--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Sjodahl, J. M. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 8 published: 1920-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Sjodahl, J. M., "Notes on Bible Texts," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 8 (June 1920): 731–734.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera238unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera238unse start_page: 731 end_page: 734 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1920-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera238unse publication_year: 1920 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1920, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Notes on Bible Texts Notes on Bible Texts By J. M. Sjodahl "There were giants in the earth in those cays" (Gen. 6:4). Who were these "giants?" The explanation must be looked for in the context. The "sons of God," seeing that the "daughters of men'' were beautiful, "took them wives of all which they chose," and some of their offspring became "mighty men of old." These were the "giants." They were, we may infer, men of splendid physique, strong, daring, domineering tyrants. They were men in the same class as Nimrod, after the flood, who is called "a mighty hunter before the Lord," and who became the founder of Babylon, the arch-enemy of the Church of God in all ages. But the word "giants" here, probably, stands for more than exceptional physical strength and development. Some scholars, deriving the noun translated "giants" from a verb which means "to fall," maintain that a correct rendition of our text would be: "There were fallen ones, or apostates, in the earth in those days." This is in perfect harmony with the rest of this im- portant chapter of Genesis. How was that apostasy brought about? Adam and his righteous posterity inhabited the Land of Eden. Cain located in the Land of Nod, when expelled from the Land of Eden. A dividing line was thus drawn between "the sons of God" who occupied the Land of Eden, and "the sons of men" who inhabited the Land of Nod. As time passed, however, the dividing line became less dis- tinct. "Sons of God" fell away from the religion of their ven- — erable father, crossed over into the land of Cain perhaps for business purposes, or for pleasure. There they fell in love, married, and raised children who, notwithstanding their achieve- ments in art, industry, and commerce (see Gen. 4:20-22), filled the earth with murder and vice. "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11 >. And thus came the apostasy. From a small beginning, iu the family life, it became an avalanche of corruption. Enoch was raised up. He preached the gospel and gath- ered those who accepted it into a community built upon the ce- lestial pattern of the United Order. Outside of this community, immorality increased. Enoch's Zion was taken up to God, as 732 IMPROVEMENT ERA the Saints who live at the time of the second coming of Christ will be. Once more a prophet, Noah, was sent, to warn the world, and when his testimony, extending over a period of 120 years, — was rejected, the flood came, in which the race all but Noah — and his family perished. We are here taught not to join together what God has sep- arated. Intermarriages between believers and unbelievers was disastrous to the antediluvian world. Such unions are dis- astrous to the Church of God in any age. See Deut. 7:3, 4; I Cor. 7:39; II Cor. 6:14. ""Wherefore seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). In this text we are admonished to exercise earnest diligence and unflagging perseverance in our efforts to win the crown of eternal life. The simile Paul here uses is suggested by the Olympic games, which he, undoubtedly, witnessed during his travels as a mis- sionary in Greece. The Olympic festivals were strictly religious in character, being dedicated to Zeus and Hercules. They were also peace meetings, for while they lasted, swords were sheathed and the war-scarred states of old Hellas met on consecrated — ground as one family a league of nations. Among the games popular on those occasions were foot The competitors in those contests divested themselves of races. all — that would have hindered their progress "every weight;" they laid aside even their clothes, which would have "beset" them; that is to say, which would have impeded the free move- ment of their limbs, by clinging to them. Around the arena, tiers of seats, as in a modern circus tent, were occupied by the spectators. To one who ran in the race, these must have ap- — peared as a mere mass of humanity a "cloud of witnesses" for he could not take in the details of the vast assembly, as he was speeding onward, ever onward, toward the goal. The Saints of God are also in a race, surrounded, Paul says, by a "cloud of witnesses;" namely the Saints who have already won their crown, by faith, as set forth in Heb. 11. As contest- ants in the arena, we must lay aside every "burden" of this world, under which mighty men have fallen in all ages ; and espe- — cially the sin whatever it may be in each individual case that "easily besets us;" that is, clings to us like a garment and impedes our spiritual progress. The contestants in the Olympic games, though competing only for an olive wreath, intrinsically worthless, were willing to submit to severe training and to make almost superhuman efforts NOTES ON BIBLE TEXTS 733 to win. How much more eager should we be to succeed, who are in the race for an eternal crown of glory! And we cannot be- come the victors without sacrifices and earnest endeavor. For our contest is not one with "flesh and blood" as competitors — not with mortals weak as ourselves but with principalities, powers, and the mighty rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Phil. 2:6). The word "robbery" in this text is not easily explained. It means, "pillage," "plunder," and suggests a precious highly- val- ued treasure. It emphasizes the word in the next verse, which has been translated "made himself of no reputation," but which means "emptied himself," or "made himself poor." In the text and context, we are told that our Lord, though he was in the form of God, in a pre-existent state, did not consider that to us inconceivable glory too valuable to give up, but he surren- dered it and became a servant, a bondsman, and in that form he further humbled himself and became obedient unto death, thus setting an example of humility to all his followers. In addition to this lesson of the text, there is another of supreme importance. It tells us that our Lord was in the "form of God," which means that God really has a "form," as was re- vealed through the Prophet Joseph (Doc. and Cov. 131:22). In the Christian world the prevalent notion is that God is a Being without body and parts; consequently, without form. This er- ror our text corrects. There can be no doubt about the meaning of the word "form." It stands for shape or structure as distinguished from substance and color. Moses (Gen. 1:2) says the earth first ap- peared "without form and void," and Jeremiah (4:23) uses the same expression. In I Sam. 28:14 we read that Saul asked the witch of Endor concerning the apparition she had conjured up, "What form is he of?" and that she answered, "An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle." That was the "form." Ezekiel (10:8) speaks of "the form of a man's hand," and Nebuchadnezzar, seeing the divine personage in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:25), says, "The form of the fourth is like the Son of God." In the very next verse, following our text, Paul tells us that our Lord exchanged the "form of God" for "the form of a servant," which he explains to mean that he "was made in the likeness of men." The "form of God," then, means the "likeness," "image," of God, in the same sense that the "form of a servant" means the "likeness of men." When we place a seal upon a document the characters re- produced are, as to form, identical with those on the seal; they 734 IMPROVEMENT ERA are their "express image." So Christ was the "express image" of the "person" of the Father (Heb. 1:3). He himself declares, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). And, in fact, it is impossible to think of God clearly without formu- lating the mental picture of a glorified human being. And why not? If there is something divine in humanity, there is also something human in Deity. Else, how could they be related? Christ as a glorified being, has a human form as part of his exaltation. Why should we deny this feature of eternal glory to his Father, who also is our Father and our God? © Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. INDIANS IN WASHINGTON CONFERRING ON OIL LEASE A group of full and half-breed Osage Indians, in Washington, where they came to discuss with the Committee on Indian Affairs, a revision of the laws governing the leases on oil and gas property on their reservations. These leases will cease to pay dividends after 1931, unless an extension is granted. The photo taken on the steps of the capitol, shows, left to right — Front row: Francis Claremore, Wah Sho Sha, Bacon Rind, Joe Shunkahnoie, Me Ki Wah Tiankah, and John McKinley. Middle row: John Claremore, Simon Henderson, Arthur Bonnicastle, interpreter; Orlando Kenworthy and Ed Cod. Back row: Clarence Gray, Edgar McCarthy, Ben Harrison, Pane Red Eagle, assistant chief.