PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Great Texts of the Bible — Volume 1
James Hastings · 160,791 words · 166 reading sections
Section 61
"The Pilgrims then began to enquire if there was no other way to the Gate ; to which they answered Yes, but there hath not any save two, to wit, Enoch and Elijah, been permitted to tread that path, since the foundation of the World, nor shall, until the last Trumpet shall sound. The Pilgrims then, especially Christian,…
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The Eainbow. 1. What is it that makes the rainbow? You must have a cloud or rain, and you must have light. Now, every drop of rain is a little prism. The prism divides the pure ray of light into its several parts. You know that if you mix all the colours together you get what we call white. And if you were to mix toge…
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^y little girl looked up at the same sight and said, " Mamma, if the wrong side of heaven is so fine, how very beautiful the right side must be! "2 3. The rainbow is chiefly suggestive of thoughts either (1) of mystery or (2) of joy and sorrow. (1) Mystery. — There is no more striking illustration of the vast diffe…
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^ E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, i. 298. ' Browning, Ch/ristTruu-JSve cund EcuUr-Day, Ti. GENESIS IX. 13 173 farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. The torrent of affliction may swell and rise, and toss the heart on its heaving bosom; but God sits above the flood, enthroned for ever, and under His restr…
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^ Have not I myself known five hundred living soldiers sabred into crows'-meat for a piece of glazed cotton, which they called their Flag ; which, had you sold it at any market- cross, would not have brought above three groschen ? Did not the whole Hungarian nation rise, like some tumultuous moon- stirred Atlantic, whe…
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2. The phenomenon has actually no existence unless there is an eye to see it. Not that the eye in any sense designed or can create it, for there must be the raindrops and the sun, things altogether outside of, and separate from, the beholder, before it can come within the sphere of possible existence ; but when it has …
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In Calvary's awful scene, we behold the Divine Faithfulness. Clouds of sin have risen from the earth; a shoreless ocean of despair has covered, the life of man ; but God — the Faithful God, the Covenant-keeping God, the God who remembers that man is His child, and that in his very constitution and life He has left pled…
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It is most important that this great text should be approached from the right side. There is a moral difficulty in it — God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son — which' arrests the attention so strongly that it usually occupies the mind almost entirely. Accordingly the common title is " the Sacrifice of Isaac." B…
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If God speak to thee in the summer air, The cool soft breath thou leanest forth to feel Upon thy forehead; dost thou feel it God? Nay, but the wind : and when heart speaks to heart, And face to face, when friends meet happily, And all is merry, God is also there; — But thou perceivest but thy fellow's part; And when ou…
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The first that sailed, — her name was Joy ; She spread a smooth and ample sail, And eastward strove, with bending spars, Before the singing gale. Another sailed, — her name was Hope; No cargo in her hold she bore, Thinking to find in western lands Of merchandise a store. The next that sailed, — her name was Love;…
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3. Abraham's recognition of it. — How was Abraham able to recognize as Divine a command to sacrifice his son ? We could » 8. B. Drirer. ' J. J. S. Perowne. GENESIS XXII. I, 2 191 not 80 regard such a command : an alleged command of God to sacrifice a child could not be accepted as such; and if it were acted upon, th…
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' J. W. Colenso. GENESIS XXII. I, 2 193 idolater himself. He must often have witnessed the cruel rites, the impure and debasing practices, associated with idol worship. He may not have been free from temptation to fall back into idolatry. On all the high places, by sacred rock, and in sacred grove, fathers shed the b…
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u. Its Use to us. There are various lessons to be learned from it » J. J. S. Perowne. ' J. 0. Dykes. " A. 0. Price. GENESIS XXII. I, 2 195 1. They that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. — It was designed to reveal to posterity the fitness of this man for the unparalleled honour to which God had summon…
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^ To refuse sacrifice is to refuse the love that is one aspect of God's being. Love lays down its life unceasingly, but so it transcends time, and conquers death. It is the fulfilling of the law, but its necessity is perfect freedouL And it dies to the finite self ; but it has found the universal self, and life eternal…
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The Bartered Birthright. Literature. Benson (E. W.), Boy-Life, 190. Cox (S.), The Hebrew Twins, 2. Qreenhough (J. Q.), Half-Hours in Ood^s Older Picture Gallery, 23. Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year (Lent to Passion-Tide), 104. Maclaren (A.), Expositions : Genesis. Miller (J. R.), Devotional Hours with …
