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CLEWS TO KOLY WRIT.

CLEWS TO HOLY WRIT

OR, THE

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE

A SCHEME FOR STUDYING THE WHOLE BIBLE IN ITS
HISTORICAL ORDER DURING THREE YEARS

MARY LOUISA GEORGINA PETRIE, B.A.

(MJiS. ASHLEY CARUS-WILSON)

EIGHTH THOUSAND

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

27, PATERNOSTER ROW

MDCCCXCIV

98119

Printed by Haaell, Watson, <S- Vtniy, Ltd., London and Ayltsbury.

TO THE
DUCHESS OF BEDFORD,

ONE OF THE FIRST

OUTSIDE OUR COLLEGE BY POST TO ADOPI

THE C.S.C. SCHEME,

AND THE FIRST TO SUGGEST

ITS ISSUE IN THIS FORM FOR A WIDER PUBLIC^

5 Dedicate
MY LITTLE BOOK.

a
t
a
ii

g
a

Pi
d(

ch
of
by

PREFACE TO THE SIXTH THOUSAND

"^ I "'HE reception .vhich my little volume has had from
-*■ the reviewers and the public has been most gratifying
to the author of a first book. The few adverse c iticisins
were based on the idea that I was daring enough to at-
tempt the difficult, if not impossible, task of setting forth
an authoritative scheme of Biblical chronology. Prepara-
tion of this book has, on the contrary, led me to doubt if
an undisputed date can be assigned to any single event
in Scripture history. Modern research has not yet re-
placed the generally condemned old chronology by a
generally accepted new one. Hence it seemed best, in
a popular book, to use the " received chronology " as a
convenient working basis, indicating that it is only ap-
proximately true anywhere, and in many places very
doubtful.

My marriage, on August 31st, 1893, to Professor
Ashley Carus- Wilson, of McGill University, Montreal, has
changed both my name and my address, and puts it out
of my power to admit any new students into the College
by Post, at any rate until the summer of 1894. All

PREFACE

letters referring to it should be addressed to " The
Secretary of the College by Post," at Hanover Lodge,
Kensington Park. Letters intended for me should go to
Canada. We arc arranging to lend the MS. answers to
the questions to the many leaders of Scripture classes,
etc., who are using this book, on payment of a subscrip-
tion of at least 2s. 6d. to the Prize Fund of the College
by Post.

MARY L. G. CARUS-WILSON.

September t 1893.

PREFACE.

" X T 7 ILL you as a young student help another young
VV student ?" The request was made by the founder
of the " Christian Women's Education Union " to me in my
early college days, when I had only matriculated and all
the hardest part of my work for the University of London
lay before me. So I began an informal correspondence
with two or three other girls whose schoolroom days were
over, and who were isolated from educational advantages.
A few months later, casual mention in the Gtrrs Own
Paper of this brought such scores of applications for the
proffered aid that the organisation now known as the
College by Post came suddenly into being.

Born thus in the summer of 1881, it has grown steadily
since. University College, London ; Westfield College,
Hampstead ; Girton and Newnham Colleges, Cambridge ;
Somerville and Lady Margaret Halls, Oxford ; the Ladies'
College, Cheltenham, and kindred institutions for higher
education of women have contributed able teachers glad
to share with others what they have themselves received
to a staff on which 200 have now been enrolled.

From all parts of the United Kingdom, from the Con-
tinent and the Colonies, students representing many
different conditions of life and degrees of education, to the
number of 3000, have entered our classes. We do not
prepare for any public examinations, but many who have
small opportunity of availing themselves of professional

viii

PREFACE.

tuition are eacfer to continue self-culture of various kinds
under definite guidance through correspondence. We
would fain lead them to prefer wise books to foolish ones ;
to ^nrich their lives by caring for history, literature, and
science, when continuing to learn ceases to be a duty
imposed from without and one is free to arrest or foster
further intellectual growth. And since the most important
history, the noblest literature, and the highest knowledge
should always come first, every one of our students under-
takes to give half an hour a day to Bible study on some
regular system. Some Jo this merely because it is the
condition of receiving gratuitous instruction in other sub-
jects. But these soon find that cO know the Bible aright
is to love it above all other books. And an ever-incree'^.ing
number who do not need our teaching in other subjects
join Scripture classes only, and continue Scripture study
year after year when marriage or pressure of other fresh
claims on time has made secular study with us impossible.
During more than six years we availed ourselves of four
plans of Bible reading, each of wJiicii joins us to organisa-
tions of larger extent than our own, and each of which
has its peculiar advantages : {a) The Lectionary of the
Church of England, by which the Old Testament is read
once and the New Testament twice in the year. Four chap-
ters a day are, however, too large a portion for thorough
study, save in the case of those who have abundant leisure.
{b) {c) The two Bible Unions shaped some sixteen years
ago by two clergymen of the Church of England, and now
numbering many thousand adherents all over the world —
'. iz., the Bible and Prayer Union, which reads the Bible
straight through in three years and three months at the
rate cf one chapter a day ; and the Christian Progress
Union, which reads the Old Testament and New Tf;sta-
ment straight through together, in rather more than two
years and a half Both are clear and simple plans, but
tend to ignore the historical connection of the books of the

PREFACE.

Bible with each other, {d) The Bible study plan, varying from
year to year, of the Young Women's Christian Association.
This, as a rule, is only adopted by those few of us who
are c. -nnected with the practical work of that good society.

No one of these schemes completely meets our special
needs as students ; and my desire to add a fifth scheme
took shape during a long ramble among the moors and
mountains of Argyllshire in August 1887. Surely the most
intelligent and profitable method of studying the Bible is
to read it in the chronological order of the events it relates
and the books it contains, so far as that can be ascertained.
Thus we can illustrate the story of what was done by the
poeti/ and other literature which explains the motives and
sets forth the results of those deeds " in order " (Luke i. 3,
Acts xi. 4). This rearrangement will produce fresh in-
terest in the narratives ; fresh proof of their power, and
irresistible evidence of their authenticity as history ; fresh
light on the will of God when we see the truths He has
revealed, not as isolated things, but as parts of a whole set
forth in regular progression, from the dim dawn of the first
promise in Eden to that bright noontide when the Eternal
Son came in the Father's Name to reveal God to man
perfectly.

Such was the idea embodied in the CHRONOLOGICAL
Scripture Cycle, Those who first adopted it began
work with MS. papers on February ist, 1888, and hence-
forth the number of C.S.C. classes rapidly increased.
Then many whose lives are too busy to admit of their
joining our classes, who are engaged in Bible teaching at
home or in missionary work in distant lands, asked for the
set of C.S.C. pamphlets which had been prepared in the first
instance solely for our own students.

That there is a real need for such aid as we seek to
give among the more thoughtful Bible readers of to-day,
who cannot easily obtain or use the larger works of modern
scholars, is indicated by t'-ese facts. In little more than

.'^^'jiafc^-

PREFACE.

i'our years our students and t'leir friends have subscribed
for 3000 sets of pampiilets ; and the scheme is now being
followed by 50 out of 60 of our Scripture classes, as well
as by nearly 1700 individual Bible readers. To many
Holy Writ has, thus become not only interesting but
fascinating ; and the promised half-hour has grown into
an hour at the expense of less absorbing secular studies.

This volume forms the third edition or fourth thousand
of the C.S.C. Papers. In revising them I have been much
indebted to my colleagues in the COLLEGE BY POST for hints
and criticisms founded upon experience of the practical
work of our C.S.C. classes. Of other friends whose larger
knowledge has in various ways aided my responsible task,
special mention must be made of the Principal of St. John's
Hall, Highbury. Throughout I write for the plain reader
who knows no language but English. Should more erudite
persons use " Cle^s to Holy Writ," I trust they will
forgive explanations of far from recondite things, recom-
mendations of popular and inexpensive books, and studious
avoidance of learned allusions and deep and difiScult
questions.

And now, as with sails trimmed anew my humble craft
speeds out to sea from its inland lake, I pray God that
this effort to help my fellow-students, not discoursing from
a pulpit, but meeting them on common ground, may be
used to stir many others up to fiesh study of His in-
exhaustible and everlasting Word.

MARY L. G. PETRIE.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE Vii

INTRODUCTION I

GENTiRAL PLAN OF THE CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE 9

1 1

^ 1

FIRST TERM.
THE DAYS OF THE PATRIARCHS

• •

SECOND TERM.
THE DAYS OF MOSES

• «

. 39

THIRD TERM.

THE DAYS OF DAVID

> •

. 60

FOURTH TERM.
THE DAYS OF SOLOMON 78

FIFTH TERM.
THE DAYS OF THE PROPHETS.

SIXTH TERM.

THE DAYS OF JEREMIAH

. 118

SEVENTH TERM.
THE DAYS OF EZRA ...... I38

T.^E SIX CENTURIES FROM JUDAh's FALL TO THE BIRTH

OF CHRIST . 164

'f r'ltinitiiiltiiil

I I

xii

CONTENTS.

THE PSALMS IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE .

EIGHTH TERM.
THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN
THE GOSPELS IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE.

NINTH TERM.
THE DAYS OF S. PAUL .....

SECOND SERIES OF QUESTIONS

GENERAL INDEX

INDEX TO THE PSALMS .....

PAOB

• 335

• 337

INTRODUCTION.

"The word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open
vision."— I Sam. iii. i.

" The Bible is an interpretation of the eternal, intelligible to every man
through all time in the language in which he was born.' — Dr. Westcott,
Bishop of Durham.

" Let us read every word, ponder every word, first in its plain human sense ;
then if, in after years, we can see any safe law or rule by which we may find
out its hidden meaning, let us use it, and search into the deep things of God,
not from men's theories, but from His own words." — Canon Kingsley.

GOD is silent now as He was in the days of Eli, and for
us there is no open vision. In one sense, indeed, He
is ever revealing Himself as "the thoughts of men are
widened with the process of the suns." With fresh insight
into Nature we gain fresh knowledge of His ways, while
the course of History is constantly showing us more and
more of His will concerning man. But His supreme
revelation was when He " spoke unto us in His Son," whom
the heaven has now received until the times of restoration
of all things (Acts iii. 21, R.V.) ; and since that Divine voice
is heard no longer among us, most " rare " and " precious "
is the Book that contains its words, with all the Prophetic
teaching that led up to them and all the Apostolic teaching
that flowed out of them (Heb. i. i, ii. 3, 4). We are
Christians because we believe in Christ, not because we
believe in the Bible. Our faith is centred in a Person, not
in a book. But, being Christians, we prize and study the
Bible, because we can abundantly prove that in the Gospels
we have the authentic record of Christ's life and teaching,
that He has set His seal upon the Old Testament as " the
Scriptures of the prophets which cannot be broken " (Matt.
xxvi. 56; John x. 35 ; </! Rom. i. 2), and that the whole
New Testament is the work of men to whom He promised

I \

i INTRODUCTION.

that His Holy Spirit should teach them all things and
bring all that He had said to their remembrance (John
xiv. 26). The Bible tells us of a Living Christ, and is
interpreted to us by the Living Spirit of God who once
moved its writers (2 Peter i. 21). Therefore it stands alone
among the " sacred books " of the world in being itself
living, not dead. Too often, however, it has been treated
as if it were dead. No book is more read and less studied ;
no book has been more grievously misunderstood, since the
Jews who reverenced the paper on which it was written
rejected Him of whom it spake. For it is read more
devoutly but less intelligently than other books. And so
we hear those who are eager and well-informed on other
subjects confess that, while they make some acquaintance
with the New Testament, they cannot find the Old Testa-
ment interesting. How could they, when they hardly read
it at all, or else, like Browning's half-learned, but wholly
self-satisfied preacher in " Christmas Eve and Easter Day,"
"hug the book of books to pieces," reading it piece-
meal and haphazard, 'solating It from its New Testament
elucidations, and never inquiring into those circumstances
of time and place without knowledge of which any record
of the past loses most of its meaning ? Should we venture
to treat any other book whose author we respected in such
a way ? Others again read as a compendium of theology or
a philosophical dissertation, what is really a collection of
Literature in its four most attractive forms : Biography, that
is, portraits of the heroes who make history , Letters, that is,
the most spontaneous utterances of human thought ; Poetry,
that is, the loftiest utterances of human thought ; and, above
all, History, that is, " philosophy teaching by example."

In these days secular history is being re- written by men
with highest gifts of thought and expression. Instead of
retailing trivial anecdotes, small personalities, crude state-
ments of character, and partisan arguments, they show
which were really the important events of the past, what
led up to them, and what new developments of national life
and human progress may be derived from them. The
materials for secular history are contradictory, fragmentary,
and in many ways unsatisfactory. But the materials for
sacred history contain all we need know, if not all that

I 1

INTRODUCTION. 3

would gratify our curiosity. Its writers, under Divine
guidance, were unbiassed and absolutely truthful. (Occa-
sional trifling confusions of names and numbers, which are
inevitable in writings preserved for hundreds of years in
MS., cannot affect the historic worth of the Scriptures for
any candid reader.) Rightly read, this history shows
explicitly what can only be ^bund implicitly in other
histories^ how from age to age, in spite of man's weakness
and wickedness, the purposes of God are carried out.

Yet, instead of tracing the march of events by aid of
chronology and geography, the handmaids of all history,
and using the field-glass that shows each part in relation to
the whole, we take the microscope for minute investigation
of words and phrases ; we revel in whimsical applications
of morsels of misunderstood narrative : using for instance,
I quote facts. Gen. xliii. 27 and i Sam. xxi. 8 (last clause)
as texts for exhortations that might have been fitly based
upon Rom. vi. 6 and Rom. xii. 1 1 ; and thus treat the Bible
as the fashionable folks of the Regency in Louis XV.'s
reign treated the fine and valuable engravings whose
figures they cut out to paste on fans and fire-screens. We
can prove anything from Holy Writ when we regard it as
a long string of " texts " whose dates and contexts may be
ignored — e.g., that God does not exist, from a sentence of
Psalm xiv. i.

Sometimes indeed we read it straight through, content to
pass from the history of Esther to that of Job, who lived
more than 1000 years earlier ; from the end of Judah's
Captivity in Daniel to the latter days of the kingdom
of Israel in Hosea ; from Obadiah's denunciation of Edom's
exultation over the fall of Jerusalem to Jonah's niessage
200 years before to Nineveh, which had been swept away
ere Jerusalem was attacked ; from S. Paul in his Roman
prison writing to the Cobssians to S. Paul at Corinth,
eleven years back, writing to the Thessalonians. Then we
complain that the prophets are uninteresting, and S. Paul's
teaching hard to understand !

The first " clew " (or guiding thread) to a right under-
standing of Holy Writ is to realise that it is an organic
whole, to which each of its parts has a definite relation ;
the second clew is to ascertain that relation. Not that we

4 INTRODUCTION.

are to substitute a vague " general idea " of the Bible for a
close study of its details. Every flower in it, as Luther
quaintly says, is a garden, and every tree a forest. But we
must first find out where, when, by whom, and under what
conditions, a passage was penned, and what it could have
meant for those who originally read it, before we go on to
ask what meanings its words may be made to include for
us. Of course this will involve some trouble, but while
God docs make provision for our unavoidable ignorance,
He does not make provision for our uncalled-for indolence.
The good we each get from the Bible must depend upon
the amount of earnest effort we put into our reading of it.
Often, because we will not make that effort, we are half-
hearted and unstable in the faith, when we might be whole-
hearted and strong.

The whole Bible must always be looked at in its two
complementary aspects of Unity as a Divine Book on the
one hand, and Diversity as a Human Book on the other.

Observe {a) Uf{ity of Authorship. Throughout God
speaks, and He changeth not (James i. 17). The same
Lord v'ho said to Adam, " Thou shalt not eat of it "
(Gen. ii. 17), said to S. John, "Fear not" (Rev. i. 17). But
very different was the knowledge of the Apostle from that
of our first father. From Eden to Patmos, God's revelation
of Himself was gradual, as men were able to bear it (John
xvi. 12 ; I Cor. iii. 2). " Truth is one, and right is ever one,"
sings Edmund Spenser ; but humanity, educated by God, is
ever making progress, and so His teaching, though one, was
not uniform. From age to age there was a continuous
advance, not from less to more true, but from simple to com-
plex manifestations of truth, each of which must therefore
be considered in connexion with its own period. And
though the Canon was closed 1800 years ago, the Bible is a
book of progress still, for its meaning can never be exhausted.
Its Divine Author still leads us into all the truth, and
each generation may learn more from its pages than the
last. Many things are clearer to the average Christian of
to-day than to the most enlightened Christian of bygone
times, as those of us who read the religious books of the
remote past know well.

{b) Unity of Time. Its history covers 3700 years, but

II II

INTRODUCTION. %

is most unequally distributed over that period. More than
2000 years is compressed into nine chapters of Genesis ;
while the 40 years from 1491 to 145 1 fills more than 140
chapters ; the 48 years from 1064 to 1016 fills more than
130 chapters; the week of our Lord's Passion fills 25
chapters ; the last 15 years of S. Paul's life 100 chapters,
reckoning his Epistles.

{c) Unity of Place. Find on the globe Rome, the Black
Sea, the Persian Gulf, and .Sinai. The are? enclosed by
a curved line drawn through these four places is the scene
of the whole Biblical history. By far the greatest part of
it is concerned wholly with a little strip of coast, scarcely
140 miles long, between Sidon and Gaza.

{d) Unity of Subject. The Bible is not a history of the
world, but of God's Kingdom on earth, and of His testa-
ments or covenants (see 2 Cor. iii. 6, 14, R.V. margin) with
a Chosen People whom He called, redeemed, and trained,
in order that He might come to them bringing full salva-
tion. The Old Covenant was with Israel in anticipation
of His first coming ; the New Covenant is with the Church
in anticipation of His second coming.

Hence the structure of the Old Testament corresponds
throughout to that of the New Testament. In each we have
(i) God's Revelation and Covenant. See Pentateuch and
Gospels. (2) What was therefore done, i.e., History. See
foshua to Esther and Acts. (3) What was therefore taught,
i.e., Doctrine. See fob to Malachi and Romans to Revela-
tion. The curse which closes the Old Testament (Mai,
iv. 6) passes into the blessing which closes the New Testa-
ment (Rev. xxii. 21). Moreover "the New Testament is
latent in the Old Testament ; the Old Testament is laid
open in the New Testament." Each is the necessary
complement of the other, and we cannot neglect the Old
Testament without in the end losing our hold upon the
New Testament. This is well brought out in Dr. Saphir's
" Christ and the Scriptures " (Morgan & Scott, \s. 6d.).

The Old Testament is the Divine introduction to the
New Testament. Israel's history is the key to the history
of the whole world ; and since it is typical throughout of
the history of the Church, it has a peculiar application to
ourselves (i Cor. x. 11).

« INTRODUCTION.

The Scriptures have one theme, for they refer to one
Person. Throughout " they contain the display of Kis
excellences, and are the lively picture of His matchless
beauty " {A rchbishop LeigJiton).

The whole subject of the inspiration of the Bible is
handled in a very helpful way in the first chapter of Dr.
Westcott's "Introduction to the Study of the Gospels"
(Macmillan, \os. 6d.).

We turn now to the human side of the Bible, and con-
sider its diversity.

(a) Diversity of AutJiorsJiip. "The Bible is authoritative,
for it is the Voice of God ; it is intelligible, for it is in the
language of man." Its authors vjcxq penmen, not m^ve pens.
The Old Testament contains 39 books, all written in
Hebrew (except Ezra iv. 8 — vi. 18, vii. 12-26; Jer. x. 11,
and Dan. ii. 4 — vii. 28, which are in Aramaic), during
rather less than 11 00 years (1490 to 39/), by 26 widely
different authors whose names we know (viz., Moses,
Samuel, David, S^olomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, Agur,
Ezra, Nehemiah, and the sixteen Prophets), and doubtless
by others also. The New Testament contains 27 books,
all written in Greek, during rather less than 50 years, by
nine authors, viz., SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul,
Peter, James, Jude, and the author of Hebrews. With the
possible exception of S. Luke's two books, it was all
written by Israelites, though not for Israelites only.

Questions too complex to be entered upon fully here
have recently arisen as to the date and authorship of vari-
ous portions of the Bible. That, for instance, Deuteronomy
was written, not merely discovered, in the reign of Josiah ;
that the second part of Isaiah is from the hand of a much
later prophet than the first, are hypotheses fascinating to
some minds. But they are only hypotheses, not proved
facts, and wider knowledge has frequently overthrown
hypotheses which seemed equally plausible. The argu-
ments in favour of the earlier dates assigned for generations
to these books are so strong that, until more convincing
evidence than any as yet brought forward can be given for
setting those dates aside, the most accurate and judicious
scholars hesitate to treat such hypotheses as if they
belonged to the region of knowledge and not of conjecture.

INTRODUCTION.

Wc must avo!J on the one hand rash assumption that
traditional views arc wrong ; and on the ether hand
equally rash assumption that all traditional views can hold
their own. That Job is a contemporary biography, or that
Joshua was written by him whose name it bears, is neither
proved nor provable ; in either case it is possible, but not
probable, and the question is not of vital importance.
That all the four Gospels were written before the end of
the first Christian century, and are therefore contemporary
biography, has in our own days been established upon
evidence to which our fathers h?d no access, and to this
question the gravest issues belong.

{b) Diversity of Method. More and more clearly from age
to age God has made known to man His truth by history,
type, prophecy, sign, vision, and parable, " by divers portions
and in divers manners" (Heb. i. i, R.V.). The Bible may
be the history of one nation only, but that, as the one
unmingled race of high antiquity, has the most persistent
of nationalities, and the longest of histories, and is connected
with almost every other important nation in the world.

Nowadays it is said in some quarters that the Bible is
in peril from " Higher Criticism," and certain good people,
whose piety is greater than their intelligence, echo the
assertion, and deprecate criticism altogether. The faith
of unstable souls is indeed in peril from a criticism that
errs in not being high enough. But from criticism of
the right kind the Bible has everything to gain, and if
we are wise we shall read it in the fullest light our own
age can throw upon it. Ignorance, not knowledge, is the
real foe ; and just as the Church gains fresh strength in
times of persecution, so Holy Writ wins fresh appreciation
in times when it is being tried (Psalm cxix. 140, R.V.
margin). For when unassailed, it is also in great
measure unstudied ; whereas the labours of scholars in
various departments have lately, as never before, shown
the unity and beauty of its literary structure, and the
minute accuracy of its historical narratives. And when
we cease to read into it what it does not say, and clearly
ascertain what it does say, we discover again and again
that its statements are in harmony with the latest results
of scientific research.

8 INTRODUCTION.

Moreover, Hvitif; in days of worldwide missionary effort
and worldwide missionary success, we can assert as the
Christians of past times could not assert, that the Bible,
written in a remote age and an obscure country, has proved
its Divine origin by its power to win human hearts of every
race and to transform human lives in every clime as no
other book ever did or ever could do. S. T. Coleridge, that
profound thinker, says that for him the most convincing
proof of its Divinj origin is that it finds him at deeper
depths of his being than any other book. These are
matters that claim our earnest consideration. For in the
near future (I quote Bishop Phillips Brooks, preaching
from Matt. xxii. 37, on "The Mind's Love for God ") "there
will be an ever-increasing demand for thoughtful saints ;
for men and women, earnest, lofty, spiritual, but also full of
intelligence, knowing the meaning and the reasons of the
things they believe, and not content to worship the God
to whom they owe everything with less than their whole
nature."

By the Word we ^re quickened, that is, made alive (Psalm
cxix. 50), by it we grow (i Pc ir ii. 2), by it we become
strong (i John ii. 14). There is no surer sign of bodily
sickness than lack of appetite for wholesome food. There
is no surer sign of spiritual sickness than lack of appetite
for that which is sweeter than honey (Psalm xix. 10 ; Jer.
XV. 16 ; Ezek. iii. 1-3). Does the Christian life seem unreal?
Is the Christian faith beset with difficulties amid the conflict
of human opinions and the clatter of controversies and
arguments ? Is this your bewildered query concerning the
Son of God, as concerning a Being, awful, distant, vague,
" Who is He that I may believe on Him ? " (John ix. 36).

" Have ye not read ? " (Matt. xix. 4), " Understandest
thou what thou readest?" (Acts viii. 30). Take comfort in
the knowledge that all may read and all may understand,
for all who ask may have the guidance of Him through
whom the Scripture not only was but is inspired to be the
living and life-giving Word for every age and every race
(Luke xi. 13 ; James i. 5).

FIRST TERM.
The Days of the Patriarchs.
The Chosen Family, b.c. 4004 — 1490. From the Creation to tin erection
0/ the Tabernacle P- '9-

SECOND TERM.
The Days of Moses.
The Chosen Nation. The Tabernacle and the Theocracy, n.c. I490 — 1256.
From the erection of the Tabernacle to the Atidianite Oppression p. 39.

THIRD TERM.

The Days of David.

The Chosen Nation under one King. n.c. 1256 — 1018. From the Mic/ianite
Oppression to the choice of a site for the Temple , . . p. 60.

FOURTH TERM.
The Days of Solomon.

The Chosen Nation Centre of an Empire. The First Temple. B.C. 1018 — 915.
From the choice of a site for the Temple to the accessions of Jehoshaphat
and Ahab . , P- 78>

FIFTH TERM.
The Days of the Prophets.
Decline and Fall of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, n.c 915 — 697.
the accessions of Jehoshaphat and Ahab to the death uf Ucztkiah

From
p. 95.

SIXTH TERM.
The Days of Jeremiah.
Decline and Fall of tlie Kingdom of Judah. n.c. 697 — 588. From the
death of Hezekiah to the Fall of Jerusalem . . . . p. 118.

SEVENTH TERM.
The Days of Ezra.
The Restoration and the Second Temple, b.c. 606 — 397. From the Fall
of Jerusalem to the close of the Old Testament Canon . . p. 138.

EIGHTH TERM.
The Days of the Son of Man.
The Gospel preached to the Jews, b.c 6 — a.d. 51. From the coming of
Christ to the Conference at Jerusalem p. 213.

NINTH TERM.
The Days of S. Paul.
The Gospel preached to the Gentiles, a.d. 51—97. From the Conference
at Jerusalem to the close of the New Testament Canon . . p. 278.

l\\

GENERAL PLAN

OF THE

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

DIVIDING the Bible, which contains 1189 chapters,
into nine portions of about 132 chapters each, we
read it through in 3 years, 36 months, 1095 days, or nine
terms of four months, taking one chapter a day and an
extra chapter in the course of every 12 days.

The section for; each term is headed by (a) A title
showing the main subject of the term's reading ; (d) The
dates marking off its period of history ; (c) The names of
the books and parts of books to be read ; (d) A motto for
the Bible student, tal<en from these books ; (e) A tabular
scheme of the term's reading. It consists of nme chapters,
each of which may be read either in connexion with the
rest of the section or with the corresponding chapters of
the other sections : that is, either historically or topically,
as we divide the Bible into nine su- cessive sections, or take
a ninefold view of it from beginning to end.

"Clews to Holy Writ" is not a comrftentary to be
merely read through, but a scries of suggestions which
mean little for those who do not worK each out for them-
selves, studying every section closely and constantly, and
looking up all passages referred to.

The chapters in each section are as follows : —

I. General Suimmarv, gathering up the threads of
our story, and ascertaining the main events and most
striking lessons of our period as we glance backwards and
forwards.

II. Books to be Read, indicating their literary char-
acteristics and keynotes, and marking off from the Jiistory

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

which relates the action of the period, the poetry which
utters its best thought. We do not read the Bible only for
the intellectual enjoyment of its many literary charms, but
we shall enter into its higher aspects all the better for not
ignoring these.

III. Periods and Dates. — Here we arrange the order
of our reading in detail, and map out our whole period into
forty well-defined shorter epochs. Where exact dates are
out of the question, approximate dates are given, and here
and there we disregard the actual order of time in order to
round off an important subject. Very numerous careful
statements of hours, days, weeks, and years in Holy Writ
show the importance attributed to chronology by its writers.

IV. Geography. — Here we connect each chapter of
history with particular places, whose physical characteristics
are swiftly sketched.

V. Heroes. — The biographical interest of any period
centres round the makers of its history. We are apt to
think of Bible characters as mere abstractions rather than
" men of like passions with us." Hence we must endeavour
to realise the individualities of those who long years ago
strove with the power of evil and were strong in the grace
of God, that we may take to ourselves the practical
lessons of their lives, which will be given as a rule through
New Testament quotations for the first seven, and Old
Testament quotations for the last two terms.

VI. The Coming Messiah. — It has been well said that
the best key to the mystery of the written Word is the
mystery of the Incarnate Word. So, beginning at Moses,
we trace the dominant theme of the Bible (Luke xxiv. 27),
its one great Hope of ever-growing brightness, brought at
each crisis in the providential history of the world within
narrower limits, and illustrated by fresh details. There are
two kinds of Messianic prophecy.

{a) Types, or prophecies in picture or action. " Type "
means " likeness," and Scripture types are " likenesses " of
good things to come, or earthly shadows of heavenly
substances. We discriminate typical (i) Persons — e.g.,
Moses ; (2) Things — eg., Manna ; (3) Ordinances — e.g., the
Day of Atonement ; (4) Offices — eg., Prophet, Priest, and
King ; (5) Kvents — eg., the Exodus ; (6) Acts— ^.^., the

GENERAL PLAN OF THE

burial of Jeremiah's girdle. These last are often called
Signs. Observe, that although we may use types to illus-
trate and confirm doctrines, we cannot prove doctrines
from them ; also that search for new and far-fetched types
often leads us astray. There are quite enough unmistakable
ones to afford study for our whole lives. Here again the
Bible is its own best explanation.

{U) Predictions, or prophecies in words or speech, which
arc cither (i) Direct, i.e., referring only to Christ {e.g., Zech.
ix. 9) ; (2) Indirect, having a primary historical fulfilment
in some one who partially realised what Christ realised
wholly {e.g.. Psalm Ixxii.). " While the words of the Psalms
and Prophecies not only admit of, but even demand,
germinant and s^ • '..ging developments, they are primarily
applicable to events and circumstances of their own days "
{Calvin). Their ultimate fulfilments grow out of primary
fulfilments which it must be our first business to under-
stand, but neither contradict nor supersede them.

These Predlctioi^s fall into '^ree classes — viz., those
fulfilled at the first Advent, those to be fulfilled at the
second Advent, ard those that have a double fulfilment in
both.

The evidence of miracle is strongest in the age when the
miracle is wrought ; the evidence of prophecy is strongest
in the age most remote from its utterance. Yet even the
earliest Christian apologists appeal, especially in argument
with Jews, to prophecy rather than miracle (see Blunt's
" Christian Church of the First Three Centuries," chap. vii.).
For US the progress of events, and the greatly increased
knowledge of the past now possessed, give the prophetic
aspect of Scripture a special importance. But we must
remember that Predictions are not mere adjuncts of re-
velation, attached to it from without, in order to piove it
to us, but essential parts of it. The Scripture record is
nearly always twofold. The Prophet looks forward, and
says, " It shall be," ere the Historian looks backward and
says, "It was" (comp. Gen. xv. 13, 14 with Exodus). Its
Prophecy is History anticipated, its History is Prophecy
fulfilled; but while its History ceases 1800 years ago, its
Prophecy looks on to the end of the world.

In our eighth term we open the New Testament as if

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

wc had never opened it before, to discover how far the
Messiah of History realises, and how far He transcends, the
Messiah of Prophecy whom we have learned to know. " And
by the title of Christ or Messiah, so slowly defined, so
variously interpreted, so gloriously fulfilled, God teaches
us to find the true meaning of all history, teaches us at
all times to wait, to watch, to hope " ( Westcotf).

Vn. God'k Revelation of Himself to Man. —
" Revelation is not the sum of the happiest guesses, or wisest
observations and reflections, which devout and thoughtful
men have made regarding God ; but it is the sum of what
God Himself has miparted to the minds of men to guide
and rule their thoughts about Him " (Z>r. Marcus Dods).
Man .seeking God is the origin of other religions. God
seeking man is the origin of the Christian religion. Slov/ly
and gradually, as wc shall see, did God make Himself
known by new Names and new dealings with men. Yet
our revelation of " the glory of the Eternal Trinity " is not
only in harmony with, but was dimly adumbrated by, the
earliest manifestations of the God of Israel.

Vni. Man's Relation to God in Worship. — The
history of religion is the history of man's response to these
manifestations. This will lead us through Sacrifice and
Prayer in their most general form, to the Mosaic Ritual,
the Tabernacle, the two Temples, and the organisation of
the Church. Here too we notice the ever-recurring tendency
to some form of idolatry.

For the first two terms illustrative passages are in-
dicated. After this we come to periods fully elucidated by
contemporary Psalms. In the later sections we note how
sacred history is corroborated by secular history.

IX. Thirty-two Questions.— These are not intended
as a test of memory at the end of the term's reading, but
of observation and thought from day to day. Many of
them are planned to suggest topics and modes of research.
At first sight thoy may seem full of unknown things, but
though some are more difficult than others, the most
difficult are less difficult than they appear. That they
demand care and accuracy rather than much previous
knowledge has been proved by the following fact. In our
classes, although the best papers are always sent in by those

GENERAL PLAN OF THE

who take the most pains, they are not always sent in by
those who have had most educational advantages.

Every examination paper follows out the term's reading in
order, and winds up with some questions glancing through
the whole of it. Early in each term, those Students of the
College by Post who have sent in answers to the questions
of last term receive the loan of a MS. containing the com-
plete Answers to compare with their own and copy. They
thus get the full benefit of the questions they were not
successful over themselves as well as the benefit of having
their work corrected by our teachers. These Answers are
not always exactly in the same form as those expected
from students. A mere reference sometimes stands for the
statement asked for, and in order to supply information
not readily accessible to students, explanations or quotations
are added in other cases to the actual reply.

The figure at the end of each question represents the
marks to be gained by answering it completely. The
maximum of marks for each term's paper is 400, and
for all the nine papdrs, 3600.

Most of those who have been through the C.S.C. once
wish to go through it again. At their request a second
series of questions and answers more advanced than the
first has been prepared (see p. 309). Thesp "^hould in no
case be attempted until the first serie.« hd^ been worked out.

Some of those who have found the C.S.C. course useful
and stimulating are helping me to form a Prize Fund, by
means of which we are able to reward those of our students
who work out all the nine papers well. Those who obtain
over 3000 marks choose as a First Class prize a book or
books to the value of \Q)S. 6d. ; those who obtain over
2400 marks choose a Second Class prize to the value of
ys. 6d. ; and those who obtain over 1 800 marks choose a
Third Class prize to the value of 5^.

The names of prize-winners are published in my annual
Letter to our Students.

Over 100 students have already won these rewards,
and the number promises to increase steadily. Pos.sibly
.some readers of " Clews to Holy Writ " who are indc^pendcnt
of such aid as our classes give, and desire to encourage
systematic Bible study, may feel kindly disposed to con*

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

»5

tribute towards these hardly earned and greatly appreciated
prizes.

Let me conclude with twelve practical suggestions to
C.S.C. students, and to others who adopt the C.S.C. scheme.
I will word them abruptly for the sake of brevity.

What we read Hcb. iv. 12 ; 2 Peter i. 20, 21.

Why we read .... Luke i. 4 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.

C Acts xvii. 1 1 ; Prov. ii. 4, 5 ;
How we should read. . •< i Cor. ii. 13; James i. 21 ;

( I Thess. ii. 13.
We must i Critically, in order to know What to Believe,
read ■< Devotionally „ „' WJiom to Love,

the Bible ( Practically „ „ How to Live.

L Provide yourself with the following books : —

{a) The Authorised Version of the Bible, with references.

{b) The Revised Version, which may now be had for
tcnpence. This is most helpful to the student, not only
because of its greater accuracy and marginal information,
but also in discriminating poetry from prose, and substi-
tuting for the little " verses " that are so largely responsible
for the " collection of texts " view of Scripture, a first-rate
system of paragraphs. Read the two prefaces to it care-
fully.

Look out the A.V. references, and study the daily
chapter in both A.V. and R.V. Striking differences
between them might be underlined in the latter.

{c) Helps to the Study of the Bible (Frowde, Clarendon
Press, IS. and 3^-. 6d.). This you need not get if you
already have "The Oxford Bible for Teachers." It is
referred to here as " Oxford Helps."

Those who wish for more books will find the following
useful : —

{a) "The Bible Handbook," by Dr. Angus (Religious
Tract Society, 5^.).

{b) The Student's Old Testament History and The
Student's New Testament History (each 7s. 6d., Murray).

{c) Concise Dictionary of the Bible, 2\s., or smaller
Bible Dictionary, by Dr. Smith, 7s. 6d. (Murray), or Cassell's
Bible Dictionary, ys. 6d.

GENERAL PLAN OF THE

(■!1

{d) Student's Edition of the Speaker's Commentary, in
six volumes {js. 6d. each, Murray).

(e) Bishop Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, in
eight volumes {zis. each, Cassell).

if) A good Concordance, say Eadie's Cruden.

But unless you can give much more than half an hour a
day to C.S.C, you will find your whole time occupied by
right use of the three books named as absolutely necessary,
and of " Clews to Holy Writ." A single chapter will claim
more and more of your time with growing interest and
knowledge. If you not only "read," but "mark, learn, and
inwardly digest " (four distinct processes), you will probably
feel inclined to diminish rather than increase the quantity
of your reading as you improve its quality.

II. Pray daily ere you read your chapter, in such words
as Psalm xxv. 4, 5, or Psalm cxix. 18, or Eph. i. 17-19, for
the Holy Spirit's aid. Could we have greater help towards
understanding a difficult book than the power of speaking
constantly with its author ?

Pray also after j^ou have read, for every precept may be
turned into petition, and every promise into praise.

" Young men," Professor Beck of Tiibingen used to say
to his students, " let me remind you that theology without
the Holy Spirit is not only a cold stone, but absolute
poison."

III. Mark one striking text in each chapter, and look at
yesterday's marked text ere you begin to-day's reading.
There are many advantages in using always one copy of
the Bible, so mark it neatly or you may regret not having
done so hereafter.

IV. Find for each Old Testament chapter a New Testa-
ment quotation or allusion or precept or illustration. The
references will help you here.

V. Ask daily after you have read your chapter, " What
does it teach me concerning {a) God, {b) Man, {c) Christ,
who is the Son of God, the very image of God's substance
as the Incarnate God ; who is the Son of Man, made like
unto His brethren in all things as the Divine Man ? " Ask
also what practical lessons you may gain from it for your
own daily life. Treat the Bible as a matchless temple,
wherein we may increase our awe and excite our devotion

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

»7

to God (I quote Robert Boyle's fine simile). For we suffer
great spiritual loss when we regard it merely as an arsenal
for weapons of defence and offence ; when we only take
our own views to it for confirmation and other people's
views to it for condemnation. Controversy is both easier
and more exciting than humble search for truth, and there-
fore it pervades so much of the so-called "religious"
writing and talking of the day. But if we would really
benefit by the study of God's Word, we must, as Bible
readers, avoid this spirit of contention altogether.

Of the three kinds of study indicated in the table above,
" Clews to Holy Writ " deals mainly with Critical study,
not because we regard it as the most important, but because
the Bible must appeal to the intelligence ere it can appeal
to the heart and will. Critical study is a means to a higher
end which we do not ignore, but lead up to — viz., those
Devotional and Practical applications of our study in which
others can help us least, since we must each of us make
them for ourselves, if they are to be worth anything.

VI. Commit to memory at the rate of one or two verses
a day, some specially beautiful and important passages in
the term's reading. We cannot store up what we take in
too carefully, since we know not how soon we may be
called upon to give it out.

VII. The C.S.C. scheme is not meant to be tried for a
term or two, but to be followed throughout. Hence all
should begin at the beginning, and do each month's reading
in the month and each term's in the term. If one term's
work is interrupted, another term should be given to it, as
it is far better to extend the whole course over more than
three years than to break the continuous chain of study ;
for each section takes all the preceding sections for granted
and is closely linked with the following sections. The
tabular schemes should be used throughout together with
the chapters headed " Periods and Dates." As the course
is planned for any three years, particular months cannot be
considered, but since three years contain thirty-six months,
and the Bible contains 1189 chapters, the average number
of chapters read each month will be -g|-=33, as shown
in the arable numerals on the tabular schemes. A second
chapter can be read on any day that there is more time

tnUM^ jfc tri

if !

III

CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE.

and when the first chapter is very short or a mere list of
names.

VIII. Set up a note book or a sheaf of loose sheets
fastened at the corner, for working out subjects as you read,
and accumulating material for answers to the questions,
which should be before you throughout the term.

IX. Towards the end of the term, begin to prepare a
fair copy of your answers. Boiling down several pages of
notes into a few lines of terse and concentrated information
is a most instructive process. Let it become familiar to
you, for you will lighten your teachers' work not a little by
sending them concise, clearly arranged, and clearly written
answers instead of diffuse and confused ones.

X. Answer some questions if you cannot answer all, and
remember that since no answer can win more than maxi-
mum marks, nothing is gained by giving more than you
are asked for. Write on both sides of the paper, leaving
a margin, and number your answers in the margin. Give
your name and address at the end of your paper. It will
be corrected if ' it reaches your teacher at the time
appointed.

XI. Remember (i) That if the chapter is difficult, the
difficulties will probably disappear as you read on. There
are few which cannot be traced, if we are honest, either to
Prejudice, Presumption, Ignorance.or Carelessness. " When
two texts contradict one another, a third will be found to
reconcile them," was the helpful rule of the Rabbi Ishmael.
(2) That if the chapter seems barren, your Biblical know-
ledge and spiritual insight is still imperfect, and also that
forced applications are a fruitful cause of errors. (3) That
to the reader of devout heart and holy life God reveals
what is hidden from mere ability and learning (John vii. 17,
Matt. V. 8).

XII. Finally, will you pray for all who are following this
scheme that to them, as well as to you, the C.S.C. may be
not only an intellectual interest, but a means of growth in
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ?

FIRST TERM.

The Days of the Patriarchs
The Chosen Family.

B.C. 4004 — 1490.

Genesis. Job. Exodus, (132 chapters.)

'* Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the
people." — ExoD. xxiv. 7.

1st MONTH (33). 1 3rd MONTH (33).

Genesis I.— XXXIII. 1 Job XVII.— XLII.

2nd MONTH (33).
Genesis XXXIV.— L.

Exodus I.— VII.

Job I.— XVI.

4th MONTH (33).
Exodus VIII.— XL.

I. General Summary.

THE keynote of Gen. i. is God said. As regards Nature,
His will is fully carried out (Psalm xxxiii. 9).

The keynote of Gen. iii. is Hai/i God said ? As regards
Man, His will is thwarted (Eccles. vii. 29). Gen. iii. 17-19
is the declaration, not of a threat or of an arbitrary punish-
ment, but of an inevitable result, brought about by man
himself, and working in accordance with God's great natural
laws. Far heavier would have been the doom of living on
for ever, sinful and idle.

The rest of the Bible unfolds the Divine plan whereby
God's purpose is notwithstanding accomplished, and man
redeemed. Throughout God calls, tests, and chooses for
special privilege not Cain, but Abel ; not the rest of man-
kind, but Noah's family ; not Japhet the elder, but Shem
the younger (Gen. x. 21, ix. 26) ; not the eldest brother
Haran's son, but the younger brother Abraham (Isa.

I J!

i^l

I' H

FIRST TERM.

li. 2) ; not Ishmael, but Isaac ; not Esau, but Jacob ; not
Reuben, but Joseph (i Chron. v. i, 2); not Manasseh, but
Ephraim (Gen. xlviii.) ; not Aaron, but Moses (Exod. iv.
16) ; not Nadab and Abihu, but Eleazar (Num. xx. 28).

From the whole race God chose one family, who.se
training is described in Genesis. When it had suffered sf^
severely that it had become utterly helpless, God sent a
twofold message through Moses ; to Israel, a promise, " I
will deliver you," which was received with faith and
worship ; to Pharaoh, a command, " Let My people go,"
signified by (i) Word, (2) Signs, (3) Judgments; and
received with (i) Scornful refusal, (2) Defiant imitation,
(3) Unwilling recognition of the Divine power, and notwith-
standing continued hardness of heart (Job xxxiii. 14; Isa.
xxvi. 9). Then God brought that family from Africa to
Asia ; from the garden of Egypt to the desert of Sinai ;
from slavery to freedom ; and not orly a great nation, but
" History itself was born on that night when Moses led
forth his countryn^en from the land of Goshen " {Bunsen).

This chosen nation (Deut. vii. 6 ; Amos iii. 2 ; Rom. ix.
3, 4) were not the substitutes for, but the representatives of,
all mankind. They were not blessed merely for their own
sake, so their nal.jnal history, unlike any other national
history, is of interest and importance for all the world.

II. Books to be Read.
(See " Oxford Helps," § v.)

This term we read one great poem, and two of the
historical books of Moses, which contain four archaic frag-
ments of Hebrew verse and two magnificent odes — viz.,

{a) Lamech's Sword-song (Gen. iv. 23, 24).

(^) Noah's Prophecy concerning his sons, an epitome of
universal history (Gen. ix. 25-7).

{c) Jehovah's Prophecy concerning Rebekah's sons, an
epitome of Israel's history (Gen. xxv. 23).

{d) Isaac's Prophecy concerning his sons, an amplification
of ic) (Gen. xxvii. 27-9, 3c,, 40).

(J) Jacob's Benediction, giving the destinies of the Twelve
Tribes (Gen. xlix.).

(/) Moses' Song of Victory, in three stanzas, the grandest

BOOKS TO BE READ.

national hymn ever sung to the glory of Jehovah and to
liberty, and the first specimen of responsive choral music
(Exod. XV. 1-18).

Genesis is not only the oldest complete book in the
world, its earlier chapters appear to embody records far
more ancient than Moses, going back to the very beginning
of human history (Luke i. 70). About these there is
nothing distinctively Hebrew, their simplicity of treatment
and subject belongs to the dawn of civilisation, and they
have interesting features in common with the earliest
Egyptian and Chaldean literature. It is not, however, a
mere compilation of old annals, but a religious history,
whose unity and symmetry show that it was penned
throughout with a definite design. Genesis falls into twelve
natural divisions beginning Gen. i. i, ii..4, v. i, vi. 9, x. i,
xi. 10, xi. 2^^ XXV, 12, XXV. 19, xxxvi. i, xxxvi. 9, and
xxxvii. 2, all save the first headed by " These are the genera-
tions [?>., " offspring " : comp. Matt. iii. 7, A. V. and R. V.]

of " The first five portions refer to General, and the

last seven to Church History ; and their relative lengths are
very significant. Its keynote is Called and chosen (Matt,
xxii. 14 • I Peter iii. 9).

Job, undoubtedly an historical character, probably lived
before Moses, as his patriarchal length of days indicates ;
and after Abraham, since his friends refer to the destruc-
tion of Sodom. The question whether the Book of Job is a
veracious record of his actual words, brought by Moses
from Midian, or a truthful general picture of his character
and life, shaped by a poet of Solomon's age and made the
groundwork of a lesson for all time, does not affect its
canonicity. All Scripture is divinely inspired and true in
the highest sense. But its loftiest truths are clothed not in
the barely literal, but in the poetical form that contemplates
everything in its permanent and typical aspect. Whatever
view we take of the date and authorship of Job, we read it
now to fill the century that divides Gen. 1. from Exod. i. ;
because it illustrates individual before we pass to national
religion, the Patriarchal before we pass to the Mosaic age,
God's dealings with a Gentile before we pass to His deal-
ings with Israel. Its keynote is Fear the Almighty and

Tr7tst the All- Wise and All-Loving

Incomprehensible ;

FIRST TERM.

i i

(Rom. xi. 33, viii. 28, v. 3,4). Natural instinct, strcnp;thcncd
by simple faith in God, connects happiness with goodness.
Obedience to God's law must lead to the blessedness He
means His creatures to enjoy. This is o\xx first thoiigJU^
exemplified in the speeches of Job's friends and in Psalm i.
Experience of the imperfections and contradictions of life
shows that too often the wicked prosper and the righteous
suffer. How then can God be all-wise, all-powerful, and
all-loving? This is our second thought, and this is what
Satan tempted Job to think. Mature conviction, growing
out of closer study of God's law and man's nature, teaches
us that through man's free-will the my.sterious power of
evil makes exceptions to God's law, which is a general law
connecting goodness and happiness. This is our third
thought, and third thoughts are best and truest. We may
go on to say concerning these exceptions : —

(i) God's ways are past our comprehension, but we have
good cause to believe that His wisdom, power, and love arc
infinite. This is the answer to the problem given in Job.

(2) In the next life all wrong will be completely redressed.
This answer is suggested in Psalm Ixxiii.

(3) The righteous may not be happy, but they are
blessed even in the midst of sorrow.

" 111 that Thou blessest is our good.
And unblest good is ill ;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be Thy sweet will." — Faber.

This answer is suggested in Psalm xvii. 14, 15. in the
Fourth Term we shall have a striking example of " unblest
good," and in the Seventh and Ninth Terms of " blest
ill." But these two last answers could not be fully worked
out until after the anguish of the Cross and the glory of
the Resurrection. Job remains true as one solution, no
longer the only solution, of the problem.

It falls into five sections : —

{a) i. — ii. Prose Prologue stating the Problem concern-
ing Affliction. The trouble and temptation of unproved
Job.

{b) iii. — xxxi. Discussion of the Problem from the
human point of view, by Job who regards Affliction as
an unfathomable mystery (" Wherefore hidest Thou Thy

nOOKS TO BE READ.

face?" xiii. 24); and by his three friends who, as dof;ged
defenders of the traditional popular belief, regard Affliction
as a punishment for sin (" Who ever perished, being
innocent?" iv. 7).

{c) xxxii. — xxxvii. Exposition of the Problem from
the point of view of one divinely enlightened, by Klihu
who regards Affliction as a merciful discipline for our
instruction (" God, who tcacheth us more than the beasts,"
XXXV. 1 1).

id) xxxviii. — xlii. 6. Solution of the Problem by
Jehovah Himself, who shows that Affliction is a test of
integrity towards and trust in Him ("Though He slay me
yet will I wait for Him," xiii. 15, is followed by "My
servant Job . . . him will I accept," xlii. 8).

{e) xlii. 7-17. Prose Epilogue. The blessing of proved
and trustful Job.

Exodus continues Genesis, begins the national history
of Israel, and contains the first portion of the Mosaic Law.
Its keynote is Redeemed of the Z6»/'^(Luke i. 68 ; i Peter
i. 18, 19; Gal. iv. 4, 5).

According to a continuous stream of credible tcstimonj^
from the earliest days of Israel's history, we have attributed
the Pentateuch to the fifteenth century before Christ, and
no book has had more external evidence to its authorship.
One school of modern critics, however, professing to be
guided by internal evidence, declares that its account of
the Creation is unscientific, and contradicts facts ascertained
by recent investigations ; that its records are legendary ;
and that instead of being contemporary history, it is a
compilation made many centuries after Moses. We cannot
enter into the question at length, but one or two suggestions
may be made in passing.

(i) It is one thing to have a reasonable faith, another to
be able to answer all the hard questions concerning it that
could be asked.

(2) If, as regards isolated passages, there are difficulties
in believing the Bible to be a Divine and human book,
there are still more serious difficulties in believing it
to be a merely human book as a whole, which is the
alternative.

(3) Gen. i. was not intended to satisfy the scientific

FIRST TERM.

"Ml

■ w

t i!

curiosity of the learned few, but to instruct the mass of
mankind, for whom it would have been utterly unintelligible
had it been written in technical scientific terms.

(4) When the exact translation is ascertained, and the
rash interpretations of prejudiced opponents of the faith
and also of half-learned apologists for it are swept away,
this oldest of all books proves to be almost the only non-
scientific book in the world that does not contain one
incorrect statement about natural facts ; while at the same
time it accounts for things that science confesses itself
unable to account for. See Liddon's " Elements of
Religion," Lecture II. (Longmans, is. 6d.).

(5) Geology shows that the general order of the Creation
must have been that of Gen. i.

(6) Ethnology points to the Euphrates Valley as the
probable cradle of the race, and traces its dispersion thence
under conditions entirely compatible with those described
in Genesis.

(7) Archaeology proves, from records of the past long
hidden, but now uncovered in many unexpected ways and
places, the minute accuracy of the Biblical description of
ancient Egypt.

(8) The Ordnance Survey of the Sinaitic Peninsula
examined, some 25 years ago, the geography of the Exodus
and the Wanderings, demonstrating that the story in the
Pentateuch could only have been written by a contem-
porary and eye witness.

(9) Many converging arguments show that it is not only
possible but probable that the Deluge took place.

Before all this positive evidence of an early date, in-
genious speculations as to a late date based mainly on
linguistic considerations that may be entirely fallacious, do
not look very satisfactory. To those who wish to pursue
these subjects further, I recommend Sir J. W. Dawson's
" Modern Science in Bible Lands " (Hodder & Stoughton,
6s.), t''e work of an eminent scientist who speaks with
authority ; and I know of no more profound or masterly
treatment of the relation of modern science to revelation
as a whole, than " Can the Old Faith live with the
New?" by Dr. George Mathcson, of Edinburgh (Black-
wood, ys. 6d.).

PERIODS AND DATES.

III. Periods and Dates.

The whole history of the human race, now nearly 6000
years of age, may be divided into three great periods ac-
cording to three successive phases of God's dealings with
man. Each is about 2000 years long.

(a) The Patriarchal Dispensation, or Probation of all men
under the Law of Conscience, during which God mani-
fested His Power. B.C. 4004 to 1921, from Adam to
Abraham (Gal. iii. 16), 2083 years.

{p) The Jewish Dispensation, or Probation of one Chosen
People under the Law of Moses, during which God mani-
fested His Righteousness. B.C. 192 1 to A.D. 70, from
Abraham to the Fall of Jerusalem, 1990 years.

{c) The Christian Dispensation, or *■ Times of the Gentiles "
(Luke xxi. 24), under the Law of Christ, during which
God manifests His Love. A.D. 70 onwards.

Some would, however, bring {a) down to 149 1, i.e., to
Moses (see Rom. v. 13, 14), and would date {c) from B.C.
625, ix., from the founding of the Babylonian Empire, the
first of the mighty Gentile powers that prepared Christ's
way. In this case {b) overlaps both {a) and {c).

The scanty records of the 2514 years we study this term
leave its chronology uncertain. Here we follow the com-
monly received dates as given in " Oxford Helps," § vii.

430 years {i.e., 1921 — 1491) is spoken of in Exod. xii.
40, 41, as the whole period of the sojourning or pilgrimage of
the Chosen Family, during which j\braham and his children
were homeless wanderers. S. Paul reckons 430 years (Gal.
iii. 17) from the promise given in Ur to the law given at
Sinai. Rather more than 400 years elapsed between the
vision of Gen. xv. (which foreshadowed the whole history
of Israel) and the Exodus (Gen. xv. 13 ; Acts vii. 6).

(i) B.C. 4004--2348 (1656 years). From the Creation
to the Deluge. Probation of the whole human race.
Gen. i.— viii.

(2) B.C. 2348— 1 92 1 (427 years). From the Deluge to

the Call of Abraham. Probation of the descendants
of Noah. Gen. ix.— xi.

(3) B.C. 192 1 — 1 49 1 (430 years). From the Call of

FIRST TERM.

Abraham to the Exodus. Probation of the Chosen
Family.

(a) 1921 — 1706 (215 years). The Sojourning in

Canaan. Gen. xii.— xlv.
(d) 1706 — 1491 (215 years). The Sojourning in
Egypt. Gen. xlvi.— 1. ; Job ; Exod. i. — xii.
(4) B.C. 149 1 — 1490 (one year). From the Exodus to
the erection of the Tabernacle. Redemption of the
Chosen People.

(a) From Passover to Pentecost, 1491 (seven

weeks). The great Deliverances. Exod.
xiii.— xviii.

(b) From Pentecost 1491, to Passover, 1490 (10

months and 10 days). The Revelation at
Sinai. Exod. xix.— xl.

III

IV. Geography.

(See " Oxford Helps," Maps I., II., III., IV., and VIII.,
' and §§ ix., xxx.)

Geology demonstrates that before the Deluge a con-
siderable portion of what is now the Persian Gulf was land.
Immediately after the Deluge, a considerable portion of
what is now land was swallowed up by the Persian Gulf
Through this once high and well-wooded, then submerged,
and now low and marshy country, flows a broad tide, fed
by four great rivers — viz., the Euphrates ; the Hiddekel, or
Tigris ; the Gihon, or Choaspes, watering not the African,
but Nimrod's Cush ; and the Pishon or Pasitigris rising in
mountains rich in mineral products, and descending through
a fertile country where the beautiful Persian capital of
Shushan (Esth. i. 2) afterwards was (see Map VIII.). Here
our story begins, for here (as Sir J. W. Dawson shows in
an argument too long to quote) was Eden ; hither, as to
their cradle, Noah's descendants made their way south-
eastwards (Gen. xi. 2) from the mountains where the Ark
grounded ; and hence therefore, according to Indian,
Persian, and Chaldean tradition, mankind originated. In
the plain of Shinar also they built the city whose name
runs all through the Bible from Gen. x. to Rev. xviii.

Prof Sayce identifies Mughcir immediately to the west of

GEOGRAPHY.

the Chosen

Durning in

)urning in

i. i. — xii.

ixodus to

Hon of the

pi (seven

s. Exod.

1490 (10

elation at

d VIII.,

i^j

je a con-

' was land.

)ortion of

■sian Gulf.

-■.1

ibmerged,

1 tide, fed

ddekel, or

2 African,

5 rising in

g through

capital of

I.). Here

shows in

her, as to

ay south-

the Ark

) Indian,

ated. In

ose name

dii.

le west of

Ercch with Ur Wi.cncc Abraham set forth. Others, however,
identify Ur with Orfah or Edcssa in Mesopotamia, much
higher up the river, which an abundant sprmg and high
crag prove even now to have been a well-watered and
well-protected place for an early settlement. He went on
to Haran, the headquarters of Laban's family, whence the
two great caravan routes to the Euphrates and Tigris
diverge ; and then to Damascus, the oldest city now exist-
ing ; and through Palestine (whose geography we take
next term) to Egypt, a most fertile, thoroughly cultivated,
and thickly populated country, w .lich was to the wandering
tribes of Asia then what Italy has since been to Gauls and
Goths. For it was the home of the earliest civilisation in
the world, which archaeology traces back beyond B.C. 3000 ;
of a race skilled both in the fine and the mechanical arts,
loving nature, honouring women, deeply impressed with
the seriousness of life on both sides of the grave, and exer-
cising an influence, whose whole power we are only now
beginning to estimate, upon the two nations of antiquity,
the Hebrews and the Greeks, to whom we ourselves owe
most. The Valley of the Nile (which is the true Egypt)
is unlike any other part of the world. It has neither
Alpine grandeur nor pastoral softness, nor variety of plain
and upland, meadow and forest. Its hills have neither
heather nor pine upon them, in its rainless sky there is
neither cloud nor mist. The Nile (worshipped as "The
Hidden One," because until the middle of this nineteenth
century its source was a mystery) rises once a year and covers
the whole valley and plain, so that from desert to desert,
river and country are one (Amos viii. 8, R.V.). Thus the
soil is renewed and fertilised for its three annual harvests.
Egypt is the land of light, of glowing sunshine, and of
moonshine and starshine so brilliant that night is but a
softer day. From the time that Israel's ancestors went
down thither, it has drawn men of every clime with a resist-
less fascination.

From Egypt, the scene of our story shifts to the Wilder-
ness (Hos. xi. I ; Jer. ii. 2), not an uninhabited place, for two
powerful nations, the Kenites and the Amalekites, were
there ; but a place wild and desolate, and shut out from the
rest of the world. As Israel advanced, the mountains

FIRST TERM.

I <

I r f*

closed round them : they found themselves in an avenue
of lofty rocks at the end of which, rising immediately out
of the level plain, towered massive Sinai, like a huge altar
in a vast sanctuary, whence every form of life, animal and
vegetable, was withdrawn. To them the rugged and deso-
late grandeur of the scene must have suggested that they
had reached the end of the world, as they waited there for
the revelation of their God.

V. Heroes.

C Abraham, i John v. ^
Keynotes/ Joseph. 2 Peter i. 5-7.
\_Job, James i. 12.

We see in Abraham the great Bedouin sheikh, the prince
of the desert, leading a vast caravan of servants, flocks, and
herds, and wandering homeless for exactly a century in the
land promised to his heirs ; the saint whose unflinching
loyalty won him the title of " God's friend," and who, putting
God first in all the relations of life, became also " the father
of the faithful " : in Joseph the able statesman, vicegerent of
the greatest monarch of his age, wielding almost absolute
power in a highly civilised foreign land, fearing God, and
therefore fearing nought else : in Job the patriarch dwelling
amidst his own people, as father and ruler of a pastoral
tribe, proved in the fire of manifold temptations, to the
glory of God and the comfort of God's suffering servants
in all ages.

The Bible gives us much valuable teaching through con-
trasted types of character. Besides these almost perfect
heroes we have the mixed character o{ Jacob, erring greatly,
and yet through the teaching of adversity proving that

" Men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things." — Tennyson.

Mark these seven stages of his life: (i) Gen. xxv. 31,
(2) xxvii. 35, (3) xxviii. 20-22, (4) xxxi. 5,(5) xxxii. 10,
(6; xxxii. 28, (7) xlix. 18. Side by side also with the
three ancestors of the Chosen People, who inherited the
blessing, are three others, and the more nearly these are
related to those in the flesh the more widely are they
separated from them in the sight of God. From the begin-

THE COMING MESSIAH.

ning the wheat .md tares grew together, and men often
found it hard to discriminate them (Matt. xiii. 30). Lot,
Abraham's nephew, who is called a righteous man, started
at God's command for the Promised Land. Mercy as well
as judgment was predicted for his descendants in the end
(Jer. xlviii. 47, xlix. 6), and Ruth, one of them, was Christ's
ancestor. But, more worldly than Abraham, he com-
promised his religion for the sake of wealth, enjoyed
neither happiness nor influence in this world, lost all he
had in it, barely saved his own soul as through fire "
(i Cor. iii. 15), and was forefather of nations expressly shut
out from the Lord's congregation (Deut. xxiii. 3). IshmaeL
Isaac's half-brother, whose personal character is not de-
scribed, was received into covenant with God (Gen. xvii.),
and his descendants have never been destroyed. But he
and they were outcasts, and are regarded as representatives
of those who have only a form of religion according to the
spirit of bondage, instead of its living power according
to the spirit of adoption (Gal. i^'"*. Esau, Jacob's twin
brother, who is called a profane pv. son, was born heir to
God's blessing. He despised his birthright, bartered it
away, and defied God by marrying heathens. Thus he
turned the greatest blessing into the most irreparable loss.
God hated him (Mai. i. 3), and called his descendants " the
people of My curse " (Isa. xxxiv. 5). So we first learn the
lesson that S. Paul finally sums up in his Epistle to
the Romans. There is nothing arbitrary in God's ways :
the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
By abusing the blessings He freely bestows we earn curses
that were never intended for us.

VL The Coming Messiah.

" Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day!*

John viii. 56.

Many histories look back to a golden age which is past
and gone. Jewish history looks forward (Heb. xi. 40 ; Acts
xxvi. 6, 7). And just as we teach children first from pic-
tures, and afterwards from the printed page, so early in the
Old Testament we find many Types and few Predictions,
and later on many Predictions and few Types. All the six

FIRST TERM.

|i|li
4

kinds of Types occur this term ; but leaving ordinances^ acts,
and offices to be considered with the Mosaic Law generally,
we note as typical events, the offering of Isaac and the
Exodus ; as typical things, Jacob's Ladder (access through
Christ, Eph. ii. i8), the Pillar of Cloud and Fire (presence
of Christ, Matt, xxviii. 20), the Manna (Christ the Bread of
Heaven, John vi.), the Smitten Rock (Christ's gift of Living
Water, John iv.) ; and as typical persons, Adam, Enoch,
Noah, Mclchizedek, Isaac, and Joseph. The first of these,
a type by contrast, is worked out below ; the working out
of the last, a type by comparison, forms one of our
Questions.

The First Adam (i) Was created in the image of God.
(2) Was of the earth. (3) Became a living soul. (4) Was
made to have dominion over all. (5) Was appointed to
subdue the earth. (6) Was overcome by desire of pleasure
in a garden. (7) Yielded to the lust of the ilesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the vainglory of life (Gen. iii. 6 ; i John
ii. 16). (8) Excused himself when justly accused. (9) After
the fall God pronoimced judgment on the Serpent, judg-
ment on the Woman, judgment on the Man ; of sorrow,
weariness, and death (Gen. iii. 14-19). (10) By his one
trespass death reigned.

The Second Adam (i) Is the very image of God's sub-
stance (Heb. i. 3). (2) Is of heaven (i Cor. xv. 47). (3)
Became a life-giving spirit (i Cor. xv. 45). (4) Is Lord of
all (Phil. ii. 11). (5) Will subdue all things (i Cor. xv. 25).
(6) Overcame by endurance of pain in a garden (Matt.
xxvi. 36-44). (7) Conquered the lust of the flesh (Luke
iv. 3), the lust of the eyes (Luke iv. 5), and the vainglory
of life (Luke iv. 9). (8) Was silent when unjustly accused
(Matt, xxvii. 12). (9) Destroyed the serpent (Rev. xii.
9, 10) ; was born of woman (Gal. iv. 4) ; endured sorrow
(Isa. liii. 3, 4 ; Matt. viii. 17), weariness (John iv. 6) and death
(Psalm xxii. 15). (10) By His one act of righteousness
grace reigned unto eternal life (Rom. v.)

Observe these parallels also : —

Gen. i. Heaven and earth Rev. xxi. Heaven and earth

created, renewed.

Gen. ii. H Dd with man in a Rev. xxi. God with man in

garden. a city.

THE COMING MESSIAH.

iteousncss

John vi. Eat and live.
Rev. xxii. Tree of live given.
2 Peter iii. Earth destroyed

by fire.
Acts ii. Gift of Tongues.

(4) Gen. xviii. 18 ;
Definite promises of

Gen. ii. Eat not lest thou die.
Gen. iii. Tree of life withheld.
Gen. viii. Earth destroyed by

water.
Gen. xi. Confusion of

Tongues.

To us, all these Types speak far more plainly than they
did to those who first saw them, but to that age were also
given nine Predictions of growing fulness and clearness.
The Coming One would be the descendant of Eve, of Seth,
of Noah, of Shem, of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Judah.
(i) Gen. iii. 15. An enigmatical prophecy that he (or they)
who are born of v/oman should suffer from, and yet in the
end triumph over, the power of evil. (2) Gen. ix. 26, 27.
A dim announcement of blessing to Shem, and to
Japhct through him. (3) Gen. xii. 3
(5) Gen. xxii. 18 ; (6) Gen, xxviii. 14.
blessing through Abraham's descendants to all nations.
(7) Gen. xlix. 10. A promise which for the first time centres
in one Person, a ruler descended from Judah. (8, 9) Job
xix. 25-7 ; Job xxxiii, 23, 24. Trustful aspirations
rather than direct predictions, and made outside the
Chosen Family, therefore on a different footing from the
others, even if wc regard this as their chronological place.

Besides types and predictions, there are in the Old
Testament three special lines of preparatory revelation
concerning the Divine Nature of the Coming One, not to
be associated with the expectation of the Messiah, until, in
the course of many ages, as we shall see, the conception of
the Messiah rises above that of a merely human deliverer.
The Divine Son is called (i) the Wisdom of God (i Cor.
i. 24), anticipated by Prov. vii_. (2) The Word of God ; the
opening statement of Genesis that in .he beginning God
created through His Word, is repeated and filled with new
meaning as the opening statement of S. John's Gospel.
(3) The Messenger or Angel of God (Mai; iii. i. ; Job xxxiii.
23, R.V. ; John xx. 21 ; Heb. i. 2). All through the Old
Testament we see an Angel of God's Presence (or Counten-
ance), who is worshipped as God and yet seen of men ; who
is not only commissioned by Jehovah, but represents Him
so directly and fully that when He speaks or acts God

F/RST TERM.

