Section VI
The name "Hermon" signifies "projecting" or
"elevated". The name is given to a range of three peaks, nine to ten thousand
feet in elevation, which dominates the northern part of Israel, and which is
visible over the entire Holy Land. Mount Hermon was called in ancient times "the
mount of the old man" or "the mount of snow". Because of its height it is
covered with snow most of the year. In late summer this snow begins to melt, the
run-off feeding reservoirs and springs to supply water to the thirsty lands of
the south. As the snow melts, a portion is left behind, in the ravines and
gorges not so exposed to the sun, thus giving the mountain the resemblance of an
old man with thin white hair.
The obvious symbolism of Hermon is that of the
Divine Blessing, stored up in the providence of God until the proper time, when
it is most needed.
* * * * *
"The Scriptures will save us if we will allow
them to have free course, but we must search them for food and medicine and not
merely for weapons." (Islip Collier)
* * * * *
There are probably many in the Brotherhood who
would say, "I have no head for prophecy." To them we would reply, "Perhaps not,
but do you have a heart for Christ? Surely if you love Christ, you will love his
appearing although you think you have no capacity for prophetic exercises." An
affectionate wife may have no head for her husband's business affairs, but she
has a heart for his return from the office each evening. His appointment book
may baffle her, but she knows his footstep and recognizes his voice. The saint
who feels lost in the Apocalyptic realm should not take pride in his ignorance,
of course. But neither should he be unduly discouraged. If only he has affection
for his Lord and Master, and a firm resolve to keep his commandments, even the
novice may entertain the most fervent desire to see him. The paramount hope of
each of us is to be accepted by Christ when he comes, not to guess correctly
what will happen before he arrives.
* * * * *
Findlay's paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 4:13: "We
apostles are like the rubbish in the streets, everybody's whipping boys; so it
has always been, and so it is still."
* * * * *
The string of titles of the Lord Jesus Christ
given prophetically in Isaiah 9:6,7 may in fact be read as one name, much like
the elongated “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” of Isaiah 8:1. The name would
be: “Pele-yatz-gibbor-el-ab-ad-sar-shalom” (dividing it by syllables
for easier pronunciation). Such a reading (suggested by various Hebrew
commentaries) would neatly bypass the Christadelphian “difficulties”
of explaining how the “names” of “Mighty God” (el
gibbor) and “Everlasting Father” (ab ad) may be attributed to the
man Jesus. Being read all as one statement, the name or title could signify:
“The wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, is the everlasting
Father of the Prince of Peace.”
* * * * *
"Thy children like olive plants round about thy
table" (Psa. 128:3). The olive is proverbial for light, prosperity, peace and
joy (Psa. 52:8; Jer. 11:16). Olive orchards were among the most valuable of all
possessions to the Israelite.
We are told by naturalists that often an aged and
decaying tree will be found surrounded by several young shoots. These have
sprung from the root of the older tree; they seem to uphold, protect and embrace
the parent. They offer promise to carry on in the production of fruit even after
their parent has died. They contribute materially now, and offer hope for the
future. In like manner many a righteous man must have viewed the bright young
faces of his children round his table.
* * * * *
"Could ye not watch with me one hour?" Peter,
James and John subsequently did many things for Christ. But never again did they
have the chance to sustain him in his hour of greatest trial. It was a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that slipped through their fingers while they
slept. We should start now to do something for Jesus; it may be our best, our
last, our only opportunity. We may have only one year... one day... one hour...
before the Master returns.
* * * * *
Parents who build up their house with God's help,
who instruct their children faithfully by God's law, are truly building a temple
for God's glory, and those children will truly be a part of God’s
heritage. But parents who neglect their duty and raise up uninstructed children,
whom God has given them as a precious blessing, are building a "synagogue of
Satan" and filling it with a ''generation of vipers." In God's estimation there
are no comfortable, flesh-pleasing excuses for failure here. Our modern society
has bred a great middle class striving tirelessly for material success, rising
early and laboring late to give their children "those things we never had".
Christadelphian parents should seriously question if the working wife or
optional overtime or next promotion will obtain for them and their families what
they really need, or whether it will cost them and their families something much
more precious — the time for an intimate family life in which godly
characters may be molded.
* * * * *
Hebrews 9:16, 17: "For where a covenant exists,
the death of that which has ratified it is necessary, because a covenant is firm
over dead victims, since it is never valid when that which ratifies it is alive"
(Emphatic Diaglott). This idea of the word "diatheke" — that is, a
covenant rather than a will or testament — is an essentially Jewish idea
and certainly appropriate in the letter to the Hebrews.
