The Bible as an Educator
Reading edition
122“When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when
thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.”
123
Mental and Spiritual Culture
“BY KNOWLEDGE SHALL THE
CHAMBERS BE FILLED WITH ALL
PRECIOUS AND PLEASANT RICHES”
For the mind and the soul, as well as for the body, it is God’s law that strength is acquired by effort. It is exercise that develops. In harmony with this law, God has provided in His word the means for mental and spiritual development.
Effort in Bible Study
The Bible contains all the principles that men need to understand in order to be fitted either for this life or for the life to come. And these principles may be understood by all. No one with a spirit to appreciate its teaching can read a single passage from the Bible without gaining from it some helpful thought. But the most valuable teaching of the Bible is not to be gained by occasional or disconnected study. Its great system of truth is not so presented as to be discerned by the hasty or careless reader. Many of its treasures lie far beneath the surface, and can be obtained only by diligent research and continuous effort. The truths that go to make up the great whole must be searched out and gathered up, “here a little, and there a little.”[149]
A Perfect Whole
When thus searched out and brought together, they will be found to be perfectly fitted to one another. Each Gospel is a supplement to the others, every prophecy an 124explanation of another, every truth a development of some other truth. The types of the Jewish economy are made plain by the gospel. Every principle in the word of God has its place, every fact its bearing. And the complete structure, in design and execution, bears testimony to its Author. Such a structure no mind but that of the Infinite could conceive or fashion.
Intellectual Discipline
In searching out the various parts and studying their relationship, the highest faculties of the human mind are called into intense activity. No one can engage in such study without developing mental power.
And not alone in searching out truth and bringing it together does the mental value of Bible study consist. It consists also in the effort required to grasp the themes presented. The mind occupied with commonplace matters only, becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. If never tasked to comprehend grand and far-reaching truths, it after a time loses the power of growth. As a safeguard against this degeneracy, and a stimulus to development, nothing else can equal the study of God’s word. As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined. The greatness of its themes, the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery, quicken and uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite can not but expand and strengthen.
Spiritual Development
And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such fellowship find his real life and development. Created to find in God his 125highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the cravings of the heart, can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. He who with sincere and teachable spirit studies God’s word, seeking to comprehend its truths, will be brought in touch with its Author; and, except by his own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of his development.
Range of Style and Subjects
In its wide range of style and subjects, the Bible has something to interest every mind and appeal to every heart. In its pages are found history the most ancient; biography the truest to life; principles of government for the control of the state, for the regulation of the household,—principles that human wisdom has never equaled. It contains philosophy the most profound, poetry the sweetest and the most sublime, the most impassioned and the most pathetic. Immeasurably superior in value to the productions of any human author are the Bible writings, even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.
The Central Theme
The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads,”[150] the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme,—man’s uplifting,—the 126power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[151]
An Infinite Field
He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure-house of God’s word.
The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science that is the study of the angels and of all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite,—“kept in silence through times eternal;”[152] the science that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul.
Truths Life-Begetting.
“The excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.” “The words that I speak unto you,” said Jesus, “they are spirit, and they are life.” “This is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send.”[153]
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word of God. This word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One. It transforms the nature, and re-creates the soul in the image of God.
Life-Sustaining
The life thus imparted is in like manner sustained. “By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”[154] shall man live.
The mind, the soul, is built up by that upon which it feeds; and it rests with us to determine upon what it 127shall be fed. It is within the power of every one to choose the topics that shall occupy the thoughts and shape the character. Of every human being privileged with access to the Scriptures, God says, “I have written to him the great things of My law.” “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”[155]
Possibilities of Companionship
Not a Stranger
With the word of God in his hands, every human being, wherever his lot in life may be cast, may have such companionship as he shall choose. In its pages he may hold converse with the noblest and best of the human race, and may listen to the voice of the Eternal as He speaks with men. As he studies and meditates upon the themes into which “the angels desire to look,”[156] he may have their companionship. He may follow the steps of the heavenly Teacher, and listen to His words as when He taught on mountain and plain and sea. He may dwell in this world in the atmosphere of heaven, imparting to earth’s sorrowing and tempted ones thoughts of hope and longings for holiness; himself coming closer and still closer into fellowship with the Unseen; like him of old who walked with God, drawing nearer and nearer the threshold of the eternal world, until the portals shall open, and he shall enter there. He will find himself no stranger. The voices that will greet him are the voices of the holy ones, who, unseen, were on earth his companions,—voices that here he learned to distinguish and to love. He who through the word of God has lived in fellowship with heaven, will find himself at home in heaven’s companionship.
128
Science and the Bible
“WHO KNOWETH NOT IN ALL
THESE THAT THE HAND OF THE
LORD HATH WROUGHT?”
Harmony of Nature and Revelation
Since the book of nature and the book of revelation bear the impress of the same master mind, they can not but speak in harmony. By different methods, and in different languages, they witness to the same great truths. Science is ever discovering new wonders; but she brings from her research nothing that, rightly understood, conflicts with divine revelation. The book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. They make us acquainted with God by teaching us something of the laws through which He works.
Evolution of the Earth
Inferences erroneously drawn from facts observed in nature have, however, led to supposed conflict between science and revelation; and in the effort to restore harmony, interpretations of Scripture have been adopted that undermine and destroy the force of the word of God. Geology has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the Mosaic record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or even millions of years.
Bible Record of the Creation
129Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature. Of the first day employed in the work of creation is given the record, “The evening and the morning were the first day.”[157] And the same in substance is said of each of the first six days of creation week. Each of these periods Inspiration declares to have been a day consisting of evening and morning, like every other day since that time. In regard to the work of creation itself the divine testimony is, “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.”[158] With Him who could thus call into existence unnumbered worlds, how long a time would be required for the evolution of the earth from chaos? In order to account for His works, must we do violence to His word?
Changes at the Flood
It is true that remains found in the earth testify to the existence of men, animals, and plants much larger than any now known. These are regarded as proving the existence of vegetable and animal life prior to the time of the Mosaic record. But concerning these things Bible history furnishes ample explanation. Before the flood, the development of vegetable and animal life was immeasurably superior to that which has since been known. At the flood the surface of the earth was broken up, marked changes took place, and in the re-formation of the earth’s crust were preserved many evidences of the life previously existing. The vast forests buried in the earth at the time of the flood, and since changed to coal, form the extensive coal fields, and yield the supplies of oil, that minister to our comfort and convenience to-day. These things, as they are brought to light, are so many witnesses mutely testifying to the truth of the word of God.