' 'I

Himself is felt to speak or act. Comparison of John i. i8,
X. 30 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; Acts vii. 2>^ ; i Cor. x. 4, 9 (R.V.
margin); Judc 5 (R.V. margin) leads to the inevitable
inference that in this Angel there is a mysterious fore-
shadowing of the Incarnation. IVIore than half the allusions
to Him occur this term. See Gen. xvi. 7, 13, xviii,, xxi.
17-19, xxii. II, 12, xxxi. II, 13, xxxii. 24, 29, 30 {cp. Hos.
xii. 4, 5), xlviii. 15, 16; Exod. iii. 2, 6, 14, iv. 5, xiv. 19,
xxiii. 20-23, xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 2, 14 ; Num. xxii. 23, 32,
35 ; Josh. V. 15, with vi. 2 ; Judg. ii. i, v. 23, vi. 11, 12, xiii.
3,6, 18; comp. Rev. xix. 11-13 ; i Kings xix. 7, 9; Isa.
Ixiii. 9 ; Zech. i. 11, iii. 5, xii. 8. " There was One desig-
nated, not as an epithet but as a description of his being,
the Angel of the Lord, in whom God accustomed His crea-
tures to the thought of beholding Himself in human form.
Whether it was God the Son who so manifested Himself
beforehand (this was the common belief of the early
leathers) or not, yet there was One, known as the Angel of
the Lord, distinct from and above all the rest." {Pusey.)

VH. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

Wrong ideas about God lie at the root of every form of
error and superstition (Psalm 1. 21 ; Acts xvii. 29). Hence
the need of His gradual self-manifestation. This came first,
through the negative declaration that He is invisible and
incomprehensible (Deut. iv. 14-19), whose result was that
to the heathen world Israel seemed to have a religion with-
out a God. But " let those who wish to understand the
hidden wisdom of the Second Commandment, study the
history of ancient religions. No argument can prove that
there is anything very wrong in all these outward signs
and symbols. To many people we know they are ev'cn a
help and comfort. But history is sometimes a stronger
and sterner teacher than argument, and one of the lessons
which the history of religions certainly teaches is this, that
the curse pronounced against those who would change the
invisible into' the visible, the spiritual into the material, the
Divine into the human, the infinite into the finite las come
true in every nation on earth." {Max Miiller.) ;i-Qcondly,
God manifested Himself through that positive declaration
of His attributes which forms the Old Testament Creed

GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN.

(Kxod. xx\iv. 5-7). To Israel, unable to know Him in
His absolute and unapproachable majesty, and forbidden
to make unworthy representations, each fresh and lasting
revelation came in a new Name, gathering up what was
shown of God's character, working, and will from age to
age. Throughout the Old Testament we shall trace these
names, and observe the different circumstances I'.nder which
different names are used. Here we note the four earliest : —
(i) Elohim, a title, meaning "the Mighty One" and
translated " C ,d" is used in those passages which speak
of the God jf nature, and of the world as under a genera^
Divine influence {e.g., in the account of the Creation and
of heathen nations). It is a plural word, understood and
used as a singular. This had a present reference to the
polytheism (worship of many gods) of the nations around,
showing that the God of Israel united in Himself all the
various powers and attributes of Deity. It had also a
future reference to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity,
foreshadowed in Gen. i. 26, iii. 22, xi. 7. The singular of
Elohim forms part of many names {i.e., " Daniel "), and we
find it in Matt, xxvii. 46, and know it well in its Arabic
form, " Allah."

(2) El Shaddai, meaning " God Almighty," the above
title qualified, was the special, but not the only name by
which God was known to the Patriarchs, in whom He
sought to create and to cherish the sense of personal
dependence on a strong Helper. It only occurs in the
Pentateuch and in Ezek. x. 5, but we find Shaddai {i.e., the
Almighty) in Num. xxiv. 4, 16, and often in Job.

(3) Adonai, a title, meaning " lords " (plural of majesty),
translated " Lord," and probably the same word as the
name of the Egyptian god " Aten " ; is used in Gen. xv. 2,
XX. 4, etc., and occurs in many proper names.

(4) Jehovah, a proper name, meaning " He Who Is "
(Rev. i. 8 ; Heb. xiii. 8), used in those passages which speak
of the God of the covenant, and of the world as under
a supernatural overruling Power demanding our adora-
tion {e.g., in the history of the Chosen People). It is " a
declaration of the simplicity, unity, and self-existence of the
Divine Nature, exactly opposite to all the multiplied forms
of idolatry, human, animal and celestial, that prevailed, so

I M

F/NST TERM,

far as wc know, everywhere else " {Staniry), and " a mani-
festation of the Ktcrnal who makes Himself known in time '
{Westcott). In the French Bible it is well translated by
L'Kternel." It was occasionally used in Patriarchal times
(Gen. iv. I, 26), but its frequent use dates from the Exodus.
Kuenen reckons that about 190 Old Testament personal
names are compounded with it, including those of fourteen
out of the nineteen kings of Judah. The contexts in
which it and Elohim respectively occur should always be
noted (^.,^., Psalm xix. i, 14). In later times a feeling of
reverence (founded on Lev. xxiv. 16), which became a
superstition, led the Jews to replace Jehovah by Adonai.
Hence our English Bible translates it Lord and some-
times God (R.V. Preface, p. 2). In Psalm Ixviii. 4,
Ixxxix. 8 (R.V.) ; Isa. xxxviii. 1 1 (R.V.), etc., we have
a shortened form, which also occurs in HalleUi^V?/;. The
name Ehyeh (Exod. iii. 14, 15, R.V. margin) is from the
same root, and has the same meaning.

Summing up, we may say, outside Israel God is anony-
mous, to Israel He is Jehovah, to the Church He is Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost {Saphir).

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

Ever since Adam left Eden men have tried to approach
God through Sacrifice. This may be of two kinds : —

(rt) A thank-offering for God's favour in the past, or a gift
to secure His favour for the future, generally in the form of
fruits of the earth. Such was the sacrifice of Cain, who
worshipped Elohim the Creator, as the type of the Dc'st,
and whose form of religion finally degenerated into mere
nature worship. It was, however, not only the incomplete
character of his offering, but the spirit in which it was
offered that caused its rejection (Prov. xv. 8).

ip) An expiation for sin, generally in the form of an
unblemished creature whose blood is shed (Heb. ix. 22).
Such was the sacrifice of Abel, who worshipped Jehovah,
and looked for the coming Redeemer, as the type of the
Christian, and whose form of religion finally degenerated
into worship of subordinate redeemers and intercessors.
All the various religions of the world go back to those two
primaeval altars ; and since animal food is first permitted in

MAN'S E ELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP.

Gen. ix. 3, Gen, iii. 21 may indicate that sacrifices, such as
Abel's, were divinely instituted. Elsewhere also in Genesis
we find the germ of those Mosaic institutions which we shall
consider next term.

The offeriii'j^ of Isaac is sometimes misunderstood, and
criticised as if it were an example of human sacrifice for sin.
So far from sanctioning, it condemns such sacrifice. For
{a) Abraham had committed no particular sin, and appre-
hended no special danger. (^} It was not a sacrifice
to atone for sin, or to propitiate God, but a burv.t offer-
vtg, the meaning of which throughout the Bible is dedica-
tion of oneself to God, and perfect obedience to His will.
It was not made in the spirit of Mic. vi. 6, but of Acts
xxi. 13. {c) Isaac is a type of humanity devoted to death,
but not actually slain. The ram, divinely provided and
slain in his stead, is a type of the Lamb of God.

Prayer is first mentioned in Gen. iv. 26 ; we have the
first specimen of prayer for others in Gen. xvii. 18, xviii. ;
and of prayer for oneself in Gen. xxxii. (omitting Lot's
hasty request in Gen. xix. 18, 19). No grander examples
could be given of its true nature, and of its power with
God. (See " Oxford Helps," § xii.)

Passages illustrating Genesis. — i Chron. i. i — ii. 6;
Psalm cv. 1-23 ; Josh. xxiv. 2-4; Neh. ix. 7, 8 ; Hos. xii.
2-5, 12 ; Acts vii. 2-16; Heb. xi. 3-22.

Passages illustrating Exodus.— i Chron. ii. 18—
viii. ; Psalm cv. 24-45 \ Josh. xxiv. 5-7 ; Neh. ix. 9-20 ;
Hos. xii. 13; Acts vii. 17-44; Heb. xi. 23-9; i Cor. x.
i-ii ; Psalm Ixxvii. 14-20, Ixxviii. 1-54, Ixxxi., cxiv., cvi.
7-13, 19-23, cxxxv. 8, 9, cxxxvi. 10-16; Judg. v, 4, 5 ;
Hab. iii. 3-13 ; Isa. Ixiii. 11-14.

Here we pause, but if we have entered into our First
Terms reading we cannot stop here. We are but half
through the career of a man who has had a greater influ: nee
upon the world than any other man we could name, except
S. Paul. We reserve the full consideration of his character
and work till we finish the story of his life next term. The
Chosen People are wandering in the Wilderness. What
will their destiny as a nation be after this long training ?
The Tabernacle has been set up. What is the nature and
meaning of the worship for which it is established ?

FIRST TERM.

■\ ¥ '

! I;

IX. Questions
(Sec pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions I., VII., XI., XIV., XXIII., XXIV., and XXVIII. may be
answered with help of any books. The other 28 (luestions should be answered
with the help of a reference Bible and the R.V. only.]

I. Explain fully the mcaning.s of these words as .shown
by their derivations : — Bible, Scriptures, Canon, Testament,
Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus. (14.)

II. Classify the books of the Bible in four groups, as
(a) History, (d) Biography, (c) Letters, (d) Poetry. (4.)

III. Give t/iree references to prove each of these state-
ments : — (a) God spoke through Old Testament writers,
(d) God spoke through New Testament writers ; (r) Christ
insisted upon the importance and authority of the Old Testa-
ment, (^) The first Christians studied it diligently. (12.)

IV. Specify the three acts of creation recorded in Gen. i.
What further act of creation is mentioned by S. Paul ? (4.)

V. Show by Old Testament and New Testament refer-
ences that the world and all in it was created by God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. (6.)

VI. On what were the first three curses pronounced ? (3.)

VII. What brought about the Deluge? State its extent
and duration. What wero the dimensions of the Ark ?
What did it contain? Name three new precepts and two
promises given after the Deluge. (20.)

VIII. Illustrate Heb. xi. 9 by a brief summary of
Abraham's wanderings in Canaan, noting his four chief
halting-places. (12.)

IX. Discuss the charactei* of Abraham, with special
reference to New Testament allusions to him, and justify
from Scripture his two titles, {a) Friend of God, {b) Father
of the Faithful. (14.)

X. Prove that Abraham's immediate ancestors, and also
that his descendants in Egypt, worshipped false gods. (3.)

XI. Name four important descendants of Esau in the New
Testament, in whom his striking but cruel, worldly, and
unstable character was reproduced. How was the prophecy
that he should first serve, and then have dominion over his
brother, fulfilled in his descendants ? (6.)

QUESTIONS.

groups, as

liese statc-

XII. Consider Joseph as a type of Christ in character
and circumstances. (14.)

X J 1 1. Name the i.rst two possessions of Abraham's family
in Canaan. To whom did they ultimately belong? (6.)

XIV. Reconcile Gen. xlvi 27 and Acts vii. 14. (6.)

XV. Mention two incidents in the life of Ephraim. (4.)

XVI. How old was Noah's father when Adam died?
I low old was Abraham's father when Noah died ? How
old were Jacob and Ksau when Abraham died? How old
was Joseph when Isaac died? (12.)

XVII. On how many occasions are we told of God
speaking to man in Genesis ? To whom did He speak ? (15.)

XVIII. What allusions to Job are there in Scripture
outside the Book of Job ? Find a New Testament quota-
tion from Job. (3.)

XIX. Summarise the four parts of Elihu's discourse. (14.)

XX. Quote two passages proving that Amram was a
pious man. (N.B. He is not actually named ' 1 either.) (2.)

XXI. Give the seven reasons Moses gave for not going
before Pharaoh, and God's answers to them. How many
interviews had Moses with Pharaoh? (14.)

XXII. What were the four compromises Pharaoh tried
to make ? Give the names of the magicians who withstood
Moses. (6.)

XXIII. Make a list of the ten plagues of Egypt, showing
the object or victims, duration, significance, and immediate
result of each. (20.)

XXIV. Explain the following passages : — Gen. vi. 2, 6;
Job iv. 18, xix. 25, xxvi. 5, 6, xxxi. 26, xxxvii. 16, xxxviii.
31 ; Exod. iii. 22, ix. 12. (30.)

XXV. Where, whcr, by whom, and with what result was
the battle of Rephidim fought ? (4.)

XXVI. Have we Biblical warrant for speaking of the ten
Commandments ? Show from Genesis that each of the ten
was recognised before they were given on Sinai. (22.)

XXVII. Give the passages in which the first mention is
made of the following :—(i) A Prophet, (2) a Priest, (3) a
King, (4) a Covenant, (5) Believing in God, (6) a " Righ-
teous Man," (7) Musical Instruments, (8) a Tombstone,
(9) Moncy,(io) a City, (11) Egypt, (12) more wives than one,
(13) written History, (14) the written Word of God, (14.)

..[-i\

F/A'ST TEA'Af.

XXVI I I. What are the meanings of the following names ?
— Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Sarah,
Ishmael, Isaac, Edom, Jacob, Israel, Judah, Joseph, Ephraim,
Manasseh, Moses, Abimelech, Pharaoh. (20.)

XXIX. How many New Testament allusions can you
find to Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Lot, Sarah,
Ha^ar, Esau ? (20.)

XXX. What do you know of the following? — A.senath,
l^ashemath, Deborah (of Maran), Eliezer of Damascus, Hur,
Iscah, Jochcbed, Kezia, Oholiab, and Shiphrah. (20.)

XXXI. Make a list of all the names of God that you
can find in Genesis, Job, and Exodus. (30.)

XXXI I. Give reference.; for the following passages
occurring in this term's reading : — (a) " Where art thou ? "
(/;) " Be thou a blessing." (0 " Submit thyself" {(i) " I
withheld thee from sinning." (e) " I have filled him with
the Spirit of God." (/) " Remember this day." (^) " Stand
still." {/i) " Go forward." (?) " I fear God." (J) " I am not
worthy." (k) " I abhor myself" (/) " Teach Thou me."
(w) *' Let us make us a name." (//) " We desire not the
knowledge of Thy ways." (0) "Come, let us slay him."
(/) " For we are brethren." (</) " Who is on the Lord's
side ? " (r) " Am I in the place of God ? " {s) " If a man
die, shall he live again ? " (/) *' There is a spirit in man."
(//) "God took him." {v) "God heard, . . . remembered,
. . . saw, . . . took knowledge of them." (zv) " The Lord
is in this place." (,r) " That rebel against the light."
(j') " I have bought you this day." (s) " He that voucheth
for me is on high." (26.)

For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

SECOND TERM.

The Days of Moses.

The Chosen Nation.

The Tabernacle and the Theocracy.

B.C. 1490 — 1256.

Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Psalm XC. Joshua.
Judges /.— V. and XVI L— XXI. Ruth. ( 1 36 chapters)

"These words . . . shall be upon thine heart, and thou shalt teach
them, . . . talk of them, . . . bind them upon thine hand . . . and between
thine eyes, . . . and write them upon the door posts." — Deut. vi. 6-9.

5th month (34).

Leviticus L— XXVn.
Numbers L — VH.

6th MONTH (34).

Numbers VHL— XXXVL
Deut. I.— V.

7th MONTH (34).

Deut. VL— XXXIV.
I'salm XC. Joshua I.-IV.

8th MONTH (34).

Joshua v.— XXIV. Judges I.— V.
and XVI I. -XXL Ruth.

I. General Summary.

GOD has redeemed the people whom He chose to be His
own purchased possession. They did not deliver them-
selves by such a battle as Marathon, or Morgarten, or Ban-
nockburn ; He did for them what they could not do for
themselves. In the Red Sea they have been baptised into
Moses for a new life (i Cor. x. 2). They have been claimed
by God as His sons (Exod. iv. 22 ; Deut. xiv. i ; Hos. xi. i).
They have been made heirs of the Promised Land (Exod.
vi. 8). Will they live the new life as obedient children,
and enter into their inheritance ? This is the question our
seccnid term's reading' will answer sadly enough by showing
that only two of the grown men who crossed the Red Sea
also crossed Jordan (Num. xxvi. 64, C5). A like question
confronts us, baptised into Christ as " children of God and

f ii

SECOND TERM.

inheritors of the kingdom of heaven," and redeemed not by
the blood of the many lambs of the Passover, but by the
precious blood of the one adorable and immaculate Lamb
of God (Eph. i. 4-7). The solemn lesson drawn for us from
Israel's unbelief in Heb. iii. is brought before us whenever
we join in singing Psalm xcv. at the public worship wherein'
we claim our Christian privileges.

In Israel's Exodus, which revived worship of the True
God and hope of the Messiah, when both were perishing,
we see the roots of all that is most valuable in religion to-
day. Recently discovered Egyptian records show us how
the way was divinely prepared for this important event by
the victorious campaigns in Western Asia of Rameses II.,
whose harsh but able features were seen by our contem-
poraries when his mummy was unrolled a year or two ago.
His wars weakened the Canaanites, but also overstrained
the resources of Egypt, and led, in the reigns of his weak
successors, to counter-invasions, which depleted the garri-
sons that held Israel in subjection. It is possible that the
Pharaoh of Fxod. i. Was Seti, son of Rameses I. That the
Pharaoh of Exod. ii. 23 was Rameses II., son of Seti ; and
the the Pharaoh of Exod. v.-xiv. was Menephtah II., son
of Rameses II., are widely received conclusions of modern
archaeology. See Dr. Kinns' " Graven in the Rock " (Cassell,
I2s. 6d.), Prof Poole's " Cities of Egypt" (Smith, Elder, 5^-.).

Some profess to account for the most characteristic
Hebrew institutions by the sojourn in Egypt, but M. Le
Page Renouf entirely gainsays this theory. The following
results of their bondage may, however, be certainly traced :
— (a) An ever-recurring tendency to idolatry, (d) A pre-
ference for non-monarchical institutions which lasted 400
years, (c) A liability to leprosy, consequence of long ex-
posure and hardship. Moreover, in fertile and cultivated
Egypt they acquired the arts of civilisation and industry,
and affliction welded them together into one nation. During
more than half their sojourn there, however, they seem to
have been wealthy and prosperous (Exod. i. 9).

The number who left Egypt must have amounted to
between two and three millions in all, and if we would
understand how a horde of unruly and craven bondmen
were transformed into dauntless warriors who provca the

GENERAL SUMMARY.

4«

most faithful generation in Israel's history, we must gain
a clear idea of the exact sequence of events in the wilder-
ness. Each incident there has its own particular place and
its special relation to the whole, and no part of that whole
was more fruitful than the yj\ years whose story occupies
only five chapters. Then it was that the slave-generation
died out (Psalm xc. 5-8) and the conqueror-generation grew
up. The conquest began when they crossed the brook
Zered (Deut. ii. 13), and ended when they occupied Galilee
(which was to the Canaanites what Wales and Cornwall
were to the Britons), or, in a larger sense, when David took
Jerusalem.

God's command to exterminate the heathen, which first
appears in Num. xxxi., has been misunderstood and there-
fore questioned. By their heinous sins, these heathen
had forfeited the lives God gave them (Deut. ix. 5). The
agents of His judgments were therefore no more murderers
than are the executioners who carry out a legal sentence.
Moreover, distance in time from heathen Europe, and in
space from heathen Asia and Africa, causes us to have but
a vague notion of what heathenism really is. The testimony
of those who have studied it closely either in past or present
forms proves that it not only permits and sanctions, but
enjoins iniquities and abominations which Christian influ-
ence has made utterly hateful in Christian lands, even for
those who do not confess the name of Christ. This
heathenism came to a climax in the Canaanites and their
neighbours, and in those pre-Christian days evil was so
strong that toleration of those who habitually practised it
would have been dangerous and even fatal. We, under
different conditions, are commanded to hate sin, and love
the sinner ; Israel's only safety lay in hating the sinner as
well as his sin. S. Chrysostom finds a key to this command
in Psalm cxxxix. 21, 22, and it is further explained by our
Lord's words in Matt. v. 38, 39, 43-5 ; Luke ix. 54-6.
The political wisdom of a command which made Israel
the instrument of deserved and inevitable punishment to
these notorious idolaters was proved again and again by
the long train of evils which followed upon their incomplete
obedience to it. The Israelites fought not only for them-
selves, but for us. Just as the intellectual progress of

s'\

I i

ii"

SECOND TERM.

mankind depended upon the victory of Greece at Marathon,
so the future of morality and religion for the whole race
depended upon the victory of Israel at Bethhoron.

We are apt to estimate the Jays after Joshua by those
closing episodes of Judges, which account for the omission
of Dan in i Chron. iv.-vii. and Rev. vii., and for the phrase
" little Benjamin " in Psalm Ixviii. 27. Three-quarters of
the whole period seem, however, to have passed in a peace
and prosperity which has little history, but which finds
beautiful illustration in the story of Ruth.

II. Books to be Read.
(See " Oxford Helps," § v.)

This term we read the three remaining books of Moses
and his one Psalm, the history of his successor Joshua, half
the story of the Judges, and the biography of Ruth.
Glancing at their surface, this appears the least attractive
of all the nine portions into which we divide the Bible. The
first three books seem to be full of obsolete laws and cere-
monies ; Joshua seems full of barbarous exterminations and
lifeless geography ; Judges of petty strifes stirred up by
evil passions. When, however, instead of carelessly reading,
we search these Scriptures diligently, we find them rich in
historical interest and spiritual instruction. And even the
details that we are tempted to regard as wearisome and
barren, teach us that we must stoop to individual names
and minute particulars, if we would appreciate God's con-
descension and the reality of His special oversight of the
children of men (Luke xii. 6, 7).

Moreover, they contain five short poems or fragments
and four sustained songs all singularly attractive — viz.,

{a) The Aaronic Benediction of the people given at the
close of the daily sacrifice (Num. vi. 24-6).

[b) I^ragment from the Book of the Wars of the Lord
concerning the crossing of Arnon, the first river they had
come to since they left the Nile (Num. xxi. 14, 15).

{c) The jubilant Song of the Well, perhaps a common
water-drawing chant in after-times (Num. xxi. 17, 18).

{d) A shout of triumph over the Amorites after their
second victory (Num. xxi. 27-30).

BOOKS TO BE READ.

{e) Stanza from the Book of Jashar of a Battle Ode com-
memorating their greatest victory (Josh. x. 12-15).

(/) The sevenfold Prophecy of Balaam touching Israel's
destiny and finally glancing at the Gentile world beyond
(Num. xxiii., xxiv.).

{g) The magnificent Song of Witness for God by Moses
(Deut. xxxii.).

{h) The Benediction of the Twelve Tribes by Moses
(Deut. xxxiii.).

{i) Deborah's ecstatic Paean over Sisera, the only pro-
phetic utterance between Moses and Samuel (Judg. v.).

This term also we make our first acquaintance with the
Book of Psalms (see p. 1 70).

Leviticus, the shortest book of Moses, consists of God's
own words to His people, excepting only chaps, viii.-x.,
xxiv. 10-16, 23. Its structure is as symmetrical as that of
Genesis. In it God makes provision for man to draw near
Him in worship. Its keynote is Separated unto the Lord
(John xvii. 15 ; i Peter i. 15, 16, ii. 24).

Numbers describes that journey through the wilderness
which has ever since been regarded as a parable of human
life in its spiritual aspect of a pilgrimage. Its keynote is
Sinners against their own lives (Prov. viii. 36 ; Jer. xxvi.
19, R.V. ; Luke xiii. 34 ; John v. 40, 44).

Deuteronomy is to the other books of the Pentateuch
what S. John is to the other Gospels, not merely repeiiting,
but enlarging upon their theme, and showing its full signifi-
cance. Its keynote is Choose (Matt. vi. 24 ; i John ii. 15 ;
Heb. X. 38, 39) ; and it falls into seven portions :

(i) First address by Moses in the Arabah, i. — iv. 40 ;
(2) Second address by Moses in the valley opposite Beth-
peor, iv. 41 — xxvi. ; (3) Third address by Moses and the
Elders at Ebal and Gerizim, xxvii. — xxx. ; (4) The Charge,
xxxi. ; (5) The Song, xxxii. ; (6) The Benediction, xxxiii. ;
(7) Appendix, probably by Joshua, xxxiv.

Joshua (which may be written by him whose name it
bears, or by one of the elders who out-lived him, Josh. xxiv.
31) is the Book of the Wars of Israel, and the Doomsday
Book of Israel also, and shows how their heritage was
won and divided. Of course it must be illustrated by the
map. Setting aside the somewhat doubtful sentiment which

1 1

SECOND TERM.

interprets Jordan as death and Canaan as heaven, we have
here a parable of human life in its spiritual aspect of a
warfare. Its keynote is Be strong and of a good courage
(Heb. xiii. 5, 6; i Peter iii. 13, 14 ; Eph. vi. 13).

fudges is a mournful history of Israel's decline into .
anarchy and apostasy, when indolently enjoying their
fertile land, they tolerated their foes, and strove with their
brethren, and a national war degenerated into struggles
of separate tribes against their immediate enemies. Its
keynote is Called out from the world, yet of the world
(James iv. 4 ; i Cor. xv. 33 ; 2 Peter ii. 20, 21).

Ruth, a prose idyll, is the first chapter in the history
of the family of which Christ was a member. Its keynote
is In the world, yet not of the world (Rom. ii. 10, 1 1 ;
Matt. xix. 29). No other ancient history contains such
vivid pictures of the life of the past as Judges and Ruth,
and the mixed characters of this transition period have
been well likened to those who made the history of the
Middle Ages. \

I i

III. Periods and Dates.

(See " Oxford Helps," § ix.)

We are still unable to fix exact dates, but may roughly
map out these 234 years as follows : — (3) is fixed at 25
years in accordance with the statement of Josephus that
Joshua, who died aged no, was 35 years younger than
Moses. Of this we cannot be quite sure, but it must be
correct within a year or two. Josh. xiv. 7, 10 shows that
Joshua's subjugation of the land occupied seven years.

(i) B.C. 1490 — 1452 (38 years). From the erection of

the Tabernacle to the second arrival at Kadesh.

Probation of the Chosen People in the Wilderness.

(a) From Passover to Pentecost, 1490 (7 weeks).

The close of the year of organisation at Sinai.

Lev.; Num. i.— x. 10.

(d) From Pentecost to Feast of Tabernacles, 1490

(4 months and 10 days). March from Sinai

to Kadesh, and unsuccessful attempt to

111 •!

PERIODS AND DATES.

enter the Promised Land from the South.
Num. X. 11— xiv.

Passover, 1452 (37I years). The Wander
ings, probably in the neighbourhood of Seir.
Num. XV. — xix.

(2) B.C. 1452 — 145 1 (i year). From the second arrival

at Kadesh to the death of Moses. Conquest of the

Land of Gilead, east of fordan.

{a) From Passover to end of Tebeth, 1452
(10 months). March from Kadesh to the
Plains of Moab. Successful attempt to
enter the Promised Land from the East.
Num. XX.— xxxvi.
(fj) From Tebeth, 1452, to Passover, 145 1 (2
months). Encampment in the Plains of Moab.
Farewell address of Moses. Deut. ; Psalm XC.

(3) B.C. 145 1 — 1426 (25 years). From the death of

Moses to the death of Joshua. Conquest of the Land
of Canaan^ west of Jordan,
{a) Occupation of 'the Valley of the Jordan.

Josh, i.— viii.
(^) Occupation of Judaea and Samaria.

Josh. ix.)X.
{c) Occupation of Galilee. Josh, xi., xii.
Id) Settlement in the Promised Land.
Josh, xiii.— xxiv.

(4) B.C. 1426 — 1256 (170 years). From the death of

Joshua to the beginning of the Midianite oppression,
Israel under the first four Judges,
(a) Eight years' oppression of the Syrians on the

north-east (1402— 1394), and rule of Othniel.

Judg. i.— iii. 11.

(d) Eighteen years' oppression of the Moabites on

the east (1354 — 1336), and rule of Ehud.
Judg. iii. 12-31.

the north (13 16 — 1296), and rule of Deborah
and Barak. Judg. iv., V.

(d) Three undated episodes of the early days of

the Judges, inserted between the histories of

?■■

■M

ell

SECU\7J TERM.

Samson and Samuel, who were probably about
the same age — viz., the origin of the idola-
trous worship at Dan, Judg. xvii., xviii. ;
*' the battle in Gibeah against the children of
iniquity " (as Hosea calls it), whose details
may be passed over, Judg. xix. — xxi.; and
the story of Ruth, Bu!}h.

' ,il

IV. Geography.

(Sec " Oxford Helps," Maps iv., v., and § § ix.,
XXX., and xxxiii.)

A few days' journey along the shore of the Mediterranean
...light have brought Israel from Egypt into Palestine. But
with their minds cankered and their bodies enfoebled by
slavery they world have been unfit either to conquer or to
re-people the land. They needed the free air of the desert
to make them bold and hardy, and the discipline of their
wanderings to train them in the fear of God. Moreover,
they needed a time of withdrawal from the rest of mankind
that their religious and social institutions m^qht be fully
organised, and that they might learn, as they ould never
have learned elsewhere, to depend wholly upon God.
Modern travellers describe the scanty vegetation, inade-
quate rainfall, poor and scarce water, and absence of animal
life in the wilderness in a way which plainly shows that
Israel's needs must have been miraculously supplied.
During the Wanderings, Kadesh, the only city named,
seems to have been their headquarters.

Aaron died gazing back from Hor across the Wilderness
to Egypt. Moses died gazing forward from Pisgah across
Jordan to the Land of Promise ; and already the rich
forest and pasture lands east of Jordan (Deut. xxxii. 14 ;
2 Kings iii. 4 ; Psalm xxii. 1 2) had been subdued and
assigned to tribes whose character was especially pastoral
(Judg. V. 16).

Palestine proper lies between the Arabah or wilderness
beyond the Dead or Salt Sea, the Jordan valley, the
Lebanon mountains, and the Mediterranean, " the sea " or
" the great sea " of the Scriptures, just as the Euphrates is
" the river " or " the great river " (Num. xxxiv. 7 ; Deut.

GEOGRAPHY.

XXX. 13 ; Psalm Ixxii, 8 ; i Kings iv. 21). It is called
{a) Canaan (Exod. xv. 15) ; \b) the Land of Canaan (Judg.
xxi. 12) ; (f) Palestine or Philistia (Exod. xv. 14; Isa. xiv.
29) 3 1 ; Joel iii. 4 ; comp. A.V. and R.V.) ; {d) the Land of
the Hittites (Josh. i. 4) ; {e) the Land of the Hebrews (Gen.
xl. 15) ; (/) the Land of Israel (i Sam. xiii. 19); {g) the
Land of Jehovah (Hos. ix. 3) ; {h) the Glorious Land (Dan.
xi. 41) ; (?) the Holy Land (Zech. ii. 12) ; (_/') the Land
(Ruth i. i). It is 139 miles long from Dan to Becrshcba,
and 55 miles wide at its widest from Gaza to the Dead
Sea — i.e.., it is about the size of Wales, and as mountainous
as Switzerland ; and for its beauty, variety, small extent,
and great influence it may be compared to Greece. From
north to south it falls into four parallel bands : {a) Seaboard,
a maritime plain broken only by the spur of Carme) ;
iU) hill country from Lebanon to the desert, broken into two
masses by the plain of Jezreel ; ic) the deep trench of the
Jordan valley ; {d) from Hermon to the Red Sea, the
hills of Gilead and Moab. Beyond these lie wide prairies.

The position of Palestine links it both to the East and
to the West. For though it is in Asia, a broad and im-
passable desert separates it from the rest of that continent ;
and it looks towards Europe and Africa. In the Greek
church at Jeru. alem, a circle of marble pavement and short
column marks that spot as the centre of the world. And
it tells a truthful tale. Palestine is set in the midst of all
the worldwide empires of history, including the British
Empire of to-day (Ezek. v. 5) ; and it commands the
Mediterranean, the one great highway of nations until the
discovery of America. It became the cradle of the only
literature which was written for all mankind, and which finds
response in every human heart. Within its narrow borders
every variety of scenery and temperature is illustrated ;
and the products of almost every region from the Poles to
the Tropics may be acclimatised (Deut. viii. 7-9). There
are found the mighty range of jucbanon, " the great white
mountain," grim with eternal snow ; the gentle uplands of
Galilee ; the rugged hills and rocky gorges of Judasa ;
coasts here shelving and there abrupt, washed by the
sparkling waves of the Tideless Sea ; the laughing Lake of
Galilee fringed with flowers of every hue, and lovelier than

il-

I I

SECOND TERM.

J I

ill w ■

1 ! ! I

even the far-fatmd lakes of Italy ; the awful Dead Sea,
whose leaden ripple breaks over the deei)e.st depression on
the whole surface of the earth ; brooks overflowitig and
impetuous in winter that wcll-nii;h vanish in summer ;
bubbling springs that can be identified to-day where cities
are sought in vain ; vineyards on very fruitful hills ; corn
as tall as a horseman, standing thick on fertile vale and
plain ; shadowy forest and sunny garden, sandy desert and
ari'j steep. Still, off the beaten track, we find abundant
proof that no country better repays cultivation, while so
rich is it in wild flowers that from one blasted rock nearly
1000 lbs. of honey were lately taken '^Psalm Ixxxi. i6).
We ask the travellers of to-day to give us their impressions
of Palestine. They are at once enchanted with its sur-
passing natural beauty and d'jp'essed by the ruin and
desolation which proclaims that it is under a long-endurir.g
curse. See Henderson's " Palestine " (T. & T. Clark,
Edinburgh, 2s. 6d.) ; Thomson's " The Land and the Book "
(Nelson, ys. 6d.) ; Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine " (Murray,
I2.f.) ; and the maps and publications of the Palestine Ex-
ploration Society.

The Jordan, never called "the river,'' like the Euphrates
or Nile, but always spoken of by its significant proper name,
which means " the Descender," is unlike any other stream
on the face of the earth. It rises looo ft. above the Medi-
terranean, flows through the two lakes of Merom and
Galilee, and empties itself into the Dead Sea 1300 ft. below
the Mediterranean, having fallen 2300 ft. in a course of 150
miles. It never turns aside from its course due north and
south, and never loses itself in ocean ; its bed is so deep
that its stream flows unseen almost to the end ; its down-
ward course in one long cataract is so rapid that no boat
can swim upon it for more than half a mile, and it is as
useless for navigation as it is for irrigation. No wonder
the Canaanites were overcome with fear and amazement
on beholding the vehement rush of .such a river arrested
where its tide is strongest, at floodtime (Josh. iii. 15, v. i),
when the Ark of God stood in its bed, as the Son of God
was hereafter to stand there in prayer to be set apart for
His work on earth, and acknowledged by a voice from the
excellent glory of Heaven.

i> 1

I . .1

HEROES,

V. Heroes.

C Moses, 2 Cor. xii. 15.
Keynotes < Phinelins, Gal. i. 8.

\ Joshua, I Cor. xvi. 13.

During forty years Moses grew from an exceeding fair
child into a studer •: at the most learned university, and a
prince at the most brilliant court of his age. His wisdom
must have been acquired at On, the mother unu'ersity of the
world ; and, according to Joscphus, he became general of
the Egyptian army and won renown by his victory over the
Ethiopians. Then having shown himself an ardent patriot,
he endured, for another forty years, exile, through which he
became acquainted not only with the desert in which he
was- to guide a nation, but with the will of God, which he
was to declare as it had never been declared before (Psalm
ciii. 7). Then after this long training he came forward for a
third period of forty years, as the God-sent deliverer, daunt-
less 'eader, enlightened lawgiver, and victorious commander,
judging sin, yet pleading for the sinner ; bearing, believing,
hoping, and enduring all things for his discouraged, dis-
affected, and erring people. And mighty not only in his
works, but in his words, he was for the Hebrews the father
both of poetry and history. He died at last with his heart's
prayer ungranted, leaving others to enter into his labours,
beholding from Pisgah the goodly land which he would
not enter until, after a lapse of fifteen centuries, he talked
upon another high mountain with the Christ of whom he
wrote (Matt. xvii. 1-3 ; John v. 46). Abraham and David
are both called prophets incidentally (Gen. xx. 7 ; Acts
ii. 30). But never, either before or after, were the lofty
thought of the prophet and the bold action of the ruler
joined as they were joined in Moses. Beside Moses stood
the eloquent Aaron (Exod. iv. 14), greater in office, less
great in character ; and the dignified Hur (husband of
Miriam, according to Josephus), who seems to have been
the head of those seventy elders in whom some trace the
origin of the Sanhcdrin (Exod. xxiv. 9, 14; Num. xi. 16).

Eor our other heroes, however, we take rather his
minister Joshua, and his grand-nephew Phinehas. PhinehaSy
third high priest of Israel, is the first example of the

I -:

1 \M

i I.

[ :i ■
1 1

SECOND TERM,

uncompromising warrior-ecclesiastic, who will not only
maintain truth, but punish error with the sword, whose
staunchness is rewarded by that " covenant of everlasting
priesthood," through which (if we except the period between
Eli and Solomon) all the high priests of Israel were his
descendants until the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Joshua is the first example of the God-fearing soldier,
simple, straightforward, undaunted ; strong, yet gentle ;
devout, yet practical ; one who had learned how to command
by obeying ; as a servant, jealous for his master's honour ;
as a ruler, jealous for God's honour ; never putting himself
forward, never seeking aught for himself until all had
received their portions, this greatest of Ephraimites stands
forth as one of the few Old Testament worthies whose
memory is blameless, and as the first who bore that name
which was to become the Name above every name (Hcb.
iv. 8, R.V. margin ; Phil. ii. 9, 10).

. VI. The Coming Messiah.

" Christ having come a high priest of the good things to
comCy through the greater ami more perfect Tabernacle
. . . through His own blood, entered in once for all into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." —
Heb. ix. II, 12 (R. v.).

No period is richer in Messianic Types. Moses is the
one person to whom, as a Prophet, our Lord directly com-
pares Himself; Aaron is His great type as a Priest ; Joshua,
His namesake, foreshadowed Him both as Servant of God
and as victorious King ; and Boaz as the Kinsman Redeemer
whom Job foretold.

The Tabernacle, God's holy dwelling-place set in the
midst of the people, is a type of Christ as God Incarnate
(Heb. viii. 2, 5, ix. 1 1, x. 5 ; Dan. ii. 34 ; Col. ii. 9 ; John i. 14,
R.V. margin ; Rev. xiii. 6, xxi. 3). Each of its contents
has spiritual significance. Its Door (John x. 9) and its
Veil (Heb. x. 20) are typical ; Christ is foreshadowed in
the Table of Shewbread as the Bread of Life and the King ;
in the Golden Candlestick as the Light of the World and
the Prophet ; in the Altar of Incense as the Intercessor and
Priest ; in the Ark as the Fulfiller of all God's will ; in the

THE COMING MESSIAH.

Si'

at only
1, whose
:rl.isting
between
were his

; soldier,

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ommand

honour ;

g himself

all had

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tJiings to

^abernacle

''or all into

nptionr —

Mercy Seat as the Propitiation for our sins through whom
we have our access to the Father (Eph. ii. i8). In the
Laver wc see our Regeneration through Him who came by
water as well as by blood, to renew as well as to justify
(Titus iii. 5, R.V. margin ; i John v. 6) ; while the Bni::en
Altar points to the Cross, where He not only offered
Himself as Priest, but suffered as Victim (Heb. xiii.
10-12).

Each of the five Sacrifices there made showed a different
aspect of the one " full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice,
oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world."
I give them in the order in which they were offered. The
Sin Offering — made monthly and yearly for the congrega-
tion, and occasionally for individuals, partly burned on the
altar, and, in two special cases, partly burned outside the
camp, in other cases partly eaten by the priests ; the only
sacrifice whose blood was poured at the base of the altar,
and the most fundamental of all — shows Christ's Atonement
for the sin of the world, for " the fault and corruption of
the nature of every man " (Article IX.), for our unconscious
sinfulness (Isa. liii. 12; John i. 29; 2 Cor. v. 21). The
Trespass or Guilt Offering — only made occasionally for
individuals, partly burned on the altar, and partly eaten by
the priests, and accompanied by confession, restitution, and
a special ransom — shows Christ's Expiation for the particular
sins of particular sinners, for our known sins (Isa. liii. 1 1 ;
I John iii. 5, i. 7-9). The Burnt Offering— made daily,
weekly, monthly, and yearly for the congregation, and
occasionally for individuals, wholly burned upon the altar,
the earliest kind clearly discriminated, the commonest, and
the most comprehensive in its meaning — shows Christ's
Satis/action for man's rebellion and disobedience when He
gave Himself up without blemish and without spot before
God in perfect self-consecration as our Representative
(Isa. liii. 10; John x. 17, 18; Eph. v. 2; Heb. x. 6-9).
The Meal Offering — made daily and on special occasions
for the congregation, and occasionally for individuals, partly
burned on the altar, and partly eaten by the priests, and
pervaded throughout by oil, type of the Holy Spirit ;
in one sense the earliest, since its name is given to the
offerings of Cain and Abel, though only Cain's was, strictly

»±M 'i

SECOND TERM.

speaking, a meal offering, — shows Christ's acceptable
Oblation of a perfectly holy human character and life
before men (Isa. liii. 9; Matt. iii. 17; i Peter ii. 22;
Rom. v.). The Peace Offering — made both for the congre-
gation and for mdividuals on many occasions, always after
othei. sacrifices, partly burned on the altar, partly eaten by
the priests, and partly eaten by the people — shows Christ's
Reconciliation of man to God (Isa. liii. 5 ; Eph. ii. 14 ; Col.
i. 20 ; John xiv. 27).

Summing up, these offerings embody three main ideas : —
[a) Expiation in the Sin and Trespass Offerings, made/^r
(i.e., to obtain) communion with God, never accompanied
by meat and drink offerings, and consumed in token of
wrath. Sacrifices of this type were the creation of the
Mosaic Law (Rom. iii. 20), though they had been imper-
fectly anticipated already. Their whole meaning is brought
out for the first time in the Epistle to the Hcbrew^s, after the
great Antitype had died. (J?) Self-devotion in the Burnt
Offering. Christ dedicating Himself for us, we daily
dedicating ourselves to Him (Rom. xii. i), was its teaching,
the deepest of all, which links all the five Jewish sacrifices
together, and constitutes the chief difference between them
and the heathen sacrifices. We see from the prophets
also that this teaching was the one most often ignored,
(tr) Thanskgiving in the Meal and Peace Offerings (see
p. 34). Burnt, Meal, and Peace Offerings were all made
in {i.e., having obtained) communion with God, were of a
sweet savour, and were burned in token of acceptance.
(" Consumed "and "burned" are here used to represent two
quite different words in the Hebrew.)

Note in conclusion these three special sacrifices, with
their New Testament explanations : — {a) The annual
Peace Offering of the Paschal Lamb, i Cor. v. 7. (b) The
annual Sin Offering of the Goat for Azazel, Heb. ix. 7.
(c) The occasional Sin Offering (made but seven or nine
times in all Israel's history, said the Rabbis) of the Red
Heifer, Heb. ix. 13.

At the base of the whole Levitical worship
conception that only Blood, the inaterial vehicle
immaterial thing which we call Life, can atone
cover) human sin, whose inevitable result is death.

lay the

of that

for {i.e..

Thus it

%■■

GOnS REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN.

taught that nothing short of the Death of Christ could
retrieve man's Fall (Lev. xvii. 1 1 ; Heb. ix. 22 ; Acts xx.
28 ; I Peter i, 1 5-20). Before He came, the Jews clearly
recognised the reference of their sacrifices to the coming
Messiah, and since He was rejected by them, sacrifice has
disappeared from their worship.

For the meanings of the High Priest's Robes, and of the
other ordinances and acts of the Mosaic ritual, and for fuller
working out of those suggested above, reference must be
made to the New Testament, and especially to the Epistle
to the Hebrews, an inspired commentary upon the Mosaic
Law that students would do well to learn by heart at the
rate of 2^ verses a day, if possible, in the course of this
term. One typical event of our period is referred to by
Christ (John iii. 14), and another by S. Paul (i Cor, x. 4).

Lastly, this term's reading contains two Predictions.

{a) Num. xxiv. 17-19, wherein, looking forward to the
future triumph of the Hebrew race and their King, the
heathen seer, like Caiaphas hereafter, condemned himself
This had partial fulfilment in David's conquest of Moab ;
its complete fulfilment will be when Christ rules as King
(Matt. ii. 2 ; i Cor. xv. 25). {b) Deut. xviii. 15-19. This
occurs in a book which proved the sheath whence Christ
thrice drew the sword of the Spirit for His own use (Matt,
iv.), and was expounded by Him of Him.self when He taught
as a Prophet (John v. 45-7 ; Acts iii. 22). All that was per-
manent in the new relation established by Moses between
God and Man is here transferred to a future Lawgiver.

Vn. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

This term's reading speaks less of new names of God,
and more of a new relation of God to man. As the uncon-
scious freedom and innocence of childhood gives place to
the deeper seriousness and independence of manhood, so
the direct and familiar, but occasional intercourse of God
with the Patriarchs ceased when Moses no longer spake
face to face with Him. Joshua was the first man who
received for his guidance a copy of the Scriptures, which
are mentioned for the first time in connexion with him
(Exod. xvii. 14 ; Josh. i. 8).

■

li:

■
■ i'ii'

U '

SECOND TERM.

This fuller revelation was associated with a sterner law
Jehovah was the unseen King and Head of Israel then,
just as Christ is the unseen King and Head of His Church
now. Theocracy (government by God) is a word used by
the Jewish historian Josephus, and commonly applied to
the 400 years between the Exodus and the reign of Saul.
Strictly speaking, however, Israel's constitution was a
theocracy always, whether its human ruler was a prophet
like Moses, or a priest like Eli, or a king like David. God
was always their supreme King (i Sam. xii. 12 ; Isa. vi. 5,
xxxiii. 17), and they were called then, as the Church is
called now, to be His special people for a special reason
(i Peter ii. 9).

Observe how the threefold form of the Aaronic Bene-
diction anticipates a clearer revelation of the Triune God
(Num. vi. 24-6).

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

Two cardinal truths were uttered at Sinai :

{a) That the people of Israel were set apart as a holy
nation, which explains why the Ceremonial Law was given
at first to separate them, and abrogated later on when their
privileges were to be shared by others.

{b) That their God was " eternal, incorruptible, invisible,"
which explains but does not excuse their besetting sin.

The various laws of Moses may be classified under three
heads, (i) Moral, referring to our duty to ourselves. All
sin wrongs ourselves in the first place, while most sins
wrong others also. These laws are the same in all ages
(Matt. V. 17-48). (2) Political, Civil, and Criminal, refer-
ring to our duty to our neighbour. Of these laws, changed
social conditions have altered the details though not the
principles (Mark x. 5). (3) Religious and Ceremonial,
referring to our duty to God. These laws, so far as they
referred to outward observances, were modified after the
more perfect manifestation of God in Christ. (Contrast
Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. with i Tim. iv. 4 and Rom. xiv.
20, 21.)

In spite of the written Law, a people constantly engaged
in war or agriculture would have sunk into ignorance and

MAN'S RELATION 70 GOD IN WORSHIP.

barbarism had not a leisured and learned class not wholly-
dependent on their own toil been set apart to teach it to
their fellows (2 Chron. xxxi. 4j. Such were the Levites
(see Exod. xxxii. 26-9, which explains the contrast
between Gen. xlix. 5-7 and Deut. x. 8, 9, xxxiii. 8- 11).
They had neither political power nor personal wealth, and
were free to devote themselves to the maintenance of
public worship. In time they became chroniclers and
psalmists also.

The Israelites proved too "carnal" (i Cor. iii. i) to
understand the worship of an unseen God and King.
Hence Idolatry became their great national sin until the
Babylonian Captivity. There were two kinds of idolatry,
which must be carefully distinguished throughout the Old
Testament.

{a) Transgression of the First Commandment, worship-
ping false gods instead of or together with Jehovah. This
apostasy formed the sin of Israel at Shittim (Num. xxv.),
of Joash the Abiezrite (Judg. vi.), and of King Ahab.

{b) Transgression of the Second Commandment, worship-
ping Jehovah, the one Creator, under the symbolic likeness
of a created thing (2 Kings xviii. 22, xvii. 41). These un-
lawful " aids to devotion " formed the sin of Israel at Sinai
(Exod. xxxii.), of Micah (Judg. xvii.), and of King
Jeroboam I.

Passages illustrating Leviticus, etc. — i Chron.
ii.-viii. ; Neh. ix. 21-31; Psalm xHv. 1-3, Ixxviii. 55-8,
xcv. 8- II, cvi. 13-18 and 24-48, cxiv., cxxxv. 10-12,
cxxxvi. 16-22; Micah vi. 4-0; Acts vii. 45, xiii. 18-20;
Hebrews. Whitfield's " Tabernacle, Priesthood, and Offer-
ings of Israel " (Nisbet, 5^.) deals with the symbolism
of the Mosaic ritual in a simple and popular way.

Again we pause, but what we have read only stimulates
us to read on. When and how will a strong nation be
formed out of this chaos of warring tribes? Will the
Israelitish dodecarchy give place to monarchy as the
English heptarchy did ? Will Shiloh continue to be the
capital, and Ephraim the leading tribe ? Will the struggle
with their heathen neighbours for independence, nay for
existence, pass into an assured mastery over them ? Who
is this David, whose ancestry has been so fully described ?

§1

II '■

i I

i.l.!

$6 SECOND TERM,

IX. Questions.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions I., II, XII,, XXL, and XXIV. may be answered with help of
any books. The other 27 questions should be answered with the help of A.V.
and R.V. only.]

I. Draw, with fine pen and ruler : —

{a) A ground plan of the Tabernacle, showing the
relative size and position of the Court, the Holy Place, and
the Holy of Holies, and also their contents.

{b) A ground plan of the Camp of Israel, showing the
positions of the three companies of Levites and of Moses
and Aaron with regard to the Tabernacle, and stating the
leader, number, and charge of each ; and secondly, the
positions of the twelve tribes, naming their leaders. Mark
the points of the compass on both plans. (25.)

II. Quote one description of the wilderness from the
Psalms, and two from the Prophets, which indicate the
hardships of those who wandered there. (3.)

III. Enumerate seven occasions on which the Israelites
murmured. (7.)

IV. Show from several passages that they transgressed
the First as well as the Second Commandment in the
wilderness. (6.)

V. Quote a conversation between B'^laam and Balak on
the subject of the sacrifices that are pleasing to God, and
prove from the Second Book of Kings that human sacrifici
was not unknown among the Moabites. (4.)

VI. Give the total number of the children of Israel
{a) in B.C. 1706 ; {b) in B.C. 1490 ; {c) in B.C. 1452, Which
tribe increased and which tribe decreased most between
1490 and 1452 ? (8.)

VII. " Let me die the death of the righteous ! " Was
this aspiration fulfilled in the case of the man who uttered
it? (2.)

VIII. Quote three New Testament precepts enforcinrj
each of the Ten Commandments. (30.)

IX. "Of all the ancient lawgivers, Moses alone endea-
voured to mitigate the evils of slavery as a domestic
institution " {Mihnan). Point out some of these mitiga-
tions. (8.)

.%
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ai

QUESTIONS.

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X. Name the five kinds of animals that might be offered
in sacrifice, stating for which of the five kinds ot sacrifice
each was available. (8.)

XI. Mention {a) The one offering that need not be
unblemished ; (J?) the one fast ?»,ppointed5iby Moses. (2.)

XI I. What were the three great annual festivals? By
what various names are they called ? How were they
observed ? What was their significance in relation to
{a) The seasons of the year ; {b) the history of Israel ;
{c) the Gospel of Christ ? What additional annual f":stivals
were instituted after the Captivity ? (30.)

XIII. "Nazirite" means "one separated." From what
was the Nazirite separated ? Name some famous men who
were Nazirites. (6.)

XIV. Point out the differences in privilege, garb, function,
etc., between the high priest and the priest, and between
the priest and the Levite. (10.)

XV. Find in the Gospels or Acts of the Apostles an
exemplification of each of the following passages : —
(i) Exod. XXX. 7, 8; (2) Exod. xxxviii. 26; (3) Lev. x. 6,
?cxi. 10 ; (4) Lev xi. ; (5) Lev. xii. 3 ; (6) Lev. xii. 8 ; (7) Lev.
xiit. 45, 46 ; (8) Lev. xiv. 3, 4 ; (9) Lev. xx. 10; (10) Lev.
xxiii. 3 ; (11) Deut. xvi. 16 ; (12"! Deut. xix. 15 ; (13) Deut.
xxi. 23 ; (14) Deut. xxiii. 25 ; (15) Deut. xxv. 1-3 ; (16) Deut.
XXV. 5. (16.)

XVI. In Deuteronomy, Israel is bidden to remember
twelve times. Give references, and name the things to be
remembered. (11.)

XVII. Quote a verse in Deuteronomy where God is
called Israel's Father. His love to us, and our love to Him
is a thought running all through that book, which thus
anticipates Christ's teaching. Trace this out carefully. ( 1 2.)

XVIII. Where is Moses called (i) a prophet, (2) a
prie.it, (3) a king, (4) a leader, (5) a lawgiver, (6) a shepherd
of God's flock, (7) a man of God, (8) a man mighty in his
words and works ? Show by a genealogical table his
relationship to Levi and to Bezalel. What do we know to
the discredit of one of his grandsons ? (15.)

XIX. Dean Stanley suggests "heedless of self" as the
exact meaning of the word rendered " meek " in Num. xii. 3.
Discuss the character of Moses, showing how this trait was

SECOND TERM.

impressed upon all his actions from first to last. How
often did he intercede successfully for I'^is people ? (i2.)

XX. Mention a speech and two actions of Moses recorded
in Hebrews and not in the Old Testament. What do we
learn from the New Testament as to his motive in throw-
ing in his lot with Israel ? Consider Moses as a type of
Christ. (15.)

XXI. The exhortation, " Be strong" occurs more than
twenty times in the Bible. Give as many references as
you can. (10.)

XXII. How and when was the curse in Josh. vi. 26
fulfilled ? What New Testament allusions are there to
Jericho ? (4.)

XXIII. "They asked not counsel at the mouth of the
Lord." What were the circumstances and the results of
this omission ? Give other instances of enterprises under-
taken with and without prayer. (12.)

XXIV. Draw on card or drawing paper a map of Canaan
as divided among the tribes, indicating the portion 01 each,
and marking the six cities of refuge in red. Mark also the
Sea of Chinnereth, the Dead Sea, the Anion, the Jordan,
the Kishon ; Hermon, Carmel, Ebal, Gerizim, Tabor, Dan,
Beersheba, Bethel, Jericho, Ai, Gibeon, and any other cities
you please which are mentioned in this term's reading.

N.B. — Rule margins, latitudes, and longitudes ; outline in
pencil, then in ink with a very fine pen ; then colour in
transparent washes, and lastly print the names. (25.)

XXV. Sketch the character and career of Phinehas. In
what words, six times repeated, is the character of Caleb
summed up? (10.)

XXVI. Prove that the mother and grandmother of
David's grandfather were not Israelites. (5.)

XXVII. Illustrate i Chron. v. i, 2, by showing very
briefly — {a) that up to the days of Samuel, Ephraim and
Manasseh were the leading tribes ; {b) that from Samuel to
the Captivity, Judah was the leading tribe ; {c) that Reuben
made an unsuccessful attempt to claim the right of the
firstborn. (15.)

XXVIII. Where, when, by whom, and with what result
were the following battles fought? — Hormah, Jahaz, Edrei,
Bethhoron, Merom, Megiddo, (24.)

QUESTIONS,

How

^ .
ordcd

io we

hrow-

^pe of

; than
ces as

vi. 26
ere to

of the
ults of
undcr-

Canaan
01 each,
also the
Jordan,
)r, Dan,
er cities

"?•• •
ithne in

ilour in

as. In
Caleb

Ither of

XXIX. How many New Testament allusions can you
find to Aaron, Joshua, Korah, Balaam, Rahab, Barak ? (10.)

XXX. What do you know of the following ? — Achsah,
Adoni-bezek, ChiMon. Eldad, Heber, Hobab, Jair the
Manassite, Mahlah, Mishael, Shamgar, the Kenites, Chit-
tim ? (24.)

XXXI. Show how the following attributes of God are
revealed in this term's reading : — Living, Holy, Jealous.
Where is He called the Rock five times, and in what book
is He called " God of the spirits of all flesh " twice ? (5.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "A
mother in Israel." {b) "Children in whom is no faith."
(c) " The land ye have rejected." {d) " Because ye believed
not in Me." {e) " Every man in his place." (/) " Every
man straight before him." (g-) " Every man shall be put
to death for his own sin." (/i) Be sure your sin will find
you out." (?) " Wroth with me for your sakcs." (J) " My
son, give glory to the Lord." (k) " Let us go up at once."
(/) " Whithersoever thou sendest us we will go." (w) " Come
thou with us." («) " A full reward be given thee of the
Lord." (o) " I am come forth for an adversary." (/) " I
am not among you." ($') " I dwell in the midst of the
children of Israel." (r) " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself" (s) Thou shalt be altogether joyful." (/) " The
Lord your God proveth you." (?^) " That ye go not about
after your own heart and your own eyes." (v) " It is not too
hard for thee." (w) " The secret things belong unto the
Lord our God." (x) " What hath God wrought ! " {y) " He
is thy life." {3) " He hath known thy walking through this
great wilderness." (26.)

For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

very

im and

uel to

eubcn

of the

It result
I, Edrei,

THIRD TERM.
The Da of wid.

The Chosen Na-X' v rr-nER One King.

B.C. 125. iUl/

Judges VI. — XVI . I Samuel. 2 Samjiell. — XXIII. i Chronicles
I.— XX. Psalms II.— XXV. XXVII. XXIX. XXXI. XXXII.
XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVIII.—XLI. LI.—LXIV. LXVIII.—LXX.
LXXVIII. CI. CVIII— ex. CXXXVIII. CXL.— CXLIIl.
(146 chapters^

" The law of the Lord is perfect, .
. . . the precepts of the Lord are right,
pure, . . . the judgments of the Lord
Psalm xix. 7-9.

9th MONTH (35).

Judg. VI.— XVL I Sam. I.—

XVII. Psahiis VIII., XIX.,
XXIII., XXIX. I Sam.

XVIII. Psalms CXL., CXLI.

loth MONTH (37),

I Sam. XIX., XX. Psalms
LIX..XIII., XL I Sam. XXL
Psalms LVL. XXV. i Sam.

XXH.

CXLIL, LVII
XXIII.
LVIIL,
XVII.
XXX L

Psalms XXXIV.,

LII. I Sam.

XXVI. Psalms

XXXV., LIV., VII.,

I Sam. XXVII.—

I Chron. I.— X.

nth MONTH
2 Sam. I.—

(37).
V. 16,

I Chron.
XL 1-9, XIV. 1-7. 2 Sam.
XXIII. 8-39. 1 Chron. XL
10-47, XII. Psalm LXXVIII.,

. . the testimony of the Lord is sure,
, . . the commandment of the Lord is
are true and righteous altogether." —

nth MONTH Continued.

Psalm XVL 2 Sam. VI., VIL

1 Chron. XIIL, XV.— XVII.
Psalms CL, XXIV., XV., CX.,
CXXXVIII. 2 Sam. V. 17-25,
VIIL— XL I, XII. 26-31,
XXI. 15-22. I Chron. XIV.
8-17, XVIIL— XX. Psalms
XX., XXL, LX., CVIIL, IX.,
II., XVIIL 2 Sam. XXIL
Psalm LXVIII.

1 2th MONTH (37).

2 Sam. XL 2— XII. 25. Psalms
LL, XXXIL, VI., XXXVIIL,
XXXIX., XLL, XL., LXX.. V.
2 Sam. XIII —XV. 12. Psalms
X., XIL, XIV., LIIL, LXIL,
LXIV. 2 Sam. XV. 13— XVII.
Psalms CXLIIL, LXIIL,
XXVIL, LV., CIX., LXIX,
XXIL, XXXL, LXL, III., IV.
2 Sam. XVIIL— XXL 14.

I. General Summary.

THE Promised Land has been claimed, but secure pos
session can only be won through conflict with all tht
neighbouring nations (see " Oxford Helps," § xxx.). Syrians,

GENERAL SUMMARY.

I., VII.
XVII.

ex.,

17-25.
26-31,

XIV.
Psalms
I., IX.,
XXII.

I Psalms
LVIII.,

:x..v.

I Psalms

Ilxil,

-XVII.

I.XIII.,

.XIX,

[I., IV.

re pos
[all tht
Brians,

Moabites, and Canruinites have already been defeated, and
a preliminary encounter with the Philistines (Judg. iii. 31,
X. 11) has taken place. Three greater struggles remain,
whose story occupies us throughout this term.

At its beginning we find Palestine overrun by hordes of
Midianites and Avialekitcs from the desert, and the Israel-
ites fleeing for their lives to mountains and caves. Their
signal deliverance from this extremity is often referred to
afterwards (Psalm Ixxxiii. 9-12 ; Isa. ix. 4, x. 26).

Eighty years later came the Ammonite invasion, and lastly
the Hundred Years War with the Philistines (Gen. x. 14).
A pastoral tribe of that name occupied the fertile plain of
South- West Palestine in Abraham's days (Gen. xx., xxi.).
By 1 49 1 they had become a formidable military and com-
mercial nation with five strongholds (Exod. xiii. 17, xv. 14)
who had already given Israel cause to fear them (i Chron.
vii. 2022, viii. 13). When their territory was assigned to
Dan and Judah, they contested these invaders' succession
and obtained the mastery for a period of forty years known
as "the days of the Philistines" (Judg. xiii. i, xiv. 4, xv.
II, 20). Shamgar and Samson began to deliver Israel from
them (Judg. iii. 31, xiii. 5), and it was probably to avenge the
crowning exploit of the latter that they put themselves in
array against Israel at Aphek, and inflicted a defeat which
seemed to destroy her national existence. This overthrow
was referred to as " the day of the captivity of the land "
(Judg. xviii. 30 ; Psalm Ixviii. 18), and the catastrophe which
desolated Shiloh can only be paralleled in Israel's history
with the Fall of Jerusalem in B.C. 588 and in A.D. 70.
Hence the murderous fury which Jeremiah's allusion to it
provoked. The rout of Israel under priests whose " sin
was very great before the Lord " was retrieved on the same
spot twenty years later by the blameless prophet Samuel
(i Sam. vii. 13). Then Israel asked for a king to strengthen
their hands, and Goa gave them Saul (i Sam. ix. 16,
xiv. 52). Central Palestine had now become a Philistine
country, and its heirs had passed over Jordan again. He
turned the tide of war, but because he rejected the word of
the Lord his great victory at Michmash ended in defeat on
the scene of Gideon's triumph over Midian. Final deliver-
ance came through the faithful King David^ who fought

i i

T/J/A'D TERM.

his first battle in 1064, and his last battle some thirty years
later, against the Philistines. He carried the war into the
enemy's country, captured their strongholds, and made them
tributary (2 Sam. iii. 18, xix. 9). Not until the disastrous
reign of wicked Jehoram (889 — 885) shall we meet with
them again ; but in " Palestine " (z>., " Philistia "), the most
familiar name of the land of Israel, they left a lasting trace
of their long domination.

David's wars were the summary and the conclusion of
the whole contest (Acts vii. 45). The victories of Barak
and Gideon over the Canaanites and Midianitcs were final ;
but it was David who, besides subduing the Kdoinitcs,
finally vanquished the Syriatis, Moabitcs, Amalckites, Am-
monitcs, and Pliilisthies. And so " the heathen perished
out of God's land " at last (Psalm x. 16), and Israel became
united, independent, and strong (Josh. xxi. 45).

Of the 330 years between Joshua's death and Saul's acces-
sion, III were passed by some portion, sometimes a large
portion, of God's People in servitude. This was not part
of God's plan for them, but the result of their own worldli-
ness and disobedience, and pursuit of what they considered
expedient and not of what was right. (Observe these four
stages: Judg. i. 21, iii. 5, xxi. 25, x. 6.) They sought to
serve their own true God and the false gods of their neigh-
bours as well ; they wanted to have both God and God's
enemies for their friends (Psalm cvi. 34-6). Now those who
live wholly for the world may be happy, though not in the
highest way ; those who live wholly for God must be happy
in the highest way. But those who try to serve God and the
world at once must be miserable. That is our lesson from
those ancient wars. What was their result for Israel ?

Nine hundred years elapsed between the Exodus and
the Babylonian Captivity -viz., 400 years of irregular
government by fifteen judges, and 500 years of monarchy.
The progress and prosperity of the nation under David
and Solomon fully justified the establishment of monarchy,
which we have now to consider.

Two hundred.years after the death of Moses they offered
an hereditary crown to Gideon. He refused it, and the
power of his son was too limited to warrant us in calling
him the first King of Israel. 150 years later, under Philis-

BOOKS TO BE READ.

acccs-
a large
3t part
vorldli-
sidcred
se four
aght to
ncigh-
God's
sc who
in the
happy
ind the
n from
"?
s and
egular
archy.
David
archy,

)ffcred
id the
Icalling
1 Philis-

tine pressure, the need for a permanent guarantee ot
national unity again asserted itself with irresistible force.
Different judges had ruled different tribes; Samuel for the
first time ruled all Israel (i Sam. iii. 20), and when Shiloh
lay desolate and Jerusalem was still a Jebusite city, his
abode at Ramah became the national centre. Events were
ripe for more settled political institutions than the casual
rule of men who claimed uncertain allegiance during their
lives, and left certain confusion at their deaths (Judg. xvii, 6,
xviii, I, xix. i,xxi. 25). Monarchy, though not established
by Moses, was clearly contemplated by the Mosaic Law
(Deut. xvii. 14-20). But wilfully and defiantly the people
demanded a king, that they might be *' like all the nations,"
ignoring their peculiar position as the People of God. And
God, who sometimes allows us to mete nut our own punish-
ment when we importune II im to give according to our own
will, not His (Psalm cvi. 15), gave them a king after their
own heart of the tribe of Benjamin. When they had learned
that " unblest good is ill," He gave them a king after His
own heart of the tribe of Judah, and established his
dynasty for ever (Acts xiii. 21, 22).

II. Books to be Read.
(See "Oxford Helps," § v.)

This *term our time is divided between four of the his-
torical and one of the poetical books of the Old Testament.
The larger number of appointed chapters docs not represent
more work. For we have already made some acquaintance
with I Chron. i.-viii., and several of the following chapters
are almost verbal repetitions of chapters in Samuel ; many
of the Psalms are very short, and four of them occur twice
over. We are in the age of one of the greatest poets of
the world, and, with two exceptions, the follv'»wing poems
are all from his hand : —

{a) The Song of Hannah, the earliest " hymn " properly
so-called, a first outpourinL;" of individual as distinct from
national devotion (i Sam. ii. i-io; comp. Luke i. 46-55).

{b) David's Song of the Bow, from the Book of Jashar,
the finest and the most ancient of all dirges, mourning
Saul with the harp that had so often soothed him, and, full

^ \

i !

TH/HD TERM.

of charity as It is of poetry, sayin^j nought but good of *
David's enemy, while commemorating David's friend, the
mighty archer of the archer tribe, in words destined to be
used by David's own tribe as they learned to handle the
archer's weapon (2 Sam. i. 19-27).

{c) David's Elegy over Abner, a brief outburst of grief
for the sudden and violent end of a great prince (2 Sam.

iii. 33, 34).

{d) David's Song of Praise on the greatest day of his

life, when he was at once conqueror and king, poet and

musician. Two liturgical psalms, added to the Psalter

after the Captivity, were founded upon it (Psalm cv. 1-15,

xcvi., cvi. 47, 48), as our Prayer Book makes general use of

the three canticles in S. Luke (i Chron. xvi. 7-36).

{e) David's Song of Victory, recalling his conflicts with
all his enemies from the first and most implacable, and
ascribing his success wholly to God (2 Sam. xxii. ; comp.
Psalm xviii.).

(/) David's La.st Words, one of his most notable psalms.
It sums up all his life's experience of the faithfulness of
God (2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7). (We read this next term, but
note it now to complete the list.)

Sixty-one Psalms, all, save one, by David ; see p. 180.

I and 2 Samuel with i and 2 Kings are spoken of in the
Septuagint as " the four books of Kings." They form one
historical compilation based upon the writings of Samuel,
Nathan, Gad, Isaiah, and others (i Chron. xxix. 29), and,
it seems, completed and finally edited by Jeremiah the
prophet immediately after the Captivity. They were
written by Prophets with all the freshness and fulness of
contemporary records. They are political, military, and
poetical, and contain the history of all Israel. Only they
insert accounts of the reign of Saul, of David's wanderings
and of his fall, and of the rebellions of Absalom and
Adonijah. Their keynote is The Throne of the Lords
Anotnled (John i. 41, 49, xii. 13, xviii. 33-7).