* * * * *
It was/is not good for God to be
alone!
We often mention that Adam and Eve in the garden
are a pattern of Christ and the Bride/church. But before there was Christ and
the Church, there was the Father and "Israel"... also patterned by Adam and
Eve.
If God reveals that it was not good for Adam to
be alone, but that he needed a companion... surely it was a patterned or
figurative way of saying, "It is not good for ME to be alone... l must have a
companion!"
And all of God's work from that day to this,
especially involving His Son, has been for that express purpose: of creating a
"companion" (actually, a company of companions) for His eternal fellowship. That
is what the “new creation” is all about.
Look at it another way: (1) If our own
observation/experience shows us how unsatisfactory life can be if lived entirely
alone, with no regard for or fellowship with others, and how much we need
companionship, personal and spiritual and sympathetic and loving.... and (2) If
we are made in the image and likeness of God, then... reasoning backward... it
is not good that God Himself be alone either!
I remember some years ago a young sister asking
in a Bible class: "Why does God love me?" The question passed with perfunctory
discussion, and I at first dismissed it from my mind as of no great consequence.
But then the question came back to me again later... and it suddenly seemed to
be of enormous import: "WHY does God love me?" Not just the fact of His love,
but the rationale behind it! I finally came to the conclusion that: God loves me
because He needs someone to love, and He needs someone to love Him... and that
somehow even the Omnipotence of the Universe would be incomplete without the
love, freely given, of His creation!
So why weren't/aren't the angels enough? I would
think it is because their devotion is almost preprogrammed... whereas our
devotion/love is out of our own wills, freely given. And this is what God is
looking for! And this is why He had to create beings like Adam and Eve with the
potential to choose, and hence the potential to disappoint him greatly... but
also with the potential — what a potential! — to please
Him.
Now there's a thought: that our disregard for the
Father can truly hurt him! What a responsibility to consider!
* * * * *
“There is a river, the streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most
High” (Psa. 46:4).
Through the sacred page flow two very different
streams. The raging torrent, the seasonal river overflowing its banks, is used
by Isaiah as a figure for the great Assyrian army advancing upon little Judah
(Isa. 8:7,8). The waters thereof roar and are troubled; proud billows and
lashing waves, lofty as hills, sweep aside mountains in their path (Psa. 46:3).
But in their tumultuous course the wild waters come at last against the
immovable height of Zion (Psa 125:1): "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further:
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" (Job 38:11). For here, beneath Zion's
hill, flows another stream which is the secret of her survival. It is not harsh
and overpowering; its waters go softly (Isa. 8:6) through the rock-hewn channels
of Hezekiah's conduit (2 Kings 20:20) into the pool of Siloam (John 9:7). It
brings life to thirsty watchmen on Zion's walls. In its silent, unerring course
it symbolizes the sure and certain purposes of God. Its whispering waters speak
in a still, small voice of the blessings of faith in God. This is the river of
life, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy places of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; God shall help her;
the Lord of Hosts is with us — here is the promise of Immanuel again (Psa.
46:4,5,11). Let us drink of this stream; its quiet waters will restore our souls
and bring us inward peace in the midst of stormy trials.
* * * * *
"Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the
putting on of my hands " (2 Tim. 1:6). There were various reasons for the laying
on of hands:
- Benediction: Gen. 48:14; Matt.
19:13,15;
- Transfer of “sin” to the sacrifice
itself: Exod. 29:10,15,19; Lev. 1:4,12;
- Confirmation by
witnesses of a capital offense: Lev. 24:14;
- Appointment
to office: Num. 8:10; Acts 6:6; 13:3;
- Outward sign of
healing: Matt. 9:18; Acts 9:12,17;
- Outward sign of
imparting the Holy Spirit: Acts 8:17,19; 19:6; 1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim.
1:6.
* * * * *
"Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact
together." "Joined together and compacted" — how many wonderful thoughts
cluster around this phrase! No more two cities, part Jew and part Gentile, but
one city! No more the Moslem mosque, the Catholic cathedral, nor even the Jewish
synagogue shrouded in Talmudic darkness, but the Temple of the Almighty God
radiating light and truth upon all men! No more the Jerusalem as it has been and
is today, torn apart by Jewish rivalries and Gentile threats, but a city living
at peace within itself and with other cities! And no more the disorderly array
of "Christians" professing to be the "New Jerusalem", but a unity of
single-minded loving men and women, without jealousy and bitterness and strife,
at peace with themselves and with their Father in heaven, with one husband and
Master, even Christ.