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2. Esau, in virtue of being a few minutes older than Jacob, was Isaac's natural heir. He had the rights of primogeniture, and believed that no man could wrest them from him. If ever he parted with them, it could only be by an act of his own free will. Esau's birthright, moreover, meant more than an ordinary first-born …
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Confession ; Lost innocence returns no more; We are not what we were before Transgression.^ IL Jacob and Esau. The story of Esau and Jacob suggests a problem which many have found it hard to solve. Our instincts and sympathies all > 6. Milligan. 2o8 THE BARTERED BIRTHRIGHT go with the frank daring hunter, and aga…
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* Hugh Bkok. GKN.-WUM. — 14 2IO THE BARTERED BIRTHRIGHT businesse is to breake such a Commandement, and the breaking of the Commandement shall tempt him to it. His words are but so many vomitings cast vp to the lothsomnesse of the hearers, onely those of his company loath it not. He will take vpon him with oathes to…
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* The Koran. 212 THE BARTERED BIRTHRIGHT severing, moying onward with deliberate settled purpose, through years of sufifering and of prosperity, of exile and return, of bereavement and recovery. The birthright is always before him. Rachel is won from Laban by hard service, " and the seven years seemed unto him but a …
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(3) Do not sacrifice the warmth of faith for the coldness of scepticism. — You are advocates of what is known by a much- abused word, " free-thought." You have been reading or hearing specious arguments against Christianity ; and you begin to talk of the vital truths of religion as only so many exploded super- stitions…
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Tbei vision at Bethel is comparatively simple. Jacob had ^ hitherto lived, in the shelter of his father's home, a peaceful and industrious life, with little trouble, danger, or anxiety. But now, not without^his own gri^yous fault, the peace was broken up, and he had_ become a wanderer. Yet though the wrench may have be…
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* 6. Matbeson, Sacred Songs, 53. 222 JACOB'S VISION waa holy groujud. The disciples were standing half-naked io their fishing-boat, worn oiit with the long night's fruitless toil,, when they discerned some one standing on the beaQh ; and the disciple whom^Jesjis Igyed said unto Peterj."It is the Lord." Saul of Tarsus…
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IT The thing that we dread is often the thing that brings God near. * He is sometimes a theory and His comfort a poem, until darkness and solitude cause the soul to call out for Him. And I am giving the experience of some also when I say it. was in the trouble into which sin plunged us that God first became a reality. …
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3. A Church assures us thai ive are even now living in a spiriiu^ order. — This is implied in the record of the Patriarch's * 0. A. E. Moberly, Dulu Domum, 7. GENESIS XXVIII. i6, 17 227 Vision. The angels are represented as " ascending and descending." Ascending first : earth, that is man's home, is the habitual scen…
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Thus Jacob had lived a busy, clever, varied life — a keen, competitive, skilful, successful life ; and, with the fruits of it now reaped and gathered, he would return to rest in the home of his fathers. It is sweet to dream in a foreign land of the place of one's childhood. Imagination gilds even the sordid hovel of on…
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^ This is remarkable in the mind, that it is steadied by ex- treme danger, while it is thrown into confusion by a little trouble. The physician's hand, which trembles when an insignificant sore has to be lanced, is steady and firm when an operation that may be fatal has to be performed. A petty encounter worries and ex…
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3. In spiritual matters experience varies. The personal experi- ence of each one of us differs in some respects from that of all others. There is no one rule that applies in every case. With some, the way of life is a way of peace and a path of pleasantness, leading the soul by green pastures and still waters. There ar…
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^ We discuss this wonderful event, and take sides as to whether it was a real, outward thing, or only a transaction in Jacob's soul. Some think it important to hold it literal and outward, and unsafe to regard it as mental. It is characteristic of very many of the views for which men fight, that they are excellent thin…
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Shall coo the livelong day; Then He shall say, "Arise, My love. My fair one, come away."' ' Letters of Dr. John Broton, 176. * J. E. M'Fadyen. • Christina G, Rossetti. GENESIS XXXII. 24 241 IIL The Result of the Wrestling. 1, One result is a changed name. — What an epoch in his spiritual life this was, we unders…
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GENESIS XXXII. 24 243 I have no other help, no food, no light. No hand to guide; The night is dark, my Home is not in sight, The path untried; I dare not venture in the dark alone, — I cannot find my way, if Thou be gone. I cannot yet discern Thee as Thou art; More let me see; I cannot bear the thought that I must…