I and 2 Chronicles are called in the Septuagint, " The
history of the things left out." They are based upon the
public records first instituted by David (i Chron. xxvii. 24),
but were edited after the Captivity, probably by Ezra the
priest, some 1 50 years later than Kings. They cover the

Icrings

and

\ords

I" The

)n the

|ii. 24),
ra the
IX the

PF.RmnS AND DATES. 6$

whole period of the four liooks of Kinc^s, vvhirh they are
evidently designed to supplement. In contrast to Kings,
they were written by Priests and Levites, with the dis-
passionate judgment befitting records of events long past.
They are ecclesiastical, genealogical, and prosaic, and
contain the history of Juclah (i Chron. v. 2, xxviii. 4).
Only they insert complete genealogies from Adam, com-
plete statistics of David's kingdom, full descriptions of his
preparations for the Temple, and henceforth of everything
relating to its worship. Their keynote is The Lord dwellcth
in Jerusalem (i Chron. xxiii. 25, R.V. ; Matt. ; 35 ; John
iv. 20; Rev. xxi. 2, 3).

III. Periods and Dates.

The chronology becomes more definite as this period
of 238 years draws to a close, but several very perplexing
questions are connected with it. S. Paul's statement in
Acts xiii. 20 (but see R.V.) agrees with the result of
adding up the periods of servitude and judgeship named
in Judges, but it cannot be reconciled with the assertion
in I Kings vi. i, that 12 periods of forty years elapsed
between the Exodus and the erection of the Temple.
Some, therefore, regard this assertion as an erroneous in-
terpolation and throw the Exodus back 140 years ; others
more reasonably recognise that thr periods in Judges are
not successive but overlap each other. For instance, Judg.
xi. 26 indicates that Jephthah's rule began in 11 52, and
since Samson's cannot have begun later than 11 36, Ibzan,
Elon, and Abdon must have been contemporary in another
part of Palestine with one or other of these two. Thus in
a period only extending over 130 years, 450 years are
accounted for.

(l) B.C. 1256 — 1 136 (120 > ars). From the Midianite
oppression to the beginning of Samson's rule.
Israel under eight Judges.

(a) Seven years' oppression of the Midianites

and Amalekites in Central Palestine (1256 —

1249), and rule of Gideon, Abimelech, Tola,

and Jair. Judg. vi. — x. 5.

(d) Eighteen years' oppression of the Ammonites

I, I

I
i.

.•I«f,i

THIRD TERM.

\ '

: f?

on the cast (1170 — 1152), and rule of Jcph-
thah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon (and EH ?) Judg.
X. 6 — xii.

(2) B.C. 1 1 36 — 1096 (40 years). From the beginning of

Samson's rule to the accession of Saul. Israel under
the last three Judges. " The days of the Philistines."
(a) 1 1 36 — 1 1 16. The rule of Samson and Eli,
and defeat at Aphek. Judg. xiii. — xvi. ;
1 Sam. i. — iv.
(F) 1 1 16 — 1096. The rule of Samuel and victory
at Ebenezer. 1 Sam. v, — vii.

(3) B.C. 1096 — 1056 (40 years). From the accession of

Saul to his death. Israel under Samuel and Saul
(a) 1096 — 1064. The probation of Saul through

prosperity. 1 Sam. viii. — xv,
(/') 1064 — 1056. The probation of David through
adversity 1 Sam. xvi., xvii. ; Psalms viii., xix.,
xxiii., xxix. ; 1 Sam. xviii. ; Psalms cxl., cxli. ;

1 Sam; xix. ; Psalm lix. ; 1 Sam. xx. ; Psalms
xiii., xi. ; 1 Sam. xxi. ; Psalms Ivi,, xxv. ; 1 Sam.
xxii. ; Psalms xxxiv., cxlii., Ivii., lii. ; 1 Sam.
xxiii.— xxvi. ; Psalms Iviii., xxxv., liv., vii.,
xvii. ; 1 Sam. xxvii. — xxxi. ; 1 Chron. i. — x.

(4) B.C. 1056 — 1018 (38 years). From the death of

Saul to the choice of a site for the Temple.
Israel under David.

{a) 1056 — 1049. His reign at Hebron over Judah.

2 Sam. i. — iv,

{1j) 1049 — 1036. His reign at Jerusalem over all
Israel. His victories, glory, and prosperity.
2 Sam. V. 1-16 ; 1 Chron. xi. 1-9, xiv. 1-7 ; 2 Sam.
xxiii. 8-39; 1 Chron. xi. 10-47, xii.; Psalms
Ixxviii., xvi. ; 2 Sam. vi., vii. ; 1 Chron. xiii.,
XV. — xvii. ; Psahns ci,, xxiv., xv., ex., cxxxviii. ;
2 Sam. V. 17-25, viii.— xi. 1, xii. 26-31, xxi.
15-22; 1 Chron. xiv. 8-17, xviii. — xx. ; Psalms xx.,
xxi., Ix., cviii., ix., ii., xviii.; 2 Sam. xxii.;
Psalm Ixviii.

{c) 1036 — 10 1 8. His sin and suffering. 2 Sam.
xi. 1 — xii. 25; Psalms li,, xxxii., vi., xxxviii.,
xxxix., xii., xl., Ixx., v.; 2 Sam. xiii. — xv. 12;

GEOGRAPHY.

Jcph-
Judg.

ing of
under
ines."
d Eli,
- xvi. ;

victory

;ion of

Saul

tirough

hrough
ii., xix.,
.., cxli. ;

Psalms
; 1 Sam.

1 Sam.
v., vii.,

— X.

ath of
cmplc.

Judah.

)vcr

all
|sperity.
2 Sam.
Psalms
in. xiii.t
^xxviii. ;
)\, xxi.
1ms XX.,
xxii. ;

I2 Sam.

tviii.,

Ixv. 12;

Psalms X., xii., xiv., liii., Ixii., Ixiv., 2 Sam. xv.
13— xvii. ; Psalms cxliii., Ixiii., xxvii., Iv., cix.,
Ixix., xxii., xxxi., Ixi., iii., iv. ; 2 Sam. xviii. —
xxi. 14.

IV. Geography.
(See "Oxford Helps," Maps V. and VI.)

We have already studied Palestine, the scene of all this
term's events, and although Jerusalem is characterised as
"the city where David encamped" (Isa. xxix, i), there
are several good reasons for postponing its topography
to the reign of David's son, who was " King in Jerusalem "
(Eccles. i. i).

How much of the whole land which God promised was
possessed by Isra.cl ? This geographical question now calls
for solution.

By God Himself to Abraham, through Moses to Israel
on leaving Egypt, and again through Ezekiel to Israel
during the Babylonian Captivity, a territory was promised
to the Chosen People, which was 2| times as large as Great
Britain and Ireland, or 300,000 square miles in extent.
Speaking generally, it lay between the Nile and the
Euphrates, the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf or
the Syrian Desert. Solomon for a short time ruled the
whole of it as King of Israel and suzerain of Israel's
neighbours. But, omitting the Trans-Jordanic provinces
whose occupants soon ceased to have any close connexion
with their compatriots, we find that what they actually
possessed lay between Beershcba and Dan, the Mediter-
ranean and Jordan, and was little larger than Wales. Did
Isiacl's sin make void the promise, or will it be fulfilled
hereafter? Jer. xxxii. 37-42 ; Amos ix. 15 ; Rom. xi. 29.

Careful comparison of the following passages with each
other and the maps will show the exact boundaries : —
Gen. xiii. 14, 15, xv. 18; Exod. xxiii, 31 ; Num. xiii. 21,
xxxiv. 2-8 ; Deut. xi. 24 ; Josh. i. 3, 4 ; i Kings iv. 21, 24,
viii. 65 ; 2 Chron. vii. 8, ix. 26; Psalm Ixxii. 8, Ixxx. 11,
Ixxxix. 25; Isa. xxvii. 12 (R.V.) ; Ezck. xlvii. 13-21;
Zech. ix. 10,

i (

■'I

THIRD TERM.

On the north, Mount Hor (that is, cither Mount Casius
on the Bay of Antioch, or the Lebanon Range generally),
the crtering in of Hamath to Zcbad, and the River, or
the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.

On the eeist, the Euphrates and Syrian Desert, or else
the Orontes, Jordan, the Salt (or Dead) Sea, and Red Sea.

On the south, the deserts of Paran and Zin, called " the
ends of the earth," to " the brook of Egypt " (that is, the
Wadi I'Areesh or Rhinocolura). The Nile, or " river of
Egypt," is only mentioned in Gen. xv. i8.

On the west, the Great, Hinder, or Western Sea, or Sea
of the Philistines, that is, the Mediterranean,

V. Heroes.

f Gideon, Phil. iv. 13, 17 (R.V.),
Sa

Keynotes < Samuel, Eph. vi. 18.
(. David, Eph. vi. 6.

Each of this term's heroes stands out sharply contrasted
with a contemporary in a way that throws much light
upon him. Gideon is the most heroic character in Judges,
and he wrought the greatest deliverance there recorded.
Mighty in faith, he recalls the past greatness of Joshua ;
courteous, forbearing, and humble, he anticipates the future
grace of David. His disinterested patriotism finds a
modern parallel in George Washington. He yields to
none of the judges in dignity ; Samuel only, who rose
above his superstitious devotion, excels him in holiness.
The crown he set aside was seized by the rash and
unscrupulous Abimelech, the one judge who performed
no public service.

Samson and Samuel were about the same age. Both
were Nazirites from birth ; both were raised up to deliver
Israel, and received a special call and a special training
for their work. Samson's extraordinary physical power
enabled him to strike terror into the Philistines and
encourage Israel, but his wayward inconsistency and
uncontrolled passions wasted that power on isolated feats,
and he carried out no organised plan of national defence
and founded no national institutions. Samuel's extra-
ordinary moral power was an outcome of the holy and

HEROES.

Sea

Both
ieliver

lining
[power
V, and
V and

consistent life of one who had served the Lord from his
youth. He and S. John are the great Scripture examples
of inward, silent, unbroken growth in grace from childhood,
as Jacob and S. Paul are of sudden and decisive conversion
in mature years. Note that the same religious surround-
ings which aided this growth in him only hardened the
sons of Eli. Warrior, ruler, counsellor, intercessor, and
prophet, Samuel was neither king nor priest nor poet. He
was not, like Moses, the originator of new institutions,
nor, like Jeremiah, the upholder of old ones. To him
was committed the hardest task of guiding his country
safely through a time of transition, when new conditions
brought new needs. He was the last judge, and the first
of that long succession of prophets who will claim our
chief attention later on. And as the Levite son of
Zachanas was forerunner of the Son of David, so the
Levite son of Elkanah was forerunner of David.

Chosen of the Lord (2 Sam. xxi. 6, R.V.), endowed with
the Spirit, with Samuel for his counsellor and David for his
friend, Saiilw^s favoured in all his circumstances. But his
fierce Benjamitc temper was ungoverned, his better impulses
were guided by no steady principle, his religion did not
influence his moral nature. Ever and always he did accord-
ing to his own will, and sought what was right in his own
eyes. God put him to a test less severe than those which
Abraham and Gideon had undergone triumphantly. Eirst,
by a trial of endurance under pressure from the enemy
(i Sam. xiii.). In his rash superstition and impatience he
broke through the restraint imposed upon him by Samuel.
Secondly, by a trial of obedience under pressure from
the people (i Sam. xv.). In blind self-confidence he dis-
regarded God's plain command to him. These failures
proved him unfit for the trust committed to him, so, in
mercy to Israel, God first took the kingdom away from
his family, and secondly rejected him from being king.
His third and crowning sin was asking counsel of one that
had a familiar spirit in defiance of the law of Moses
(i Chron. x. 13, 14). Suicide, possibly completed by the
hand of one of those Amalekites concerning whom he had
sinned, was the dark close of a career that might have been
full of light. So he perished, self-willed king of a sclf-

: !■

i- '

ill

iilr'l

II'.

THIRD TERM.

Iisr

t \

willed people ; and, though fits of madness came over him
as they have come over more than one unhappy monarch
whose imperious will has been unchecked by either prin-
ciple or circumstances, we cannot assert that he was not
responsible for his own destruction (2 Peter ii. 21).

David and S. Paul stand alone among the characters of
Holy Writ in leaving writings through which we can look
into their heart of hearts, and, of all the heroes of the Old
Testament, David is the one we know best ; 1 3 1 of its
chapters have him for their theme or their author, and he
is frequently mentioned in Scripture elsewhere. His daring
courage, his quick sagacity, the prudence that never deserted
him, his prompt resource in difficulty, his singular mixture
of tenderness and severity, his inborn power to rule, his
skill to plan and enterprise in carrying out his plans,
remind us of the champions of the past. V\h intellectual
gifts link him to the " wise men " of the age which suc-
ceeded his. For, while we speak of the rod of Moses, the
spear of Joshua, the sword of Gideon, and the mantle of
Samuel, we refer to the harp of David. As Moses the
Prophet anticipated Samuel, so Moses the Psalmist ant'.i-
patcd David, who was the greatest of Israel's poets, and
the first of all poets to give utterance to man's deep jov
in nature's beauty and man's deep lonr.L-'gs after com-
munion with God. "David" means "bel;". i,' and no
one ever gave or received more passionate and 'evoted
love than he, from the day the young her;- of Ephes-
Dammim was the nation's darling, to the day the aged
king bowed the hearts of all as the heart of one man
(i Sam. xviii. i, 3, 5, 16, 20, 22, 28, 30 ; 2 Sam. xix. 14).
His was that highly emotional nature that feels pleasure
and pain and is conscious of the good and evil in others
to a very rare degree. The versatility and complexity of
character and gifts which we note in many of the tribe
of Judah reached their climax in David, and the training
for his ^'fe work was unusually complete. The early years
of pj. toi'pl s'>litude and meditation ; the camp and court,
first of Israel, then of Philistia the great military power
of the day ; the College of Prophets at Ramah, in which
we may ii. :ACi i germ of the un' /ersities of Christendom ;
the life of li.i''d.'-".hp anc". risk in tne wilderness where David

aged
man

14).
easure

others
ty of
tribe
aining
years
court,
power
which
dom ;
David

HEROES.

gathered followers, not as a mere rebel against Saul, but
as an independent chieftain, destined to be king, fighting
Israel's foes, and having with him Abiathar, the High Priest,
and Gad, the prophet of God ;— in all these he learned,
above every other lesson, to know God, to trust Him wholly,
and to commune with Him daily and hourly, "Servant
of God " is the title given to him oftener than any other,
which he shares with Moses and Joshua only of all Old
Testament saints in the New Testament, the title in which
S. Paul, the greatest of all the sons of Abraham, gloried.
" The way of David " becomes as proverbial as " the way
of Jeroboam " afterwards, and God, who rejected Saul,
made with David an everlasting covenant (2 Sam. xxiii. 5).
But, it may be said, surely the shortcomings of David
were even more grievous than those of Saul. When his
throne was established in peace and prosperity, despite the
generosity and chivalry, the self-control and faithful friend-
ship which had hitherto distinguished him, he was hurried
away into shameful sin against God and man. It is not
enough to reply that we cannot judge a Jewish king by
a Christian standard, since his temptations were greater
and his restraints fewer than ours. His crimes would,
it is true, have been thought little of by contemporary
monarchs, but then he had the law of Moses. To his
disregard of one clear precept in it (Deut. xvii. 17) may
be traced not only all the evils and troubles in his own
family, but his successor's apostasy and the consequent
disasters to his house and to Israel. Yes, like Saul, David
sinned, and many men have been more blameless than he.
Yet few have been so good, for notwithstanding his sin
it remained the habit of his life to fulfil God's will from
his heart (i Kings xv. 3-5 ; Acts xiii. 22), and therefore,
unlike Saul's sins, his sins were followed by fullest acknow-
ledgment, deepest contrition, and meekest endurance of
the appointed chastisement. David's " heinous sin, hearty
repentance, and heavy punishment " (to quote Fuller's
expressive phrase) is recorded for our everlasting in-
struction. From the record wc learn these three things.
That the noblest intellectual gifts, the greatest religious
privileges, the fullest knowledge of the truth, and the
highest spiritual attainments cannot keep us from the most

r- 'k

[r
i lip.

THIRD TERM.

i !l I i'

flagrant transi^jrcssions if we cease to depend humbly
upon God and to use diligently all the means of grace
(i Cor. X. 12), That repentance means much more than
penance and much more than remorse, and that "the
forgiveness of sins," in which we so continually profess our <
belief, is free, final, and abundant (with Isa. xliii. 25
compare i Kings xiv. 7, 8). Lastly, we learn that in this
life we must reap the natural consequences even of for-
given sin. David's own words of self-vindication in
Psalm vii. 3-5 were terribly taken in earnest, although death,
the legal penalty he had incurred, was remitted ; and from
the Psalms he wrote beyond Jordan, ten years later, we
perceive that there is anguish worse than death ; it can
never be with us as it would have been if we had not
sinned.

VI. The Coming Messiah.

" How then dotJi David in the Spirit call Him Lord?"
Matt. xxii. 41-5 (R.V.).

Each of the "saviours" whom God gave Is' ael (Neh.
ix. 27) was a more or Ir -s perfect Type of Him whom the
angel named jESUS (Matt. i. 21). Gideon sets aside the
crown, Jcphthah gives his dearest a willing sacrifice to free
her country from a terrible obligation, Samson dies with
the Philistines for Israel, Samuel prays without ceasing
for his people. Rut " the '^ood things to come " were
most distinctly foreshadowed in " the man whom God
raised on high" (with 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 comp. Acts v. 31)
as His Anointed. The whole history of David is a type
of the militant kingdom of Christ, and all his utterances in
the Psalms find their deepest and highest application as
iiie utterances of Ms greater Son (Luke xxiv. 44, and

P- 177)-

That our Lord would spring out of Judah had been

already foretold. This term we learn to add " Son of
David" to "Son of Abraham" (Matt. i. i). Three Pre-
dictions in the historical books give more definite shape
than had been given heretofore to the hopes which reached
their highest pitch just 1000 years after David.

{ii) I Sam. ii. 10, which makes first mention of the
Lord's Anointed (Luke ii. 26 ; Acts iv. 26, 27, R.V.).

GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN.

{b) I Sam. ii. 35. The original allusion is to Zadok,
whose descendants held the high-priesthood till the Fall
of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but it finds complete fulfilment in
Christ (Heb. ii. 17).

{c) 2 Sam. vii. 12-16; i Chron. xvii. 11-14. Here again
the immediate reference is to Solomon, but even without
David's own comments on the promise in 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-5,
and in the Psalms, the words "for ever" show for the
first time that the Messiah would not only be a King,
but that He would be more than human (Isa. Iv. 3 ; Luke
i. 31-3; Acts ii. 30, 31, xiii. 34; Heb. i. 5). This being
so, we may sec in the " house for God's name " the earliest
mention of the Church of Christ (i Tim. iii. 15 ; Heb. iii. 6).
Henceforth there was an ever-growing expectation of a
second David greater than the first (Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 25 ;
Amos ix. 11).

Vn. God's Revelation of Himself to Man,

To the Patriarchs God was known as El Shaddai ; to
Moses as Jehovah. Now in a fresh crisis of His people's
history. He reveals Himself again by a new name,
Jehovah Sabaoth (i Sam. i. 3, 11, xvii. 45), first
publicly proclaimed by David on the day he brought up
the Ark to Zion (2 Sam. vi. 2, 18, vii. 26; Psalm xxiv.).
Sabaoth, like " host," is used both of the stars of the
material heaven and of the angels of the invisible world,
and this name means " Lord of Hosts or Armies," i.e., of
all the intelligent creatures who perform the Divine will in
heaven and earth (i Kings xxii. 19 ; Neh. ix. 6 ; Dan.
iv. 35 ; Psalm ciii. 21 ; Matt. vi. 10 ; Luke ii. 13), and is
translated in the Septuagint by a Greek word which in
2 Cor. vi. 18, and nine times in Revelation, is rendered
" Almighty," but which should rather be rendered " All-
sovereign." To the newly settled fabric of Church and
State it was a pledge of victory and glory, and while
it indirectly rebuked idolatrous worship of the host of
heaven (Acts vii. 42), it answered to the wider range of
vision opening on Israel with a new epoch of her civilisa-
tion. Jehovah Sabaoth remained the chief name of God
throughout the monarchical period. It occurs over 260

1^1

S ' '4' 1"

'< --m

1^1

,}■'

a; ^1
I

TH//^D TERM.

times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testa-
ment (Rom. ix. 29 ; James v. 4), and is used to-day all
over Christendom when " the holy Church throughout all
the world " echoes the songs of heaven in her grandest
hymn of praise.

Observe how David's enumeration of the God of Israel,
the Rock of Israel, and the Spirit of the Lord (2 Sam.
xxiii. 2, 3) points on to future manifestation of the Three
in One.

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

We have seen how the days when every man did what
was right in his own eyes (Judg. xxi. 25 ; Deut. xii. 8, 28)
ended in a corrupt priesthood, a desolate sanctuary, and
a captive Ark. The Ark never returned to the dis-
honoured Tabernacle in ruined Shiloh, but during the
succeeding age of political change and religious confusion
both were carried from place to place, and worship seems
to have been offered at each. Meanwhile the people
relapsed again and again into the two forms of idolatry
explained last term, and the practice of various unauthor-
ised superstitions prevailed (Judg. xviii. 24-7 ; i Sam. xv.
23, R.V., xix. 13). But at length God chose c place for
His abode (i Chron. vxiii. 25,R.V. ; Psalm Ixviii. 16, Ixxviii.
6y, 68, Ixxxvii. 2, cxxxii. 13, 14), and it was the desire
of David's heart there to build a House for Him who had
so long been served in a roving tent.

How David prepared for that House, and how Solomon
reared it, we shall learn next term.

IX. Questions.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions III., IV., V., VI., XV., XVI., XVII., XXV., and XXIX,

ni.iy be answered with the help of any books. The other 23 questions should
be answered with the help of A.V. and R.V. only.]

I. " The Lord sent Jerubbaal and Jephthah and
Samuel." Complete the quotation, and show in a few
words for what purpose each was sent, and how he carried
out that purpose. (6.)

QUESTIONS.

XIX.

Ihould

and

few

Iricd

II. Make a chronological table of the fifteen Judges,
stating where they ruled, how long they ruled, and what
they did for Israel. Which of them are commended for
their faith in the New Testament ? (30.)

III. At what times and in what ways was the judgment
upon Eli's house completely fulfilled ? (5.)

IV. Prove from Jeremiah and the Psalms that Shiloh was
desolated after the capture of the Ark. (3.)

V. Show without reference to the books bearing his
name that Samuel was a prophet, acceptable to God, and
a man of faith and prayer. (6.)

VI. What do we know to the credit of one of Samuel's
grandsons ? (4.)

VII. Give examples of the vehement vows that were
one characteristic of the age between Moses and David. (8.)

VIII. Sketch briefly the history of Saul's persecution of
David, and trace David's wanderings. (20.)

IX. Why did David commit his parents to the King
of Moab ? Did he keep the oath recorded in i Sam. xxiv.
21,22? (4.)

X. Rehearse briefly the chief incidents in the career
of Jonathan, and illustrate his faith, courage, patience,
generosity, unselfishness, and piety. (15.)

XI. How may we account for the conduct of the men
of Jabesh Gilead to Saul, and for that of Joab to Abncr ? (4.)

XII. Prove that each of the following tribes furnished
Israel with at least one ruler between B.C. 1500 and B.C.
1000: — Levi. Judah, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Naphtali,
Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin. (12.)

XIII. How often was David anointed? (2.)

XIV. Give as full an account as you can of David's
nephews, omitting Joab. (14.)

XV. Which of Solomon's great-grandfathers is parti-
cularly described in the Psalms ? (3.)

XVI. Where is David called (i) a prophet, (2) a
patriarch, (3) " David the King," (4) " a leader and com-
mander," (5) "the man of God," (6) " the servant of God,"
(7) God's " firstborn," (8) God's " anointed," (9) " a man
after God's own heart," (10) "one chosen out of the
pecple," (11) "the sweet psalmist," (12) inventor of instru-
ments of music, (13) "light or lamp of Israel," (14) father

SIM

1 I
,!

(

THIIU) TERM.

of the Messiah ? On what occasion did he wear the dress
and perform the office of a priest ? (i6.)

XVII. Find six New Testament references to David as
inspired, and ten to him as the ancestor of the Messiah.
On how many occasions was our Lord addressed as " Son
of David " ? What events in David's Hfc are alluded to in
the New Testament ? (22.)

XVIII. What does "Samuel" mean? Show how the
lives of Samuel and David illustrate the power of prayer.

(15.)

XIX. Consider David as a type of Christ in character

and circumstances. (15.)

XX. Briefly relate the history of the Ark of God from
iJ.C. 1451 till it "had rest" in B.C. 1041. (15.)

XXI. Trace the application of i Chron. xvi. 20-22 to
Abraham, Jacob, David, and the Ark. (8.)

XXII. " The Lord was with him." Find 14 passages in
which this is said of David. (14.)

XXIII. Is there any evidence that Absalom's effeminate
vanity caused his death ? (2.)

XXIV. Name three heroes who slew lions. (3.)

XXV. Explain the Old Testament historical allusions in
the following passages in the Psalms : — ii. 7, iv. 7, vii. 4,
xi. 6, xxi. 3, li. II, Iv. 3, 12-14, 1'^- 6-9, Ixi. 2, Ixviii. 11, 29
R.V., Ixxviii. 60-68, ex. 4. (28.'

XXVI. Show by New Testament quotations that the.se
ten Psalms refer to Christ : — ii., viii., xvi., xxii., xxiv., xl.,
xli., Ixviii., Ixix., ex. (20.)

XXVII. By whom and to whom was the oldest letter
whose contents are on record written ? Who uttered the
oldest parable, and who invented the oldest riddle extant ?
To whom was the first temple mentioned in Scripture
dedicated ? (4.)

XXVIII. Name the first instance of a foreigner holding
high office in Israe', and the first instance of a ruler who
owed his elevation wholly to popular suffrage. (4.)

XXIX. Illustrate Acts x. 35 by naming representatives
of the nations whom -God bade Israel destroy or shun
among the friends and followers of David. (8.)

XXX. Where, when, by whom, and with what result
were the following battles fought? — Harod, Oreb's Rock,

r
I

fil

QUFSTIONS.

K.'irkor, Arocr, Aphck, Ebcnczcr, Michmash, ITavil.-ih,
Ephcs-D.'unmim, Gilboa. (40.)

XXXI. What do you know of the following? — Ahitub,
Chimham, Gaal, Hushai, Ichabod, Ittai, Merab, Purah,
Shcba, Ziba, the Chcrcthitcs, and Pclcthitcs. (24.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "Thy
people offer themselves willingly " ; {b) " I have looked
upon My people " ; (c) "The Lord seeth not as man seeth " ;
(d) " Who daily bearcth our burden " ; (c) " Go in this thy
might " ; (J) " God is gone out before thee " ; (g-) " God is
for me " ; (/i) " Them that honour Me I will honour " ;
(/) " That they might set their hope in God " ; (/) " God was
entreated of them because they put their trust in Him " ;
(>(•) " I have no good beyond Thee " ; (/) " Thou knowest
Thy servant"; (m) "vStrengthen me only this once";
(«) " O that Thou wouldest keep me from evil ; (o) " Blessed
be tlie Lord that hath kept back His .servant from evil " ;
(/) " Thou art worth ten thousand of us " ; (</) " Thine are
we, David " ; (r) " With me thou shalt be in safeguard " ;
(s) " Thou shalt surely prevail " ; (f) " The wicked shall
return to Sheol " ; («) " Thou .shalt not die " ; (v) " The
Lord sat as King at the Flood " ; (w) " The host was
secure " ; (x) " But little lower than God " ; ( j) " The
woman went in her wisdom " ; (z) " I shall be satis-
fied." (26)

For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

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FOURTH TERM.
The Days of Solomon

The Chosen Nation Centre of an Empire.
The First Temple.

B.C. 1018 — 915.

2 Sam. XXIII. 1-7, XXIV., i Kings I.— XVI. 28, i Chron.
XXL— XXIX. 2 Chro7i. I.— XVI. Song of Songs, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastcs, Psalms /., XXVI., XXVIII., XXX., XXXVI., XXXVII.,
XLIL, XLIIL, XLV., XLIX., L., LXXII., LXXIII., LXXVII.,
LXXXL, LXXXIL, LXXXIV, LXXXVI., LXXXVIIL, LXXXJX.,
XCI., CXI., CXIL, CXXVIL, CXXVIII., CXXXL, CXXXII.,
CXXXIII., CXXXIX., CXLV. (123 chapters.)

"Blessed is the man . . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord."
— Psalm i. 2.

13th month (29). I

Psaln^s XXXVI., XXXVII.,
CXXXIII. 2 Sam. XXIV.
I Chron. XXL— XXIX. 22.
Psalms XXVI., XXVIII.,
XXX., CXXXIX., CXXXL,
LXXXVI., CXLV. 2 Sam.
XXIII. 1-7. I Kings I.— V.
I Chron. XXIX. 23-30. 2 Chron.
I., II., Psalms LXXIL, XLV.

14th month (31).

I Kings VI.— IX. 9. 2 Chron.
HI.— VII. Psalms CXXXII.,
I., CXXVIL, CXXVIII., L.,
LXXXL, LXXVIL, LXXXIL,
XLIL, XLIIL, LXXXIV.
I Kings IX. 10 -X.

14th month Continued.

2 Chron. VIIL— IX. 28. The
Song of Songs.

iSth MONTH (31).
Proverbs.

1 6th MONTH (32).

I Kings XL 2 Chron. IX.
29-31. Ecclesiastes. Psalms
LXXXVIIL, XLIX., LXXIII.,
CXI., CXIL, XCL, I Kings
XIL 1-19. 2 Chron. X.

1 Kings XIL 20— XIV.

2 Chron. XL, XII. Psalm
1.XXXIX. I Kings XV. 1-8.
2 Chron. XIII. i Kings XV.
9-24. 2 Chron.. XIV.— XVL
I Kings XV. 25— XVL 28.

I. General Summary.

SAUL had been little more than the pastoral chief of amal-
gamated tribes, ruling Central Palestine only. David
succeeded to a kingdom distracted by civil dissensions,

GhJSiERAL SUMMARY.

Imal-
)avicl
tions,

without a capital, almost without in army, but loosely knit
together, and everywhere surrounded by powerful and
victorious enemies. He founded an hereditary monarchy,
shaped its institutions, and left a compact and united state,
not only independent but powerful, and rapidly rising to a
prosperity that had every prospect of permanence. His
kingdom became Solomon's empire, which extended over
the whole territory promised to the Chosen Nation. For
the first and last time it took its place among the great
powers of the East, its history culminating just as Greek
history was beginning. We may institute a threefold com-
parison between this Hebrew golden age and England's
golden age under Elizabeth and James I.

{a) Politically. Just as the old world of the East and the
new world of the West were thrown open to Elizabethan
exploration, and the way was thus prepared for the
" Greater Britain " of to-day ; so eastern Ophir and western
Tarshish were sought out by Solomon's subjects, which
resulted in a vigorous foreign policy, far-reaching com-
mercial enterprise abroad, and wealth and splendour
hitherto unknown at home.

{b) Intellectually. Just as the widened Elizabethan
horizon stimulated patriotism, and nourished our greatest
English literature and earliest English research ; so Israel's
enlarged knowledge, new sympathies, and grander ideals
found expression in a profounder and more highly finished
literature, whose finest specimens we still have, and in a
new interest in botany and natural history, of which only
the record survives, since it is not the object of Holy Writ
to chronicle scientific discovery of Nature's wonders.

{c) Religiously. Just as the outward ceremonial of our
national worship was reconstructed in a more spiritual and
less superstitious form in Elizabeth's days ; so Israel reared
an abode for God as worthy as human skill and lavished
wealth could make it, and Solomon uttered Israel's creed
in its highest form at the dedication of this long-desired
House.

The main interest of this period, unlike that of the pre-
ceding, is ecclesiastical and political rather than personal,
and its history forms the most secular chapter of the sacred
record. Because the glory of Solomon was after the fashion

FOURTH TERM.

of this world it passed away (i Cor. vii. 31), and no story
is more disappointing than the talc of how its fair promise
was blighted. There are but three allusions to Solomon in
the New Testament, and they are keys to his whole history.
He attained much, yet he fell short of ^QriccXXon, politicaily,
in spite of his splendour (Matt. vi. 29) ; intellectually, in
spite of his wisdom (Matt. xii. 42) ; religiously, in spite of
the noble fabric he reared (Acts vii. 47, 48). Judged by
Dcut. xvii. 14-20, he violated every principle of the Hebrew
Constitution ; and he left an insecure throne, a discontented
people, and formidable enemies upon his frontiers.

On the surface, the Disruption that took place imme-
diately after his death was due to the thoughtless self-will
of Rehoboam and the revolutionary ability of Jeroboam ;
ultimately, it was to be traced to national luxury, pride, self-
confidence, and godlessness ; also to Solomon's impoverish-
ing lavishness ; Egypt's jealousy of Israel's prosperity ; and
the revival of old tribal heartburnings as one result of
David's sin (2 Sam. xx.). Rachel's children owned the most
fertile tracts of Palestine ; Shechem and Shiloh, chief seats
hitherto of secular and religious greatness ; and the historic
cities of Jericho, Gilgal, Bethel, and Ranah. From them
had sprung Gideon, Jephthah, Ehud, Jair, and Abdon,
among the judges ; Deborah and (by birth though not
descent) Samuel among the prophets ; Abimclech and
Saul, the first kings ; Joshua, Jonathan, and Abner. So
they had always been inclined to resent the domination
of Judah ere they broke into open and final revolt. Hence-
forth we deal with two struggling kingdoms, weak halves of
what had once been a strong whole. The lesson plainly is
that nations and individuals may miss an opportunity God
will not give them again, if they reject His counsel for
them (Luke vii. 30, R.V. ; Psalm Ixxxi. 13-16).

'■■A-

II. Books to be Read.
(See "Oxford Helps," § v.)

This term two-thirds of our reading is literature, and
only one-third history. In contrast to our Third Term, we
read a smaller number of chapters than the average, because
that literature demands special care and thought. The

ind

luse

BOOKS TO BE READ.

historical books we continue call for no further comment.
For the thirty Psalms of this period, see p. 194.

Three other works depict in a threefold philosophy of
life, the development of Solomon's character and of the
thought of his Ti^o..

The Song of Songs is pure poetry, idyllic or pastoral as
regards its subject, and lyric and dramatic (though scarcely
a drama) as regards its form. (If the composition of the
Book of Job, the nearest approach to an epic in the Bible,
is rightly referred to Solomon's reign, all the three great
species of poetry are represented in this age.) The only
survivor of his 1005 songs, doubtless the finest of them all,
this Song pictures the brilliant promise of Solomon's youth.
It evidently describes ideal human love, and its keynote is
Love is strong, indestructible, and priceless (2 Cor. v. 14 ;
Rom. viii. 35-7 ; i John iv. 10, 11). It has been variously
explained, but the following summary of its purport is at
once reasonable and widely accepted : —

The scene of i. 2 — iii. 5, and of viii. 5-14, is laid in a
wooded district of Northern Palestine, where Solomon is
spending part of the summer in tents ; the scene of iii. 6 —
viii. 4 is the royal palace at Jerusalem. There are two chief
speakers and three choruses — viz., Shelomoh or Solomon
(i Chron. xxii. 9), the King of Israel ; Shular.imith, a village
maiden of Northern Palestine, whom he woos in the guise
of a shepherd ; Chorus of young men, his companions
(iii. 6-1 1); Chorus of virgin.s, her companions (i. 2-4, i. 8,
i. II, V. 9, vi. I, vi. 10, vi. 13, vii. 1-5, viii. 5 a) ; Chorus of
Shulammith's brothers (viii. 8, 9). The King's 13 speeches
are the following: i. 9, 10, i. 15, i. 17, ii. 2, ii. 7, iii. 5, iv.
1-15, v. I, vi. 4-9, vii. 6-9, viii. 4, viii. 5 b, viii. 13. The rest
is uttered by the Bride. The alternate speeches should be
marked off before one reads the poem in the R.V., which
gives each a separate paragraph. R.V. is to be preferred
throughout for this book.

First Canto. The King seeks and wins the Bride
and brings her to Jerusalem (" My Beloved is mine,"
ii. 16).

(<?) i. 2 — ii. 7. The Bride in the King's pavilion.

{b) ii. 8 — iii. 5. The Bride's first dream.

{c) iii. 6 — V. I. The royal Espousals.

FOURTH TERM.

Second Canto. The Bride seeks and finds the King
and brings him to her home (" I am my Beloved's/' vi. 3,
vii. 10).

{(I) V. 2 — vi. 9. The Bride's second dream.

(J)) vi. 10 — viii. 4. Homeward thoughts.

Id) viii. 5- 14. The Return home, ^

For the higher meaning of the whole poem, see p. 89.

Proverbs rises ever and atjon into lofty flights of song,
but, as a whole, it consists of gnomic and didactic rather
than pure poetry. As the wisest sayings of Israel's wisest
men, this book represents the mature experience of
Solomon's prosperous middle life ; and to its selection from
the 3000 proverbs uttered by Israel's chief sage are added
other terse apophthegms from the school which he founded.
Chaps, XXX., xxxi. are probably much later than his reign,
but as we cannot fix their date they are best read here.
The Hebrew name of the book includes both " proverb "
and " parable " in its meaning, and was applied to any
pointed saying, especially if it conveyed its thought through
a figure. Its root idea is that of comparison, putting this
and that together, and noting their likeness and unlikeness
that they may illustrate each other. Such forms of instruc-
tion date from an early stage of civilisation. The Greek
name of the book is frequently used of the parables of
Christ, which find their Old Testament counterpart here.
Proverbs is ethical rather than theological, guiding to action
as the Psalms guide to devotion. Even when religious, it
deals with the moral aspect of religion common to all creeds,
and exhorts to a faithful performance of duty in all relations
of life, though it speaks throughout of our conduct as it is
in the sight of God, Hence in later days it appealed more
directly to the Gentile mind than any other Hebrew book.
Moreover, as its wisdom bears far more on conduct than on
speculation, it is practical rather than philosophical. Its
keynote is Justice and judgment are more acceptable than
sacrifice^ xxi. 3 (Matt. ix. 13, xxiii. 23 ; Mark xii. 32-4).
The thought that the fear of God, which is the beginning
of wisdom, is something grander and wider than conformity
to any outward rites, is a remarkable one for a book pro-
duced in an age which saw the noblest outcome of the
Ceremonial Law in the Temple. Its sections are : —

BOOKS TO BE READ.

I book.

Ian on

Its

than

132-4)-

Inning

]rmity

pro-

Df the

{a) 1. 1-6. Introduction stating that the aim of the whole
is to answer the question " What is wisdom ? "

{b) i. 7 -ix. 18, First exhortation concerning wisdom.

{c) X. I — xxii. 16. First collection of 400 proverbs.

{d) xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22. Second exhortation concerning
wisdom.

{e) xxiv. 23-34. Some sayings of the wise.

(/) XXV. I — xxix. 27, Second collection of proverbs made
under Hezckiah.

{g) XXX. Prophecy of Agur, son of Jakeh.

(//) xxxi. Prophecy of Lemuel's mother.

In Ecclesiastes the lyric outburst which began vvith the
Psalms of Israel's foremost poet dies down into pi ~>se, yet
prose of a highly poetical cast. A period of literary
stagnancy succeeds. The reasons given for assigning the
book to a later age than Solomon's do not amount to con-
vincing proofs, so we act upon the time-honoured view that
it represents the repentance of his sorrowful old age. " Many
go through David's sins without his repentance, and
Solomon's experiences without his conclusions, and these
are the men who rail at both " {Ker). This saddest book
of the Bible is often misunderstood by those who fail to
perceive in it the utterances of two voices in a single soul.
The lower voice is that of the man of the world, who tries
every form of earthly pleasure, base and noble, and finds
that none can satisfy the heart of man ; who goes the whole
round of human speculation seeking to read the riddle of
the world before he has been chastened by submission and
elevated by trust in God. It is a voice of doubt, sinking
into despair, and we have its keynote in the phrase Under
the sun, which occurs here 29 times and nowhere else. The
higher voice is that of a divinely taught man, who desires
to teach others through his own painful experience. He
cannot solve all the perplexities of life, but he can point out
the path of true blessedness. Its keynote is God is in heaven,
ruling the whole earth and rewarding those who serve Him.
(i Cor. XV. 58). The sections of Ecclesiastes are : —

{a) i., ii. The search after Happiness and its failure.

{V) iii. I — vi. 9. Nature's harmony and man's discord.

ic) vi. 10 — viii. 15. Life as a whole is unsatisfying, yet
t shall be well with the godly.

FOURTH TERM.

id) viii. i6 — xii. 14. The highest good attainable is
being what God means us to be.

Observe that in Proverbs "wisdom" means "piety" ; in
Ecclesiastes " sagacity " and " know 'edge."

III. Periods and Dates.

The dates for these 103 years are those given in " Oxford
Helps." Some good authorities make them one year later
throughout. Henceforth a table of Reigns, which form
most convenient landmarks, will be given each term for
constant reference.

Observe that the reign of David fills 93 chapters, that of
Solomon 89 chapters ; also that the reigns of Saul (1096 —
1056), David (1056 — 10 '6), and Solomon (1016 — 976) each
occupy 40 years ; and that Asa was contemporary with all
the first seven Kings of Israel.

(i) B.C. 1018 — 1004 (14 years). From the choice of a
site for the Temple to its Dedication. The House
of God that Solomon built,

(a) 1018 — 1016. David's Preparation. Psalms
xxxvi., xxxvii., cxxxiii, ; 2 Sam. xxiv. ; 1 Chron.
xxi. — xxix. 22; Psalms xxvi., xxviii., xxx.,
cxxxix., cxxxi., Irxxvi., cxlv. ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7.
(d) 1016 — 1012. Solomon's Preparation. 1 Kings
i.— V. ; 1 Chron. xxix. 23-30 ; 2 Chron. i., ii. ;
Psalms Ixxii., xlv.
(c) The Building and Dedication (1012 — 1004),
1 Kings vi. — ix. 9 ; 2 Chron. iii. — vii. ; Psalms
oxxxii., i., cxxvii., cxxviii., 1., Ixxxi,, Ixxvii.,
Ixxxii., xlii., xliii., Ixxxiv.

(2) B.C. 1004 — 976 (28 years). From the dedication of

the Temple to the revolt of the Ten Tribes. T/ie
Glory and Declension of Solomon. 1 Kings ix. 10 —
X.; 2 Chron. viii. — ix. 28; Song of Songs; Proverbs;
1 Kings xi. ; 2 Chron. ix. 29-31; Ecclesiastes; Psalms
Ixxxviii,, xlix., Ixxiii., cxi., cxii., xci. ; 1 Kings xii.
1-19 ; 2 Chron. x.

(3) B.C. 976—955 (21 years). From the revolt of the

Ten Tribes to the death of Jeroboam. Tke religious
Schism and political Disruption. 1 Kings xii. 20 —

GEOGRAPHY.

tvu.,

The

10—

brbs ;

(alms

xii.

the
tious
JO—

ziv. ; 2 Chron. xi., xii. ; Psalm Ixxxix. ; 1 Kings xv.
1-8 ; 2 Chron. xiii.
(4) B.C. 955 — 91 5 (40 years). From the death of Jeroboam
to the accessions of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. The
Strife between Israel and Judah. 1 Kings xv. 9-24 ;
2 Chron. xiv. — xvi. ; 1 Kings xv. 25 — xvi. 28.

Three Kings of Judah. Six Kings of Israel.

Rehoboam, 976—959.
Abijah, 959—956.
Asa, 956—915.

Jeroboam I., 976 — 955.
Nadab, 955—953-
Baasha, 953— 931.
Elah, 931 — 929.
Zimri, seven days.
Omri, 929 — 917.

IV. GEOGRAPflY.

(Sec " Oxford Helps " ...aps VI., Vll., and IX.,
and § xxxiii.)

About the middle of the mountain ridge, or rather, high
uneven plateau, which traverses Palestine froni che Plain of
Jezreel to the Desert of Paran, rise two hills, Zion on the
west (2540 ft. above the sea), with the lower height of Acra
or Millo to its north, and Moriah on the east (2435 ft.), with
the lower height of Be/etha to its north. The Tyropaean
Valley divides them. They form an almost impregnable
natural fortress (2 Sam. v. 6, 7, R.V. margin ; Psalm cxxv. i),
round three sides of which the deep ravines of Hinnom
and Jehoshaphat or Kidron wind like a continuous natural
fosse. Other mountains surround them, of which the chief
is Olivet (2724 ft.), " the mount before Jerusalem " (i Kings
xi. 7). The climate of this high region is more healthy,
equable, and temperate than that of any other part of
Palestine. Upon these twin hills, the " rock of the plain
or table land " (Jer. xxi. 13), clusters the city of Jerusalem^
" beautiful in elevation " (Psalm xlviii.), which God chose
for His abode. They mark its twofold character as a
political centre from the time when David set up his throne
on " Zion " (which means " the sunny mount "), and as a
religious centre from the day the Temple rose on " Moriah "

FOUkTH TERM.

(which means "the mount provided by Jehovah"). After
tlic Disruption, and still more after the Babylonian Captivity,
when little was left of corporate national life, it was Moriah
rather than Zion that formed Israel's focus.

Jerusalem at its largest in the days of Agrippa was rather
more than four miles in circumference. If we set aside the
probable but not certain identification of it with the Salem
of Gen. xiv. i8, and the Moriah of Gen. xxii. 2, we find fir.st
mention of it in Josh. xv. 8, and the first incident in its
history was, like the last, a destructive siege (Judg. i. 8 ;
Luke xix. 43, 44). In the sixteen centuries between its
capture by Judah and its capture by I tdrian, it was besieged
at least 25 times and twice razed to the ground. No other
city has had such a fate. David chose it for his seat
of government, as strong, central (Ezck. v. 5), brilliantly
captured, and common property of Judah and Benjamin.
Judah's capital henceforth, like Judah's dynasty, was un-
changed. It surpassed every other city both in its glory
and its humiliation. For ere human sin and Divine love
found their lowest and highest exemplifications there (Rev.
xi, 8) it had been at once the Holy City, Ariel (" the hearth
of God," Isa. xxix. i, R.V.), and the unholy city, shrine
of foul and horrid idols. The old Jebusite worships clung
to its soil, and were never thoroughly rooted up. So at
the base of Mount Zion, which has given a name to heaven
(Heb. xii. 22), lay Gi-hinnom (in Greek, Gehenna), that
defiled vaUey where ever-burning fires consumed the refuse
of the city (Isa. xxx. 33, R.V. margin), whose name the
Jews borrowed for hell (Mark ix. 43, R.V.).

V. Heroes.

Keynote, Solomon^ i Cor. i. 19, 20.

A number of men of unusual power and influence for
good or evil had made David's age, and he was greatest
among the great. The calm prosperity of his latter days
and of his son's reign moulded no such grand characters
as those which had made the building of the Temple
possible. Of the men who first worshipped in it, Solomon
only stands out in bold relief during an age notable for its
works rather than its heroes. No one occupies so large a

HEROES.

«7

hat
use
the

space in .sacred history of whom we have so few personal
details. He seems to have inherited the beauty and fascina-
tion of both his parents, and some of his rare sagacity may
be traced to Ahithophcl (2 Sam. xii. 24, xi. 3, xxiii. 34).
His great intellectual powers were strenuously cultivated
with a view to his filling the post of heir (i Kings i. 30)
left vacant by Absalom's death when he was aoout ten
years old. David had united the genius of a poet and the
insight of a prophet with the prudence of a man of action.
In Solomon we see a new intellectual type (i Kings ii. 6, 9,
v. 7). He was the first of " the wise " of whom we often
read hereafter (Prov. i. 6 ; Isa. xxix. 14 ; Jer. xviii. 18). The
wisdom he sought and obtained of God was that of Ecclesi-
astes rather than of Proverbs, and was displayed in the
administration of justice (i Kings iii. 28 ; Prov. xxix. 4, 14,
XXV. 5), and in ardent pursuit of knowledge (i Kings iv.
29-34). Finally, God was with him (i Kings i. 37, iii. 28 ;
1 Chron. xxii. 11, 16, xxviii. 20; 2 Chron. i. i), took him
for His own son (2 Sam. vii. 14; i Chron. xvii. 13, xxii. 10,
xxviii. 6), and gave him a great work to do.

Such were the gifts and privileges of Solomon. Never
had earthly glory and human wisdom a greater opportunity,
never was their insufficiency for man's goodness and happi-
ness more strikingly shown. He and his people instead of
influencing their heathen neighbours were influenced by
them. Like that other brilliant young man for whom
Christ longed (Mark x. 21), Solomon loved the world more
than he loved God. He knew the good, and chose the
evil. He expounded a father's duties, and apparently
spoiled his own son ; he painted ideal marriage (Prov. v.
18, 19), and crowded his harem with foreign women against
whose wiles his wisdom was as powerless as Samson's
strength (Neh. xiii. 26). He preached justice, yet practised
oppression (i Kings xii. 4). He was sagacious and equit-
able, yet he actually thought to thwart God's purposes by
slaying his appointed successor. With one hand he reared
the Temple of the God of Israel ; with the other, pursuing
an unlawful, short-sighted, and disastrous policy of tolera-
tion, he raised long-enduring altars (2 Kings xxiii. 13) for
the shameful worship of the PhcEnician Ashtoreth, the cruel
worship of the Ammonite Molech, and even for that worship

FOURTH TERM.

of the Mo.'ibitc Chcmosh or n.i.ilpcor whose terrible punish-
ment in the wilderness (Num. xxv.) ou^ht to have made
its revival impossible (2 Cor. vi. 16). We will not add one
to the divers speculations as to the final destiny of this
man who sinned apiinst so much li'^ht, but we note that
the utterances of his God-^iven wisdom are not shut out
from the Book of God because his crime was as j^reat as
his genius, nor was his dynasty supplanted because he had
done his best to throw away a rare heritage of loyalty.
Heir to a kingdom whose strength depended ujion its
unity, and whose unity depended upon its faith, he had
made shipwreck of both. VVe speak of the trial of adversity.
It was prosperity which led even a David astray and which
destroyed a Solomon (sec Ecclus. xlvii. 12-23).

VI. The Coming Messiah.

" One greater tJuiii the Teuiple is here. . . . A greater
than Solomon is here!' — Matt. xii. 6, 42.

As the militant kingdom of Christ in the present is
typified by the reign of David, so the triumphant kingdom
of Christ in the future is typified by the reign of Solomon
(Isa. xi., xxxii. ; Rev. xix. 16), the peaceful kiiig whom
God called His son, who ruled Israel, and extended his
dominion over the heathen ; the wise prophet, who taught
the fear of the Lord ; ihc priestly prince who offered prayer
for his people, who entered the Temple Court with sacrifices
(2 Chron. viii. 12, 13), and even burned incense in the Holy
Place (i Kings ix. 25); who also performed the highest
sacerdotal act in solemnly blessing the people (2 Chron. vi. 3).
The Psalms which celebrate his glory are only entirely
true of the one Son of David who fulfilled all the con-
ditions of God's covenant with him (Luke i. 32), and so
realised the ideal not realised by Solomon, and obtained
God's infallible (Num. xxiii. 19) promises to David and
his seed, which Psalm Ixxxix. reiterates, in order to point
the mournful contrast between what might have been and
what was.

Of direct Prediction our period contains little. Under
the secularising spell of Solomon's reign, Israel's great

GOD'S REVELATION OF IflMSELF TO MAN.

Hope WIS in abeyance. The Jewish Talmud regarded the
Son^ of Sonf^s as an allej^ory of the dcahnj^s of Jehovah
with Israel, and Christian theology has from very early
times found a key to it in Eph. v. 25-32, and expounded
it of Christ as the Bndej^room of the Church (not of the
individual soul, that is only the unscriptural fancy of un-
wise mystics). While we learn from it what His love is,
and what our devotion to Him should be, we must beware
of fantastic application of details, for the colouring is local
and Oriental throughout. Canto I. typifies His First
Coming to dwell with us (Psalm cxxxvi. 23 ; 2 Chron. vi. 18 ;
John i. 14) ; Canto H. typifies Hia Second Coming to take
us to Himself when He has made our earth His (Heb.
ix. 28 ; I Thess. iv. 17).

The Rabbis referred Prov. x. 25 to the Messiah (Isa.
xxviii. 16), and it is impossible not to sec ultimate reference
to truths yet to be revealed in Prov. xxx. 4 (Col. i. 13-19;
I Cor. i. 24 ; John i. 1-4), and in Prov. viii., which anticipates
the doctrine of the Incarnation by teaching that the Wisdom
of God dwelt with men (i Cor. i. 30; Col. ii. 3).

hdcr
Ircat

VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

Jehovah, El Shaddai, and Jehovah Sabaoth had expressed
God's Eternity, God's Omnipotence, and " the Majesty of
His Glory." Solomon's Dedicatory Prayer is far in advance
of its age in its intensely spiritual apprehension of His
Infinitude and in placing Prayer above Sacrifice. The
profounder thought of this period, ever looking within,
recognising that the external things of life are not its
most important things, and uttering itself in the Sapiental
Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and perhaps Job, found rest
in apprehending God's Wisdom (Prov. viii.) and God's
Holiness. He is first spoken of as the Holy One \i\ Job
vi. 10; Prov. ix. io(R.V.), xxx. 3 (R.V.) ; Psalm Ixxvl:". 41,
Ixxxix. 18 (the word used in Deut. xxxiii. 8 and Psalm
xvi. 10 is different). This name, occurring very often in
the prophets of later times, reminds us of that threefold
assertion three times over of God's holiness, which may
be directly connected with the doctrine of the Three in One
(Psalm xcix. 3, 5, 9, R.V. ; Isa. vi. 3 ; Rev. iv. 8).

FOURTH TEJiM.

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

At Solomon's accession, Zion and Gibeon were both
centres of national worship. This dual system ended when
Solomon had spent 7^ years in carrying out the plan
David received (as Moses received the plan of the Taber-
nacle) from God Himself, His Temple only existed 34
years in its original splendour, but Israel's history ramifies
from it as a centre henceforth. The boundary between
Judah and Benjamin passed through it. So it belonged
to no one tribe, but was for the whole nation forum, fortress,
sanctuary, and university.

Imagine a massive stone building about 45 ft. high,
cased in cedar without, .^o that it resembled a log house,
ind overlaid with gold within, so that it shone like the sun,
in three divisions, {a) The Porch, 15 ft. deep and 180 ft.
high, supported upon two pillars of richly ornamented
capitals, and hung with shields (2 Chron. xxiii. 9). In every
view of the Holy City, this must have been the most con-
spicuous object, {b) The Holy Place (60 ft. by 30 ft.), where
the priests ministered. It contained the Table and Altar
of Incense, and was lighted by ten lamps. Round it
clustered 30 small chambers in three stories, forming three
terraces, and, seen from without, not unlike the side aisles
of a church, (c) The Holy of Holies (30 ft. square), where
only the high priest ministered. It contained the Ark
with its guardian Cherubim, and was dark save for the
Shechinah. Outside this structure was the Court (612 ft.
square), where the people worshipped round the great
Brazen Altar, which stood on the natural surface of the
rof'k, once Araunah's threshing floor. The irregular mass
of that rock may still be seen beneath the Kubbet es
Sakhra (miscalled " the Mosque of Omar "), together with
some of the mighty and highly finished masonry of
Solomon's outer wall.

Solomon's Temple differed (a) from the Tabernacle, for
it exactly doubled all its dimensions, and was far more per-
manent and splendid ; (/;) from Herod's Temple, whose
area was 1000 ft. square, ii, being smaller and more
primitive, and in having no separate courts fc Gentiles and
for women ; (c) from Pagan Temples, in that it contained

QUESTIONS.

for

)er-

lose

lore

land

Ined

no statue or sacred animal to represent the indwelling
divinity ; (d) from Christian sanctuaries, in that it was
smiller than many parish churches, in that its holiest
place was at the west end, and in that it was intended
only for the priests, and surrounded, not b> a quiet cloister,
but by a court crowded with sacrificing priests, worshipping
people, sheep, and oxen.

Observe that when the externals of public worship were
most sumptuous and imposing, the most flagrant example
of apostasy in high places was given.

The national unity so recently achieved has been broken
up for ever. That portion which has Ephraim for its leader
(Hosea xiii. i, R.V.) and Samaria for its capital has already
departed from the true worship, and is ready to depart from
the true faith. Its history v/ill be our chief subject next
term, while Judah, its more faithful and longer-lived rival,
will occupy us wholly during our Sixth Term. How the
Ten Tribes difl"ered from the Two in character, position,
and destiny must be our first consideration.

IX. Questions.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions I., V., XV., XVII., XXI., XXIV., XXVII., and XXX. may
be answered with the help of any books. ]

I. How did David sin in numbering the people? (10.)

II. Show that David and his people endured each of the
calamities specified in i Chron. xxi. 12. (6.)

III. {a) God loved Solomon ; (b) Solomon loved God ;
(c) God loved Solomon's people ; {d) Solomon's people
served God. Give 07te reference for each of these asser-
tions. (4.)

IV. Name the two tribes that furnished architects for
the Tabernacle and the Temple. What allusions to the
Tabernacle are there in the history of Solomon ? (6.)

V. Draw a ground plan of Solomon's Temple. (15.)

VI. Consider Solomon's Prayer of Dedication as a
prophecy of Israel's future history, (to.)

VII. What was the only recorded conquest of Solomon's
reign ? What three incidents of Bathsheba's life are
recorded in this term's reading? (4.)

FOURTH TERM.

•t t.

!ji

VIII. Describe the condition of the original inhabitants
of Palestine during Solomon's reign. (6.)

IX. Give a brief account of the three occasions on which
God spoke to Solomon. (6.)

X. Consider Solomon as a type of Christ. (15.)

XI. Does the name of God occur in the Song of Songs ?
GxM^four New Testament references to justify the Christian
allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs. (6.)

XII. Illustrate by two examples from Scripture history
the truth of each of the following sayings : — Prov. i. 7,
i. 32, iii. 6, V. 22, ix. 8, x. 24, xi. 2, xi. 10, xi. 21, xii. 19,
xiv. 32, XV. I. (24.)

XIII. What may \v^e learn from Proverbs as to the right
and as to wrong use of the lips ? Give twelve references
on each sabject. (12.)

XIV. Prove that the teaching of the Incarnate Wisdom
of Goci >vas anticipated by the teaching of Wisdom in the
Book of Proverbs, by writing out short Gospel parallels to
as many passages as you can in Prov. i. — ix. (30.)

XV. Show that " Under the sun " is a key to Ecclesi-
aste:., by proving from other passages of Scripture that
the following statements are not absolutely true in thcm-
.selves, but only relatively true from the speaker's point
of viev/ : — Eccles. i. 4, i. 8, i. 9, 10, i. 15, ii. 1 1, ii. 16, iii. 19,
vi. 8, viii. 1 5, ix. 5. (20.)

XV r. Find nine allusions to a life beyond the grave in
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Psalms read this term. (9.)

XVn. Briefly explain the allusions or metaphors in the
fdlowing passages: — i Kings i. 5 ; Cant. i. 5, ii. 5 ; Prov.
iii. 2c>, XXV. u, 23 ; Eccles. xii. 6 ; Psalm xlii. i. (24.)

XVIII. For each of the following Psalms give two
references to Proverbs, Job, or Ecclesiastes, tracing the
resemblance between the Psalter and the Sapiental
Books : — i., xxxvii., xlix., 1., Ixxiii., Ixxxviii., xci., cxi.,
cxii., cxxxix. (20.)

XIX. How often does " vexation of spirit " occur in
Ecclesiastes ? How docs R.V. render it ? (4.)

XX. What aliasion'can you find in the Psalter to the
office of the Korahit'^s described in i Chron. xxvi. 12-19?

(2.)

XXI. Point out the probable allusions to contemporary

19.

ve in

(9.)
the

rov.

two
the
mtal
cxi.,

ir in

rary

QUESTIONS.

or earlier history in Psalm Ixxii. 8, xlv. I2, cxxxii. 6,
Ixxxi. 5, y. Describe the probable occasion of Psalm
Ixxxix. (lo.)

XXII. What relation was Rehoboam's favourite wife to
him? What do you know about her? (5.)

XXIII. What historical associations guided Jeroboam in
choosing Bethel and Dan for religious centres? (10.)

XXIV. Show clearly what constituted "the sin of Jero-
boam, the son of Nebat." (9.)

XXV. What king was named as a reformer 300 years
before he lived ? Mention another monarch named in
prophecy long before he was born. (2.)

XXVI. Where, when, by whom, and with what result
were the battles of Zemaraim and Mareshah fought ? (8.)

XXVII. What do you know of the following places? —
Cabul, Ezion-geber, Gezer, Gibbethon, Ophir, Sheba,
Tadmor, Tarshish, Tirzah. (27.)

XXVIII. What do you know of he following people?
— Adoram, Asaph, Ethan, Hadad, Jonathan son of
Abiathar, Lemuel, Rezon, Tibni. (16.)

XXIX. Make a complete list of the prophets who were
sent to Israel and Judah during this period. (14.)

XXX. What allusion can you find in the prophetical
books to {a) David, {b) Solomon's molten sea, {c) the
schismatic worship at Bethel, {d) the enmity between
Ephraim and Judah, {e) Omri ? (10.)

XXXI. Make a list of the names of God in the Psalms
of this period. (30.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "A bag
of gems in a heap of stones." (d) " The dance of Mahanaim."
(c) " Rest on every side." (d) " The lamp of the wicked is
sin." (e) " They walk to and fro in darkness." ^ f) " Ex-
tortion maketh a wise man foolish." (g-) " He that uttereth
a slander is a fool." (k) " He abhorreth not evil." (i) " The
way of him that is laden with guilt is e/ceeding crooked."
(j) " Death shall be their shepherd." (^') " Weary not
thyself to be rich."' (/) " Follow after faithfulness."
(m) " Let thy garments be always white." (n) " Of thine
own have we given Thee." {0) " In all labour there is
profit." (/"> " Your work shall be rewarded." (g) " I was
by Him as a master workman." (r) " He shall have pity

FOURTH TERM.

on the poor and needy." (j) " Then they will be thy
servants for ever." (/) " A man is tried by his praise."
(«) " It was brought about of God." {v) " The early rain
covereth it with blessings." {w) " God seeketh again that
which is driven away." (x) " Whoso offereth the sacrifice of'
thanksgiving glorifieth Me." (j/) " She laugheth at the time
to come." (^) " God hath set eternity in their heart." (26.)
For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

FIFTH TERM.

The Days of the Prophets. Decline and Fall
OF the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes.

B.C. 915— 697.

1 Kings XVI. 2Q—XXIL, 2 Kings I.—XX, 2 Chron. XVIL—
XXXII. Psalms XXXIII, XLVI., XLVII, XLVIII, LXV.,
LXVL, LXVII., LXXV., LXXVL, LXXX., LXXXIII., LXXXVIL
Jonah. Amos. Hosea. Joel. Isaiah I.— XXXIX. Micah. Nahum,
(133 chapters^

"Should not a people seek unto their God? ... To the law and to
the testimony ! " — Isa. viii. 19, 20.

17th MONTH (34).

1 Kings XVI, 29— XXII. 49.

2 Chron. XVIL— XX. Psalms
XXXIIL, LXXXIII., XLVL,
XLVIL, XLVIII. I Kings
XXII. 50-53. 2 Kings I.—
VIII. 24. 2 Chron. XXI.
2 Kings VIII. 25— IX. 2 Chron.
XXII. 1-9. 2 Kings X., XI.,
2 Chron. XXII. 10— XXIIl.
2 Kings XII. — XIII. 9.
2 Chron. XXIV. 2 Kings XIII.
10— XIV. 2 Chron. XXV.

18th MONTH (33).

Jonah. Amos. Hosea I. — IV.
2 Kings XV I-12. 2 Chron.

XXVI. Joel. Isa. VI.
2 Kings XV. 13-38. 2 Chron.

XXVII. Isa. II.— V. 2 Kings
XVI. 2 Chron. XXVIII.
Micah I., II. Isa. I.

19th MONTH (33).

Isa. VII.— X. 4, XIV. 28-32.
XXVIIL 2 Kings XVIL,
XVIIL 9-12. Hosea V.— XIV.
Psalm LXXX. 2 Kings XVIIL
1-8. 2 Chron. XXIX.—

XXXL Micah III. — VII.
2 Kings XVIIL 13. 2 Chroa.
XXXII. I. Isa. XXXVI. I,
X. 5— XIL 2 Kings XX. i-ii.
2 Chron. XXXII. 24. Isa.
XXXVIIL 2 Kings XX. 12-19.
2 Chron. XXXIl. 13, 25-31.
Isa. XXXIX. PsalmLXXXVlL
Isa. XIII.— XIV. 27.

20th MONTH (33).

Isa. XV.— XXVII. Nahum.
2 Kings XVTIL 14— XIX.,
XX. 20,21. 2 Chron. XXXIL
2-22, 32, 33. Isa. XXXVI.
2-22, XXXVIL, XXIX.—
XXXV. Psalms LXXV.,
LXXVL, LXV., LXVL.LXVII

I. General Summary.

LOOKING at the extent and fertility of its territory
and its material resources, the kingdom of the Ten
Tribes promised to be greater and more prosperous than

•'

FIFTH TERM.

that of the Two, which had only half its population.
Looking at guarantees for political endurance and religious
welfare, Judah had the capital chosen for God's abode
(Psalm Ixxxvii. 1-3), the Temple with the visible sign
of His presence (i Kings viii. 11), the Priests and Levites
(2 Chron. xi. 13, 14), the accumulated treasure of Solomon,
and sovereigns reigning by Divine right.

Nineteen kings, of nine different families, ruled Israel
during 255 years. Nineteen kings, all of the House of
David, ruled Judah during 388 years. The turbulent
usurpers who seized Israel's crown never gained that
stable power which came naturally to the monarchs of
a long hereditary line, associated with Divine promises of
permanence and glory. The very smallncss of Judah's
kingdom strengthened it by concentrating its interests
about one dynasty and one city.

Not one of the kings who received Israel's allegiance did
right in the eyes of the Lord ; and since no worthy people
is ever ruled for centuries by unworthy kings, this was an
effect quite as much as a cause of the estrangement from
God which proved that nation's destruction (Hos. xiii. 9,
R.V.). Seven of Judah's kings could be commended for
piety, and though their people in her last evil days sinned
as deeply against the First Commandment as Israel had
done, throughout her history they kept the Second Com-
mandment better (see p. 55).

We must sometimes follow the common usage of calling
the Northern Kingdom " Israel " (i Kings xii. 20), which
strictly includes too much ; as " Ephraim," a frequent name
for it in later prophets, strictly includes too little. The
popular use of the term " Jew.s," i.e., men c*^ Judah (a term
which first occurs in 2 Kings xvi. 6), for thv. whole nation
before the Captivity, is misleading.

The first half-century of Israel's history was occupied by
a desultory war with Judah, in which Judah not only gained
the day, but weakened her neighbour until their powers
were about equal (Prov. xviii. 19). This struggle was
followed by an alliance as fatal to Judah as the war had
been to Israel, and by a century of peace till Amaziah's rash
vanity provoked fresh strife, in which Judah was worsted.
The Syrian wars, with their varied fortune, form a back-

GENERAL SUMMARY.

ground to the history of the 40 years of Omri's dynasty,
Israel's king being practically Bcnhadad's vassal at one
time (i Kings xx. 2, 3, 34). The vigorous rule of Jehu's
house for i<X) years raised Israel to her greatest prosperity.
Then during her last half-century a rapid succession of
fierce soldiers possessed themselves of the throne (Hosea viii.
4, X. 3), while her enemies closed about her. Palestine lay
between the great rival powers, Egypt and Assyria. Had
Israel and Judah been united and faithful to God they might
have withstood both. Instead, we see the miserable spectacle
of Israel combining with Syria for a third and last conflict
with Judah, in presence of their two common foes. Twenty
years later, Israel's fiftile struggle against Assyria and
equally futile attempts at friendship with Egypt ended in
her downfall.