Evolution of Man
130Akin to the theory concerning the evolution of the earth, is that which attributes to an ascending line of germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds the evolution of man, the crowning glory of the creation.
When consideration is given to man’s opportunities for research; how brief his life; how limited his sphere of action; how restricted his vision; how frequent and how great the errors in his conclusions, especially as concerns the events thought to antedate Bible history; how often the supposed deductions of science are revised or cast aside; with what readiness the assumed period of the earth’s development is from time to time increased or diminished by millions of years; and how the theories advanced by different scientists conflict with one another,—considering all this, shall we, for the privilege of tracing our descent from germs and mollusks and apes, consent to cast away that statement of Holy Writ, so grand in its simplicity, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him”?[159] Shall we reject that genealogical record,—prouder than any treasured in the courts of kings,—“which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God”?[160]
The Divine Working in Nature
Rightly understood, both the revelations of science and the experiences of life are in harmony with the testimony of Scripture to the constant working of God in nature.
In the hymn recorded by Nehemiah, the Levites sung, “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all.”[161]
The All-Embracing Providence
As regards this earth, Scripture declares the work of creation to have been completed. “The works were 131finished from the foundation of the world.”[162] But the power of God is still exercised in upholding the objects of His creation. It is not because the mechanism once set in motion continues to act by its own inherent energy that the pulse beats, and breath follows breath. Every breath, every pulsation of the heart, is an evidence of the care of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. From the smallest insect to man, every living creature is daily dependent upon His providence.
“These wait all upon Thee....
That Thou givest them they gather;
Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good.
Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled;
Thou takest away their breath, they die,
And return to their dust.
Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created;
And Thou renewest the face of the earth.”[163]
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds;
And the cloud is not rent under them....
He hath compassed the waters with bounds,
Until the day and night come to an end.”
“The pillars of heaven tremble
And are astonished at His rebuke.
He stilleth the sea with His power....
By His Spirit the heavens are beauty;
His hand hath pierced the gliding serpent.
Lo, these are but the outskirts of His ways;
And how small a whisper do we hear of Him! |“Who Can Understand?”|
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”[164]
“The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.”[165]
A Personal God
The mighty power that works through all nature and sustains all things is not, as some men of science claim, merely an all-pervading principle, an actuating 132energy. God is a spirit; yet He is a personal being, for man was made in His image. As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son. Jesus, the outshining of the Father’s glory, “and the express image of His person,”[166] was on earth found in fashion as a man. As a personal Saviour, He came to the world. As a personal Saviour, He ascended on high. As a personal Saviour, He intercedes in the heavenly courts. Before the throne of God in our behalf ministers “One like the Son of man.”[167]
The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, declares of Christ that “all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”[168] The hand that sustains the worlds in space, the hand that holds in their orderly arrangement and tireless activity all things throughout the universe of God, is the hand that was nailed to the cross for us.
Omnipresence; Omniscience
The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven;”[169] yet by His Spirit He is everywhere present. He has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand.
“Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,
Who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!”
“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;
If I make my bed in the grave,[170] behold, Thou art there.
“If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me,
And Thy right hand shall hold me.”[171]
133“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways....
Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I can not attain unto it.”[172]
“A Father unto You”
It was the Maker of all things who ordained the wonderful adaptation of means to end, of supply to need. It was He who in the material world provided that every desire implanted should be met. It was He who created the human soul, with its capacity for knowing and for loving. And He is not in Himself such as to leave the demands of the soul unsatisfied. No intangible principle, no impersonal essence or mere abstraction, can satisfy the needs and longings of human beings in this life of struggle with sin and sorrow and pain. It is not enough to believe in law and force, in things that have no pity, and never hear the cry for help. We need to know of an almighty arm that will hold us up, of an infinite Friend that pities us. We need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. And even so God has in His word revealed Himself.
Mysteries in Nature
He who studies most deeply into the mysteries of nature will realize most fully his own ignorance and weakness. He will realize that there are depths and heights which he can not reach, secrets which he can not penetrate, vast fields of truth lying before him unentered. He will be ready to say, with Newton, “I seem to myself to have been like a child on the seashore finding pebbles and shells, while the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me.”
“Through Faith We Understand”
134The deepest students of science are constrained to recognize in nature the working of infinite power. But to man’s unaided reason, nature’s teaching can not but be contradictory and disappointing. Only in the light of revelation can it be read aright. “Through faith we understand.”[173]
“In the beginning God.”[174] Here alone can the mind in its eager questioning, fleeing as the dove to the ark, find rest. Above, beneath, beyond, abides Infinite Love, working out all things to accomplish “the good pleasure of His goodness.”[175]
The Divine Teacher
“The invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are ... perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity.”[176] But their testimony can be understood only through the aid of the divine Teacher. “What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”[177]
“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”[178] Only by the aid of that Spirit who in the beginning “was brooding upon the face of the waters;” of that Word by whom “all things were made;” of that “true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” can the testimony of science be rightly interpreted. Only by their guidance can its deepest truths be discerned.
Only under the direction of the Omniscient One shall we, in the study of His works, be enabled to think His thoughts after Him.
135
Business Principles and Methods
“HE THAT WALKETH UPRIGHTLY
WALKETH SURELY”
Business Man’s Manual
There is no branch of legitimate business for which the Bible does not afford an essential preparation. Its principles of diligence, honesty, thrift, temperance, and purity are the secret of true success. These principles, as set forth in the book of Proverbs, constitute a treasury of practical wisdom. Where can the merchant, the artisan, the director of men in any department of business, find better maxims for himself or for his employees than are found in these words of the wise man:—
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”[179]
“In all labor there is profit; but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.”[179]
Every-Day Maxims
“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing.” “The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.”[180]
“A talebearer revealeth secrets; therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.”[181]
“He that hath knowledge spareth his words;” but “every fool will be meddling.”[182]
136“Go not in the way of evil men;” “can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”[183]
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.”[184]
“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.”[184]
The whole circle of our obligation to one another is covered by that word of Christ’s, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”[185]
A Financial Safeguard
How many a man might have escaped financial failure and ruin by heeding the warnings, so often repeated and emphasized in the Scriptures:—
“He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”[186]
“Wealth gotten in haste shall be diminished; but he that gathereth by labor shall have increase.”[187]
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.”[188]
“The borrower is servant to the lender.”[188]
“He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it; and he that hateth suretyship is sure.”[188]
“Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is mighty; He shall plead their cause with thee.” “He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.” “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.”[189]
Basis of Confidence
These are principles with which are bound up the well-being of society, of both secular and religious associations. It is these principles that give security to property and life. For all that makes confidence 137and co-operation possible, the world is indebted to the law of God, as given in His word, and as still traced, in lines often obscure and well-nigh obliterated, in the hearts of men.