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' J. Skiuuer. GENESIS xLix. lo 249 this supremacy be attached to him, then he is the tribe on which the maintenance and future history of the theocracy depend. Thus the prophecy falls into its place in the series : and when, at a later stage of the history, there is promised first (2 Sam. vii. 10-17) the permanence o…
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^ This view is set forth in a specially attractive form by Herder. We see Judah, the honoured of his brethren, victorious after battle, marching in triumphal progress to the national sanctuary (1 Sam. i.-iv.), and there laying down the emblem of authority in order to enjoy the fruits of peace, while the nations round b…
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% The sun sets on the 24th of December on the low roofs of Bethlehem, and gleams with wan gold on the steep of its stony ridge. The stars come out one by one. Time itself, as if sentient, 1 Ruth R. Chadwiok. 254 SHILOH seems to get eager, as though the hand of its augel shook as it draws on towards midnight. Bethleh…
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^ Browning's conception of Christ's supremacy does not rest on any morality He may have possessed or taught, though Morality to the uttermost. Supreme in Christ we all confess, but upon His own person, as He Himself claimed. Does the precept run, "Believe in good, In justice, truth, now understood For the first time…
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Both guns and swords are strong, no doubt, And so are tongue and pen, And so are sheaves of good bank-notes To sway the souls of men. But guns and swords, and gold and thought. Though mighty in their sphere, Are sometimes feebler than a smile, And poorer than a tear. k J. D. JooM. The Burning Bush. *S9 Literat…
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3. While this anguish was being endured in Egypt, Moses was maturing for his destiny. Self-reliance, pride of place, hot and > Daiit«, PuTf. xL 100 2, 116-17 (trww. by Paget Toyiiboe). EXODUS III. 2 263 impulsive aggressiveness, were dying in his bosom. To the education of the courtier and scholar was now added that…
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EXODUS III. 2 265 " Yes " or " No " in some one critical moment, and many a man may be in training all his life for the work of life's last hour. We sometimes try to reap in sowing time, but He never sends forth fruit until the season is fitted for the fruit, and the fruit for the season.^ Look not thou down but up 1…
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in. The Symbolism of the Burning Bush. " Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." We must, like Moses, turn aside to discern the symbols which lie beneath the vision. The symbolism of the Burning Bush has been variously explained. 1. Some regard it as typical of the in…
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Here at the roaring loom of time I ply And weave for God the garment thou seest Him by; and when Tennyson asks — The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and the plains — Are not these, 0 soul, the Vision of Him who reigns ? they are only putting into poetic form that which is a distinct truth of revelatio…
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The flame may rise, the bush may burn In deserts lone and bare : There is no waste of any bloom While God is present there. EXODUS III. 2 273 The sun of human joy may set Behind the stormy Cross : While faith within the twilight kneels There is not any loss. Some homeless prayer may be at night A wanderer on th…
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2. What did the commission of Moses mtan ? — The Israelites without faith could not come near to God. Sinful as they were, they could not, if they dared, behold the glory of God. They could not even behold the face of Moses when it shone with the radiance of God's glory; still less could they understand the revelation …
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> A. H. McNeUe. EXODUS III. 13, 14 281 with them, helper, strengthener, deliverer " ; the word is explained by the " I will be with thee," of verse 12. ^ Among other interpretations Davidson's is the most attractive. The passage receives a simple and beautiful explanation if the expression, " I will be what I will b…
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^ One of the later scientific reinforcements of the philosophic argument for immortality has been drawn from the principle of continuity. This principle has been used by the authors of the Unseen Universe as the basis for the construction of an elaborate argument for the continuation of our life after death ; and still…
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Somehow it comes. See how it haunts the soul of Martin Luther, filling his youth with awe and firing it with the passion for holiness. Constraining him to listen to the spiritual counsels of Stanfutz, then goading him to undertake the pilgrimage to Rome, where, as he climbs " the holy staircase," he swiftly learns that…
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Whither away, O brawling Stream, Whither away so fast? Fleeing for life and death you seem. Speak, as you hasten past. Answered the Brook, with a pompous roar, Tossing its creamy foam, "I go, my flood in the Main to pour — Listen, 0 Sea, I come ! " Whither away, 0 Eiver deep, Gliding so slow and calm? Your gentl…
