
Since Paul regarded as holy that 
seventh day of the week which God in 
the beginning blessed and commanded 
men to keep, we can know his position on 
a calendar that would lose that day. And 
if Paul and the apostles would protest, 
should not all Christians do likewise? 
41- ITTLE girl, don't ever do that 
L again!" 
The command was given by a fright-
ened motorist to a scared little girl who 
had darted across the road in front of 
his tire-screeching automobile. The pave-
ment was not slippery, but the motorist 
had been driving above moderate speed 
when the child heedlessly ran across the 
road in front of it, and fell headlong in 
its path. 
As I sat in a parked car near the scene 
of this near-accident, I saw the child 
wildly dodge the moving car as it bore 
down upon her, slip and fall, and look 
terrified at the wheels that came within 
a few inches of crushing her frail body. 
She was not hurt, and was up in a flash. 
The shaken driver drove away, but 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
shouted back, "Little girl, don't ever do 
that again!" 
Sound advice! The "little girl" would 
be wise to follow it. Never run in front of 
a moving automobile. But this girl did 
it unthinkingly. Yes, that is why many 
accidents happen. This experience might 
have been more costly than it was. It 
ended with only a fright for participants 
and onlookers. 
After my heart had slowed up a bit, 
and I had thanked God for this averted 
tragedy, there kept ringing in my ears the 
words, "Don't ever do that again." The 
warning repeats itself now, "Don't ever 
do that again." 
There are too many repetitions of mis-
takes. This is the sad picture of human 
history—repeating again and again the 
mistakes of yesterday. We have been 
counselled against it. But many of the 
evils of the world are not committed be-
cause we do not know better. 
World leaders to-day are not alarmed 
at what we have not been able to discover 
and develop. It is what we are doing 
with the discoveries and knowledge 
we have that is deplorable. We will con-
tinue to make the mistakes of the past 
if we do not have the desire to do better, 
and the power to' practise our good in-
tentions. 
There must be a change in our bung-
ling, stumbling, forgetfulness if ever there 
is going to be the unspotted future the 
world is trying to make for itself and 
which the Christian is co-operating with 
God to make for it. And herein lies the 
difference between the success for which 
all hope, or the failure we all seek to 
avoid. The knowledge of good is present, 
but the desire and power to do it is not. 
Where, then, originates the desire to do 
right? If it is from fear of punishment 
when we do wrong, we do not do right be-
cause we desire it. If we do right through 
pride, or for social reasons, our righteous-
ness is not from desire but rather from 
shame, embarrassment, or desire for so-
cial prestige. The will to do good comes 
from some other source than us. That 
source is not human; it is divine. 
"As it is written, There is none right-
eous, no, not one: There is none that un-
derstandeth, there is none that seeketh 
after God. They are all gone out of the 
way, they are together become unprofit-
able: there is none that doeth good, no, 
not one." Romans 3:10-12. This is what 
God says of our natural desires. The fol-
lowing is what He promises to do for us. 
"Despisest thou the riches of His good-
ness and forbearance and longsuffering; 
not knowing that the goodness of God 
leadeth thee to repentance?" Romans 2:4. 
Let us note the steps to Christian living: 
First, God tells us what is wrong with us. 
Then He leads us to repent of the wrong. 
7 
God leads us to repent. We repent. He 
cannot do this for us. Then we find our-
selves doing wrong again. We repent 
again. God forgives again. But this can-
not go on indefinitely, else what would 
be the difference between the man who 
sinned and repented and the man who 
sinned but did not repent? It is true the 
latter has no desire to change. It is also 
true the former has no power to change. 
The man with no power to change will 
soon lose his desire to do so. Hence there 
must be another step: a step that keeps 
us from repeating wrong. There must 
be something more. Because thousands 
of well-meaning people fail here is 
no proof Christianity has failed. It is the 
great sign of this age. We have the "form 
of Godliness, but deny the power there-
of." 
This something more which we need to 
keep us moving heavenward is not neces-
sarily something different. It is merely 
some more of the same thing that started 
us toward God. Since it is the goodness 
of God that led us to repent, it is the 
goodness of God that will give us power 
over sin. We sing it to these words: 
"More about Jesus I would know, 
More of His love to others show; 
More of His saving fullness see, 
More of His love who died for me." 
Suppose it took only one more pull to 
extricate a friend from the debris of a 
bombed building. Would we stop pull-
ing? Suppose it took only a few more 
gallons of water to quench the fire burn-
ing our home. Would we turn off the 
water? Suppose it meant eternal life for 
us to keep in touch with God's power. 
Would we cut off the power? If you 
need more of what you have been getting, 
and you know the supply is endless, you 
know also how to get it: success is yours 
if you don't stop receiving it! Attach to 
it any appellation you choose—sanctifica-
tion, growing-in-grace, good-Christian-ex-
perience—it is the continual manifesta-
tion of the power of God that protects us 
from falling. 
It is expressed by the Apostle Paul in 
II Corinthians 13:4: "For we also are weak 
in Him, but we shall live with Him by 
the power of God." Peter says it in these 
words, "[We] are kept by the power of 
God through faith unto salvation ready to 
be revealed in the last time." (I Peter 
1:0 It has also been expressed like this; 
"The plants and flowers grow not by their 
own care or anxiety or effort, but by re-
ceiving that which God has furnished to 
minister to their life. The child can not, 
by any anxiety or power of its own, add 
to its stature. No more can you, by anx-
iety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual 
growth. The plant, the child, grows by 
receiving from its surroundings that 
which ministers to its life,—air, sunshine, 
and food. What these gifts of nature are 
to animal and plant. such is Christ to 
those who trust in Him." 
Fellow Christian, it is possible for you 
to be free from sin's slavery. As this is 
fulfilled in your life, God's counsel which 
says, Don't do this wrong, will change to 
a description of you, He does not do that 
evil. When this can be said of all who 
are to be saved, Jesus will come, and 
Heaven will be consummated. 
8 
GLORY 
I
T IS the hour of the evening sacrifice 
in the beautiful temple at Jerusalem. 
The priests are busily engaged in their 
various appointed tasks in different parts 
of the temple. The sacrificial lamb has 
been brought to be slain for the evening 
offering. Standing by the altar in his 
significant and beautiful dress the priest, 
as Abraham of old, lifts his knife to slay 
the little lamb. 
But, as the people look on, a strange 
thing happens. The earth trembles and 
quakes. And, as the onlookers gaze in 
amazement upon the temple they are 
horrified to behold the inner veil torn 
from top to bottom by an unseen hand. 
For the first time the multitude is allowed 
to look upon a place once filled with the 
presence of God. No one but the High 
Priest was ever permitted to go beyond 
the veil into the Most Holy Place of the 
sanctuary where the Holy Shekinah, the 
visible presence of God, had once filled 
the tabernacle with splendour. But now 
the veil is rent in twain. The Most Holy 
place is no longer sacred. 
