Book 'K H COPYRlGJfT DEPOSIT o 7^' ;^^ i wS* ^ ^^W i m "^ i^# '' \ ^ c^m 1 y om 1 ^^M CO W d s 1 ^ ^^ ^^^K u. O ^^^1 W n tAl z r^^^ V .^ _l G^^^H ^ z i UJ i tlJ ^^^^^^m Ul i en ^^^^^^m 3 l< ^^^F O : 00 i ^^ ■ ! -Cr- y3ak^vHD s .N33nO ■B.-^^. 'U3Sm\ HO 31NV "^ -X c8 ^ X ■ _'5 oi' uTi ^ >. n b ^ b£ - S3HDKI fog Fq_ •dBaiMVHD S.ONI>< cc No. 9 MYSTERIES UNVEILED The Hoary Past Comes Forward with Astonishing Messages for the Prophetic Future BY I 'WILLIAM A. RKDDINQ ^SEP 28^896 ^ ^ Z'^n. «t^v;/i -B' WAS m«s: Copyright, 1896, by Wm. A. Redding- British and other foreign publishers are requested to honor the integrity of this copyright PRICE: Paper Cover, 50 Cents; Cloth. $1.00 K^ A STATEMENT. In placing this book before the public it is not claimed that all the facts and thoughts in it are new, as Solomon says that there is nothing new under the sun, and I believe him. It is true that we are con- stantly meeting with things which we have never seen or heard before, but that is no proof that they were not in existence long before we met them. Principles always existed, but they lie dormant and unknown until some one comes along and, by revela- tion from some unseen force, discovers a point or two about them, and he applies them to use, and then the world declares that Mr. ^Hnvented^^ a great thing, whereas the fact is he ^Hnvented" nothing. He sim- ply discovered a thing which had been in existence ever since God was in existence. It would have been just as easy to have steam engines, bicycles, -V printing presses, sewing machines, etc., etc., 6,000 years ago, when Adam was on earth, as it is to-day. The same principles were in existence then as now, but mankind did not know it; therefore, men have not ^Hnvented'^ any thing. And when they first catch the thought or light about these unknown princi- ples, it is only a mere speck on one particular point, and when they put that point into operation more light comes to thean about other principles con- nected with it; and thus it goes, on and on, higher and higher, towards perfection — gaining a little here and a little there. So much is being said on every line of thought nowadays that it is almost impossi- ble to write upon any subject without running upon 4: A Statement. a part of some other person's thoughts, as no one man has discovered all that is known about anj thing. It is like the fine machinery we have in the w^orld to-day. One man discovered the principle of some part of it and this started another man's mind to thinking over it, so that he would see a new^ point which had never entered the mind of the first man; and thus it would go from one person to another,' each adding on a new discovery until, finally, the machine comes out to-day a marvel of intelligence. Take the great Pyramid of Egypt, for instance, as a subject. Lawyers, doctors, preachers, editors, astronomers, college professors, judges and a great host of persons have been figuring on this great stone building many centuries — especially so during the last forty years. One person discovered that the Pyramid taught astronomy; another one found that it laid down a perfect system of weights and measures for man's use. Another saw the science of geometry and trigonometry set in it; and, finally, Mr. llobert Menzies, of Scotland, caught the idea that each inch represents a year, and that it had something to do with the Bible teaching; then Mr. C. T. Russell, of Pennsylvania, U. S., thought he saw the plan of the ages laid out in it, and he wrote a chap- ter about it and added on new points, and I have used many of his points and thoughts (rearranged) in my chapter about it and have added links which other writers had overlooked. Another, has written about the Pyramid and Freemasonry. Thus it goes from one to another. Stacks of money and much time have been expended in investigating it. Great societies in Europe and also here in America have been formed to study it. It has been the wonder of earth. Like a foot-ball, it has been kicked at from A Statement. 5 all sides to sound it. The prophets Isaiah and Jere- miah knew its greatness and spoke of it 2,500 years ago. So it is out of order for any one man to claim that he is the originator of all the ideas now put forth about the Pyramid or any other thing. THE AUTHOR. August, 1896. Tracing the Thread. TRACING THE THREAD. The world has spiritualized every thing in the Bible to such an extent that it is looked upon as a sky book entirely — not having anything to do with this earth; and, as a consequence, it has lost its charm and worth in the minds of thepeople, as they re- gard it as an extremely foreign document, belonging to a far-off and high-up world, and hence its narra- tives are not interesting (to their minds) and, in most cases, not even believed as rcaUti^s, but are regarded as mere fiction, manufactured by some unknown persons to make a plausible story. The constant spiritualizing of every thing has paralyzed the state- ments in the Book so that they fall flat without even a notice. But few people seem to know that the cities, rivers, mountains and countries mentioned in the Bible are located on this earth; and when we take up our Bible and commence to read and have our geographies and histories lying open by our side so as to trace as we read, the world stands aston- ished to think that the Book is talking about move- ments here on earth. They thought it was gabbling about the sky where there could be no hope of ever locating the places mentioned. So long as a person is ignorant of the exact location of the cities, rivers, mountains, countries, etc., mentioned in it and the dates