Page images
PDF
EPUB

closed. Now is the day of salvation: it has already lasted near nineteen centuries, but how long it may continue none can tell; but death, remember, comes to all, "and as the tree falls, so shall it lie." "With God is terrible majesty," and none can abide the day of His wrath; therefore as Paul says, "knowing then the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor., v, 11). Oh! come then to Jesus now, for his yoke is easy, his burden is light, and him that cometh He will in no wise cast out (John, vi, 37).

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

If we refer to the original we see that an army", is omitted: it runs, comely as Jerusalem terrible with banners or ensigns." Banner, standard or ensign, have different significations in Scripture, according to the sense in which they are employed. In Isaiah, xiii, 2, a banner means rather a standard; in Canticles, ii, 4, "his banner over me was love," would seem to convey a promise of hope, encouragement, and security-a certain protection against all foes, earthly or spiritual; and in Psalm lx, 4, the banner is an assurance of victory against all the foes of Israel, "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth;" it is in this sense the word is employed here. Jerusalem shall be comely and glorious when Jesus the bridegroom comes to deliver the bride from the oppressor; as it is written, "that thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me; through God we shall do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down our enemies " (verses 5-12). "Now know I, will she cry, that the Lord saveth his anointed, he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright. Save Lord let the king hear us when we call" (Ps., xx, 6-9).

Terrible indeed will it be in that day when the Lord unfurls his banner to fight against the oppressor of his people, for there shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Read the xxiv of Matthew, for it is of this time that the evangelist by the Holy Ghost gives utterance: but the banner of the Lord to those who trust in him, who have prayed for his return and waited for him shall be one of love: "He brought me to his banqueting house and

his banner over me was love" (Cant, ii, 4; The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isa., XXXV, 10.)

NUMBERS, XXiv, 17.

'There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel."

This portion of Balaam's prophecy is to the effect that a Kingdom was foreshadowed in the host of Israel, which was to transcend every other kingdom, and extend over the whole world, and that a sceptre or king was to rise out of Israel which was to smite all the corners of the earth-it was to be the stone that smiting the image or Antichrist is to become a great mountain and to fill the earth. The decree ordained in eternity was proclaimed aloud, for God made known unto all men that he would set His King upon the holy hill of Zion, saying "I will declare the decree The Lord hath said to me, Thou art my Son: THIS DAY have I begotten thee; ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession, thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (Ps. ii, 6, 9). Even as it is written in this passage under remark, the sceptre or king "shall smite the corners of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth," as well as all rebellious and idolatrous nations, "and Edom shall be a possession, and Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies, and Israel shall do valiantly." Hundreds of passages might be produced to the same effect, for when Christ assumes his earthly sceptre "he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather his wheat into his garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Mat. iii, 12); therefore, says the Psalmist, "Be wise, now, therefore, Ó ye Kings: be instructed ye judges of the earth." The whole of this will have its realization when Messiah the promised King shall receive from "the Ancient of days dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and lan

guages should serve him" (Dan. vii, 13, 14). A parallel to this wondrous scene may be traced in the homage of the wise men or princes of the east, who having seen the star in the east came to Bethlehem to worship HIM, the long promised Messiah; for Balaam's prophecy was known and cherished in the hearts of the wise men of those parts, and when they saw the Star, they at once recognised it as the sign of him unto whom should be the gathering of the peoples (Gen., xlix, 10), and they hastened at its bidding to present unto their future king gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, types of his purity, grace, and suffering.

The princes of the east were doubtless descendants of some of the great heads of the lost tribes, who had preserved in their traditions the great blessings God had in store for them, and as the time approached foretold by Moses, and prophecied of by Balaam, had been anxiously looking out for the predicted sign; to them it was one full of anticipative joy and glory, for it foreshadowed the near approach of the long promised Messiah, who was to reign as king and priest over his chosen people in the new Jerusalem, and when they, long scattered and peeled, should be brought back with power, majesty and might to be reunited to their brethren, that the words of prophet Ezekiel should be fulfilled, "I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountain of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided unto two kingdoms any more at all" (xxxvii, 22).

If it be objected that the ten tribes being lost to human knowledge, and probably all more or less idolators, would not have retained any care or reminiscence of the prophecies regarding their race, I would reply that not only has God ever preserved a holy remnant; and that promises so great and so comforting are not likely to have been wholly forgotten: I entertain no doubt that as the time draweth near the wise men will be watching for further signs.

1 SAMUEL, XVII, 34—36.

"And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; and I went out after him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear."

Believing that whatsoever things were written are for our instruction," and that every scripture inspired by God is also profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, &c., and being told "to search the scriptures, because they testify of Christ," I am led to think that this passage contains more than what meets the outward eye.

[ocr errors]

Samuel had been directed by God to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse, as King of Israel in room of Saul, who had been rejected on account of his rebellious acts (xv, 23, xvi, 1), and at that time the Philistines, the immemorial enemies of the Israelites, were gathered together to fight against the nation at a place called Ephes-dammim, the portion or effusion of blood." For forty days had Goliah of Gath challenged all Israel to decide the battle by a personal conflict, but not one man could be found to accept it. The Israelites had, in the person of Saul, been rebelling against God, and, convicted in their own heart of national apostacy, were afraid to contend against this arrogant champion of an impious race; but David, the anointed one, having been sent down by his father to minister to his brethren, hearing of this blasphemer against the God of Israel, contrived, by an innocent manoeuvre, to be brought before Saul, and said unto him-" Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go to fight with this Philistine. And Saul said, thou art not able, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth;" and then David replies in the words heading this note.

Now David is a type of Christ, and had been anointed by God as king over Israel: he was filled with the spirit of God, and felt the importance of the honour conferred on him, and the consequent duty it imposed. He could say, "I will go in the strength of Adonay Elohim: I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me,"

"for

thou art my hope, O Adonay Elohim: thou art my trust from my youth ;' "and he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."

Confident therefore in the Lord's power to overthrow all enemies, however terrible, who resist the living God, he rejects the proffered armour of the king, and goeth forth in the strength and dependence of his God, to fight against this uncircumcised Philistine, and slays him with a smooth stone from the brook, hurled from a shepherd's sling; for "Elohim delighteth not in the strength of the horse; he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man: Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy" (Ps., cxlvii, 10, 11).

Such is the brief history of this eventful episode in David's life. The point to be considered is, how and to what extent did the circumstance of killing the lion and the bear relate to the destruction of the blaspheming enemy of the Israelites. David, we are told, kept his father's sheep; they were entrusted to his carc, and when one little lamb had been carried off by a lion and a bear, David pursued him, and delivered it out of his mouth, and when he arose against him, David caught him by the beard, and slew him: he slew both the lion and the bear.

The mere perusal of this impressive event strikes one with astonishment; it is hardly possible to conceive that it should be narrated here without some ulterior object. It bears on the face of it an under current of far higher significance than many are inclined to attach to it, at least so it strikes me; and I shall endeavour, with God's blessing, to point out what I conceive to be the hidden purport. I would first draw marked attention to the sudden and striking transition David makes from the plural to the singular number. He tells us a lion and a bear took away the lamb, and then synthetically treats them as one: two beasts mentioned separately, distinct in nature, form, and character, are merged into one body; an explanation of this will be attempted further on.

A beautiful parallel may here be drawn between David and our Lord: David had charge of his father's sheep, and when one little lamb was carried off he risked his life to save it. In John, x, 11, we read that Jesus "is the good shepherd that layeth down his life for the sheep." what man having an hundred sheep, and having lost one of

For

« EelmineJätka »