Confusion and terror follow. The 
priest. knife uplifted to slay the even-
ing offering, lets the weapon slip from 
his nerveless hand. The little lamb es-
capes. What is the meaning of this re-
markable phenomenon? 
The answer is that just a short distance 
away Jesus Christ. the Lamb of God, that 
afternoon, had given His life as the great 
antitvpical sacrifice for sin. For centuries 
the Jewish priests had been offering the 
sacrifices of their people before the sanc-
tuary as an atonement for sin. As the 
sinner brought his offering he confessed 
his sins upon the head of the lamb, then 
with his own hand he took its life. 
Through this sacrificial system, instituted 
very soon after Adam fell into sin in the 
Garden of Eden, the Lord had been seek-
ing to "preach before the gospel" to those 
generations before the cross. (Gal. 3:8) 
He desired that they should understand 
the two outstanding truths of the gospel—
first, that sin means death, and, secondly, 
that a Saviour has been provided where-
by the sinner may be rescued from his 
hapless plight. His way of teaching the 
people was through the ministration daily 
taking place in "the church in the wilder- 
o~ tie 
ness," as Luke refers to the sanctuary in 
Acts 7:38. 
But now that Christ, the Lamb of 
God, has died upon the cross of Calvary, 
type has met antitype and it is no longer 
needful that little lambs be slain. The 
rending of the veil indicated that the en-
tire sacrificial system had met its fulfill-
ment in the death of Christ. The shadow 
had met the substance, and had there-
fore passed away. 
It was also no longer necessary for the 
high priest to continue his work of minis-
tration in the Most Holy Place. Hence-
forth, Christ, as our new High Priest was 
to commence His work in our behalf in 
the heavenly sanctuary. 
We must ever bear in mind that 
the earthly sanctuary and its service were 
but patterns of the heavenly. Over and 
over Moses had been reminded by God: 
"Look that thou make them after their 
pattern, which was shewed thee in the 
mount." Exodus 25:40. 
The work carried on in the earthly 
tabernacle up until the death of Christ 
was to be but an object lesson or a type 
of a greater work that Jesus, as our High 
Priest, should do for mankind in the 
heavenly sanctuary after His ministry on 
earth had been completed. 
Paul, the apostle, in speaking of this 
work writes: "For Christ is not entered in-
to the holy places made with hands, 
which are the figures of the true; but into 
heaven itself, now to appear in the pres-
ence of God far us." Heb. g: 24. 
These words of Paul make it clear, 
"Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made with hands"—referring, of course, 
to the earthly sanctuary, "but into heaven 
itself"—referring to the heavenly pattern 
shown Moses in the mount. Christ has 
gone there, the apostle declares, as our 
High Priest "to appear in the presence 
of God for us." 
So when Jesus died upon the cross not 
only did the offering of sacrifices cease 
but the Levitical priesthood also came to 
an end. "No longer need sinful, sorrow-
ing humanity await the coming of the 
high priest. Henceforth the Saviour was 
to officiate as priest and advocate in the 
heaven of heavens." (Desire of Ages p. 
757). 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
OBEDIENCE 
Is the 
By Robert H. Pierson 
"In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time." 
With the passing of the Levitical priest- 
hood also went the Mosaic or ceremonial 
law which no longer bound the priests 
and the people in the matter of sacrifices, 
feast days, washings, etc. Concerning this 
4 �
abrogation of the ceremonial law Paul 
writes in Hebrews 7:12: "For the priest-
hood being changed, there is made of 
necessity a change also of the law." 
4 �Two distinct codes of law are set forth 
in the Holy Scriptures. The first, often 
referred to as the Decalogue or the Ten 
Commandments, which constitutes the 
standard of God's moral government has, 
the Bible declares, been in existence from 
time immemorial — millenniums before 
the days of Moses. 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
The 'Ten Commandments should not 
be confused with the ceremonial laws of 
Moses. The Decalogue, or the Law of 
God, contains eternal principles of right-
eousness by which all men shall be judged 
in the day of judgment. Eccl. 12:13, 14. 
The violation of these precepts in 1944 
as in the days before the cross constitutes 
sin: "Whosoever committeth sin trans-
gresseth also the law: for sin is the trans-
gression of the law." 1 John 3:4. 
The death of Christ upon the cross 
did not alter the Ten Commandments. 
It is as wrong to kill, steal, covet, curse 
and bow down to other gods to-day as it 
was before the cross. These are eternal 
principles of right and wrong. 
The second code is referred to as the 
ceremonial laws or the laws of Moses be- 
cause they deal exclusively with the rites 
and ceremonies pertaining to the sanc-
tuary service and certain civil regulations. 
These ceremonial laws, as Paul declares 
in the book of Colossians, had to do with 
"meats, drinks, new moons, holy days" 
and other purely ceremonial features of 
the Hebrew religion. 
When we read the words of Paul in 
Hebrews 7:12 stating that there was to 
be a change of the law coincident with 
the change of the priesthood, the apostle 
of course referred to the ceremonial laws 
of Moses. These, specifying as they did 
how special offerings should be made for 
special occasions, how they should pre- 
pare the offerings, how the priests should 
wash their clothes, etc., were no longer 
required since all sacrifices were to cease 
with the death of Christ. These, Paul 
writes "stood only in meats and drinks 
and divers washings, and carnal ordin-
ances, imposed on them until the time of 
reformation." Heb. 9:1 o. 
These, he continues, "could not make 
him that did the service perfect," for they 
were but "a shadow of good things to 
come." Heb. g:g; io:i. 
These ceremonial laws, referred to in 
Colossians 2:14 as "the handwriting of 
ordinances" were taken away, nailed to 
the cross because it was unnecessary for 
the people to continue with these cere-
monies after Jesus died. 
"Above when he said, Sacrifice and of-
fering and burnt offerings and offering 
for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst 
pleasure therein; which are offered by 
the law; Then said He, Lo, I come to do 
Thy will, 0 God. He taketh away the 
first, that he may establish the second." 
Heb. io:8, g. 
"When Jesus died on Calvary, the typi-
cal service had no further significance. 
Before the cross the offering of these 
sacrifices was an evidence of faith in the 
promise of a Redeemer to come, who 
would deliver from sin. But, after the 
cross, it would have been a denial of 
faith in Christ to continue these sacrifi-
cial offerings, for the atoning blood had 
been shed, and there was no longer 
need for a ceremony prefiguring it." 
—Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly. 
In the death of Christ we have the 
perfect and complete sacrifice. All things 
ceremonial pale into oblivion before 
the great reality. "It is not possible that 
the blood of bulls and of goats should 
take away. sins." Heb. 10:4. But, "the 
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth 
us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. "Though 
your sins be as scarlet they shall be as 
white as snow; though they be red like 
crimson they shall be as wool." Isa. 1:18. 
