Ver. 21.-Unbearable light. When clouds are cleared from the face. of the sun we cannot bear to look up at the splendour of unveiled light. This is the case even in our thick and humid atmosphere ; but it is much more so in the East, where the sun shines in its terrible strength. The unbearable light is a type· of the· majesty of God. · · , ·: I. GoD VEILS ms GLORY IN CLOUDS. The day often begins with clouds about the'Sun. Then we can look at the splendour of the dawn, because the ever-shifting panorama .or crimson and gold that heralds in the day is visible to us in colours that our eyes can endure to look at. God begins the education of his children in a light that is tempered to suit their feeble vision. But a common mistake is to forget that God is condescending to our weakness, and t.o limit our conception of God to the measured rev.elation; Thus we form partial a.nd human ideas of God. If his cloud is thick and dark. we do not see bis glorious light, a.nd then we accuse him of the darkness; .and narrow and unjust thoughts of God spring up in our hearts. Difficulties in nature and ·providence trouble us. Vexatious thoughts about the apparent imperfection of God's works fill our minds with doubt. And all the while the simple truth is tha.t God is merciful and oonsiderate, veiling himself in clouds for the very purpose of sparing us. . .. . . . Il. Gon's UNVEILED GLOBY WOULD BE AN UNBEARAl!L'E LIGHT. 'fhis·we-commonly say and instinctively feel Let us now ask how it should be BO, 1! Ignorancs-ia dazzl«J, by absolute kr,owledge. The beginner is not'helped, he is only perplexed, when he is favoured with the most advanced thoughts of the: ripe schob.r. If all God's truth were suddenly flashed out to us it would be incomprehensible and overwbe.lming. 2. Sin shrin~from perfect holiness. The centre of God's eternal light is his purity. In our sin we cannot bear to look upon this. 3. Finits life cannot endure the fulness of infinik life. Our sympathies endeavour to respo.nd to the appeals that draw them out. But when those appeals are infinite, our own life is swallowed up iri the response. If we entered fully int.o the life of God, our life would be extingoished ae the:light,of the stars is quenched in that of the sun; ' · . ,.· ... ,.: III. GoD EDUCATES us BY GRADUALLY UNVEILING: ms 1JLOBY, ·The clouds are rolled back by degrees. Twilight is a merciful gift of providence, tempering the finit approaoh of the light, and saving us from the shock of the sudden exchange of,,night for day, God's education of bis people is gradual. 1. Riw~lation is progresllivB.· Adam could not endure the light which Christ brought. Early ages were trained by degrees to,,fit them for the growing light of God's truth. We have not ·reached all knowledge. Christ has many things to tell us, but we cannot bear them now (John xvi.12). "God has yet more light and .truth to break forth from. bis Word!' 2. Individw,J, lives are 1" epared for fJf'OWng light. We cannot endure on earth the glory that shall be , ~vealed in hea.ven. Our early Christian experience is not capable of receiving· ,all 1li;1t God wishes to reveal to us; therefore he rolls back the clouds by slow degroos, CH. XXXVIII, 1-41.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 607
preparing for the great apoonlypse. "Now we eee through a gla.se, darkly; bat then face to foco" (1 Oor. xiii. 12).-W. F. A. Ver. 28,-T/ie mystery of God. We cannot find out Clod. In his great stren<1th nnd perfect equity he will rentler an account to no man, Here is a mystery, but ~ne that is saved from terror by a sufficient revelation to reassure ue of the true righte1Jus- noss of God. I. 'fHE MYSTERY IS IN TIIE ACTION OF Goo. His nature is mysterious. But we are not distressed by the difficulty of comprehending it, for we know it must be beyond our grasp, and wo may be content to live in peace without solving tbe most abstruse problem& of theology. It is very different with the action of God. This affects us closely. We see it in our common life in the world. Yet here too is mystery. 1. Nature is a mystery. ~ot ouly cannot we understand its origin, but 'l\'e cannot soe whither it ie tending. The great machine rolls on to a future beyond our imagination. What is God doing with it? How is he using all the pain and failure of it? 2. Providence is a mystery. We cannot see why God acts as he does, giving prosperity to one and adversity to another without reasons that we can discover. Why does he permit the simple, honest man to fail, and the clever rogue to succeed? 3. Religion is a mystery. 'l'here are mysterious doctrines in it; these we can endure. But there are also mysterious experiences. We cannot understand the dark days of strange thoughts and sad feelings, the weariness and failure, through which we have to pass. II. THE CHABAOTEB OF Goo IS REVEALED TO us. Let us be fair and see what is known before we sit down and despair over the mystery of God. It is better to fix our eyes on the light we have than to brood in helpless melancholy over the darkness that surrounds it on every side, Now we know what it most concerns us to know about God. We need not understand the exact process if we can see the end. But if the character of God is revealed, we may be sure that the end of God's actions will agree with it. God has made himself known to us as perfect righteousness. That is enough. Then all he does must be righteous-" in plenty of justice." We can trust God for what he is, even when we do not understand what he does. III. THE JdYSTEBY OF Goo IS IN HARMONY WITH THE REVELATION OF Goo. There is a close connection between the two. They do not contradict one another. On the contrary, the revelation leads up to the mystery. That revelation shows equity. Now, equity implies a fair treatment of all things. It is not a simple notion like love or anger. If God is just, he must take into account others besides the one person he is dealing with, and more than the pleasure or pain of the present moment. Large issues are at stake, wide interests are involved. These must go beyond our small world· of observation. Therefore, because we believe in the equity of God, we must expect him to act in mystery. It is not for us to call him to account. The idea of doing so suggests an unworthy doubt. We should trust his righteousness without asking him to solve the mystery of his action.-W. F. A.