QUES. 5.-Does the expression, "Israel and Judah," often recurring in Scripture before the division of the nation under Rehoboam, indicate that the characteristics of the ten and the two tribes respectively were such as to warrant that distinction before the actual separation ?

ANS.-yes. The characteristics which produced the break were there before the actual separation as well as after. See 2 Samuel 19, 20. What chafing between the tribes! Notice also that when the nation is reunited, the characteristics which divided it are removed. " Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim " (Is. 11 :13).

An important lesson suggests itself to our mind as we write this :When Rehoboam started a movement to reunite the tribes, the Lord forbade it. Why? Did He not love and desire its unity? He certainly did ; more so than anyone else. Was it not to His reproach that the nation was divided ? Surely it was. Why then oppose Rehoboam's attempt to reunite the tribes ? Because Rehoboam could not remove what had produced the division. God alone could do that, and God alone can again make the nation one. This is of great importance to us now in the actual conditions of the Church. It is a sinful condition which produces division among the people of God now, as it did then, and if that condition is not removed, bringing back the people together is but for the worse. The proof of the evil condition being removed is in the genuine repentance of the people, a repentance which lays the roots of the evil bare before God and all concerned. Israel is yet divided, and shall be one again only after that tribulation (such as never was nor ever shall be after) has stripped them of their stubbornness and pride. Then will they individually flow together as naturally as drops of water meet and flow together.

QUES. 6.-Until what age are children responsible to be subject to their parents ?

ANS.-The law among men has settled upon ages which are supposed to be ages of discretion, and as a rule such laws are just and wise :on one hand, condemning lawlessness ; on the other, tyranny, for there is danger in both. A refined moral sense will go further than age limits, and demand subjection in the child during the time of dependence on the parent for support. Where the love of Christ prevails in the family, the children will not be anxious to shake off parental oversight and counsel, but will rather seek, cherish and obey it; nor will parents assert authority unduly, but will rather seek to carefully develop conscience in their children and leave them free, as soon as they deem it safe, to find their own path.

QUES.7. – Would you kindly say if the two verses, Rev. 20:4, 5, are not found in any of the old Greek manuscripts ? There are two women around our neighborhood with "Pastor Russell's" writings, and in one of their papers my eye fell on the above. He explains thus :"It is supposed that it got into the text, not through any desire to corrupt the same and falsify the record, but that in the days when the manuscripts were copied by pen, some copyist made this memorandum on the margin of his manuscript, supposed it to be a part of the original, and incorporated it in the text."

ANS. – All of the ancient manuscripts have these verses (4 and 5). There is not the shadow of a doubt as to them. The denial of which you speak is a pure invention of that impostor, who is probably as ignorant of the Greek as such men usually are, but are fond of making themselves and other people believe that they are very learned.

QUES. 8. – Where there are no brothers but only sisters, would they do the will of God in having the Lord's supper together?

ANS. – From what we know of the word of God, we think not. We have no direct passage in mind, but the whole drift of Scripture, we believe, is opposed to it.

QUES. 9. – Kindly explain who is represented in the angel of Rev. 2:1?

ANS.- We are positively told in Rev. 1:20 that the "stars" are the "angels" of the assemblies – they are essentially one therefore. The "star" indicates the light that shines upon the candlestick ; the "angel " represents the spirit of the assembly, in contrast with the body, or outward form.

The star and the angel therefore represent what light or testimony is found in that assembly.

QUES. 10. – Should the wife of a brother give to the collection basket, or should her husband be the only one to give? Has Scripture anything to say about it ?

ANS. – It depends on circumstances, in which good common sense serves well. A brother's wife may have an income of her own, or, as we suppose it to be the case generally, receives from her husband a certain personal allowance. In such cases the money is her own, to be spent as her wisdom may dictate. As to Scripture, it says :"Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him " (1 Cor. 16:2). Having some means in hand under her personal control, she is as free and as bound as any other of the Lord's stewards to tax her income for the Lord's use, and put this tax, or what part of it she judges best, in the basket as her husband does. If she has no personal money, she can of course give nothing-a pleasure of which we trust but few husbands would deprive their wives. In some cases the husband brings his weekly earnings in toto to his wife, who then has the responsibility of attending to the expenditures. In such cases an agreement should be between them that he should keep a certain part for the collection basket, or, as the Lord's money, set apart for the Lord's use alone. This fund is then their united fellowship, from which each one draws as occasion may call for. In many cases the wife receives so much per week or month or year for housekeeping expenses. While doing no injury to the housekeeping, she will probably find a way to make it contribute a share to the needs of others, if her heart is with Him who gave even His own life for us.

We would take occasion here to say that the assembly's collection basket is not the only channel through which to bestow our gifts. What we put there belongs to the assembly for its gifts according to its counsel and judgment. But individually one will always find opportunity to bestow here and there out of the treasury which he has set apart for the Lord.

QUES. 11.-Having received much help from your magazine, I desire your Christian advice on a subject which has greatly exercised me of late. I am a young man with ties to one of the warring nations of Europe, and an able-bodied young man is almost despised if he does not enlist for the war. I have no fear as to my life, for I know my sins are forgiven ; but is it right for a follower of the Lord Jesus to be found in deadly strife with his fellow-men? This has kept me back, though it is hard to be despised by one's fellows.

ANS.-Your exercises are quite right. We understand your dislike to being thought unpatriotic, but when faithfulness to Christ is involved we have no choice. We can but obey, let results be what they may.

Speaking of His own, the Lord said, "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world » (Jno. 17 :16). This gives us a place clean apart from this world and all its enterprises. Again the Lord said to His disciples, "Love your enemies … do good to them that hate you," etc. (Matt. 5 :44). If this is the Christian's path, how can he consistently go to kill his fellows? Of course when appeal is made to help save the fatherland, there is great temptation, for where is he who does not love his native land? Man also naturally loves war,' and when a noble purpose is linked with it brings strong temptation. But the Christian has been born from above. As a Christian, therefore, his true native land now is heaven, where Christ is. This changes everything for him. When their country is in danger, the citizens of this world offer themselves to defend it, and we can understand there is glory in laying down their lives for it. So should we do for the interests of our country whence we have been born-our heavenly country. We also '' ought to lay down our lives for the brethren'' (1 Jno. 3 :16). Christ calls us to walk here even as He walked ; He used no sword, nor may we. If we disobey, we lose communion with Him, and a Christian out of communion with Christ is like a railway engine off the track, or a ship which has lost her rudder.

It must be painful enough if the Christian is constrained by the government under which he lives to take up arms ; it requires much faith to refuse it ; but to do it deliberately, of his own will, is too sad to think of. Thoughts of Christ and of the Christian calling must have fallen very low. We know that many Christians, since the Church and the world joined hands, have not realized the heavenly and separate character of the Christian calling. To them the Church is set here to be a reformer of the world, and therefore to take part in its struggles. God, who is compassionate, and great in patience, may use and even bless His children who, in ignorance', but with a good conscience, are out of their proper place ; whilst He might rebuke another in the same place with more light, but not obedient to it.

May the Lord keep you faithful to Himself and your Christian calling, with what light you have, while suffering the consequences in patience and love.

For lack of space, answers to other questions must be deferred till next number.