when occurrences took place, he can not fol- low the thread of the narratives, and, of course, he loses interest in them at once — especially so if he attends the Sunday-schools and churches of to-day, as they always give the Book and its subjects a far- off touch and leave the impression that it contains Tracing the Thread. -7 much which was not intended for us to know. Their preacher has often talked about the River Jordan but always left them under the impression that it was that imaginary line between this life and the life "over there," after death. I never shall forget how delighted I was (several years ago) when I first learned that the same River of Jordan as mentioned in the Bible is in existence, here on this earth, and that it starts up in the Lebanon mountains, in the north end of Palestine, and runs south through the Galilee country and empties into the Dead Sea, which is some miles southeast of Jerusalem. Of course I had studied geography and various other things in school and was a school teacher in my younger days, and yet I was intensely ignorant on all Bible subjects. I knew nothing at all on that line and did not icant to know any thing about it, as I had the idea that the Bible and its talk had nothing to do with this earth, but that it dealt entirely with dead persons, and as I was not dead I cared nothing about it. That is, I thought I was not dead; but 1 see noio that I teas dead, although I was walking around and talking like other people. I meet many dead persons nowadays walking around and arguing that it is the Tariff, or the Gold Standard or the Free Coinage or the Republican or Democratic or Populist parties or some foreign country that is causing all this uproar on the earth; and that their crop failed last year because it ^'happened''^ to be too dry or too many floods or that the cyclone took them or some other thing "happened^^ to strike. Such per- sons are dead. They know not any thing. They see not that the day of the world's trouble, men- tioned by Jesus, is now here. They think the Bible is all sky and that it applies to them after they are 8 Tracing the Thread. buried. They see not the great fact that the Bible contains a record of the movements which the various nations and individuals are to make on this earth in coming to perfection, which is God. Nothing but a terrible grinding (already starting) will make them see this fact and wake them up out of their sleep of death, so«that they can see that the great day of the battle of God Almighty is commenced. The sayings of Jesus to the young man are now clear. He said to him, "Follow Me." The young man replied, ''Let me go back and bury my father, who is dead.'' Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead." Jesus, with His wonderful illumination, loiew that the peo- ple were all dead and had no Life or knowledge in them, and that they could attend to burying that boy's father, who was simply colder and less active than the others around him. They were all dead together and knew not any thing. That saying of Jesus about the dead burying the dead always looked to me as being foolish and extremely absurd until I came out of darkness into light so that I could see how intensely dead the people are and how decid- edly wrong they regard the Bible and its teachings. Church-members and all others (except the spirit- ually illuminated) are just the same. They are all dead together and are waiting for burial. Their idea is that they must be buried and go away "over there" in order to see the Lord, not seeing the start- ling fact that the Lord is here and that the kingdom of God is within us: and if the kingdom is within us, then it is plain that the King resides in His king- dom. The president of the United States does not reside in Germany; neither does the czar of Russia reside in England. They live and have their habita- tion in their own governments, where they belong. Tracing the Thread, 9 If I want to see the president of the United States I certainly will not leave this land and go off ta an- other country to find him. Up to this time the teach ing has always been pointing us to the "over there" beyond the grave, and holding out the idea that it is impossible to speak with God or know Him until we arrive at that far-off country. This puts the Lord and the Bible and all our good time away off and uninteresting; and I am writing this book and dig- ging up the ancient things and locating placesi and giving dates, etc., to force your mind to see that the King rides up and down through the earth and han dies the nations and individuals and turns govern- ments up or down to' suit His ow^n purposes. You must know that the redemption of mankind is to take place here on earth, and that it is already com- menced with great force and velocity while dead men are walking around arguing that it is the Tariff or Free Trade or paper money or some other imag- inary thing that is w^ashing our foundation from under us. They see not that it is the River of Life turned on and that it is running through and around the Tree of Life and washing the rubbish away. The Bible tells us that the Tree of Life is to be in the center of the River of Life and also on both sides of it so that the water runs through it. Rev. 22:1-0, The Tree of Life is mankind planted in the center of God with His powerful Spirit running through and around them; therefore, the trashy stuff now piled up around men and nations is being torn away by the irresistible River. Jesus was in the middle of this River, and this is why He said *'The Father is in Me and I am in the Father." All willing mankind is (eventually) to come into the middle of this River, here on earth; and by producing facts, figures, dates 10 Tracinfj the Thread. and places I hope to break your false ideas about wanting to be buried and go away to see God when God is here. A very little circumstance, sometimeB, starts the mind on a new line of thought. For in- stance, some years ago I ijicked up a little book that was thrown around, and, as I always examine every thing, I began to read it and found that it was a sort of comment on the general character of the Jordan River, etc. Facts and figures were set forth which made it plain to my mind that it was the real river mentioned in the Bible. New light flashed across my mind, and I felt that I had discovered a great fact. The idea that the Bible occurrences had a foundation on this earth brought the Book closer home to me and I then began to think about it and look into it ; and I have gone on, from one thing to another, until I lind that it is a home Book entirely. This is Avhy I have so much to say in my publica- tions about the tribes, nations and different peoples. I know that if persons can be disentangled on all these things they will see the Bible in a new light which brings it closer home to them so that they can take it into their minds and comprehend the move- ments of God, as He handles the nations and turns governments up or down and changes the affairs of earth. It is an astonishing study and will show that every thing goes on like clock-work, with each wheel turning around in its place to produce its share of the) work in the general outcome. Some of the wheels revolve rapidly and keep up a great friction and clatter, while others go very slow and unnotic- able. These seemingh/ greatly mixed movements cause the people to think that the world drifts on in a haphazard way without management or order; but let me tell you that a careful tracing of things down Tracing the Thread. 11 the ages shows positive and perfect order and pur- poses Imit together in the smoothest way. When their time comes thej are there present, ready to drop into the notch made for them, and there is no such a thing as preventing them. You can catch Jiold of a spoke in the wheel and push backward, but it will run over you and sweep you down. But if 3^ou have sufficient foresight to see what is the mat- ter and what a certain movement means, and if you will then take hold and urge it on you thereby put 3^ourself in the current of spiritual force hovering around that movement, and you become not only enlightened but powerful. But you must be certain that you understand the purpose of God and take His side of the case; and in miaking up your mind on this point you dare not judge by appearances, as it is scarcely ever, I might say never the smooth or best looking side that is God's side when viewing the great movements of nations, etc., for the reason that mankind is turned just half way around so that its face looks in an opposite direction from God and sees things with the map turned upside down; hence the movements and pictures on the right-hand side ap- pear on the left and are standing on their heads, which looks to the deluded human eye as ridiculous; while the mixed and upside-down affairs of men on the left hand are given a correct appearance on account of being viewed from the wrong direction. It is the turning of men's faces around right that causes the uproar and clashing among them. They tnmk evil is then striking them and they will fight the turning with a vengeance and do every thing in their power to defeat it, so as to be left in their old and upside-down condition. This is exactly the sit- uation at this time throughout the earth — especially 12 Tracing the Thread. among the Anglo-Saxon nations (United States, Canada, England, etc.), where the great body of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel reside, as the Lord chose them and set them apart as the leaders in the Millen- nial Kingdom which is now being prepared for the world, and therefore, the commotion attending the preparation naturally strikes more lively and notice- able among those people, as a complete change is to take place in the affairs of earth, and as they are to lead it, the stirring and breaking are greatest among them. We, the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, were brought to England and to America and were given advantages for a purpose and we would better be fulfilling that purpose immediate} \j. The Lord will set thee on hijrh above all nations of the earth, and make thee the head and not the tail, and thou Shalt be above and not beneath.— Deut. 28:1. 10, 13. The Lord hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all other people that are upon the face of the earth. Thou Shalt be blessed above all people.— Deut. 7:(>14. I an« not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Lost Ten Tribes).— C/nJs^ //} Matt. 15:2.'f. Therefore, we being the people to whom He en- trusted His doctrines, we would better right our- selves and not be caught napping or playing with ptrtensions in the form of present church creeds. We started in the Garden of Eden and have finallv landed here in the United States for a purpose. Wo know just where we are located. We can find the spot on the map; therefore, let us hunt far our start- ing point. It is an actual spot of land on the earth, although most people think it was a sky location or a fictitious story manufactured to suit the occasion, and when we talk about hunting for the exact loca- tion of the Garden of Eden here on earth people open their eyes in astonishment. The Bible account of Tracing the Thread. 