* * * * *
“Be my servants!” Rabshakeh cried out
to the soldiers on the walls of Jerusalem: "Make an agreement... seek my favor
with presents, come out to me... and then you will really live! You will eat of
the vine and the fig tree, and you will drink waters from your own cistern. And
some day I'll take you away to a land of grain fields gently rustling in the
cool breezes! Do you honestly want to starve and die on these bare Judean
hills?" (cp. Isa. 36:16,17).
In like manner the siren-song of a materialistic
world calls us down from the walls of faith, freely to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season. Pleasurable it may be, but only for a time. Freedom it will
never be; man was not created to be free, but only to choose which of two
masters he will serve. He who commits sin is the servant of sin (John 8:34), and
whatever fleeting enjoyment he experiences will be with the fear of a deserter
and the greed of a slave. The "Rabshakeh" still cries out, "Serve me!" And the
faithful still respond, with faithful Hezekiah, "Our eyes wait upon the Lord!"
(Psa. 123:2).
* * * * *
"In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He
heard me” (Psa. 120:1). Distress makes prayer fervent as does nothing
else; here is the key to human suffering. But neither distress nor prayer would
be of any consequence if God did not hear us and answer our pleas. There is
nothing greater to which man may aspire than an audience with the Almighty. What
wonder there is in the concluding thought! What consolation! What relief! "And
He heard me!"
* * * * *
"My age is removed from me as a shepherd's tent "
(Isa. 38:12) — the proverbial symbol of a temporary, fleeting abode. Here
is graphically portrayed the shadowy uncertainty of this life; we are pitching
our tents for only a short span in the "valley of the shadow of death". This
body of death, the earthly "house" or "tabernacle" (2 Cor. 5:1,4; 2 Pet.
1:13,14), is destined soon to vanish away. "The things which are seen are
temporal." We all know we must die; we know technically what death means. But do
we really comprehend the irresistible pull of death, which waits for each of us,
to draw us inexorably into the grasp of the grave? If we could only keep in mind
the pitiful little we have in this life, and the exceedingly brief time we have
to enjoy it, we would have no trouble trusting in our Heavenly Father alone and
"redeeming the time".
* * * * *
“To bear up under loss, to fight the
bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief, to be victor over anger, to
smile when tears are close, to resist evil men and base instincts, to hate hate
and to love love, to go on when it would seem good to die, to seek ever after
the glory and the dream, to look up with unquenchable faith in something
evermore about to be, that is what any man can do, and so be great."
(Grey)
* * * * *
"A man should never permit the words of a woman
to intervene between him and the laws of God. This is a rock upon which myriads
have made shipwreck of the faith. Adam sinned in consequence of listening to
Eve's silvery discourse. No temptation has proved more irresistible to the flesh
than the enticing words of a woman's lips. ‘They drop as a honeycomb, and
her mouth is smoother than oil; but her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as
a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; and her steps take hold on
hell’ (Prov. 5:3-5). Adam was a striking illustration of this truth."
(John Thomas, in Elpis Israel)
* * * * *
"I laid me down, and slept; I awaked, for the
LORD sustained me" (Psa. 3: 5).
He who did keep me waking
Has kept me still
Through the dark, silent night;
And now I thrill
To greet once more the light.
His power unseen, from sleep
Unlocked my eyes,
With strength afresh renewed;
And I arise
With song of gratitude.
'Thus, if death's night at
length
Should darkly close,
And in my earthly bed, confined and deep,
I take repose,
Stiller, profounder sleep,
'To know a yet more marvelous waking,
A fairer morn...
May I with gladness say
I slept, but wake new-born
To brighter day. (Selected)
* * * * *
Sending forth the seventy to preach, Jesus told
them: "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions" (Luke
10:19). This promise can be understood either literally (cp. Mark 16:18), or
figuratively — the serpent being symbolic, and "Satan'' (Luke 10:18) being
indicative of Capernaum (v. 15). Perhaps both ideas have their place. However,
no matter which, the words of Jesus are obviously based upon Genesis 3:15. The
"seed of the woman" has power to crush underfoot the serpent, and he has
committed that power also to his servants. Symbolically, in their own lives now,
his followers must "tread upon" the "serpent" in their own natures. And in the
future, they will be empowered from on high to tread underfoot, without harm,
both literal serpents and the political and religious institutions of which the
serpent is the symbol. The promise to the seventy in Luke 10:19 was the earnest,
or pledge, of all this.