Assyria's first direct attack was in 771 (2 Kings xv. 19).
God's mercy rather than Israel's merit had averted an
earlier one (2 Kings xiv. 25-7), and deferred her fall for
a century ; but in 771 evidently Israel, and possibly Judah
also, was already tributary to that all-absorbing power.
The story of Israel's Captivity is (like that of Judah's) in
three chapters. (Compare the prediction uttered by Isaiah
in 742, Isa. vii. 8.)

{a) 740. Captivity of the Trans-Jordanic Tribes and of
Galilee, under Tiglath-pileser.

(b) 721. Fall and captivity of Samaria and its neigh-
bours, under Shalmaneser IV. and Sargon.

{c) 677. Colonisation of Samaria with Gentiles, under
Esar-haddon.

Judah's Chronicles we have, but not tie corresponding
volume for Israel (i Kings xxii. 39). So all her history is
but partially known to us, and her ultimate fate is wrapped
in still deeper obscurity. Judah was restored and re-
established after her fall, but Samaria was left to bear her
guilt (Hos. xiii. 16, R.V.), and her national existence has
never been renewed. From the Chosen Race, God has
made a further choice of Two Tribes only. What became
of the Ten ? Archaeology has now cast such a broad light
on the lands of their captivity, that it smiles at the popular
notion of them as " lost," and at all the extravagant specu-
lations born of that notion. How far they remained in the

atwpgwgf

FIFTH TERM.

lands they had been deported to, were merged in the neigh-
bouring Gentiles (Hosca ix. 17), and may be recognised now
among the gallant Afghans who bear Hebrew names and
cherish Hebrew traditions ; and among the Nestorians by
Lake Oroomiah, who also bear Hebrew names and have
Hebrew faces, speak a Syriac dialect, retain many Mosaic
observances, and reckon themselves Israelites : how far they
returned with their Jewish brethren who are spoken of as
'• Israel " (Ezek. xiv. i ; Ezra x. i ; Zech. xii. i), and as
representing the Twelve Tribes (Ezra vi. 17 ; Acts xxvi. 7)
after the Restoration (see also Ezek. xxxvii. 16, 17) : how
far they can be identified with the Samaritans and other
peoples of Northern Palestine who spoke their language,
reproduced their customs, claimed to be Israelites and
faithful adherents of the Mosaic Law, and fostered abiding
enmity with Judah, and who in the New Testament are
accounted strangers rather than Gentiles, are matters on
which those who have thought most are least ready with
positive assertions. '(See Wilkinson's " Israel My Glory.")
We know that there are promises of blessing to Ephraim
as distinct from Judah still unfulfilled. We know that the
Messiah, who was born and who died in Judah, chiefly
lived and taught in what had been the Northern Kingdom,
among "the lost sheep of Israel's house," and that the
witnesses of His Resurrection and builders of His Church
were " men of Galilee " (Acts i. 1 1, ii. 7).

This lesson at any rate stands out for all time in the
prophets of Ephraim. Heartless luxury, grasping dis-
honesty, violence and oppression, careless disregard of
Divine laws, and self-willed impiety ruin not only indivi-
dual lives, but the corporate life of the state whose welfare
is entrusted to each of its citizens (Num. xxxii. 1 5).

Reserving special consideration of Judah for next term,
we notice her prosperity under Jehoshaphat ; her depression
after his death ; that most striking and fully told episode
of her history when the dynasty was barely saved from
extinction ; a century of recovery and renewed vigour
under three able sovereigns, followed by the disastrous
reign of her worst king ; and finally how faithful Hezekiah
and Isaiah saved her from the false friendship of Egypt,
and how when the people's own utmost effort had been

the

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from
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I been

GENERAL SUMMARY.

made, God saved her from the determined enmity of
Assyria (2 Chron. xxxii. i, 7, 8, R.V.).

We have reached an age when there are frequent points
of contact between sacred and secular history, and many
recently discovered monuments confirm the Biblical
narrative. See Prof. Sayce's " Fresh Light from Ancient
Monuments" (Religious Tract Society, 3^.), Dr. Kinns'
"Graven in the Rock" (Cassell, \2s. 6d.), and the Bishop
of Ossory's " Echoes of Bible History " (Sunday School
Institute, 4J.).

Rehoboam's defeat by Shishak is pictured in the great
Egyptian Temple of Karnak, Ahab is named as an ally
of Benhadad on a monolith from Nimrud commemorating
Shalmaneser I.'s victories. Mcsha describes his successful
revolt from Israel on the Moabite stone now in the Louvre,
Paris. Jehu appears among the tributaries of Shalma-
neser II. of Assyria on the famous obelisk of black basalt
from Nimrud. Uzziah and Ahaz are mentioned more than
once on some fragments of Assyrian tablets recording the
reign of Tiglath-pileser II. The monolith and black
obelisk may be seen in the British Museum ; so also may
the bas-reliefs of Sennacherib seated on his throne before
besieged Lachish, his countenance defaced (doubtless by
the sons who slew him) ; and a cylinder whereon he, telling
half a story whose other half he must have wished for ever
untold, relates how he shut up Hezekiah the Jew in
Jerusalem as a bird is shut up in a cage.

Of the three offices associated with Israel's national and
religious life to which men were set apart by a solemn
anointing (Lev viii ; i Sam. xvi. ; i Kings xix. 16 ; i Chron.
xvi. 22), which all foreshadowed the Christ (John i. 41,
R.V.), we considered the Priestly in the Second, and the
Kingly in our Third Term. This term the Prophetic
claims our chief attention. Enoch was the first (Jude 14)
and S. John the Irst (Rev. x. 11) who "prophesied." The
Seventy whom Moses the Prophet chose anticipated that
prophetic order (Num. xi.), which actually dates from
Samuel (Acts iii. 24) and ends with Malachi ; and prophets
first take a leading part in Israel, a kingdom built up by
two prophets, Ahijah and Shemaiah, rather than in Judah
which still had the regular priesthood.

■ W ' ^ gi W

loo

FIFTH TERM.

Etymoloj^ically, the Greek work whence " prophet "
comes has this threefold significance : {a) Telh"ng forth,
teaching and preaching, announcing God's will (2 Chron.
xxxvi. 15, 16); (/^) Telling for, interpreting and expound-
ing God's will (Exod. vii. i); {c) Fore-telling, predicting
future events, revealing God's will (i Peter i. 10, 11).

All this the Hebrew Prophets did, and they were at
once the national poets, historians, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, censors of morals, physicians, patriots, rnd states-
men ; often living together and wearing a distinctive garb
(Zech. xiii. 4). From every part of the country, and every
station in life, sometimes honoured, sometimes insulted
and persecuted, they came before men with their great
commission, "Thus saith Jehovah" (Deut. xviii. 18; Jer.
i. 9) ; and their simultaneous rise in this age was a first
fulfilment of Joel ii. 28, 29. The nations of whom they
wrote have passed away, but the same types of national
character still exist ; and if we read their thrcatenings and
warnings aright, we learn from them the great lessons
which all history has to teach (Prov. xiv. 34), and see how
the whole course of this world carries out the purposes of
God (Isa. xiv. 24-7).

II. Books to be Read.
(See "Oxford Helps," § V.)

This term two-thirds of our reading is from the prophetic
books, with which we now make our first acquaintance.
These seven books form the first of the three groups into
which the sixteen prophets whose works are preserved fall.
An interval of silence for half a century during the evil
reign of Manasseh succeeds them. They are all written in
highly poetical prose, varied by occasional bursts of actual
poetry. After each prophet's name and country, etc., is
given the approximate date of his prophecy, the name
of the people to whom he was sent, and of the king then
reigning. For the twelve Psalms of this period, see p. 200.

Jonah^ son of Amittai, of Gath-hepher in Zebulon,
EHsha's successor, and also Elijah's servant, if we may
believe the ancient Jewish tradition which finds him in
I Kings xvii. 17, xviii. 43, and 2 Kings ix. 4. (823 — 782.

BOOKS TO BE READ.

101

Concerning Nineveh. In the reign of Jeroboam II.) His
keynote is Judgment averted by rcpent<uia\ which has a
threefold illustration in the Phctnician crew, the Hebrew
prophet, and the men of Nineveh (Jer. xviii. 7, 8 ; Acts
X. 35 ; 2 Peter iii. 9). He was the first apostle of the Gentiles,
the first missionary, and he shows forth God's dealings with
the vast Gentile world. We have through him a majestic
revelation of God's wrath and pity, each bestowed where
most deserved and least expected, anticipating Matt. xx.
16; Luke XV. 31, 32, xviii. 14. National rather than per-
sonal feeling made him grudge God's mercy to Nineveh,
and his narrowness was divinely rebuked. For what the
Nincvitcs were called upon to abandon was probably a
scheme for attacking Israel (2 Kings xiv. 25-7). The
message to them resembled that to Pharaoh (Exod. v. i ;
Psalm cv. 15), and their conduct and its issue may be
contrasted with his. There is no finer illustration of the
moral grandeur of true religion than this solitary prophet
of a petty state in the midst of the greatest city in the
world. Observe also that Jonah, writing the story of his
own typical life, forms the link between Elijah and Elisha,
uttering unwritten prophecy, and the later authors of written
prophecy.

Amos, a herdsman of Tekoa, in Judah. (808 — 782. Con-
cerning Israel. In the reign of Jeroboam II.) While
Jonah was pleading Israel's cause abroad, Amos was in
direct conflict with her sins at home. No prophet describes
and denounces them with more vigour, and Special punisJi-
incnts for special sins is his keynote (Heb. ii. 2 ; James iv.
17). He also foretells judgments on Israel's immediate
neighbours, including Judah. Unlike his contemporary
Joel, he is orator rather than poet, and he takes many
illustrations from his calling.

Hosea, son of Beeri, and, according to tradition, of the tribe
of Issachar. (782 — 721. Concerning Israel and Judah. In
the reigns of Jeroboam II., Jotham, and Ahaz.) Godsknoiv-
ledge of us, the knowledge that we may have and that
Israel refused to have of Him is the keynote (Luke xix. 44 ;
John xvii. 3) of " the Jeremiah of Israel," contemporary of
her last seven kings, through whom God uttered His last
gracious, pitiful, and urgent pleadings with the incorrigible

103

FIFTH TFRM.

nation. He is the first, but not the last, prophet whose
personal history is made a symbol to his countrymen
(Hos. xii. lo), and he and Amos together enable us to
expand the historian's brief statement that " Israel did
evil." Through them also we can picture the gathering
calamities of her la.st days: drought and failing harvests
(Hos. ii. 9 ; Amos iv. 7-9, i. 2), plague (Amos iv. 10),
earthquake (Amos iii. 14, 15, ix. i), eclipse (Amos viii. 9),
and the gradual approach of the Assyrian host (Amos i.
2-15, vi. 14, vii. 17, ix. 7-10; Hos. v. 13, x. 6; Isa. v.
26-30). There arc nine brief allusions to Judah, and no
predictions concerning the Gentiles. The close of this
sorrowful book is lighted by a promise of future restoration.
Joel, son of Pethuel, according to an uncertain tradition
a Reubenite. (808 — 790. Concerning Judah. In the reign
of Uzziah.; Conjecture as to his date ranges from Jeho-
shaphat to Josiah, but most probably he lived in the reign
of Uzziah, and was the earliest prophet of Judah. His
abrupt and direct address, whose vigorous diction and
impassioned fervour place it high in Hebrew literature,
marks the transition from the earlier prophets, whose deeds
and sayings only are recorded, to the later writers of
elaborate predictions and revelations. The cry of repcnt-
attcc follo'Mcd by deliverance is his keynote (Acts iii. 19).
His book contains what is probably the first dim prophecy
of the Assyrian invasion, and the first mention of the
Greeks who were destined to play a part only second to
that of the Jews in moulding the world's future history.

Isauxhy son of Amoz, of the house of David, (756—697.
Concerning Judah. In the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah.) This greatest Old Testament prophecy falls
into two portions, separated by four chapters of history.

Part I., chaps, i. — xxxix. Predictions directly referring to
the times in which they were written.

Part II., chaps, xl. — Ixvi. Predictions from the standpoint
of the Babylonian Captivity, which we reserve therefore for
next term. Salvation of Jehovah is the meaning of the
prophet's name (which, like those of his sons, was symbolical,
Isa. viii. 18), and the keynote of his book (Titus ii. 11 ;
Heb. V. 9). He utters the first clear prediction of the
Babylonian Captivity (xxxix. 6, y) 112 years before it

PEKfOnS AND DATES,

lo^

took place, and 20 years after l''phraim's captivity (see
also Micah iv. 10). He is the chief, as Jonah was the first,
messen'^er of ^ood tidin^js to the Gentiles (Kom. x. 20),
and there are nearly 80 quotations from him in I'lc New
Testament, where he is named 21 times.

Micah, of Moresheth Gath, or of Mareshah in Judah.
(756 697. Concerning Israel and Judah. In the reigns
of Jotham, Ahaz, and He/.ekiah.) His threefold prophecy,
calling upon {ci) all men, (J)) Israel and Judah, and [c) the
mountains, to hearken, was uttered during Israel's destruc-
tion, and Judah's devastation under Ahaz and restoration
under Hczekiah. Man sinful and justly punished ; God
rif^htcous and yet merciful is his keynote (Rom. iii. 26),
and he looks beyond the impending destruction of Israel
into the far future of Judah. Like Amos, he makes many
rural allusions. He is mentioned by Jeremiah (Jer. xxvi.
icS, [9), and quoted by Zephaniah and Isaiah.

Nahuuiy of Elkosh in Galilee, or possibly born in captivity
at Alkush on the Tigris. (726—697. Concerning Nineveh.
In the reign of Hezekiah.) Conjecture as to his date
ranges from 850 to the Restoration, but most probably
he wrote shortly before Sennacherib's Invasion. He was
the last, as Ahijah of Shiloh was the first, prophet of Israel,
and his prophecy is one sustained shout of wild exultation
over the fall of his nation's great conqueror. Its awful
keynote is / ant against thee (James iv. 4; Rev. ii. 16).
220 years after the judgment foretold by Jonah had been
averted, 100 years after the circumstances of its capture
and desolation had been exactly described by Nahum, i.e..,
in 606, Nineveh was taken by Cy.ixares.

III. Periods and Date.s.

We divide these 218 years into four periods, of which
the last two overlap by five years that we may have a
complete view of Hezekiah's reign. Isa. xxxviii. 6, and
2 Kings XX. 13, compared with 2 Kings xviii. 15, arc among
.several proofs that the true order of its events is given
below. Observe that Chronicles emphasizes («), Ir.aiah (c)
and {d), and Kings {e).

Assyrian records show that the first of the two Assyrian

I04

FIFTH TERM.

invasions, that in 713, took place in the reign of Sargon
(Isa. XX. i). Sc;inacherib may have acted as his Hcutcnant
in it. Our information about the Kings of Assyria is
still fragmentary, and all their dates as given below arc
more or less uncertain. All in italics are named in Scrip-
ture,
throughout.

The tabic of reigns should be before the student

B.C. 915 — 883 (32 years). From the accessions of
Jehoshaphat and Ahab to those of Athaliah and
Jehu. Ths Mission of ElijaJi and Elisha. First
conflict with Baalism. 1 Kings xvi. 29 — xxii. 49;
2 Chron. xvii. — xx. ; Psahus xxxiii., Ixxxiii., xlvi.,
xlvii., xlviii. ; 1 Kings xxii. 60-53 ; 2 Kings i. — viii. 24 ;
2 Chron. xxi. ; 2 Kings viii. 25 — ix. ; 2 Chron. xxii. 1-9.

(2) B.C. 883 — 770 (113 years). From the accessions of

Athaliah and Jehu to the death of Zechariah. (The
readings carry us to 756 in the history of Judah.)
EpJiraim's best days tmdcr Jehu's House. Second
conflict with Baalism. 2 Kings x., xi. ; 2 Chron.
xxii. 10 — xxiii. ; 2 Kings xii. — xiii. 9 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. ;
2 Kings xiii. 10 — xiv. ; 2 Chron. xxv. ; Jonah ; Amos ;
Hosea i. — iv. ; 2 Kings xv. 1-12 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. ; Joel ;
Isa. vi.

(3) 77*^ — 721 (49 years). From the death of Zechariah

to the Fall of Samaria. Ephrainis Decline and De-
struction. 2 Kings XV. 13-38 ; 2 Chron. xxvii. ; Isa.
ii. — V. ; 2 Kings xvi. ; 2 Chron. xxviii. ; Micah i., ii. ;
Isa. i., vii. — x. 4, xiv. 28-32, xxviii. ; 2 Kings xvlL.,
xviii. 9-12 ; Hosea v. — Jv. ; Psalm Ixxx.

(4) B.C. 726 — 697 (29 years). From the accession to the

death of Hezekiah. Judalis Reformation and Deliver-
ance under her greatest King.

{a) The great Passover (726 — 713). 2 Kings xviii.

1-8 ; 2 Chron. xxix., xxx., xxxi. ; Micah iii. —

viii.

(^) The Invasion of Sargon (713). 2 Kings xviii.

13 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 1 ; Isa. xxxvi. 1, x. 5 — xii.
(/) Hczekiah's sickness (712). 2 Kings xx. 1-11;

2 Chron. xxxii. 24 ; Isa. xxxviii.

PERIODS AND DATES.

105

{d) The Babylonian Embassy (71 2— 701). 2 Kings
XX. 12-19 ; 2 Ghron. xxxii. 23, 25-31 ; Isa. xxxix. ;
Psalm Ixxxvii. ; Isa. xiii. — xiv. 27, xv.— xxiii.
(Oracles concerning tenof Judali's neighbours.)
Isa. xxiv. — xxvii. (Prophecy concerning the
whole earth.) Nahum.

{e) The Invasion of Sennacherib (701 — 697).
2 Kings xviii. 14 — xix., xx. 20, 21; 2 Chron.
xxxii. 2-22, 32, 33; Isa. xxxvi. 2-22, xxxvii.,
xxix.— XXXV. (Prophecies during Inva.'^ion.)
Psahns Ixxv., Ixxvi., Ixv.. Ixvi., Ixvii.

Ten Sovereigns of Judah.

Jehoshaphat

Jehoram

Ahaziah

Athaliah

Joash . ,

Arnaziah

Uzziah . . .

Jotham ...

Ahaz

Hezekiah

915—889
893-885
885—883
883-877
877-838
838—808
808—756
756—742
742 — 726
726 — 697

Thirteen Kings of Israel.

Ahab
Ahaziah
Toram ...

Jehu
Jehoahaz
Jehoash
Jeroboam

11.

917—898.
898—897.
897—883.
883-855.

855-838-
838-823.
823-782.

Itiierre^ntim.

Zechariah
Shallum
Menahem
Pekahiah
Pekah ...

771—770.
One month.
770 — 761.
761—759.

759—739-

Interregnum.

Hoshea

730—721.

The last nine Kings of Assyria.
Pul

Tiglath-Pileser II.
Shabnaneser IV.
Sargon
Senfiacherib
Esarhaddon I.
Assur-bani-pal
Assur-etil-ilani-ukinni.
Sin-sarra-iskun (or Saracus).

770—?

745—727
727 — 722

722—705

705—681

681—668

67c — 630?

io5

FIFTH TFRM.

IV. GEOGRArHY.
(Sec " Oxford Helps," Maps vii., vili., and IX.)

The kingdom of Israel was 9375 square miles in extent,
or a little less than Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland.
Jeroboam II. extended it from Hamath on the north to
the Valley of Willows, between Moab and Edom, on the
south. When it broke up, large portions to the cast and
south-cast of Jordan fell to Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 10).
The kingdom of Judah was 3435 square miles in extent,
or a little less than Northumberlan-J, Durham, and West-
moreland. Besides Benjamin, South Dan and Simeon were
reckoned in it, but early sank into insignificance. Samaria
\\'as the only city in Palestine created, like Alexandria and
Constantinople, by a monarch for his capital. It clustered
on the side of a long flat-topped hill, rising in the centre
of a wide basin-shaped valley, encircled by the mountains
of Ephraim. Rather more than 20 mi'.cs to the north-east,
on a hill gently swelling from the plain of Esdraclon (the
Greek form of " Jezreel "), beautiful with trees and springs,
stood /^,::/Yr/, "the Versailles of Israel's Paris."

With Jonah we embark for the first time in sacred history
on the Mediterranean, and cross the desert to the banks
of the Tigris. Assyria was the oldest of those great
empires of history of which the British Empire is the
youngest. At its largest, its sway stretched from Ethiopia
to India, and it extended from the Halys and Mediter-
ranean on the west to the Caspian Sea and the great Salt
Desert on the cast, from Armenia on the north to the
Persian Gulf and Arabian Desert on the south. It included
peoples as diverse as those in the modern Turkish Empire,
and the Assyrians themselves were an amalgam of three
races, yellow-skinned Shemites, dark-skinned Cushites, and
fair-skinned Chaldeans of Mongolian origin Nineveh,
once the chief centre of commerce, and the largest and
richest city in the world, was so utterly destroyed that only
shapeless mounds of earth and rubbish marked its site until
Botta, Layard, and others lifted its shroud of sand between
40 and 50 years ago. Since then Sir Henry Rawlinson
and other archaeologists, unriddling the secret of the

HEROES.

107

Keynotes

cuneiform character, have read on countless clay tablets
the story of its remote past.

V. Heroes.

'Elijah, Acts xxvii. 23.
Elisha, Gal. vi. 10.
JchosJiaphaty i Peter ii. 13, 14.
Jchoiada, Mai. ii. 7.
HezekicJi, Psalm cxlvi. 3-5.
Jsaiak, Gal. i. 11, 12.

The Kingdom of the Ten Tribes produced the grandest
character of this age, the greatest prophet since Moses.
Elijah, like Mclchizcdek, is " without father, without
mother, without genealogy." The Rabbis said that in him
the uncompromising Phinehas returned to earth, and for
centuries the Jews believed that he would come again to
restore and relieve (John i. 21). Improbable conjecture
makes him a native of Thi.sbc in Naphtali. He was a
sojourner am.ong the brave but rude shepherds of Gilcad,
which was to Jerusalem and Samaria what the Scottish
Highlands were to the Lowlands a century ago. Some
five or six times he appeared among men, disappearing
as suddenly. Bold and swift as David's Gaditc allies
(i Chron. xii. 8), stern and lofty, of fiery zeal and unflinch-
ing courage, he stood forth as a witness (a) For the dis-
established worship of Jehovah ; his name means " Jehovah
is my God." {b) For the national unity, apparently
shattered for ever (i Kings xviii. 31). {c) For the moral
law (i Kings xxi. 20) trampled under foot by the weak
apostate Ahab, who, not wholly without conscience but
wholly without resolution, became a tool in the hands of
that most relentless and unscrupulous of women who was
the very embodiment of lawless paganism and the first
persecutor of the Church. The characteristic words after-
wards adopted by his successor (i Kings xvii. i, xviii. 15 ;
2 Kings iii. 14, v. 16 ; Luke xxi. 36) give us the secret
of his power ; and his .short, urgent petitions afford glimpses
into a life of unbroken communion with God. Lest, how-
ever, we should feel only the distant awe with which he
inspired his contemporaries when he came among them

io8

FIFTH TERM.

in the all-constraining influence of a divinely guided life
(i Kings xviii. 7), we arc allowed to hear that one un-
answered prayer for death, wrung from him when, after
facing Ahab and 850 false prophets, he fled from Jezebel,
mind and body alike over-wrought (i Kings xix. 3, R.V,
margin). Round him the prophets rallied as they had not
rallied since Samuel ; and our next hero is his successor,
a contrast to him at every point. Elijah, the prophet
of the desert, living with God apart from men, the solitary
champion of truth (i Kings xviii. 22, xix. 10, 14)
"ordained for reproofs, whose word burned like a lamp"
(Ecclus. xlviii. i-ii), who came to denounce and destroy,
to challenge the world's standards of thought and action,
to rebuke boldly and directly vain-glorious luxury and
popular sin, was the type of Christ's Forerunner, the
predecessor of the hermit, the monk, the ascetic, and the
Puritan. Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah in
Manassch, giving up considerable wealth to be the servant
of God (i Kings xix. 19), dwelling in cities among men,
the life and soul of the patriotic party (as Isaiah and Micah
were later), the friend and counsellor and father (2 Kings
vi. 21, xiii. 14) of all men, ever ready to comfort the
sorrowful and succour the poor, is the type of Christ
Himself (Matt. xi. 18, 19; Acts x, 38), and thus, though
less in personal grandeur, he is greater because more
Chiist-like in spirit than Elijah. He was the first Hebrew
prophet who became an oracle and monitor of other
nations. His whole ministry covers 65 years, and of
its last 50 years there is little record. Miracles, mainly
of mercy, are more prominent in it than in that of Elijah.
No rxpress teaching of either is handed down, but their
successor Jonah begins the line of literary prophets.

Judah's heroes this term are two kings, one priest, and
one prophet. JcJiosJiapJiat is the most like David in
character of all her kings (2 Chron. xvii. 3-5 ; i Kings
xxii. 43). His zeal for God's law, his personal piety,
his righteous administrat'on and vigorous foreign policy
raised his kingdom to the highest point reached since the
Disruption. Jchoiada, who was born in the reign of
Solomon and lived to see eight sovereigns of Judah and
eleven sovereigns of Israel, reared again the stem of

HEROES.

109

heir

and
in

the
of

and
of

David, when it had been cut down to the very roots. In
his person the priesthood took a more important place
than it had ever done before, so he is reckoned its second
as Aaron was its first founder. The power thus gained it
never wholly lost afterwards. Public-spirited integrity was
the most noteworthy characteristic of this faithful guardian
of Church and State. Hcz:kiah, whose character is thrown
into strong relief by those of his father and his son, is
more unreservedly commended than any other king of
Judah, and no xing had a more lofty sense of his mission.
His reign and its literature fills "jy chapters of the Bible.
Possibly grandson of one prophet (2 Chron. xxvi. 5 ;
Isa. viii. 2 ; 2 Kings xviii. 2) and son-in-law of another
(tradition makes Hcphzibal' isaiah's daughter, 2 Kings
xxi. I ; Isa. Ixii. 4), he reigned during a period of the
strongest prophetic influence since Elijah. No sickness is so
pathetically recorded in Scripture as that which threatened
to leave Judah without an heir to the throne and defence-
less before the fell swoop of the Assyrian. In Hezekiah's
great reformation he cared equally for the restoration of
true worship and the preservation of true doctrine (2
Chron. xxix. 25 ; Prov. xxv. i), and sought, like David,
to gather all Israel about him in th*^ bond of a common
faith (2 Chron. xxx. i). With one hand he cultivated
the arts of peace, and was, like David, a poet ; with the
other he strengthened Judah for war, and, like David,
defeated on their own ground the Philistines, who in the
days of Ahaz had again become formidable foes (2 Chron.
xxviii. 18 ; 2 Kings xviii. 8). God delivered him from
the power which defied all human might, and since he
guided the Jews through that great crisis of their history
which determined whether they would trust in God or
in man, to him Judah owed in no small degree the con-
tinuance of her existence for another century. But by
his side throughout there stood his trusted kinsman
Isaiah, the first Jewish prophet of whom we have personal
details. Save the facts named in 2 Chron. xxvi. 22, xxxii.
20, 32, and the tradition that he was sawn asunder under
Manasseh (suffering martyrdom for an alleged contra-
diction between Exod. xxxiii. 20 and Isa. vi. i ; see Heb.
xi. ly), all we know about him is from his own book.

! ^1

FIFTH TERM.

The turning-point of his life was the vision described in
Isa. vi. Henceforth the great powers of intellect, imagina-
tion, enthusiasm, and will of the young descendant of
David were consecrated to the service of God and his
country. For 60 years he guided the affairs of the nation,
and he has since influenced Christendom more than any
other Old Testament author with the possible exception
of David. The abrupt and impassioned utterances of his
predecessors gave place to his magnificent rhythm and
sustained grandeur of expression, while at the same time
his inspired genius uttered loftiest thoughts with a direct-
ness and simplicity that provoked the satire of the inflated
rhetoricians of the age (Isa. xxviii. 9-13), but won then
as now many an ear and heart to attend to the things
of God.

VI. The Coming Messiah.

" TJiis is of a tiutJi tJic PropJictP " Isaiah . . . saza His
glory and spake of Hun." — John vi. 14, xii. 41.

Three successive prophets present to us one complete
Type of Christ. The two greatest Old Testament miracles
are the raising of the poor Gentile's son by Elijah, and the
raising of the rich Israelite's son by I'llisha. The story of
Elijah's Assumption is the grandest Old Testament asser-
tion that for the righteous departure from this life is gain,
and though Elislia died like other men, "after his death
(to quote the Apocrypha) his body prophesied" (Ecclus.
xlviii. 13). These miracles were typical of that moral resur-
rection from Israel's darkest days which made her pros-
perity under Jeroboam II. possible. But also, together
with the story oi Jonah, whose meaning Christ Himself
expounded, they foreshadow the ascension, resuryection^ and
death of Him who is the Life (i Cor. xv. 22).

Types we have often met with already, but (always
excepting the Psalms) Predictions have been few, brief,
and isolated hitherto. Now in the Days of the Prophets,
when the hopes first raised by the Hebrew monarchy are
fast waning, we discern, according to the fine metaphor of
Delitzsch, one star of promise describing a path from above
downwards — " Jehovah will come to save His people and

THE COMING MESSIAH.

Ill

pys
rief,
lets,
lare
Ir of
love
ind

reign for ever " ; and another describing a path from below
upwards — " The anointed Son of David, greater than David
himseir, will reign over a regenerate Israel." The first
promise found a preliminary fulfilment in the Restoration
as we shall sec, the second in Hczekiah. But we cannot
examine them carefully without perceiving that they ulti-
mately involve a more personal coming and a more extended
reign of the Lord, and that the kingdom of David's Son
would be more than earthly and human. The kingship no
less than the priesthood of the Old Covenant made nothing
perfect. It is when these two stars merge in one light that
the twilight of the Old Testament vanishes before the
glorious day of the Gospel.

There are two more allusions to the Promise to David
in the historical books, 2 Kings viii. 19; 2 Chron. xxi. 7.

Nahum is the only one of the 16 prophetical books that
contains no clear Messianic reference. The following
summary of those in this term's Prophets are explained
(like those in the Psalms) by New Testament references,
(i) Joel ii. 28-32; Acts ii. 16-21 ; Rom. x. 12, 13.

(2) Joel iii. 2 ; Matt. xxv. 31-46.

(3) Amos viii. 9, 10 ; Luke xxiii, 44, 45, 48.

(4) Amos ix. 11-15 ; Acts xv. 15-18.

(5) Hosea iii. 5 ; Matt. xxi. 9 ; John i. 49.

(6) Hosea vi. 2 ; i Cor. xv. 4 ; Matt. xx. 17-19.

(7) Hosea xi. i ; Matt. ii. 1 5, 20.

(8) Hosea xiii. 14 ; Heb. ii. 14 ; i Cor. xv. 54.

(9) Micah iv. 1-7 ; Luke i. 33 ; xxiv. 47 ; Rev. xxi. 24.

(10) Micah V. i ; Matt, xxvii. 30.

(11) Micah V. 2-5 ; Matt. ii. i, 5, 6 ; Eph. ii. 14.

(12) Micah vii. 20; Luke i. 68-75.

Isaiah has been called "the Gospel Fiophet" and "the
Fifth Evangelist." Six of the 16 prophecies in chapters
i. — xxxix. are directly quoted in the New Testament.

(13) Isa. ii. 2-4 ; Rev. xi. 15.

(14) Isa. iv. 2-6 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; Rev. vii. 15 (R.V.).

(15) Isa. vi. 13 ; Gal. iii. 16.

(16) Isa. vii. 14-16 ; Matt. i. 22, 23 ; John iv. 34.

(17) Isa. viii. 14 ; Matt. xxi. 42-4 ; i Peter ii. 8.

(18) Isa. ix. 1-7; Matt. iv. 14-16; Luke ii. 11, 32;

Heb. i. 8.

112

FIFTH TERM.

(19) Isa. X. 27 ; Acts x, 38.

(20) Isa, xi., xii. ; Acts xiii. 22, 23 ; Rom. xv. 12.

(21) Isa. xiii. 12 ; i Peter ii. 7.

(22) Isa. xvi. 5 ; Luke i. 32.

(23) Isa. xxiv. 23 ; Matt. xix. 28.

(24) Isa. XXV. 6-8 ; i Cor. xv. 54-7 ; Rev. xxi. 4.

(25) Isa. xxviii. 16 ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; Rom. ix. 32, x. 1 1.

(26) Isa. xxix. 18-24 ; Luke vii. 22 : John. iii. 2.

(27) Isa. xxxii. ; Rom. xiv. 17 ; Acts ii.

(28) Isa. XXXV, ; Matt. xi. 5 ; John xiv. 6,

'ill

VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

On the spot where Moses had been taught "the Old
Testament Creed " (Exod. xxxiv. 5-7) Elijah received a
still higbi^; revelation of God. More than in the wind
which drovc the Red Sea before it ; more than in the
earthquake which .shattered the walls of Jericho ; more
than in the answering fire on Mount Carmel, God is to be
heard in the voice of His Word (John i. 14, 18), and
" declares His almighty power most chiefly in showing
mercy and pity." Elijah was also taught then to dis-
criminate from that Israel of the Called who had aposta-
ti.sed, an Israel of the Chosen (Matt. xxii. 16), who held
and preserved invincible truth. This doctrine of a Rem-
nant (Rom. xi. 1-5), of an Invisible Church, first enunciated
to him, was further developed by Isaiah (Isa. vi. 13, x. 20, 21,
xi. II, 16, xxviii. 5, Ixv. 8, 9), and so passed into the
New Testament. Isaiah also was privileged to Iiear (as
S. John heard 850 years later) echoes of the adoration
offered by the unfallen company of heaven to the Holy,
Blessed, and Glorious Trinity. (With Isa. vi. i, 3, 8, com-
pare John xii. 36, 41 ; Acts xxviii. 25, 26 ; Rev. iv.).

Each of the Prophets conveys some characteristic revela-
tion. " God of Heaven," which became common when the
Restoration brought Jew and Gentile into a new relation,
is anticipated once in Jonah. " Jehovah," the special name
under which God made a covenant with Israel, occurs 33
times in /oi-rs brief exhortation to return to Him. "God
of Hosts" occurs nine times in Amos, and only once else-
where, i.e., in the contemporary Psalm Ixxx. In Hosea (the

MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP.

Old Testament exemplification of the wondrous Divine
yearning over man which culminates in Luke xix. 41) the
Lord not only declares Himself the Saviour and invites Israel
to call Him "my God," but in the term " Ishi" uses a yet
tenderer metaphor, occurring again in Jeremiah's last plead-
ings with Judah (Hos. ii. 16; Jer. iii. 14). The God of
Vengeance, described in Micali i. 2-4, and NaJium i. 2-6,
may be contrasted with the God of Nature, described in
Amos iv. 13, v. 8, 9, ix. 6. Isaiah contains at least 40 names
of God, some peculiar to himself, some having striking New
Testament parallels. He speaks of " the Holy One " about
30 times, and of the " Lord of Hosts " about twice as often.

im-
ited

21,
I the

(as
don

the

VHL Man's Relation to God in Worship.

From the earliest times there had been High Places all
over the land of Israel : that is, altars on v/hich oil, honey,
flour, incense, and sometimes animals were offered to God.
They were sanctioned by the Patriarchs, by Samuel and
Elijah, and by some of the most pious kinjs, notwithstand-
ing Lev. xvii. 8, 9, and Deut. xii. 10-27 J but at last Hezekiah
removed them, for exactly the same reason that our Re-
formers swept away many mediaeval usages, originally
devout in intention, but inseparably connected at length
with error and superstition. Two of these High Places
became centres of idolatrous and schismatic worship of the
True God under Jeroboam I., who led Ephraim at its worst,
as Joshua had led it at its best. His great sin led to the
far greater sin of Ahab, who disestablished the worship of
Jehovah in favour of the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth or
Astarte, Phoenician gods whose counterparts are easily
recognised in every other heathen system. Solomon had
already reared altars to them, and their worship is named
among the sins of Israel's last days 2 King xvii. 16.
(Asherah denotes Ashtoreth's wooden symbol.) But only
for one evil period of 34 years (917 — 883) did Ephraim
offend in Baal (Hos. xiii. i) to the extent of constituting
Baalism the state religion. Jehu, who combined the furious
zeal of the fanatic with the cold-hearted remorselessness
of the scheming politician, made a partial reformation,
but there was no one to re-construct the true worship

•1

iii

114

FIFTH TFRM.

when he had destroyed the false, and neither he nor any one
of tlic son of Ncbat's successors was free from liis sin of
idolatry. Not arbitrary favour for Judah, but Israel's
persistent sin accounts for the different fates of the two
kintjdonris (Hos. xi. 12). ^

In Judah we read of seven Apostasies of kin^; and
people, and of four Reformations, the full consideration of
which we reserve for next term. Israel's day of grace is
gone, her vine is "burned with fire and cut down." Will
Judah, newly reformed and delivered, learn once for all the
lessons of her sister's fall ?

IX. QUKSTIONS.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions XV., XXII., XXIII., XXIV., and XXV. may be answered with
the help of .iny books.]

I. Name the successive capitals of Northern Palestine
from 1426 to 721. How many capitals had Judah? (8.)

II. Mention the exact duration of the drought foretold
in I Kings xvii. i. (2.)

III. Illustrate i Kings xviii. 24 by quoting 12 previous
occasions on which God " answered by fire." (12.)

IV. Can you name any of thj 7000 spoken of in i Kings
xix. 18? (4.)

V. Had Elijah any message for the House of David ? (2.)

VI. Briefly discuss the character of Elijah, and point
out some striking parallels between his life and those of
Moses and our Lord. (15.)

VII. To how many kings living in her own lifetime
was Jezebel nearly related? Was Ahab's marriage to her
sinful ? (6.)

VIII. "The Syrian prophet said to the King of Israel,
Ms thy servant a dog that he .should do this thing?'"
Criticise the historical accuracy of this illustration in the
speech of an English Cabinet Minister. (3.)

IX. Make i list of Elisha's miracles, naming for each
a parallel or a contrast among the miracles wrought by our
Lord. Explain 2 Kings ii. 9. (16.)

X. What noted preacher of " total abstinence " assisted
a royal reformer ? (2.)

.ings

;timc
her

each
our

listed

QUESTIONS.

XI. Name the only subject buried in the royal sepulchre
at Jerusalem, givin<^ the reason for this special honour. (2.)

XII. Two calamities not alluded to in Kings or
Chronicles took place in Uzziah's reign. One is described
in a contemporary prophet, the other is mentioned by two
contemporary prophets, and by a prophet 250 years later.
What were they? (4.)

XIII. When and how did the King of Israel try to put
a usurper on the throne of David ? (2.)

XIV. {(i) How many kings of Israel were there?
{!>) Which had the longest and which had the shortest
reign ? U) Which founded the longest-lived dynasty "^
{(i) Which took Jerusalem ? {e) Of which only is the
expression "all his might" used? (/) Which were
wounded by Syrian bowmen ? (^) Which died violent
deaths? {h) Name the best, the worst, and the greatest
of them all. (16.)

XV. Explain the following allusions in Hosca : — {a) " The
blood of Jczreel " ; (/?) " The valley of Achor " ; (c) " Their
staff declareth " ; (d) " The new moon shall devour them " ;
(c) " A cake not turned " ; (/) "The wickedness of Samaria" ;
(^') " The calves of Bethaven " ; (//) " The calves of our
lips " ; (/) " Memphis shall bury them." (18.)

XVI. What allusions are there in the prophets to the
fall of Samaria ? (6.)

XVII. Make a complete list of the prophets sent to
Israel and Judah between 915 and 697. (12.)

XVIII. Point out the probable allusions to contem-
porary or earlier history in Psalms xlviii. 7, Ixvi. 6, Ixxvi.
5, 1 1, Ixxxiii. 5, 9, II, Ixxxvii. 2. What occasioned Psalms
xlvi., xlvii., and xlviii. ? Explain by Pentateuch references
Psalm Ixxx. i, 2, 8. (14.)

XIX. Draw out a genealogical table of the Kings of
Judah down to Hezekiah, showing their descent from
Solomon and relation to one another. (12.)

XX. Make a list of the chief names of God in the
prophets of this period. (32.)

XXI. What allusions do they contain to (a) the Garden
of Eden, (d) Adam, (c) Abraham, (d) the destruction of
the Cities of the Plain, (e) Jacob, (/) Moses, (^4') Miriam,
(/;) Israel's sin at Shittim, (z) Israel's idolatry in the

Ii6

FIFTH TERM.

vvtIdLMiicss, {f) luloni's conduct to Isr.u-I, (/•) the hatllr
of Ik'thhoroii (/) (jidcoii's victories? (15.)

XXII. What d(jcs Isaiah mean by (r/) "th-* crown of
pride," {b) "the valley of vision," ic) "the rod of God's
an^jjer," (Ji) " the land of the rustlin<; of win^s," (<•) " the
wilderness of the sea," (/) " the isles of the sea " ? (6.)

XXIII. Explain briefly the following passages in Isaiah:
—{(i) vi, 13, (/O vii. 16, (t) xiv. \2,{d) xvi. i,(f) xxii. 22,
(./) XXX. 7, {g) XXX. 33, (/f) xxxiii. 14, (/) xxxiv. 16,
(J) xxxviii. 12. (30.)

XXIV. Explain fully Nahum's reference to "populous
No." (4.)

XXV. Give as many instances as you can of worship
beinjj; offered at High IMace.s. (15.)

XXVI. Under what names and how often is the
Tentateuch referred to in Chronicles ? What was the
first instance after the days of Moses of God's commands
being committed to writing and regularly taught? (12.)

XXVII. What took place at Jerusalem on the first
Sabbath day of which we have a detailed account ? (2.)

XXVIII. What do you know of the following? —
Amaziah the priest, Azariah the priest, Bidkar, Gomer,
Jehosheba, Mattan, Shear-ja.shub, Shebna, Zedckiah son
of Chenaanah, Zichri. (20.)

XXIX. Where, when, by whom, and with what results
were the following battles of this period fought? — Aphek,
Ramoth-Gilcad, Tckoa, Desert of Edom, Zair, Valley of
Salt, Beth-shcmesh, Gaza. (32.)

XXX. How many New Testament allusions can you find
to Elijah, Elisha, Jezebel, Uzziah, Zechariah son of Jehoiada,
Jonah, and Joel ? How many New Testament quotations
are there from Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah i. — xxxix. ?

(40.)

XXXI. Illustrate the following passages from the history
of this period : — James v. 10 ; 2 Cor. vii. 10 ; 2 Cor. vi.
14-16; Phil. iv. 17 ; Matt. x. 41. (10.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "The
fjricvousncss of war." (/;) " That sing idle songs." {c) " Swift
to do righteousness." (c/) " Sudden destruction upon the
strong." ie) "The twilight that I desired." (/) "The
king's son shall reign." (^g) " Reproaches shall not depart."

ri.

QUESTIONS.

117

(//) " There shall be no ^loom to her that was in an^^uish."
(/) " Her rulers dearly love shame." {J) " I Icr pillars shall
be broken in pieces." {k) " The man of God wept."
(/) " Take your pleasure and be blind." (///) "Flis sin is
laid up in store." (//) "Hast thou found me, O mine
enemy ? " {o) " Let the feasts come round." (/>) " Answer
him not." {q) " 1 fear the Lord from my youth." {r) " He
Thou my surety." {s) Our eyes are upon Thee." (/) " I
writ(^ My law in ten thousand precepts." {ii) " The word of
the Lord is with him." (?') " ICvery work that he be<»an he
did with all his heart." {10) "Thy worthies are at rest."
(.1") "He departed without beinj^ desired." {y) "They
became abominable like that which they loved." {a) " When
he was stroni; his heart was lifted up." (26.)
For Second Scries of Questions, sec p. 309

SIXTH TERM.

The Days of Jeremiah.
Decline and Fall of the Kingdom of Judah.

B.C. 697—588.

2 Kings XXL— XXV., 2 Chron. XXXIII.— XXXVI. 21. Psalms
XUV, LXXI, LXXIV., LXXIX., CXXIX, CXXX. IsaiaL XL.—
LXVL, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekicl 1. — XXIV.
Lamentations, Obadiah. {lyn chapters^

"All My words . . . receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears." —
EzEK. iii. 10.

2ist MONTH (33).

2 Kings XXI. 2 Chron.
XXXIII. 2 Kings XXII.—

XXIII. 30. 2 Chron. }iXXIV.,

XXXV. Zephaniah. Jer. I.—
VI. 2 Kings XXIII. 31-7.
2 Chron. XXXVI. 1-5. Tsalm
XLIV. Habakkuk. Jer. XXV L
1-7. VH.-X., XXVI. 8-24, XL,
XIL, XIV.-XX.

22nd MONTH (32).

Jer. XXII., XXIH. 2 Kings

XXIV. 1-17. 2 Chron. XXXVI.
6-10. Psalm LXXI. Jer.
XLVL— XLIX. 3^, XXXV.,
XXV., XXXVL, XLV., XIII.
2 Kings XXIV. 18-20. 2 Chron.

XXXVI. II. 16. Jer. XXIV.,
XXIX., XLIX. 34-9, XXVIL,
XXVIIL, L., LI. Ezek. I.—
XIL

23rd MONTH (33).

r.zek. XIII.— XXIII. 2 Kings
XXV. 2 Chron. XXXVL 17.
21. Jer. XXI. Ezek. XXIV.
Jer. XXXIV., XXXVII. ,

xxxiL, XXX., xxxr.,

XXXIII.,XXXVIH., XXXIX.
15-18. I -14. LII. Psalms
LXXIV., LXXIX. Lamenta-
tions. Obadiah. Jer. XL.,
XLL

24th MONTH (32).

Jer. XLII— XLIV. Psal-ns
CXXX., CXXIX. Isaiah XL.
—LXVL

I. General Summary.

OUR story of the newly delivered jQwish Kingdom
during its last century is one of unfulfilled promise
and lost opportunity, similar to the story of ancient Israel in

118

GENERAL SUMMARY.

It9

bns

'iv.

tsc

Psalm cvi. 12, 13. It is among those deep disappointments
of history that demand most thoughtful consideration. The
fifteen years of life for which Hezekiah prayed gave him
an heir to whom the throne of David owed its destruction.
Of the incidents of Manasseh's long reign we know little ;
though the Prophets supply many details about its idolatries.
But its terrible result is plainly stated in Jer. xv. 4, and
Jewish tradition places Manasseh beside Jeroboam and
Ahab as having no part in the life to come. " Too late "
was written on all Josiah's gallant efforts ; and the four weak
and wicked kings (Isa. iii. 4, R.V.) who followed him were
mere puppets (three of them actual nominees) of the two
powers who acted like two huge beasts of prey, seeking to
devour each other, but turning aside from time to time to
snatch at the frightened creature who crosses their path.
Foolish Judah clung still to the friendship of Kgypt. In
vain her later prophets denounced this treacherous alliance
as Isaiah had done. His words (Isa. xxx. 7, R.V.) were
justified when Pharaoh's feint of raising the siege of Jeru-
salem ended in retirement, without a battle, leaving it to its
fate (Jer. xxxvii.). Yet, when all was over, they fled from
their own ruin to Egypt, in spite of the warning that in so
doing they would only share her ruin (Jer. xlvi. 17). For
Egypt had now a mightier rival than even Assyria, and
Judah, after defying Sennacherib, could only quail before
Nebuchadnezzar. Nineveh had been taken in 606 (625
according to some authorities), and on its downfall rose
the Babylonian Empire which overthrew, and the Persian
Empire which restored the Jewish State. Isaiah had
strenuously preached resistance tp Assyria. Jeremiah as
strenuously, but less successfully, advocated submission to
Babylon as the foreordained conqueror of Judah.

Now, as Israel represents the Church, Dr. Arnold takes
Egypt to represent in its milder, and Babylon in its darker
aspect, that world in which the Church has to bear her
witness and do her work. If it is so, we may find this lesson
here. Dallying with the world's better side ends in destruc-
tion by its worse side. They will never win it for God
who give it the trust and affection due to Him alone
(James iv. 4). ' Jeremiah's policy may symbolise the teach-
ing of Christ, and His practice in refusing to head a nation

120

SIXTH TERM.

\ t

of insurgents (Matt. v. 39, xxv.. 52 ; John vi. 15, xviii. 36;
2 Cor. X. 4).

Ob.servc how the Prophets fill in the historian's brief
outline. They show us Jchoiakim alarmed for once and
proclaiming a fast before the Lord. But when God's,
gracious response is brought to him, sitting in that luxurious
palace whose builders are wrongfully left unpaid, he defies
and destroys the written Word, and, in vain dependence on
his Egyptian suzerain, meets vith sceptical effrontery the
predictions about the Babylonian host that was actually
approaching his gates ; and so we understand why he is
omitted from S. Matthew's genealogy of Christ (Rev.
xxii. 19), together with the wicked son of Jezebel's daughter
(Psalm cix. 14), and Joash and Amaziah, who began well
but ended ill (Ezek. xviii. 24). The prophets show us also
the crooked intrigues of Zedekiah, and his treacherous folly
in making compacts on all sides only to break them.

Such were the last of that grand line of kings whose
crown for four and a half centuries had passed, in a way
unparalleled in any other dynasty, from father to son in
regular succession (i Chron. iii. 10-16), without one civil war
or one interregnum, save Athaliah's brief usurpation
(i Kings XV. 4). Moreover, for 250 out of 388 years Judah
had been ruled by pious sovereigns, and had enjoyed unusual
peace and prosperty. Ere we leave these kings of long
ago I may help the reader to think of them as more than
mere names, by suggesting, from the most familiar pages of
modern history, one or two monarchs whom they resembled.
Compare for instance, David with Robert Bruce, Solomon
with Henry VIII., Rehoboam with Ethelred the Unready
(that is, "deaf to good advice"), Asa with Edward III.,
Jehoshaphat with David I., Joash with Richard II.,
Amaziah with James IV., Hezekiah with Alfred the
Great, Josiah with Edward VI., and Jehoiakim with
Charles II.

From the three sieges of Jerusalem, which Nebuchad-
nezzar took three times, date three periods of seventy
years or ten Sabbatical years, which it is helpful to
discriminate.

{(i) 606 — 536. The Servitude. In 605 King Jehoiakim
seems to have been released and suffered to remain on his

GENERAL SUMMARY.

\1\

throne as a tribute ry prince, but much of the treasure of
the Temple, scvertl members of the royal family, and
perhaps others, were carried off.

(^) 599 — 529- The Exile. In 599 King Jeconiah, with
the royal family, the princes, nobles, artificers, and warriors,
and much Temple and palace treasure, followed them to
Babylon.

(J) 588—518. The Desolations. In 588 Judah's Cap-
tivity was completed by the deportation of King Zedekiah,
the rest of his people, and the remaining spoil of the
Temple. A wretched handful was left in Palestine, who
might, however, have become the nucleus for a regathering
of Israel without break on their own soil. For they were
taught by Jeremiah, and ruled by the able and generous
Gedaliah. The reckless violence of a scheming Jewish
prince broke up this little community, and the Jews rightly
regarded Gedaliah's assassination as a calamity great
enough to be annually commemorated by a fast (Zech.
vii. 5, viii. 19).

And now the House of God has been sacked ; the City
of God has been burned ; His " Anointed " is a mutilated
prisoner in a foreign land ; prince and priest have fallen by
the sword, and Judah is numbered among the nations no
longer. Successive troops of captives have been driven by
weary marches into the Eastern land, whence their father
Abraham was called out. Others have found their way as
fugitives to the Western land, whence God brought out their
ancestors. A yet greater v;atastrophe calls forth their loudest
lamentations, one which involves all the rest. Jehovah,
who once chose them and crowned them with blessings,
has now, after long provocation, cast them out from His
Presen< e (2 Kings xxiv. 20, xiii. 23 ; Jer. xxiii. 39). That
they can ever be a nation again is contrary to all proba-
bility and all analogy. Against it is the might of the
vastest empire the world has ever seen, ruled by its greatest
conqueror. Against it is the fact that their own wilfulness
has rendered their destruction even more complete than he
meant it to be ; and that their moral and spiritual degrada-
tion seems past hope. But for it there is the promise of a
faithful God.

122

SIXTH TERM.

II. Books to ije Read.
(See " Oxford Helps," § v.)

This term more than half our period is represented by
only two chapters. For the Prophets supply ]Hths of our
reading, and they were silent during the reigns of Manasseh
and Amon. Of the six prophets who form the second
group, we read all save Daniel, whose book stands it idway
between the second and third group, as it stands midway
between history and prophecy.

For the six Psalms of this period, see p. 203.

Isaiah, Pari /., is a mixture of narrative and prediction :
its pulses throb with all the hopes and fears, the terror and
defiance and exultation of the changeful age in which it
was written. Isaiah, Part II, is one majestic and sym-
metrical poem in three cantos — viz.,

(rt) xl. — xlviii. Concerning Cyrus and the restoration
of Israel as a nation,

(J)) xlix. — Ivii. Concerning the Servant of JCx.ovah and
the salvation of many nations through Him.

{c) Iviii. — Ixvi. Concerning Zion's Light, through which
all nations shall see God's glory and worship Him.

Ruined Judah and desolate Jerusalem form the fore-
ground of its picture, though Isaiah cannot long have
survived the able and prosperous King who reconstifuted
the state and fortified the capital. All the 66 chapters of
Isaiah were universally ascribed to one author until some
recent critics, observing this difference in their points of
view, put forth the theory that while the son of Amoz
wrote the first Book of Denunciation and Woe, the second
Book of Consolation was penned 160 years later, by a
rr.'^mber of the school of prophets which Isaiah founded
(Isa. viii. 16), the whole being called after his name, as the
whole Psalter is called after David. Were this proved, we
might still receive Isa. xl. — Ixvi. as part of the Canon. But
it is not proved. The literary argument from alleged
diffeicnces of vocabulary and style is far from conclusive,
and though prophets generally speak of the future revealed
to them from the standpoint of the present, there is no in-
superable difficulty in conceiving that Isaiah may have been

BOOKS TO BE READ.

123

I way

forc-
havo
ifutcd
:rs of
some
Its of

lITIOZ

;cond

|by a

mdcd

IS the

, wc

But

legcd

[isivc,

:alcd

in-

Ibccn

inspired vividly to imagine and depict the Captivity he had
already foretold. Eleven New Testament quotations from
chaps, xl. — Ixvi. are directly referred to Isaiah, and no other
prophet capable of penning thoughts so high and deep has
ever been heard of. Their author was an incomparably
greater man than any man of the Post-Exilian age ; and had
he been contemporary with Ezra, it is inconceivable that his
name and personality should have been wholly forgotten.
Minute study of Jeremiah also indicates that Isa. xl. — Ixvi.
had been already written. But we recognise it as a legacy
to posterity rather than a gift to contemporaries (Isa. xlviii.
4-7), and therefore read it in connexion with the later age
for which it was no longer a sealed book (Dan. xii. 9).
Observe its frequent reference to "all nations," and these
recurring notes in its glorious song, " Hearken," " Listen,"
" Keep silence," " Cry," " Awake," " Remember," " Fear not."

Zcphaniah, son of Cushi, and perhaps great-great-grand-
son of King Hezckiah. (630 — 610. Concerning Judah.
In the reign of Josiah.) His keynote is The pure worship
required by God (Matt. iv. 10 ; Phil. iii. 3), and he predicts
judgments and blessings for Gentiles as well as Jews.

Habakkuk, probably a Levite if not a priest, and one of
the Temple choir. (609—599? Concerning Judah. In the
reign of Jehoiakim?) His keynote is Life by faith (Gal.
ii. 20 ; Heb. xi. 6), and the perplexities which he faces and
solves are those of the individual soul rather than of the
nation. His Prayer, which recalls the finest lyrics of earlier
times and expands Isa. 1. 10, is considered by Bishop Lowth
" one of the most perfect specimens of the Hebrew ode." It
is preceded by a dialogue between the Prophet (i. 2-4, i. 12 —
ii. i) and the Lord (i. 5-1 1, ii. 2-20), concerning the approach-
ing Chaldean invasion. That is blended here with the
Scythian invasion about the middle of the seventh century
B.C., which was the earliest recorded movement behind their
mountain barrier in Asia of those Northern nomadic tribes
who ultimately swept away the Roman Empire and built
up modern Europe on its ruins. (See p. 140, and comp.
Zeph. ii. 4-6 ; Jer. i. 13-15, vi. 3-5 ; Col. iii. 11.)

Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah (perhaps the high priest of 2
Chron. xxxiv.), a priest of Anathoth. (627 — 588. Concern-
ing Judah. In the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and

124

SIXTH TERM.

Zcdckiah.) Continue in sin, and it will prove its own punish-
ment ; Confess, and ye shall find mercy is his keynote (Rom.
vi. 21 ; I John i. 9). Like Nehemian's history, his prophecy
is interspersed with short and urgent prayers, and charac-
teristic expressions recur again and again, such as, " Lord,
Thou knovvest " (xxix. 23, R.V.), " I swear by Myself,"
"The days come," "Not a full end." Twice (xxv. 11,
xxix. 10) he clearly foretells the exact duration of the
Captivity which Isaiah first announced (Dan. ix. 2). Isaiah
soars like an eagle to behold with undimmed eye the source
of light. Jeremiah sits in shadow like a dove to mourn
over his fallen people with infinite pathos and tenderness.
" Jeremiah is my favourite book now. It has taught mc
more than tongue can tell," writes Kingsley in 1850.

Obadiali. (588. Concerning Edom. In the reign of
Zcdekiah.) Its resemblance to Jer. xlix. 7-22 ; Lam. iv.
21 ; Ezek. xxxv. ; and Psalm cxxxvii. 7 suggests that it
is of the same period, and most probably it was written
shortly before Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Edom in 583.
Judgment without mercy to the merciless is its keynote
(James ii. 13). "It expresses/' says Stanley, " the Divine
malediction on the sin most difficult to be forgiven, the
desertion of kinsmen by kinsmen, of friends by friends,
the readiness to take advantage of the weaker side,
hounding on the victorious party, and standing on the
other side in the day of the sorest need." (Comp. Isa.
xxxiv. 5.)

Ecekiel, son of Buzi, a priest carried captive in 599, who
prophesied by the banks of the Chebar in Northern Meso-
potamia, 200 miles from Babylon, and who is not mentioned
outside his own book. (594 — 574. Concer ;ng Judah. In
the reign of Zcdekiah.) Tradition says that he was put to
death by his fellow-exiles for rebuking their idolatry. His
differs from former prophetical books in being chronological
throughout, for in him the author preponderates over the
seer, the poet, and the statesman. His prose is, however,
always poetical, and the Dirge of the Kings (xix.), the Lay
of the Sword (xxi. 8-17), the Dirge of Tyre (xxvii., xxviii.),
and the Dirge of Egypt (xxxi., xxxii.) are actual poetry.
His keynote is Knowledge of God {a) by Israel (Hos. ii. 20 ;
John iv. 22), (p) by the Gentiles (Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Acts xi. 18 ;

BOOKS TO BE READ.

125

who

[eso-

lioned

mtto

His

)gical

ir the

l^ever,

Lay

[viii.),
petry.

20 ;

18:

Matt. viii. 11); and he develops more fully the doctrine,
found in germ in Jeremiah, of the responsibility of the
individual soul .' s separate from the collective nation. The
independence of man from man is brought out by such a
calamity as the fall of Jerusalem, and no prophet; teaches
this great moral lesson so simply. Observe these recurring
phrases : " A rebellious house," " I, the Lord, have spoken
and will do it," " I will recompense the sinner's way on his
own head." Of the three parts into which Ezekiel's book
falls, we read this term only Part I. (chaps, i. — xxiv.),
Exhortations to Repentance before the Fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel has been called " the Old Testament Apocalypse,"
and the parallels between it and Revelation are very close
and numerous. Miss E. S. Elliott's " Prophecies of Jeremiah
and Ezekiel " (Morgan & Scott, 6d.) is a helpful analysis
of both books.

The Lamentations of Jeremiah, sixth and latest poetical
book of the Old Testament, was written, perhaps at Mizpah
immediately after the Fall of Jerusalem. It consists of
four independent acrostics (see p. 176), and a concluding
poem, not acrostic, and may be thus divided : —

L {a) The Prophet's Lament, (i. i-ii.)

Lament of Jerusalem, (i. 11-22.)
Prophet's Lament, (ii. 1-19.)
Lament of Jerusalem, (ii. 20-22.)
Prophet's Personal Sorrow, (iii.)
Prophet's Lament, (iv. 1-16.)
People's Lament, (iv. 17-21.)
Prophet's Consolation, (iv. 22.)
People's Prayer, (v.)

Its keynote is God chastens unwillingly and only for ou>
good (2 Cor. vii. 10 ; Heb. xii. 5-1 1). In Jewish synagogues
it is still recited every year on the anniversary of the
Temple's destruction. " Never did city suffer a more
miserable fate, never was ruined city lamented in language
so exquisitely pathetic" {Milman). It is probable that
Jeremiah also wrote several of those Psalms of the Cap-
tivity which succeed, at the interval of a century, the
jubilant Psalms of Hezekiah's reign. Their long wail best
e>:presses the woe of Judah's fall.

{b) The

II.

{a) The

\b) The

III.

The

IV.

(a) The

{b) The

{c) The

The

/ Ii

126 SIXTH TERM.

III. Periods and Dates.

I follow the common chronolocjy as usual, but some c^ood
authorities extend this period of 109 years to 112 years
by placing Manassch's accession in 698 and the Fall of
Jerusalem in 5.86.

(i) P.c. O97 — 640 (57 years). From the death of Heze-
kiah to the ac'cssion of Josiah. Judah's Utidovij^
through Mai ssch. 2 Kings xxi. ; 2 Chron. xxxiii.

(2) B.C. 640 — 606 (^34 years). From Josiah's accession to

the First Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
JudaJCs last true King, and First Subjection, to
Egypt. 2 Kings xxii. — xxiii. 30 ; 2 Chron. xxxiv,,
XXXV. ; Zephaniah ; Jer. i. — vi. (Commission, Expos-
tulation, and Vision of coming invasion). 2 Kings
xxiii. 31-7; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1-5; Psalm xliv.; Habakkuk;
Jer. xxvi. 1-7, vii.— x., xxvi. 8-24 (Denunciation in
the Temple Court). Jer. xi., xii. (Prophetic Tour
and Conspiracy against Jeremiah). Jer. xiv. — xvii.
(the Drought ; approaching Fall and Restoration ;
the Sabbath). Jer. xviii. — xx. (the Potter's House
and Valley of Hinnom). Jer. xxii., xxiii. (the Three
Kings, the Rulers, and Prophets).

(3) i'..c. 606 — 599 (7 years). From the First Siege to the

Second Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
Judaic s Second Subjection, to Babylon. 2 Kings
xxiv. 1-17 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6-10 ; Psalm Ixxi. ; Jer.
xlvi. — xlix. 33 (concerning the Nations). Jer. xxxv.
(the Rechabites). Jer. xxv. (the Cup of God's fury).
Jer. xxxvi., xlv. (Jeremiah's Roll). Jer. xiii. (the
Journey to Euphrates).

(4) B.C. 599 — 588 (11 years). From the Second Capture

of Jerusalem to its Third Capture and the Flight
into Egypt. JudalCs Destruction and Dispersion.
2 Kings xxiv. 18-20 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 11-16.

598. Jer. xxiv., xxix., xlix. 34-9 (Those taken and those
left. Elam).

595. Jer. xxvii., xxviii. (the Yokes. Hananiah).
1., li. (Babylon).

594. Ezek. i. — vii. (opening Visions and Signs)

GEOGRAPHY,

'light

those
liah).

593. Ezek. viii. — xix. (Judah's Apostasy and its result).

592. Ezek. XX. — xxiii. (against the Elders, the Land, the
Princes, the King, and the Capital).

590. 2 Kings XXV. ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-21 ; Jer. xxi,
(Zcdekiah's Inquiry just before the siege began). Ezek.
xxiv. (Prediction of Jerusalem's Fall). Jer. xxxiv., xxxvii.
(last Offer of Mercy during a pause in the siege).

589. Jer. xxxii., xxx., xxxi., xxxiii. (Promise of
Restoration).

588. Jer. xxxviii., xxxix. 15-18 (Imprisonment and
Rescue of Jeremiah). Jer. xxxix. 1-14 (the Fall of Jeru-
salem). Jer. lii. (Supplement to Jeremiah, by another hand
probably). Psalms hxiv., Ixxix ; Lamentations ; Obadiah ;
Jer. xl. — xliv. (the Flight to Egypt).

Psalms exxx., exxix. (the Sorrow).

Isa. xl.— Ixvi. (the Hope).

Seven Kings of JndaJi.

Manasseh

Amon
Josiah

Jeh'"ahaz ...
Jehoiakim
Jeconiah ...
Zedekiah ...

IV. Geography.

(See " Oxford Helps," Maps iv., vil., VIII., and IX.)

Next term we shall follow Judah into the land of her
captivity. We now leave her disobedient remnant, in
defiance of a very ancient command (Deut. xvii. 16), and
fulfilment of as ancient a prophecy (Deut. xxviii. 68),
forcing one of Israel's last great prophets back into the
Egypt from which their first great prophet had brought
them out (Jer. xliii. 7). We infer from Ezekiel, Jeremiah,
and Josephus that most of these fugitives perished there,
or were carried to Babylon later ; but from that day to this,
a Jewish colony has existed in Egypt. 250 years after-
wards Alexandria became a centre of Judaism only second
in importance to Jerusalem (Acts ii. 10, xviii. 24). The site
of TahpanheSy clearly an important frontier town (Jer. ii.
16, xliii., xlvi. 14; Ezek. xxx. i8), whither the fugitives

697 — 642.
642 — 640.
640 — 609.
Three months.
609—599.
Three months.
599—588.

198

SIXTH TERM.

I '

went, lonfT bjifflcd inquirers. Within the last year or two,
Dr. Minders Petric has found, in the lonely desert sands
near the mud swamp of Pelusium, below a lofty mound
lonj^ known in the Arab speech as *' The Castle of the Jew's
daughter," the palace of Pharaoh Hophra, and the court-
yard where Jeremiah hid " in mortar in the brickwork " the
symbols of Nebuchadnezzar's capture of this building. Its
newly uncovered ruins tell plainly that th? fiery destruction
predicted for it by the prophet came to pass.

V. Heroes.

Keynotes V^^^ ^^^V^""' ^^-

\Jerciniahy 2 Cor. xn. 9.

fosiah was the only one of Judah's last seven kings who
served the Lord. We blame Joash and Manasseh the
more because they were impious in spite of their circum-
stances. We admire Josiah the more because amid utterly
corrupt princes, priests, prophets, and people, he resolved
to serve God himself, and to do all he could to recall the
nation to His service also. He reformed with little support
and little hope, and therefore he reformed fiercely and
vehemently. The sunset light of Judah's history plays
round him, and no death in her annals is so lamentable as
that of her last royal hero.