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It was a terrible moment. The Egyptian army was pressing on behind them with chariots and horsemen, and they had no means of defence. The sea lay before them, and they had no ability to cross it. They already talked of their graves, wishing that they had been prepared somewhere else than in the wilderness. The very pro…
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IL The Direction. In what directions should progress be made ? To what are we to go forward ? 1. To more knowledge. The first essential, in order to all other progress, is progress in knowledge, a continual pressing into ' S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Service, 36. 294 FORWARD ! clearer and fuller knowledge of God…
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* B. L. Stevenson, TU Dynamiter. • Jalaluddin Eumi. 296 FORWARD ! not built upon ? What will it avail to eay or think that we are of the root if we show none of the fruit ? So the command runs : Go forward, build up yourselves on your most holy faith. Stone after stone, row after row, of gracious character has to be …
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298 FORWARD! After the roll-call of God's heroes in the Epistle to the Hebrews there is the application, " Let us run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus." With very many the reason they never go forward is that they live looking backward. The story of Lot's wife has a lesson for all time — turned not i…
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1 M. G. Pearse. 300 FORWARD ! were startled by a terrible roar. They pulled up their horses instantly and turned to each other. " That is a lion. No doubt about that," said one. " It is not safe to go on," said the other. Then each thought of the lady he loved so well, and begrudged that the rare holiday should be sp…
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From life's enchantments, Desire of place. From lust of getting Turn thou away and set thy face Toward the wilderness. EXODUS XXXIII. 14 305 The tents of Jacob As valleys spread, As goodly cedars Or fair lign aloes, white and red, Shall share thy wilderness. With awful judgments, The law, the rod. With sof…
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^ Said one lonely soul, who had been nursing his grief in secret, as the stricken doe seeks to hide the arrow that rankles in its breast, " I will pour out my soul unto the Lord," and in the sympathy of that great Companionship his sorrow was lightened, and transfigured, like rain clouds in the sun. In the dark and cl…
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^ He had of course his ups and downs during this time. ' 7. D. Huntington, Christian Believing and Living, 208. 3IO LIFE IN GOD'S PRESENCE He was in full practice, leading his life as before, but whenever we found ourselves alone together he was serious, and, though he did not again refer to his health, he never pla…
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How is the presence of God to be realized in the Christian life? 1. Think, first of all, what the presence of God is in the individual Christian's life. How infinitely more it means to us than it could have meant to Moses. To him it meant a signal honour for his people, a separation from all nations by the fact that …
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A life that leads melodious days. Her faith thro' form is pure as thine. Her hands are quicker unto good: Oh, sacred be the flesh and blood To which she links a truth divine! See thou, that countest reason ripe In holding by the law within. Thou fail not in a world of sin. And ev'n for want of such a type.^ 3. In…
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> F. B. Meyer, Monea the ServaiU of Owl, 138. EXODUS XXXIII. 14 317 has not found the principle of the Divine harmony : " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit striveth against the flesh, and the two are contrary the one to the other." We long to find some truth which shall release us from the agony, a…
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In the Mount. 1. Mountains. — It is perhaps impossible to estimate the influence which mountains have on the thought and imagination of a religious mind. There is a solemn grandeur about mountain scenery which projects an impress upon life and character. The summit of a mountain is instinctively connected in the human…
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IT I think the story of the radiance upon the face of Moses may remind us profitably that to forget ourselves is often the most efi*ective way of impressing others. Moses went up to the mountain with a burdened mind, the thought of his nation lying on his heart, and following him even in his moments of devotion. It was…
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» W, W. Tullooh. " Picture Point aufl Parable," in Sunday School., iii. 807. EXODUS XXXIV. 29 327 been caught by him during the " forty days and forty nights " in the lonely mountain where the Lord spoke to him " face to face as a man speaketh to his friend." The secret of all Christian shining is the same. Communion…
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For waiting souls to see; Some sacred word that he hath heard Their light and life shall be; Some lofty part, than which the heart Adopt no nobler can, Thou shalt receive, thou shalt believe, And thou shalt do, 0 Man!^ i Clougb, Foevu, 10. The Continual Fire. LlTERATURB. Hanter (J.), De Profundit Cla/tnnvi, 196.…
1,029 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1910); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.