Best Capital
The psalmist’s words, “The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver,”[190] state that which is true from other than a religious point of view. They state an absolute truth, and one that is recognized in the business world. Even in this age of passion for money-getting, when competition is so sharp, and methods are so unscrupulous, it is still widely acknowledged that, for a young man starting in life, integrity, diligence, temperance, purity, and thrift constitute a better capital than any amount of mere money.
Yet even of those who appreciate the value of these qualities and acknowledge the Bible as their source, there are but few who recognize the principle upon which they depend.
Stewardship
That which lies at the foundation of business integrity and of true success is the recognition of God’s ownership. The Creator of all things, He is the original proprietor. We are His stewards. All that we have is a trust from Him, to be used according to His direction.
This is an obligation that rests upon every human being. It has to do with the whole sphere of human activity. Whether we recognize it or not, we are stewards, supplied from God with talents and facilities, and placed in the world to do a work appointed by Him.
138To every man is given “his work,”[191]—the work for which his capabilities adapt him,—the work which will result in greatest good to himself and to his fellow-men, and in greatest honor to God.
“Be Not Anxious”
Thus our business or calling is a part of God’s great plan, and, so long as it is conducted in accordance with His will, He Himself is responsible for the results. “Laborers together with God,”[192] our part is faithful compliance with His directions. Thus there is no place for anxious care. Diligence, fidelity, care-taking, thrift, and discretion are called for. Every faculty is to be exercised to its highest capacity. But the dependence will be, not on the successful outcome of our efforts, but on the promise of God. The word that fed Israel in the desert, and sustained Elijah through the time of famine, has the same power to-day. “Be not anxious,[193] saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?... Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”[194]
Tithing
He who gives men power to get wealth has with the gift bound up an obligation. Of all that we acquire He claims a specified portion. The tithe is the Lord’s. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree,” “the tithe of the herd or of the flock, ... shall be holy unto the Lord.”[195] The pledge made by Jacob at Bethel shows the extent of the obligation. “Of all that Thou shalt give me,” he said, “I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”[196]
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,”[197] is God’s command. No appeal is made to gratitude or to generosity. This is a matter of simple honesty. The 139tithe is the Lord’s; and He bids us return to Him that which is His own.
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”[198] If honesty is an essential principle of business life, must we not recognize our obligation to God,—the obligation that underlies every other?
Ministry
By the terms of our stewardship we are placed under obligation, not only to God, but to man. To the infinite love of the Redeemer every human being is indebted for the gifts of life. Food and raiment and shelter, body and mind and soul,—all are the purchase of His blood. And by the obligation of gratitude and service thus imposed, Christ has bound us to our fellow-men. He bids us, “By love serve one another.”[199] “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”[200]
“I Am Debtor”
“I am debtor,” Paul declares, “both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.”[201] So also are we. By all that has blessed our life above others, we are placed under obligation to every human being whom we might benefit.
These truths are not for the closet more than for the counting-room. The goods that we handle are not our own, and never can this fact safely be lost sight of. We are but stewards, and on the discharge of our obligation to God and man depend both the welfare of our fellow-beings and our own destiny for this life and for the life to come.
Profit and Loss
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it 140tendeth to poverty.” “Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” “The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”[202]
“Labor not to be rich.... Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”[203]
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye meet withal it shall be measured to you again.”[204]
“Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”[205]
The Best-Paying Investment
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field.... And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land.”[206]
“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage 141shall reach unto the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, ... and none shall make you afraid.”[207]
Security for Deposit
“Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” “Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and Thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.” “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.”[208]
He who makes this investment lays up double treasure. Besides that which, however wisely improved, he must leave at last, he is amassing wealth for eternity,—that treasure of character which is the most valuable possession of earth or heaven.
Insurance
“The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”[209]
“He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; ... he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not;” “he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, ... and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; ... bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off.”[210]
142God has given in His word a picture of a prosperous man,—one whose life was in the truest sense a success, a man whom both heaven and earth delighted to honor. Of his experiences Job himself says:—
A Successful Career
“In the ripeness of my days,
When the secret of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me; ...
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the broad place,[211]
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed....
“For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me;
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, and him[211] that had none to help him.
“The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy;
And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.”
“The stranger did not lodge in the street;
But I opened my doors to the traveler.”
“Unto me men gave ear, and waited.... |Its Crown of Honor|
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.”[212]
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it.”[213]
“Riches and honor are with Me,” declares Wisdom; “yea, durable riches and righteousness.”[214]
A Fruitless Venture
143The Bible shows also the result of a departure from right principles in our dealing both with God and with one another. To those who are entrusted with His gifts but indifferent to His claims, God says:—
“Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.... Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.” “When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.” “Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste.” “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings.” “Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.”[215]
Gains That Impoverish
“Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, ... ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.” “The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto.” “Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another, ... and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.”[216]
“He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”[217]
144The accounts of every business, the details of every transaction, pass the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong.
The Audit
“If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice, ... marvel not at the matter; for He that is higher than the highest regardeth.” “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”[218]
“They set their mouth against the heavens, and ... say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?” “These things hast thou done,” God says, “and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”[219]
A Witness Never Silenced
“I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.... This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by My name; and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.”[220]
Against every evil-doer God’s law utters condemnation. He may disregard that voice, he may seek to drown its warning, but in vain. It follows him. It makes itself heard. It destroys his peace. If unheeded, 145it pursues him to the grave. It bears witness against him at the judgment. A quenchless fire, it consumes at last soul and body.
“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”[221]
The Question of Questions
This is a question that demands consideration by every parent, every teacher, every student,—by every human being, young or old. No scheme of business or plan of life can be sound or complete that embraces only the brief years of this present life, and makes no provision for the unending future. Let the youth be taught to take eternity into their reckoning. Let them be taught to choose the principles and seek the possessions that are enduring,—to lay up for themselves that “treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth;” to make to themselves friends “by means of the mammon of unrighteousness,” that when it shall fail, these may receive them “into the eternal tabernacles.”[222]
All who do this are making the best possible preparation for life in this world. No man can lay up treasure in heaven without finding his life on earth thereby enriched and ennobled.
“Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”[223]
146
Bible Biographies
“WHO THROUGH FAITH SUBDUED
KINGDOMS, WROUGHT RIGHTEOUSNESS,
FROM WEAKNESS WERE MADE STRONG”
A Faithful Delineation
As an educator no part of the Bible is of greater value than are its biographies. These biographies differ from all others in that they are absolutely true to life. It is impossible for any finite mind to interpret rightly, in all things, the workings of another. None but He who reads the heart, who discerns the secret springs of motive and action, can with absolute truth delineate character, or give a faithful picture of a human life. In God’s word alone is found such delineation.
No truth does the Bible more clearly teach than that what we do is the result of what we are. To a great degree the experiences of life are the fruition of our own thoughts and deeds.
“The curse causeless shall not come.”[224]
Retribution
“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; ... unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.”[225]
“Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts.”[226]
Terrible is this truth, and deeply should it be impressed. Every deed reacts upon the doer. Never a human being but may recognize, in the evils that curse his life, fruitage of his own sowing. Yet even thus we are not without hope.
Experience of Jacob
147To gain the birthright that was his already by God’s promise, Jacob resorted to fraud, and he reaped the harvest in his brother’s hatred. Through twenty years of exile he was himself wronged and defrauded, and was at last forced to find safety in flight; and he reaped a second harvest, as the evils of his own character were seen to crop out in his sons;—all but too true a picture of the retributions of human life.
But God says: “I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.... Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.”[227]
Gain through Loss
Jacob in his distress was not overwhelmed. He had repented, he had endeavored to atone for the wrong to his brother. And when threatened with death through the wrath of Esau, he sought help from God. “Yea, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication.” “And He blessed him there.”[228] In the power of His might the forgiven one stood up, no longer the supplanter, but a prince with God. He had gained not merely deliverance from his outraged brother, but deliverance from himself. The power of evil in his own nature was broken; his character was transformed.
At eventide there was light. Jacob, reviewing his life-history, recognized the sustaining power of God,—“the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.”[229]
148The same experience is repeated in the history of Jacob’s sons,—sin working retribution, and repentance bearing fruit of righteousness unto life.
God does not annul His laws. He does not work contrary to them. The work of sin He does not undo. But He transforms. Through His grace the curse works out blessing.
The Levites
Of the sons of Jacob, Levi was one of the most cruel and vindictive, one of the two most guilty in the treacherous murder of the Shechemites. Levi’s characteristics, reflected in his descendants, incurred for them the decree from God, “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”[230] But repentance wrought re-formation; and by their faithfulness to God amidst the apostasy of the other tribes, the curse was transformed into a token of highest honor.
A Curse Transformed
“The Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name.” “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name.... He walked with Me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.”[231]
The appointed ministers of the sanctuary, the Levites received no landed inheritance; they dwelt together in cities set apart for their use, and received their support from the tithes and the gifts and offerings devoted to God’s service. They were the teachers of the people, guests at all their festivities, and everywhere honored as servants and representatives of God. 149To the whole nation was given the command: “Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.” “Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance.”[232]
Report of the Spies
The truth that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he,”[233] finds another illustration in Israel’s experience. On the borders of Canaan the spies, returned from searching the country, made their report. The beauty and fruitfulness of the land were lost sight of, through fear of the difficulties in the way of its occupation. The cities walled up to heaven, the giant warriors, the iron chariots, daunted their faith. Leaving God out of the question, the multitude echoed the decision of the unbelieving spies, “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.”[234] Their words proved true. They were not able to go up, and they wore out their lives in the desert.
By Faith to Conquest
Two, however, of the twelve who had viewed the land, reasoned otherwise. “We are well able to overcome it,”[234] they urged, counting God’s promise superior to giants, walled cities, or chariots of iron. For them their word was true. Though they shared with their brethren the forty years’ wandering, Caleb and Joshua entered the land of promise. As courageous of heart as when with the hosts of the Lord he set out from Egypt, Caleb asked for and received as his portion the stronghold of the giants. In God’s strength he drove out the Canaanites. The vineyards and olive-groves where his feet had trodden became his possession. Though the cowards and rebels perished in the wilderness, the men of faith ate of the grapes of Eschol.
One Evil Cherished
150No truth does the Bible set forth in clearer light than the peril of even one departure from the right,—peril both to the wrong-doer and to all whom his influence shall reach. Example has wonderful power; and when cast on the side of the evil tendencies of our nature, it becomes well-nigh irresistible.
Decoys of the Tempter
The strongest bulwark of vice in our world is not the iniquitous life of the abandoned sinner or the degraded outcast; it is that life which otherwise appears virtuous, honorable, and noble, but in which one sin is fostered, one vice indulged. To the soul that is struggling in secret against some giant temptation, trembling upon the very verge of the precipice, such an example is one of the most powerful enticements to sin. He who, endowed with high conceptions of life and truth and honor, does yet wilfully transgress one precept of God’s holy law, has perverted his noble gifts into a lure to sin. Genius, talent, sympathy, even generous and kindly deeds, may thus become decoys of Satan to entice souls over the precipice of ruin.
This is why God has given so many examples showing the results of even one wrong act. From the sad story of that one sin which “brought death into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden,” to the record of him who for thirty pieces of silver sold the Lord of glory, Bible biography abounds in these examples, set up as beacons of warning at the byways leading from the path of life.
There is warning also in noting the results that have followed upon even once yielding to human weakness and error, the fruit of the letting go of faith.
One Failure of Faith
Loss to Elijah
151By one failure of his faith, Elijah cut short his life-work. Heavy was the burden that he had borne in behalf of Israel; faithful had been his warnings against the national idolatry; and deep was his solicitude as during three years and a half of famine he watched and waited for some token of repentance. Alone he stood for God upon Mount Carmel. Through the power of faith, idolatry was cast down, and the blessed rain testified to the showers of blessing waiting to be poured upon Israel. Then in his weariness and weakness he fled before the threats of Jezebel, and alone in the desert prayed that he might die. His faith had failed. The work he had begun, he was not to complete. God bade him anoint another to be prophet in his stead.
But God had marked the heart-service of His servant. Elijah was not to perish in discouragement and solitude in the wilderness. Not for him the descent to the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the presence of His glory.
