QUES. 17.-What path is described in Job 28:7?

ANS.-The connection shows it is the path of wisdom. ''Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding (ver. 12) V Part at least of the answer is given in ver. 28, " unto man He saith, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."

QUES. 18.-What was the vow of Jephthah the Gileadite regarding his daughter? If the thought of putting her to death is here, kindly explain in full.

ANS.-" If Thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Am-mon into my hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me . . . shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering " (Judg. 11:30, 31). Ordinarily there would be no doubt that Jephthah meant to sacrifice in death whatever came out. It being his daughter has raised the question with thoughtful students of God's word whether he could have put her to death, so repulsive to nature and forbidden by the word of God. On the other hand, remembering the sternness of the man, his rashness and the generally lawless state of the people, it does not seem at all improbable that the first impression of every reader of the account is correct – that she was put to death as a sacrifice. This view can be seen at length in " Lectures on Judges."

QUES. 19.-Why were only eleven tribes mentioned by Ahijah the prophet, to Jeroboam (1 Ki. 11:31, 32).

ANS.-Benjamin is the one tribe who, with Judah the tribe of David, makes up the twelve. See chap. 12:21.

QUES. 20.-Please explain the words, " take, eat, this is my body." Do we in partaking of the Lord's supper literally partake of His body and blood?

ANS.-" I am the door," " I am the true vine." No one for a single moment mistakes the meaning of these words, or applies them literally to our Lord. As symbols they are beautiful ; force them in a literal way and all beauty and meaning is lost. So with the symbols of our Lord's body and blood. As symbols they are the sweet precious memorials of One who loved us unto death; taken literally, they become the food of superstition and a carnal religion. We need but to look at the blasphemous use Rome has made of the Lord's supper to see the danger of which we speak. Think of a few words of the priest creating Christ, and that in His divine character!

But even where such gross and blasphemous use is not made of the Lord's supper, any teaching that leads us to look at the bread and wine as anything but simple memorials, feeds superstition. It is Christ with whom we are to be occupied, arid we simply " do this " to call Him to mind.

QUES. 21.-What was involved in the act of Samuel in honoring Saul before the people (1 Sam. 15:30)?

ANS.-In refusing to obey God in the utter extermination of the Amalekites, Saul had fully manifested his unfitness for the throne. This Samuel faithfully and unflinchingly presses upon him, and refuses to sacrifice with him on that ground. As a last resort Saul, tacitly admitting the right of Samuel's refusal to go with him as one In whom God was pleased, asks simply that his office be recognized. There was nothing amiss in this, as it was not God's purpose Immediately to overthrow the disobedient king.

QUES. 22.-What does Scripture teach about Satan's ability- or inability-to know man's thoughts? Are all evil thoughts in man the product of his own wicked heart apart from Satan?

ANS.-We are not aware that Scripture directly teaches as to the first part of the question, and would be slow to assert positively as to it. We would suggest however that Satan, being a spirit, can detect the movements of man's mind, as man in the body could observe the physical movements of men. As to evil thoughts, Satan cannot give them, save as there is a readiness to receive them. Thus man Is fully responsible for what Satan has suggested. " Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost" (Acts 5:3)?

QUES. 23.-What is holiness according to Scripture? Was Adam holy before he sinned?

ANS.-Holiness is a positive, inherent character, the product of a nature. We would therefore prefer not applying the term to Adam, but rather to say he was innocent. Holiness is the character of God, and it is His children who through chastisement are made partakers of that.