What a blessed assurance that, living 
to-day as we do two thousand years this 
side of the cross we may by faith claim 
the forgiveness of sin and cleansing 
through the precious blood of Jesus! We 
need not to-day manifest our faith 
through the sacrifice of animals. We need 
not follow the ceremonial laws of meats 
and drinks and divers washings. To-day 
we manifest our faith in and love for the 
Saviour who died in our stead by a life 
of obedience to His will. 
9 
S 
SWEPT 4 de TI 
T
HE first five centuries of the Chris-
tion era saw the "Holy Land" suf-
fering varying vicissitudes of fortune. 
During this period it was an insignificant 
outpost in the degenerating Roman Em-
pire. The Jews were scattered and dis-
possessed, and took their places with the 
commonality of mankind. The Christian 
evangel established spiritual centres in 
other lands, and Palestine passed into 
eclipse. 
When in the year 476 A.D. the iron 
monarchy of Rome crashed to its fall, the 
momentous event marked a pivotal point 
in world history. Twelve centuries be-
fore this. during the Babylonian captivity 
of Israel's prophet, Daniel, a notable fore-
cast of the course of empire was made by 
the inspired seer in the interpretation of 
a singular dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king 
of Babylon. According to this prophecy. 
there were to be only four universal em-
pires, of which Babylon was the first. 
And. true to the divine prediction, Medo-
Persia, Greece. and Rome in turn fol-
lowed Nebuchadnezzar's golden empire. 
The seer had said that after Rome the 
world was to be divided into many na-
tions; and "in the days of these kings 
shall the God of heaven set up a king-
dom, which shall never be destroyed." 
From the fall of Rome until the present 
day, it is very evident that God has not 
yet set up His kingdom on earth, for the 
principles of His kingdom have been 
flouted with more and more impunity 
during every passing year. The world is 
farther to-day from the government of 
the "Prince of Peace" than ever before. 
It has been equally evident that many 
attempts have been made, since Rome 
fell, to again found a world empire; some 
of them cruelly ambitious, some wildly 
fanatical, some almost noble, but all 
equally futile. Wave after wave of tre-
mendous manpower swept over Asia, 
Africa, and Europe behind intrepid con-
querors, only to he halted in mid-career 
by the hand of God. 
The seventh century saw the Moslems, 
militantly religious followers of Moham-
med, make the most nearly successful bid 
for world dominion. In a few years they 
were masters of western Asia and north 
Africa; and, as the historian expresses it. 
with the body of the crescent, symbol of 
their power, resting on these two contin-
ents, one horn was extended up through 
Spain to France, and the other up 
through the Balkan countries to Austria. 
If the crescent could have been rounded 
into a circle, Islam would have ruled 
the world. But it was not to be. At the 
battle of Tours and thereafter, the 
Moors were driven back into Africa; and 
eventually they were pushed back in the 
east also, and the once proud Moslem 
empire was broken to pieces. 
In the eighth century, Charlemagne 
spread his conquests over practically all 
of Europe, and on Christmas Day, 800 
A.D., was crowned "King of the Romans" 
by the Pope, in a fanciful endeavour to 
restore the glory and power of Rome. 
But the "Holy Roman Empire"—which 
was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an 
empire"—vanished amid the quarreling 
factions of Europe in the Middle Ages. 
The Crusades of the eleventh and 
twelfth centuries were, in reality, religio-
political efforts to wrest the "Holy Places" 
from the "infidel Mohammedans" that 
"Christian nations" might rule the world 
from that Palestinian centre. After three 
superstitiously fanatical, monk-led and 
unarmed expeditions that were cut to 
pieces ere they reached Asia, the pilgrim-
ages became largely military, though in 
the name of religion, when Europe lit-
erally emptied itself of the flower of its 
youth and even children, to capture Jeru-
salem and set up an empire in the Mid-
dle East. But spiritual frenzy beat it-
self to pieces on the hostile shores and 
barren mountains of the once Promised 
Land, and left only castle ruins to com-
memorate the sacrifice of millions of lives 
for a vain hope. 
In the thirteenth century, Genghis 
Khan, the mighty conqueror and scourge 
of Asia, surged with his savage nomads 
from the steppes of Mongolia, and he 
and his were not stopped till the whole 
Asiatic continent (except South China) 
and eastern Europe came under his sway. 
But the master Mogol swerved off from 
Palestine, and lodged in India, and uni-
versal empire was not his. 
Christopher Columbus, in the fifteenth 
century, sought to reach the centre of 
the world by circumnavigating the 
globe, which he thought was much 
smaller than it is. He expected to reach 
the East Indies much sooner than he 
reached the West Indies, to take the sea 
and caravan routes across peninsular 
Asia, and storm Jerusalem from the east. 
There exists to-day in the great library of 
Seville, Spain, a book on Bible prophecies 
written by Columbus on his long voyages. 
We may take from it that he conceived 
the idea of Christian Spain ruling the 
world from Jerusalem. There is on record 
a proposal made by him to the king and 
queen of Spain, in which he outlines a 
plan, complete in every detail, to send a 
huge military expedition westward across 
the Atlantic to subdue the East and reign 
from the centre, Palestine. But unim-
agined distances shattered the idea be-
fore it had passed the dream stage. 
In the sixteenth century, Charles the 
Fifth, of Spain and Austria, fell heir to, 
and conquered, the larger part of the 
continent of Europe, together with the 
New, World in America, and aspired to 
global rule. For a time there seemed to 
be nothing in the way of his triumphant 
march to limitless power; but he too was 
forced to bow to the inevitable. 
In the eighteenth century, Napoleon 
Bonaparte visioned a world empire. He 
had conquered Europe spectacularly, but 
he was not satisfied with anything less 
than the whole earth. Consummate 
statesman and warrior that he was, he 
saw the paramount importance of Pales-
tine as a strategic centre. He made a 
bold bid for it. Through a conquered 
Egypt he struck to wrest the "Holy Land" 
from the Saracens. He failed, meeting 
defeat at St. Jean d'Acre, on the, shores 
of Palestine. The world was not to be 
his, for he was fighting against God and 
divine decree. It was the crisis of his 
4 
10 �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
career. Afterward he said, "I missed my 
destiny at St. Jean d'Acre." He was turned 
back at the very centre. 
During the years before the first World 
War, there was a great and virile nation 
in Europe whose astute statesmen saw 
the possibilities of world power by the oc-
cupation and fortification of centres. 
Long before that War demonstrated the 
tremendous advantages of being en-
trenched in the centre of Europe, that 
power planned to gain the centre of the 
world. The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway 
was the symbol of that plan. Once in 
secure possession of the waterways and 
continents which radiated from western 
Asia, the world could be defied and held 
at bay on the outside of the outskirts 
of the empire. Kaiser Wilhelm had am-
bitions for a Nordic world-state, with 
German kultur and military might hold-
ing it together. 