Hezekiah had Isaiah beside him ; Josiah had Jeremiah,
not only able as a prophet to proclaim, in season, out of
season, in palace and strset, in venerated Temple and
abhorred Gi-hinnom, the most unwelcome and unpalatable
truths ; but also able as a poet to pour out the mournfullest
of dirges over imprisoned king, captive people, ruined
sanctuary, and desolate city, when all had been said in \ ain
More than half our reading this term is from Jeremiah's
pen (for he was in all probability editor of the earlier, and
author of the later parts of I., II. Kings), and he is "the
one grand immovable figure which alone redeems the
miserable downfall of his country from triviality and shame."
He was the last sccr who was also a statesman and coun-
.scllor of kings. He was the first who uttered his inspired
counsel in that epistolary form afterwards made so illus-
trious by S. Paul. Like S. Paul also, we find him the

/lEROF.S,

129

\miah,
mt of
and
Ltablc
fullest
luined
vain
liah's
and
'" the
the
lame."
Icoun-
tpired
illus-
the

centre and life of a trroup of devoted friends and faithful
adherents, who were 'irect inheritors of the traditions of
Josiah's reit^n ; such as his brother Getnariah ; his uncle
and aunt SI .ilium and Huldah, with their son Hanamel ;
Dclaiah and Urijah, the sons of Shcmaiah ; Hanan the son
of I^daliah ; Zephaniah the son, and Seraiah and Baruch
the t^randsons of Maaseiah. Baruch was his Timothy and
his Tcrtius, and as the first notable Scribe who committed
God's word to writing, may be regarded as the predecessor
of Ezra. And Jeremiah, forbidden to seek the love of wife
and child, needed the sympathy and affection of friends
not a little. At once priest and prophet (a rare combina-
tion), he could not, like Ilosea, fall back upon Judah,
though despairing of Israel ; he could not, like Isaiah
and Amos, fall back upon her prophets, though despair-
ing of her priests ; he saw that priest and prophet were
alike corrupt, and he was called upon to declare it (Jer.
xxiii. 11). Hence the rancorous hostility of both orders
to their noblest representative. Jeremiah the priest was
excluded from the Temple (Jer. xxxvi. 5). Jeremiah the
prophet was persistently traduced and persecuted as a liar
and traitor by the smooth-tongued uttercrs of popular
predictions. And his was one of those gentle, sensitive,
and highly strung souls for which the trust and love of
others is the very breath of life. No prophet reveals
himself so clearly in his writings. By nature shy, timid,
shrinking, hesitating, and desponding, suffering deepest
sorrow of heart at seeing things as they are, and called to
the hard task of proving that all Judah most relied upon
would avail her nothing, and of preaching submission and
repentance to a self-willed and hardened people bent on
resistance ; by God's grace and his own manful resolve, he
was bold, fearless, unflinching, determined, and even hopeful,
through that faith tried in the fire which enabled him to
read in the bright possibilities of the future a balance for
the difficulties and distresses of the present. After forty
years of courageous testimony, he refused the favour of the
greatest of monarchs, and " gladly clung " (says Josephus)
" to the ruins of his country, and to the hope of Hving out
the rest of his life with its surviving relics." Here history
leaves him {? Chron. xxxv. 25, xxxvi. 12, 21, are the only

I30

srxrii T/:u,ir.

Hihlical mc-ntioiis of him outsidi" his own book), atul coii-
llictiiu; tr.'ulitions sjuak oi a pcaccriil ciul in l?iil))'l()n, and
a (K-alh by sttmiii^ in Ki^ypt at the hands of his i\|)robatc
countrynu'ii. Afterwards they reckoned hijii not a whil
behinil tlic very chiefest [irophets, and daily expected that
he. like Klijah, woiilil return as the restorer of Israel (IMatt.
xvi. 14 ; John i. 21).

VI. TiiK CoMiNd Mr.ssiAii.

" Lon/, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? "

Acts i. 6.

Isa. xl. — Ixvi., which may have been penned durinj^ the
first persecution of the true faith in Jerusalem, contains the
greatest Messianic Predictions of the Old Testament. A
Messiah winning through much tribulatit)n a kingdom not
of this world, is a promise as appropriate to the igc of
Juclah's l''all as the promise of a triumphant and !.;lorious
JNlessiah was to the age of David and Solomon. Isaiah's
prophecies were fulfilled by Jews whose eyes were blinded
to this asjiect of the Coming One. The predictions about
Cyrus in xH. 2, 25-7, have an ultimate fulfilment in Him
who was to all mankind spiritually what Cyrus was to
captive Judah politically. There are also nine great and
detailed predictions, eight of which arc quoted in the New
Testament. Notice that the section about " the Servant
of the Lord " is followed by one that speaks often of " the
servants of the Lord " (Rom. v. 1 5-19).

(i) Isa. xl. I- 1 1 ; Matt. iii. ; John x.

(2) Isa. xlii. ; Matt. xii. 17-21 ; Luke ii. 32.

(3) Isa. xlix. ; Acts iv. 27 (R.V.), xiii. 47 ; Phil. ii. 7.

(4) Isa. 1. 4-7 ; Hcb. v. 8 ; Matt. xxvi. 67 ; John xvi, 32.

(5) Isa. Hi. 13 — liii. 12 ; Acts viii. 27-35.

(6) Isa. lix. 20, 21 ; Rom. xi. 26 ; Matt. i. 21.

(7) Isa. Ix. 1-3 ; Matt. ii. ; John viii. 12 ; Eph. v. 14.

(8) Isa. Ixi. 1-3 ; Luke iv. 17-21, iii. 22 ; John xii. 28.

(9) Isa. Ixii. 10 — Ixiii. 6; Matt. xxv. 19, xxi. 5 ; 2 Thess. ii.

(10) Zcph. ii. 7 ; Luke i. 68.

(11) Zeph. iii. 8-20 ; John. i. 49, iv. 24 ; Acts viii. 27-38.

(12) Hab. ii. 3 ; Heb. x. n.

(13) Hab. ii. 14 ; i John ii. 13, iv. 16, v. 20.

8,:
oti
Ps;

i. 32.

less. n.
■38.

r.oDs i^'A rr ATioN or iiimsf.t.f to mas. n\

(14) Hah. iii. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 19 (but .sec R.V.).

(15) Jer. .wiii. 5, 6 ; Kom. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. i. 30.

(16) Jer. .\x.\. S, 9, 21, 22 ; Acts ii. 29-32 ; IK:!), ii. 14-17.

(17) Jer. xxxi. 2J ; Luke i. 2f)-35.

(18) Jer. XX xiii. 15-17, 21,22 ; Actsxiii. 22, 23; 2Tim. ii. 8.

(19) Ob.'id. 17-21 ; kev. xi. 15-17.

(20) l''/ek. xvii. 22-.}. ; kev. xxii. 16; Matt. xiii. 31, 32.

(21) IC/.ck. xxi. 27 ; John xviii. 36, 37 ; Matt, xwiii. 18.

Lamentations is read both in the l<2nt;Hsh and the Latin
Church cUniuLj the week in which we commemorate the
sufferini^s of our Lord (Lam. i. 12).

Compared with Isaiah's, Jeremiah's Messianic predictions
are few. Hut through him wc hear, for the fust time, that
the Old Covenant or Testament, which forms the theme of
the first part of the Bible and ^ives it a name, was to be
superseded. Nebuchadnezzar had just re-formed his sie^c
for a final assault upon the famine-stricken city, when
Jeremiah's sorrowful pleadings and warnings gave place to
a joyous message of blessing for Israel's latter end (xxxi.
31-6). After a dim pre.sage of the Incarnation (vcr. 22) he
pa.sses to a clear announcement of a New Covenant, looking
more than 500 years beyond the Restoration (contrast Jer.
Nxxi. 32 and Hag. ii. 5) to that Upper Room (Luke xxii.
II, 12 ; Acts i. 13, R.V., ii. i), which became the birthplace
of the Church of Christ, and in which each of the four
clauses of this Royal Charter was reiterated and ratified.
The promise is fourfold (see Kcb. viii. 6-13, x. 9-18) : —

(rt) Remission of Sins (Matt. xxvi. 27, 28, R.V.).

ij)) A New Law (John xiii. 34, xiv. 23, 26, xv. 13, 14).

ic) A New Relationship (John xv. 15, 16, xvii.
6, 9, II).

{d) A New Fcllow.ship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(John xiv. 7, 9, 17; i John i. 3, ii. 20). See Miss Elliott's
" Jeremiah and Ezekiel."

VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

Again we note characteristic revelations in the Prophets
of our period. Twice over from Isaiah we learn (Isa. xiii.
8, xlviii. 11) that the glory of God can be shared by no
other being. Yet in Isa. ix. 6, 7 (as in Micah v. 2, 4 ;
Psalm xiv. 6, 7, ex. ; and Jer. xxiii. 5, 6), two Divine and

13'

SIXTH TERM.

Eternal Rcin^s arc spoken of; and in Isa. xlviii, i6, Ixi. 1-3
we have still plainer pre-Christian enumeration of the Co-
eternal Three who ever live and reign One God. ZephaniaJiy
the earliest of the group of prophets whose great theme
will be God's judgment, seen in the convulsion and over-
throw of all the kingdoms of that age, proclaims that He
is righteous (iii. 5), Habakkuk humbly adores Him as the
mysterious and awful Holy One (i. 12, 13, ii. 20). JeremiaJi
delivers the terrible message recalling the Name by which
He had made Himself known to Israel (xliv. 26). He is
henceforth " God of all flesh," " God in the Heavens " (cp.
2 Chron. xxxvi. 23), *' King of the Nations," and, 65 times,
" Lord of Hosts." Yet He has been in Jeremiah also
*' Jacob's Portion," " Israel's God and Hope and Holy One,"
and the " God of all Israel's families." Obadiah's message
is from Adonai Jehovah, recalling Amos and Micah.
Fzckiel, worldwide rather than national in his outlook,
revives the ancient patriarchal name of El Shaddai (x. 5),
which we met with last in Exodus. " God of Israel "
occurs once, and in striking contrast to Isaiah and Jeremiah,
Ezekiel contains no other name save " Jehovah."

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

Eight of Judah's kings led their people into seven
Apostasies. Save Rehoboam, who repented in time, each
was visited with a personal punishment in addition to the
national punishment that followed the national sin.

(i) Rehoboam : hence Egyptian Invasion (2 Chron. xii. i ;

1 Kings xiv. 21-6).

(2) JcJiorani : hence Philistine and Arabian Invasion
(2 Chron. xxi. ; 2 Kings xi. 18).

{'^)Joash: hence Syrian Invasion (2 Chron. xxiv. 18-23).

(4) AmaziaJi: hence Israelite Invasion (2 Chron. xxv.
14, 20-22).

(5) AJiaz : hence Invasion by Israelites, Syrians, Philis-
tines, Edomites, and Assyrians (2 Chron. xxviii. 2, 19, 25 ;

2 Kings xvi. 2-4).

(6) ManasseJi : hence Assyrian Invasion (2 Chron. xxxiii.
3-11 ; 2 Kings xxi. 1-16).

(7) JcJioiakhn and Zedckiah : hence IBabylonian Invasion
(2 Chron, xxxvi. 8, 14; Jer. xi. 13, xvii. 2, xix. 5).

QUESTIONS.

t33

til. I ;
lasion

■23)-

XXV.

[hilis-

p5;

bcxiii.
lasion

(i) and (2) may both be traced to the influence of a queen
of foreign extraction. (4) is the only one of which we are
not told that worship of Ashtoreth was set up. In (2), (5),
(6), and (7) special mention is made of the worship of Baal.
In (6) the worship of Jehovah was actually disestablished,
and the true faith, for the first time in Judah, persecuted.
Amaziah, Manasseh, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah were taken
captive, Jehoram and Joash were smitten with sickness, and
Ahaz was ruined with his people, (i), (2), (5), and (6)
were followed by Reformations, (3) and (4) being less
flagrant, and (7) past reforming, save by the stern discipline
of the Captivity. These Reformations, by which evil was
for the time overcome of good, and ruin averted, were
through

{a) Asa, completed hy J eJioslmphat.

\U) Jehoiada in the reign of Joash.

{/) Hezekiah.

id) Josiah.

Students would do well to work out fully this brief
summary of Judah's religious history, for it has many
lessons to teach us, as a nation, as a church, and as
individuals.

We leave the Chosen People ruined, as Moses had warned
them they might be ruined (Deut. xxix.), by serving false
gods. Our next two terms will show them purged from
this gross idolatry and restored, only to fall into a subtler
idolatry which, under the outward forms of the true
religion, will lead to another rejection of God and a yet
more terrible fall. But before we resume their story we
shall glance round at Nebuchadnezzar's work elsewhere as
pictured by the Hebrew prophets.

IX. Questions.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions III., XIII., XVII., XVIIL, XIX., XX., and XXVI. may be

answered with help of any books.]

I. Where, when, by whom, and with what results were the
battles of Megiddo and Carchemish fought ? (8.)

II. Complete the genealogical table of the Kings of
Judah from Hezekiah onwards. (7.)

! >

J34

SIXTH TERM.

III. Reconcile Jer. xxxii. 4, 5 and xxxiv. 2, 3 witn Ezek.
xii. 13 ; also Jer. xxii. 28, 30 with Matt. i. 12. (6.)

IV. la) How many sovereigns of Judah were there?
{U) Which had the longest and which had the shortest
reign ? {c) Which attained the greatest age ? {d) Which
of them made war with Israel ? {e) Of which of them is
it said that the Lord was with them ? (/) Which of them
were taken captive by their enemies? {g) Which died
violent deaths? (Ji) Name the four best, the four worst,
and the four greatest of them all. (/) Which of them
is called King of Israel ? (y) Which of them were buried
in the royal sepulchres ? (24.)

V. Make a complete list of the prophets sent to Judah
between 697 and 588, and name three false prophets of the
period. (8.)

VI. V/hat do you know of Shaphan the scribe, and of
four sons and two grandsons of his mentioned in the
Bible ? (7.)

VII. What do you know of the following? — Elnathan,
Irijah, Ishmacl son of Ncthaniah, Jaazaniah son of Azur,
Jehudi, Nehushta. (12.)

VIII. "We will not ride upon horses." Explain this
vow by quotations from Isaiah and Ezekiel. (3.)

IX. What circumstances recorded by Jeremiah and
Ezekiel account for Nebuchadnezzar's relentless policy to
Jerusalem the third time he took it, though he had spared
it twice before ? (5.)

X. Show that Jerusalem was captured and the Temple
pillaged at least eight times between 976 and 588. (12.)

XI. Give a brief summary of the chief incidents in
Jeremiah's life. (10.)

XII. Quote ten prayers in the Book of Jeremiah, giving
references only. (10.)

XIII. What does Jeremiah mean by {a) " The throne of
God's glory," (/;) " God's footstool," (c) " The mountain
in the field," {(/) " The joy of the whole earth," (e) " The
King of Sheshach," (/) "The king . . . my servant,"
(^) " God's battle axe," (/;) " The hammer of the whole
earth," (/) "The iron furnace," (j) "The sword of the
wilderness," (k) " The queen of heaven," (/) " The breath
of our nostrils " ? (12.)

QUESTIONS.

135

this

XIV. Point out 20 coincidences of thought and expres-
sion between the Psalms read this term and Jeremiah's
writings, (ic.)

XV. To whom was the promise made that their life
should be given them for a prey ? (3.)

XVI. Consider Jeremiah and Ezekicl as types of Christ.

(15.)

XVII. Enumerate four signs (or prophecies through

symbolic acts done by the prophet) shown by Jeremiah to
Israel, indicating what each signified. (8.)

XVIII. Enumerate six signs shown by Ezekiel, indica-
ting what each signified. (12.)

XIX. Give short historical explanations of the vision of
Ezek. viii., ix., and the parables of Ezek. xvii., xix. (8.)

XX. What may be gathered by comparison of Ezekiel
with Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, and Revelation as to the
appearance and nature of the Cherubim and Seraphim?
(10.)

XXI. Find 20 allusions to the Holy Spirit in Ezek. i. —
xxiv., and Isa. xl. — Ixvi. (10.)

XXII. Prove by quotations that Isa. xl. — Ixvi. speaks
of Judah's Captivity as past and not future, and account
for this, (io.)

XXIII. Illustrate Acts viii. 28-38 by finding 20 New
Testament quotations or references for Isa. Hi. 13 — liii. 12.
(10.)

XXIV. Find 25 other New Testament quotations from
Isa. xl. — Ixvi., 6 from Jeremiah, and 5 from Habakkuk.
(18.)

XXV. " The word peace runs as a golden thread through
the tissue of the whole Book of Isaiah." Illustrate this.
(10.)

XXVI. Explain briefly the following passages : — Zeph. i.
4, 5, II ; Hab. ii. 11 ; Jer. ii. 30, xii. 5, xxii. 10 ; Ezek. xviii.
4; Isa. Ixv. 3,4, II. (16.)

XXVII. How often is God spoken of as King in the
literature of this period? Give some of the other chief
names of God in Jeremiah and Isa. xl. — Ixvi. (24.)

XXVIII. What may wc learn from the prophets of this
period as to {a) the wages of sin, {b) the forgiveness of
sins, {c) God's desire to save, {d) God's power to '^'.ve.

136

SIXTH TERM.

Do not give more

{e) guidance by God, (/) rest in God ?
than 36 references altogether. (36.)

XXIX. What allusions do they contain to {a) the
Creation, {b) the Garden of Eden, {c) Noah, {it) Job,
{e) Abraham, (/) the destruction of Sodom, (^g) R chel,
(Ji) Moses, (/) the Plagues of Egypt, (7) the '.^.xodus,
(Ji) Israel in the Wilderness, (/) Samuel ? (14.)

XXX. Illustrate the following passages from the history
of this period. Psalm cxix. 71 ; Jame^ v. 1-6 ; Heb. xiii. 3 ;
Luke ix. 24 ; i John ii. 11 ; i Cor. vii. 29-31. (12.)

XXXI. Indicate briefly the contexts of the following : —
(i) "I am against them," " I am with thee."

(2) " I have made thee despised," " I will glorify them."

(3) " There is no healing for thee," " I will heal him."

1 will make this city a curse," " A

blessing

(4)
in it."

(5) " They shall be weary," " They shall net be weary."

(6) " The nations weary themselves for vanity," " Thy
work shall be rewarded."

(7) " Take ye no rest," " Ye shall find rest."

(8) " Wilt Thou be angry for ever ? " "I will not keep
anger for ever."

(9) " Remember not former iniquities," " I will not re-
member thy sins."

(10) "We walk in darkness," "I will make darkness
light."

(11) "We are called by Thy name," " I have called thee
by thy name."

(12) " Come ye," " We come unto Thee." (24.)
XXXII. Give references for the following; — {a) "O

deadly wounded wicked one ! " ib) " The false pen of the
scribes." (c) " O nation that hath no shame ! " {it) " Neither
could they blush." {e) " He whose might is his god."
(/) " His boastings have wrought nothing," (if) *' New
every morning." (k) " Satisfied with My goodness."
(z) "At peace v/ith Me." (j) "A nation before Me for
ever." (%) " Mighty to save." (/) " Plenteous redemption."
(m) " Abundance of peace and truth." (n) " Why will ye
die ? " (p) " Seek meekness." (/) " Eat ye that which is
good." ((/) " Keep not back a word." (r) " Begin at My
sanctuary." (s) " I said, Ikhold Me." (/) " I made him

QUESTIONS.

137

the

tthcr

kd."

[cw

less."

for
Son."
]l ye
111 is

My
Ihim

many." (ti) " Because thine heart was tender, I have
heard." {v) " He knoweth the secrets of the heart."
(zv) " Foolish prophets that follow their own spirit."
(x) " They turned in fear one toward another." (y) " He
shall come as a rushing stream." (z) " My sleep was
sweet." (26.)

For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

■i|:

SEVENTH TERM.

The Days of Ezra.

The Restoration and the Second Temple.

B.C. 606 — 397.

2 Chron. XXXVL, 22, 23. Psalms LXXXV., XCII.—C, CIL—
CVIL, CXm.—CXXVI., CXXXIV.—CXXXVII., CXLIV., CXLVI.
— CL. Ezckiel XXV. — XLVIII. Daniel. Ezra. Esther. Nchemialu
Haggai. Z.ochariah. Malachi. {i2() chapters.)

" All the people went their way ... to make great mirth, because ihey had
understood the words that were declared unto them." — Neh. viii. 12.

25th MONTH (32).

Ezek. XXV. — XLVIII. Dan.
I. — IV., VII., v., VIII.,
IX.

26lh MONTH (32).

Dan. VI. 2 Chron. XXXVI.
22, 23. Ezra I. — III. 7.
PsalmsCII.— CVIL.CXXXVH.
CXX. — CXXII., LXXXV.
Ezra III. 8-13. Ezra IV. r-5.
Dan. X.— XH. Ezra IV. 6-
VI. 13. Haggai. Zech. I.— VIII.

27th MONTH (33).

Ezra VI. 14-22. Esther. Ezra
VII.— X. Zech. IX.— XIV. Neh.
I.— VII. Psalm CXXIIL—
CXXVI. Neh. VIII., IX.

28th MONTH (32).

Neh. X.

CXLIV..

CXXXVL

Psalms
XCV.— c,
Neh. XII.
CXLVI. — CL.
4-31. Malachi

Psalms XCIV.,

CXXXIV. —

Neh. XL— XII. 26.

XCIL, XCIIL,

CXIIL— CXVIH.

27 — XIII. 3. Psahn

Neh. XIII.

Psalm CXIX.

I. General Summary.

THAT God is the God of Gentiles as well as of Jews
is the first note of this term's reading. The world's
history has been divided into three great epochs.

(i) Priviceval History., from the dawn of civilisation in
Egypt to the Fall of Babylon, the first capital of the world,
in B.C. 538. Here the Semitic races predominate, but Israel
is the only one of which we have more than a fragmentary
account. (2) Classical History, from B.C. 538 to the Fall

138

GENERAL SUMMARY.

139

II. 26.
Iciii.,
:vin.

Fsalm
XIII.

;xix.

Jews
world's

lion in
]\vorld,
Lsracl

Icntary
Fall

of Rome, the second capital of the world, in A.D, 4/6.
Here the Aryan races predominate. (3) Medicuval and
Modern History, from A.D. 476 onward. Here history deals
with all mankind.

We now approach the end of the first epoch, and sacred
and secular history, hitherto quite distinct, begin to mingle.
Israel influences and is influenced by Gentile powers, and
thus the way is prepared for the mystery revealed to S. Paul
(Eph. iii.), the subject of our Ninth Term's work.

In the first epoch the ruling power is physical, in the
.second intellectual, in the third spiritual. Of physical
power, Nebuchadnezzar, the last of the Primaeval conquerors,
was the greatest representative. He was used to bring about
the new historical epoch, and the Hebrew prophets were used
to point out the significance of his work. " Like the great
tragic chorus to the awful drama which was unfolding itself
in the Eastern world," they uttered their' sublime funeral
anthems over the falling Primaeval monarchies, and summed
up the everlasting lesson of " the ruins of time " (see Isa.
xl. 6-8). Joel, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk,
Jeremiah, Obadiah, and Ezckicl picture the falls of Israel
and Jiidah, descendants of Jacob ; the Edoviites, descend-
ants of Esau ; the Arabians, descendants of Ishmael ; Moab
and Amman, descendants of Lot ; the Syrians and Elamites,
descendants of Shem ; the Philistines, Tyrians, SidonianSy
and Ethiopians, descendants of Ham ; also of the Ef^yptianSy
and finally of the Chaldeans, when Babylon drank of the
cup she mingled for others (Jcr. xxv. 17-26). (They are
named above according to the nearness of their relation to
Israel. Students are advised to look them out on the map,
to read about them in § xxx. of " Oxford Helps," to find
the references in the Prophets, and to observe that for Israel,
Judah, Moab, Ammon, Elam, and Egypt, mercy as well as
judgment was predicted.)

The political reconstruction of the world was then the
Prophets' theme, surely a grand enough one to claim our
attention. Yet they looked beyond that. Daniel com-
■ pletcd their predictions with an announcc.ncnt of the
spiritual kingdom which would supersede and transcend
for ever all the kingdoms founded on force.

A recently discovered inscription of Nebuchadnezzar's

I40

SEVENTH TERM.

'»<

runs thus : " I li.ivc made completely strong the defences
of lii^bylon. May it last for cvei." But on the north side
of the mountain barrier that crosses the world from the
Himalaj'ps to the Pyrenees, lived fierce races who have
more than once swept down upon the fertile south side, and
dispossessed its less hardy inhalntants. Such a descent
thence of a great Aryan tribe the Hebrew prophets had
long foretold. History calls it the Mcdo-Persian conquest
of Babylon. Its leader was Cyrus, the first of the ancient
conquerors who was more than a despot and a destroyer,
the first great man in Scripture who spoke a language akin
to our own ; referred to more honourably in Hebrew
prophecy by Isaiah than any other Gentile ; and in Greek
literature by Xenophon than any other " barbarian " prince.
His people went on and prospered till they met a still
stronger Aryan race in Greece, and then the conquering
Ahasuerus of the Hebrew Book of Esther became the
conquered Xerxes of Greek history.

And now " the set time to have pity on Zion " had come
(Psalm cii. 13 ; Dan. ix. 2). Her Captivity in Babylon was
not, like that in Egypt, the personal bondage of individuals,
but the political subjection of a nation. In Greek it is
described by a word meaning " transportation " or " migra-
tion." The exiles were allowed to dwell together in con-
siderable bodies, and to acquire property (Jer. xxix. 4-7).
Yet we see the anguish of their exile not only through its
Hebrew name which means "stripped bare," but through
Isaiah, Lamentations, Ezckiel, and the Psalms. Its litera-
ture has a permanent interest, because it expounds "the
sweet uses of adversity," and the power of the consolation
that comes from God. The highest comfort offered to
them, through Isaiah, was a picture of that supreme
suffering of supreme Love, which was to ennoble suffering
for ever, and console our sorrowful hearts again and again
(see Isa. liii.).

Their Restoration, an event without parallel in history,
was regarded as a second birth, a second Exodus. But
from Egypt there came out, by the extraordinary inter-
position of God's power and in spite of an earthly sovereign,
an entire people, bound together by common descent and
common suffering, to take possession of a promised king-

GENERAL SUMMARY.

141

)rcme
fcring
I again

fstory,
But
lintcr-
[rcign,
It and
king-

dom and assort their national indcpciidfiice. I'Vom liabylon
there came out, b)' the ordinary working of God's provi-
dence, and through the action of an earthly sovereign, some
50,000 out of a whole nation, to form the central part of
a scattered church, to hear the last words of prophecy, and
to recognise in the writings of the past the abidini; lessons
of God.

For the mass of the exiles had accumulated property
to the amount of ;^4,ooo,ooo (Esth. iii. 9) in their new
homes, and preferred to retain their faith, but sacrifice their
patriotism ; types of those who, ceasing to watch against
sin, leave a higher ^-^r a lower religious life, and though
distressed at first by tiic change, learn by degrees to find more
pleasure in the world and less pleasuic in the things of God.
These Jews (known as " the Dispersion " : sec John vii. 35,
R.V.) gradually spread far and wide, until, according to
Josephus, there was scarcely a corner 'of the Roman Empire
where they might not be found. The Greek conquest opened
the way for this, and Greek rule neutralised many of the
evils by which it was attended. In A.D. i there were three
great sections of the Dispersion, the Babylonian, Syrian,
and Egyptian. They still prided themselves on the purity
of their descent, and a spiritual bond still united them.
Jerusalem, no longer the centre of a nation and the capital
of a royal race, became the holy city of a church and the
capital of a creed, whose monotheism and Alessianic hope,
had a far-reaching influence. Never again was the race to
be confined within the borders of Palestine, and its name
of Hebrew or Israelite henceforth gives place to the name
oi Jew, " born," says Josephus, " on the day they came out
of Babylon." But all alike looked to the Temple as their
religious centre, and contributed largely to its funds. No
rival sanctuary disputed its place henceforth, though every-
where it was supplemented by synagogues.

Other results of the Captivity may be summed up thus : —

(i) Hitherto Israel had been constantly led away into
the old idolatries that still clung to their soil. Henceforth,
after close contact with heathenism in its fullest develop-
ment at Babylon, they hated idolatry with a fanatical
hatred, (See Psalm cxv.)

(2) Hitherto they had stumbled through too frank an

i *

'I'

I I

':.

143

SEVENTH TERM.

intercourse with other nations. Henceforth their reh'gion
became intensely national and exclusive, and they held
that a man who read foreign books risked his hopes of
eternal life. Yet their dispersion among other peoples
made them perforce more cosniupolitan in their ideas, and
this dispersion, with the ac ompanying stern purification
from heathenism, fitted their faith to become the secdplot
of the one truly universal religion of the world.

(3) Hitherto they had been ruled by kings. Henceforth
they were ruled by priests.

(4) Hitherto they had paid little heed to the written
word of God. Henceforth they regarded it with a well-nigh
exaggerated reverence. Contrast Elijah, who was almost
exclusively a preacher, with Ezekicl, who was almost exclu-
sively an author.

(5) Hitherto the external ceremonies of religion had been
all important, and their religious life mainly corporate.
Henceforth reading the Scriptures, preaching, and above
all prayer, became the essential things in public worship,
and there was a new sense of individual responsibility, and
of the grandeur of being true to one's convictions in the
face of the whole world.

(6) Hitherto the Hebrew in which the Old Testament is
penned had been a living tongue, written in the old Phoe-
nician characters. Henceforth it gradually became a dead
tongue, and at some unknown date before B.C. 300 the
square characters now used were adopted. At the Restora-
tion the Jews were bilingual. The last of their prophets
still wrote in Hebrew, but the language of daily life and of
all their .subsequent literature was Aramaic or Chaldean
(2 Kings xviii. 26, R.V.), the kindred tongue of the land of
exile. Jer. x, 11, Dan. ii. 4 — vii. 28, and parts of Ezra (see
R.V.), all of which refer to the Gentiles, are in Aramaic,
and it is called " Hebrew " in Acts xxii. 2.

(7) Hitherto they had been an agricultural people.
Henceforth they became what they are now, a trading
people, their commercial enterprise finding a first outlet at
Alexandria.

The nation had returned, but not to be what it had been.
The opportunity for proving a leader among the peoples
as God's People, once lost, did not recur. Its humbler

nCOKS TO BE READ.

>43

mt IS
Phoe-
dcad

the

5tora-

)hcts

Idcan

Ind of

(see
Imaic,

jople.
iding
:at

I been,
topics
mbler

career henceforth teaches the sad lesson that in this life an
evil past can never be entirely retrieved. The moral of
the whole Captivity, which Jeremiah had foretold, is given
by Ezekiel where he points to a restoration and renewal,
not of national glory, but of individual goodness through
the operation of the Holy Spirit of God.

II. Books to be Read.
(See " Oxford Helps," § v.)

This term history, psalmody, and prophecy are repre-
sented in almost equal proportions. The three historical
books cover only one of the six centuries between Judah's
Fall and the Birth of Christ. Of the first seventy years
we glean particulars from psalms and prophecies ; of the
last 393 from the Apocrypha. For the forty Psalms of
this period, see p. 204. The life of Daniel, the last prophet
of the second group, bridges the age of the Captivity.
The three Post-Exilian prophets forming the third group
close the Canon. They give us the result of former
teaching rather than nev/ doctrines.

Part I. of Ezekiel has already been uttered as a final
message to Judah before her fall. Part II. (xxv. — xxxii.)
proclaims God's Judgments upon seven foreign nations,
and was written between the besieging and the capture of
Jerusalem (with the exception of xxix. 17 — xxx. 19, the
date of which is 572). Part HI. (xxxiii. — xlviii.), all written
immediately after the capture, is a glorious Promise of
Restoration, culminating in a vision of the Temple re-built
and the land re-peopled.

Daniel, of *;he royal house of David (603 — 534). Chaps,
i. — vi. are h '^ry mingled with prophecy. Chaps, vii. — xii.
are prophecy written with the detail of history. There is
no other book in the Bible with which this unique book can
be classed. The Jews put it among the " Scriptures," not
among the "Prophets." (See "Oxford Helps," § v.) Its
Hebrew is strikingly like that of Ezekiel ; there are many
traces of its literary influence upon each of the Post-Exilian
prophets, and many close parallels between it and Revela-
tion. The narrative is interspersed, like Nehemiah's, with
characteristic utterances of personal devotion. That its

144

SEVENTH TERM.

history is authentic is proved by contemporary and later
references to its incidents. That its prophecies are inspired
communications from God is attested by our Lord's
reference to Daniel. That it may have taken its present
form after Daniel's death is possible, and according to
some authorities probable. Its keynote is GotVs supreme
and everlasting ktMn^doin (Mark i. i 5 ; Rev. xi. i 5), and it
forms the first philosophy of history, " the first recognition
of the continuous succession of ages, of the instructive fact
that the story of humanity is that of a regular development
of epochs, one growing out of another, cause leading to
effect, race following race, and empire following empire, in
a majestic plan in which the Divine economy is as deeply
concerned as in the fate of the Chosen i^coplc " {St(Vi/ev).

Ezra and Nehentia/i, which in many ancient MSS. form
one book, arc probably a compilation by various authors
in continuation of Chronicles, which they closely resemble
in style. Ezra i. (whose chronological place is between
Dan. ix. and x.) is probably by Daniel ; and Ezra ii. —
iii. I, and Neh. i. — vii. and xii. 27 — xiii. 31, by Nchcmiah.
Ezra iii. 2 — iv. 5 and iv. 24 — vi. may be by Haggai. Cer-
tainly Ezra vii. — x., and probably Neh. viii. — x. are by
Ezra. Ezra iv. 6-23 is probably a later addition by Ezra,
and the statistics in Neh. xi. i — xii. 26, which are brought
down to B.C. 330, were probably prepared under Nehemiah's
direction and added to after his death.

Esther is probably from the pen of Mordecai, and may
have formed part of those Persian official records to which
it alludes more than once. The story of how Haman gives
to Mordecai \v<hat he had chosen for himself, while what he
had chosen for Mordecai is given to him, fills the most
secular book in the Bible, and the one which the Christian
Church has hesitated most about receiving into the Canon.
But the Jews said it would outlast all the rest of the Old
Testament save the Pentateuch. And rightly. For not
only is it a picture of the Dispersion, without which their
history would not be complete ; it also teaches once for all
that what we falsely call " chance " works out God's purposes
even when His hand is hidden (Matt. x. 29, 30 ; Rom.
viii. 28). As Herodotus, Xenophon, and Bcrosus fill in the
brief statement of Dan. v. 30 with details exactly cc/ro-

pnoKs rn nr. read.

145

may

[which

gives

lat he

most
Kstian
[anon.

c Old
Ir not
their

tor all

rposcs
Rom.

In the

(cciro-

boratin;:^ the predictions of Isaiah, Tercmiali. and TTabakkuk
concerniiii^ the I''all of Jiabylon, so the historians of Greece
paint the same wilfully imperious monarch that appear", in
Esther, and account for the fact that two foreigners were
apparently rivals for the office of Grand Vi/.ier by de-
scribing the great destruction of Persian nobles in the war
with Greece that took place between Vashti's repudiation
and Esther's marriaj^c. This same war also explains the
willingness r !" Xerxes' successor to have Jerusalem fortified as
an important post on the line of communication with Egypt.

Hni:[j^ai (520). His keynote is Do your (xppointcdzvoik at
the appointed tiiue, zealously and steadily (Mark xiii. 34 ;
Hcb. vi. 10). He dwells on hindrances from within, as
the contemporary historians dwell on those from without,
lioth have in all ages to be overcome. With little of the
poetic fire of his great predecessors, he utters vigorous
and practical exhortation to men to consider their ways,
and see themselves as they really are. No prophe. ever
appeared at a more critical juncture, and no prophet was
more immediately successful.

Zechariali, son of Berachiah, priest as well as prophet,
like Jeremiah and Ezekicl, and probably young since he
returned with h;s grandfather Iddo, as Haggai was pro-
bably aged (520— j 18). His keynote is The holy people
with whom God dwells (John xiv. 23 ; Eph. iii. 17). Part I.
(i. — viii.) is dated, continuous, full of clear allusions to
the events and circumstances of the time, and evidently all
from the same hand. Part H. (ix. — xi.) and Part HI. (xii.
— xiv.) are very dissimilar in their subject-matter and style,
undated, and disconnected. The contemporary allusions
they contain arc vague, and seem to point to a different,
perhaps to a much earlier, state of affairs. Nor are they else-
where attributed to the son of Berachiah. Hence some critics
regard chs. ix. — xiv. as an anonymous prophecy, accidentally
incorporated with Zechariah. The question does not at all
affect its right to a place in the Bible (it is more than once
quoted in the New Testament) ; and opinions differ so
widely as to its date, if it is not by Zechariah, that I merely
separate it from Part I., without placing it in a different
period. See Dr. Marcus Dods' " Post-Exilian Prophets "
for fuller discussion of the subject (T. & T. Clark, is, 6d.).

\ i

\i i

: I

146

SEVENTH TERM.

Malachi (397 ?). We are not even certain of this
prophet's name. He is never mentioned elsewhere, and
his designation means "messenger." Its use in Hag. i. 13,
and Mai. ii. 7, iii, i, has suggested that this book, which
the Jews called " the seal of the prophets," is anonymous.
(Sec Mai. i. i, R.V. margin.) Its author was to Ezra and
Nchemiah what Haggai and Zechariah had been to Joshua
and Zerubbabel. In its rebuke of the demoralisation of
the priesthood, the insolence of wealth, and the loosening
of family ties, there are three leading thoughts. The Lord's
Messenger, as contrasted with the Lord's Anointed of
earlier prophecy ; the ideal priest, as contrasted with the
actual priest ; the faithful few, as contrasted with the faith-
less many ; all leading up to the keynote of Pure and
spiritual religion (James i. 27 ; John iv. 23, 24). Malachi
points to no new prophet, but to Elijah himself as the
herald of the last and greatest crisis of Israel's history, and
as the Old Testament closes we see the way opened by the
great for the Greatest, and the Sun of Righteousness appears
"with Moses and Elias" (see Luke ix. 30). "The age of Ezra
was the last pure glow of the long days of the Old Testa-
ment seers, and Malachi closes the prophetic writings in a
manner not unworthy of such lofty predecessors " {Ewald).

III. Periods and Dates.

Of the 584 years which elapsed between the Fall of
Jerusalem and the Birth of Christ, 191 bring us to the end
of the Old Testament. But we deal with 209 years alto-
gether this term, going back 18 years first of all, in order
to trace the whole history of the captives from the First
Deportation, since we did not follow any of the Jews to
Babylon last term. The reigns of the Babylonian and
Persian Kings form landmarks as convenient as those of
the sovereigns of Palestine have hitherto been. Note these
four Decrees : —

{a) 536. First Decree of Cyrus to the Jews generally,
authorising their Return and the re-building of the Temple.

{U) 520. Second Decree of Darius to their opponents, to
give effect to the First Decree.

ic) 458. TJiird Decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra, author-
ising the restoration of the Temple worship.

(■ i

PERIODS AND DATES.

147

fall of
le end
alto-
order
First
Iws to
and
)se of
these

orally,
^mple.
Its, to

ithor-

(d) 445. Fourth Decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah,
authorising the building of Jerusalem.

(i) B.C. 606—536 (70 years). From the First Siege of

Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to the First Decree.

The Captivity of Judah. 590 — 572. Ezek. xxv. — xlviii.

606. Dan. i. 603 — 561. Dan. ii. — iv. 540. Dan. vii.

538. Dan. v., viii., ix. 537. Dan. vi.

(2) B.C. 536—516 (20 years). From the First Decree to

the Dedication of the Second Temple. The Jews
under Joshua and Zerubbabel.

536. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23 ; Ezra i.— iii. 7 ; Psalms
cii. — cvii., cxxxvii., cxx. — cxxii., Ixxxv.

535. Ezra iii. 8-13. 534. Ezra iv. 1-5 ; Dan. x. — xii.

529. Ezra iv. 6. 522. Ezra iv. 7-24.

520. Ezra V. — vi. 13 ; Haggai ; Zech. i.— viii.

516. Ezra vi. 14-22.

(3) B.C. 516 — 458 (58 years). From the Dedication of

the Second Temple to the Third Decree. The fews
of tJie Dispersion.

483. Esth. i. 479. Esth ii.

474 — 473. Esth. iii. — X.

(4) B.C. 458—397 (61 years). From the Third Decree to

the close of the Old Testament Canon. TJie Jews
under Ezra and Nehemiah. 458. Ezra. vii. — x. 15.
457. Ezra X. 1644 ; Zech. ix. — xiv.
445—433. Neh.i. — vii.; Psalms cxxiii. — cxxvi. ; Neh.

viii. — X. ; Psalms xciv., cxliv., cxxxiv. — cxxxvi. ;

Neh. xi. 1— xii. 26 ; Psalms xcii., xciii., xcv. — c,

cxiii. — cxviii. ; Neh. xii. 27 — xiii. 3 ; Psalms cxlvi.

— cl.
432 ? (or 428 ? or 423 ?). Neh. xiii. 4-31.
397 (?). Malachi ; Psalm cxix.

Six Kings of Babylon,

Nabopolassar. 625 — 6o4.

Nebuchadnezzar. 604 — 561.

Evil Merodach. 561—559.

Neriglassar (A^^r^rt/-j'/M;r,c.6'r, Jer. xxxix. 3). 559 — 556.

5. Laborosoarchod. 556 — 555.

6. Nabonadius. 555—538.

3-
4-

I4'8

SEVENTH TERM.

I I

Nabo'jolassar was the founder of the empire, and Nebu-
chadnezzar was his son ; Evil Merodach and Nabonadius
were son and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. xxvii.
6, 7) ; Neriglassar and Labor osoarchod his son were usurpers.
At the end of his reign Nabonadius made his son Bclshaazar
his associate in the kingdom and governor of Babylon.
Those mentioned in the Bible arc in italics.

I 1 1

Two Kings of Media.

1. Cyaxares {Ahasuerus, Dan. ix. i). 634 — 595.

2. Astyages {Darius, Dan. v. 31). 594—536.

Six Kings of Persia.

Cyrus, founder of the empire. 558 — 529.
Cambyses {Ahasuerus, Ezra iv, 6). 529 — 522.

3. Gomates {Arta.re7'xes, Ezra iv. 7). (;22 — 521.

4. Darius Hystaspes {Darius, Ezra iv. 5, 24, v., vi.).
521—486.

5. Xerxes {AJiasucrus, Esther). 486 — 465.

6. Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezravii. ; Neh.). 465 — 423.
The mother of Cyrus was the daughter of Astyages,

Cambyses was the son, and Xerxes' mother the daughter
of Cyrus. Xerxes was son of Hystaspes and father of
Longimanus. Gomates was a usurper. Cambyses, Gomates,
Darius Hystaspes, and Xerxes are mentioned in Dan. xi. 2.
The Bible name of each is given in italics. Many of the
identifications are among the most recent discoveries of
Biblical scholarship. Ahasuerus (like Pharaoh, Sultan, or
Czar) is a title, not a name, and is applied to three different
sovereigns in Scripture.

Of the five kings who followed Artaxerxes only the last,
Darius Codomannus (336 — 331), is named in Scripture
(Neh. xii. 22).

IV. Geography.

(See " Oxford Helps," Maps VIIL, IX., X.)

From their mountain fastnesses and land of varied scenery
and diverse products, from the hurrying, unnavigable torrent

GEOGRAPHY.

149

ic last,
fipture

Iccnery
lorrent

of Jordan, from their simple pastoral and agricultural life,
the Jews, who since the Exodus had been isolated from the
rest of mankind, were taken to the vast alluvial plains of
Babylon, unbroken save by the works of their if^eming
population, nourished by broad and majestic willow-fringed
rivers, where ships laden with merchandise (Isa, xliii. 14)
thronc;"cd, and whence straight tributary canals irrigated
tlic whole country (Psalm cxxxvii. i, 2), to the largest walled
city ever built, the capital of the world, the seat of empire
of the greatest primaeval conqueror. Its present desolation
exactly fulfils Isa. xiii., but in the Hebrew prophets we
catch glimpses of its ancient wealth and splendour, of its
learning and its pride, of the glitter of its arms and the
clash of its music. Secular historians have fully described
its broad streets at right angles to each other, its four-
storied houses, its parks and gardens and colossal public
buildings, and its aged sanctuary, the grandest place ot
worship ever raised. Its influence on the capiive race was
permanent ; and henceforth Babylon, Queen of the East
and destroyer of Jerusalem, becomes in Scripture the type
of the World, reappearing thus in S. John's vision ot
Imperial Rome, Queen of the West and destroyer likewise
of Jerusalem, the only other seat of world\yide empire that
can be named beside it (Rev. xviii.).

The Jewish caravans who, after the four months' march
across the desert so joyously predicted in Isa. li. 11, regained
their own land, found its state very different from that ot
the Palestine they had left. What was henceforth known
as " Galilee of the Gentiles," v/as occupied by a half heathen
people ; in the centre were the Samaritans, whom they
branded as Cuthites, i.e., Assyrians, and as " proselytes of
the lion " (2 Kings xvii. 26, 27), their determined an-
tagonists ever after ; beyond Jordan, Moab and Ammon
had returned to a fearfully devastated land ; on the west
coast their ancient foes, the Philistines, were reasserting
their independence ; and on the south, hostile and vin-
dictive Edom claimed all Judaea. The whole country
west of the Euphrates was ruled by a Persian Satrap.
Under him Zerubbabel (Ezra ii. 63) and Nehcmiah
(Nch. viii. 9) were successively Tirshathas or Pashas of
i alestine.

r.i

ISO

SEVENTH TERM.

I I

Keynotes

V. Heroes.

C Zembbabcly i Cor. i. 27.
2 Dame/, i Peter iii. 14-16.
\Eara, Matt. xiii. 52.
\NcJiciniaJi^ Luke xviii. i.

Two princes of David's house, u statesman of the tribe
of Judah, and a priest are the chief makers ot this period
of history. Of these one was a prophet and three were
authors. Zerubbnbel, or Sheshbazzar (both Chaldajan
names, possibly indicating service to the King of Babylon,
comp. Dan. i. 7), was the representative of David at the
time of the Return, and the direct ancestor of Christ. He
seems to have been the descendant of David's son Nathan,
the son of Pedaiah, and the adopted son of Pedaiah's brother
.Shealtiel ; his father and uncle both being sons of Neri,
and adopted sons of the childless (Jer. xxii. 30) King
Jeconiah, in whpm Solomon's line died out (i Chron. iii.
17-19 ; Luke iii. 27, 28, 31). The promise to Solomon was
conditional (i Kings ix. 4, 5), while the promise to David
was absolute (2 Sam. vii. 12). Judah's royal line had been
mown down relentlessly by Jchoram, the Arabians, Jehu, and
Athaliah (2 Chron. xxi., xxii. ; 2 Kings x,). Zedekiah had
left daughters only, of whom we hear no more ; Ishmael's
violence had proved his unworthiness ; and Daniel and his
companions held office at the court of Babylon as Isaiah
' ad foretold (Isa, xxxix. 7). Hence Zerubbabcl's claim to
r> leader of his countrymen. Like Solomon, he built the
.nple ; like David, he regulated the courses of priests
\ Levites ; like Hezekiah, he celebrated a great Passover,
jiiis life illustrates the sure success of a lofty and strenuous
purpose. Of his death there are vague traditions only, and
his children were without authority. But the hope of a
renewal in him of the royal line found glorious fulfilment
in the Son of Mary 500 years later. Since then there has
been no undoubted representative of David.

Daniel's personality is far clearer than that of Zerub-
babel. Tradition even tells us that " he had a spare, dry,
tall figure, with a beautiful expression." Like Moses
before, and S. Paul after, he acquired the wisdom and

: tribe
period
; were
ild.x'an
ibylon,
at the
t. He
fathan,
Drother
f Ncri,
) King
ron. iii.
ion was
David
d been
Ihu, and
fah had
hmael's
land his
Isaiah
laim to
.lilt the
priests
ssover.
cnuous
\y, and
ic of a
iihnent
lere has

Zerub-

re, dry,

Moses

im and

HEROES.

151

learning of the Gentiles to fit him for wide influence and
great achievements, and became Rab-Mag, head of the
wise men, or chief astrologer at the court of Babylon. Like
Joseph in earlier, and other Jews in later times, he rose by
sheer force of personal ascendency to the highest place
among the Gentiles, as the mighty Nebuchadnezzar's Grand
Vizier, and vindicated his royal descent by showing himself
a born king of men. An incorruptible statesman, who
risked his head to give advice wholesome both for prince
and people ; a devout .servant of God, " wearing the white
flower of a blameless life " at the headquarters of Vanity
Fair ; he showed that greater than the material power of
Babylon was the moral power of one man doing his duty
" with God to friend," cost what it might. And to him was
given the eagle vision of the prophet, or rather of the seer,
with extraordinary knowledge of the counsels of God, and
he only of all the Old Testament saints received assurance
from God Himself of his personal salvation. " He was
one" (I quote Bishop Ken), " that kept his station in the
greatest of revolutions, reconciling policy and religion,
business and devotion, magnanimity and humility, authority
and affability, conversation and retirement, interest and
integrity. Heaven and the Court, the favour of God and the
favour of the king."

We turn from Daniel to E£;ra, from the prince born in
David's palace to the priest born in exile, from the large-
minded statesman to the stern reformer, from one of the
last of the seers to the first of the editors and compilers
whose scholarship and research shape the literature of that
age of criticism and reflection (when, according to the
Talmud, " the crown of learning was nobler than that of
empire ") which followed the great creative age of soaring
poesy and inspired prophecy. We see him firing his
countrymen's enthusiasm for God's law by precept and
example, and inexorably putting down abuses, like his
ancestor Hilkiah, in the strength of "the good hand of God
upon him." And while he, the aged theologian and scribe,
helped forward the political revival, NelieJiiiah, the young
layman, half warrior, half statesman, architect, engineer,
and earliest of archaeologists, helped forward the moral
reformation. The learned son of Aaron cannot be .senar-

nil-

\ \A

1 1

III ,.

Ill '

153

SEVENTH TERM.

atcd ffom. the firm and upright but quick-tcmpcrcd pasha.
He, too, was a m;in of prayer as well as a man of action,
and he left a s[)lendid monument of his prudence .md
fidelity, of his devotion to duly and self-rLnyin^" liberality,
in making Jerusalem a strong fortress once more. Wc can
easily understand why in early traditions his renown
eclipses that of Zerubbabel or Ezra, liut in calling our
whole period after Ezra we act in the spirit of those later
traditions which place Nehemiah's colleague on a level with
Moses and IClijah. For what Nehemiah had done for the
Holy City, Ezra did for the Holy Book (see Ezra vii. 14),
whose influence has been yet mcjre extensive and endur-
ing. TIic " Moses of the Second l^^xodus," he is said also
to have lived 120 years, to have written I. and 11. Chronicles,
to have formed the Old TcsLimcnt Canon, and the council
afterwards known as the (Jreat Synagogue, to have intro-
duced the character in which Hebrew has been written
ever since, and to have established synagogues. These
traditions may not be exactly true, but their existence
proves Ezra's importance. For ourselves, we learn the
same great lesson from all these four heroes of a crushed
nationality : that wc arc impotent ; that God is infinitely
potent ; that by living in fellowship with Him through
prayer we may be endowed with a power not our own
(Zech. iv. 6, 7 ; Dan. vi. 10 ; Ezra vii. 28, viii. 22 ; Neh. ii. 4).

VI. The Cominc. Messiah.

" TJicy broui:;Jit Jesus ufy to Jcrnsakui . . . into the Tcniplc^^
^^ Jesus entered into the Temple oj God, and cast out
all them that sold and bought.^' — Luke ii. 22, 27 ;
Matt. xxi. 12.

The cycle of Old Testament prophecy closes by telling
both the time and the place of Messiah's coming,
(i) Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24 ; John x. ; Acts v. 31.

(2) Ezek. xxxiv. 29 ; John vi. 35.

(3) Ezek. xxxvii. 22-4 ; John i. 49 ; Rev. xxi. 3-5,

(4) Dan. ii. 34-45 ; Matt. xxi. 44 ; Rev. ii. 26, 27, xix.
IS, 16.

(5) Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Matt. xxiv. 30, xxv. 31, 32, xxvi. 64.

(6) Dan. ix. 24-7 ; Heb. ix. 26-8 ; Acts x. 38.

THE COMING MESSIAH.

153

XIX.

|vi. 64.

(7) Hapj. ii. 7-9 ; Luke ii. 26, 27, 46 ; John xiv. 27.

f8) Zcch. iii. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 16,

(9) Zcch. vi. 12-15 ; Hcb. iii. 3, viii. i ; Acts ii. 39.

(10) Zcch. ix. 9-1 1 ; M.itt. xxi. 4, 5, xxvi. 28; Hcb. xii.
24, xiii. 20.

(11) Zcch. xi. 12, 13 ; Matt. xxvi. 15, xxvii. 3-10.

(12) Zcch. xii. 10; Luke xxiii. 48; John xix. 34, 37;
Rev. i. 7.

(13) Zcch. xiii. 7 ; Matt. xxvi. 31, 56; John xvi. 32,

(14) Zcch. xiv. ; Acts i. 11, 12 ; John iv. 10.

(15) Mai. iii. 1-3 ; Luke vii. 27, ii. 27 ; John ii, 13-16.

(16) Mai. i\-. 2-6 ; Luke i. 17, 78 ; Matt. xi. 14, xvii. 10-13.
The Rabbis referred to Messiah the passages in Ezck.

xliv. — xlviii. about the Prince, but looking at Ezck. xlvi.
16-18, etc., it seems more probable that they mainly refer
to Zcrubbabcl.

Dan. ix. 24-7 is one of the most remarkable and also
most difficult of Messianic prophecies. sets forth the

time and the purpose of Christ's death, and upon it was
based an universal expectation of His approach at the
Christian era. Clearly 70 weeks means 490 years, or 70
cycles of Sabbatic years, or an enlarged jubilee, or .seven
times the period of the Captivity. A similar period had
already elapsed between Abraham's call and Joshua's con-
quest of Palestine (B.C. 1921 — 1431), and between Saul's
accession and the Captivity (1096 — 606), and reckoning in
lunar years, we find a similar period from the Persian era
of Jewi.sh restoration to the Roman era of Christ's coming
(b.G 538-62). Concerning the exact application of this
prophecy there have been since the days of Jerome many
conflicting opinions. Had the prediction been absolutely
explicit, it must have compelled recognition of the true
Messiah when He came, and thus thwarted its own
fulfilment. Hence it was dim, but not too dim for the
spiritually enlightened. (Sec Dan. xii. 10.) We do not
know (rt) which of the four Decrees (see p. 146) the com-
mandment " of V. 25 refers to ; {b) whether the Messiah's
death occurs at the end of the 70 weeks (490 years) or the
69 weeks (483 years) ; (t) whether the years are solar years
of 365 days or luni-sol.ir years of 360 days ; {d) what was
the exact date of the Crucifixion. Out of many, varying

rj^

154

SEVENTH TERM.

slightly, I give two calculations, both of which place the
Crucifixion in A.D. 32. (<^/) Taking the Third Decree, 70
weeks, and solar ycais, 458 I5.C. to 32 A.D, is 490 years.
(/') Taking the Fourth Decree, 69 week;? and lunar years,
March 14th, r..c. 445 to April 6th, A.D. 32, is 483 years.
April 0th is calculated as the day (see Luke xix. 42) of
Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. The first seven weeks (v. 25)
are also shown to bring us in lunar years to the close
of the Canon, 15.C. 445 to 397 being 49 lunar years. There
is probably a threefold reference to {a) the profanation
of the Temple in B.C. 168 and its restoration three years
later, {(>) the death of Christ, {c) the Last Days ; and a corre-
sponding explanation of " the prince that shall come " as
Antiochus Epiphancs, Titus, and Antichrist.

Haggai foretells the place of Christ's coming. In the
R.V., ii. 7 refers to the rich gifts brought by Gentiles to
the House of God.

Next to Isaiah, Zcchariah has the most numerous and
detailed prophecies, of Christ, especially of Christ suffering.
To us they .seem particularly easy of interpretation, but
they must have been particularly hard to those who first
heard them, while what was plainest to them probably
seems hardest to us. Tscmach (shoot or sprout) is a title
which occurs five times (.sometimes without article, as if it
had become a proper name) of the Messiah as

{a) Son of David, Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15 (comp. S.
Matthew).

{li) God's Servant, Zech. iii. 8 (comp. S. Mark).

{(i) Son of God, Isa. iv. 2 (comp. S. John).

The title has special reference to the house of David, and
therefore refers primarily to Zcrubbabel. Further, its root
idea is that Messiah was the grand result God looked for
from Israel, the fruit-bearing Branch which would compen-
sate for the barrenness of the rest of His vine. A different
word {nc/si'r) is used in Isa. xi. i and Psalm Ixxx. 1 5.

The Old Testament ends with the hopeful word, " He
will come." The New Testament opens with the triumph-
ant word, " He has come." In the Apocrypha there arc
no Messianic allusions beyond vague reference to the glory
of the Chosen People. But in other literature of this later

GODS REVET dTION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 155

age, such as the Bo. ^' of Enoch, the Psalms of Solomon, and
the P'ourth Book ol ^2sdras, there are visions of a coming
Deliverer, unlike the Old Testament prophecies in their
extravagant fancies and frequent trivialities ; unlike them
also in not acknowledging His essentially Divine Nature,
or the true import of I lis Human Nature. \et these
books speak of the Messiah as " Son of God " ; and from
the time of Daniel, " Son of Man " was universally regarded
as a Messianic title. Hence the import of John i. 34 ;
Matt. xvi. 13, xxvi. d"^, 64.

[Ic
)h-
ire
)ry
Iter

VH. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

That enlarged conception of God which taught the later
" rophcts of the second group to dwell on His dealings with
all mankind, appears in such titles as " Most High," " Lord
ind King of Heaven" (Dan.), "God of Gods" (Dan.,
Psalms), " God of Heaven " (Ezra, Neh., Dan., Psalms),
" Lord of all the Earth " (Zech.). " Lord of Hosts " occurs
87 times in the three Post-Exilian prophets. The Court
now for the first time set apart for Gentiles in the Temple
was a symbol of the truth so grandly proclaimed in Mai.
i, 1 1. " God of Jerusalem " occurs first in 2 Chron. xxxii.
19, and also in Ezra, marking the fact that only a part
of the Chosen People had remained faithful (cornp. Ezek
xlviii. 35).

The thought that their God was no mere national deity
such as other peoples acknowledged, and that He was no
longer in direct communication with them, led to a deeper
awe of Him, which showed itself in two ways, (rt) By a
".seasonable development" (to quote Westcott) of that
doctrine of angels as agents and messengers between God
and man, of which there are much earlier hints, {b) By
a false reverence which, at some unknown date, replaced
" Jehovah " by " Adonai " in Old Testament MSS., and
then translated that by a Greek word which in its turn was
literally translated " Dominus " in the Vulgate and " LORD "
in our English Bible (see p. 34). At last the Name
itself was only uttered in a whisper by the High Priest on
the Day of Atonement, and came to be regarded as alto-
gether mystical if not magical. This reticence was a sad

'•^,

liiti

156

SEVENTH TERM,

symbol of the fresh joy of spiritual life sinking under the
pressure of superstition. In the same spirit the Samaritans
replaced " Jehovah " by " Shemeh," which mea<is " the
Name."

Esther is the only book in the liiblc where the Name of
God does not occur. But in the Hebrew text the four
letters of the name Jehovah are found foui' times (Esth.
i. 20, V. 4, 13, vii. 7), and the five letters of the name
Ehych (Exod. iii. 14, R.V. margin) once (Esth. vii. 5), in
an acrostic form. These sentences arc the pivots of the
whole story, the arrangement of letters is in each case
too ingenious to be accidental, and three ancient MSS.
emphasize these letters in all the five passages. All this goes
to prove that the sacred Name was thus buried designedly
in a book, which is remarkable throughout for "that under-
current of faith which refers all to the Providence of Him
whose name is never mentioned." The nearest literary
parallel I know of is the signature Cyncwulf, Bishop of
Lindisfarnc, put to liis " Elena."

I ;:

'-\ %

VHI. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

When in 538 the Persians became masters of Jerusalem,
they ordered the re-building of the Temple in such generous
terms that the descendants of those who had reared the
Tabernacle with the spoils of E^gypt enriched the Second
Temple with the free-will offerings of Assyria. When in
480 the Persians became masters of Athens, they wrecked
its national sanctuary, the Parthenon, and, as recent exca-
vations on the Acropolis have proved, smashed all its
exquisite statuarj' into ten thousand fragments. These
two different effects were produced by the same cause, the
Persian religion, which took its name from Zoroaster or
Zarathustra, round whom the mists of ages have now
gathered .so thickly that scholars are not agreed as to
whether he was an enlightened human teacher (some have
ventured to fancy him Daniel's pupil) who was ultimately
regarded as a god, or a mythical god whom time trans-
formed into a man. (See Darmcsteter's Zend-avesta).
His followers worshipped without idolatry one supreme
God, all good and all knowing, Ahura Alazda. The Evil

MAN'S HE I. ATI ON TO GOD IN WORSHIP.

157

:a-

Onc, they snid, is at war with Ilim, and men must ran^c
themselves on one side or other in the conOict, which will
end in the triumph of good. (Both the creed and the race
who professed it are now represented by the Parsis who
iicx) years w^o took rcfu^jje from rclii::jious persecution in
India, whence their creed had originally sprung 1400 years
before.) That God is a Spirit, and that He is One, had
been far more fully revealed to the Jews ages before, yet
they had worshipped Him idolatrously and gone after false
gods. They never repeated these sins after the Captivity,
and the extinction of them may be attributed not only to
the wholesome discipline of sorrow, to the substitution of
priestly for kingly rule, and to the new 7.eal of the teachers
of God's law ; but also to the inlluencc of Zoroastrianism,
which Judaism probably influenced in its turn, and to the
impressive sight of the destruction of Babylon's imposing
idolatries by the Persian iconoclasts, as Isaiah had foretold
in days when they seemed invincible (Isa. xxi. 9, xlvi. i, 2).,
So while the corrupted religion of the Ten Tribes does
not seem to have survived their transportation, the faith of
the Two, cherished by faithful Kings, Priests, and Prophets,
preserved their inextinguishable nationality, while its own
preservation became henceforth the great end of the restored
nation. Those three great historic ofnces were no longer
what they had been. Zerubbabcl's king.ship was a mere
shadow of the old royal rule. Zechariah's last vision (Zech.
vi.) had shown how in Maccaba^an days it was to be merged
in the priesthood. The crown is set on Joshua, not on
Zerubbabel. " That would have been confusing ; a seeming
restoration of the kingdom when it was not to be restored ;
an encouragement of the temporal hopes which were the
bane of Israel " {Pusey). The prophetic order had done
its work of expunging from God's worship the popular
heathenism. Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah
had blended its ideal (Micah vi. 8) with the priestly ideal
(Lev. xix. 2), and now the prophets and the condition de-
scribed in Amos iii. 7 had passed away, and the first effect
was an increased power of the priests, who must have been
almost as numerous in proportion to the population in
Judaea as the ecclesiastics in Papal Rome, and whose persons
were almost as sacred to the multitude as those of the

■A %

Hi.

I :

158

SEVENTH TERM.

IJr.'ilimins to the IHncliis now. Put three causes combined
t(» lesson this importance ultimately.

{li) The diminished ^lory of the Temple. If the decree
recorded in I''zra vi. was carried out, the Second Temple must
have been larger than Solomon's, and its worship was more
elaborate. It is characteristic of the age that, through the
Psalms we know more about its worship than about its walls,
more of its liturgy than of its structure. Hut the Holy of
Holies was empty. The Ark, for which the restored sacred
vessels were but a poor substitute, and round which their
religion had centred for nine centuries, had been carried i ^
to heaven (Rev. xi. 19), swallowed u[) by the earth, taken
by an angel to .some secret place, hidden on Geri/.im to
be found there at Messiah's coming (according to the
Samaritans), buried on Mount Nebo by Jeremiah in a place
that should not be known until God gathered His people
again together (2 Mace, ii.), or laid up in the mysterious
caverns of the Temple rock, once Araunah's granary
([ Chron. xxi. 20), where the wood was stored, by Josiah
(a curious inference from 2 Chron. xxxv. 3) or by Jeniniah.
Such were the six various traditions about it, and as no
one has entered the Temple caverns for ages it may be
there still.

{J}) The dispersion of the Jews, through which Jehovah's
worship was no longer associated only with the soil of
Palestine as it had once been (i Sam. xxvi. 19). When
a compact state had given place to a scattered church,
Synagogues, originating probably in the religious meetings
of the captives in Babylon, became numerous, and were
" the inspiring soul and abiding nurture of Judaism "
{Geikic). Finding out the inevitable results of withdrawal
from all ordinary religious privileges (which are too often
illustrated in our remote colonies m. v), the exiles, whose
two saving influences at first had been :he personal teaching
of Ezekiel and the literary teaching of the Psalms, deter-
mined that wherever ten Jews settled a congregation must
be formed, if only in a little river-side oratory (Acts xvi. 13).
So the synagogue gradually grew up, though we find
few mentions of it until after the Maccabitan war. To a
great extent its ritual reproduced that of the Temple, but
it had neither sacrifices nor priests. The public worship

MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP.

'59

ire

which was now the chief witness to God's Presence amoiipf
IheUi was conducted by laymen learned in the Law, and
consisted chiefly of prayer, a short sermon, and, above all,
that stated reading of the Law which had been inaugurated
by Moses and firmly established by Kzra. When the
Syrian persecution made copies of the Law scarce, a second
lesson from the Prophets was added to the daily service
(Luke iv. i6, 17).

{c) The supplantinjT of the hierarchy of caste by the
hierarchy of education. The Scribes orii^inally were re-
gistrars or clerks (Jcr. lii. 25) and royal secretaries (2 Kinj^s
xii. ro\ He/.ekiah seems to have employed them first
in transvi.ibing and preservinf^ ancient writings (Prov.
XXV. i), and from the times of Haruch and Ezra their main
work was handing down, expounding and enforcing the
words of God, no longer a living voice through His prophets,
but fixed in a Book whose growing value to the Jew may
best be estimated from Psalm cxix., " the golden alphabet
of Hebrew faithfulness." To these scribes (or " lawyers "
to call them by their less official name) the ancient authority
of priest and prophet was transmitted ; and our modern
clergy as " messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the
Lord " {Ordenng of Priests) go back rather to Ezra's pulpit
than to Samuel's college or to Aaron's altar.

All Christians are spoken of as kings and priests, God
still makes known His truth to them by the Holy Spi»'it as
He did to the prophets of old ; the princes of Christendom
" rule all states and degrees committed to their charge by
God" (xArticle XXXVH.), and "from the Apostles' time
there have been orders of ministers in Christ's Church " for its
regulation as an organised society. But the Church owns
no earthly supreme head, offers no daily sacrifice for sins,
and acknowledges no new prophetic messages from God.
Christ only is our King, Priest, and Prophet in the full
sense of these words now. The modification of those three
ancient offices after 536 already foreshadows " the more
excellent ministry " and " the better covenant " yet to come
(Heb. viii. 6).

From the Post- Exilian Jews v/e may learn much con-
cerning zeal fo'! ' od's honour and love for God's word.
But while every error in religion is the distortion of a truth,

^11

Ill

I ■ Tl'

I :

1 60

SEVENTH TERM.

there is no religious truth that has not at some time been
distorted into an error. The intensely national character
of their religion degenerated into a haughty spirit of cxclu-
siveness and an arrogant assumption of superiority to all
other men. They doubted that a Jew could be lost or a
Gentile saved, and the Book of Sifri in the Talmud maintains
that " a single Israelite is of more worth in God's sight
than all the nations of the world." Their zeal for the law
of Moses, which had never been so rigidly observed, degene-
rated into a hardening of living principles to dead rules.
Their three favourite maxims were : Be discreet in judging,
Train up manj^ scholars, Make a hedge around the Law.
That hedge of elaborate tradition not only emphasized and
fixed the Law, but gradually choked it with formulas and
mere external observances. " It is a well-known principle
in history that when the ceremonial is elevated to the same
rank with the moral, the latter will soon be lost sight of"
{Stalker), and so " duty had ceased to be infinite." All these
types of degeneracy illustrate and arc abundantly illustrated
by the New Testament.

IX. Questions.
(See p. 13, 18.)

fQucstions II., v., VII., IX., XL, XII., XVI., XVIII., XXIII., XXVIII.,
and XXXI., may be answered with help of any books.]

I. Find three lists of precious stones in the Bible. (3.)

II. Illustrate Ezck. xxxiv. by quoting 20 other passages
from the Old and New Testament in which God's relation
to man is spoken of under the same metaphor. (15.)

III. Without referring to Daniel's book, prove that its
author was a prophet and a man of faith, very wise and
very righteous. What passages in Daniel are quoted or
referred to in the New Testament? (12.)

IV. Consider Daniel as a type of Christ. Do you agree
with the statement that he is " the most perfect of all Scrip-
ture characters " ? (15.)

V. What may we learn from the writings of this period
as to the nature and ministry of angels ? Of how many
archangels do we hear in Scripture ? (12.)

VL Give a very concise history of what occurred between

QUESTIONS.

i6i

B.C. 192 1 and B.C. 1490111 quotations from {not references
to) the Psalms of this period. (15.)

VII. Did those who returned from the Captivity represent
twelve tribes or two ? (9.)

VIII. The Second Temple was built " according to the
command of God and the decree of Cyrus," both issued
before the Return. Which prophet pictured its establish-
ment, and where do we ^md the decree completely
quoted ? (2.)