These life-records declare what every human being will one day understand,—that sin can bring only shame and loss; that unbelief means failure; but that God’s mercy reaches to the deepest depths; that faith lifts up the repenting soul to share the adoption of the sons of God.
Discipline
All who in this world render true service to God or man receive a preparatory training in the school of sorrow. The weightier the trust and the higher the service, the closer is the test and the more severe the discipline.
Study the experiences of Joseph and of Moses, of 152Daniel and of David. Compare the early history of David with the history of Solomon, and consider the results.
David
David in his youth was intimately associated with Saul, and his stay at court and his connection with the king’s household gave him an insight into the cares and sorrows and perplexities concealed by the glitter and pomp of royalty. He saw of how little worth is human glory to bring peace to the soul. And it was with relief and gladness that he returned from the king’s court to the sheepfolds and the flocks.
In Training for the Throne
When by the jealousy of Saul driven a fugitive into the wilderness, David, cut off from human support, leaned more heavily upon God. The uncertainty and unrest of the wilderness life, its unceasing peril, its necessity for frequent flight, the character of the men who gathered to him there,—“every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,”[235]—all rendered the more essential a stern self-discipline. These experiences aroused and developed power to deal with men, sympathy for the oppressed, and hatred of injustice. Through years of waiting and peril, David learned to find in God his comfort, his support, his life. He learned that only by God’s power could he come to the throne; only in His wisdom could he rule wisely. It was through the training in the school of hardship and sorrow that David was able to make the record—though afterward marred with his great sin—that he “executed judgment and justice unto all his people.”[236]
Solomon
The discipline of David’s early experience was lacking in that of Solomon. In circumstances, in character, and in life, he seemed favored above all others. Noble 153in youth, noble in manhood, the beloved of his God, Solomon entered on a reign that gave high promise of prosperity and honor. Nations marveled at the knowledge and insight of the man to whom God had given wisdom. But the pride of prosperity brought separation from God. From the joy of divine communion Solomon turned to find satisfaction in the pleasures of sense. Of this experience he says:—
The Pride of Prosperity
“I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards; ... I got me servants and maidens; ... I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem.... And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor.... Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.”
Unsatisfied
“I hated life.... Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun.”[237]
By his own bitter experience, Solomon learned the emptiness of a life that seeks in earthly things its highest good. He erected altars to heathen gods, only to learn how vain is their promise of rest to the soul.
The Late Return
In his later years, turning wearied and thirsting from 154earth’s broken cisterns, Solomon returned to drink at the fountain of life. The history of his wasted years, with their lessons of warning, he by the Spirit of inspiration recorded for after-generations. And thus, although the seed of his sowing was reaped by his people in harvests of evil, the life-work of Solomon was not wholly lost. For him at last the discipline of suffering accomplished its work.
But with such a dawning, how glorious might have been his life’s day, had Solomon in his youth learned the lesson that suffering had taught in other lives!
God’s Witnesses
For those who love God, those who are “the called according to his purpose,”[238] Bible biography has a yet higher lesson of the ministry of sorrow. “Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God,”[239]—witnesses that He is good, and that goodness is supreme. “We are made a theater unto the world, both[240] to angels and to men.”[241]
Accusation from Satan
Unselfishness, the principle of God’s kingdom, is the principle that Satan hates; its very existence he denies. From the beginning of the great controversy he has endeavored to prove God’s principles of action to be selfish, and he deals in the same way with all who serve God. To disprove Satan’s claim is the work of Christ and of all who bear His name.
It was to give in His own life an illustration of unselfishness that Jesus came in the form of humanity. And all who accept this principle are to be workers together with Him in demonstrating it in practical life. To choose the right because it is right; to stand for truth at the cost of suffering and sacrifice,—“this is the 155heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.”[242]
The Testing of Job
Very early in the history of the world is given the life-record of one over whom this controversy of Satan’s was waged.
Of Job, the patriarch of Uz, the testimony of the Searcher of hearts was, “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.”
Against this man, Satan brought scornful charge: “Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?... Put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath;” “touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.”
The Lord said unto Satan, “All that he hath is in thy power.” “Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.”
Thus permitted, Satan swept away all that Job possessed,—flocks and herds, men-servants and maidens, sons and daughters; and he “smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.”[243]
Misconception of Adversity
Still another element of bitterness was added to his cup. His friends, seeing in adversity but the retribution of sin, pressed on his bruised and burdened spirit their accusations of wrong-doing.
Seemingly forsaken of heaven and earth, yet holding fast his faith in God and his consciousness of integrity, in anguish and perplexity he cried:—
“My soul is weary of my life.”
“O that Thou wouldst hide me in the grave,
That Thou wouldst keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past,
That Thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me!”[244]
156“Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard;
I cry for help, but there is no judgment....
He hath stripped me of my glory, |Hath God Forsaken?|
And taken the crown from my head....
My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends have forgotten me....
They whom I loved are turned against me....
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me!”
“O that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come even to His seat!...
Behold, I go forward, but He is not there;
And backward, but I can not perceive Him;
On the left hand, where He doth work, but I can not behold Him;
He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I can not see Him; |Faith’s Assurance|
But He knoweth the way that I take;
When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”
“I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And that He shall stand up at the last upon the earth;
And after my skin hath been destroyed, this shall be,
Even from my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I shall see for myself,
And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.”[245]
“So Was It unto Job”
According to his faith, so was it unto Job. “When He hath tried me,” he said, “I shall come forth as gold.”[246] So it came to pass. By his patient endurance he vindicated his own character, and thus the character of Him whose representative he was. And “the Lord turned the captivity of Job; ... also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.... So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.”[247]
On the record of those who through self-abnegation have entered into the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, 157stand—one in the Old Testament and one in the New—the names of Jonathan and of John the Baptist.
A Faithful Friend
Jonathan, by birth heir to the throne, yet knowing himself set aside by the divine decree; to his rival the most tender and faithful of friends, shielding David’s life at the peril of his own; steadfast at his father’s side through the dark days of his declining power, and at his side falling at the last,—the name of Jonathan is treasured in heaven, and it stands on earth a witness to the existence and the power of unselfish love.