Pursuant to that global scheme, the 
Kaiser made a grand tour of Western 
Asia, having first cemented friendship 
with Turkey, possessor of Palestine. In 
the course of his journeys, he visited Jer-
usalem. And, we are told, so high was 
the honour accorded him that a large 
opening was made in the old city walls 
for his entry. No ordinary portal was 
sufficient for so great and promising a 
personage. The way seemed as wide 
open as was that breach in the wall for 
a totalitarian Germany to step in with 
its aggressive attitude and soaring ambi-
tions, and to establish a supra-nation that 
would sit astride the earth with high 
pride. 
• 
But the One who rules in the realms of 
men stepped in and shattered that dream 
of conquest and world domination. He 
had not come "whose right it is." The 
dream of a titanic Eurasia ran counter 
to the plans of the Most High, and it had 
to yield. The World War which followed 
ended in the defeat of the nation that 
dreamed it. The idea of a fifth universal 
empire had to be laid aside for a genera-
tion. Germany was only one of the 
"kings" in whose days the God of heaven 
would set up a kingdom. But, manifestly. 
the Central Power of Europe was not that 
heavenly kingdom. 
The way in which the country of Pales-
tine was brought back from Moslem rule 
into the hands of a Christian nation 
reads like a tale from the "Arabian 
Nights." We do not present it here for 
its dramatic interest, but as a link in the 
chain of marvellous events which bind the 
past, present, and future of this unique 
land. The essential facts of the story are 
unquestioned. It reads like this: 
Some time before the first World War 
shattered men's peace-and-safety aspira- 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
tions, a certain official of a large oil syn-
dicate in the United States was reading 
his Bible on a Sunday morning. He was 
in the habit of attending Sunday School. 
but because of weather conditions, or his 
own indisposition, he had stayed at home. 
Perhaps to find food for his spirit, he took 
up his Bible and thumbed through it at 
random. Lighting upon the book of 
Exodus, he began reading the fascinating 
story of the babe Moses. 
When he reached that part of the story 
which tells of the child's mother making 
an ark of bulrushes and daubing it "with 
slime and with pitch", the word pitch 
struck his eye like a blow. 
Pitch! Every oil man knows that where 
pitch, or tar, is, there oil is likely to be. 
Oil in ancient Egypt! That meant oil 
in modern Egypt, evidences of it perhaps 
long covered up by the drifting sand 
dunes. The oil man closed the Book, and 
was soon deep in thoughts far from re-
ligious. 
Ever alert for the exploitation of new 
sources of oil, his company might secure 
concessions from the governments con-
cerned to bore some "wildcat" wells in 
Egypt, hopeful of a lucky strike. In a 
few days he had put the business ma-
chinery in motion, and, after months of 
negotiation, one of the octopus arms of his 
organization was reaching into the Nile 
Valley. Huge shipments of the para-
phernalia necessary for oil drilling were 
sent to Alexandria, the chief port of 
Egypt, and piled on the docks. 
Then the World War descended with 
paralyzing effect on commerce and in-
dustry. Government authorities decreed 
that prospecting for oil in Egypt was out 
for the duration. And as the strife 
dragged on month after month, the great 
piles of piping and derrick material be-
gan to rust on the wharves. Nothing 
could be done. There it lay. 
The Turkish possessors of Palestine 
had joined their fortunes and forces with 
the Central Powers. They repulsed a 
formidable attack at Gallipoli, and were 
sure they were invincible in the whole of 
the Near East. For many years they had 
recited a proverb to the effect that, 
"When the water of the Nile River flows 
through the streets of Jerusalem, the 
Christians will take the city." This was 
a figurative expression of the impossible; 
for water does not flow for many miles 
across a flat, dry desert, and many miles 
more over hills and mountains. 
Also, Islam, the Turkish faith, is a re-
ligion of fatalism. Its last word is, "Allah 
wills it." If God (Allah) so decrees, what 
is man to complain of God, or seek to 
have things otherwise? This, carried to 
the extreme and coupled with, "What- 
ever is, is right," and "What is to be, is 
to be," spells resignation, and often stag-
nation. Now the expression in Arabic of 
"Allah wills it," sounds thus, "Allah 'n 
bey." That is the way the people of the 
Near East say it. 
As the strategy of the war was worked 
out, an attack on Palestine by way of 
Egypt was decided on by the Allied 
Powers. A formidable army was gathered 
from the home country and the colonies. 
A prominent feature of the preparations 
for the desert expedition was the Camel 
Corps. Transportation facilities had not 
reached the high state we see at present. 
And one of the paramount problems was 
that of water supply for the army on the 
waterless road. Water was required for 
camels (How they drink!), and motor 
radiators, and horses, and for cooking and 
drinking. Sufficient transportation sim-
ply could not be spared to tank it and 
take it along. 
So one brilliant young officer conceived 
an idea. Why not commandeer from Alex-
andria the miles and miles of eight-inch 
oil-well piping lying there on the docks: 
begin to lay it from the utmost source of 
water supply in the Nile delta, and pump 
the life-giving liquid through it for the 
army as the columns advanced? The 
proposition looked feasible, and was ac-
tually put into operation, trucks bring- , 
ing up the lengths of pipe as they were 
needed and going back for more. Some 
Biblically-minded soldiers likened it to 
the water that "followed" the ancient 
Israelites when they passed the same way 
thirty-four centuries before. 
The thirst-quenched invaders of Pales-
tine advanced rapidly. Patrols of the en-
emy crumpled and fled before them. The 
Turkish leaders in Jerusalem became 
alarmed. Carefully they questioned the 
spies who brought news from the front. 
How were the invaders able to advance 
so rapidly across the arid country? 
They were bringing an enormous sup-
ply of water. 
But how? 
By piping Nile-River water along the 
top of the ground. 
And the story goes that the age-old 
proverb came to their minds, "When the 
waters of the Nile River flow through the 
streets of Jerusalem, the Christians will 
take the city." The attackers were ac-
complishing the impossible. Allah must 
be on their side. 
And what is the name of the able gen-
eral who is engineering this great feat? 
And like an echo of their thoughts 
came the answer,— Allanby! 
Allanby! Allah 'n Bey! The similarity 
was striking. The very name of the con-
quering general was their traditional 
statement of resignation. If God willed 
that Palestine should be turned over to 
the Christian invaders, further resistance 
was futile. So we may imagine the pro-
cess of their thoughts. 
But whatever their reactions, when the 
city of Jerusalem was finally surrounded 
by the expeditionary forces, not a hand 
was raised to defend it. The records have 
it that when General Allanby and his 
officers rode up to the city on their horses 
at the head of their men, they dis- 
11 
DES EMPIRE 
Fourth in a Series of Editorials on "The Centre of the Earth," 
presenting Palestine in Bible Prophecy. 
mounted, and with uncovered heads 
walked through the gates which were 
opened to receive them. 
Thus again, after twelve long centuries 
of Moslem rule, during which period the 
country was inhabited by non-progressive 
peoples, the "Holy Land" came back to 
the control of a Christian nation. Immedi- 
ately there surged through the breasts of 
Christians and Jews throughout the world 
great hopes that a new era would dawn 
with the opening of the "sacred places" 
to unmolested pilgrimage. Among Chris-
tians, the "Anglo-Israel" and "Return-of-
the-Jews" movements gained momentum. 