* * * * *
There is an ancient tradition to the effect that
Golgotha (the place of the “Skull”) derived its name from being the
burial place of Adam. Here, supposedly, was buried the skull of the first Adam;
here, then, the last Adam came to restore that which his predecessor
lost.
A more likely supposition, however, is that
Golgotha was the site of the burial of the skull of Goliath (1 Sam. 17:54). Thus
Christ, in his death, figuratively crushed the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15)
just where David buried the crushed head of the Philistine, the man of
sin.
* * * * *
The RV of Philippians 2:5-8 is by far superior to
the AV: "Have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant ('slave' in mg.),
being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross."
Verse 6 is often "wrested" to "prove" that Jesus
before his birth (!) possessed the essential nature of God. The Greek
“morphe”, however, is most readily translated as "status" or "rank"
— not "essential nature". The easiest way, perhaps, to assert this is to
work backward from "the form (morphe) of a servant" in verse 7. Since,
obviously, "rank" or "standing" is the idea in verse 7, it should logically
apply in verse 6 also.
* * * * *
Though the events in Eden were allegorical, the
serpent in the Garden was undoubtedly a literal serpent. It is indisputable that
other passages (e.g., Rev. 20:2) use "serpent" symbolically. But, as with other
figures of speech, the only basis for such figurative language is a foundation
of literal truth. In short, there could be no "serpent" symbology unless there
had been a real serpent in the first place!
* * * * *
“Wherever there is intolerance, wherever we
find conditions of communion among Christians imposed, which Christ hath not
clearly enjoined; wherever creeds and modes of worship are enforced by human
power, and men made to forfeit any of their civil rights, or are stigmatized on
these accounts, there is the spirit which is not of God. Wherever one Christian,
or a number of Christians, assumes the seat of authority and judgment in the
Church of Christ, wherever they call for fire to destroy those who dissent from
them or only exclude them from their communion and affection, there is a portion
of the spirit of Antichrist, which has so long opposed itself to the benign
principles of the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, has been the cause of so many
evils to humanity, and the occasion of making the inconsiderate esteem the
amiable yet distinct and uncompromising religion of Jesus, as a source of
mischief, instead of benevolence. Alas, how much of this spirit remains amongst
us all!! How few have learned that, 'In Christ circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.' " (John
Thomas)
* * * * *
There is an obvious connection among Isaiah 7:14;
9:6,7; and 11:6-9. The words of Isaiah describe a scene of complete tranquility,
when all the savagery of the beasts of the field has been
removed:
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear
shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa.
11:6-9).
It is certainly a picture, in broad, general
terms, of man's reclamation of dominion over the earth, and his subjugation of
the animal kingdom (Gen. 1:28). But it is more than that; it is a picture, in
specific terms, of Christ's victory over sin and death. And this is precisely
what a failure to link together the Scriptures may cause us to miss. Since
Christ is the son born of the virgin in 7:14, and since he is also the child
born "unto us" in 9:6, then he is just as surely the "little child" in 11:6, and
the "sucking child" and finally the "weaned child" in 11:8. So the beautiful
vision of these verses is not impersonal, but rather it centers on
Christ!
Verse 6 shows Christ as the "little child"
because of his perfect trust in God (Matt. 19:13-14); he is the "babe" ordained
in strength to still the enemy and to have dominion over all creation (Psa.
8:2,6-8).
Verse 8 shows Christ as the "sucking child" and
then the "weaned child" — feeding first on the "milk" and then on the
"meat" of the word, growing in spirit and wisdom and grace (Luke 2:40). Both
"asp" and "cockatrice" belong to the "seed of the serpent" (Gen. 3:15; Matt.
3:7; 23:33). Jesus, under the nurture and admonition of his Heavenly Father,
steadily grew in spiritual strength, and steadily faced one by one the trials of
the "adversary" in his flesh. He had nothing to fear from the power of the
serpent, for he faced it and overcame it with a greater power — faith in
God's word and promises. And, finally, in the kingdom age, the "den" of the
serpent will hold no fear whatsoever for Christ, or for those who like him have
become "little children" in faith!
* * * * *
“For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor.
4:6):
"Thou Whose Almighty word
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight:
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And where the Gospel day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light."
* * * * *
Isaiah 65:17-25 is a glorious picture of the
garden of Eden restored:"a new heaven and a new earth" (v.17), no more sorrow
(v. 19, cp. Gen. 3:16,17), no more the "child" (like Abel?) that dies an
untimely death because of another's sin.