IX. Briefly enumerate the particulars in which the
Second Temple differed from the First Temple. (8.)

X. Give six New Testament references showing what
constitutes the Temple of the Christian Dispensation. (6.)

XI. Of how many Passovers and of what notable events
occurring at the Feast of Tabernacles is there record in the
Old Testament f (9.)

XII. Mention under descriptive titles the eight visions
of Zech. i. — vi., very shortly indicating the significance of
each. (24.)

XIII. From what opposed monr.rchs of earlier times
were Mordecai and Haman respectively descended ? How
is the group of captives to which Mordecai
characterised by Jeremiah ? (4.)

XIV. Explain why intermarriage with aliens was pro-
hibited to Israel. (5.)

XV. Name a good man falsely accused of wishing to
make himself a king, and find a New Testament parallel. (2.)

XVI. How far was the solemn national compact described
in Neh. x. 28-39 observed afterwards? (5.)

XVII. Chronologically, who is the latest person men-
tioned by name in the Old Testament ? (2.)

XVIII. Illustrate Hcb. xi. 33-8 from the history of the
period from B.C. 606 to A.D. i. (16.)

XIX. Where is common prayer first mentioned as part
of the public worship of God ? Show that prayer became
more and ritual less important after the Captivity. (6.)

XX. Where do these expressions first occur : " the Jews,"
" the Holy Land," " the Holy City " ? (6.)

XXI. I'^ight rebellious questions are asked by the Jews
in answer to God's pleadings through Malachi. Quote in
each case the pleading and the question. (4.)

belonged

f«'!

\ 1

i ;

I t

M
i!

162

SEVENTH TERM.

-Ezck.
Zcch.

XXII. Find eight New Testament quotations from
IIa,t:[<^ai, Zcchariah, and Malachi. (8.)

XXI I I. Explain briefly the following passages :-
xxviii. 14 ; Uan. iii. 25 ; Neh. viii. 8 ; Hag. i. 2
i. 21, viii. 19, ix. 13, xit. 1 1, xiii. 6 ; Mai. iv. 6. (30.)

XXIV. What allusions are therein the prophets of this
period to {(i) the Garden of Eden, {U) the institution of
marriage, (r) Abraham, (c/) Esau, ie) the Exodus, (/) the
\j^\\ gn^cn on Iloreb, {g) David, iji) Alexander the Great,
(z) the Maccabees. (14.)

XXV. Make a list of the chief names of God in the
writings of this period. (30.)

XXVI. Quote ten sentences from Psalm cxix. (R.V.) in
which tl.\e Scriptures arc called by ten different names. (5.)

XXVII. Name the only historical Old Testament book
in which Palestine is not referred to, and the only prophetic
b(;()k that conta'ns no clear Messianic allusion. (2.)

XXVIII. P'ind the earliest Biblical allusions to {a) the
king of Assyria, (Z") Nineveh, (r) the Chaldeans, {d) Babylon,
{/) Persia, (/) the Grecians, {g) the Romans, (li) Cyprus ,
(/) Spai)i, {j) India, {k) China, (/) T/ic ancestors of the
present nations of Europe. (Those in italics are mentioned
under other names.) (12.)

XXIX. From the Old Testament prophets generally
quote passages enforcing the fourth commandment. (7.)

XXX. From the Old Testament prophets generally
quote passages anticipating th2 "mystery" spoken of in
Eph. iii. 3-6, and give six Old Testament instances of
Gentiles spiritually blest by contact with the Chosen
People. (16.)

XXXI. P>om the direct prophecies (not general allusions)
in the Old Testament construct a description of the
Messiah's character, offices, and life on earth. (70.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — [a) "The
light dwcUeth with Mim." ib) " Light is sown for the
righteous." (r) " I will curse your blessings." {d) " God
turned the curse into a blessing." {/) " There shall be no
more curse." (/) " I will make them a blessing." {g) " Thou
hast made me glad throi'gh Thy work." (//) " The Lord
hath made them joyful." (z) " The joy of the Lord is your
strength." (y) "'The day that I do make " (/•) " Who

QUESTIONS.

163

makcth winds His messengers." (/) " Boys and girls play-
ing in the streets." {in) "A people near unto Him."
{n) " Satisfied with good." {o) " Every one unto his work."
(/)) " Be strong and work." ((/) " Show the house." (r) Love
truth and peace." (s) " Teach ye him that knowcth not."
(i) " O that ye would hear His voice." (if) " In their
security shall he destroy many." (v) " We are His."
(w) " Because they wrought for Me." (,r) "In his hand
shall be destruction." (j) " I shall not die, but live."
(s) " Righteousness shall make His footsteps a way to walk
in." (26.)

For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.

ri:

^ l

! ^ i

I Si

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III

>fi

1^1

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V t

164

SEVEN! H TERM.

The Six Centuries from Judaii's Fall to the
Birth of Christ.

(i) B.C. 606 — 536 (70 years). TJie Subjection to Babylon
'y..^ r..c. 536 — 332 (204 years). The Dommation of Persia.

(3) J!.C. 332 — 301 (31 years). TJie Domination of Macedon.

(4) B.C. 301 — 198 (103 years). The Domination of Egypt.

(5) V :. 198 — 168 (;;o years), TJie Domination of Syria.

(6) B.C. 168 — 6}) (105 years). Independence under the
Asinoncans.

(7; :3.C. 6t, — ^ (59 years). The Domination of Rome.

" Thv' great epochs of revelation are widely separated
b\' ag( s wJTich serve at once for seed-time and harvest"
( iVesi' !'i I. Such were the periods of silence before Abraham's
Call and the missions of Moses, Samuel, and the Baptist,
vv'licn (jod no longer spoke directly to men, but left them to
then •'c'ves to live out the law He had already given. We
mu.'. icquirc some knowledge ofthe four centuries of Divine
silc'.i e whicli form the last of these periods, if we would
understand the state of affairs when our Lord came. Four
centuries never brought about a greater change in any
country than they brought about then in Palestine. The
Htcracure of this age, which we call the Apocrypha, is far
less famili.'ir than the Old Testament and the New Testa-
ment, for it was not placed in the Canon by the Jews
or by the Church, in accordance with the well-established
principle " no living Prophet, no further Scripture." The
character and names of its various books are given in the
Sixth Article, each is described in § vi. of "Oxford Helps,"
and the books themselves arc bound up with many old
Bibles. External and internal evidence both place it on a
lower level than the Canon, but it forms a valuable link
between the Old and New Testament, so we do well to
make some acquaintance with it. Its most noteworthy books
are, from the historical point of view, i and 2 Maccabees ;
and from the literary point of view, Ecclesiasticus, represent-
ing the Hebraic Judaism of Palestine, and full of practical
piety and wise humanity ; and Wisdom, representing the

le
veil to
books
cabees ;
rcscnt-
actical
ng the

FROM JUDAirC FALL TO CHRIST'S BIRTH. 165

Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, and full of earnest
thought and high philosophy, the last and fairest growth of
Judaism. There is no certain reference to an Apocryphal
book in the recorded words of Christ, but S.James in his
short Epistle refers five times to Wisdom and 15 times to
ICcclesiasticus, and there arc other traces of the Apocrypha
in the New Testament.

Wc will now look at this period of history, taking for our
guide Dan. xi., whose circumstantial details of the first 240
years make it unlike any other Old Testament prophecy.
Its picture of Judah's suzerains passes by a transition hard
to mark into c far-fv^achmg vi.' ion of the end of the world.
This outline should be compared with § xiii. of " Oxford
Helps," and also, if possible, with some such account of
the period as those in Smith's " New Testament History,"
Angus's " Haiidbook," Milman's " History of the lews."
Wcstcott's " Introduction 10 the Study of the Gospels," or
Stanley's " Jew'\sli Church,'* vol, iii.

Perfect n'ligious liberty'' and sympathy with their rulers,
born of a comiiioii monoihcism and hatred of idolatry, made
the Persian Domination one of the h, ,)picst periods of Jewish
history. Of the cen .dry following Nehemi.ah's rule we know
almost nothing. Then thj young Greek conqueror of the
world, whose care, r t:- viv'dly pictured in Daniel, and who
believed himself t • be the Heaven-sent reconciler and paci-
ficator of all manlvind, spared and favoured Juda.>a, and
Hn' cd East and West in a bond which has ne^^er since been
b' xn, thus preparing tiic way for Christianity with its
1- ^tcrn cradle and its Western throne. His work was per-
petuated in Alexandria, the city he founded to bear his
1 me, a second capital of the Jewish faith henceforth, and
the common portal of the East and West to this day. The
-oiritual gains of the Persian period were followed by th
intellectual gains of the Greek period, and on the banks 01
the Nile a new Israel, trained in all the wisdom of a new
h'gypt, arose. After x'\lexander's death in 323, the maritime
regions of Palestine were for some 20 years buffeted in the
strife between his successors. Then followed a peaceful
century under five Macedonian Kings of Egypt, whose
capital was Alexandria. All are mentioned as " Kings of
tlic South " in Dan. xi. They were, —

jJira

15
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i66

SEVENTH TERM.

(i) Ptolemy Sotcr, 320 — 283 (Dan. xi. 5).

(2) Ptolemy Philadclphus, 285 — 247 (v. 6).

(3) Ptolemy Euergetes, 247 — 222 (v. 7, 9).

(4) Ptolemy Philopater, 222 — 205 (v. 11).

(5) Ptolemy Epiphanes, 205 — 181 (v. 14).

Under Ptolemy Soter lived Simon the Just, the greatest
High Priest between Joshua the son of Jehozadak and
Jonathan the Asmoncan, He is said to have finished
Pvzra's work by completing the Old Testament Canon and
Nchemiah's work by fortifying the Temple. Under Ptolemy
Philadelphus was produced the Scptuagint. The Greek
tongue had already proved itself the most perfect expression
of human thought by becoming practically universal, and
now God's Word appeared in what was hereafter to be the
language of the New Testament. The Septuagint has been
well called " The first Apostle of the Gentiles." Ptolemy
Philopater alienated the Jews by forcing his way into the
Holy of Holies, and cruelly persecuting them when a super-
natural terror drove him forth. He was then at war with
the Syrian king who had just taken " the well-fenced city "
of Sidon. Him the Jews rashly welcomed as a deliverer,
and thus passed under the sway of three Macedonian
Kings of Syria, whose capital was Antioch, and who are
mentioned in Dan. xi. as " Kings of the North." They
were, —

(i) Antiochus the Great, 223 — 187 (Dan. xi. 10, 15).

(2) Selcucus IV., 187 — 175 (v. 20).

(3) Antiochus Epiphanes, 175 — 164 (v. 21, etc.).

Hitherto Israel's foreign suzerains, while exacting tribute,
had respected their customs and left the conduct of their
affairs to their own princes and priests. To the Ptolemies
their relations had been almost wholly friendly, and they
were yielding more and more to the spell of Greek art and
culture. But between them and the Syrian Kings there
was antagonism from the beginning, ending in the wanton
attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes (a half-mad despot whose
character reappears in great measure in Nero 200 years
later) to Hellenise Judaja completely, to substitute the
heathen " g- d of fortresses " for the God of Israel, and to
extinguish ihcir ancient religion by a ruthless persecution,

! Si

ribute,

of their

Icmics

they

irt and

there

kvanton

whose

years

te the

and to

cution,

FROM JUDAH'S FALL TO CHRIST'S BIRTH. 167

which proved in the end its truest safeguard. The deter-
mined effort to destroy or deface every copy of the Law
increased love for God's Word and zeal for its m»ultiplication ;
the determined effort to trample out their nation roused an
indomitable spirit of patriotism, which gave unity and com-
plete independence to a race that had been a subject race
for nearly 4^ centuries. It was for this crisis, which settled
whether the true faith would perish or prevail, that the
wonderful Book of Daniel had been "sealed up" (Dan.
xii. 4). " Its sword-edge utterance, its piercing exhortation to
endure in face of the despot, and its promise full of Divine
joy of near and sure salvation " {Ewahi) quickened their
courage, and its earliest glorification of the mcV 'i spirit
spoke to the hearts of the first martyrs of whom history gives
us any details. The story of this great struggle for civil and
religious liberty is the finest episode of the whole period.
Mattathias, a descendant of Eleazar, son of Aaron, had five
heroic sons, who achieved Judah's deliverance and founded
a family which ruled for more than a century. From its
ancestor Chashmon it was called Asmonean, or Maccab.x'an
from a word meaning "hammer" (comp. Jer. 1, 23, and
Charles Muriel), or from the initials of the first sentence of
Exod. XV. II. These priestly rulers were, —

(i) Judas, 166 — 161

(2) Jonathan, i6i-

(3) Simon, 143—1;

(4) John Hyrcanus I., 135 — 106. Son of Simon.

(5) Aristobulus I., 106 — 105 ) Sons of Hyr-

(6) Alexander Jann.neus, 105 — 78 j canus I.

(7) Alexandra, 78 — 69. Widow of Jannajus.

(8) Hyrcanus II., 3 months ") o r t

/^( A • 4. u 1 ^\ r^ r^ f Sons of Janna^us
9 Avistobulus II 69-63 \ and Alexandra.
(8) Hyrcanus U., 63— 40 )
(10) Antigonus, 40 — 37. Son of Aristobulus II,

Judas is the Wallace of Hebrew history. No one ever
united more generous valour with a better cause, and of all
military chiefs he accomplished the largest ends with the
smallest means. As Israel's preserver in its extremity, he has
a place beside Moses, Samuel, and David. In 168 the stand-
ard was raised. In 167 he won decisive victories at Samaria,

[61 "J

[ — 143 \
135 )

Sons of Mattathias.

Si'

: (•■'.1

i68

SEVENTH TERM.

1' ii

( !

Bcthhoron and Emmaus in Philistia, and at Bcthzur in i66,
thus regaining the Temple. The crowning conflict of Adasa
or Bcthhoron, the Marathon of Jewish history, took place
in i6i, on the scene of Joshua's greatest triumph in 1450,
traditionally also the scene of Sennacherib's destruction in
701. The army of Judas "advanced to victory," says the
historian, " fighting with their hands and praying with their
hearts." In the same year, the great " Hammer of the
Gentiles " fell at Elcasa, the Hebrew Thermopylaj, dying,
as all his brothers did, a violent death.

The last undoubted representative of the High Priest
Joshua fled in 167 from the desecrated Temple to Egypt,
and at Leontopolis founded a secondary rather than a rival
Temple, to form a religious centre for the Hellenistic Jews
of the Dispersion, thus professing to fulfil Isa. xix. 18, 19.
This lasted for three centuries. Great was the degradation
of the high priesthood, when in 162 the Syrians gave it
to Alcimus, who had placed himself at the head of the
Hellenising party. \n Jonathan, however, a new and noble
line of high priests was instituted. But alteration of a
succession which had remained unbroken for nearly 900
years paved the way for further changes, and one Rabbi
finds an explanation of Prov. x. 27 in the fact that during
410 years the First Temple had 18 high priests, while the
Second Temple, during 426 years, had more than 300.

Simon snapped the last Syrian fetter when in 142 he
took the citadel that over-awed God's sanctuary, and his
successor saw the issue of a 40 years' strife in the formal
recognition of Judah's independence in 128. Hynramis /.
also conquered her two nearest relatives and bitterest
enemies, Edom and Samaria, and in 109 razed the rival
temple of Gerizim to the ground, thus triumphantly closing
the 60 years of ecclesiastical commonwealth which form
the first and best half of the Maccabttan age.

Seventy years of ecclesiastical monarchy (the last '^'j
merely nominal) followed. Fo*" the last six Maccaba:;an
rulers assumed the title, not of " King of Israel," but of
" King of the Jews " (contrast John i. 49 and Matt, xxvii. ^j^^
the new phrase marking the new character of the monarchy.

Their Greek names indicate the

growmg

stren<Tth of

Hellenism. Already in the reign of Hyrcanus the party

'1 1

FROM JUDAH'S FALL TO CHRISTS BIRTH. 169

>sing

37
la;an

k of
37),

|chy.
of
larty

strife between the two opposed sects of Pharisees and
Sadducees, henceforth to play so farge a part in Jewish
history, had begun. The self-seeking ambition of the later
Asmoneans led to family discord and political confusion,
till Alcxaudcr, grandson of the Simon whose wisdom and
valour " had made his honourable name renowned unto
the end of the world," was a detested tyrant, and six years
of civil war between his two sons ended in appeal to the
arbitration of Rome. That ever encroaching and irrcsi*5tible
power restored Hyrcanus II. to nominal rule, and from
i;.C. 37 to A.D. 6 an Kdomite dependant of Rome and his
son held imposing sovereignty over Jacob's descendants.
But practically from B.C. 63 to the awful close of their
history as a nation, the Jews had no king but Ca:sar.
Aristobulus III,, grandson of both Aristobulus II. and
Hyrcanus II., was the last Asmonean high priest, and his
beautiful and ill-fated sister Mariamnc, wife to the Herod
of Matt. ii. I, and grandmother of the Herod of Acts xii. i,
and of Herodias, was the last of her race. Sec " Oxford
Helps," § xxii.

During these six centuries Judaism had gained elasticity
of shape without losing distinctness of principle. But its
hierarchy had degenerated into a mere sect, its kingdom
had ended in foreign usurpation. It had been weighed
and found wanting, yet " a missionary nation was waiting
to be charged with a heavenly commission, and a world
had been unconsciously prepared to welcome it."

To sum up. We have seen the nation which was chosen
to represent the whole race, created in God's image (First
Term), trained to His likeness (Second Term), made to
have dominion (Third and Fourth Terms), falling and
thwarting His designs (Fifth and Sixth Terms), and
restored by His grace (Seventh Term). 215 years of
wandering for its ancestors; 215 years of bondage in
Egypt ; 450 years of scruggle for mastery in Palestine ;
450 years of national independence ; 300 years' domination
of the East, i.e., of Babylon and Persia ; 300 years'
domination of the West, i.e., of Greece and Rome ; such
was the historical preparation of the Chosen People for the
greatest event in human history.

ISS

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THE PSALMS.

ARRANGED IN TIIKIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE.
I. History and PuurosK of the Psalms.

A Mil) inanifnld differences of opinion and usa^^c, cill who
\V()rshi[) God agree that their devoti(Mi may best be
uttered in i\\c words of an ancient volume of poems which
we call the PsAl.MS, from a Greek word meaning songs
having a musical accompaniment, which its I Febrew authors
called by the less comprehensive name of Tchillim, that is,
Praises (see Psalm cv. 2, R.V. and A.V.). Sung f)r said ;
in prose translation or metrical paraphrase ; in the vulgar
tongue, or in Hebrew, Greelc, or Latin ; within the stately
Anglican cathedral, enriched by the heritage of many ages,
yet ever adapting itself to the times ; in the sternly simple
Scottish kirk ; in the Nonconformist chapel, bared of all
that does not commend itself to a particular body of
Christians ; in the Roman church, crowded with signs of
traditional observance ; in the Greek or Oriental church,
which recalls to us a yet dimmer past .: and in the Jewish
synagogue, from whose ceremonial that of all Christendom
sprang. Psalms are sung fervently, constantly, sometimes
as the only, always as the chief form of spiritual song.

We open our Bibles to find a Bible within the Bible,
" an epitome of th' • Bible " (to quote the phrase of
Athanasius). I^lscwhere we have God's words to us, here
are our words to God, our answer to His revelation given
in the rest of the Scriptures. Hence to every age and
church, and to each pious heart, this is the best known
and best loved part of 1 loly Writ. Its naturalness and
simplicity, its fresh joyousness and tender pathos, its

170

HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF THE PSALMS. 171

[itcly

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lib'lc,

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and

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and

its

diversity and breadth, its fervour of feeling and depth of
thouj^ht, its sympathy with every mode of human life and
every phase of nature, above all its spirituality, make it
worth more and more to the individual with advancing
years, and to the race with further evolution of the ages.
" What sadness and melancholy comes over me at times,
and I find myself shedding tears like a child ! Then
those wonderfully consoling Psalms df David and Asaph
send a thrill of joy into my whole being." So wrote in his
Journal, Alexander Mackay, pioneer missionary to Uganda,
when persecution was raging against the church there in
March 1887. The Psalms cannot lose their value while
man longs for a personal relation to God, and feels that
such a relation is possible. Therefore they have ever been
an inspired manual of devotion in its sevenfold form :
(i) Confession of sin; (2) Supplication for spiritual gifts;
(3) Petition for temporal blessings ; (4) Praise and thanks-
giving ; (5) Self-dedication ; (6) Intercession ; (7) Medi-
tation upon God's words and works. Nor arc they a
manual of devotion only. " What is there necessary for
man to know which iie Psalms are not able to teach ? "
says Richard Hooker. "The choice and flower of all
things profitable in other books, the Psalms do both more
briefly contain and more movingly also express, by reason
of that poetical form wheix with they are written " ("Ecclesias-
tical Polity," Book V., ch. xxxviii.).

The Psalms were at once the national ballads and
national liturgy of Israel. They form an accompaniment
of sweetest music to her whole history, from the plaintive
Prayer of Moses to the last burst of praise in the restored
Temple, or rather from her birthday p.ean by the Red Sea
(Exod. XV.) to the calm thanksgiving 1500 years later in
the presence of the Lord's Christ, when the purpose of her
national existence was fulfilled (Luke ii. 29-32). This
music was not continuous, but specially enriched particular
periods. Its chief age was the age of David, and the fact
that he is the greatest lyric poet of the world may account
for the fact that Hebrew poetry throughout is lyric rather
than epic or dramatic. His rare genius mapped out the
path of all its later achievements.

What use the Jews made of this their Prayer Book, and

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THE PSALMS.

how God's prophets not only sanctioned, but commanded
use of music, vocal and instrumental, in public worship, we
may gather from ,? Chron. v. 13, vii. 3, xx. 19-22, xxix.
25-30 ; Ezra iii. 10, 11 ; Nch. xi. 17, xii. 40-47. Wc read
how in the dailj service of the Second TenipV, after the
prayers and the burnt offering, the meat offering, and the
offering of incense, and the priestly benediction, the silver
trumpets sounded and the white-robed choir of Levites,
standing on the fifteen steps between the Court of Israel
and the Court of *:he Women, closed the service by singing
with instrumental accompaniment the Psalm for the day,
i.e.y one of these seven : xxiv., xlviii., Ixxxii , xciv., Ixxxi.,
xciii., xcii.

Such was the worship wnich the first Christians so
regularly attended (Acts ii. 42, R.V.) and upon it the
worship of the Church was shaped. The first example of
Christian Common Prayer we have is based upon a Psalm
(Acts iv. 24-30). Use of the Psalms in apostolic times is
shown in i Cor. xiv.' 26 ; Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16 ; James v.
13. In very early days they were sung by two choirs anti-
phonally, as they are sung in cathedrals now, and for 1 500
years the Glor-ia Patri has been added to them to express
the idea that Christians can enter more fully into the
meaning of these inspired songs than those who first wrote
and sang them. Luther, for instance, called his four
favourite Psalms (xxxii., li., cxxx., and cxliii.) Pauline,
saying they anticipated the great apostle's doctrine that
our trust is in God's forgiving mercy, not in our own
merits. In the Middle Ages, when our countrymen had
only a Latin Bible, they had the Psalms in English, and
these must have formed the best spiritual sustenance of
many a devout soul in the ages we call " dark." Our
Prayer Book version is more than 3 5O years old, being from
Cranmcr's Bible (1539), or more exactly Coverdale's (1535).

II. Authors of the Psalms.

(i) Moses, who wrote Psalm xc.

(2) David ; 73 Psalms are ascribed to him in the
headings, ii. is also called his in the New Testament, and
X. is evidently his. Of these 75, five are probably of later

AUTHORS OF THE PSALMS.

173

date, viz., Ixv., ciii., cxxii., cxxiv,, and cxliv. Hence we
may regard 70 as reaiiy his.

(3) Solomon ; two Psalms are ascribed to him in the
headings, and i., cxxviii., cxxxii. are probably his also,
making five in all.

(4) Asaph ; twelve Psalms are ascribed to him, of which
1., Ixxiii., and Ixxvii. are almost certainly his, and also most
probably Ixxviii., Ixxxi., and Ixxxii. The other six seem
to be of later date, of his school rather than his.

(5) Heman ; Ixxxviii. is ascribed to him, and eleven are
of his school, viz., Korahite.

(6) Ethan ; to him Ixxxix. is ascribed. On the last
three authors a few notes may be added. When David
first organised a full choral service for Divine worship, he
set apart for its maintenance the following three families of
prophets and singers, one from each of the Levit-e tribes.
They were like the " colleges " of bards in other nations.

{a) Of the tribe of Gershon, the sons of Asaph, i Chron.
XXV. 1-6; 2 Chron. v. 12, xx. 14, xxix. 13, 14, xxxv. 15; Ezra
ii. 41, iii. 10 ; Neh. vii. 44, xi. 17, 22, xii. 35. At their head
was Asaph, the son of Berachiah, a prophet (Matt. xiii. 35)
and musical composer, who is placed on a par with David
himself Joah, Hezekiah's chronicler, seems to have been
his descendant, i Chron. vi. 39, xv. 17, 19, xvi. 4-7, 37-42 ;
2 Chron. xxix. 30, xxxv. 1 5 ; Neh. xii. 46 ; 2 Kings xviii.
18, 37 ; Isa. xxxvi. 3, 22. (f?) Of the tribe of Kohath, the
Korahites, or Korathites, descendants of Korah, Kohath's
grandson (Num. xvi. i), also called sons of Heman
I Chron. ix. 19, xii. 6. At their head was Heman, son of
Joel, and grandson of Samuel, king's seer in the words of
God, and singer. He is probably to be identified with
Heman the Ezrahite {i.e., descendant of Zerah, son of
Judah), who was famed for his wisdom. His Levite ancestor
may have married a Judaean heiress, when he would be
reckoned in both tribes, i Kings iv. 31 ; i Chron. ii. 6,
yi. 33, XXV. 5, 6. if) Of the tribe of Merari, the sons of
Jeduthun. At their head was Ethan, or Jeduthun, son of
Kishi, king's seer and singer, probably to be identified
with the wise Ethan the Ezrahite. i Chron. vi. 44
(References in which more than one of these psalmists or
schools are named are given once only.)

r •;!

'• i

»74

THE PSALMS.

If^l!

Of the loi Psalms with headings we have now assigned
96 to their authors, and we have attributed five of the 49
anonymous Psalms to David or Solomon. This leaves
five doubtfully headed, and 44 anonymous, of whose author-
ship no definite account can be given.

III. The Division of the Psalter into Five Books.

This division may have been suggested by the five books
of Moses, and of the Prophets. (The Jews reckoned the
twelve minor prophets as one book.) The five books of
Psalms are roughly chronological, and were probably formed
in succession. Each closes with a doxology. They are
discriminated in the R.V.

Book i (Psalm i. — xli.) is the original Psalter, and was
probably formed by Solomon. Jehovah occurs 272 times,
and Elohim 15 times in it. It contains 39 Psalms by
David, one by Solomon (?), and one anonymous.

Book 2 (Psalm xlii. — Ixxii.) may have been compiled
later by Solomon ; others refer its formation to Hezekiah.
Elohim occurs five times as often as Jehovah in it. It
contains 17 Psalms by David, one by Solomon, one by
Asaph, eight Korahite, and four anonymous.

Book 3 (Psalm Ixxiii. — Ixxxix.) may have been compiled
by Hezekiah or perhaps by Josiah. Elohim and Jehovah
occur equally often. It is liturgical in character, and
contains one Psalm by David, one by Ethan, eleven
Asaphite, and four Korahite.

Book 4 (Psalm xc. — cvi.) was probably compiled after the
Captivity. Jehovah is the dominant name. It contains
one Psalm by Moses, one by David, and fifteen anonymous.

Book 5 (Psalm cvii. — cl.) may have been compiled by
Ezra. It is mainly liturgical, and uses Jehovah chiefly
It contains twelve Psalms by David, three by Solomon (?),
and 29 anonymous.

IV. Psalms not in the Psalter.

Of these there are about 25 in the Old Testament and
three in the New Testament : viz., four by Moses (Exod. xv. ;
Num. xxi. 14, 15, and 17, 18; and Deut. xxxii.), one by
Deborah (Judg. v.), one by Hannah (i Sam ii.), four by

THE HEADINGS TO THE PSALMS.

175

David (2 Sam. i., xxii., xxiii. ; i Chron. xvi.), two by
Isaiah (Isa. xii. and xxvi.), ten short prayers by Jeremiah,
one by Jonah, one by Habakkuk, and one by Hezekiah
(Isa. xxxviii.), one by the Virgin Mary, one by Zacharias,
and one by Simeon (Luke i., ii.). Nearly all these are
easily discriminated in the R.V. The five other poetical
Books of the Old Testament may each be regarded as the
expansion of a Psalm, cp. Job and Psalm xxxix. ; the
Song of Songs and Psalm xlv. ; Proverbs and Psalm i. ;
Ecclesiastes and Psalm xc. ; Lamentations and Psalm Ixxix.

V. The Headings to the Psalms.

The authors of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of
the Old Testament made in B.C. 285, and often referred to
as the LXX.), evidently did not understand all the head-
ings to the Psalms, which must therefore be older than the
LXX. Some were probably affixed by the authors, others
later from conjecture or tradition. The most thorough
and cautious scholars hesitate about setting them aside, save
in a few cases where internal evidence is clearly against
them. Four insufficient reasons for rejecting a larger
number have been given, (i) That these Psalms contain
words and grammatical forms of later date than that
assigned to them. Our knowledge of the stages of Hebrew,
and of the possible modernisations of copyists, is too
slender to warrant the sweeping conclusions sometimes
based on considerations of this kind. (2) That the word
"temple" must refer to Solomon's building. But see
I Sam. iii. 3. (3) That definite hope for the future life is
later than the time of David. This is pure assumption.
See 2 Sam. xii. 23. (4) That all acrostic forms are late.
Of this there is no clear proof, and at least two acrostics
contain strong indications of David's authorship.

The Hebrew headings are explained in so many books
that I need only say here that Nehiloth, Neginoth, and
Gittith refer to musical instruments. Sheininit/i, Alaviothy
Higgaion, Shiggaion, and Selah are musical directions.
MutJi-labben, Aijeleth Shahar, Shoshannim, Shushan-Eduthy
Mahalath, Leannofh, Al-tashheth, and perhaps Jonath elem
rehokiniy are names of well-known tunes to which the
Psalms in question were to be sung.

176

THE PSALMS.

\^- l\\

■I ■ :!.

Six Psalms (xvi.,lvi.-lx.) are called Alkhtam, which means
either " a golden song," one of special richness and beauty ;
or " a mystery," one of deep import. Thirteen (xxxii.,
xHi., xliv., xlv. lii.-lv., Ixxiv., lxxviii.,lxxxviii., Ixxxix., cxHi.)
arc called MascJtil, meaning didactic, for the purpose of
giving instruction. Fifty-five are addressed to the Chief
Musician^ that is, the choirmaster or precentor. These arc
liturgical adaptations of the psalmist's personal experience
to the congregation. Fifteen short Psalms (cxx.-cxxxiv.)
of singular tenderness and bea'.cy form a Psalter within the
Psalter, and arc called SoJigs of Ascents or Pilgrim Songs,
either because they were sung by the people going up to
the great feasts (Isa. xxx. 29), or by the captives returning
to the Holy City, or by the Lcvites on the fifteen steps in
the Temple. Fifteen begin or end with HallelnjaJi (civ.-cvi.,
cxi.-cxiii., cxv.-cxvii., cxxxv,, cxlvi.-cl.). Four begin with
Hodu (which means " give thanks "), and may be termed
Eucharistic Psalm^ (cv., cvii., cxviii., cxxxvi.).

Six are characterised as New Songs (xxxiii., xl., xcvi.,
xcviii., cxliv., cxlix. See Isa. xlii. 10 ; Rev. v. 9, xiv. 3).
Six are Morning Hymns (iii., v., xix., Ivii., Ixiii., cviii.), and
t^rce are Evening Hymns (iv., viii., cxliii.). These nine are
all David's. Five are called Prayers, viz., three of David's
(xvii., Ixxxvi., cxlii.) ; also xc. and cii. Two (xxxviii.,
Ixx.) are entitled " To bring to remembrance or record'^
(i Chron. xvi. 4), which may mean "to remind God of
man." See Psalm cvi. 4 ; Rev. viii. 4 ; Acts x. 4 ; Lev. ii. 2.

Seven from early times have been reckoned Penitential
(cii., cxxx., and five by David, vi., xxxii., xxxviii., li., and
cxliii.). Three are Imprecatory, that is, they call down
Divine judgment upon the wicked (xxxv., Ixix., cix.).
As the language of God's servant about sin they are
absolutely right ; as the language of God's anointed King
upholding justice against wrong they are relatively right ;
as the language of personal desire for vengeance on
particular j/^^^rj- they express the imperfect enlightenment
of the most enlightened ere Christ's new law was uttered,
and differ widely from His sternest denunciations (Matt.
V. 44 ; Luke ix. 55. Contrast 2 Chron. xxiv. 22 and
Acts vii. 60).

Nine Psalms and five other Bible poems are Acrostic^

THE TWELVE MESSIANIC PSALMS.

177

that is, each verse begins with a different letter of the
Hebrew alphabet (Psalms ix., x., xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii.,
cxi. * cxii.,* rxix., cxlv. ; Lam. i., ii., iii.,* iv. ; Prov. xxx.
10-31. Only those marked * are perfectly regular in struc-
ture). They are chiefly of a didactic character, and their
form seems to have been adopted as an aid to memory for
private devotion or public recitation.

A number of the Psalms are, more or less completely,
Historical. These not only supplement and confirm other
records, but are an illustration of how all the events of the
past contain lessons for the present. Unlike any other
national poems, they are thoroughly patriotic without in
any way feeding national vanity. They show that all
Israel's glory came from God, and all her misfortunes were
due to herself. Observe lastly that many of the later
Psalms arc made up of quotations from earlier ones. Three
are complete reproductions, viz., liii., Ixx., and cviii.

'5'

:e on
Inment

ttered,
|(Matt.
and

crostic^

VI. The Twelve Messianic Psalms.

Seven Psalms refer to the Suffering, Risen, Ascended
Christ of the First Advent (xxii., xl., Ixix., xvi., cxviii., xxiv ,
Ixviii.) ; five to the Glorified Christ of the Second Advent
(ii., xlv., Ixxii., xcvii., ex.). In saying this we do not assert
that every word of these is Messianic. They contain acknow-
ledgments of sin, etc., which are inapplicable. Nor do we
deny that the whole Psalter may be regarded as Messianic.
The directly prophetic Psalms, such as ii., xlv., ex., are few.
Even these describe a promise of good things to come
connected in the first instance with David and Solomon,
but only finding complete fulfilment in their greater Son.
Nearly all the Psalms are, however, typical. "Thoughts
beyond their thought to those high bards were given "
{Keble) ; so when the Psalmist protests against scorn and
abuse, enmity and treachery, which sought to ensnare and
destroy a blameless man ; when he pictures suffering inno-
cence and vindicated righteousness ; when he utters his
delight in the word and will of God, we know that
unconsciously he is speaking in the name of Another, that
the Psalter is the Prayer Book not only of Israel and of
the Church, but also of Christ. Two lines of thought,

T78

THE rSAr.MS

traceable throuj^hout, converge in Christ, {a) God drawing
near to man, (b) Humanity in the person of its noblest
Representative exalted to God. Before they rejected our
Lord the Jews freely acknowledged the Messianic applica-
tion of the most remarkable prophetic and typical psalms.
Just as their whole religion was ultimately resolvable into
a Messianic hope, so their whole method of Scripture study
was Messianic application. They have since tried to explain
these Psalms away. Our best guide to their interpretation
is the use made of them by Christ and His Apostles. New
Testament references v/ill therefore suggest their interpre-
tation here. Two-thirds of the Old Testament quotations
in the New Testament are from the Psalms.

VH. Plan of this Sciiemk for the Psalter.

The Psalms arc arranged in chronological order so far as
that can be done, and we connect those whose dates and
authors cannr*- be discovered with periods which may have
produced t' ::'> and which are certainly illustrated by them.
We have n. oom for learned arguments and long lists of
authorities ; but in weighing the external evidence of the
headings and the internal evidence of language, style, and
allusions, I have availed myself of the works of not a few
good scholars who have given special attention to the
Psalms. For a clear, simple, and comprehen.sive account of
them, I know none better than that in the later editions of
Bishop Barry's " Teacher's Prayer Book," now issued in a
separate volume. For a fuller exposition see Dr. Perowne's
" Psalms " (Murray io-t. 6d).

Our plan of dealing with each Psalm is this. After
pointing out by whom, when, and under what circumstances
it was written, with a reference for those circumstances,
I give its number in the Psalter, a name indicating its
character and theme, a summary of its leading thought, New
Testament quotations or parallels, and one or two explana-
tory notes if needed. Finally, mention is rride of its use in
the Anglican Church, in the Jewish Synagogue, and else-
where, and its special associations with the faithful of the past.
Throughout I use the Revised Version, which is particularly
helpful for the Psalms, as it clears up many difficult

OF THE DAYS OF MOSES.

179

rawing
noblest
;cd our
pplica-
psalms.
jlc into
c study
explain
rotation
;. New
ntcrprc-
otations

.TER.

so far as
atcs and
nay have
by them,
g lists of
ce of the
tyle, and
lot a few
n to the
ccount of
ditions of
ucd in a
crowne's

After
mstances
mstances,
:ating its
ght, New
cxplana-
its use in
and else-
f the past,
rticularly
difficult

nassarrcs by its renderings, and enables us to follow their
poetical structure by its method of printing them.

Students of the Psalms as a whole would do well to
make out {(i) A chronologic il table of all the allusions to
past history, from the Creation to the accession of Saul,
noting which made the deepest impression on the national
mind. (<^) A collection of the Psalter's testimonies con-
cerning the state of man immediately after death, and the
duration and character of the life beyond the grave, {c) A
summary of the references to Jerusalem, as the holy city,
the abode of God ; as the royal city, the abode of the King ;
and as the centre of national life. Reference to the follow-
ing pages will be aided, if the arable numeral they assign
to each of the Psalms be written beside its roman numeral
in the student's ov\ n Bible.

It is to the devotional x:\.'Cs\Q.x than to the intellectual or
practical aspect of Christian life that the Psalms direct our
attention, and this is the aspect most likely to be overlooked
in the hurry and pressure of our daily life now. Much of
the restlessness and spiritual hunger so common in these
days is due to neglect of that communion with God which
is as necessary for our spiritual welfare as the pure breath
of heaven is for our physical welfare. Great will be our
gain if fresh knowledge of " the Prayers of the son of Jesse "
teaches us to pray as we have never prayed before.

Second Term. The Theocracy.

(i.) One Psalm by Moses on the Plains of Moab about
B.C. 1451 (Num. xxvii. 12-14; Deut. xxxiv.).

XC. A Prayer concerning Time and Eternity.
" How may man, whose true Home is the Everlasting God,
best use this mortal life ? " Quoted (ver. 4), 2 Peter iii. 8.
Compare Dcut. xxxiii. 15, 27 with vv. i, 2 ; Gen. iii. 17-19,
Num. xxvi. 64, 65, and Rom. vi. 23 with vv. 7, 8 ; Heb. xii.
5- 1 1 v/ith ver. 1 5. This archaic Psalm, which bears through-
out the stamp of high antiquity, has been called the most
sublime of human compositions. Moses evidently meant
it to be his own funeral hymn, and it has since become the

funeral hymn of the world. Burial Service and New Year's Eve
Service. At Jewish burials in New Testament times, it was chanted
during a slow sevenfold circuit round the bier.

Ill I
I

^tt^m m 9t^

i ii '

i i

i' .. i

180 r//E PSALMS

Third Term. The Reign of Saul.

Twenty Psalms by David between 1064 and 1056. Com-
pared with his later Psalms, David's early ones contain
more exuberant and vigorous poetry, less profound thought
and spirituality ; show less self-knowledge, and make
more vehement protestations of innocence. Reference to
Acts, xxiii. I proves, however, that this is not always
inconsistent with humility. They are marked by freshness
of tone and style, and unclouded trust in God. *

(2 — 5.) Four during his youth at BethleJieui (i Sam.
xvii. 15).

VIII. The Shepherd's Evening Hymn. "Bcforcthe
God of Nature, man is little ; before the God of Grace,
man is great." Quoted (ver. 2), Matt. xxi. 16 ; (vcr. 4), Hcb.
ii. 6-9 ; (ver. 6), i Cor. xv. 27. Compare Job vii. 17. The
antithesis brought out in this meditation on Gen. i. under
the brilliant glory of an Oriental heaven is strengthened
for us by larger knowledge of Nature's vastness, through
modern science ; and of God's grace, through the Incarna-
tion of our Lord. Ascension Day.

XIX. The Shepherd's Morning Hymn. " Great is
the majesty of God's starry heavens above, greater the
majesty of His pure law within the heart of man." Quoted
(ver. 4), Rom. x. 18 ; with ver. 12 cp. Rom. vii. 13.
What Nature can and cannot teach, and what the Word
of God is to His servants, could not be more accurately
expressed. " Line " (ver. 4) means " string " or " music " ; the
allusion is to Nature's song without words. Christmas Day
(for the Incarnation was the third and crowning revelation of God).

XXIII. The Shepherd's Watch in the Wilderness.
" My Divine Shepherd leads, restores, and comforts me,
and I fear no evil." Compare Luke xv. 4-6 ; John x. 1-16 ;
Heb. xiii. 20; i Peter ii. 25. With "thy rod and staff"
(ver. 4), one to lead, the other to defend, cp. Zech. xi. 7.
In some old liturgies, this Psalm took the place of the " Comfortable
Words " in our present Communion Service.

XXIX. The Psalm of the Seven Thunders.
" Mighty is the voice of the Lord our King." With ver. 4
cp. John V. 25. This Psalm describes a storm sweeping
over the whole land from Lebanon to Kadesh. Thejevvs

OF THE REIGN OF SAUL.

i8l

Corn-
contain
:hought
i make
cncc to

always
reshness

'i Sam.

cforc the
,f Grace,
, 4), Hcb.
17. The
i. under
ngthened
, through
; Incarna-

" Great is
cater the
Quoted

vii. 13-
he Word
ccurately

sic " ; the
listmas Day
If God).
DERNESS.

forts me,

nd staff"

ch. xi. 7-
omfortable

lUNDERS.

^ith ver. 4

sweeping

The Jevvs

use it on tlie first day of Penterost to commemorate the thunders of
Sinai ; also on \\\o eveninp; of New Year's Day.

Note. — Some refer viii. and xix. to the mature experi-
ence of David the King, xxiii. 4, 5 suggests the circum-
.stances of his flight from Absalom, and no more beautiful
sequel to xxii. could be found (cp. xxii. 15 and xxiii. 4).
The LXX. refers xxix. to the removal of the Ark to Zion.
If not, however, products of his shepherd days, they are
certainly reminiscences of them, and show how his religious
life and his poetic power developed in the lonely watches
of his youth.

(6, 7.) Two on Saul's attemj on his life at Gibcah (i
Sam. xviii. 11).

CXL. A Prayer against the Violent Man. " Save
me from foes without, O Strength of my salvation." Quoted
(ver. 3), Rom. iii. 13. With vv. 5, 7 cp. i Sam. xviii. 21-7 ;
with ver. 13 cp. Hcb. xii. 14. " When Saul cast the javelin
at him " is the Syriac heading of this Psalm. Some,
however, apply it to Doeg.

CXLI. A Prayer for Aid against all Perils.
" Save me from foes within, and from the snares of the
wicked." With ver. 2 cp. Luke i. 9, 10. This Psalm is
evidently connected with the preceding, and utters the
shepherd-hero's sense of new peril in his new life at court.

Used at the Daily Evensong of the Greek Church from very early
times.

(8.) One on his escape from Saul's assassins (i Sam.
xix. II, 12).

LIX. A Golden Psalm on God's Defence. " Save
me from them that lie in wait." With ver. 3 cp, John viii.
40, 46 ; with ver. 7 cp. Mark xv. 29. " Heathen " (ver. 5)
may refer to Doeg.

(9, 10.) Two on his flight to Ramah or Nob (i Sam.
xix. 18, XX.).

XIII. Fear's Question.
me? Lighten my eyes, lest

ver. I cp. Rev. vi. 10. Third Collect for Evensong. Usque quo
Doniine? (How long, Lord?) was Calvin's motto. Princess Anne,
daughter of Charles I., aged four, died with ver. 3 on her lips.

XI. Faith's Answer. " Why bid me flee ? The Lord
rules and judges men, and I trust in Him." With ver. 2
cp. 1 Sam. XX. 36; with ver. 7 (R.V.) cp. Matt. v. 8

" How long wilt Thou forget
the enemy prevail." With

i a

i';

» if

/ w

183

77/£: PSALAfS

cncouragc-

and Psalm cxI. 13. Written perhaps after the

ment of Jonathan's visit. Others refer it to Absalom's

Rebellion.

(11, 12.) 'J'wo when the Philistiucs seized him at Gath
(i Sam. xxi. 10-15), an incident only recorded in the heeding
to Ivi.

LVI. A Golden P.salm ok tiii; Silknt Dove among
Aliens. "My foes arc many, wily, and full of hatred.
But God is for mc and will deliver me." With vcr. 9 cp.
Rom. viii. 31 ; with vcr. 13 cp. Judc 24.

XXV. An Acrostic Prayer for Forgiveness and
Deliverance. " Put not Thy servant to shame in the
presence of the enemy." With vcr. 20 cp. Rom. ix. 33,
and final verse of Tc Deum, which formed the last words
of S. Francis Xavicr. Both the substance and structure of
this Psalm indicate that it was written at the same time as
xxxiv. But some refer it to Absalom's Rebellion, pointing
to ver. 7, which does not, however, prove the author was
no longer young ; ver, 11, which may refer to circumstances
not recorded (see xxxiv. 18); and vcr. 22, v/hich is pro-
bably a liturgical addition of later times, like xxxiv. 22

and xiv. y. Petrarch concludes liis autobiography by quoting the
first clause of ver. 7, "than which," he says, " no words could sound
sweeter."

(13.) One on his escape from Gath by feigning inadncss
(i Sam. xxii. i).

XXXIV. An Acrostic Thanksgiving for Forgive-
ness and Deliverance. " Let others learn from my
experience that God saves those who trust Him." Quoted
(vv. 12-15), I Peter iii. 10-12 ; (ver. 20), John xix. 33-6.
With ver. 8 cp. i Peter ii. 3 ; with ver, 13 cp. James i. 26.
" Abimelcch " was the title of the Philistine kings : see Gen
XX, and xxvi., and cp. " Pharaoh " and " CaL'sar." in 597 the
dying S. Columba laid aside his pen for ever when he had transcribed
ver. 9, leaving Baithune to write out the rest. The Dutch admiral
Joost de Moor celebrated with this Psalm a victory over the Spaniards
on May 25th, 1603.

(14, 1 5.) Two in the Cave of Adullavi (i Sam. xxii. i, 2).

CXLII. A Didactic Prayer for Rescue. " For-
saken of all men and brought very low, I cry to Thee, my
Refuge." With ver. 3 cp. Mark xiv. i. Vcr. 7 (first clause)
was S. Francis of Assisi's last quotation on his death-bed.

OF THE REIGN OF SAUL

l«3

LVII. A Golden Psalm of TiiANKSfiiviNG for
Rescue. A Morning Hymn. "Thou wilt send from
heaven to save me, and I will sing Thy praise among the
nations." With vv. 3-5 cp. Acts ii. 31-3. Written perhaps
when his family and friends had come to him. Easter Day.

(16.) One in the Forest of Ilareth on hearing of the
massacre at Nob (i Sam. xxii. 21).

LI I. A Didactic Psalm on Doeg the Edomite.
" Boast not thyself, false-tongued deviser of wickedness,
for God shall destroy thee." With vv. 2-4 cp. James
iii. 5-8, and see description of the Edomite character in
Obad. 3, 10 ; ver, 5 probably alludes to the Tabernacle,
and ver. 8 to the trees on the north slope of Olivet where
Nob was.

( 1 7.) One on hearing in the Wilderness ofZiph of Keilah's
treachery (i Sam. xxiii. il, 12).

LVIII. A Golden Psalm concerning the Recom-
penses OF God. "Let those who are hardened in sin
learn that there is a God who judges in the earth." With
ver. II cp. Rom. xii. 19 and Rev. xxii. 12. Its connexion
with Keilah is a conjecture, but the characteristics of this
Psalm are those of David's early ones, and it closely
resembles Hi. The metaphor in ver. 9 is from a fire kindled
for cooking in the wilderness. *

( 1 8.) One in the Wilderness of Ziph on Saul's pursuit
(i Sam. xxiii. 14, xxiv. 11, 14, 15, xxvi. 20).

XXXV. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning the
Enemies of the Righteous Man. " Strive with my
foes, judge my accusers, and save me from those who arc
too strong from me." Quoted (ver. 19), John xv. 25. With
ver. 1 1 cp. Matt. xxvi. 60 ; with ver. 1 2 (R.V.) cp. John xvi.
32 ; with ver. 13 cp. Luke xiii. 34. The metrical structure
is peculiar and artistic. David evidently alludes to the
base enmity of Saul's jealous courtiers. Vv. i, 2 formed the
prayer of Thanew, mother of S. Kentigern, when in 518 she was cast
adrift upon the Firth of Forth.

(19.) One in the Wilderness of Maon on the ZipJiites^
treachery (i Sam. xxiii. 19-28).

LiV. A Didactic Psalm on the enmity of the
Godless and the help of God. " Save me, and destroy
my foes. Thou hast delivered, and I will give thanks."

■ftC -i w KJ ;' .' ' ! ■ . I

) ,. i:

184

THE PSALMS

With vcr. 4 cp. Acts xxvi. 22. Vcr, 7 may be explained
by I Sam. xxiii. 2^, 28. Good Friday.

(20.) One on -paring Saul in tJie Wilderness of Engedi
(i Sam. xxiv.).

VII. An Ode concerning Cush the Bentamite.
" Save me from the foe who causeless hated me, and whom
I spared, for I am righteous." Quoted (ver. 9), Rev. ii. 23.
With vci'. 8 cp. John viii. 46 ; with ver. 1 1 cp. Gen. xviii.
25. Cush, one of Saul's adherents of whom nothing is
knc'vn. had slandered David to his master. Shiggaion
means a poem of free and erratic structure.

(21.) One on sparing Nabal {\ Sam. xxv. 39).

XVII. A Prayer comparing the World's gifts
WITH THE gifts OF GOD. " Hear me, uphold me, and
keep me from my deadly enemies." With ver. 14 cp. Matt.
vi. 2, Luke vi. 24, xvi. 8, 25, John xiv. 27; with vcr. 15
cp. I John iii. i, 2, Rev. xxii. 4. The connexion with
Nabal is a mere inference from probability.

The Reign of David.

(A.) One Psalm by Asaph and fourteen hy Dav'd {all
probably written at ferusalent) during his glory and pros-
perity. (1049 — 1036.)

This group of Psalms is noted for kingly dignity, perfec-
tion and maturity of style, profound thought, and intense
devotion.

(22.) One by Asaph on David's Accession (2 Sam. v. 1-9).

LXXVIII. A Didactic Psalm on Israel's History
Fi^o.^f THE Exodus to David's Capture of Jerusalem.
*' T.- •1^;': God who hath done such great things for you, and
full'- - not your fathers' rebellion." Quoted (ver. 2), Matt.
^-'^J 34» 3."^.' (vv. 24, 25), John vi. 31. The date of this
ii.!..-; a' u greatest Historical Psalm, the longest next to
xix., is fixed b> th*^. abruptness of its conclusion. It
describes and vindicates the transfer of the spiritual and
temporal headship from Shiloh and Ephraim to Jerusalem
and Judah.

(23.) 0)1 e on the establishment of Davids Throne (2
Sam. v. 10).

XVI. A Golden Psalm concerning God's Holy

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

185

One. "Preserve me. Thou wilt take me out of Sheol
and show me the path of life." Quoted (vv. 8-11), Acts ii.
25-32, xiii. 35 7. With ver. 4 C[\ Lev. vii. 20, Zqch. ix. 7 ;
with ver. 5 cp. Num. xviii. 20. The priestly character of
the Lord's Anointed may be referred to. With ver. 10 cp.
John XX. 9.

(24.) One when he desired yet feared to bring up the Ark
(2 Sam. vi. 9).

CI. The Godly resolves of the Lord's Anointed.
i^A Speculum Regis or Mirror for Magistrates^ " I will
put away evil and follow good with a perfect heart." With
ver. I cp. Matt, xxiii. 23 ; with ver. 2 cp. Matt. v. 48 ;
with ver. 6 cp, I John iii. 3 ; with ver. 8 cp. Rev. xxi. 8.
Here David limits for himself the usual despotic power of.
Eastern kings. vOueen's Accession.

(25, 26.) Two on bringing up the Ark. (2 Sam. vi. 1 2-15).

XXIV. The Anthem of the King of Glory.
" Only the pure shall ascend God's hill. Let the King of
Glory enter His chosen abode." Quoted (ver. i), i Cor. x
26; cp. Exod. ix. 29. With vv. 3, 4 cp. Heb. xii. 14;
with ver. 8 cp. James ii. i, i Cor. ii. 8. This Psalm, describ-
ing the true God and the true worshipper, was written by
David on the greatest day of his life, to be sung antiphonally
or alternately. The Levite choir who bore the Ark to
Zion's summit are answered by another choir who receive

it there. Ascension Day (see Mark xvi. 19). Tiie Jews used it on
the First Day of the week, though unaware of its fitness for what was
to be the Day of Resurrection.

XV. Epilogue setting forth the right Worship
OF THE King of Glory. " He who would become God's
guest must be pure and true, kind and honourable, unselfish
and generous." Quoted (ver. 5), 2 Peter i. 10. Compare
Psalin 1.; Isa. xxxiii. 13-17; Mic. vi. 6-8; John iv. 24;
I Cor. xiii. ; i John iv. 20, 21. Ancient usury differed in
several respects from m.odern interest. Ascension Day.

(27, 28.) Two on the Promise given tJirough Nathan
(2 Sam. vii.).

ex. An Oracle concerning the Kingly Priest
WHO Liveth for Evr.R. "Jehovah promised to my Lord
wide dominion and everlasting priesth../od." Quoted oftcncr
than any other portion of the Old Testament in the New

«&•'.

1
i )

i86

THE PSALMS

Testament — viz., in Matt. xxii. 44 ; Mark xlJ. 36 ; Luke
XX. 42, 43 ; John xii. 34 ; Acts ii. 34, 35 ; i Cor. xv. 25 ;
Heb. i. 13, V. 6, vi. 20, vii. 28, x. 13 ; i Peter iii. 22. Com-
pare Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Isa. ix. 6, 7. " Saith" in ver. i is a
word used specially of Divine utterances. With ver. 3 cp.
Rom. xii. i ; with ver. 4 cp. Zcch. vi. 13 and Heb. vii. ; with
ver. 7 cp. John iv. 6, xix. 28. The Rabbis referred nearly
every word of this Psalm to the Messiah, and the Targum
of Jonathan renders ver. i, " The Lord said to His Word."
Christmas Day.

CXXXVni. A Psalm of Praise concerning the

Word of the Lord. " I and all the kings of the earth

vill thank Thee for Thy gracious words." With ver. 2

cp. John i. I ; with ver. 4 cp. Rev. xxi. 24 ; with ver. 8

cp. Phil. i. 6. Ver. 8 was Bishop Andrewes' favourite ejaculatory
]);aycr.

(29, 30.) Two on the Wars with Amman attd Syria,
according to the Syriac heading (2 Sam. x., xi., xii. 26-31).

XX. The People's Prayer for the King on the

Eve of War. "God grant thy desire, for we trust in

Him. God save the King." With ver. 2 cp. i Kings viii.

44, 45; with ver. 3 (A.V. margin) cp. Lev. vi. 10, 11 ;

with ver. 6 cp. John xi. 42. This verse is the King's

uttered response to the people's supplication for him while

he was in silent prayer. Queen's Accession, 2nd versicle before
the Collect for the Day, 2nd "ersicle in Marriage Service, and Visitation
of the Sick.

XXI. The People's Praise for the Kings Vic-
tory. " God has granted his desire, and saved hirn with
great glory." With ver. 3 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 30 ; with ver. 9
cp. 2 Sam. xii. 31 ; with vv. 4, 5 cp. 2 Sam. vii. 13, and
Heb. vii. 15, 16. Ascension Day. Queen's Accession.

(31, 32.) Two on the Wars zvith Edom (2 Sam. viii.
13, 14, R.V. margii;, x. 7-19; i Chron. xviii. 12, 13, xix.
6-19; I Kings xi. 15. 16).

LX. A Golden ]'salm of Triumph over Edom.
" Restore and save, O Cod." " All Israel shall submit to
thee, My anointed ; Moab, Edom, and Philistia are utterly
humbled." With ver. 8 cp. Tames iv. 6, Isa. xvi. 6, Obad.
I, 3 ; with ver. 12 cp. 2 Cor. iii. 5. Ver. 9 refers either to
Rabbah or Zobah, or possibly to Selah (2 Kings xiv. 7).
This Psalm shows more clearly than the history that David

Vic-

with

vcr. 9

, and

viii.
xix.

DOM.
nit to
itterly
Obad.
her to

iv. 7)-
)avid

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

187

fought against Syria of the Two Rivers (or Mesopotamia)
and Syria of Zobah, and after suffering a critical reverse,
won victory which brought him to the zenith of his power.
During the campaign the Edomites took advantage of his
absence in the north to revolt, and Joab was sent to quell
their rebellion. Lot's children are pictured as washing
the dust from Israel's feet (cp. i Sam. xxv. 41), Esau's are
imaged by the skve to whom was thrown the shoe taken
off for this washing ; the Philistines, who had so long
been Israel's mighty oppressors, cry aloud at last in forced
homage or terror.

CVIII. A Morning Song of Praise. This adapta-
tion of Ix. and Ivii. 7- 11 was probably made to celebrate
some similar victory in later times. Ascension Day.

(33 — 36-) Four on triumphing over all foreign enemies
and establishing lordship over the surrounding heathen
(i Chron. xviii. 6, xx. 3).

IX. An Acrostic Psalm of Triumph over Foreign
Foes. " Righteous Judge of the world, I will praise Thee.
Thou hast destroyed the heathen and remembered the
poor." With ver. 8 cp. Acts xvii. ^i ; with ver. 12 cp.
Num. XXXV. 10-28 ; with ver. 13 cp. Acts ii. 31, 32.

II. The Conquering Kingdom of the Lord's
Anointed. " The heathen rage, but the Lord shall laugh
them to scorn, and His Son shall be King over the whole
earth," Quoted, Matt. xxvi. 63 ; Acts iv. 25-8, xiii. 33 ;
Heb. i. 5, V. 5 ; Rev. ii. 27. Compare Rom. i. 4 ; Col. i. i^.
Ancient Jewish interpreters ascribe the Psalm to David,
and refer it to the Messiah. The New Testament not only
ascribes it to David, but founds an argument on his author-
ship. Its date is fixed by the allusion to the great Promise,
and to triumph over the heathen (ver. 12). Homage to
tixC sovereign is still expressed by a kiss. Easter Day.

XVI 1 1. The Hebrew Te Deum, David's Liturgical
Song of Victory. (Repeated in 2 Sam. xxii.) " I love
and praise and give thanks to the Lord, my Strength and
Rock. He has delivered me from all 1 ly foes at home
and abroad, and will show lovingkindncss to me and my
se(>d for ever.'" Quoted (ver. 49), Rom. xv. 9. With ver. 1 1
cp. I Tim. vi. 16; with ver. 26 cp. Matt. vi. 22, 23;
with vv. 37-42 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 31 ; with ver. 48 cp.

! ,1

1 88

THE PSALMS

Psalm cxl. Vcr. 50 is David's only mention of his own

name. The Theophany so magnificently described in

vv. 6-15 may be a reminiscence of some great storm that

fought for David. Compare Judg. v. 20, 21.

LXVIII. A National Thanksgiving for the

Kingdom established on Mount Zion. "The God

who went before us in the wilderness is gone up in triumph

to dwell for ever in His holy place on Zion." Quoted,

Eph. iv. 8-12 ; cp. Col. ii. 15. With ver. i cp. Num. x. 35 ;

with vcr. 4 cp. Exod. vi. 3 ; with ver. 1 1 (R.V.) cp. Exod.

XV. 20, Judg. v., I Sam. xviii. 6; with ver. 12 cp. i Sam.

XXX. 24; with ver. 18 cp. 2 Cor. vi. 16; with ver. 27

cp. Judg. v. 18 ; with ver. 29 cp. 2 Chron. ii. ; with ver.

31 cp. Acts viii. 27-39. Ver. 22 speaks of enemies ;

ver. 30 alludes to the crocodile, emblem of Egypt. The

Psalm was probably written for the festal procession which

brought back the Ark from David's crowning campaign

(2 Sam. xi. 11). Whitsunday. Used by the Jews on the Feast
of Pentecost.

(B.) Twenty-six Psalms by David during the sufferings
tJiat followed his great sin. ( 1 036 — 1 024.)

The sorrowful Psalms of this period show that prosperity
is more trying to spiritual life than adversity. The ex-
planation of David's fall may possibly be seen in the state
of heart depicted in Psalm xviii. 20-24.

(37> 38.) Two after Nathan's rebuke (2 Sam. xii. 13).

LI. The Sinner's Confession {Miserere Mei).

" Have mercy, O God ; pardon, cleanse, and restore me,

for I acknowledge my sin." Quoted (ver. 4), Rom. iii. 4.

With ver. 3 contrast Gen. iii. 12, 13, I Sam. xv. 15, and

cp. 2 Cor. vii. 9-11 ; with vcr. 7 cp. Exod. xxiv. 5-8,

Lev. xiv., Heb. ix. 18-23 I ^^ith ver. 11 cp. i Sam.

xvi. 14, 2 Kings xxiv. 20, Jer. xxiii. 39 ; with ver. 18 cp.

2 Sam. V. 9. Commination Service. A Penitential Psalm. It has
guided the expression of repentance for centuries, and formed the
dying prayer of the Chevaher Bayard, Dr. Arnold of Rugby, and many
another saint. Vv. 3, 9, 17 are opening sentences at Morning and
Evening Prayer ; ver. 15 is one of the versicles before the Venite.

XXXn.' The Penitent's Absolution. A Didactic
Psalm. "At last I confessed, God forgav^e, and He will
guide. Rejoice in Him, ye godly." Quoted, Rom. iv. 6-8 ;
cp. Prov. xxviii. 13, I John i. 8, 9. Ash Wednesday. A Peni-

li ■ I

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

189

Ici).

me,
ui. 4.

and

5-8.
Sam.
cp.

t has
Id the
jmany
and

ICTIC

will

16-8;

Peni-

tential Psalm. The Jews used it on the Day of Atonement. S.
Augustine had it written on the wall over against his bed in his last
illness, that he might win comfort from it.

(39 — 45)« Seven during a grievous sickness unrecorded
in 2 Samuel. The seclusion it involved may account for the
success of AbsalonCs intrigues (2. Sam. xv. 6).

VI. Prayer in Pain and Weakness. " Have mercy,
I am wasted with sickness." Quoted (ver. 8), Matt. vii. 23.
With ver. i cp. Jer. x. 24 and Rev. iii. 19. Ash Wednesday.
A Penitential Psalm. Opening sentence of Morning and Evening
Services.

XXXVIII. A Psalm in Sickness to bring to Re-
membrance. " I am full of pain, laden with iniquity,
forsaken by my friends, and beset by enemies. I hope
in Thee, make haste to help me." With ver. 9 cp. 2 Sam.
xxiii. 5 ; with ver. 1 1 cp. Matt. xxvi. 56, Luke xxiii. 49 ;
with ver. 13 cp. Matt, xxvii. 12, 14. Ver. 20 means that his
cause is still the cause of right. Ash Wednesday. A Penitential

Psalm. Used on the Day of Atonement.

XXXIX. A Prayerful Meditation on the Frailty
OF Human Life. " Man is but a breath. My hope is in
Xhee. Deliver, hear, spare." With ver. 2 cp. xxxviii. 13,
14 ; with ver. 3 cp. Jer. xx. 9 ; with ver. 6 cp. Luke xii.
16-21 ; with ver. 11 (margin) cp. James iv. 14 ; with ver. 12
cp. I Peter ii. 11, Heb. xi. 13. This is the most beautiful
elegy in the Psalter. Burial Service.

XLI. A Prayer when nigh unto Death. " Heal
me, for my enemies whisper against me, expecting me to
rise no more. They triumph not, and Thou upholdest me
for ever." Quoted (ver. 9), John xiii. 18, with a significant
omission (see John ii. 24, 25). Ver. i refers to sickness, not
poverty ; " King's friend " (in ver. 9) means *' privy coun-
cillor," 2 Sam. XV. 37, xvi. 16, i Kings iv. 5 ; ver. 13 is
the doxology added by the compiler of Book I. (see p. 174).
This Psalm evidently represents the crisis which settled the
question of life or death for David. Offertory sentence (ver. i).

XL. A New Song of Praise on Recovery. " God
has delivered me, and shown in what sacrifices He delights.
Confound my enemies, and let those that seek Thee rejoice."
Quoted (vv. 6-8), Heb. x. 5-10. With ver. 6cp. Tsa. xlviii. 8
and Exod. xxi. 5, 6 ; with ver. 7cp. Psalm cxxxix. 16 ; with
ver. 10 cp. Psalm Ii. 13. Good Friday.

190

THE PSALMS

V'i

'^' Ji

LXX. A Psalm on Recovery to bring to Remem-
brance. Detached from xl. for liturgical use. Ver. i,
versicles before Venite. S. Vincent de Paul asked to have this Psalm
read to him again and again on his death-bed.

V. A Morning Prayer on returning to Public
Worship. " Lead me, because of my enemies. Thrust
out the rebels, and let them that love Thee rejoice."
Quoted (vcr. 9), Rom. iii. 13. Ver. 3 (R.V.) shows that we
should look out for the answers to our prayers ; ver. 6
refers to Ahithophel ; with ver. 11 cp. Psalm xl. 16 and
Phil. iv. 4.

(46 — 51.) Six during growing public disot der and disaffec-
tion to the throne (2 Sam. xv. 1-12).

X. An Acrostic Prayer pleading against Law-
lessness AT Home. "Arise, O Lord, for the wicked
oppress the poor, and say, God hath forgotten. But Thou
art King for ever." Quoted (ver. 7), Rom. iii. 14. With
ver. 4 cp. Psalm xiv. i, John iii. 19. The LXX. regards
ix. and x. as one' Psalm. Their p-^rallel structure and
coincidences of language and style show their connexion ;
X. is a mournful supplement to ix. The brigandage and
injustice which followed upon political tumult and foreign
invasion are also pictured in Prov. i. 10-14.

XII. Man's Words and the Words of the Lord.
" Help, for the faithful fail and the wicked walk en every
side." With vv. 3, 4 cp. Jude 16, 2 Peter ii. 9-12, and
Micah vii. 2-4 ; with ver. 6 cp. i Peter i. 23.

XIV. The Divine Vision of Godlessness. "The
Lord beheld that all the children of men had turned aside,
and had forgotten and denied Him." Quoted, Rom. iii.
10-12. (By a curious accident, St. Paul's further Old
Testament quotations there were in most MSS. of the
LXX. incorporated into this Psalm, whence they found
their way into the Prayer Book Version.) With vv. 2-4 cp.
Gen. vi. 12, Luke xviii. 2, Rom. i. 19, 20, 28; with ver. 3
cp. Eccles. vii. 29. Ver. 7 may be a later liturgical addition,
copied possibly from liii. The atheism described is that
of the life rather than the lips, moral depravity rather than
intellectual doubt.

LIII. A Didactic Psalm. This reproduction, with
slight variations, of xiv., was probably used for some
signal defeat of Israel's enemies. (See vcr. 5.)

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

I9T

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LXII. If God IS FOR US, WHO IS AGAINST US ? "How
long will yf: set upon a man, trcuchcrous liars ? I wait on
God, to whom power belongeth." With vcr. 4 cp. John
xi. 53 ; with ver. 12 cp. Rom. ii. 6, Gal. vi. 7, i Peter i. 17,
cp. Psalm xlix. throughout. The word rendered " surely "
in ver. 9 and " only " elsewhere occurs six times. Vv. 5, 6, 7
were inscribed outside the cavern where Captain Allen Gardiner and
his heroic comrades, pioneer missionaries in Tierra dpi Fuego, lay down
to die, as their last message home.