Surely long-deferred prophetic fulfillment 
was now to be consummated. 
Among the Jews, more material frui-
tion of hope was expected. Before the 
War was over, the famous declaration of 
Lord Balfour to the effect that Palestine 
was to be made a "homeland" for the 
Jews, was taken very literally—and poli-
tically—by oppressed Jews in all coun-
tries. As the years went on they flocked 
to Palestine by the hundreds of thou-
sands, exploited its soil and mineral 
wealth, made parts of it "blossom as the 
rose", and were soon in a fair way to 
conquer it, economically if not otherwise. 
They asserted themselves till Arab-Jewish 
friction menaced the peace of the Empire 
and of the world. 
Though now cast into the shadow of 
third importance by the light of univer-
sal interest being thrown on the war and 
post-war readjustments, Palestine is des-
tined to play a stellar role in the drama 
that is War and Anticipated Peace. In-
ternational issues that loom greater now 
keep the "Holy Land" issue in abeyance 
only because its turn has not yet come 
around again. Not that the Palestine 
matter is separate and apart from these 
more compelling world worries. It is one 
with them, which fact will become more 
evident. 
The dominant Christian, the exploit. 
ing Jew, and the domiciled Moslem 
(Arab) to-day hold the same antipathies 
and animosities toward one another which 
has characterized this trio for centuries 
past. And the feuds are likely to increase 
in intensity, to break forth in violence 
as soon as circumstances permit. For 
their differences are rooted fundamentally 
in their firmly-held religious views, and 
for which they are willing and even eager 
to die if need be. 
The discord stems from the primitive 
strife between Abraham's two sons, Isaac 
and Ishmael. The old patriarch has long 
been known as the "father of the faith-
ful." Ishmael was the cast-off son (from 
whom come the Arabs), and his hand was 
to be "against every man, and every man's 
hand against him." How strikingly this 
prophecy has been fulfilled! For the men 
of the desert have never acknowledged 
an overlord. And they call themselves 
"the faithful." To them, all non-Moslems 
are "infidels." 
Palestine is the homeland of the Jews 
by priority occupation, of the Arabs by a 
millennium and a half of possession, and 
of the Christians by adoption and con-
quest. Who will have ultimate and undis- 
puted possession of it as a homeland? 
The problem cannot be localized; for its 
12 
V
ERY few in the world, comparatively 
speaking, believe in the literal coin• 
ing of Christ. Sad to say that thousands 
who profess Christianity do not believe 
in His return. The Bible deals with 
facts. Its truths are clear and definite; 
they can be understood. The doctrine bf 
the second coming of Christ is one of the 
fundamental truths taught in the Bible. 
To state that I believe in the coming of 
Jesus, is not sufficient. I must not only 
know what I believe, but why I believe 
it. For someone to say that he does not 
believe in Christ's coming, will never 
alter the words of Christ, who said, "I 
will come again." The doctrine of His 
coming is not a new one. It dates back 
to the fall of man. Patriarchs and pro-
phets alike believed in it. Down through 
the ages God-fearing men have preached 
the second coming of Jesus. Luther, Cal-
vin, Knox, Wesley,- Baxter, Spurgeon, 
and others belong to this class. 
I believe in the coming of Christ be-
cause this doctrine is the hope of the 
advent church. From the very day our 
first parents turned their sorrowing steps 
from Eden, the children of faith have 
waited for the coming of the Promised 
One. This truth is embodied in hymns 
of hope, and forms the climax of the 
creeds. It is the sublime motive for evan-
gelism, and missionary activity. Jesus 
said, "This gospel of the kingdom shall 
be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations, and then shall the end 
come." The end referred to here is the 
end of the world, which ushers in the 
coming of Christ. 
I believe in the coming of Jesus be-
cause the Bible definitely teaches this 
doctrine. That settles it. All the fighting 
against this truth, or scoffing at it, does 
not alter the fact that Jesus is coming 
again. The doctrine of the second com-
ing of Christ is the keynote of the 
scriptures; and we never go wrong when 
we accept the teaching of the Bible. Page 
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and 
you will find that the men of God have 
taught the second coming of Christ. Enoch, 
Job, David, Isaiah, Paul, John,—all of 
these speak in no uncertain tones of the 
second advent. The angels who came to 
take Christ into gloryland after His resur- 
is but an empty shell of what it once 
was in the favour of God. But God has 
not taken His Name away from it. 
Through the interpretation of His an-
cient prophecies we may still hear Him 
speaking from this centre of the earth. 
And the once blessed "vale of Beulah" 
has a happy destiny. 
CENTRE" in the December issue. 
rection, said, "Ye men of Galilee, why 
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This 
same Jesus, which is taken up from you 
into heaven, shall so come in like manner 
as ye have seen him go into heaven." 
Acts Li 1. Yes, the same Jesus is coming 
in like manner. This statement is en-
dorsed by Christ Himself in His farewell 
message to His disciples in John fourteen. 
I believe in the second coming of 
Christ, because His first advent proves 
His second. We have the same authority 
for the second coming of Christ that we 
have for His birth, His death, and His 
resurrection. The Christian world to-day 
does not reject His birth, His death, and 
His resurrection; and why should the 
doctrine of His second coming be re-
jected? If we do not believe in Christ's 
second coming, then we must be able to 
prove that He did not come the first 
time. Facts cannot be erased. His first 
advent is an irrefutable historic fact; 
consequently His second advent is based 
on Bible facts. All prophecies pointing 
to the first advent have been fulfilled. 
None have failed. Therefore the prom-
ises of the second advent will be fulfilled; 
not one will fail. Christ will come again! 
I believe in the second coming of Christ 
because it is as certain as death itself. No 
one denies the existence of death. The 
undertakers, the cemeteries, the tomb-
stones, prove that death does exist. Mil-
lions of earth can testify to the fact that 
death is in the land; for this terrible 
enemy has taken their loved ones. The 
apostle Paul says, "As it is appointed un-
to men once to die, but after this the 
judgment: so Christ was once offered to 
bear the sins of many; and unto them 
that look for Him shall He appear the 
second time without sin unto salvation." 
Heb. 9:27, 28. Christ came the first 
time to suffer and to die, that He might 
destroy sin. Death is the result of sin. 
How terrible to think that Christ suffered 
and died for something that does not ex-
ist. As a matter of fact, death does ex-
ist, and Christ is coming the second time 
to destroy it. 
I believe in the second coming of Christ 
because the conditions in the world de-
mand His return. We are living in un-
usual times. Thinkers to-day are expect- 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
sub-problems, which must be solved first, 
reach to every corner of the earth. They 
await the attention of men—and of God. 