13 creation and of the Eden transaction makes no pre- tension of being inspired. It simply starts out and begins to tell things without saying who is telling them or when it occurred. It is generally believed that Moses wrote the first five books in the Old Testa- ment; and we know that Moses was born about VSTl B. 0. and that he resided the first 40 years of his life in Egypt, when he killed an Egyptian and had to run away and hide from the sheriff 40 years (see Exodus 2:11-16 and Ex. 4:18-20). This would make him 80 years old. He then returned to his old home and led the Twelve Tribes across the wilder- ness 40 3'ears, which would make him 120 years old, and it is quite probable that he wrote the book of Genesis just before his death, which oc- curred when he was 120 years of age. This would make the date of the writing of Genesis 1452 B. C. And we know that Adam was created a little over 2,500 years before this period; therefore, the record of the creation of Adam and Eve was written 2,500 years after the occurrences took place; but it is just as easy for spiritual Wisdom to look backward and see what has occurred as to look forward and tell what will occur. And whoever wrote the first five books of the Old Testament was either inspired or else an extraordinary good guesser, as statements are there made about the divisions of the people and what the outcome would be in future that present facts verify as truth. This being the case, we have a reasonable right to examine the statements about locations and the transactions which took place be- fore Genesis was written and we naturally begin at the Garden of Eden where Adam was planted, as it is generally believed that we are his descemdants and, therefore, we go to the Garden for our starting 14 Tracing the Thread. point. "But where was it located?" you will ask. "Did it, as a spot of ground, ever really exist on earth?" I am forced to believe that it did. I am aware of the fact that persons are now teaching the idea that the Garden of Eden was not a section of country, but that it was a race or races of people in whom God worked out certain purposes; therefore, those people were the "garden." This, in one sense, is true, but there certainly was a particular location called the Garden of Eden, as the Bible mentions certain well known rivers as flowing out of the Gar den and this indiwites thnt it was a section of coun- try. There isi a tendency nowadays to symbolize every Bible statement and make it vanish into thin air so that there is nothing to it. There are a great host of people who believe or pretend to believe that no such a person as Jesus ever lived. They argue that it was simply a principle and was named Jesus, but that the real flesh man Jesus was not on earth. This shows how far people will carry a thing when once they start out to spiritualize every thing in the Bible. They do away with every man, city, river, mountain, sea, house, etc., etc., and declare that no such things existed, but that they were simply prin- ciples called by those names, and that the real things never existed. They declare that there was no Moses; no Twelve Tribes o*f Israel; no city of Jeru- salem; no David; no Israel Kingdom; no Jesus; i) twelve apostles; no real crucifixion of a man on a cross; no prophet Daniel; no anything. They say that none of these things existed, although the dis- coveries of to-day are digging up old bricks and pot- tery with names and dates; and recently some old gates were dug up in Jerusalem, after having been buried nearly forty feet deep some 3.000 years. The Tracing tlic Thread. 15 Bible talks about these gates, but our spiritualizing friends say that it was all "principles" and symbols and that no gate, no city, no man living in the city ever existed; but we dig up the gates just the same. I admit that nearly every thing which took place in ancient time represented some spiritual purpose, but it is the most absurd foolishness to say that the actual thing or occurrence never was on earth. Po- litical parties strive over a certain principle. Each party has its candidate up, who is supposed to stand for or againsd: that principle as they de«ire. The vote is taken on the men, with nothing said on the ticiiet about the principle, as that is understood. After the election is all over will any person pretend to say that the actual real flesh men, as candidates, never existed? All the Bible symbols were acted out by men, women, cities, etc., and it will not do to» say that these agents of the symbols never existed, although there are people who are teaching just such foolishness, and it has a tendency to run Bible statements into a nothing, so that people regard the Bible as gabbling about the air in the sky. This is why I am writing a book of this kind. I want the people to see that the Bible deals with God's move- ments among men and governments. Jesus repre sented a grand spiritual principle. He was that principle, and He brought it to light. Jerusalem stood for a principle or was a symbol; but will any person make himself ridiculous by saying that the real flesh man Jesus and the real city of houses never existed? There is a tendency just now for the peo- ple to argue themselves and every thing else out of existence. No God; no world; no Jesus; no men. They leave every thing a great big blank, beyond all possibility of ever learning. Such trashy doctrine 16 Tracing the Thread. is destructive to men's moral and spiritnal makeup. It is possible to become acquainted with God and talk with. Him and He to talk with us and this will be done within the next few years. It