The Unwavering Witness
John the Baptist, at his appearance as the Messiah’s herald, stirred the nation. From place to place his steps were followed by vast throngs of people of every rank and station. But when the One came to whom he had borne witness, all was changed. The crowds followed Jesus, and John’s work seemed fast closing. Yet there was no wavering of his faith. “He must increase,” he said, “but I must decrease.”[248]
Time passed, and the kingdom which John had confidently expected was not established. In Herod’s dungeon, cut off from the life-giving air and the desert freedom, he waited and watched.
There was no display of arms, no rending of prison doors; but the healing of the sick, the preaching of the gospel, the uplifting of men’s souls, testified to Christ’s mission.
Fellowship in Sacrifice
Alone in the dungeon, seeing whither his path, like his Master’s, tended, John accepted the trust,—fellowship with Christ in sacrifice. Heaven’s messengers attended him to the grave. The intelligences of the universe, fallen and unfallen, witnessed his vindication of unselfish service.
“There Hath Not Risen a Greater”
And in all the generations that have passed since 158then, suffering souls have been sustained by the testimony of John’s life. In the dungeon, on the scaffold, in the flames, men and women through centuries of darkness have been strengthened by the memory of him of whom Christ declared, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater.”[249]
“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, ... and Samuel, and of the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
“Through Faith”
“Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”[250]
159
Poetry and Song
“THY STATUTES HAVE BEEN
MY SONGS IN THE HOUSE OF MY
PILGRIMAGE”
Poetry of the Bible
The earliest as well as the most sublime of poetic utterances known to man are found in the Scriptures. Before the oldest of the world’s poets had sung, the shepherd of Midian recorded those words of God to Job,—in their majesty unequaled, unapproached, by the loftiest productions of human genius:—
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Or who shut up the sea with doors,
When it brake forth; ...
When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
And prescribed for it My decree,
And set bars and doors,
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
“Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,
And caused the dayspring to know its place?...
“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? |The Earliest Poem|
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all.
“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof?...
160“Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail?...
By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the water-flood,
Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;
On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;
And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?”
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?”[251]
From “Song of Songs”
For beauty of expression read also the description of spring-time, from the “Song of Songs”:—
“Lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs,
And the vines are in blossom,
They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”[252]
And not inferior in beauty is Balaam’s unwilling prophecy of blessing to Israel:—
161“From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East;
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel. |An Ancient Prophecy|
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him;
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations....
“Behold, I have received commandment to bless;
And He hath blessed, and I can not reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel;
The Lord his God is with him,
And the shout of a King is among them....
Surely there is no enchantment against[253] Jacob,
Neither is there any divination against[253] Israel;
Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel,
What hath God wrought!”
“He saith, which heareth the words of God, |“The Vision of the Almighty”|
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty: ...
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the riverside,
As lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted,
As cedar-trees beside the waters.”
“He hath said, which heard the words of God,
And knew the knowledge of the Most High: ...
I shall see Him, but not now;
I shall behold Him, but not nigh;
There shall come a Star out of Jacob,
And a Scepter shall rise out of Israel....
Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion.”[254]
Sacred Song
The melody of praise is the atmosphere of heaven; and when heaven comes in touch with the earth, there is music and song,—“thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”[255]
Above the new-created earth, as it lay, fair and unblemished, under the smile of God, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”[256] So human hearts, in sympathy with heaven, have responded to God’s goodness in notes of praise. Many of the events of human history have been linked with song.
162The earliest song recorded in the Bible from the lips of men was that glorious outburst of thanksgiving by the hosts of Israel at the Red Sea:—
At the Red Sea
“I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously;
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He is become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”
“Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power,
Thy right hand, O Lord, dasheth in pieces the enemy.
Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
“The Lord shall reign forever and ever....
Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath triumphed gloriously.”[257]
Great have been the blessings received by men in response to songs of praise. The few words recounting an experience of the wilderness journey of Israel have a lesson worthy of our thought:—
Unsealed by Song
“They went to Beer; that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”[258] “Then sang Israel this song:—
“Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:
The well which the princes digged,
Which the nobles of the people delved,
With the scepter, and with their staves.”[259]
How often in spiritual experience is this history repeated! how often by words of holy song are unsealed in the soul the springs of penitence and faith, of hope and love and joy!
With Praise
163It was with songs of praise that the armies of Israel went forth to the great deliverance under Jehoshaphat. To Jehoshaphat had come the tidings of threatened war. “There cometh a great multitude against thee,” was the message, “the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside.” “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” And Jehoshaphat, standing in the temple-court before his people, poured out his soul in prayer, pleading God’s promise, with confession of Israel’s helplessness. “We have no might against this great company that cometh against us,” he said; “neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee.”[260]
“The Battle Is Not Yours”
Then upon Jahaziel a Levite “came the Spirit of the Lord; ... and he said, Harken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.... Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.... Fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them; for the Lord will be with you.”[261]
Victory
“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa.”[262] Before the army went singers, lifting their voices in praise to God,—praising Him for the victory promised.
On the fourth day thereafter, the army returned to Jerusalem, laden with the spoil of their enemies, singing praise for the victory won.
164Through song, David, amidst the vicissitudes of his changeful life, held communion with heaven. How sweetly are his experiences as a shepherd lad reflected in the words:—
The Shepherd Psalm
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters....
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”[263]
In his manhood a hunted fugitive, finding refuge in the rocks and caves of the wilderness, he wrote:—
“In the Shadow of Thy Wings”
“O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee;
My soul thirsteth for Thee; my flesh longeth for Thee,
In a dry and weary land, where no water is....
Thou hast been my help,
And in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.”
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
Who is the health of my countenance,
And my God.”
“The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?”[264]
The same trust is breathed in the words written when, a dethroned and crownless king, David fled from Jerusalem at the rebellion of Absalom. Spent with grief and the weariness of his flight, he with his company had tarried beside the Jordan for a few hours’ rest. He was awakened by the summons to immediate flight. In the darkness, the passage of the deep and 165swift-flowing stream must be made by that whole company of men, women, and little children; for hard after them were the forces of the traitor-son.
In that hour of darkest trial, David sang:—
Songs in the Night
“I cried unto the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me out of His holy hill.
“I laid me down and slept;
I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,
That have set themselves against me round about.”[265]
After his great sin, in the anguish of remorse and self-abhorrence he still turned to God as his best friend:
“Have mercy upon me, according to Thy loving-kindness;
According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions....
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”[266]
Yearnings for Home
In his long life, David found on earth no resting-place. “We are strangers before Thee, and sojourners,” he said, “as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.”[267]
“God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”
“There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:
God shall help her, at the dawn of morning....