Nearly the whole Christian era has seen 
the centres of moral and spiritual power 
move westward. The Palestine of to-day 
has no monoply on religious devotion, 
false or true. Shorn of its sacredness, it 
Read "MONEY MART and SOCIAL 
1 Vetiecie 
CHRIST WILL RETURN 
By W. B. Ochs 
A message 
of comfort 
for sore 
hearts.. 
WHEN ALL YOUR WORK FOR OTHERS IS UNAPPRECIATED 
— AND EVEN SCORNED 
ing the unusual to happen; but they do 
not know what it is. The student of the 
Bible knows that it is the second coming 
of Jesus. Honest, sincere, conscientious 
thinkers feel that the state of things is 
utterly hopeless, that society cannot re-
form itself; that philosophy and so-called 
religion have nothing to offer. These 
have been tried and found wanting. 
Those who base their faith in the second 
coming of Christ have something definite 
to lean upon. 
The Bible pictures the conditions of 
the world in the closing days of earth's 
history. Jesus said, "As it was in the days 
of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of 
the Son of man." The apostle Paul says, 
"This know also that in the last days 
Her letter was pathetic. When a 
strong, victorious person lets another 
glimpse the heart in a struggle, it is 
more moving than when a "ready to 
halt" weakling lays bare some frequent 
distress. 
She is one of the most faithful, un-
selfish soul-winners I know. Her home is 
in a remote rural section, where most of 
her neighbours are "share-croppers" or 
on small holdings, many of them sadly 
underprivileged, underfed, and destitute 
of clothing. Until she and her husband 
returned from the large city to spend 
their middle and later years on his 
father's old estate, there had been little 
religious influence in the neighbour-
hood. 
She began by gathering children into 
her own home for a few hours' schooling 
each day, because they lacked proper 
clothing to appear in the town school to 
be reached by the school bus. From 
friends back in the city she solicited used 
garments to clothe her "dependents." 
From her little school, in about eight 
years, grew up a wider religious interest, 
until on the main highway, three miles 
away, was a neat, well-furnished church 
building, free from debt, with a good-
sized group meeting for weekly and mid-
weekly services, the nucleus having been 
a group of baptized church members and 
a promising number coming on toward 
the kingdom of God. 
But Satan does not yield his strong-
holds of ignorance, prejudice, and deg-
radation that easily. Persecution broke 
out. Once she was even threatened with 
arrest for "breaking the peace" because 
she held religious services in a neighbour-
hood too rough to want them. Then the 
wolves broke into the flock itself. Those 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
perilous times shall come." The prophet 
Isaiah gives a picture indicating that our 
world is growing old, that it cannot en-
dure. Sin is a destroyer, and the wages 
of sin is death. Pay day is coming. Be-
cause of the unusual conditions which 
are a fulfillment of prophecy, we can-
not help but believe in the return of 
Christ, to bring about a new order of 
things. We look to someone higher to 
bring about a better condition. This is 
none other than Christ. His coming will 
bring an end to confusion, perplexity, 
trouble, war, bloodshed, sorrow, misery 
and death. It will bring eternal joy, 
peace, and happiness. 
Jesus says. "Behold, I come quickly," 
and the remnant church responds by 
saying, "Even so, come Lord Jesus." 
for whom much is done may do as God 
said the ancient Israelites did—"Jesuran 
waxed fat and kicked." Some who owed 
to her kindness their food, clothing, em-
ployment, and all the ameliorating in-
fluences in their hard lives, began to be 
jealous of her. They stooped to foul 
slanders and cruel actions. Bereavement 
in her own family robbed her of a promis-
ing son. Her physical strength was taxed 
with the duties of a large farm home. 
Added came the burden of a bedridden 
mother-in-law, requiring much special 
nursing. She performed prodigies of 
energy, courage, strength, and victory. 
The centre of it all was her "prayer 
tree." It stood beside the path at the 
head of a steep grade up the hill back of 
her home, on the way to the neighbours' 
homes to which she went to give spiritual 
help and on errands of kindness. It was 
her custom to kneel in prayer by this 
tree before coming out of the woods path 
into the open field. Sometime after she 
had formed this habit, she noticed that 
by some old injury a scar on the bark of 
the tree had been scarred into the shape 
of a cross. She took it as an emblem of 
victory and answered prayer. 
Then she wrote me that things had 
taken a turn for the worse. Persecution 
broke out again in outrageous slanders 
and meannesses. A whole family of her 
converts returned to a former life of 
profanity and low ways. And now I had 
received a letter telling that the best 
family in her group, the most hopeful of 
Christian development, had sunk the 
deepest. "I need the prayers of you and 
your sister more than I ever have," she 
wrote. "I wish I could come to you for 
special prayer. I'm very discouraged." 
I laid the letter down and picked up 
my Bible to look for something for her. 
I turned to the account of the death of 
Moses. I had a sudden realization of 
similarities between her experiences and 
his. He had found a people sunk in degra-
dation and longed to free them. But 
though they professed to desire deliver-
ance, they constantly turned back to sin, 
until of all the adult multitude Moses led 
out of Egypt only two entered Canaan. 
At the mouths of his own family Moses 
suffered from jealousy and criticism and 
slander. His own brother led the peo-
ple of God into gross idolatry. Over and 
over Moses was maligned, persecuted, 
even threatened with stoning, by those 
for whose salvation he offered his own 
soul. And the troubles, disappointments, 
apostasies grew worse, instead of better, 
as the years went on. At last, on the very 
border of Canaan, Moses himself sinned, 
and God, to vindicate His holy Name and 
uphold standards of obedience, had to ex-
clude even him from the promised Land. 
Could anything, as a human being 
might look at it, be more discouraging 
than what Moses had to look back upon 
and forward to, as, alone, he turned his 
steps from his people and ascended Mt. 
Pisgah, to die—a failure? 
No: Never was a greater victor in the 
whole history of God's dealings with the 
sinful race. Not one prayer for his peo-
ple was unheard or unanswered—though 
not always as he expected. Not one effort 
was unrewarded. Every word he spoke to 
ears that seemed deaf has echoed through 
the millenniums to every quarter of the 
earth, influencing civilizations, germin-
ating into laws and social standards and 
principles of right living for peasant and 
king. Who can name or count the mil-
lions of saved who owe spiritual debts to 
the lifework of Moses? And who can 
say how many of those who died in the 
wilderness because of the sin of the com-
munity, yet as individuals died repentant, 
in hope of salvation through the coming 
Lamb of God? 
Moses life wasted? His efforts fruit-
less? The very apostasies that broke his 
heart God ever since has set forth as 
warnings to save those who came after. 
And Moses' own sin has been used by that 
same inscrutable wisdom of God to keep 
many a faltering follower in the path of 
obedience. Or many a fallen saint has 
been encouraged to start again by Moses' 
repentance and forgiveness and final 
triumph. 
And it was not just to die and remain 
dead that Moses climbed Mt. Pisgah. 