is done now by a few persons scattered over the earth. But we must lay down every thing and ourselves too and give up to Him completely and then He will act as our King. Many of the seeming impossibilities are coming under our control already and many more will follow. The Garden of Eden has long been looked upon as a nothing. A mysterious figure of speech with no basis or foundation at any particular place, but the writer of Genesis describes character- istics about it that make it certain that it was lo- cated somewhere along the banks of the Euphrates river which rises at the foot of Mt. Ararat (in cen- tral Armenia) and zigzags southwest, south and southeast, 1,800 miles long, to the Persian Gulf. Now go along that river and look for other earmark?? that belonged to the Garden, according to the record which reads as follows: And a river went, out of Eden to water the grarden; and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the firfit is Pison, which compasseth the wholo land of Havilah. where there is sold, bdellium and the onyx stone. (Remember this point.) The name of the second river is Gihon. which compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (Not Ethiopia of Africa, but of Asia.) The name of the third river is Hiddekel (the Tigris river), which poeth toward the east of Assj^ria. And the fom-th river is Euphrates.— Gen. 2:10-15. Therefore, by the above description we see that four great rivers are brought into the account of the Garden location. Can any such a spot, fitting the above description, be found on earth to-day? Yes. One of the rivers (Euphrates) is a certainty. The Tracing the Thread. 17 Hiddekel (now called the Tigris river), '^which goeth toward the east of Assyria," is another certainty. It runs into the Euphrates about 120 miles northwest of the Persian Grulf. So here are tivo of the great rivers joined together. Go down the Euphrates five miles further and another great river (the Kerkhah, 500 miles long) comes in from the northeast (rather north) where it has its head in the Elam country and near a broken chain of mountains where it is possi- ble the gold, onyx-stone and bdellium were found is reported in the description quoted above in refer- ence to the Pison river which was one of the four belonging to the Eden description. This Kerkhah river may be the Pison mentioned ; and if such is the case, we have three of the rivers located. Go on down the Euphrates further and another large river (the Kuran river) comes in from the east or north- east. It may be the Gilu)n river which the Bible mentions as one of the four. The Bible says the Gihon ran clear through the land of Ethiopia. The word Ethiopia means Mrnt faces (black like sun- burn); that is, the people were dark color. These people came from Gush, the eldest son of Ham (see Gen. 10 :6) ; and Ham wa.s one of the sons of Noah (see Gen. 10:1). And wheresoever these Cush people (black color) resided, the ancients designated that country the land of Cush. Cush means black and Ethiopia means burnt faces (dark) and hence the country would be called Ethiopia (burnt faces) or Cush (black faces). For this reason (black color) three countries, in ancient times, were called Ethio- pia or land of Cush. One of these Cush (Ethiopia) countries joined the Persian Gulf on the north and extended northward along the Tigris river in Persia, to Media, which is south of the Caspian Sea. The 18 Tracing the Thread. river Kerkhah, heretofare discussed as possibly the ancient Pison river, runs clear through this Cash country. The Bible tells us that the Pison river ran clear through the land of Havilah where there is gold, onjx-stone, etc. Havilah was one of the sous of Cush. See Gen. 10:7. In ancient times the coun- try w^as named after or for the leading man or race occupying it, and it is quite likely that Havilah lived near or in the vicinity of his father, Cush, and there- fore Havilah and his descendants had a tract of country named Havilah near or in or joining the land of Cush. This would account for the Bible record which says that the Pison river ran through the land of Havilah and that the Gihon river ran through the land of Ethiopia (meaning burnt faces), which, as I have shown, is the same as Cush, which means black. Therefore, it is not hard to understand how these names are associated with each other, Havilah being the son of Cush and Cush being black, which brings th. same result as Ethiopia, which means burnt faces. Therefore, the Pison river could run through the Havilah country, while the Gihon river could run through the Ethio- pia country, which is the same as the Cush country. This would put one river in the land of Cush, the father, while the other river would be in the land of Havilah, the son. This could be possible with the two rivers (the Kerkhah and the Kuran) which I have named as possibly the Pison and the Gihon connected with the Garden of Eden description, as the Kerkhah and the Kuran both run through the Cush country; and if it was divided between the father's descendants (Cushites) and the son's de- scendants (Havilahites) it is reasonable to think one river was in the Havilah land and the other river in I Tracing the Thread. 