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.”
“This God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even unto death.”[268]
166With a song, Jesus in His earthly life met temptation. Often when sharp, stinging words were spoken, often when the atmosphere about Him was heavy with gloom, with dissatisfaction, distrust, or oppressive fear, was heard His song of faith and holy cheer.
The Saviour’s Song
On that last sad night of the Passover supper, as He was about to go forth to betrayal and to death, His voice was lifted in the psalm:—
“Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same
The Lord’s name is to be praised.”
“I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He hath inclined His ear unto me,
Therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
“The sorrows of death compassed me,
And the pains of hell gat hold upon me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord:
O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yea, our God is merciful.
“The Lord preserveth the simple;
I was brought low, and He helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.”[269]
In the Last Crisis
Amidst the deepening shadows of earth’s last great crisis, God’s light will shine brightest, and the song of hope and trust will be heard in clearest and loftiest strains.
167“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Open ye the gates,
That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
Whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.
Trust ye in the Lord forever;
For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”[270]
“With Singing unto Zion”
“The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”[271]
“They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord; ... and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.”[272]
The history of the songs of the Bible is full of suggestion as to the uses and benefits of music and song. Music is often perverted to serve purposes of evil, and it thus becomes one of the most alluring agencies of temptation. But, rightly employed, it is a precious gift of God, designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes, to inspire and elevate the soul.
Power of Song
As the children of Israel, journeying through the wilderness, cheered their way by the music of sacred song, so God bids His children to-day gladden their pilgrim life. There are few means more effective for fixing His words in the memory than repeating them in song. And such song has wonderful power. It has 168power to subdue rude and uncultivated natures; power to quicken thought and to awaken sympathy, to promote harmony of action, and to banish the gloom and foreboding that destroy courage and weaken effort.
A Means of Education
It is one of the most effective means of impressing the heart with spiritual truth. How often to the soul hard-pressed and ready to despair, memory recalls some word of God’s,—the long-forgotten burden of a childhood song,—and temptations lose their power, life takes on new meaning and new purpose, and courage and gladness are imparted to other souls!
The value of song as a means of education should never be lost sight of. Let there be singing in the home, of songs that are sweet and pure, and there will be fewer words of censure, and more of cheerfulness and hope and joy. Let there be singing in the school, and the pupils will be drawn closer to God, to their teachers, and to one another.
As a part of religious service, singing is as much an act of worship as is prayer. Indeed, many a song is prayer. If the child is taught to realize this, he will think more of the meaning of the words he sings, and will be more susceptible to their power.
The Angels’ Song
As our Redeemer leads us to the threshold of the Infinite, flushed with the glory of God, we may catch the themes of praise and thanksgiving from the heavenly choir round about the throne; and as the echo of the angels’ song is awakened in our earthly homes, hearts will be drawn closer to the heavenly singers. Heaven’s communion begins on earth. We learn here the keynote of its praise.
169
Mysteries of the Bible
“CANST THOU BY SEARCHING
FIND OUT GOD?”
“Canst Thou Find Out God?”
No finite mind can fully comprehend the character or the works of the Infinite One. We can not by searching find out God. To minds the strongest and most highly cultured, as well as to the weakest and most ignorant, that holy Being must remain clothed in mystery. But though “clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne.”[273] We can so far comprehend His dealing with us as to discern boundless mercy united to infinite power. We can understand as much of His purposes as we are capable of comprehending; beyond this we may still trust the hand that is omnipotent, the heart that is full of love.
Ground for Trust
The word of God, like the character of its Author, presents mysteries that can never be fully comprehended by finite beings. But God has given in the Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine authority. His own existence, His character, the truthfulness of His word, are established by testimony that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. True, He has not removed the possibility of doubt; faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration; those who wish to doubt have opportunity; but those who desire to know the truth find ample ground for faith.
170We have no reason to doubt God’s word because we can not understand the mysteries of His providence. In the natural world we are constantly surrounded with wonders beyond our comprehension. Should we then be surprised to find in the spiritual world also mysteries that we can not fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind.
Mysteries Evidence of Divinity
The mysteries of the Bible, so far from being an argument against it, are among the strongest evidences of its divine inspiration. If it contained no account of God but that which we could comprehend; if His greatness and majesty could be grasped by finite minds, then the Bible would not, as now, bear the unmistakable evidences of divinity. The greatness of its themes should inspire faith in it as the word of God.
Simplicity and Adaptation
The Bible unfolds truth with a simplicity and an adaptation to the needs and longings of the human heart that has astonished and charmed the most highly cultivated minds, while to the humble and uncultured also it makes plain the way of life. “The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”[274] No child need mistake the path. Not one trembling seeker need fail of walking in pure and holy light. Yet the most simply stated truths lay hold upon themes elevated, far-reaching, infinitely beyond the power of human comprehension,—mysteries that are the hiding of His glory,—mysteries that overpower the mind in its research, while they inspire the sincere seeker for truth with reverence and faith. The more we search the Bible, the deeper is our conviction that it is the word of the living God, and human reason bows before the majesty of divine revelation.
Limit to Comprehension
God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of 171His word shall be ever unfolding. While “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children.”[275] The idea that certain portions of the Bible can not be understood has led to neglect of some of its most important truths. The fact needs to be emphasized, and often repeated, that the mysteries of the Bible are not such because God has sought to conceal truth, but because our own weakness or ignorance makes us incapable of comprehending or appropriating truth. The limitation is not in His purpose, but in our capacity. Of those very portions of Scripture often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” that we may be “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”[276]
Inexhaustible Riches
It is impossible for any human mind to exhaust even one truth or promise of the Bible. One catches the glory from one point of view, another from another point; yet we can discern only gleamings. The full radiance is beyond our vision.
As we contemplate the great things of God’s word, we look into a fountain that broadens and deepens beneath our gaze. Its breadth and depth pass our knowledge. As we gaze, the vision widens; stretched out before us we behold a boundless, shoreless sea.
Such study has vivifying power. The mind and heart acquire new strength, new life.
Tested by Experience
This experience is the highest evidence of the divine authorship of the Bible. We receive God’s word as food for the soul, through the same evidence by which we receive bread as food for the body. Bread supplies the need of our nature; we know by experience that it 172produces blood and bone and brain. Apply the same test to the Bible: when its principles have actually become the elements of character, what has been the result? what changes have been made in the life?—“Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”[277] In its power, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan, have been transformed into the image of God. This change is itself the miracle of miracles. A change wrought by the word, it is one of the deepest mysteries of the word. We can not understand it; we can only believe, as declared by the Scriptures, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”[278]
A knowledge of this mystery furnishes a key to every other. It opens to the soul the treasures of the universe, the possibilities of infinite development.
