^ There is a beautiful legend which tells that one shepherd was kept at home watching a fevered guest the night the angels came to Bethlehem with the announcement of the birth of Jesus. The other shepherds saw the heavenly host, heard their song, and beheld the glory. Eeturning home, their hearts were wonderfully elated. But all the night Shemuel sat alone by the restless sufferer and waited. His fellow-shepherds pitied him because he had missed the vision and the glory which they had seen. But in his patient serving he had found blessing and reward of his own. He had missed, indeed, the splendour of that night in the fields, and in his serving he gave up his own life, for the fever-poison touched him and he died. But he had tasted the joy of sacrifice, and then his eyes saw a more wondrous glory when he entered the Divine presence.
Shemuel, by the fever-bed. Touched by beckoning hands that led, Died and saw the Uncreated; All his fellows lived and waited.^
Ill
Likeness.
"And his name shall be on their foreheads."
This means that they shall wear the imprint of His perfections. The name of a man is that by which he is identified and known ;
1 F. Ealand, The Spirit of Life, 63. 2 j^ ^ Miller, Our New Mens, 106.
REVELATION xxii. 3, 4 355
and as God is identified and known by His perfections, His per- fections are called His name. To have God's name is to bear a resemblance to Him — to have what we call His image and likeness. The face on which they gaze must transform, by the quickening power of its glories, each adoring spirit into its living likeness. If you turn away from the sun, your face will be in shadow, but if you turn to it, your face will shine, and the sun's name will be imprinted in letters of light upon your forehead ; and so, by a glorious necessity, those who see God will shine with His reflected Name.
This is not some mystic mark that no one can understand ; it is the beauty of holiness. When we study the Gospels and see Christ Himself, we learn what that name is which shines on the forehead of His friends. It is nothing mysterious or occult — it is patience, gentleness, thoughtfulness, humility, kindness, the spirit of forgiveness, meekness, peace, joy, goodness. People have no difficulty in discovering the marks of Jesus on those who wear them.
^ The variety of nature is as useful as it is beautiful. What if faces had been like coins, and each one had to carry his name on his forehead to be known ? His name on his forehead ! There is an obscure way in which character imprints itself on the face. The very attempt to conceal writes — Hypocrite. In the future world this shall be complete, the soul and face keeping time like work and dial-plate, — infinite variety of character, perfect trans- parency in dX\}
1. The name on the forehead is the sign of possession. Under the old dispensation a frontlet was worn upon the forehead as well as upon the left arm. The frontlet upon the left arm was tied on with a thong, which was wound around the arm until it reached the tip of the longest finger. This seemed to indicate that the power of service on the part of the individual was consecrated. The frontlet placed on the forehead between the eyes, on the contrary, was intended to express the fact that the whole intelligence of the man was consecrated to God. Thus St, John, having already re- ferred to the service rendered, now speaks of the impress of Divine ownership which the noblest feature of man shall bear — " His name shall be on their foreheads." More than that, as the plate upon
^ John Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life^ 236.
3S6 THE PERFECT LIFE
Aaron's forehead had the words written on it " Holy is the Lord," so shall those who once were God's servants become His temple priests, and, seeing His face, shall also wear upon their foreheads the name of their God, and thus bear silent but eloquent and ever- lasting witness that they are His.
Tl Devout Hindoos always have marks on their foreheads, showing the particular god they worship. The trident indicates the worship of Vishnu; while ashes made from cow- dung are rubbed on their foreheads if Siva is their special deity. What impresses one so much is that they are not ashamed to own that they are followers of their gods, while we too often are ashamed to confess that we are followers of the true and living God, and of His Son, Jesus Christ.^
^ J. M. Neale remarks that the Holy Name was set forth everywhere by the Saints of the Middle Ages; not merely in church art but in household and domestic furniture. "Go, for example," he says, " into many of the farms round here, and notice the fire-dogs that stand in the yawning chimney ; how they are wrought at the sides into those most blessed of all letters, the IHC by which our dear Lord is set forth. Nothing so mean, that it was thought unworthy of this monogram ; nothing so glorious, that it was considered unfit to have that excellent glory added thereto. Silver and gold and gems conspired together to mark out this Name on the paten, or the chalice, or the shrine ; the manufacturer of Limoges worked it out in his enamel, the art of producing which we are only beginning to recover; in the monastery potteries they burnt it in on their tiles ; in convents they embroidered it on chasuble and cope ; in the glorious windows of churches the light came in, sanctified, as it were, and hallowed by the name of the true Light. I know all this very well. But I know also that the poor peasant was encouraged, with his clasp knife, to consecrate his house by carving the same name on the hutch of his door, or the barge-boards of his roof ; the Name of Salvation could never be out of place among the dwellings of those who looked to be saved ; the Name which to adore will be the work of eternity, could never be out of place for the meditation and the worship of earth." ^