19 the Cush (Ethiopia) land; and we have Bible evi- dence that this Cush country lay north and north- west of the Persian Gulf in Persia, Asia, and that it was traversed by rivers. See Zeph. 3 :10. Isa. 11 :ii. Ezek. 38:5. Here then we have four rivers which fulfill, reasonably well, the description laid down in the Bible about the Garden of Eden; and two of these rivers (the Euphrates and the Tigris) are counted certainties, as the Euphrates is named out- right as one and the Tigris is called Hiddekel "which goeth towards the east of Assyria," and this just fits the description of the Tigris. And we know that th? land of Cush in Asia was on the north coast of the Persian Gulf, just where all these rivers have their way; therefore, we have the Garden of Eden run down to a close quarter on earth. We have the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers as certainties; and two other rivers which fit, reasonably well, the de- scription laid down in Genesis 2:11,13. We have the land of Havilah and the land of Ethiopia or Cush; but as to this (the land of Ethiopia) you are not to get the idea that it is the Ethiopia in Africa. That, in Africa, is an entirely different tract of coun- try which was also occupied by Cush and his de- scendants. It is now called Abyssinia, Nubia and Sennaar. These tracts lie south of Egypt in Africa; but this is not the Ethiopia mentioned in connection with the Garden of Eden. It seems that there were three tracts of country occupied by the Cush (black) descendants, and each tract or vicinity was called Ethiopia (burnt faces). One of these places was in Africa, a« just described, while the other two neigh- borhoods were in Asia; and we know that one of them in Asia was on the north coast of the Persian Gulf in the vicinity of the four rivers just named. 20 Tracing the Thread. There is another spot in Asia where the Garden of Eden may have been located. At the head of the Euphrates river, up in Armenia, is a place where four great rivers rise within a few miles of each other. The Euphrates, Tigris, Araxes and the Pha- sis. The first two flow southward into the Persian Gulf, while the Araxes flows northeast into the Cas- pian Sea, while the Phasis flows northwest into the Black Sea. The Araxes and the Phasis may have been the Pison and the Gihon. Here, within a small area are the heads of four great rivers, the Euphra- tes and the Tigris being tico of them and which I have heretofore shown are certainties that belonged to the Garden according to the Bible account. The spot of country where the four rivers (in Armenia) rise is yet a beautiful location, just west of Mt. Ararat where Noah's Ark rested after the Flood. This fact is circumstantial evidence that Adam's race lived near there, as it is not probable that the Ark floated away far from where it started. But there is one objection to this spot as the Eden. It is (now at least) rather cold there. Snow covers Mt. Ararat all the time; and the climate is not so well adapted to Adam and Eve's fig-leaf clothing as the north coast of the Persian Gulf (heretofore de- scribed as the probable Eden spot) would be. How- ever, we can not form conclusions from this stand- point, as the changes in the lay of the country, pro- duced by the Flood, might have changed climatic con- ditions also. But it is reasonably certain that the Garden of Eden was located at or near one or the other of these two places. One was at or near the mouth of the Euphrates river, where four great rivers come together; while the other spot is at the head Tracing the Thread. 21 of the Euphrates where three other rivers rise and start out in different directions. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.— Gen. 2:10. This reading hardly fits the Armenia spot neax Mt. Ararat, as these (the four) rivers rise in a tract of country and start out in different directions so that their mouths are many hundreds of miles apart. The Bible description does not say that the rivers painted into four mouths, but it says that a river went out of Eden and from thence parted into four heads. From this it would be necessary for the Garden to be on the main river at a point near where the other three rivers came together and joined the Garden river. The mouths of these rivers would be together or near each other, but their four heads would be widely apart and located in different directions. This greatly favors the idea that the Garden was on the Euphrates, northwest of the Persian Gulf, where the Cush (Ethiopia in Asia) and the Havilah land was, as heretofore shown. Therefore, having found, pretty closely, the place where the Adam peo- ple started, let us briefly trace the thread to its main places, leaving out all the minor points^ and note the peculiar circumstances which would arise to scatter and drive the people to different parts of earth. The first notable occurrence of this kind was when they conceived the idea that they would build a high monument (called the Tower of Babel) to perpetuate their name. And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And as they journeyed from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there. And they said one to another. Let us build a city and a tower and make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth.— Gen. 11:1-5. 2i2 Tracing the Thread. . After the Flood the descendants of Noah located in the rich valley in Shinar along the Euphrates river, northwest of the Persian Gulf, and intended to concentrate themselves there into a close settlement and stay on that one spot of earth and build up great improvements to perpetuate their name. All thid was contrary to the divine plan, as it would leave the remainder of earth not populated; therefore, after the people had commenced their great monu- ment (Tower of Babel) the Lord confused their lan- guage so that one could not understand the other, and of course their associations were decidedly uniu teresting to each other, and they divided off into lit- tle squads — each of which contained, probably, only such persons as could speak and understand the language of that squad. And the Lord said. Behold, the people are one and they have all one lanffuag:e; let ils jjo down and confound their languagre, that they may not understand one another's spe€H?h. