The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 511

its glory'a.11 gone, that 811 a st.em out of the ancient root Ohrillt appeared. -True, he W&I¼ of the house and lineage of David, but the forlunee of that house were at their Joweet when Jesus was born. The crown of Judah had left the line of David, and had passed into the Asmonean, and then into the Mll,C(lll,bean, and· then into the (lerodian dynastiC'S, And now when the noble tree had fallen, and nothing but th" roots were left, and these hidden, buried, altogether unnoticed by men, lo1 there springs up a stem;•a shoot, out of that ancient root, small and insignificant to the eye, but de«tined to be great indeed. .And in a rpiritual senae Christ is the Root, not only of Davi'l, but of many others also. How often, when all men's earthly pride and greatne11t1 h,,ve been taken away, the tender plant of grace springs up, and Christ becomes in and to them " the Hope of glory" I Wh11t an encouragement this fact ia I N otbing seemed I - likely thlln that the house of David shonld flourish once more. But in Christ it doesao still. Yes, out oft.he roots, when all else iB gone, this 11.ew, bleeaed, and Divine growth may Rpring. II. Tmr. 0FFSPRING01" DAvm. That Christ was so is ahown: L By many Scriptures. Continually i11 ·he called the "Son of David." 2. By -tM 1117enOfJ of b,i, enemies. Could they hare.shown that he Wall not descended from David, they would h11.ve gained a great.·advantage against him •. But they tacitly. admitted it bocauee they could not disprove it. 8. By the iJ-,dogies given in Matt. i. and in I,uk&, The former gives our · Lord's · legal descent, the latter his natuml descent._ J esua · being adopted by ?oseyh. whose deseeni;St. Matthew gives, took the place of his son, and was rookom>d J.ega.Hy as such. But St. Luke gins the .descent of Mary from the elder branch of the honeo of David. God had 'pl'om1sed that 'it should be so, that Christ should·be born "f his house, and when-it seemed u. if the promise had failed, lo I it was abundantiy fulfilled:. Learn: "Ilc is faithful th~t promised." III. THE BR!GRT AND 'M:oRNmo STAB. 'l'his august name declares our Lord to be : 1. The Brightnesa of·the Father's !Jl,-Ory.· Stars have been chosen by all uatlons as fit symbols of m~jesty, aml especially by the nations of the East, where the stars shine out with a glory of which we iii our cloudy climates little know'. Hmce they ·were regarded as symbols of kingly rule, (of. Numb; xxiv., "A star shall rise, and a. ecrptre," etc.). And their majestic appearance led to their worship (cf. the Magi). 'l'he kingly glory of Christ, the hr-ightness of the Father's gloryi is there meant: "Thou art, the Kin~ of glory, 0 Chri:1t." ·. 2. The Pledge and Bringer-in qf (he perfect day. Not only is he the Star, but the Bright and Morning Star.: The Btnr which foretold the day-dawn; the" Day Star." as he is elsewhere called. And Christ is this. 'l'he sharlows of night rest on man and bi~ dwelling-place,; but Christ bas come, and whnt trea;nm:-store of hope is there not. in him for us all ?-S. -C. 1- '· _Ver. 17.-The good will, of G(Jfl to man. It is all-important, would \\'8 win men's. heart& for God, that we: represent .him M having good will towards them. If we let' men think of him as hard. unk7ing; indifferont, or unjuat, not all the threatenings: in: the· world will win them1 Man can only love that which he conceives as !ova~ N·ow,.-this .well-known and most precious verse renders great service in this direction \Vere a man to pick it tip froin off the streets, he would gather this much at any rate,, even .1mpposing he knew nr,thing of its writer or meaning, that whoever wrote it WM in earnest for- the good of those tor whom it was written. And studying it attentively;• with :the added light of other Scriptures, the evidence of thia good will becomes full and, clear indeed. -For note--,-: · ·, L '!'HE GIFT onERED. "The water of life." It is the conid:ant symbol of the, grace. of the Lord Jesus Christ. That grace which: 1• .As water, cleanses, It Is a river of water of life; no mere circnmscribcd shallow pool or tiny rill, but a river, full, flowing, in whlcb a man u,ay "wash and be clean." Now, the putting away of our· sin( our,, spiritual defilement, ,is through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. "W-e have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins." 2. .As WQffl', t'ffiwa: a1,d stungthdns• .Im hot Eastern lands, where water was so.,muoh more precious than with us, because they had so little whilst we ha.ve so much, this emblem of ,water had.. more force of meaning than it has to us. 'l'hc wearied traveller, faint and ready to perish, "dmuk of the hro?k by tho way," and "lift~ up his head" (of. Hagw·andc·- lBhmaal), And the meanmg, therefore, of thla word IS that Christ.'• grace, u water- 568 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. [OH. xxu. 1-21.