LXIV. God will Repay. " Hear, preserve, and hide
me from the secret council of evil-doers. Suddenly God
shall wound them, all shall fear, and the righteous shall
rejoice." Compare Matt. xxvi. 3, 4, 14-16, xxvii. 3-5, With
ver. 3 cp. 2 Sam. xv. 3 ; with ver. 9 cp. Isa. xxvi. 9.

(52 — 54.) Three in the Wilderness, fleeing from Absalom
and exiled from God^s house (2 Sam. xv. 1 3-30).

CXLHI. The Fugitive's Evening Hymn in Dark
Places. "The enemy hath smitten me down. Hear,
guide, save, and quicken me, for I am Thy servant." With
ver. I cp. I John i. 9; with vcr. 10 cp. John xvi. 13;
cp. Psalms Ixiii. and xxvii. throughout. The LXX. heads it,
" When he fled from Absalom his son." Delitzsch says, if
not actually David's, it is an extract of the most prec'ous
balsam from the old Davidic psalms. Ash Wednesday. A
Penitential Psalm. Ver. 2, opening sentence in Morning Prayer.

LXni. The Fugitive's Morning Hymn in a Dry
AND Weary Land. " My God, I thirst for Thee. I will
praise Thee, for Thou hast been my help." With ver. i
cp. John vii. 37 and 2 Sam. xvi. 14, xvii. 2, ^9 ; it may be
called " the keynote of personal religion." Donne says the
spirit and soul of the whole Psalter is concentrated in this

Psalm. A Daily Morning Psalm in the Eastern Church in very early
times.

XXVn. The Fugitive's Sure Confidence. "For-
saken of all and cruelly maligned, I fear nothing, for the
Lord is my Light and Salvation, and I shall yet praise
Him in His Tabernacle." Quoted (ver. 6, LXX. version),
Eph. V. 19. With ver. i cp. Micah vii. 8, John viii. 12,
I John i. 5. Its first three words are the motto of the
University of Oxford. With ver. 14 cp. Hab. ii. 3. In
ver. 10 "father and mother" are used proverbially of the
nearest and dearest.

192

THE PSALMS

(55 — 57-) Three at BaJiurivi on the taunts of Shim ei and
treachery of AhitliopJiel {2 Sam. xv. 31, xvi. 5-13, xvii. 23).

LV. A Didactic Psalm OF tiiecuksedand betrayed
Sufferer. " With sore pain and terror of death within,
and the enemy's reproaches without, O that I could flee
altogether from the unholy city and treacherous friend, and
be at rest ! Destroy them, for I trust Thee." Quoted
(ver, 22), I Peter v. 7. With v. 21 cp. John xii. 5, 6,
Matt. xxvi. 25, 49 ; with ver. 23 cp. Eccles. vii. 17, 2 Sam.
xviii. 12-14,

CIX. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning the Son
OF Perdition. " My deceitful adversary has overwhelmed
me with curses. Let them recoil upon his own head."
Quoted (ver. 3), John xv. 25 ; (ver. 8), Acts i. 20. With
ver. 7 cp. John xvii. 12 and Matt. xxvi. 24 ; with ver. 13
cp. Matt, xxiii. 38 and xxiv. ; with ver. 31 cp. Zcch. iii.
I, 2, I John ii. I, I Tim. ii. 5. The attitude is that of
either accuser or advocate. It seems best to take vv. 6-19
as the adversary's words, and vv. 20 — 3 1 as David's appli-
cation of them. S. Chrysostom calls this awful Psalm a
prophecy under the form of imprecation. But our Lord's
words about Judas, who was self-condemned and self-
destroyed, contain no trace of personal vengeance, nothing
inconsistent with John iii. 17 and Luke ix. 56.

LXIX. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning many
reproachful Adversaries. " For Thy sake I have
borne reproach, derision, desolation, and shame. Let my
persecutors be blotted out of the book of life, and save me."
Quoted (ver. 4), John xv. 25 ; (ver. 9), Johnii. 17, Rom. xv.
3 ; (ver. 21), Matt, xxvii. 34, John xix. 28, 29 ; (vv. 22, 23),
Rom. xi. 9, 10 ; (ver. 25), Acts i. 20. With ver. 8 cp. John
i. II, vii. 5 ; with ver. 12 cp. Matt, xxvii. 27-30. There
is a good reason to believe that the physical cause of our
Lord's death was a broken heart (see ver, 20), Vv, 35, 36
may be a liturgical addition. Internal evidence has led some
to assign this Psalm to Jeremiah, whose circumstances it
certainly describes ; but our knowledge of David's suffer-
ings is not complete enough to warrant us in setting aside
the heading, and to David it is twice clearly ascribed in
the New Testament, It looks beyond the type to the Anti-
type throughout. Good Friday.

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

h;3

(58 — 62.) Five at the time of DaviiVs greatest uugiu'sh
and danger, wJien he crossed Jordan, and battle was i»i-
viinent (2 Sam. xvii.)-

XXII. The Psalm of the Passion. "God has for-
saken mc, all laugh me to scorn, and I am brought into the
dust of death. Thou hast answered, and I will praise Thee.
The whole earth shall turn to the Lord and worship Hi'^."
Quoted (ver. i), Matt, xxvii. 46, Mark xv. 34, cp. 2 Cor,
V. 21 ; (ver. 8), Matt, xxvii. 43, cp. Matt. iii. 17 ; (ver. 18),
Matt, xxvii. 35, John xix. 24; (ver. 22), Heb. ii. 11, 12.
With ver. 7 cp. Matt, xxvii. 39 ; with ver. 1 5 cp. John
xix. 28 ; with ver. 16 cp. John xx. 25 ; with vv. 25, 26
cp. John vi. 53-8, Lev. vii. 11 -21 ; with ver 27 cp. John
xii. 32; with ver. 28 cp. i Cor. xv. 24, 25 ; with ver. 30
cp. I Peter ii. 9. No circumstances of David's life are on
record to which this Psalm is altogether applicable, so
some refer it to an exile in the Captivity. But it vividly
depicts the sufferings peculiar to death by crucifixion,
unknown to the Jews till the Romans conquered Judaea.
One Sufferer alone realised its language, which He directly
applied to Himself, and we can only account for its por-
trayal from within of what Isa. liii. portrays from without,
by the f(?resight of supernatural revelation. The Jewish
commentary on the Psalms explains its Hebrew title thus,
" On him who leaps as a stag, and brightens the world in
the time of darkness." Good Friday.

XXXI. The Prayer of Faith tried with Fire.
" I am defamed, forgotten, and wasted with grief. Deliver
me. Great is Thy goodness. Take courage, ye godly."
Quoted (ver. 5), Luke xxiii. 46, cp. Acts vii. 59. With ver,
1 1 cp. Matt. xxvi. 56 ; with vv. 22, 23 cp. 2 Cor. i. 4.
Some with less probability refer this to David's flight from
Saul, others attribute it to Jeremiah. Ver. 5 formed the last
words of Polycarp, Bernard, Charlemagne, Anskar, Columbus, Tasso,
Lady Jane Grey, Jerome of Prague, Micholas Hottinger, Luther, Me-
lanclithon, and many others.

LXI. A Cry from the End of the Earth. " Hear
me, my Refuge. Let Thy lovingkindness and truth pre-
serve me." With vv. 6, 7 cp. John vi. 58, Heb. vii. 14-16.
Ver. 8, versicle in Marriage Service and Visitation of the Sick.

III. A Morning Hymn in the midst of many and
GREAT Dangers. " My foes are many, but I will not fear.

■f'll

t:;

194

THE PSALlfS

Arise and save mc, my Shield." With vcr. 2 cp. 2 Sam.
xvi. 8 ; with vcr. 4 cp. 2 Sam. xv. 25 ; with vcr. 6 cp.
2 Sam. XV. 12, xvii. 11 ; with ver. 7 cp. Num. x. 35 ; with
ver. 8 cp. Jonah ii. 9, 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, Luke xxiii. 34.

IV. An Evening Hymn in the midst of many and
GREAT Dangers. " How long will ye .seek after false-
hood ? The Lord will hear and preserve me." Quoted
(ver. 4, R.V. margin), Eph. iv. 26. With vcr. 3 cp. John ix.
3 1 ; with ver. 4 cp. 2 Sam. xviii. 5 ; with vcr. 5 cp. Hcb.
xiii. 15 ; with ver. 6 cp. Psalm Ixxx. i, 3 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 and
Num. vi. 26. Ver. 7 contrasts his hungry followers with their
opponents. First Psalm at Compline in the old Service Books.

Fourth Term. The Reign of David.

(C.) Ten Psalms by David of uncertain date^ probably
written during the closing years of his reign. (1024 — 10 16.)

(63 — 65.) Three concerning the ways of God and the ways
of men.

XXXVI. The Wicked love Darkness though God
GIVES Light. " The wicked heart utters its oracles against
God, but the children of men take refuge in Him who can
abundantly satisfy." Quoted (vcr. i), Rom. iii. 18. With
ver. 9 cp. John iv. 14 ; Rev. xxii. i.

XXXVII. An Acrostic on the Latter End of
THE Upright and of the Wioked. " Fret not thyself,
but trust in the Lord. Delight in Him. Rest in Him.
Commit thy way to Him. Wait for Him. The wicked
shall be cut off ; the righteous shall abide for ever." Quoted
(ver. 11), Matt. v. 5. With ver. i cp. Prov. xxiv. 19 ; with
ver. 4 cp. Job xxvii. 10; with ver. 16 cp. Prov. xv. 16;
with ver. 23 cp. Jer. x. 23 ; with ver. 32 cp. Luke xiv. i.
This Psalm resembles Job, and solves the problem dealt
with in that book.

CXXXI 1 1. A Song of Ascents concerning Unity.
" Brotherly love is good and pleasant as oil and dew."
Compare i Cor. xii. ; 2 Cor. xiii. 1 1 ; Eph. iv. 3 ; Phil. ii. 2, 3 ;
Prov. xiii. 10. With vcr. 3 cp. Lev. xxv. 21. This song,
which has, says Herder, the fragrance of a lovely rose, may
have been written on David's third anointing (i Chron. xii.
38-40), or on the pacification of Sheba's revolt. Hcrmon and

OF THE REIGN OF DAVID.

'05

Sam.
6 cp.
; with

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iron. xii.
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Zion represent North and South Israel united under
David.

(66 — 68.) Three concerning; the Sanctuary.

XXVI. Pkaykr on Acckss to the Sanctuary.
"Judge, examine, and redeem me, that I may fitly enter
Thy habitation which I love." Compare i Cor. xi. 2S, 31
and Psalms xv. and xxiv. With ver. 9 cp. Matt. xiii. 40.

XXVIII. Prayer and Praise on entering the
Sanctuary. " Draw mc not away with the wicked. Thou
hast heard, my Strength. Bless Thy peopl : " With ver. 2
cp. Dan. vi. 10 ; with ver. 5 cp. Rom. i. 20. Ver. 9, vcrsicles
before Collect for the Day, and ver. 22 of Te Deum.

XXX. A Song of Praise at the Dedication of
the House of the Lord on Mount Moriah (2 Sam.
xxiv.). " I will extol Thee, for Thou hast delivered and
healed me, and turned my mourning into dancing." Com-
pare James v. 15; i Chron. xxi. 16, 28, xxii. i. David
himself may have been smitten by the pestilence. Used on
the Feast of Dedication (John x. 22). One of the closing entries in
the Diary of the heroic Bishop Hannington speaks of the strength and
comfort gained from this Psalm in his last hours.

(69 — 72.) Four on Communion with God.

CXXXIX. The My.stery of Man's Being and of
God's Presence. " Thou knowcst me altogether, and I
am ever in Thy presence. Search me, try me, and lead
mc." Compare Acts xvii. 28 ; Rom. xi. 33 ; Eccles. xi. 5.
Aben Ezra calls this " the crown of all the Psalms." Note
that its attempt to fathom the most profound subjects of
human thought leads neither to abstract speculation nor
to intellectual self-congratulation, but to humble prayer
for salvation from sin.

CXXXI. A Song of Ascents concerning Unques-
tioning Faith. " I do not exercise myself in things
too wonderful for me." Compare Matt, xviii. 3, xix. 14 ;
2 Sam. vi. 22.

LXXXVI. A Prayer for Guidance and Strength.
" Hear and save, most Mighty, most Merciful. Teach me
Thy way, and show me a token for good." Quoted
(vv. 8, 9), Rev. XV. 4. With ver. 11 cp. Matt. vi. 21-4.
Some refer this to Saul's persecution. Others regard it as
a late recast for liturgical use of one of David's Psalms.
Ver. 2, versicles in Marriage Service and Visitation of the Sick.

196

r///; PS/iu/s

I :

CXLV. An A'JKostic Hvmn of Praesk to God for
\\'IIAT Me is. " I will extol Thcc, my Kin;^, for Thou art
}.';rc.-it and glorious, ^ood and gracious, merciful and mighty.
Thy kin^^clom and Thy praise shall be lor ever." Compare
Acts xvii. 24, 25 ; Psalm civ. ; Dan. vii. 27. We find
David's " la.st words " in 2 Sam. xxiii., but his half of the
Psalter could not conclude more fitly than with this magni-
ficent invitation to all God's creatures to laud and magnify
His glorious Name. Whitsunday. In the ancient Church it was
the grace at the mid-day meal.

The Reign of Solomon.

F/7'e Psalms by Soloiiiou^fu'c by Asaph, five by the Sous
of Korah, one by J/einaN, and three of idi known aithorsh.p.
(loi6 — 976.)

(73.) One by Solomon on his Accession (i Kings ii. 12,
iii. 28).

LXXII. Tiiij Peaceful Reign of the Righteous
King. " Let the King's son and heir judge the poor, save
the needy, and rule from the Red Sea to the I cditerranean,
from the P^uphrates to the Desert ; and let all nations call
him happy." With ver. 2 cp. Rev. xix. 2 ; with ver. 6
cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 4; with ver. 8 cp. Exod. xxiii. 31.
Tar.shish and the isles represent Europe ; Shcba in Arabia,
Asia ; and Seba or Meroe, Africa. The Jewish Targums
most emphatically refer this Psalm to the Messiah (Matt,
xii. 42). Vv. 18-20 arc the doxology and note added by
the compiler of Book II. " Prayers of David " is a general
name for the Psalms.

(74.) One by the KoraJiites on Solomon's marriage to
Phara It's daughter {\ Kings iii. i).

XLV. A Didactic Song of Loves concerning the
Bridegroom-King. " Ride on in triumph, O fair and
mighty, O gracious and glorious King. Leave thy father's
house, O king's daughter, for the King desires thee, and thy
children shall be princes." Quoted (ver. 6), Heb. i. 8, 9 ;
cp. Matt. XXV., 2 Cor. xi. 2, Eph. v. 25-32, Rev, xix. 6-9.
The Jews regarded this Psalm as Messianic. With ver, 2
cp. Isa. xxxiii. 17, Luke iv, 22, i Peter ii. 22 ; with ver. 6
cp. 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13 ; with ver, 16 cp. Psalm xxii. 30,
Rev. v, 10. Christmas Day.

or THE REir.N OF SO!.OMON.

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Ih ver. 6
cxii. 30>

(75 — 78.) Four by Solomon on inait;^nratiny^ the Tc)>//>k
i'iors/tif> (i Kings viii.).

CXXXII. A SONO OF ASCFNTS CONCKkNING THE

Lord's ciiou;e of Zion and I^uomisk to David. " Re-
member David's vow to find Thee ;in abode, and Thy
promise to establish his throne. Arise into Thy resting
l)laee with the Ark of Thy strength." Compare Luke i.
32, 33 ; 2 Tim. ii. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 16. With ver. S cp. Num.
X. 33-6, 2 Chron. vi. 41, 42. This gr.mdest Song of Ascents
was clearly written after David's days, but not long after.
Christmas Day. Versicles before tlio Collect for tlie Day,

I. Concerning the IIaitiness of Wisdom.
" Blessed is the man who delights in God's law. His way
shall prosper, but the way of the wicked shall perish." With
ver. 3 ep. John xv. 1-8 ; with ver. 4 cj). Matt. iii. 12 ; with
ver. 5 cp. Luke xxi. 36 ; with ver. 6 cp. 2 Tim. ii. 19. Its
resemblance to Proverbs suggests that Solomon wrote this
Psalm as a preface to the Psalter he compih d for the new
Temple. Jer. xvii. 5-8 seems to be a paraj)! ra-ie of it.

CXXVII. A Song of Ascents conci kning Domes-
tic Ble.SSING-S. " God only can give our labours their
increase. Children are His reward." Compare i Cor.
iii. 7 ; Matt. vi. 25-34. With ver. 2 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 25 (R.V.
margin); with vv. 3,4cp. i Chron. xxvi. 2-5. This Psahn,
an expansion of Prov. x. 22, refers to the rapid growth of
population in the peace and prosperity that followed long

years of war and tumult. Churdiing of Women. Used apparently
at the presentation of the firstborn (Exod. xxii. 29; Luke ii. 22, 23).

CXXVHI. A Song of Ascents concernincj Home
Happiness. (A sequel to cxxvii.) " Blessed .shall the
godly be, as breadwinner, husband, father, and citizen."
Compare Titus ii. 4, 5. Solemnisation of Matrimony.

(79 — 82.) Four by Asaph, of uncertain date, illustrating
the Temple worship and Solomon's dominion.

L. Acceptable Sacrifice. " God hath shincd out of
Zion, and cometh to judge His people. He looks not for
mere outward observances, but for thanksgiving, trustful
prayer, and righteous conduct." Compare Psalm xl. 6-11,
Ii. 16, 17 ; I Sam. xv. 22 ; Isa. i. 1 1-20 ; Jer. vi. 20, vii. 21-3 ;
Amos V. 21-4; Micah vi. 6-8. With ver. 3 cp. Hcb. i. 2,
John iii. 32, xiv. 19, Rev. i. 7 ; with ver. 5 cp. i Thess. iv.

^11

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198

THE PSALMS

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16, 17; with ver. 14 cp. Heb. xiii. 15, Rom. xii. i. The
opcnincT name of God cnly occurs elsewhere in Josh, xxii.
22. This Psalm must have been written in the best age of
Hebrew poetry.

LXXXI. A Festival Psalm on the Exodus. " Sing
aloud to God who delivered Israel from bonJuige, and will
feed them and subdue all their foes if they hearken to Him."
With ver. 10 cp. John xv. 7, Isa. vii. 11 (A.V. margin).
The Jews used it on. the Fifth Day of the week, and probably on the
Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles.

LXXVn. Ancient Mercies a Pledge of Present
Help. "I cried in trouble, Hath God forgotten? Then
I remembered Thy wonders of old." Compare Hab. iii. ;
I Cor. ix. 10 ; Heb. x. 36. With ver. 13 cp. i Kings viii. 30 ;
with ver. 14 (R.V.) cp. i Kings viii. 60.

LXXXU. A Vision of Judgment. "God judges
the judge, therefore let him be just. Human authority is
sacred, yet limited and delegated." Quoted (ver. 6), John
X. 34-6. With ver. 2 cp. Acts x. 34, James ii. 1-4 ; with
vv. •?, 4 cp. Psalm Ixxii. ; with ver. 6 cp. Exod. xxi. 6
(R.V.), I Sam. ii. 25 (R.V.), and Psalm viii. 5 (R.V.
margin); cp. 2 Chron. xix. 6, 7, Isa. iii. 13-15. The Jews
used it on the Third Day of the week.

(8j — 85.) Three by the KoraJutes of uncertain date, illus-
trating the Temple worship.

Xl.H., XLHL a Didactic Psalm by a Priest in
Exile beyond Jordan. "My soul thirsts fc God, and
is cast down when I remember the worship of His house.
Plead my cause against an ungodly nation, and bring me
to Thy holy hill." With ver. 2 cp. Matt. v. 6 ; with ver. 7
cp. Jonah ii. 3. xliii. 3 seems to refer to the iJrim and
Thummim ; " Tabernacles " alludes to the Holy Place and
Holy of Holies ; xliii. is virtually the conclusion of xlii.
(See R.V.) " Cast down " in ver. 5 is represented in the
LXX. by a word which our Lord uses in Matt. xxvi. 38,
thus applying the Psalm to Himself. " The language of
this exile is the language of the human heart, under the
stress of the purest and deepest desire that man can know "

{l^tddoti). In some old liturgies xlii. is used instead of the " Com-
fortaljlc Words" of the Communion Service.

LXXXIV. The Devout Pilgrim's Joyous Song

L ii!

^•^^

OF THE REIGN OF SOLOMON.

199

ON Approaching the Sanctuary. " I long for the
courts of the Lord, for they that dwell in Thy house are
blessed." Compare Luke ii. 37. " The living God " only
occurs elsewhere in the Psalter in xlii., which may be by the
same author ; ver. 9 is a prayer for the King. With vcr.
10 cp. I Chron. ix. 19 ; with ver. 11 cp. Rev. xxi. 23, Eph.

lii. 20. Used by those who journeyed up to Jerusalem for the three
great Feasts (Deut xvi. 16).

(86 — 91.) Six closely reseviblmg in style and tone the
Sapiential Books of Solotnon^s period — i.e.y fob, Proverbs^
and Ecclesiastes. Tlieir dates are unknown.

LXXXVIII. A Didactic Psalm by Heman on the
Land of Forgetfulness. " I am desolate and afflicted,
and my life draweth nigh to unremembered Sheol, where
all is forgotten." Compare Matt. xxvi. 38, 56, xxvii. 46 ; John
xii. 27 ; 2 Tim. i. 10. This is the saddest of all the Psalms,
but ver. i shows that its dark doubt is not absolute despair.
Good Friday.

XLIX. A Korahite Meditation upon Man's
Mortality, the Old Testament Version of Dives
AND Lazarus. " Rich and wise die with poor and foolish.
All arc alike appointed as a flock for Sheol. But God will
redeem my soul from its power." Quoted (vcr. 17), i Tim.
vi. 7 ; cp. Matt. xvi. 26, T-^uke xvi. 19-31. With ver. 14 cp.
Rom. xiii. 12 ; with ver. 15 cp. John xiv. 3.

LXXIII. The Sure and Certain Hope. Faith's
Triumph over Honest Doubt. By Asaph. ''The
prosperity of the wicked troubled me till in God's sanctuary
I considered their latter end, and knew that God is my
Refuge and my Portion for ever." With vv. 25, 26 cp.
Phil. iii. 8, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, v. i. The Syriac version says
this Psalm was written on the death of Absalom. Perhaps
the oppressions at the end of Solomon's reign are referred
to (i Kings xii. 4).

CXI. A Hallelujah Acrostic concerning the
Works of the Lord. " I will give thanks, for God's
works are great and eternal, gracious and just." With
ver. 5 cp. Matt. vi. 33 ; with vv. 7, 8 cp. Luke xvi. 17 ; with
vcr. 10 cp. Prov i. 7, ix. 10, John vii. 17. Easter Day,
probal)lv because of an ancient application of ver. 5 to tiie Passover.

CXII. A Hallelujah Acrostic concerning the

20O

THE rSAUfS

Vv.tWi OF THE T.ORD. "Blessed is the God-fearing.
Wealth, riches, peace, and enduring remembrance arc his."
Quoted (ver. 9), 2 Cor. ix. 9. With ver. 5 cp. Luke vi. 35.

XCI. TllK Life Mid in God. "He that abideth in
(u)d shall be shielded from all fears and all adversities,
(lod's angels shall guard thee, because thou hast set thy
love upon llim." Quoted (vv. ii, 12), Matt. iv. 6 ; Luke
iv. 10, II. With \er. 13 cp. Rom. xvi. jo, and the Litany;
with ver. 16 cp. Luke ii. 30; cp. Job v. 17-23, i John iv
16-18. This Psalm is in the form of a dialogue.

The Reign of Rehoi^oam.

(92.) One Psalin by RtJian on SJiisliak's Invdsion.
Abuut 970 (i Kings xiv. 25, 26).

I>XXXIX. A'Dh^A'Tic P.^.vlm on God's Covenant
WITH David. "Our all-sovereign God chose David, and
promised that hi^ throne should enduie. i3ut now Thou
hast cast it down to the ground. Where arc Thy former
merrier?" Quoted (ver. 20), Acts xiii. 22; (vv. 36, 1"]^,
John xii. 34. The Targums interpret this Psalm of the
Messiah. \\'ith ver. 19 tp. Acts v. 31 ; with ver. 27 cp.
Col. i. 15, iS. Ver. 52 i.s the doxology added by the com-
piler of Book III. Some refer this Psalm to the reign of
Jehoiakim, while Kwald conjectures that it expresses loss
of ti^e hope that David's line would be restored through
Zerubbabel. Christmas Day.

! '

Fifth Term. The Reign of Jehoshai'iiat.

One anonymous Psalm, one AsapJtitc, and tJircc Korahitc

(915-839.)

(93.) One written perhaps durnt}^ t/ie famine in Israel,
and tlie rel/[i^/ons revival in J ndah (2 Chron. xvii. 9).

XXXII 1. A New Liturgical Song of National
Trust in God. " Praise the Lord who hath created
heaven and earth, and whose eve is on .hem that fear Him."
With ver. 6 cp. John i. 1-3, Job xxxiii. 4, Gen. i. 26;
with ver. 9 cp. Heb. xi. 3; with vv. 10. 11 cp. i Cor.
i. 19-31. Mention of hor.ses suggests that the Psalm is
later than those of David. It miuht have been written at

( .

OF THE REIGN OF JEHOSHAPIIAT.

aoi

several different periods, but illustrates this one very well.
Ver. 22, closing versicles in tiie Litany.

(94.) One Asapliitc on tJic confederacy of Moab and
Anuiton against Isracly written per/taps by faJiazicl
(2 Chron. xx. 1-18).

LXXXIII. A Song in the Temple imploring
God's Aid. " The sons of Lot, Ishmael, and Esau, with
Amalck, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria, consult together
against us. Destroy them as Thou didst destroy the
Canaanitc and Midianite confederacies of old." With vv.
15-18 cp. Phil. ii. 10, II.

(95 — 97-) -^^ Triplet of KoraJdte Sougs celebrating Israel's
victory (2 Chron. xx. i9-?8}.

XLVI. A Song on the Eve of Battle in the
Wilderness of Tlkoa. " God, our Refuge and Strength,
is with us, and will help us right early." With title cp.
I Chron. xv. 20; with vv. 4. 5 cp. Rev. xxi., xxii. 1-5.
This is the original of Luther's famous hymn, " Ein'feste Burg ist unser
Gott."

XLVI I. A Song of Deliverance in the Valley
OF Blessing. " Shout unto God with triumph. He shall
subdue the peoples under us, and we gather together to be
His." (An expansion of xlvi. 10.) With ver. 5 cp. Exod.
iii. 8, Acts i. 9; with "shields," in ver. 9, cp. Hos. iv. 18
(R.V. margin). Ascension Day.

XLVni. A Song of Thanksgiving in the Temple.
"The City of the Great King is beautiful, for there is
God known for a Refuge. He will be our Guide for ever."
Quoted (ver. 2), Matt, v., 3 5. Compare Lam. ii. 15. With
ver. 7 cp. 2 Chron. xx. ^6, 2,7- Jewish commentators refer

this Psalm to the Messiah. Whitsunday. The Jews used it on
the Second Day of the week.

These three Psalms are often referred to Sennacherib's
defeat, and they contain several coincidences with Isaiah.
They were doubtless used in 700, but suit the circumstances
of the early deliverance even better.

The Decline and P^all of Israel.

(98.) One Asaphife Psalm. About 740 ? (Compare
Hosea.)
LXXX. A Mournful Praver for the perishing

202

THE PSALMS

Sons of Joseph. "Turn us again and save us, O Shep-
herd of Israel. For the vine Thou broughtest out of Egypt
is ravaged." With vv. 1,2 cp. Num. ii. 18-24, "'• 23, 25 ;
with ver. 3 cp. Acts iii. 26 ; with ver. 8 cp. Isa. v., Jer.
ii. 21, Ezek. xix., Hos. x. 1, and Gen. xlix. 22; with ver.
17 cp. Eph. i. 20, Rev. i. 13-16.

The Reign of Hezekiah.

Two AsapJiite Psalms, one Korahite, and three anonymous,
ivrittcn perhaps by Hezekiah. (Compare Isa. xxxviii.)

(99.) One Ko'-ahite on the tribute brought to Hesekiah.
About 711. (2 Chron. xxxii. 23.)

LXXXVII. A Song concerning Zion, the
Glorious Mother of many Nations. "God loves
Zion, and shall establish her, and count who was born there
when Hewriteth up the peoples." Compare Eph. ii. 19, iii.
3-6; Col. iii. 1 1 ; Jbhn x. 16 ; and contemporary prophecies —
e.g., Isa. ii. 2-5, xix. 23-5, xl.-lxvi. ; Micah iv. 1-4. In antici-
pating the mystery revealed to S. Paul of the brotherhood
of all men in Christ, this striking Psalm stands alone in the
Old Testament.

( 1 00, 1 o I .) Two Asaphite on the invasion by the A ssyria*> ",
and the deliverance from them. About 700. (2 Kinj^s xix.)

LXXV. A Song concerning the Judge of the
whole Earth. " We thank Thee, for from Thee alone
comcth the destrurtion of the wicked and the lifting up
of the righteous." With ver. 2 cp. John v. 25-9 ; with
ver. 4 cp. 2 Kings xviii. 35 ; with ver. 8 cp. Rev. xiv. 10 ;
cp. I Sam. ii. i-io and Isaiah throughout. The reference
to looking for human aid from all quarters save the North
has suggested that they feared Northern enemies, of whom
the chief were the Assyrians. This is, however, conjectural.

LXXVI. A Song of Exultation over the Death
Sleep of the Mighty. "God is known in Judah as
trlorious and excellent. At His rebuke the stout-hearted
arc spoiled." Vith ver. i cp. 2 Chron. xxx. i ; with
ver. 3 cp. Isa. xxxvii. 33 ; with ver. 10 cp. Acts iv. 2,7, 28.
Internal evidence fixes the date.

(102 — 104.) Three after signal deliverance and special
harvest blessing. About 700. (Isa. xxxvii. 30.)

OF THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH.

203

Ihcp-

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1/ special

LXV. A Song OF Harvest Thanksgiving. "Blessed
are Thy people, O Lord. Thou hast stilled the tumult,
and all creation is enriched by Thy goodness." With ver. 7
cp. Matt. viii. 27 and Isa. xvii. 12-14. This Psalm may be
adapted from one of David's by his descendant.

LXV I. A Passover Song of Deliverance after
Sore Trial and Earnest Prayer. " Come and see the
terrible works of God, who observes the nations, who has
brought us out into a wealthy place." With ver. 10 cp. 2
Peter i. 7. Ver. 6 alludes to the two great Passover miracles
(Exod. xiv. ; Josh, iii.) ; ver. 12 may refer to the famous
Assyrian cavalry. Both style and substance connect this
Psalm with Ixv., but its date cannot be certainly fixed.
Thanksgiving after a storm at sea.

LXVII. A Liturgical Harvest Song of Benedic-
tion. (Deus Misereatiir.) " Bless us, that all men may know
Thy saving health, and praise Thee together." Compare
Acts i. 7, 8 ; Psalm xxii. 27 ; Num. vi. 24-6. Solemnisation
of Matrimony and second canticle at Evensong.

Sixth Term. The Decline and Fall of Judah.

One KovaJiite Psalm, two AsapJiite, and three anonymous.
(105.) One KoraJiitey probably occasioned by some un-
recorded disaster in the later days of the monarchy.
XLIV. A Didactic Psalm in time of Great
National Calamity. "We have heard what Thou
didst for our fathers of old. But now Thou hast cast
us off, yet we have not forgotten Thee. Rise up for our
help, O Lord." Quoted (ver. 22), Rom. viii. 36. With ver.
17 cp. Hos. xi. 12 ; cp. also i Kings viii. 33-50. Con-
jectures as to its date range from the days of David to
those of the Maccabees. Antiphon in Litany.
(106.) One in time of fear and trouble.
LXXI. A Psalm of trustful Old Age concerning
God's Righteousness. " From my youth I have trusted
Thee. Forsake me not in my old age, for my enemies
arc many. My redeemed soul shall praise Thee." With
ver. 17 cp. Phil i. 6. The LXX. gives this contradictory
heading : " A Psalm of David, of the Sons of Jonadab,
and of those who were first led captive." It may be a

204

THE PSALMS

Rcchabite (Jer. xxxv.) adaptation of Psalms xxii., xxxl,
xxxii., and xl, ; others refer it to Jeremiah, Visitation of
the Sick. Last verse of Te Deum.

do/, 1 08.) Two Asaphite on the Fall of Jerusalem^ B.C.
588 (2 Kings XXV.).

LXXIV. A Didactic Psalm on the Profanation
AND Destruction of the Temple. " The enemy has
fired Thy sanctuary and burned up all Thy synagogues.
Thou didst great things for us of old. Arise, plead Thine
own cause." Compare Jude 5; Matt. xxi. 13, xxiii. 38.
With vcr. 9 cp. Lam. ii. 9.

LXXIX. A Sorrowful Pleading for the Slaugh-
tered People and Ruined City. " Jerusalem is wasted,
Thy servants lie unburied, and we are brought very low.
Remember not our fathers' iniquities, but deliver us."
Compare Luke xix. 41-4 and Lamentations ; with vv. 6, 7
cp. Jer. X. 25 ; with vv. 4, 9 cp, Dan. ix. 16. Some
attribute these twp Psalms to Shishak's invasion, others
to the time of the Maccabees. See i Mace. i. 44-64, iv.
38, vii. 16, 17, ix. 26, 27; 2 Mace. i. 8, v. 12-16, viii. n.
They may be by Jeremiah. Ver. 9, antiphon in Litany.

(109, no.) Two representing the darkest hour of tJie
Captivity (2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-20).

CXXX. A Song of Ascents concerning God's
Abundant Forgiveness. {De profundis) "Out of the
GTjpths I cry. I wait on Thee, and hope in Thee." Compare
Rom. iii. 24, 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. 8-10 ; Titus ii. 14. Ash Wednesday.
A Penitential Psalm.

CXXIX. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's
Afflictions. " Great have been my afflictions, yet the
enemy hath not prevailed. Let all Zion's haters be
ashamed." Compare John xvi. 33. With ver. 8 cp. Ruth
ii. 4.

Seventh Term. The Restoration and the
Second Temple.

The Psalms of this period are only a softened echo of
David's strains ; not experimental, autobiographical heart-
scarchings, but liturgical and national hymns for the
ordinary Temple service. They lead us up from the deep

OF THE RESTORATION.

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sorrow of the Captivity, through the mingled music of the
Songs of Ascents, to the four great groups of Thanksgiving
Psalms which close the Psalter.

(hi — 117.) A sequence of six Psalms and one detached
Psalm, written towards the close of the Captivity as the
prospect of return gradually brightened, 538 — 536. (Ezra
i. 1-6.)

CIl. A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is
OVERWHELMED, " In pain and loneliness and reproach,
a weak and dying creature, I cry to God, who endureth
for ever, for the time to have pity on Zion is come."
Quoted (vv. 25-7), Heb. i. 10-12. With ver. 26 cp, 2 Peter
iii. 10; with ver. 13 cp. Jer. xxv. 11, xxix. 10, Dan.
ix. 2. The heading of this Psalm, which contains many
thoughts and words from earlier psalms, stands alone in
appointing it for private devotion. Ash Wednesday. A Peni-
tential Psalm. Ver. i, versicles in Confirmation and Marriage Services,
and Visitation of the Sick.

CIII. A Thanksgiving for Individual and Na-
tional Salvation. " Bless the Lord who forgives, heals,
redeems, and satisfies, and pities like a father. Brief is His
wrath and everlasting His mercy." Quoted (vv. 15, 16),
James i. 10; i Peter i. 24. With ver. 8 cp. Exod. xxxiv.
6, 7, 2 Peter iii. 15 ; with ver. 13 cp. Luke xv. 11-32 ; with
ver. 20 cp. Matt. vi. 10. The evidence of language and
style as well as the connexion with cii. is against the

ascription to David. Ver. 10, versicles after the Lord's Prayer in
the Litany.

CIV. A Hallelujah Psalm of Creation. "Bless
the Lord who created the heavens and earth and sustains
all His creatures." Quoted (ver. 4), Heb. i. 7. With ver. 2
cp. Matt. xvii. 2. The Psalm is an ode on Gen. i.,
whose order is followed throughout. Compare Job xxxviii.,
xxxix. ; I Cor. viii. 6; Rev. iv. 11. Its landscape of
mountain, springs, and cedars, bounded by distant sea
covered with ships and swarming with a monster brood,
may be found in Lebanon. Whitsunday.

CV. A Eucharistic and Hallelujah Psalm re-
counting God's marvellous works from Abraham's
Call to the Exodus. " God promised Canaan to
Abraham, preserved his descendants in their wanderings,

2o6

THE PSALMS

'! I

ri f:

and brought tlicm out of Egypt with gladness." Compare
Rom. XV. 4. Vv. 1-15 arc taken from David's Song of
Praise (l Chron. xvi. 8-22 see p. 64). Whitsunday, Used by
the Jews on the First Day of the week.

CVI. A Hallelujah Psalm rkcounting the Rebel-
lions OF Israel from the Exodus to the Days of
THE Judges. "Our fathers sinned and God's wrath was
kindled. We have sinned with them, yet gather us from
among the heathen." Compare i Cor. x, 1-12; Dan. ix.
With vv. 47, 48 cp. I Chron. xvi. 35, 36. Vcr. 48 is the
doxology added by the compiler of Book IV. The terse
and simple style of cv., cvi. indicates that they may have
been meant for instructing the young.

CVII. A EucHARisTic Psalm of Life in Six
Stanzas. " Thank the Lord for His goodness to the
wanderers (cp. John viii. 12), the prisoners (cp. Luke iv. 18 ;
Rom. vii. 24, 25), the sick (cp. Matt. iv. 23), the storm-
tossed (cp. Matt. jViii. 26), and the perishing (cp. John vi.)."
Matt. vi. 25, 26 may be regarded as its keynote. Isaiah
and Job are frequently quoted and referred to. With ver. 9
cp. Luke i. 53. Ver. 16 may refer to the capture of Babylon
(Isa. xlv. I, 2). With ver. 20 cp. John iv. 50, Luke vii. 7 ;
with ver. 43 cp. Hos. xiv. 9. This Psalm was perhaps sung
at the Feast of Tabernacles described in Ezra iii. Thanks-
giving after a storm at sea.

CXXXVII. A Reminiscence of Silent Suffering
IN Babylon. " We wept in Babylon, thinking of the Zion
we can never forget. O Lord, recompense Edom and
Babylon." Compare Obadiah and Rev. xviii,

(118 — 121.) A triplet of Songs on approaching and entering
Jerusalem, with a KoraJiite thanksgiving as a sequel, 536.
(Ezra iii )

CXX. A Song of Ascents concerning Deceitful
Tongues and Haters of Peace. " Deliver me from
lying lip3, for I dwell among the turbulent, yet long for
peace." Compare Ezra iv. i, 4 and John iv. 9.

CXXI. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's
Keeper. " My help cometh from the Lord. He will keep
thee from all evil." Compare Luke xii. 4-7. " Keep "
occurs six times. See R.V.

CXXII. A Song of Ascents concerning Joyous

OF THE RESrOKATION.

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Joyous

Entrance into the Holy City. "We stand within

thy gates, where arc the thrones of David's house. Peace

be within thee, Jerusalem." Compare Heb. xii. 22 ; Isa. xxx.

29 ; Exod. xxiii. 17. Internal evidence is against David's

authorship, and his name is omitted in the LXX.

LXXXV. Praise for Restoration and Prayer

FOR THE Restored. " Lord, Thou hast forgiven, and

turned our captivity. Our land shall yield her increase.

Quicken us again." With vv. 10, 11 cp. Rom. iii. 25, 26,

John i. 14. Christmas Day. Ver. 7, versicles before the Collect for
the Day.

(122 — 125.) Four Songs while the work zvas interrupted
and opposed by their enemies, 445 — 433. (Neh. iv.-vi.)

CXXIII. A Song of Ascents concerning the Eye
OF Hope. {Oculus Sperans was the old name of the
Psalm.) " Filled with the foe's scorning and contempt, we
look to Thee, our Master." Compare Col. iii. 23, 24, and
Neh. ii. 19, iv. 4, ix. 36, n.

CXXIV. A Song of Ascents concerning Hope
NOT PUT TO Shame. "Had not the Lord been for us,
we had been overwhelmed. But He is our Help, and we
are escaped." Compare Rom. viii. 31. David's name is
omitted in the chief versions, and in some MSS. If origin-
ally from his hand, it may have been adapted to the
experience of the restored Jews, as a sequel to cxxiii.
Thanksgiving after Victory. Ver. 8, versicles in Confirmation Service.

CXXV. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's
Defence. " The Lord is round about His people as the
mountains are round about Jerusalem." Compare Gal.
vi. 16 ; Zech. ii. 5.

CXXVI. A Song of Ascents concerning the

Turning of Zion's Captivity. " Our joy is like a dream,

as we rejoice over the great things the Lord hath done for

us." Compare Matt. v. 4 ; John xvi. 22 ; Gal. vi. 7-9 ;

Luke viii. 39- Vv. 5, 6 were engraved on the walls of the Beau-
champ Tower by Edmund Poole, imprisoned there in 1 562.

( 1 26, 1 27.) l^wo Liturgical Prayers for the Second Temple
(Neh. xi. 22, 23).

XCIV. A Lyric Psalm for the Fourth Day of
the Week. (LXX. heading.) " How long shall the
arrogant wicked afflict Thine heritage? The Lord shall

2o8

THE PSALMS

\\\

cut them off iti their own evil." Quoted (vcr. ii), i Cor
iii. 20, With vcr. i cp. Ileh. x. 30, Deut. xxxii. 35 ; with
3 cp. P.sahTi xiii. i ; with ver. 12 cp. Hob. xii. 3-1 1,

ver.

James i. 12 ; with ver. 21 cp. Matt, xxvii. 1-4. The con-
jectures as to the date of this Psalm, which the LXX.
ascribes to David, arc very numerous. It borrows from
many earlier ones. The Jews used it at the Feast of Tabernacles.

CXLIV. A New Song praying for Israel's Pros-
perity. "Rescue me from the hand of strangers. Happy
and prosperous are Thy people." With vcr. 12 cp. i Peter
ii. 5. Vv. i-ii is made up of extracts from David's Psalms.
To these a national prayer is added.

(128 — 130.) Three Liturgical Thanksgivings for the
Second Temple.

CXXXIV. A Concluding Song of Ascents con-
cerning THE Priestly Benediction. The pilgrims at
the close of their journey greet the priests and Levites
in the Temple (yv. i, 2) keeping their night watch (sec
I Chron. ix. 33 ; Luke ii. I'j ; Rev. xvi. 15), who bless them
in return (Num. vi. 23-7) ; cp. i Tim. ii. 8.

The first seven Songs of Ascents were written alter the
Captivity; of the next seven, L.o are by David, three (?)
by Solomon, and two were written during the Captivity.
The fifteenth was added after the Captivity as a doxology.

CXXXV. A Hallelujah Psalm ACKNowLEDciNG
Israel's God to be the one true God. " Praise the
great Creator, who chose and redeemed Israel and gave
them Canaan." Quoted (ver. 14), Heb. x. 30. With ver.
5 cp. Mark xii. 32, i Cor. viii. 6, Neh. ix. 5-38. This is
a mosaic from the earlier Psalms and prophets, and was
probably sung in alternate responses by priest and people.

CXXXVI. The Great Hallel. A p:ucharistIc
Psalm (in alternate responses, with a burden sung in full
chorus). " Give thanks to God, whose mercy endureth for
ever, for our creation, redemption, preservation, and all the
blessings of this life." Compare i Tim. iv. 4. This " Jewish
national anthem " is also a mosaic o' earlier Psalms, and
the three following groups may be regarded as expansions

of it. It was sung on the evening of the battle of Emmaus. B.c. 167.
See p. 168.

(131 — 1 38.) Seven Royal Psalms^ with a closing Doxology

OF Tin: RESTORATION.

309

Cor

with

3-11,

con-

.XX.

from

ades.
.MiOS-

[appy
Peter
salms.

the

i CON-
ims at
Lcvites
ch (see
3S them

iter the
hree (?)

Lptivity.

<ology.

B.C. 167.

)oxology

coficcrniiig the Joyful coniiiii^- of frhovah the rii^htrciis Kii/i:;:

A Missionary Hallcl. The LXX. ascribes XCIIL — C. to

David, and XCII. has been attributed to him also. Others

refer all these Psalms to Isaiah at the time of Hecekia/i's

Reformation, and they closely resemble his later prophecies.

Others make them post-Restoration Psalms. They are

evidently liturgical and continuous.

XCII. A Song for the Saiujatfi Day to God

THE Creator. "Thou hast made me pjlad throuL;h Thy

works. Thine enemies shall perish and the righteous shall

flourish." With ver. 5 cp. Rom. xi. 33 ; with ver. 10 cp.

2 Cor. i. 21, I John ii. 20. Ver. 13 alludes to the trees

in the Temple Courts. " Jehovah " occurs seven times in

this Psalm, which was used at the early morning sacrifice.

The Talmud explains its title by saying it is " a Psalm for

the future age of the Messiah, the day which is wholly a

Sabbath." Used by the Jews on the Seventh Day of the week (Num.
xxviii. 9, 10), and on the Second Day of tlie Feast of Tabernacles.

XCIII. A Psalm of Praise to God the Ruler

OF all Creation. " Thy throne is established of old,

and holiness becometh Thine house." Compare Rev. xix. 6

and Psalm xcii. 8. Used by the Jews on the Sixtli Day of the
week.

XCV. A PsALM OF Praise to God the Shepherd
OF Israel. ( Venite) " Worship God joyfully, and harden
not your hearts as your fathers did." Quoted, Ileb. iii. 7 —
iv. 11; " in David " merely means " in the Psalrns."
With ver. 4 cp. I Kings XX. 28. Used by the Jews on Friday
Evening. It has formed the Invitatory Psalm at Morning Prayer in
both the Eastern and Western Church from very early times.

XCVI. A New Song to God the Righteous
Judge. " Give God the glory due to Him, all peoples,
and let the earth exult in His coming." With ver. 10 cp.
Act xvii. 22-31. This Psalm is an adaptation of the second
part of David's Song of Praise (i Chron. xvi. 23-33).

XCVII. A Psalm of Praise to God exalted far
above all Gods. " Let earth rejoice and tremble, and
ye that love the Lord hate evil." Quoted (ver. 7), Hcb. i. 6.
With ver. i cp. Psalm Ixv. 5 ; with ver. 10 cp. 2 Tim. ii. 19 ;
with ver. 1 1 cp. Mai. iv, 2.

XCVII I. A New Song to God who hath wrought
Salvation. (Cantate Domino) " Let the whole earth

310

THE rsAurs

rcjfjicc, for the Lord's salvation is known to all." Willi
vcr. I cp. 1 Cor. xv. 57; with vv. 8, 9 cp. Rom. viii. 21-3.
First (,'aiiticle at Kvenson^'.

XCIX. A SoNc; OF Prai.sk to the Holy God who
HKAKS Pkavkk. "The Lord is j^rcat in Zion. He heard
His servants of old, and they ktpl His statutes." With vv.
3. 5. 9 (I'^V.) cp. Isa. vi. 3, Rev. iv. 8 ; with ver. 9 cp. Luke
xxiv. 52, Acts i. 12, John xii. 41 ; cp. Rev. xi. 15-18.

C. A Psalm for thi-: 'rHANKOi-FiiuiNc; to thk
Good God who.m all serne joyfully, {/itbilatc.)
" Let all lands know that Jehovah is God, and rejoice.''
Compare Acts ii. 46, 47. With ver. 5 cp. 2 Chron. v. 13.
Second Canticle at Morning I'rayer.

The wide recognition of God's wonderful interposition on
behalf of His captive peojile is the original theme of these
eight Psalms (E/.ek. xxxvi. 21-4; Dan. iv. 17, 25, 35).
Their complete fulfilment is to be found in the universal
preaching of thp gospel and the Advent in glory of Christ.

(139 — 144.) Six Psalms forming the Egyptian Mallei
for the Passover, very doubtfully attributed to David^ more
probably post-Restoration.

CXIII. A Hallelujah Psalm on the God of
Glory and Grace. "Praise the Lord. His glory is
high above the heavens, yet He humbleth Himself to raise
the poor." With vv. 5, 6 cp. Phil. ii. 5-8. Compare the songs
of Hannah and of the Virgin Mary. Easter Day. Versicles
in Confirmation Service.

CXIV. The Deliverance of God's Nation
through the Red Sea and Jordan. " At the presence
of Jacob's God, sea and flood were driven back, and the
rock became a fountain of water." With ver. 7 cp. Matt.
xxiv. 29, 30 ; with vcr. 8 cp. I Cor. x. 2, 4. Easter Day.

CXV. A Hallelujah Psalm contrasting the
God of Heaven with the Idols of Men. {Non nobis,
Dominc.) " Not unto us be glory. P'or God hath been
mindful of us and will bless us." Vv. 1-8 and 16-18 arc
said by the congregation, vv. 9- 11 by the Levites and choir,
vv. 12-15 by the Priest. Compare i Cor. viii. 4; i John
v. 21.

CXVI. A Hallelujah Psalm on the Deliver-
ance OF God's Servant. " I was brought low and God

OF THE RESTORATION.

311

With
21-3-

» WHO
heard
ith vv.
. Luke

) THE

cjoicc.''
I. V. 13-

ition on
of these

25. 35);
iniversal

Christ.

n Halld

uidy won

GOD OF
glory is
f to raise
he songs
Versicles

Nation
I presence

and the
|cp. Matt.

Day.

[NG THE

Jon nobis,
lath been
I16-18 arc

ind choir,
I John

JELIVER-
and God

saved me. What shall I render unto Him ? " Quoted
(ver. 10), 2 Cor. iv. 13. With ver. 16 cp. Isa. Ixv. 23, i
Cor. vii. 14. It illustrates the depth of religious life in
individuals at this time. Cluirdiing of Women.

CXVII. A Hallclujaii Psalm. "Let all nations
praise the Lord." Quoted, Rom. xv. 11. This shortest of
the Psalms seems to have formed the usual doxology with
which the congregation was dismissed.

CXVIII. TiiK Gklat Hosanna. A Eixhakistic
Psalm. "The Lord is on our side, and in Hi.'- name will I
cut off all the nations that compass me round, I shall not
die, but live, and declare His works." Quoted (ver. C), Heb.
xiii. 6 ; (ver. 22), Matt. xxi. 42, Acts iv. 11,1 Peter ii. 4-7 ;
(vv. 25, 26), Matt. xxi. 9, xxiii. 39. The Psalm is in
alternate responses, and seems designed for solemn entrance
into the Temple on some great festival, perhaps that of
Neh. viii. 13-18. Easter Day. Used by the Jews on tlie Feast of
Tabernacles.

These six Psalms are termed the great Hallcl by some
Jewish authorities, others giving that name to cxxxvi. ;
cxi. and cxii. formed an introduction to them. They were
used at the three great Feasts, at ihe New Moons, and at
the Feast of Dedication. At the Passover, cxiii., cxiv.
were sung before the second cup, and cxv. — cxviii. after
the fourth cup, when supper was ended (Matt. xxvi. 30).

(145 — 149.) Five Psalms, forjiiing a Second Hallcl for
daily Moniing Prayer. The LXX. attributes cxlvi. — cxiviii.
to Haj^gai and ZecJiariaJi, and the group may have been
ivritten for the Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem, 433.
(Neh. xii. 27-43.)

CXLVI. A Hallelujah Psalm. " Praise the Lord,
who is thy Help and Hope, O my soul." Compare Rev.
i. 4-6.

CXLVII. A Hallelujah Psalm. "Praise the Lord,
who fcedeth and upholdeth all, O Jerusalem." Compare
Rev. iv. ic, II.

CXLVI II. A Hallelujah Psalm. "Praise the
Lord, all-sovereign Creator, ye children of men with all
the company of heaven." Compare Rev. vii. 11, 12. The
Benedicite is a paraphrase of this Psalm.

CXLIX. A New Song and Hallelujah Psalm.

212

THE PSALMS.

" Praise the Lord, who is King of Israel, in the assembly
of saints." Compare Rev. xix. 5.

CL. A Hallelujah Psalm. " Praise the Lord in
His sanctuary and in the firmament, all that hath breath."
Compare Rev. v. 8-14. This forms a doxology to the whole

Psalter. Ver. 6 was chanted by Severinus, missionary to the tribes
of the Upper Danube, when lie lay dying (a.d. 462) and his brethren
couM not sing for sorrow.

(150.) One Psalm probably written by Ezra, but also
attributed to David and Daniel.

CXJX. "The Great Alphabet" {Masorah\ "the
Golden A.B.C." {Luther\ an Acrostic Psalm of the
Law. Compare i Peter i. 23. All its verses, saving 122 and
132, refer to the Scriptures under one of these ten names
<'V. ^ Jews connect their number with the Decalogue), wordy
ways, testhnonies, judgments, law, statutes, ordinances,
/ -ecepts, commandments, faithfulness. This Psalm, which
h tS been called " an epitome of all true religion," " the
Biblical expression of the unchanging Law of Right," and
" the Jewish Ode to Duty," illustrates the close of the
Canon, and the new value and importance attached to the
written Word by the restored Jews (Psalm cii. 18), the
succession of whose prophets ended in Malachi ; whose
kings were no longer of the house of David ; and whose
priests no longer ministered before an Ark over-shadowed
with the Divine Glory. From the days described in Neh.
viii. I- 1 2, the Book which contained the record of their past
and the promise of their future was regularly multiplied,
and taught, and made the basis of an elaborate doctrine.
When we meet the Jews again in the New Testament, their
veneraJon for it has degenerated into a new form of
superstition and idolatry.

EIGHTH TERM.

The Days of the Son of Man.
The Gospel Preached to the Jews.

B.C. 6— A.D. 51.

5", Matthew, S. Mark, S. Ltike, S. John, Acts /. — XII ., James,
I Peter, Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews. (130 chapters?)

"Then opened He their mind, that they might understand the Scriptures."
—Luke xxiv. 45.

29th MONTH (32).

Matt. L-XL 19, Xn., XHL
Mariv I.— VL 13. Luke I.— IX
6, XL 14— xn. 12. John L—

v.*

30th MONTH (33).

Matt. XL 20-30, XIV.— XXn.,
XXVL 6-13. Mark VI. 14—
xn. 37, XIV. 3-9. Luke IX.
7-XI. 13, XII. 13— XX. 44.
John VL— XII. 19.

31st MONTH (32).

Matt. XXIII.-XXVII. Mark
XII. 38— XVI. Luke XX.
45— XXIV. John XIL 20—
XXI. Acts I.— VIIL

32nd MONTH (33).

Acts IX.— XII. James, i Peter,
Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews, Acts
XIIL, XIV.

I. General Summary.

«^-pHE Days of the Son of Man" (Luke xvii. 22)
X prefaced the last chapter in the history of Israel and
the first chapter in the history of the Church. We consider
them in the first aspect this term ; in the second, next term.
Christ came 4000 years after the Creation ; nearly 1 500
/cars after the Exodus ; 1000 years after the First Temple
was built ; and 500 years after the Second Temple ; in
an age when the fair promise of the Restoration had
been blighted (see pp. 160, 169). Through the Roman
conquerors of Palestine, detested Edom had given Israel

* For the Gospels see p. 244. They are read in about 85 days, and contain
3779 verses. Therefore, as their chapters are much broken up, it will be a
good rule to read them at the rate of ^fl^ = 44^ verses a day.

213

214

EIGHTH TERM,

V I-

.{., :

a king in Herod, the low-born usurper, tyrant over an
unwilling people, and more than suspected apostate (see
p. 228). When Archelaus was deposed, the Jews sought the
direct rule of a Roman procurator, thinking they would be
freer to manage their own affairs thus. And so the sceptre
finally departed even in name from Judah, for what Josephus
calls " Agrippa's illegal assumption of the procurator's
power " from A.D. 41 — 44 cannot be reckoned as a restora-
tion of the monarchy, Agrippa II., the last descendant of
the Asmoneans, sided with the Romans when war broke
out in A.D. 66 The Roman had always shown an aptitude
for assimilating conquered nations to himself The Jew
alone doggedly refused to be in friendly relation to him.
Each utterly misunderstood, hated, and despised the other,
and though Cffisar tolerated Judaism as he tolerated the
religions of all his subjects, many insults and outrages were
offered to it by his officials and soldiers.

As for the Jqws, though the old demon of idolatry had
been finally cast out (Luke xi. 24-6), their creed had
shrunk into a dead formula, their religion into a network
of elaborate rules, which nourished self-righteousness and
fanaticism, but left out " the weightier matters of the law "
(Matt, xxiii. 23). Murder in the name of orthodoxy they
could justify ; what they could not tolerate was teaching
of truths new and old that opposed itself to their interests.
And while the formalist is always harder to influence than
the worldling who makes no religious profession, his pe-
dantic scrupulosity is too often compatible with indifference
or actual unbelief Let us, then, take heed lest even in the
midst of our religious observances the law of Christ lose
its hold upon our hearts, lest we deceive ourselves, and
substitute a routine use of the means of grace for a life hour
by hour under the power of grace.

Again and again the Jews rose in small fruitless seditions,
and, as Tacitus admits, their patience could endure no
longer when Gessius Florus proved even more insolent and
rapacious than his predecessors. Suddenly they made
themselves masters of Jerusalem, and in November 66
inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Romans at Beth-horon.
Vespasian and Titus, both afterwards Emperors, were sent
to subdue the revolted province, the country was conquered,

GENERAL SUMMARY,

:i5

(vcr an
Ltc (sec
ight the
ould be

sceptre
osephus
;urator's

rcstora-
ndant of
ir broke
aptitude
rhe Jew
I to him.
he other,
rated the
igcs were

>latry had
reed had
a network
sness and
the law"
ioxy they
teaching
interests,
icnce than
n, his pe-
Uifference
|ven in the
;hrist lose
lives, and
life hour

, seditions,

-ndure no

Isolcnt and

ley made
[ember 66
leth-horon.
Iwere sent

:onqucrcd,

and in 70 Jerusalem was besieged. Her children were
within her (Luke xix. 43, 44), for the blockade began at the
Passover, just 40 years (always a significant period in sacred
history) after the Lamb of God had been slain, and the city
was crowded to suffocation. It seemed as if the nation had
given itself a " rendezvous of extermination," and history
tells no tale of such unspeakable horror and overwhelming
misery as that of the awful fulfilment of their awful words
to Pilate (Matt, xxiii. 35, xxvii. 25). Within, the distracted
people devoured each other, until all were devoured by the
irresistible foe without. Josephus, who was no Christian,
says in his famous History that it was certainly God wno
had brought the Romans to punish His people ; and that
He had doomed this city to destruction as a polluted city,
and was resolved to purge His sanctuary by fire. Even
Titus felt himself to be the instrument of a calamity far
crueller than he wished or intended, and said, as he looked
at the city's defences : " God has been my helper ! God
it was that pulled down the Jews from these formidable
walls, for what could the hands of men or their engines have
availed against them ? " With the obstinacy of despair
they contested every inch ; the Temple streamed with the
blood of its priests ; its altar slopes were piled with corpses
(cp. 2 Kings xxiii. 16) ; and on the same day of the year
that Nebuchadnezzar had burned it, the House of God was
fired, and sank in ashes (Matt, xxiii. 38, xxiv. 2). Without
the city gates (Heb. xiii. 12) Jews were crucified in such
multitudes that "room was wanting for the crosses and
crosses for the carcases " ; they were sold for slaves in such
multitudes that at last none would buy them. For the
second time, Jerusalem was razed to the ground, and
disappears from history for 60 years.

In A.D. 132 the crushed people made a final revolt under
Bar-Cocheba, who claimed to be the Messiah. When this
had been suppressed, their God-given land was legally
appropriated by the Romans, and the plough passed over
desolate and desecrated Moriah. A new city called yElia
CapitoHna was reared on Zion, and peopled by a Roman
colony. None but pagans or Christians were suffered to
enter it, but the capitation tax the Jews had formerly paid
for the Temple worship (Matt. xvii. 24) was still exacted

2l6

EIGHTH TERM.

from them and used to erect a temple to Jupiter Capitoiinus
on Mount Moriah (John xix. 15), For 200 years the name
of Jerusalem was never heard, and Judaism henceforth was
a religion deprived of its two most characteristic features,
a temple and sacrifices.

" Thus fell and for ever " (says Dean Milman) " the
metropolis of the Jewish State. It might almost seem to
be a place under a peculiar curse ; it has probably seen
a far greater portion of human misery than any other spot
upon the earth." In B.C. 588 it had already been taken ten
times, and unsuccessfull> besieged twice, and we read ol
twelve other captures or sieges between 588 and the
Christian era. It had had many privileges and sinned
many sins (all summed up in i Thess. ii. 1 5, 16). Its highest
privilege was to receive the words of God from His own
Son ; its greatest sin was the deliberate rejection of both
message and Messenger. Then it suiTered the heaviest
punishment history records (Luke xiii. 34, 35). Comparison
of Matt. X. 23, xvi. 28, xxiv. 34, and John xxi. 22 shows
that its Fall was a Coming, though not the final Coming of
Christ. (See Alford, etc., etc.) He had five times predicted
it and foretold many of its most striking features. The
great prophecy of Matt. xxiv. blends, so that we cannot
completely discriminate them until all has been fulfilled,
the three catastrophes which close the three Dispensations
of the world's history, both the former being types of the
last, viz., the Flood in the past at the end .^f the Patriarchal
Dispensation, the Fall of Jerusalem in the near future at
the end of the Jewish Dispensation, and the final Judgment
of the Son of Man in the distant future, at the end of the
Christian Dispensation (see p. 25).

Dean Stanley notes only three other events of equal
magnitude with the Fall of Jerusalem : the Fall of Babylon,
which ended Primaeval History ; the Fall of Rome, which
ended Classical History ; and the Fall of Constantinople,
which ended Mediaeval History (see p. 138). But the Fall
of Jerusalem has the peculiar interest of involving the
dissolution of a religious dispensation with the agony of an
expiring nation.

Or, looking only at Hebrew history, we may observe
three Desolations of God's House : by the Philistines in

GENERAL SUMMARY.

217

oiinus

name

th was

aturcs,

) "the
ccm to
y seen
IX spot
cen ten
read ot
nd the
sinned
highest
;is own
of both
leaviest
iparison
J shows
lining of
redicted
The
cannot
.ilfiUed,
nsations
of the
riarchal
uture at
dgmcnt
d of the

)f equal
abylon,
;, which
tinople,
■the Fall
ig the
ly of an

observe
Itines in

B.C. 1 1 16 ; by the Chaldeans in B.C. 588 ; and by the
Romans in A.D. 70 ; and two crowning catastrophes for
Israel, viz., that of B.C. 588. which through Jeremiah's
preaching became a new birth to the Chosen People ; and
that of A.D. 70, which thiough Christ's preaching led to the
development of the Church. On both occasions the city
might have been saved had it listened to the preacher
{Dr. Payne Smitli).

Again we observe that the Chosen People were three
times expatriated : to Egypt B.C. 1706 to 1491 ; to Babylon
B.C. 606 to 536 ; and to all lands from A.D. 70 onwards. In
each case the expatriation and the return was foretold, and
its period fixed, clearly in the second and Vaguely in the
other c.ises (Gen. xv. 13 ; Jer. xxv, 12 ; Dan. viii. 14 ; Luke
xxi. 24). As they have twice literally returned, historical
analogy points to a third literal return. See also Isa. xi.
II, 12; Amos ix. 15, passages not applicable to B.C. 536.
Fifty years ago there were scarcely 8000 Je- "^ in Palestine.
Now (1892) 42,000 of the 58,000 inhabitants, of Jerusalem
are Jews, and there are at least 100,000 Jews in Palestine,
whose number steadily increases (cp. p. 141). Other con-
quered and captive peoples have vanished utterly, this " in-
exhaustible race " has survived all the determined efforts of
Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, and others to abolish it ;
and the Prussian king who asked for the briefest and most
convincing statement of the evidences of Christianity had
it in the one word " Israel."

Israel's downfall began in B.C. 740, and was consummated
in A.D. 70. Since then it has ceased to be the medium of
God's dealings with mankind, and although represented in
nearly all the states and kingdoms of the world, it has
never been recognised as one of them. The legend of the
Jew Ahasuerus who spurned Christ on His way to Calvary,
and was doomed to roam the earth till He came again in
glory, simply sums up the nation in the individual (Deut.
xxviii. 25, R.V.). In Milman's " History of the Jews "
(Routledge, 3^'. 6^.) may be read the story of its wrongs
and oppressions for the last eighteen centuries, wrongs such
as no other race could have survived. Even as I write,
Western Christendom having at last learned that there are
better ways of serving Christ than by continuing to bring

Ill 3&

2l8

EIGHTH TERM.

<ii'

His blood (Acts v. 28) upon every generation of His own
guilty nation, is prcn sting against new outrages upon the
Jews of Eastern EuroDe. Meanwhile we hear of this rcw
and growing desire among them to return to their own
land, and in Bessarabia there is the dim dawn of a national
recognition of Him whom they once rejected (Zcch. xii. loj.
God has called Israel an everlasting nation (J er. xxxi. 35-7 ;
Isa. xliv. 21, liv. 10, Ixvi. 22), and promised it a hopeful
future (Jer. xxix. 11, xxxi. 17, R.V.). Our duty to it .is
Christians is plain (Psalm cxxii. 6 ; Isa. Ixii. 7 ; Rom. xi.
25-32, R.V.),

II. Books to be Read.

(See "Oxford Helps," § xv.)

We have often turned already for explanation of the Old
Testament to the New Testament as its continuation and
completion. Wq now find in our study of the last seven
terms the best interpretation of the New Testament. It
consists of four biographical sketches, one narrative con-
cerning some missionaries, twenty-one letters, and one
description of a heavenly vision {Liddon), It is coni-
monly regarded as the work of eight writers, of whom six
were apostles. There is, however, reason, as we shall see,
to regard it as the work of nine authors, of whom four only
were apostles, two were the Lord's brethren, and three
wrote under the express guidance of S. Peter and S.
Paul. Of these nine, we make acquaintance with all save
S. Paul this term. Geographically, we may note, that S.
Matthew, S. James, and S. Jude wrote in Palestine ; S.
John in Asia Minor ; S. Luke, S. Paul, and perhaps
S. Peter mainly in Europe ; and the apparent connexion
of S. Mark and the author of Hebrews with Alexandria
makes them representatives of Africa. Chronologically,
I Thessalonians (A.D. 52) is its earliest, and S. John's
Gospel, written some 45 years afterwards, its latest book,
and S. Paul's Epistles are most of them earlier than the
five General Epistles and the Gospels. We, however, not
only begin with the Gospels that we may begin with our
Lord's life ; we recognise that a true instinct placed the
General before the Pauline Epistles in most of the ancient

(

BOOKS TO BE READ.

219

s own

on the

lis rc\v

ir own

ationai

xii. 10).

i.35-7;
hopetul

:o it .IS

Lorn. xi.

the Old
tion and
,st seven
lent. It
tivc con-
and one
is coni-
rhom six
5hal). sec,
.bur only
[nd three
and S.
all save
:, that S.
|stine ; S.
perhaps
|onnexion
icxandria
.logically,
p. John's
[est book,
than the
ever, not
with our
laced the
le ancient

texts ; and after studying through them the Gospel preached
to the Jews, we turn next term to Gentile Christianity as
shown in the h'fe and writings of S. Paul, and to the
consummation of the Divine revelation through S. John.

The Gospels. In Acts we see that the Apostles pro-
claimed not a code of morality, nor a philosophical theory,
nor a body of abstract doctrine, but a series of facts to
which they had been eye-witnesses, and for the reality of
which they not only hazarded but laid down their lives, as
the present sense of " martyr," which originally meant
simply "witness" (see Rev. ii. 13, R.V. and A.V.) proves.
The plain recital of the story of Christ's life was their
"gospel." Passed from mouth to mouth, and diligently
rehearsed to their converts (Luke i. 4, R.V. margin ; 2 Thess.
ii. 15), it lived on, not in writing, but in their memories.
" Commit nothing to writing " had been a favourite Rabbinic
precept, and as yet they shrank from placing it in the
hands of unbelievers.