"For as the days of a tree are the days of my
people" (v. 22) — the "tree of life" being in the midst of the garden, its
fruit free for the taking (Rev. 2:17; 22:1,2)!
"They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth
for trouble" (v.23) — the removal of the curse of Genesis
3.
"And dust shall be the serpent's meat" (v. 25).
One thing will not change in the Kingdom Age. The serpent will still be cursed
to grovel in the dust, a graphic symbol of sin cast down forever, without
remedy!
* * * * *
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their
shame, who mind earthly things " (Philippians 3:18,19).
The fact that Paul uses the word "walk" of these
men, and his exceeding sorrow at their conduct, implies that they were nominally
"brethren" of Christ. What made them "enemies of the cross of Christ"? The cross
was the means whereby Christ conclusively put to death the lusts of the flesh,
and it is the invitation and the challenge to us to do the same: to crucify "the
world" (Gal. 6:14) within each one of us. Any who aspire to put on the name of
Christ, yet make no meaningful attempt to live as he did, are really his
"enemies" and not his friends. They profess friendship, but their actions make
them liars. Their God is not Yahweh — it is their "belly"; their mind is
not on heavenly, spiritual things — but upon "earthly" things! They see
all the enticements of the world. Like Eve did with the fruit of the tree, they
desire, they take, and they "enjoy"; like the serpent, their "end is
destruction."
* * * * *
"God will reckon us as benefactors not by how
much we give, but by how much we have left." (Gillett)
* * * * *
The Judgment Seat: An Unresolved
Problem
When President Reagan came to see Margaret
Thatcher, she went to Heathrow Airport to meet him.
The Greeks and Romans had a similar custom. When
a VIP came to visit some other dignitary, the local man was expected to travel
outwards with his retainers until the two parties met. Then they would reform
into one mass procession, with the local bigwig escorting his honored guest to
his own provincial seat of government, in triumphal procession with great
pomp.
There is a special Greek expression which was
always (and only) used to describe this ceremony of meeting the incoming VIP. It
occurs three times in the New Testament, thus:
1. "...We went towards Rome. And from thence,
when the brethren heard of us, they came TO MEET [eis apantesin] us, as far as
Appii Forum” (Acts 28:14,15).
Here, the Greek expression is used with its
ordinary, earthly meaning. This shows that Luke and, presumably, the
first-century church in general were familiar with the specialized use of this
Greek phrase.
2. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...
and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, TO MEET the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thes. 4:16,17).
This presents us with a big problem that, as far
as I am aware, has never been squarely faced. The Greek clearly indicates that
the saints will be miraculously lifted up to meet the returning Lord at some
point in the upper atmosphere, and then caused to escort him back, in joyful,
triumphant procession, to the earth's surface — there to be "ever with the
Lord". But wherever can we fit a literal judgment seat into this sequence of
events? It can't be before we are "caught up", as this would then mean the
"meeting in the air" would not be a "meeting" at all, in the sense of the Greek
expression used. And it can't be after we "meet the Lord in the air", because
there could be no joyful, triumphant meeting and procession if the wicked are
still present and all concerned are still wondering whether they are destined
for life or death!
3. "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold
the bridegroom cometh; go ye out TO MEET him... And while they [the five foolish
virgins] went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage..." (Matt. 25:6,10).
This clinches the deduction made above from 1
Thessalonians, that the unrighteous will not be present when the righteous meet
their Lord. The invitation to "meet" him (in the special Greek
sense of traveling outwards to meet an incoming
potentate) went to both classes — but only the wise virgins were in a
position to accept the invitation. The foolish virgins were left behind, and
later found themselves locked out of the scene of rejoicing. It seems impossible
to fit a literal judgment seat into this sequence, either.
So what are we to make of all this? Does
Scripture intend us to regard the judgment seat as real in essence, but symbolic
rather than literal in its nature? (Just as the Biblical devil is real enough in
essence, but is a symbolic devil and not a literal one.) Or is there some other
explanation that fits the facts better?
A. Hayward
* * * * *
The Destruction of
Sennacherib
The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on
the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is
green,
That host with their banners at sunset were
seen.
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath
blown,
That host on the morrow lay wither'd and
strown.
For the Angel of Death went forth on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd;
And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and
chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever
grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all
wide,
But through it there roll'd not the breath of his
pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the
turf,
And cold as the spray on the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his
mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the
sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the
Lord!
(Lord Byron)