To him was given the honour of being 
the first to be released from the prison 
house of death (Jude 9) by the antici-
pated power of Christ's future resurrec-
tion. Do you think that Moses, then or 
since, has had cause to think his life a 
failure? Has he had real grounds for 
discouragement? 
And so, dear friend, this is my "special 
prayer" for you: Think of the life and 
triumph of Moses. It was not required 
of him that he save 600,000 men, but 
that he be faithful in all his house. (He-
brews 3:2) That, by God's grace, you are 
being in yours. God will take care of all 
the rest. 
Mary Hunter Moore 
13 
He lost an arm, but he isn't side-tracked; he works — and laughs at it. 
Are Von Siele-raded 
BECAUSE OF POOR HEALTH? 
There Are Good Prospects of Your Being Switched 
Back On the Main Line 
By D. H. Kress, M. D. 
A SPECIAL train carrying business 
A men to a large city was side-tracked 
at a small way-station. After waiting for 
half an hour the men became uneasy, 
for they had important appointments to 
meet. They said to the conductor, "This is 
strange service you are giving us," and re-
minded him of the loss they would sus-
tain. 
The conductor made no reply just then 
but walked back and forth with his head 
down. A freight train going in the same 
direction passed them. This seemed more 
than they could bear. They demanded 
an explanation; but the conductor re-
mained silent. 
Another half hour passed, when the 
conductor came with the following ex-
planation: "Gentlemen, there has been a 
freshet down the line. I felt uncertain 
about the safety of the bridge. Rather 
than run the risk of crossing it, I side-
tracked the train and permitted the 
freight train to pass. Word has just come 
that the bridge collapsed under the 
weight of the train." 
A change came over the men. For the 
time being they forgot about the finan-
cial losses sustained by their delay and 
thanked the conductor for his forethought 
in thus saving their lives. They found 
fault and were dissatisfied simply be-
cause they did not see what the con-
ductor saw. 
How often we find fault with Provi-
dence because we do not understand why 
certain experiences are permitted to come 
to us, or because our carefully worked out 
plans are interfered with and cannot be 
matured. We cannot penetrate the fu-
ture. But there is One who sees the end 
from the beginning and He leads us as 
we would choose to be led could we see 
what He sees. "What I do, thou knowest 
not now," He says, "but thou shalt know 
hereafter." 
We may be side-tracked at a hospital 
on account of illness. Naturally, like the 
men of business, we become uneasy, and 
if the period of our stay is prolonged we 
become restless and we feel we must get 
on the main line at once. Our business 
demands it. But it is not well to be in 
too much of a hurry. It pays to wait until 
it is safe to go. 
While it may be unpleasant and un-
desirable to be side-tracked it is probably 
the best thing that could happen. In 
reading the biographies of men who suc-
ceeded in living to a ripe old age, I have 
found that in most every instance they 
were side-tracked some time in life by 
illness. This led them to change their 
manner of living and as a result they were 
granted a new lease of life. Dr. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes evidently observed this, 
for he said that "in order to live to a 
good old age it is necessary to be rejected 
by a first-class life insurance company." 
Men must be side-tracked some time in 
life, it seems, in order to live to a good 
old age. 
Louis Carnaro, the famous centenarian, 
was, at the age of forty, pronounced a 
hopeless invalid. His doctor informed 
him of his condition and told him he 
could at best live but one year longer. 
This sobered him and led him to think. 
Up to this period he was careless of his 
habits of living and inclined to dissipa-
tions of various kinds. 
He now began to inquire into the 
causes of his ill health, and determined 
to lead a sober and temperate life, with 
the result that ten years later, at the age 
of fifty, he was in such excellent health 
that in writing to the physician he said 
he fully expected to live another quarter 
of a century. Time more than fulfilled 
this, for he lived past the century mark 
and enjoyed life as he never had in 
former days. 
In his biography, written on the ninety-
sixth year of his life, he said all his 
senses and organs were functioning per-
fectly. "I never knew until I grew 
old that this world is so beautiful," he 
said. His early life having been de-
bauched by irregularities which dulled 
his senses, made it impossible to behold 
these beauties. He also said, "I now relish 
a plain piece of dry bread better than 
formerly the most exquisite dainties." It 
was not a calamity for Carnaro to be side-
tracked by sickness at the age of forty. 
Dr. Stephen Smith, the founder of the 
American Public Health Association, at 
the age of ninety-nine, in an address given 
before an assembly of physicians and pub-
lic health officials, said that up to the age 
of fifty he ate practically only bread and 
milk, owing to having an infirm constitu-
tion. This, he claimed, laid the founda-
tion for the health he enjoyed later in 
life. When asked the secret of his long 
and useful life he replied, "Take care of 
your stomach the first fifty years of life, 
and the next fifty years the stomach will 
take care of you." Had it not been for 
his ill health in youth he no doubt would 
not have lived nearly as long as he did, 
nor would he have accomplished the good 
he did. 
A 
4 
14 �
SIGNS OF THE TIMES 
THE DOCTOR ANSWERS HEALTH QUERIES 
Every apparent curse may be converted 
into a blessing. In fact our greatest bless-
ings come in disguise. 
John Wesley was side-tracked. At the 
age of forty he was a semi-invalid with a 
feeble constitution. This compelled him 
to live abstemiously. While he was never 
a riotous eater of flesh, or a heavy 
110 drinker, it was customary in those days 
for ministers even to take a little wine oc- 
-4. �
casionally. Later, however, he made im-
portant reforms in his habits of life, giv-
ing up tea and wine and also the evening 
meal. His treatise against tea resulted in 
the conversion of Dr. Adam Clark, the 
Commentator. In writing to the Bishop 
of London, Mr. Wesley said, "Thanks be 
to God. Since the day I gave up the use 
of wine and meat, I have been delivered 
from all my ills." At the advanced age 
of eighty-two he wrote, "It is now twelve 
years since I have experienced any sensa-
tion of weariness." This is a remarkable 
statement and it comes from a man whose 
word can be relied upon. John Wesley 
was a hard worker. He endured hardships 
that few in these days are called upon to 
endure. The human family has gone 
astray. "We have wandered every one to 
his own way." Over a million people are 
at this moment on the side-track in Can-
ada on account of sickness. The purpose 
of religion is to lead us back to the right 
way. But we are unwilling of ten to make 
reforms until we get into trouble. When 
in trouble we can be taught. "Then 
they cried unto. the Lord in their trouble, 
and He delivered them out of their dis-
tresses. And He led them forth by the 
right way, that they might go to a city of 
habitation. Whoso is wise, and will ob-
serve these things, even they shall under-
stand the loving kindness of the Lord." 
Ps. 107:6, 7, 43. 
Our anxiety to find a short-cut to health 
often gets us into trouble, because there is 
no such path. We are in a hurry to get 
well. Nature is not. We want things done 
J �
quickly, while nature works slowly in 
making her repairs. Then again some ex-
pect nature to do it all, and do not feel 
inclined to aid her by correcting habits 
which thwart her efforts. They bring 
sick stomachs and sick livers to the physi-
cian and after telling him how they are 
afflicted think they have faithfully done 
their part, and that now it is up to the 
physician to do the rest. The physician 
can prescribe treatments that will aid na-
ture in her friendly efforts. But there is 
much the patient can and must do to 
obtain permanent results. The cigar, the 
pipe, or the cigarette must be laid aside. 