Pledge of Eternal Growth
And this development is gained through the constant unfolding to us of the character of God,—the glory and the mystery of the written word. If it were possible for us to attain to a full understanding of God and His word, there would be for us no further discovery of truth, no greater knowledge, no further development. God would cease to be supreme, and man would cease to advance. Thank God, it is not so. Since God is infinite, and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, we may to all eternity be ever searching, ever learning, yet never exhaust the riches of His wisdom, His goodness, or His power.
173
History and Prophecy
“WHO HATH DECLARED THIS FROM
ANCIENT TIME? HAVE NOT I THE
LORD? THERE IS NO GOD ELSE”
The Earliest of Annals
The Bible is the most ancient and the most comprehensive history that men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth, and throughout the ages a divine hand has preserved its purity. It lights up the far-distant past, where human research in vain seeks to penetrate. In God’s word only do we behold the power that laid the foundations of the earth, and that stretched out the heavens. Here only do we find an authentic account of the origin of nations. Here only is given a history of our race unsullied by human pride or prejudice.
Philosophy of History
In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counter-play of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.
Distribution of Races
The Bible reveals the true philosophy of history. In those words of matchless beauty and tenderness 174spoken by the apostle Paul to the sages of Athens is set forth God’s purpose in the creation and distribution of races and nations: He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.”[279] God declares that whosoever will may come “into the bond of the covenant.”[280] In the creation it was His purpose that the earth be inhabited by beings whose existence should be a blessing to themselves and to one another, and an honor to their Creator. All who will may identify themselves with this purpose. Of them it is spoken, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.”[281]
God has revealed in His law the principles that underlie all true prosperity both of nations and of individuals. “This is your wisdom and your understanding,” Moses declared to the Israelites of the law of God. “It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life.”[282] The blessings thus assured to Israel are, on the same conditions and in the same degree, assured to every nation and every individual under the broad heavens.
National Prosperity
The power exercised by every ruler on the earth is Heaven-imparted; and upon his use of the power thus bestowed, his success depends. To each the word of the divine Watcher is, “I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me.”[283] And to each the words spoken to Nebuchadnezzar of old are the lesson of life: “Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.”[284]
The Source of Power
175To understand these things,—to understand that “righteousness exalteth a nation;” that “the throne is established by righteousness,” and “upholden by mercy;”[285] to recognize the outworking of these principles in the manifestation of His power who “removeth kings, and setteth up kings,”[286] —this is to understand the philosophy of history.
In the word of God only is this clearly set forth. Here it is shown that the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity with which they fulfil God’s purpose.
Object of Government
An illustration of this truth is found in the history of ancient Babylon. To Nebuchadnezzar the king the true object of national government was represented under the figure of a great tree, whose height “reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth; the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all;” under its shadow the beasts of the field dwelt, and among its branches the birds of the air had their habitation.[287] This representation shows the character of a government that fulfils God’s purpose,—a government that protects and upbuilds the nation.
Babylon the Great
God exalted Babylon that it might fulfil this purpose. Prosperity attended the nation, until it reached a height of wealth and power that has never since been equaled,—fitly represented in the Scriptures by the inspired symbol, a “head of gold.”[288]
But the king failed of recognizing the power that had exalted him. Nebuchadnezzar in the pride of his heart said: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built 176for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?”[289]
Its Oppressive Power
Instead of being a protector of men, Babylon became a proud and cruel oppressor. The words of Inspiration picturing the cruelty and greed of rulers in Israel, reveal the secret of Babylon’s fall, and of the fall of many another kingdom since the world began: “Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed; but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”[290]
Retribution
To the ruler of Babylon came the sentence of the divine Watcher: O king, “to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee.”[291]
“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,
Sit on the ground; there is no throne....
Sit thou silent,
And get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms.”[292]
“O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures,
Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.”
“Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldee’s excellency,
Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
“I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.”[293]
Rise and Fall of Nations
Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that 177it might be seen whether it would fulfil the purpose of “the Watcher and the Holy One.” Prophecy has traced the rise and fall of the world’s great empires,—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied by another.
While the nations rejected God’s principles, and in this rejection wrought their own ruin, it was still manifest that the divine, overruling purpose was working through all their movements.
Vision of the Cherubim
This lesson is taught in a wonderful symbolic representation given to the prophet Ezekiel during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans. The vision was given at a time when Ezekiel was weighed down with sorrowful memories and troubled forebodings. The land of his fathers was desolate. Jerusalem was depopulated. The prophet himself was a stranger in a land where ambition and cruelty reigned supreme. As on every hand he beheld tyranny and wrong, his soul was distressed, and he mourned day and night. But the symbols presented to him revealed a power above that of earthly rulers.
The Guiding Hand
Upon the banks of the river Chebar, Ezekiel beheld a whirlwind seeming to come from the north, “a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber.” A number of wheels, intersecting one another, were moved by four living beings. High above all these was the “likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” “And there appeared in the cherubim the form of 178a man’s hand under their wings.”[294] The wheels were so complicated in arrangement that at first sight they appeared to be in confusion; but they moved in perfect harmony. Heavenly beings, sustained and guided by the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, were impelling these wheels; above them, upon the sapphire throne, was the Eternal One; and round about the throne a rainbow, the emblem of divine mercy.
As the wheel-like complications were under the guidance of the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of human events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations, He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of the earth.
A Place in God’s Purpose
The history of nations that one after another have occupied their allotted time and place, unconsciously witnessing to the truth of which they themselves knew not the meaning, speaks to us. To every nation and to every individual of to-day God has assigned a place in His great plan. To-day men and nations are being measured by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes.
Fulfilment of Prophecy
The history which the great I AM has marked out in His word, uniting link after link in the prophetic chain, from eternity in the past to eternity in the future, tells us where we are to-day in the procession of the ages, and what may be expected in the time to come. All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order.
179The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the word of truth. In the prophecy uttered when sentence from God was pronounced upon the last king of Israel is given the message:—
“Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; ... exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.”[295]
The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, “It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.”
Signs of the Times
That time is at hand. To-day the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.... Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”[296]