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.— Gen. 11:0-8. It would be natural for them then to seek a loca- tion, eacli squad to itself; and to do this they would scatter out and hunt up a location for each colony. This is just what the Lord wanted, so tiiat the earth would be populated. A careful tracking of these movements shows that as the time would cx)me for a new section of country to be settled some circum- stance would arise to divide the people in opinion so that one part would pull out and hunt up a new loca- tion. It is highly interesting to run over histoiy and notice how mysteriously these things have oc- curred. After the Noah descendants were scattered, one of them (Abraham) was chosen by the Lord to be the head or commencement of a special nation of Tracing the Thread. 23 people to lead in things godly, and, of course, they had to be specially taught and, there- fore, they were separated from other people right from the start, beginning with Abraham. He re- sided at Ur (on or near the Euphrates river) in Meso- potamia, several hundred miles north (and a little east) of Jerusalem. The Lord commanded him to leave his kindred and his old home and go southward into Palestine. The Lord said unto Abram. Get thee out of thy country (Mesopotamia) and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will shew thee, and I will make thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And Abram took Sarah his wife * * * and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan (Palestine), and into Canaan they came.— Gen. 12:1-6. They and their descendants lived in Canaan un- til their allotted time came to go Egypt, as God had told Abraham that his descendants would be driven to a strange land not belonging tO' them, and that they would stay in the strange land 400 years and be servants or slaves. And he (God) said tin to Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs: and they (the Egyptians) shall afflict them 400 years.— Gen. 15:13. A famine in Palestine (at the proper time) forced them to move to Egypt (in Africa) as this was the "strange land" mentioned by the Lord and they did stay there 400 years (from 1900 B. C. to 1500 B. C.) and towards the expiration of that time the kings of Egypt became so extremely pinching on them that they could hardly live there. Their time had come for them to move out of Egypt to Palestine which was ready for them, and Moses was down in the desert (alone) taking lessons in the spiritual school 24 Tracing the Thread. of God so as to be ready to lead the Israelites out when their last hour had expired for them to be there. Thej were grumbling and growling about the ''hard times," but never even suspicioned that God had the man (Moses) who was to lead them out down in the desert teaching him how to be a great captain over them and speak the commands of God to them. They thought a great evil had struck them in Egypt. They did not know that by mov- ing out from there and going to Palestine they could have a government of their own with God (in the pro- phets) talking with them. Their condition was to be bettered instead of being made worse, but they could not see that point, even though God had their leader (Moses) away prt^paring him for the move then. They moved over into Palestine and were estab- lished into a government of their own, but when the time came for a change in their affairs a difficulty arose among themselves and general dissatisfac- tion set in and grew worse and worse many years. Their kingdom had run its course and had come to its jumping-off place. God permitted the kings, one after another, to act in what ire would call an unreasonable manner. They were hard and cruel on the people and over-taxed them and burdened them down in every way, and the more the people complained the harder the king burdened them, un- til finally a majority of the ])ecple rose up and left the government and scattered out to some other point and set up a new thing. It is positively stated in 1 Kings 12:1-25 and 1 Kings 11:81-86 and Zech. 11 :11 that God caused the division of the Israelitish kingdom. He had a purpose in it. Zech. 11:14 says He wanted to break the brotherhood between Israel (Ten Tribes) and Judah (Jews). The purpose is not Tracing the Thread. 25 stated, but by looking back at the movements which have taken place since then we can get a little hint as to what some of the purpose was. England and all Europe w^ere lying there west of them needing these people to develop the resources of the land and at the same time spread the godly instructions which they had received many hundreds of years through Moses and the prophets. They finally drifted over that way and things went well and flourishing for a time until their time came to "move on," then re- ligious bigotry and oppression set in upon them and became so galling that they looked for a new loca- tion where they could worship God in their own way without dictation. Here was all this rich North American country lying idle with every thing favor- able in it for spiritual development and Ifis chosen family of Israel well started in spiritual schooling. It seemed proper to bring these people and this coun- try together, and circumstances arose that accom- plished it, and the result is, we find here in the United States the most advanced spiritual people — a select number of whom are to