^ Those who returned from the Babylonian captivity were enrolled by families in a great book kept for that purpose. The names in this roll were supposed to constitute the new Israel;
* G. Matheson, Sidelights from Patmos, 321.
340 THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY
the nation which was henceforth a religious community — a church and a kingdom in one. To this nation was committed the task of rebuilding the sacred city of Jerusalem, and re-instituting the ancient worship of God on Mount Zion. But, when the exiles got home from Babylon, these people were disgusted by the paganism and poor moral quality of their kinsmen whom they found already there. This was the reason why they were so particular about the book of names. They refused to worship with or include in their fellowship those who had intermixed with foreign nations, and degraded the service of God by heathen rites. They therefore became very strict about the qualifications for citizenship in the new Jerusalem which they had now to build. Only those whose names were on the roll as being qualified by character, training, and descent for membership in the new kingdom were admitted to the altar, or allowed to dwell within the walls. But this ideal of a City of God and a Book of Life was never forgotten. Henceforth Babylon became a synonym for the Eoman Empire, and the Book of Life a metaphor to signify those who were included in the Church of Jesus. ... It is no longer the roll of those who came back from Babylon and were found worthy of citizenship in the reconstituted kingdom of Judah ; it is the number of those who belong to Jesus in earth and heaven.^
3. It is the LamVs hook of life. — The phrase further teaches that the focus of life for fallen humanity is the Lamb. There is only one book of life for men, and that is the "Lamb's book." Men, having lost the central fount of power through the Fall, must rediscover it in the sacrificial Lamb of the cross. In the Lamb is now stored all God's power for the salvation of men. Strange that men are so slow to believe and accept this momentous truth. To-day, as in the days of His flesh, the Son of Man must often say, " Ye will not come to me, that ye may have life."
T[ It is the Leper Asylum at Bankura — where the stage be- tween the painful pilgrimage and the painless City is passed. . . . In the little church a pathetic sight is seen — squatting on the cool concrete floor, groups of men on one side, and women on the other side, are ranged. In front of the entrance the untainted children of the lepers from the Children's House are seated. The dread disease may at any time appear. ... A hymn is given out. How they sang! A strange weird tune, sweet music to the ^ R. J. Campbell, Thursday Mornings at the City Templey 284.
REVELATION xxi. 27 341
angels bending down to hear the lepers' song of praise. Some lips were swollen and features disfigured. Others hid, under the one white garment, hands and feet from which fingers and toes were rapidly disappearing, or had already vanished. After the hymn every head was bent in prayer, an address was delivered, and then, after another hymn, came the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The missionary took the bread from one to another and slowly and with difficulty in many cases it was eaten, until he came to one bright-faced woman whose hands were mere shape- less pads ; she tried to raise the bread but dropped it, and after a fruitless effort to recover it held out the end of her sari and lifted that to her lips. The cup was of course impossible. The minister with a spoon poured the wine into each upturned mouth ; then all joined in repeating the beautiful words of the service.
" They which are written in the Lamb's book of life " enter in, leaving the uncleanness this side of that beautiful painless City.^
T[ An illustration may be given of the use which Stanley made of the opportunities of talking with working men, when showing them over Westminster Abbey. In 1882, at Bletchley Station, a gentleman travelling from Norwich to Liverpool entered a third- class smoking-compartment, which had as its other occupants two soldiers.
" We were," he said, " a very quiet party ; one of the soldiers was reading a tract, the other was smoking. I was trying to decipher the title of the tract, or, if possible, to get into con- versation with the reader of it, who sat opposite to me. At Eugby my opportunity came, when I proffered a light, at the same time asking what was the tract that seemed to interest them so much, for the second man was now reading it. I learnt that the tract was ' WyclifPe and the Bible.' They had each read it twice, and begged me to accept it, as it was ' so good everybody should read it.' 'Where is your home?' I asked. 'Chester, sir.' I said, ' I, too, am from a cathedral city — the city of Norwich.' ' Norwich ! ' both of them exclaimed, ' why, that's where Dean Stanley lived ! ' ' Yes,' I said, ' but what do you know about Dean Stanley ? ' I shall never forget the expression of the face turned towards me, as the speaker said, ' Me and my mate here have cause to bless the Lord that we ever saw good Dean Stanley, sir, I can tell you.' Then they recounted to me how some years before, when they had been at Shoeburyness for gunnery practice, they were released from duty a day earlier than they expected, and instead of starting for home they decided to spend the day in London. In carrying out this decision they found themselves at * The Foreign Field, April 1908.