Probably there must also be a decided 
change in the diet. These are things the 
patient must heed. When physicians and 
patients do their part, it affords God an 
opportunity to do His part. We are to be 
"workers together with Him." 
A short time ago I received a letter 
from a former patient of mine, a U.S. 
Senator. He came to me at the age of 52, 
discouraged and in despair—a side-tracked 
man. I faithfully instructed him in re-
gard to his diet. Thirty years passed by. 
He has reached his 83rd year of life. In 
his letter he said, "I want to thank you for 
the Divine advice and instruction you 
NOVEMBER, 1944 
gave me. I am now eighty-three years of 
age. I remember well what you said to 
me. You said, 'Mr. Johnson, if you fol-
low the instruction I am giving you, you 
will live to a good old age.' " At the age 
of fifty he thought the end had come as 
far as his usefulness was concerned, and 
at the age of eighty-three he claimed to 
be in almost perfect health. 
Nature always does the best she can. 
If an injury is sustained to the skin we 
do not worry about it. We keep the part 
clean and naturally expect it to heal. We 
are not disappointed. Having done our 
part we know nature will do her part 
faithfully. If there is an injured stomach 
or liver, nature will work just as faithfully 
TENDER SKIN 
I have noticed for some few years 
that the skin on my face, particularly 
around the temples, has become very 
tender, and daily shaving is a rather 
painful ordeal. Can you give me the 
reason for this, and suggest a treatment? 
The soreness of the skin about the 
temples may be due to either a neuritis, 
or more likely to spazm of the temporal 
arteries. In either case care should be 
taken to include foods rich in vitamine B 
in the diet. Excellent sources of vitamine 
B are soy beans, soy heart spread, wheat 
germ, whole wheat bread, nuts, and pea-
nut butter. Heat applied locally in any 
form is soothing. Worry, anxiety, and 
the free use of tea, coffee, alcohol, and 
tobacco may be contributing factors. 
EXCESSIVE PERSPIRATION 
I have excessive perspiration on my 
hands and feet, which is very obnoxious 
to me as well as to others. What can 
be done for it? 
Excessive perspiration of hands and 
feet is usually a functional disorder and 
disappears when the general health im-
proves. Persons suffering from hyperthy-
roidism have generalized sweating. Vig-
orous outdoor exercise, preferably use-
ful labour, regularity in habits of eating 
and sleeping, and avoidance of harmful 
habits would be essential. 
SWOLLEN HANDS 
On first waking in the morning I 
notice that my hands feel stiff as if 
they might be swollen, or as if my 
hands were asleep, and it isn't possible 
to close my fingers tightly. After a few 
minutes awake, this trouble passes off, 
in its restoration. But we must do our 
part. We must exercise care and not in-
troduce irritants or poisons into the 
stomach, and we must exercise careful-
ness in the combination of foods. Pure 
air and out-of-door life is needed. The 
blood conveys life to every cell. But it 
may also convey death. It should be kept 
clean in order to serve its purpose. This 
we can aid nature in doing. And having 
done this, we may expect permanent re-
sults. 
Do not worry because you are side-
tracked by sickness, but ascertain why 
you are side-tracked and what lessons you 
are to get out of it, so that when you get 
well you may be able to remain well. 
and I have no trace of it during the day. 
Please suggest a probable cause, and 
treatment. 
During the night the glands including 
the adrenal glands are at a low ebb. The 
adrenal glands control what is called 
capillary permeability. Consequently it 
is quite customary for allergic disorders 
such as asthma, hives, and swelling of 
hands and feet to -come on during early 
morning hours, and pass off as the day 
wears on and the glands function more 
actively. Anything which improves the 
general health would help this condition. 
ROUGH SKIN 
What can be done for roughness of 
the skin on the bald part of my head? 
The roughness of the skin is probably 
due to seborrheic dermatitis, a near rela-
tive of dandruff. Wash head once a week 
with a mild soap, and rub a vegetable 
oil into the scalp. Include adequate 
amounts of vitamines in the diet. If 
necessary supplement with vitamine con-
centrates. 
ARTHRITIS 
What is the best treatment for 
arthritis, or rheumatism? 
Sunshine, nutritious diet, freedom from 
worry and anxiety, rest of affected joints, 
heat and massage to spastic muscles and 
tendons in the region of the joints are 
the most important principles in the 
treatment of arthritis. Heat may be ap-
plied in the form of fomentations or 
short wave therapy. It is customary, and 
seems quite beneficial, to administer large 
doses of vitamines. 
W. Roberts. M.D. 
15 
41 
70‘ar 7e0te Ta Tr? 
I
WOKE up suddenly in the night. It was very 
dark and cold. I seemed to have been waked 
by a sound, but now there was none. After listen-
ing for several minutes, I turned over and tried to drop 
back to sleep. But I had been thoroughly aroused, and 
the effort was a failure. 
Then thoughts, worries, frets, plans marched jerk-
ingly through my mind — a hundred interests that infest 
the day, and always loom hauntingly larger in the silent 
night watches. 
At least an hour seemed to have passed since my 
waking. Why didn't the clock in the far room strike? 
It was usually reliable in striking the hours and half 
hours. Had it stopped? Does time slow up at night? 
The clock struck one. 
Possibly one o'clock, or half past something else. 
No cock-crowing, no gray dawn, no lights, no noise. 
What time could it be, anyway? Thoughts again, —
cares, responsibilities, regrets, hopes, sorrows, joys. I 
didn't want to get up in the cold and go to see the 
time, as that might arouse me more than ever. 
Long minutes at counting sheep; making 3's very 
slowly and deliberately with white chalk on a black- 
board; compelling my mind to flit from one thought to 
another quickly, — anything to coax sleep. 
The clock struck one again. 
One? — Oh, of course there was nothing the matter 
with it. This was one o'clock, — or was it half-past? 
No telling. Well, well, still uncertainty. 
Again, meditative thought: This old world is morally 
dark and spiritually cold when we come to ourselves 
in it. The situation is rapidly growing worse. It is a 
tremendous cause for concern and worry. What is the 
time? What prospect for the end of it? We have pro-
phetic assurance that day will dawn in due course. But 
there is interminable delay. Time seems to have stopped. 
Is the earth standing still? Is the shadow on the dial 
going backward? Mark time! Mark time! M-a-r-k 
t-i-m-e ! 
The clock struck one again! 
Ah! One-thirty, and all is well. The gloom thickens, 
but it passes. There is no delay. What seemed so is 
the working out of the Divine will. Time and God's 
purpose move on to the dawn. Steady, heart, and rest 
content. 
I fell asleep.