lead in the Millen- nial Kingdom and act as the "governors of Judah." Zech. 12:6. After settling in America things went on in a flourishing way a few hundred years until about all ty of the desirable parts were settled and then a condi- tion arose that gradually agitated the people to dis- contentment; and a disrupted condition will be I he result, just as eaeh change has brought during the last 6,000 years. Before the change occurred in Egypt the rulers (Pharaohs) bound them down harder and more severe until they became discon- tented and icilling to leave. In Palestine the same thing occurred. In England the oppression took on 26 Tracing the Thread. more of a religious turn. They were persecuted and forced to a certain religious belief until tlie situation became a burden. Now the oppression is of a finan- cial, social and political nature, just as it was in Egypt from 1900 B. C. to 1500 B. C. and in Palestine from 1025 B. C. to 975 B. C, which was 50 years of oppression and stubborn rulers who lashed the peo- ple right and left with tasks, taxes and trouble until they rose up and broke the kingdom. See 1 Kings 11 and 12. These chapters show that the people here now are complaining of the same things which disturbed and split the Israel kingdom 975 B. C; and the Bible positirehf declares that God did it. You see their time had come for dissolution jind scattering. The same smothered upheaval is grow- ing among us now as grew between us 975 B. C. Ex- actlji the same. IVople now are cursing their rulers, and the more they curse and froth the more contrary and pinching the rulers become. You see our time for dissolution and disruption is nearly here. A new thing is to be started up again. Palestine and Jerusalem are being cleared out and lifted up for us again. There they lie waiting for us to come back. O, ye mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come. I am for you and I will turn imto you (Palestine) and ye shall be tilled and sown; and I will multiplT men upon you— all the House of Israel. — Ezek. 3G:S-13. Every thing goes on time, and when the time comes for breaking up the old order of things and scatter- ing and collecting to a new spot on earth the causes that TNill produce it begin to set in and grow up to such proportion as to rift every thing open; and this is the sole and only cause of the present disrupted condition of politics, churches Tracing the Thread. 27 and society. Our time has come and notliing can put it down or prevent it. You might as well try to lasso the mooca. It will plow right on throT.glij the clouds undisturbed while you pound the air and curse at the pinched condition of things and blame this ruler and that ruler, etc., etc. l>ut you are not to draw from this that I advocate that God works evil. God is Love and doeth no evil, but His movements often seem to the human intellect as evil. No doubt Noah's descendants thought that a great evil had struck them when the confusion of tongues fell upon them and made their associations unpleasant — so much so that they gave up their old home and left, to other parts of earth. The Israel- ites thought a great evil had struck them wlien things became so pinching that they could not live in Egypt and had to move out; and afterwards they had to rebel against the king at Jerusalem and split the government in two. The Twelve Tribes had been living together about 1,000 years, and then to have a disruption and family quarrel seemed had indeed, but God in His book (the Bible) says, ''This thing is from il/e." 1 Kings 12:16-25. Zech. 11:14. The Bible positively declares that God confused the tongues at the Tower of Babel and scattered the peo- ple. Gen. 11:1-10. The Bible tells us that God caused Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to come over to Jerusalem and break up and carry aw^ay the Jewish kingdom. Jer. 25. Of course the Jews thought a great evil had struck them. People w^ant to hold on to the old way. They can not see the good being prepared for them. Those who are to lead the New Nation are now in the spiritual school of God, as Moses was, and the great movement will occur ere long after things become 28 Tracing the Thread, more and more pinching. Mankind is so consti- tuted that it has to be pressed and broken almost into atoms to wake it up to a sense of duty. Give men good health, a good bed in which to sleep and plenty to eat and they care nothing for God, spirit- ual things or any body. You can not even get their attention to listen to any thing spiritual. Talk on the subject makes them angry. It is only when rhey are sick or distressed in other ways and can not get relief that they are even willing to hear about the Good or the Unseen. This is one of the reasons v\iiy such terible oppression and disruptions have to come to create dissatisfaction and make them icilh ing to let go the old and hear about the new; but breaking them loose from the old way is looked upon by them as evil striking them. Viewing things from this standpoint makes us look at some peculiar expressions in the Bible, in which it is positively de- clared that God creates evil. I form the lijrbt and croato darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these thinjrs.— Isaiah 45:7. Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it?— Amos 3:6. The above scripture, if properly translated, has some meaning, but I am satisfied that mankind (at present) is not fit to pass judgment on the question, as people always look at things from a human stand- point which is ahrai/s wrong and short-sighted. For my thougMs arc not your thougTifs. ncith-cr are iiour icays mil u'