It soon acquired a settled form throughout the Church.
Twenty years after the Crucifixion, i.e., in A.D. 51, the form
in which S. Paul taught it in Asia Minor was found to agree
absolutely with the form in which it was taught in Jerusalem,
as he tells us in an epistle whose date and authenticity
none dispute (Gal. ii. i-io). Of the countless acts and
words of Christ (John xxi. 25) His apostles selected the
most significant, and the general plan of their narrative
was always the same ; the same stories were related in the
same way ; and often, especially in recounting Christ's
discourses, the same words were used. They dwelt chiefly
upon the incidents of the Passion, anH all was arranged
with a view of being committed to memory.

Within 30 years of Christ's death, ere the livinj^ witnesses
to the facts had passed away, and therefore ere there was
any possibility of legendary embellishments to the story,
various attempts were made to write it down in prepara-
tion for a new age and a fresh generation of Christians
(Luke i. i). Three transcripts (produced probably between
A.D. 55 and A.D. 65) of the original oral Gospel have
survived, and the fact that all others have passed away
utterly proves that these, S. Matthew, S. Mark, and S.
Luke, were its authorised and universally accepted record.

220

EIGHTH TERM.

They were three because the life of Christ was too complex
for a single history, and Christian truth too wide to be
given in any one set of formulas. All heresy springs from
inoidinatc desire to define, distinguish, and isolate its
manifold elements ; all error is but the exaggeration of
some truth taken out of its relation to other truths. So
various early heretics took one Gospel only, to the exclu-
sion of the others, and perverted its characteristic teaching.
Thus, then, "the pattern of sound words" (2 Tim. i. 13)
which the Apostles, directly inspired by the Holy Spirit
according to Christ's promise (John xiv. 26 ; Mark xiii. 11),
had shaped, was condensed in the Apostles' Creed, and
expanded in the Synoptical Gospels. The Gospels were
the result, not the foundation, of the Apostles' teaching
and their common oral basis (as I have already indicated
in describing it) accounts for all their peculiarities. They
agree less than if they had been written in direct relation
to each other, and more than if they had been quite inde-
pendent narratives by three different men. We accept
them, not on the bare assertion that their individual authors
were inspired, but on the proved fact that they represent
the experience of the whole Christian Society that had
known Christ in the flesh, and received the Holy Spirit to
guide them into all truth (John xvi. 13). No history ever
had such an authentication, and alongside the written
record the unbroken chain of living witnesses to its truth
has continued, as we shall see next term. For fuller
exposition of the now generally accepted hypothesis of an
original oral Gospel, see Archbishop Thom.son's article in
Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible"

Finally, together with this corporate testimony of the
whole Church, we have the individual testimony of the
disciple whom Jesus loved, and who was gifted with the
deepest intuition into Divine truth. He evidently wrote
with the Synoptical Gospels before him, designedly sup-
plementing them. The evidence for the historical accuracy
of the Gospels is well summed up in Dr. Wace's " Authen-
ticity of the Gospels " (Religious Tract Society, ^d.).

That S. Matthew, in its first Aramaic form, of which
only the record survives, may have been the earliest
Gospel ; that S. Mark was probably written after the allu-

BOOKS TO BE READ,

221

iplcx

to be

from

:c its

on of

5. So

cxclu-

.ching.

i. 13)
Spirit

iii. 11),
d, and
s were
aching
dicatcd
They
•elation
:e inde-
acccpt
authors
;prcsctit
lat had
pirit to
)ry ever
written
s truth
ir fuller
is of an
tide in

of the
of the

I'ith the
wrote

\\y sup-
:curacy
LUthen-

which
[earliest
\\Q allu-

sion to its author in Col. iv. 10, A.D. 6^ ; that S. Luke's
Gospel shortly preceded his Acts, whose history is doubtless
brought down to the time of writing it, ?>., to 63 ; and that
S. John's Gospel was w/itten at the very close of the first
century, are the most definite statements we can safely
make as to their dates.

The following summary of the peculiarities of each as
contrasted with the others should be worked out fully : —

6". Matthew, th' earliest Gospel, was written in Judaea
for the Jews, by ne of the Twelve. It is ^ narrative, and
is notable for its many Old Testament quotations, and for
dwelling on the discourses of Jesus, whom it presents to us
as the Messiah ar i Son of David, and as the King coming
to restore Israel's monarchy, the Priest fulfilling all the
Old Testament types, and the Prophet teaching a new law
of life in the Sermon on the Mount. It shows us Chris-
tianity as the end and perfection of Judaism, as a royal
law of freedom ; and looking at the Past in a didactic
way, relies on the power of Tradition and Precedent, and
expounds the relation of the Old and New Testament
to each other. Its keynote is Come to fulfil, Matt. v. 17
(cp. Isa. xxxiii. 22, and Rom. i. 3), and James, Jude, and
Hebrews arc its best commentary. " Son of David " occurs
seven times here and only thrice in S. Mark and S. Luke.
" That it might be fulfilled " occurs eight times here and not
in S. Mark or S. Luke. " Your heavenly Father " occurs
15 times, only twice in S. Mark, and only once in S. Luke.

vS. Mark, the shortest Gospel, was written in Rome (?)
for the Romans, by the cousin of S. Barnabas, who may or
may not have been an eye-witness of what he relates, but
who wrote under the direction of S. Peter. It is ^ narra-
tive, and is notable for its vivid and forcible style and
graphic details, and for dwelling on the deeds of Jesus,
whom it presents to us as the Servant of God and Minister
of mercy to the world, and as the King ruling nature and
man. It shows us Christianity as a great social force
moulding men's outer lives anew ; and looking at the
Present in a practical way, relies on the power of Active
Energy, and expounds Christian Practice, emphasizing
works as the outcome of faith. Its keynote is Come to
viinister^ Mark x. 45 (cp. Isa. xlii. 1-4 and Acts x. 38),

223

EIGHTH TERM.

I t

;i' ,:

and S. Peter's Ei)istlcs arc its best commentary. Several
Latin words occur here and not elsewhere, and it has most
in common w ith the other Gospels.

6". Luke, the longest Gospel, was written in Greece (?) for
the Greeks, by a Gentile physician and medical inissionary,
who had not been an eye-witness of what he relates, but
who wrote under the direction of S. Paul. It is ^ narrative,
and is notable fc^r its pathos and literary beauty, and for
dwelling on the conversations of Jesus, whom it presents
to us as the Son of Man and Saviour of sinners, and as the
Priest offering Himself in sacrifice. It .shows us Chris-
tianity as a new creation of the inner lives of men ; and
looking at the Future in a human and historical way, relies
on the power of Thought, and expounds a doctrine
concerning Man, emphasizing faith as the .source of works.
Its keynote is Conic to save, Luke xix. lo (cp. Isa. ix. 6,
Rom. viii. 3), and S. Paul's Epistles are its best commentary.
" Grace," which pccurs but three times in John, and never
in Mark or Matthew, occurs often in Luke as in S. Paul's
writings.

S.John, the latest Gospel, was written in Asia Minor for
the whole Church, by one of the three chosen Apostles,
who was Christ's first cousin and His nearest and dearest
follower. It is ^ narrative, and is notable for its profound
spiritual teaching and .symmetrical structure, and for
dwelling on the progressive manifestation of Jesus and
on the growing unbelief of the Jews contrasted with the
growing faith of the disciples. It presents Him to us as
the Son of God and Incarnate Word, and as the Prophet
revealing highest truths. It shows us Christianity in its
infinite relations ; and looking at Eternity in a philosophical
and poetical way, relies on the supreme power of Love,
and expounds a doctrine concerning God. Its keynote is
Come in My Father's Name, John v. 43 (cp. Isa. liv. 13,
I John V. 20), and S. John's Epistles and Apocalypse are
its best commentary. It has least in common with the
other Gospels, not using many of their most familiar words,
and using at least 65 words not found in them. It is
at once the simplest in manner and the most difficult in
matter of all. For the Harmony of the Gospels, and the
exact order in which they should be read, see p. 244.

■m

BOOKS TO HE READ.

223

cvcral
; most

(?) for
onary,
cs, but
rativc,
nd for
resents

as the

Chris-
n ; and
^, relics
ioctrinc
' works,
a. ix. 6,
lentary.
id never
\. Paul's

[inor for
apostles,
dearest
irofound
.nd for
sus and
vith the
Ito us as
Prophet
ly in its
Isophical
•f Love,
ynote is
liv. 13.
pse are
[vith the
^r words,
It is
icult in
and the

14-

Acts, probably written at Rome, forms S. Luke's sequel
to his Gospel, and both are addressed to the same official
of high rank. Its record, like that of the Gospels, covers a
period of about 34 years. " Acts," not " The Acts," is the
literal rendering of its title, for it is not a history of the
Twelve (eight of whom it names in Acts i. 13 only), but
of the organisation of the Church and of the progress of
Christian truth among representative men of very different
types. It may be regarded as " the Gospel of the Holy
Ghost," as the first Church History and the first Missionary
Report. Acts i. — xiv. h.is for its keynote Witnesses to
Christ's Resurrection (Acts i. 8 ; cp. Luke xxiv. 47, 48).

The Epistles. The life of Christ comes to us through
four writers, the doctrine concerning Christ through six,
viz., two (Peter and John) who believed on Him when He
was on earth (John vi. 67-9) ; two (James and Jude) who,
though near Him throughout His earthly life, did not
believe till He rose from the dead (John vii. 5 ; i Cor. xv.
7 ; Acts i. 14) ; and two (Paul and the author of Hebrews)
who probably never knew Him on earth, but believed on
Him ascended to Heaven, even as we may believe, though
we have not had a miraculous vision or the spoken testimony
of His companions (Acts ix. 5 ; Heb. ii. 3). This multiplied
witness shows us : {a) That Divine Truth cannot be
summed up in any one man's apprehension of it, however
deep'ly he be taught of God. (b) That there was nothing
mechanical in the inspiration under which the New Testa-
ment was written. We receive it, as we receive the Old
Testament, in portions tinged with the individuality of
different human minds, that it may be perfectly adapted to
our complex nature, {c) That there may be real unity
without absolute uniformity. The churches in Jerusalem,
Asia Minor, Alexandria, and Europe each had their
characteristic differences (not disagreements) according
to the different types of teaching which they received from
their founders, in whose writings these differences are
reflected.

The General or Catholic Epistles differ from others in
not being addressed to particular churches or individuals.
James and i Peter address the Dispersion, Jude and
2 Peter address all Christians (but 2 Peter iii. i may imply

i' 1

nli ■

I )

I I
i I

h >!

h i i

Ml'

aa4

EIGHTH T/:h\\r.

th.-it l)()lh S. Tctcr's ICpistlcs iuldnss tlic I )i .pcrsion)
Ikbicus probably addresses all Jewish Christians, and
is practically tliou^h not in name a General Epistle.
The u hole i^roup has for its thcnu' the Risen and Ascended
("hiist, is deeply inlUunced by the- Old Testament, and
alludes ofteji to later apocryphal books and various Jewish
traditions. It represents Judaic Christianity. The strong
liUiness between the pictures of declension in S. Paul's
Pastoral I'.pistles and those in i and 2 Peter and Judc
indicate that the)' were written at the same time. S. James
was martyred in 62, and S. Peter (to'^ether with S. Paul) in
67. Both wrote soon before they died, and S. Judc's Kpistic
nnist have been written shortly befcjre 2 Peter. Hebrews
must have appeared before the P'all of Jerusalem, but cannot
have been written lon^ before. This is all wc can affirm
as to their dates, so no years arc here mentioned lest dates
should t;ive an erroneous impression of exact information.
Students are strqn^ly recommended not only to study each
P'pistlc in detail, but to read it through .it a sitting as
they would read a friend's letter.

James and Jude were the Lord's brethren (Mark vi. 3).
Some identiiy them with His apostles and first cousins, the
sons of Alpha us. In that case wc should not be told within
six months of His death, and just after the apostolic con-
fession of faith, that His brethren did noL believe in Him
(John vi. 69, vii. 5 ; sec also Judc 17). Nor is there any
other instance of cousins being called "brethren." Some
rashly assume that they were younger children of our
Lord's Mother. In that case they would not have asserted
the authority over Christ which they did assert on more
than one occasion, nor would He then have commended her
to S. John's care. In all probability they were the sons of
Joseph by a former marriage. S. James, after the Twelve
had dispersed far and wide according to Christ's command
(Mark xvi. 15) for missionary work, presided over the
Church in Jerusalem, having the position, if not actually
the title, of its Bishop (Acts xii. 17, xv., xxi. 18 ; Gal.
i., ii.). At the hands of the Sadducean party whom his
Epistle so pointedly rebukes, he was martyred, boldly
witnessing that Jesus is the Christ. To this death, which
filled up the cup of Jerusalem's iniquity, there may be an

HOOK'S TO HE READ.

%%%

•sion)
, aiul
pistlc.
ciulcd
t, and
Jewish

stionvi
TauVs
1 Jude
James
'aul) in
Kpistlc
cbrcws
cannot
I affirm
st dates
mation.
dy each
Lting as

allusion in Ilcb. xiii. 7, and his own words (James v. 6) arc
prophetic of it. We know nothing certain about S. Jude's
life, labours, and death, and history mentions S. IVtcr for
the last time in Acts xv. Concerning his latter years, be-
sides his ICpistles and i Cor. ix. 5 and Gal. ii., there arc
only uncertified traditions and legends that cannot be true.
The Epistle of S. Jmiics is addressed to Jews, many of
whom were Christians, while the other four I'.pistles are ad-
dressed to Christians, many of wh(jm were Jews. It contains
more allusicjns to Christ's discourses than all the other
Epistles put together, but fewer allusif)ns to Christian
doctrine, which it assumes rather than expounds. There is
little in it which a pious and enlightened Jew could not
accept, and to its author Christians are but ideal Jews.
He has not only the new light of the Christian teacher, but
the fervour, sternness, and pointed brevity of the I ' brew
prophet. Through him Jerusalem received her la.st warning
from God. His keynote is Christian faithfulness must
express itself in tJie energy of loving service. " Temptation,"
"Riches," "Patience," "Wisdom" arc its recurring thoughts,
and " the worthlessness, religiously speaking, of unfruitful
knowledge is its theme " {Liddon).

1 Peter bears throughout the traces of fainiliarity with the
act* and words of Christ, and many minute similarities
between S. Peter's .sermons in Acts and his Epistles prove the
genuineness of both. The many points in which they echo
the utterances both of S. James and of S. Paul (2 Peter
iii. 15, 16) show us that the teachings of those two great
leaders, though in apparent opposition, arc really in
harmony. S. Peter reconciles them, standing as he does
doctrinally just between them. Its keynote is Endure^
submit, for ye are the heirs of salvation. " Resignation "
and " Hope " are its recurring thoughts.

The picturesque Epistle of ^. fudc is like a rough sketch of
S. Peter's second Epistle ; indeed, their likeness is too clo.se
to be accidental. It is remarkable for its threefold arrange-
ment throughout. We note 1 1 triplets of word and idea.
Its keynote is Contend for the Faith.

2 Peter alternates between passionate warning and
earnest exhortation, and has more unity and coherence
than I Peter. Its keynote is Stand fast in the Faith.

ll,i*

I 'i

\
i

I r,i

r''

1 1'

1 '

236

EIGHTH TERM,

Of the canonicity, importance, and authority of Hebrews
there is no doubt, but there is great doubt as to its author.
It is the one absolutely anonymous Epistle, and we do not
know exactly whence or whither it was sent. Early testi-
monies of the Eastern Church are vague and conflicting ;
in the Western Church it was attributed to S. Paul for the
first time 300 years after it was written. Loose conjecture
has always favoured his authorship, but scholarly criticism
is generally against it. Many differences of literary style
between it and S. Paul's writings are pointed out. They
are evident to some extent in the English, but far more
in the Greek. It teaches the same truths as S. Paul, but
from quite a different point of view ; and it is scarcely
possible that Gal. i. 11, 12 and Heb. ii. 3 could have been
penned by the same hand, as one asserts and the other
disclaims for the writer the position of an apostle taught by
Christ Himself. Luther's guese that it was written by Apollos
has been adopted by Alford, Plumptre, and other eminent
modern scholar's. For this there is no positive evidence,
but we cannot name any other New Testament Christian
who is so likely to have written it. Without presuming to
dogmatise where great authorities disagree, I separate it
from S. Paul's Epistles that we may fitly conclude our study
of Judaic Christianity by learning why Judaism " vanished
away " when it had produced something higher than itself.

Hebrews deals with the relation of Judaism as a system
of worship to Christianity. its stately rhetoric is the
finest Greek in the New Testament. Its keynote is Christ
our High Priest, and its recurring thoughts, "A better
covenant," " By how much more," " Living," " Eternal,"
" Perfect," " Draw near," " Consider," " Hold fast."

For all these Epistles see Archdeacon Farrar's " Early
Days of Christianity " (Cassell, 6.y.).

III. Periods and Dates.

This term we overstep the 57 years marked out for it in
order to close our epoch with the Fall of Jerusalem, A.D.
70. Next term we retrace our steps in order to take the
story of Gentile Christianity as a whole. Our chronology
is only approximately accurate, the dates given by different
authorities for the Conference varying from 47 10 52 ; but

Hebreivs
3 author,
e do not
rly testi-
iflicting ;
il for the
onjccture
criticism
■ary style
It. They
far more
Paul, but
5 scarcely
lave been
the other
taught by
byApoUos
;r eminent
; evidence,
: Christian
2suming to
separate it
: our study
" vanished
han itself,
s a system
,ric is the
fe is Christ
'A better
I" Eternal,"

It."
s " Early

it for it in
f^alcm, A.D.
take the
[hronology
[y different
lo 52; but

PERIODS AND DATES.

227

it cannot be far wrong. For clear understanding of our
story, we must note the dates of the Roman Emperors and
of the rulers of Palestine. ;

(i) B.C. 6 — A.D. 26 (32 years). From Gabriel's message
to Zacharias to the Divine anointing of our Lord for
His life. The Coining of the Messiah. Matt, i., ii. ;
Luke i., ii., iii. 23-38 ; John i. 1-18.

(2) A.D. 26 — 30 (3^ years). From the Divine anointing

for His life to the human anointing for His death.
The Ministry of the Messiah. Matt, iii.— xx. ; Mark
i. — X. ; Luke iii. 1-22, iv. — ^xix. 28 ; John i. 19 — xi.

(3) A.D. 30, March 31 — May 17 (48 days). From the

human anointing for His death to the Ascension.
The Death and Resurrection of the Mesnah. Matt,
xai. — ^xxviii. ; Mark xi. — xvi. ; Luke xix. 29 — xxiv. ;
John xii. — xxi. ; Acts i. 1-12.
(See p. 251 for the details of all these periods.)

(4) A.D. 30 — 35 (5 years). From the Ascension to the

appointment of deacons. The Hebrew Church.
Acts i. 13 — V.

(5) A.D. 35 — 40 (5 years). From the appointment of
deacons to the conversion of Cornelius. The Hellenis-
tic Church. Acts vi. — ix. 31.

(6) A.D.40 — 45 (5 years). From the conversion of Cornelius

to the Mission from Antioch. The Founding of the
Gentile Church. Acts. ix. 32- -xii., James, 1 Peter,
Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews. (Two or three years pro-
bably separate Acts v. 42 from Acts vi. i ; and
Acts ix. 31 from Acts ix. 32, and a period of one or
two years separates Acts xi. 26 from Acts xi. 27.)
A.D. 45 — 51 (6 years). From the Mission from
Antioch to the Conference at Jerusalem. 6". Paul's
First fourney. Acts xiii., xiv.

Twelve Emperors of Rome.

(7)

Augustus B.C. 12 — A.D.
Tiberius A.D. 12—37.
Caligula 37 — 41.
Claudius 41 — 54.
Nero 54—68.
Galba 68 — 69.

14. Otho 69 (3 months).

Vitellius 69 (i month),
Vespasian 69 — 79.
Titus 79—81.
Domitian 81 — 96.
Nerva 96—98.

-'I

'■A

-.;, '

228

EIGHTH TERM.

Rulers of Pa^^stine.

(See " Oxford Helps," § xxii.)

Herod, King of Judaea, etc., B.C. 37 — 4. v

Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, B.C. 4 — A.D. 6.

Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Pera^a and Galilee, B.C. 4 —

A.D. 39.
Herod Philip, Tetrarch of Iturasa and Trachonitis, B.C. 4

—A.D. 33.

Five Roman Procurators of Judaea, A.D. 6 — 26.

Pontius Pilate, Procurator, 26 — 36.

Four Roman Procurators, 38 — 51.

Antonius P'elix, Procurator, 51 — 60.

Porcius Fcstus, Procurator, 60 — 62.

Albinus, Procurator, 62 — 64.

Gcssius Florus, 14th and last Procurator, 64 — 70,

Agrippa I., King of Judaea and Samaria, 41 — 44.
Herod, K^'^'j of Chalcis, 41 — 48.
Agrippa il., King of Chalcis, 49—70.

i''t

IV. Geography.
(See " Oxford Helps," Maps IX., X., XI.)

Not only did Christ begin His ministry on Jordan's
banks, close to the spot where Israel entered Canaan under
Joshua : He had previously gone down from Palestine into
Egypt, and had been brought up thence by Divine command.
If we may believe that the evidences for the Sinaitic
Peninsula outweigh those for the traditional idea that
Quarantania in Judaea was the scene of His Temptation,
we see further that He had passed through 40 days of trial
where Israel had been tried for 40 years. Farther west
and farther south He had not been. He also went as far
north as Phoenicia, as far east as Pcra^a. But His life as a
whole was spent in a space represented by one or two
English counties.

At His birth, Herod ruled all that had been divided
among the Twelve Tribes and Idumca also, a larger kingdom

GEOGRAPHY.

229

, B.C. 4—
itis, B.C. 4

70.
44.

[n Jordan's
laan under

[lestine into
command,
le Sinaitic
idea that
'emptation,
[ays of trial
irther west
;ent as far
Lis life as a
)ne or two

[en divided
(cr kingdom

in all than David's. During His ministry, Samaria and
Judaea formed the Roman province of Judaea under a
procurator, while Galilee (once the portion of Asher,
Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar) and Peraea (once the
portion of Reuben and Gad) were ruled by Antipas. What
had once been Manasseh's eastern portion was under the
sway of Philip (Luke iii. i).

Six hundred years of Gentile domination had left many
traces in new half-heathen cities with foreign names. The
most famous New Testament names, such as Cffisarea (the
Roman capital of Judaea), Capernaum (the Roman capital
of Galilee), Tiberias, Julias, Caasarca Philippi, Bcthsaida,
Cana, Chorazin, Nazareth, Gadara, Emmaus, and Bethany,
are not mentioned at all in the Old Testament.

Reserving the geographical extension of the Church to
be dealt with from the beginning next term, we now note
the places most hallowed by the Lord', presence — viz.,
Bethlehem, His birthplace ; Nazareth, His own city in
youth ; Capernaum, His own city in manhood (Matt. ix. i) ;
Bcthsaida and Cana, each the home of five of the twelve
Apostles ; the Lake of Galilee, " the most sacred sheet of
water which this earth contains " {Sta7ilcy), as significant
of His teaching as the stern desert was of the Baptist's
teaching ; Bethany, His favourite retreat in Judai^a ; and
Jerusalem, where His work was completed.

The ancient town of BctlikJiem lies on the ridge of a
long grey hill, only 300 feet lower than the top of Hclvellyn,
six miles to the south of Jerusalem. Betlumy nestles on
the eastern slope of Olivet, on the road to Jericho, one mile
and three-quarters from Jerusalem (John xi. 18).

But though Christ began His public ministry in Judaia,
and was born and died there, He began to proclaim His
gospel in Galilee, which remained throughout the chief
scene of His work. Its soil was the most fertile and its
climate the finest in Palestine. Well-wooded, it yielded
wine and wheat and olive oil abundantly. Its 240 towns
and villages filled it with the hum of many-coloured life.
Since the Captivity, it had been largely peopled by heathen,
and was looked down upon therefore by the southern Jews
(Matt. iv. 15). Many Syrians, Phcenicians, Arabs, and
Greeks had settled there in Christ's day, but its Hebrew

I •

I! i

II I:

1114

!1 >i

hf,

t f

I I'-

230

EIGHTH TERM.

inhabitants, though less bigoted and narrow than the
Judaeans, were most faithful to the Law, and had more of
its life if less of its form. Their mountain air made them
patriots and heroes. Again and again tuey were the first
to defy the Roman arms, and they were the last to defend
the ruins of Jerusalem. " The Galilean loves honour, the
Jew loves money," says the Talmud. The beautiful Lake,
named Chinncreth, Gennesaret, or Tiberias, \2\ miles long
by nearly 7 miles wide at its widest (z>., about the length
of Loch Maree, but wider), was called " the Eye of Galilee."
Deserted now, its bright waves were then thronged not
only with fishing boats, but with Roman war vessels, and
gilded pinnaces from Herod's palace. They are fringed
with gay oleanders and set in smiling pastures ; their shore
line is broken into exquisite little bays, and the hills slope
up gently from the water. The Rabbis expressed their
enthusiasm for its beauty in a proverb which had a deeper
meaning than; they knew, "God has created .seven seas in
the land of Canaan, but one only — the Sea of Galilee — has
He chosen for Himself." On its shores, which Joscphus
calls " the crown of Palestine," and on the much-frequented
high road from Damascus to Ptolemais (Lsa. ix. i), lay the
thriving and busy little town of Capernaum, whose inhabit-
ants had no leisure for the teaching of Christ (Matt. xi. 23).
It is now too utterly destroyed for its site to be certainly
determined.

Nazareth is a .secluded mountain village 1200 feet above
the sea, in an amphitheatre of hills, overlooking one of the
little folds of the great plain .seen as the hills open. The
comely women and bright-eyed children who still gather
about its clear and abundant fountain attest its pure air ;
while the traces of terrace cultivation on its hills, and the
many cemeteries, show how large its population once was.
Amid the peaceful loveliness of its myriad flowers a.-.d
gardens of fig and orange and olive and cypress, Jesus
passed His youth of humble obedience and patient ob-
scurity, and even as the Risen Lord who claimed Paul's
allegiance called Himself by its name (Acts xxii. 8). In
Mohammedan lands His followers are still known as
Nazarenes.

HEROES.

211

V. Heroes.

The Lord Jesus, i Peter ii. 2 1.
JoJm the Baptist, Ezck. ii. 4, 5.
Keynotes] S. Peter, Psalm H. 12, 13.
S. Stephen, Rev. xii. 11.
S. James, Psalr.i i. i, 2.

The instinct of hero-worship is an jniversal and ennobling
one, and we have throughout recognised it by dwelling on
the best and greatest men in Bible history. New Testament
writers tell us little of the earliest Christian heroes and
saints. For them the transcendant personality of the Lord
Jesus completely filled eye and thought and heart. In
Him we recognise the Almighty Creator of the world who
deigned to be its Almighty Redeemer. The Word was
God, and the Word became flesh (John i. i, 14). We
receive with adoring faith the crowning mystery of the
Incarnation, anticipated dimly in the Old Testament and
clearly recorded in the New Testament, as the one possible
explanation of Christianity and the one solution of all the
problems concerning man's relation to God. Strong and
terrible as is the power of evil over human hearts, we dare
to cherish the highest hopes for ourselves and for our
fellow-men, because on this earth not only has a death of
infinitely meritorious self-sacrifice been died, but one perfect
human life has been lived, and the ideal of humanity has
in Christ become real. " We cannot conceive what is
implied in a nature of which omnipotence, omnipresence,
and omniscience are attributes, far less present them
adequately in words as united with human weakness and
local limitation " {Geikie). As the uncreated and eternal
Son " of the Substance of the Father," He is for ever in-
comprehensible. But since He lived on earth to be our
Example, we may gaze reverently upon Him as " Man, of
the Substance of His mother, born in the world " {Athana-
sian Creed), and behold in Him the highest perfection of
all that human goodness of which our Heroes hitherto
have been noble but partial types. The Son of Man,
" in the truth of our nature made like unto us in all
things sin only except " (Article XV.), was more faith-

^1'

232

EIGHTH TERM.

\ '

ful than Abraham ; more blameless than Joseph ; more
patient than Job ; more heedless of self than Moses ;
zealous with a purer zeal than that of Phinehas ; more
dauntless than Joshua ; more disinterested than Gideon ;
more devout than Samuel ; more desirous to fulfil God's
will than David ; wiser than Solomon ; more earnest in
the service of God than Elijah ; more earnest in the
service of men than Elisha ; juster in judgment than
Jchoshaphat ; a greater restorer of Divine worship than
JchoiuJa; with stronger trust in God than Hezekiah, and
clearer insight into the things of God than Isaiah ; a more
single-hearted reformer than Josiah ; a more unswerving
preacher of unwelcome truth than Jeremiah ; holier than
Daniel ; a greater teacher of God's law than Ezra ; more
prayerful than Nehemiah ; and the builder of a grander
Temple than that of Zerubbabel. Pre-eminently meek
and lowly in heart (Matt. xi. 29), He, unlike all these other
saints, never hinted at a personal need of ■ cpcntance ; He
advanced claims of absolute sinlessness, appealing to earth
(John viii. 46), to Hell (John xiv. 30), and to Heaven
(John viii. 29) in support of them, which, in any other,
would be the very delirium of religious pride, but which
are a greater reason for regarding Him as more than
human than any of the wonders He wrought. His own
character was more miraculous than any of His miracles.
Men acknowledged Him to be perfect in thought (Heb.
vii. 26), word (John vii. 46 ; Luke iv. 22), and deed (Mark
vii. 37). Not only was every thought and emotion and
desire holy, but none was in excess. With us any supreme
pre-occupation leaves us apathetic to other things : Christ
always had "a heart at leisure from itself." Hence that
absolute unselfishness and ever ready sympathy, which
were as prominent as any traits could be in such a perfectly
balanced and altogether harmonious character. Seven
times in all, once of a blind man, of a leper, of a childless
widow, thrice of the multitude, and once in His own
parable (Luke x.), we read that " He was moved with
compassion." Consider how much you have accomplished
in the last i\ years of your own life, and then try to
realise the unity of purpose and intensity of effort that
made Christ's ministry the turning-point of the world's

HEROES.

233

whole history. Two other characteristics which no painter
can depict must have struck those who saw Him on earth :
insight, before which all the self-satisfied hypocrisies of a
decadent religion shrank back, while the humble penitent
drew near ; and majesty, which tempered intense love for
Him with overwhelming reverence. " Certainly a flame
of fire and starry brightness flashed from His eyes
(says Jerome), and the majesty of the Godhead shone in
His face."

But we may not try to sum up His character as wc Save
summed up those of others. The inspired singer who
prophesied of Him checks our presumption, and reminds
us of our true attitude before Him, " He is thy Lord,
worship thou Him " (Psalm xlv. 1 1) ; and we bow down
uttering the words of that most ancient Church hymn,
" Thou only art holy. Thou only art the Lord, O Christ ! "
But

•• Though He is so bright and we so dim,
We are made in His image to witness Him"

{Robert Browning),

to testify that He is no mere historical character in the
past, but our living, loving Saviour in the present, who
bids the sinful come to find pardon ; the weak come to
find strength ; the perplexed come to find light ; the
sorrowful come to find joy ; the weary come to find rest ;
the tempest-tossed come to find peace ; the hungry and
thirsty come to find satisfaction. Coming to Him in
prayer, we may be as truly near to Him as were those
whom He succoured and taught when on earth.

Wc can add nothing to Christ's own eulogy of His
grandly heroic forerunner, /(?//« the Baptist (Matt. xi. 9-1 1),
save the comment that he is almost the only great man
who has been content to merge his own glory wholly in
that of another (John iii. 30). To utter self-abnegation, he
added that unfaltering steadfastness which enabled him
to fulfil his course (Acts xiii. 25), although he was cut off
in the prime of manhood. In him the voice of prophecy
.spoke again, after a silence of four centuries.

Of Christ's first twelve followers we hear much collec-
tively, and note their growing faith culminating in S. Peter's
confession, and their too frequent dulness of apprehension,

1 •

834

EIGHTH TERM.

which took the Master's figurative expressions h'tcrally and
His literal expressions metaphorically. But S. Peter is the
only one of whom there are many individual incidents in
the Gospels. He stands out as the first (Matt. x. 2) in this
first chapter of Christian history. His special work was
opcninfj the gates of the Church at Pentecost to the Jews
and at the baptism of Cornelius to the Gentiles (Matt. xvi.
19). His priority was personal, not official ; for afterwards
it is S. James who presides over the Jewish and S. Paul who
is chiefest Apostle in the Gentile Church. " Whatsoever
thy hand findcth to do, do it with thy mig.it " was always
S. Peter's motto, says Professor Blunt ; and throughout he
is the same zealous, eager, impulsive disciple, wavering and
falling, yet rising to a higher height. He .shows us what we
too often are, but also what we may be if v»^e follow Christ
with the same ardent loyalty and deep affection.

Lastly, let us name 5. Step/iefty the immediate pre-
decessor of S. . Paul, the protomartyr of the Church, of
whose rare intellectual power and spiritual fervour we get
but one glimpse; and S. James, the Lord's brother, whom
we see first in S. John's account of the marriage in Ca. 1,
and last in the pages of Josephus and Hegesippus. They
describe him as a Nazarite and uncompromising observer
of the Mosaic Law, venerated for his extraordinary sanctity,
and called the Just, and tho Bulwark of the People.

VI. The Manifestation of the Messiah.

" All this is come to pass, that the Scriptures of the
prophets flight be fulfilled"— M^it xxvi. 56.

Of Christ, who is Himself in heaven, we have (as
S. Ambrose beautifully says) not only the linage in the
Gospel, but the shadow in the Law. These two, with the
living witness of the Holy Spirit through the Church, form
a threefold testimony to Him. The answer to Question
XXXI. on p. 162, surveyed the shadow as a whole. Its parts
we have traced term after term in following " the Hope of
Ll-e Promise which God made "to His people. We have
seen how from the day Eve welcomed Cain to that in which
their aspirations centred in Zcrubbabcl, the Messianic
thought colours the whole Old Testament history, and in

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MESSIAH. 235

the subsequent national depression they threw themselves
more and more on the future till the hateful reign of Herod
stirred their desires to white heat. The Hcrodians, it is
tiuf", attenuated the Jewish faith in a coming Deliverer
into a vague hope of general progress and prosperity, as
some would attenuate the Christian faith in a coming
Saviour now. Josephus never betrays any personal interest
in the Messianic doctrine, yet he bears the strongest testi-
mony to its powerful hold on the nation. At the Christian
era there was universal doubt, uncertainty, and expectation.
From Daniel's great prophecy three calculations were
made, fixing B.C. 17. A.D. 67, and A.D. 135 as the date of
the Messiah, and to these may be attributed their desperate
challenge to the Romans in 66, and the success of Bar-
Cochcba's pretensions in 132. That was the last public
profession of the earlier creed. The utmost limit to which
His coming could be delayed had been passed, and they
shaped despairing legends — truer than they seemed — that
the Shcchinah had gone to the Mount of Olives and
pleaded with the people in vain for three years before the
city fell ; and that the Messiah actually appeared at the
destruction of the Temple, but was suddenly carried away
to be revealed at His proper time.

And meanwhile, why had they not received Him when
He came? There was abundant witness to Him. Five
preliminary announcements, by Gabriel to Zacharias and
the Virgin, by angels to the shepherds, by the Spirit to
Simeon, and by a star to the Magi, were followed by the
Baptist's three testimonies. Sixteen times before and
once after His resurrection, Jesus declared Himself the
One to whom the Prophets bore witness, using the word
Messiah {i.e., Christ) six times ; sixteen times also was He
acknowledged as such by others, the word Messiah being
used six times. And although no Jew could have pictured
Him beforehand as He actually was, we annot imagine any
other Saviour who could have satisfied as He did all the
wants which were felt in His days. Atonement, independ-
ence, restoration, dominion, union, in their highest sense,
were what He offered and what they refused. (See p. 249.)

As a solemn warning to ourselves, let us note these three
causes of their refusal : —

"I'.fi

i; Ij kjlS

236

EIGHTH TERM.

(a) Prejudice. " Pre-occupation of the mind by fixed
opinions (says Dr. Gcikic) leads to a wroncj reiidinj^ of any
evidence. We unconsciously distort facts or invent them
to support our favourite theories, and see everything
through their medium. . . . The only way we can hope to
see truth in its own white and unbroken light is, as Christ
tells us, by our becoming little children." The rigid
literalism and unchanging conservatism of the Rabbis shut
out the light of the new and spiritual truths put before
them by Christ.

(J)) Worldlincss. Their religious leaders were lov'ers of
money (Luke xvi. 14, R.V.),and it was for their advantage
that Jes js should die (John xi. 50). So they clung to gain
till they lost all. The multitude loved the violence for
which their prophets had so oi'tcn reproved liiem, and they
preferred the brigand (Luke xxiii. 18, 19). So they
suffered every conceivable outrage from their conquerors.
Pilate loved Caasar's favour (John xix. 12-16), and con-
demned where he wished to acquit, in obedience to the
clamour of a mob. And Caesar sent hiin into ignominious
exile.

if) Self-ivill. They had shaped an easy religion of rigid
outward observances, leading to exclusive pride and self-
righteousness, while permitting many " pleasant sins."
With the national conscience thus weakened and perverted,
they spurned the hard religion (jf faith and love which led
to unselfish humility.

And so the Messiah could only weep over the doomed
city that He yearned to save. Yet He had come not to
destroy the Past, but out of it to form the Future. That
which concerns Him has complete fulfilment (Luke xxii.
■^"j^ R.V.) now that He has taught in the Past as a Prophet
greater than Moses, now that He intercedes for us in the
Present in virtue of His one sacrifice as a Priest greater
than Aaron (Heb. ix. 24), now that His coming draweth
near in the F-,iture as a King greater than David.

Vn. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

Ever since Adam and Eve hid themselves from God
(Gen. iii. 8), a cloud of sin (Isa. lix. 2) had shut out the

GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 237

fixed
f any
them
thing
)pc to
Christ
rigid
s shut
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crs of
mtage
o gain
ice for
d they
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verted,

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te xxii.
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[greater
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God

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undimmcd glory of the true Light from man. The story of
the Bible is the story of how God gradually dispersed that
earth-born cloud, and with infinite patience and longsuffer-
ing revealed Himself to men .is they were able to bear (John
xvi. 1 2) the revelation. But never had they seemed more
ignorant of God than in ihis day of dead Judaism and un-
utterably corrupt heathenism (Rom. i. 25, ii. 24; i Cor.
i. 21), the day in which Christ, who as Son of God knew
Ilim perfectly, came as Son of Man to reveal Him per-
fectly (Heb. i. 1-3 ; John i. 18). Only God can comprehend
God, but He was made man that we might apprehend
Him, might know Him (John xvii. 3 ; i John i. 2, 3, ii. 13,
V. 20), and draw near to Him (i Pe*:cr iii. 18; Heb. vii.
19, X. 19-22 ; Eph. ii. 18 ; Rom. v. i, 2 ; John xiv. 6). The
Incarnate Son revealed these three things : —

{(I) God's Power (Matt. xix. 26).

[b) God's Q^^xy (I.sa. xl. 5 ; cp. Exod. xxxiii. 18). Both
had been to some extent made known already, but both
had been forgotten (Rom. i. 20, 23 ; Matt. xxii. 29).

if) God's Goodness and Love, which men were farthest
from finding out and yet most yearned after (i John i. 5,
iv. 8-10). It was of the Divine Character above all that
the Son was " the express image." Even now men have
but slowly learned to replace their human notion of a
God of revenge, who is to be slavishly feared, by Christ's
Divine portrayal, culminating in His death (i John iii. 16 ;
Tit. iii. 4), of a God of Love, who is to be humbly loved.

He made this revelation in three ways, {a) By what
He tnugkt. As at each previous stage of revelation, a new
truth came in a new Name of God. Men had occasionally
ventured to think of Him as FATHER already (Deut.
xxxii. 6; i Chron. xxix. 10 ; Isa. Ixiii. 16, Ixiv. 8), and to
find a Divine symbol in human fatherhood (Eph. iii. 15,
R.V. margin). But He came in the Father's name,
proclaiming it clearly and constantly (John v. 43, xvii. 6),
and His witness to it, as Hausrath points out, was one
of the strongest proofs of the absolute perfection of His
human nature (see Westcott's " Revelation of the Father ").
{b) By what He was. He enabled us to know and see
the Father through knowing and seeing Him (John xiv.
7-9 ; Matt. i. 23). His life was an unveiling of God to

238

EIGHTH TERM.

\ \

the eye of man's sense, that the eye of man's spirit might
understand Ilim (JLiddoti). I lis Incarnation is the founda-
tion truth of our creed as a race and as individuals. " All
past history, so far as it has any permanent siijnificance,
appears to be the preparation for that great mystery, and all
subsequent history the gradual appropriation of its results "
iWestcott). (c) By giving the Holy Spirit to reveal Him as

1 le had revealed the Father (Acts xvi. 7, R.V.).

There is abundant proof in the Acts of the Apostles that
the Church from the first regarded her Founder as Divine.
For her members His words recorded in Matt, xxviii. 20
stated not an abstract doctrine, but a fact of daily experience.
Accordingly they prayed to Him in heaven, as they had
spoken to Him on earth, which being Jew s they could not
have done had they regarded Him as merely human. With
Acts i. 24 cp. John vi. 70, ii. 24, 25, xxi. 17; with Acts
ii. 21, vii. 59, 60 (R.V.), and ix. 14, cp. i Cor. i. 2 ; with
the significant word " began " in Acts i. i cp. Mark xvi. 20,

2 Cor. vi. I.

Lastly, observe how the doctrine of the Three in One
underlies the whole of Christ's teaching. Matt, xxiii. 8-10,
R.V. (cp. John xiv. 26); John iii. 5, 16, xiv., xv., xvi.
His one explicit statement of it in Matt, xxviii. 19 is not,
however, speculative, but practical. " The highest mystery
of the Faith is conveyed in the words which are the pass-
port into the Christian community " ( Wcstcotf). So indeed
the whole wondrous revelation of " Divine Humanity re-
newing nature " {E. B. Browning) had a directly practical
issue (i John iii. 2 ; 2 Peter i. 4). In the grand words of
Athanasius's famous treatise on the Incarnation, § liv.,
" He became human that we might be made divine."

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

Herod's Temple has been so often pictured and described
that we need not dwell upon it. Edcrshcim's " Temple
and its Services" (Religious Tract Society, 5.?.) gives
a scholarly and complete account of it. This grandest
of all the three Temples reared at Jerusalem, the one
honoured by our Lord's presence, was finally completed
in A.D. 65, the year before the war with Rome broke

MAN'S KELATJON TO GOD IN WORSIIIJ'.

239

Duncla-
"All
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and all
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Him as

Ics that
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:viii. 20
cricncc.
hicy had
)uld not
. With
th Acts
2 ; with
; xvi. 20,

in One
dii. 8-10,
XV., xvi.
9 is not,
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o indeed
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nne."

IllIP.

lescribcd
Temple
b.) gives
Igrandest
the one
)mpleted
ic broke

out. Five years later not one stone was left on another
(Matt. xxiv. I, 2).

Henceforth, realising the teaching of Mai. i. 1 1 and
John iv. 24, we turn to the living Temple of the future,
which had Christ for its corner-stone, and for its foundation
the Apostles (Kph. ii. 20), that first company of believers
which has grown up into the great Christendom of to-day,
and will, we trust, grow into the greater Christendom of
to-morrow. Christ began to form His Church when He
gathered five disciples about Ilim by Jordan (John i.). lie
first named it after Peter's confession of the central truth
upon which it was to be founded (Matt. xvi.). Its birthday,
and the day it first found itself face to face with the world,
was the Day of Pentecost A.D. 30. That transformed
a handful of dejected, faint-hearted, materialising Galilean
peasants into the heroic preachers and confessors who
enlightened the world. The transient gift of tongues was
the symbol of a permanent and far greater gift of spiritual
power on the day which began the last phase of God's
dealings with men ; the day when He followed up the
promise to Abraham and the law of Moses, the Tabernacle
and Temple where dwelt as visible emblem of His presence
the Shcchinah, and the tabernacling in a mortal body of
His own Son amottg mcu, by sending His Spirit to dwell
in men (John xiv. 17). "More than this God could not
give ; nearer than this He could not be " {Fan-ar).

And now the teaching of Christ, with its two new key-
notes, correlatives of each other, the P'athcrhood of God
and the Brotherhood of Men, was to be practically illus-
trated. The political comprehension of mankind in one
great empire would give way to a moral federation of
mankind through a common faith.

The first two stages of the history of that Church which
placed men in a new relation to each other were : —

(i) The Hebrew Period, when it consisted of Jews of
Palestine speaking Aramaic, and probably reckoned as
only one more synagogue in a city which already had 480.

(2) The Hellenistic Period, when it included Jews of the
Dispersion speaking Greek, See " Oxford Helps," § xiii.

We begin next term by considering the steps that led
to the formation of a Gentile Church.

«;■'

240

EIGHTH TERM.

H ,

Here it only remains for us to show that Christ placed
men in a new relation, not merely to each other, but to
God. He taught that religion does not depend upon
external precepts, but upon surrender of the will to God ;
that good acts have no value apart from good motives ;
that hatred, not violence, is the essence of murder ; that
God looks at the sinful thought rather than the criminal
deed. He did more than teach. Human sin, a far more
heinous thing than men had hitherto thought it, is taken
away once and for ever by the Sinless One (John i. 29),
who laid down His life for men.

" Yea, once Immannel's orphaned cry His universe hath shaken, —
It went up single, echoless, ' My God. I am forsaken ! '
It went up from the Holy's lips amid His lost creation.
That, of the lost, no son should use those words of desolation."

E. B. Browning.

I i

...

\ IX. Questions.

(See pp. 13, 18.)

[For all the Questions pp. 244-277 may be consulted, and for Questions IV.,
VI., XVIII., XXIII., XXIX., and XXXI. any other books.]

I. What Old Testament allusions are there to the town
and to the house in which Christ was born ? (6.)

n. Draw out in tabular form a contrast in character and
circumstances between Christ and His Forerunner. (12.)

HI. Illustrate Luke iv. 13 and Heb. iv. 15, by showing
that each of the three temptations in the wilderness was
afterwards repeal 2d in a somewhat different form. (3.)

IV. Ahaz was rebuked for not asking a sign (Isa. vii.).
Christ rebuked the Jews for asking a sign. Explain this.

(5.)

V. Which of Christ's miracles were wrought on the

Sabbath? and how did He vindicate His action on each
occasion? (14.)

VI. Which of His miracles were not to be proclaimed?
Why was this silence enjoined ? (8.)

VII. Show that among those who came to Christ there
were representatives of (i) the Ten Tribes, (2) the Two
Tribes, (3) Samaritans, (4) Greeks, (5) Romans, (6) Women,
(7) Children, (8) Citizens, (9) Rustics, (10) Rich, (11) Poor,

QUESTIONS.

241

(12) Honourable, (13) Degraded, (14) Wise, (15) Un-
learned. (15.)

VIII. Quote our Lord's description of the Apostle
Bartholomew, and mention tv/o Canaanitish women com-
mended for their faith in this term's reading. (3.)

IX. Illustrate Heb. ii. 17, by showing that our Lord
suffered hunger, thirst, weariness, and poverty ; that He
wept, and passed through severe mental anguish. (9.)

X. On what occasions did He express (i) Joy, (2) Sorrow
for human suffering, (3) Tender consideration for others,
(4) Pity for the multitude, (5) Sympathy and affection for
His friends, (6) Filial love, (6) Surprise, (8) Disappoint-
ment, (9) Indignation, (10) Anger, (11) Disdain, (12) Zeal
for God's glory? (12.)

XI. How did He illustrate in His own life His teaching
that men ought always to pray? Give references. (20.)

XII. Quote instances of (i) His patience and humility,
(2) His courage, (3) His prudence, (4) His tenderness to
and love of children, (5) His personal fulfilment of the
Mosaic Law. (15.)

XIII. Show that He claimed Divine power to forgive
sins, and assumed and accepted titles given to God in the
Old Testament. (10.)

XIV. Give examples of that Divine knowledge of men's
thoughts through which His disciples were persuaded that
He came forth from God. John xvi. 30 (R.V.) (8.)

XV. Name seven occasions on which His look and
bearing awed and confounded His foes. (7.)

XVI. Four times before the multitude and five times
to the Apostles He alluded prophetically to His Resur-
rection. Quote the passages, and show that He also
foretold the Pentecostal gift of the Spirit and His own
Second Coming. (10.)

XVII. Once He called Himself "the King," and once
He called His disciples " little children." Give references.
Where is He called " Our Lord " for the first time? (3.)

XVIII. What do you understand by these expressions :
Miracle, Parable, Gospel, Repentance, Kingdom of Heaven ?
(10.)

XIX. Illustrate the special characteristics of each Gospel
by enumerating some incidents, etc., peculiar to it. (20J

l! !>'

242

EIGHTH TERM.

XX. Which Evangelist makes most and which fewest
quotations from the Old Testament ? Name the only
miracle recorded by all the Evangelists. (3.)

XXI. What evidence is there in the Synoptists of the
ministry in Judaea and in S. John of that in Galilee ? (8.)

XXII. Show that S. John recognises though he does
not directly relate, («) that Christ's birth was miraculous,
(J)) that He was reputed son of Joseph, ic) that in youth
He was subject to His mother and Joseph, (^) that He
dwelt at Nazareth, {e) that the Spirit came upon Him at
His baptism, (/) that He was rejected at Nazareth,
(^) that He appointed twelve Apostles, (/^) that the Baptist
was imprisoned, (/) that Christ ascended to heaven. Find
in S. John the ground of the accusation in Matt. xxvi. 61.
Is there any reference to the Sacraments in S. John? (12.)

XXIII. Briefly define the following New Testament
terms : ia) Pharisees, {b^ Sadducees, {c) Herodians,
id) Zealots, d^) Scribes, (/) Lawyers, (^g) Chief Priests,
ill) Rulers of the Synagogue, (z) Proselytes, (/) Publicans,
(/.') Libertines, (/) Greeks, (;//) Grecians. (26.)

XXIV. Analyse shortly S. Peter's first sermon, indicating
the thread of his argument, and show that the leading
theme of all his teaching was Christ Risen. (8.)

XXV. Point out the causes, instigators, and immediate
results of each of the four Persecutions of the Church
recorded in Acts i. — xii. (8.)

XXVI. Discriminate in this term's period of history
tJiree persons named James {i.e., Jacob) ; four named Philip ;
five named Joseph ; five named John ; five named Judas ;
five named Mary {i.e., Miriam) ; and eleven named Simon
or Simeon. (38.)

XXVII. Trace the influence of the Sermon on the
Mount in the Epistle of S. James. (12.)

XXVIII. Trace the influence of words and incidents in
the Gospels on S. Peter's Epistles. (15.)

XXIX. Consider the historical accuracy of the statements
in John vii. 52, viii. 33 ; Hcb. vii. 3, 27, ix. 3, 4. (10.)

XXX. Write out the fifteen practical inferences in
Hebrews introduced by " wherefore," " therefore," or
" then." (8.)

XXXI. Explain briefly the following passages : Matt.

QUESTIONS.

243

ch fewest
the only

sts of the
ilee? (8.)
1 he does
niraculous,
: in youth
') that He
Dn Him at
Nazareth,
Lhe Baptist
vcn. Find
t. xxvi. 61.
ohn? (12.)
Testament
Herodians,
lief Priests,
I Publicans,

n, indicating
the leading

immediate
the Church

viii. 2r, xxiii. 5 ; Luke xii. 5, xvi. 9, xxiii. 31 ; Acts ii. 23 ;
I Peter iii. 19 ; 2 Peter i. 20; Jude 19 ; Heb. vi. 3-6. (30.)

XXXII. Give references for the following (the first four
occur more than once) : — {a) " Thy faith hath saved thee."
{b) " Follow Me." (c) " Weep not." {d) " He cannot be My
disciple." {e) " Able to save to the uttermost." (/) " Able
to guard you from stumbling." (g) " Out of death
into life." (/i) "To each one his work." (z) "That we
may see and believe." (J) " Said I not. If thou believcdst
thou shouldst see?" (k) "Take heed what ye hear."
(/) " Take heed how ye hear." (w) " Have ye not read ? "
(«) " Let him that readeth understand." (0) " Do good,
despairing of no man." (/) " Make straight paths for your
feet." (^) "Ye have need of patience." (r)"Your Father
knoweth." (s) " A people for God's own possession."
(f) " Good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (u) " Ye
have tak'^n your pleasure." {v) " Because he gave not
God the glory." {w) " He is guilty of an eternal sin."
{x) " Doth the spirit . . . long unto envying ? " (y) " Men
spake from God." (2) " This He said, making all meats
clean." (32.)

For Second Scries of Questions, see p. 309.

of history
led Philip ;
led Judas ;
Imed Simon

ion on the

incidents in

: statements

kferences m
^rcfore," or

iges: Matt.

'1 ■■•!
i

' I ii

' :' l:

THE GOSPELS

ARRANGED IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE.

I. Method and Purpose of the Gospels.

THE difficulties of Biblical chronolof^y culminate when
we come to the Life of our Lord. The one point
on which all good authorities agree is that an exact
Harmony o^ the Four Gospels cannot be constructed.
As memoirs containing infinitely beautiful pictures of the
infinitely beautiful Life they are perfect. But as formal
biographies they are confessedly fragmentary and obviously
incomplete, more like lectures on the Life than annals of
it. Dean Alford represents all the scholars when he points
out that their authors wrote with no design of being pieced
together into a complete history, and all attempt to do
this must be merely conjectural. John xxi. 25 warns us
that we have only a selection of events, and the notes of
time throughout are few and vague.

S. Matthew's style has the most appearance of continuity,
yet he diverges most widely from chronological methods.
S. Luke professes to write " in order " (Luke i. 3), but that
does not necessarily involve (says Dr. Westcott) order of
time, but rather of logical or moral sequence. S. Mark's
clear and precise story furnishes several accurate and
valuable chronological data. S. John's narrative appears
to be chronological throughout, but the points of contact
between it and that of the other Evangelists are not always
easy to fix. Moreover, there is not one absolutely certain
date in the whole Gospel history. And when we look
elsewhere for additional information, we only learn that
outside our four Gospels traditions concerning Christ arc

244

METHOD AND PURPOSE OF THE GOSPELS. 245

very few, slight, and untrustworthy. Knowing the Gospels
we know all that can now be known about His life.

For our spiritual instruction they are all-sufficienl. Their
purpose, as expressed in John xx. 30, 31, can be fulfilled
without exhaustive information or an cxa :t table of dates.
As a whole, they may be fragmentary, but they are not
fragments. Each has tiw'ty and design, a spiritual law binds
together its several parts, and its selection of representative
facts is grouped according to its own dominant idea and
conveys its peculiar lesson (see p. 221). Their real harmony
is essentially moral, not mechanical. It is not to be found
in an ingenious mosaic of disjointed fragments, but in con-
templation of each narrative at its proper point of sight.
This brings out the manifoldness of the record of Christ's
many-sided life, while the unbroken spiritual concord in
four independent histories is a convincing proof of their
inspiration.

When all this has been said, however, it is still possible
to get a fifth and most instructive view of our Lord's
sojourn on earth by combining these narratives, and so
forming a general idea of the course of events. Nor need
we ignore the special characteristics of each Gospel or fail
to recognise throughout that while the substance of our
Harmony deals with facts, its arrangement deals with
probabilities.

The dates given below are agreed on by many good

"'thorities. Some make the Crucifixion one year earlier,

L "rs two (or three) years later than A.D. 30. Here are

points from which all the dates must be calculated.

Dd's Temple was begun in B.C. 19. The course of

i^uijah went out of office on October 9th, B.C. 6. Herod

died April ist, B.C. 4. Tiberius began his joint rule with

Augustus A.D. 12. Pilate was deposed A.D. 36.

The plan we adopt with regard to all those incidents
whose exact place in the narrative cannot be determined
is to assume that the order is chronological wherever we
have not proof to the contrary (a large assumption, looking
at the many cases in which sequence of time can be shown
to give place to sequence of thought), and to regard the
uniiy of each Gospel by breaking it up as liltle as possible.
Vv'here the order of time is not evident, we shall follow the

^fA

246

THE GOSPELS.

Evangelists in grouping together incidents ♦^hat illustrate
each other. S. John's order \vc leave unchanged, and we
only depart twice from that of S. Mark, and five times from
that of S. Luke.

II. Difficulties.

Ours is the practical purpose of reading the Gospels
together in the best way. Therefore we need not enter
upon interminable discussions of problems that can never
be solved. Their solution, had it been essential, could have
been given in two or three words ; but the silence of
Scripture baffles speculation. Every disputed point has been
determined in this Harmony after much consideration and
fullest consultation of those whose scholarship gives them the
right to an opinion. But lest probabilities be taken for cer-
tainties, I will briefly mention the chief questions that arise.

(i) What was the duration of our Lord's Ministry?
Three Passovers are mentioned by S. John, so it could
not have been less than two years. If John v. i also
refers to a Passover (see R.V. margin) it must have been
three years. Other excellent authorities explain John v. i
of Pentecost or Tabernacles or Purim or the Feast of
Trumpets in September. Even so, Luke vi. i implies
a Passover other than those of John ii. and vi. (but see
R.V.); and Luke xiii, 7, 32 suggests three years, ?>., 3-| years
from the Baptism. Moreover 3^ years is always a signifi-
cant period in the prophetic writings.

(2) Do Mark vi. and Luke iv. refer to one or to two
rejections at Nazareth? If to one, which gives it in the
right order ?

(3) Do Luke v. i-ii and Matt. iv. 18-22 refer to the
same event? If so, did it precede or follow the great
Sabbath at Capernaum ?

(4) Do Matt. V. — vii. and Luke vi, report the same
sermon ? If so, was it preached at the beginning or in the
course of the ministry in Galilee?

(5) Did the conflict of Matt. xii. 22-45 take place in
the order indicated by S. Mark or in that indicated by
S. Luke ?

(6) Do the incidents of John ix. — x 21 belong to the
Feast of Tabernacles or to the Feast of Dedication i

AUTHORITIES.

247

t the same
ino; or in the

(7) What is the relation of the events of Luke ix. 52 —
xviii. 30 to each other, and to S. John's narrative ? This
great episode is an argument against t' j observance of an
exact order of time in the Gospels, and an illustration
of their real mode of sequence. Many of its sayings
occur elsewhere in different contexts, but they may very
naturally have been uttered more than once. Throughout
its keynote is To Jerusalem — to suffer^ and the burden of
its teaching is the contrast between the spiritual and the
literal Israel, between the true and the false people of God.
We understand it best by reading it as a whole, though all
its incidents may not have occurred in the six months to
which wc assign them.

(8) Did the Last Supper take place on Nisan 13 or
Nisan 14, on or before the Passover day ?

in. Authorities.

Erudite references to authorities are not characteristic
of this simple and practical volume. But its readers may
like to have the names of some of the books found help-
ful in preparing this Harmony : — Westcott's " S. John "
(Speaker's Commentary) and " Introduction to the Study
of the Gospels " ; Farrar's " S. Luke " and " Life of Christ" ;
Geikie's " Life and Words of Christ" ; Smith's " New Testa-
ment History " and " Dictionary of the Bible " ; Conder's
" Life of Christ " ; Hanna's " Our Lord's Life on Earth " ;
Stalker's " Life of Christ " ; Edcrsheim's " Ministry and
Services of the Temple " ; and Trench's " Miracles of our
Lord."

IV. Plan of this Harmony.

Each of the three years of the Ministry has its own
distinguishing feature. Note also that there is positive
evidence for our division of the third year, and circum-
stantial evidence for our division of the second year, but that
the similar division of the first year is purely conjectural.
To each of the ten Periods two mottoes arc prefixed, one
from Old Testament prophecy anticipating Christ's coming
and fulfilled by Him, the other from those earliest Christian

iiji

'^^^^H

ITii

' Ij Jw

'- i ' i

\ "\W.

^^■d

TITE GOSPELS.

I >

writings (some even earlier than the Gospels), which vouch
f(jr all the main facts of the Gospel story, and form its
most important corroboration. The following matters are
emphasized throughout, generally by use of italics.

(rt) Miracles, which are most numerous in the Fourth
Period. Thirty-five are described, but mr ny others were
wrought. Their distribution is si<. i5ca"., .md the key to
their meaning lies in the fact th;0. Ou y were not mere
wonders of Christ's power, but red:.\ni;iliv acts of His
grace and expressions of His character, ach f ; nee a work
and a revelation. Christ was Himself the great i.iiraclc of
which His particular miracles were merely sparks or
emanations. They entered with Him, not to disturb but
to repair the harmony of nature. Sec Liddon's " Elements
of Religion," Lecture H,

(/;) Parables, of which there are three chief groups : one
in the Sixth Period (sec Matthew) after the first great crisis
of conflict with the Pharisees ; one in the Eighth Period
(see Luke) dui'ing the journey to Jerusalem ; and one on
the Day of Gainsayings (see Matthew). We reckon the
recorded Parables as thirty-five in number, but they arc
less easily counted than the Miracles. Some make 50 ;
others only 27. S. John represents the higher stage of
teaching which had got beyond Parables.

Clearly the recorded Miracles and Parables are only
specimens of Christ's works and words (sec John xii. 17 ;
Matt. xiii. 34). Observe that Miracles were most numerous
at the beginning, to call attention to His teaching ; and
that not until He has been rejected by " the wise " does
He systematically teach " the babes " by Parables, fixed
first in the imagination and memory, and gradually en-
lightening the understanding afterwards. Never yet had
been speaking so simple, yet so profound ; so pictorial,
yet so absolutely true.

{c) Only the leading truths of the chief Discourses of
Christ can be indicated. Observe the progressive character
of the teaching throughout, and the mode of addressing
men as men, which makes Christ's words come with fresh
force to each fresh generation ; and note that Authority,
Boldness, Power, and Graciousness are His most striking
characteristics as a Preacher.

PLAN OF THIS HARMONY.

!49

h vouch
form its
ttcrs are

: Fourth
crs were
c key to
lot mere
of His
:c a work
liracle of
parks or
sturb but
Elements

ups : one
-eat crisis
th Period
d one on
:ckon the
they are
Tiake 50;
stage of

are only

xii. 37 ;
lumerous

ing ; and
se " does
les, fixed
ually cn-
yet had
pictorial,

\ourses of
;haractcr
Idrcssing
ath fresh
[uthority,
striking

{d) Seven Visits to Jerusalem form useful landmarks.
This, like all our enumerations, refers to records, not to
events. From the silence of the Gospels wc can never
safely argue. Luke xiii. 34 implies more than the three
visits during the Ministry recorded as having occurred
before these words were uttered.

{e) Our Lords Manifestation of Himself as the Divine
Messiah of Prophecy and Recognition as such should be noted,
with the time, circumstances, and extent of each successive
manifestation. He made no sudden proclamation of His
office, nor did He continually revert to it. For (i) He
desired to shun popular excitement, that His words might
have time to take root and bear fruit. (2) He could neither
descend to their ideal, nor raise them to His. They looked
forward to a political Messiah who would exalt their race,
establish the Mosaic Law in its Rabbinic form for ever,
and destroy the heathen. Their hope had degenerated
into a standing conspiracy of the nation against its actual
rulers. For this, the idea of the true suffering Messiah,
establishing a kingdom on love not on force, ruling in not
over men, could not be substituted at once, and even after
the Resurrection the Apostles themselves had not entirely
unlearned the notions of the past. (3) Instead of the
human or angelic Messiah of their thoughts. He slowly
revealed the Divine Messiah. Hence, though He never
refused the title when given to Him, and habitually spoke
of Himself as Son of Man (a recognised name of the
Messiah, see p. 155), and implied Mcssiahship continually
by His acts, He only assumed the title openly towards the
end of His Ministry, and His public and official claim to
be the Divine Messiah (Mark xiv. 61, 62) was reserved for
a moment when all false expectations of po'itical revolution
were at an end, and swift sentence of death was its
inevitable outcome (see p. 272).

(/) The development of Opposition, more and more noisy,
persistent, and pitiless, is one of the most perplexing
features of the history. Why was not He welcomed by
tlic world He came to save? Why is not every knee
bowed to Him now in grateful homage ? This opposition
was foretold from the first (Luke ii. 34), and expected by
Christ Himself throughout. He sot forth its cause and

' n

ill ^'

ilrii

i '

•M II

290

T///: GOSPE/S.

true character (John xv. 19, 24). and the latest Evan^ch'st
expounds it more fully than his predecessors in those
"comments" which arc peculiar to His (lospel. John i. 5,
II, iii. 19, 20, 32, xi. 51, 52, xii. 37-43. Dcvuvuiing a sii^n
was one sij^tiificant form of this opj)osition, met each time
in a noteworthy way.

(,^) Rejected by the unbelief of the rclitjious leaders of
Mis own nation, and by His fellow-townsmen of Nazareth
and Cai)ernauri, He w.is received by the poor of Galilee,
by the Samaritans, and by the Gentiles.

(Jt) V'w'Ai by vafjue allusion, then by direct prophecy,
Christ f on told His 0101 Passion ; 22 of the 30 allusions to
it were made after S. Peter's Confession {i.e., almost within
the last six months), and in five of them the Resurrection
is named. This prophecy culminates in the command to
commemorate for ever (i Cor. xi. 25, 26), not His life, nor
His teaching, nor His miracles, nor even His resurrection,
but His shameful death, which seemed to all defeat. When
His followers anticipated triumph, He calmly predicted
His rejection. When His enemies were certain that they
had secured the destruction of Himself and His doctrine,
He looked forward with majestic confidence to His ultimate
universal dominion. No more convincing proof that His
power and wisdom were alike Divine could be given (Isa.
xlvi. 10).

(/) Remembering that Christ was not only the greatest
Teacher of God's Will, but also the greatest Example
of conformity to it, wc note lastly how His life was
throughout a life of Prayer, and a perfect demonstra-
tion of the duty, privilege, and power of supplication to
God.

Endeavour is made in the folknving pages to give the
best possible Life of our Lord by neither superseding nor
supplementing the Gospels, but by putting the student in
a position to read their record with fresher and fuller
appreciation of its meaning. Other noble lives stir us up
to emulation, and rouse our admiration and affection for
those who lived them. That is all. But in the case of this
Life that cannot be all. All that Christ surrendered, all
that He did, all that He taught, and all that He suffered,
was for us men and for our salvation, and knowing about

J'IRSr PERIOD,

251

////// as He lived then on earth, throu'^^h the vvcll-attcstcd
memoirs of His four disciples, catitiot leave us where it
found us. Before us, as before the Jews, more than 1S60
years ago, is placed the alternative of accepting or rejecting
Him ; for God compels no man to believe against his will.
May I say then to every reader of this volume, A;>k your-
self, as the fainiliar story of the Saviour is once more put
before you, " What difference has His life and death made
tome? Did He, or did He not, give Himself for me in
vain?" If He is already all in all to you, thank Him
afresh for what He has done. If you have never sought
Him, seek Mim now ; trust yourself, your life here, your
life hereafter, once for all to that freely given and fully
proved love. Add one more to those myriads of His
redeemed, who can testify that He blesses above all wc
ask or think those who through faith have learned to
know Him as He lives now in Pleavcn.

First Pkriod.

B.C. 6 to A.D. 26.

Birth, Infancy, and Youth of Christ.

Matt, i., ii. ; Luke i., ii., iii. 23-38; John i. 1-18,

"£/«/(? us a Child is born." — Isa. ix. 6.

** Bom of a woman, born under the law." — Gal. iv. 4.

S. Luke's Introduction. Character and purpose of the
Gospels. Luke i. 1-4.

S. John's Prologue. The Divine and Eternal Word
creating the world and manifesting Himself to man through
His Incarnation. Christ the only begotten Son of God.
John i. I- 1 8.

Legal Pedigree as Abraham's seed and Solomon's heir.
Christ the greatest Son of David and King of Israel
Matt. i. 1-17.

Natural Pedigree as David's descendant tl. rough Nathan.
Christ the greatest Son of Adam and the Son of Man.
Luke iii. 23-38.

B.C. 6. Early in October (?), in the Temple at Jeru-

! f!«

♦ *

lit' '

■Si i^

9Sa

TirE aosri'js.

salcMii, amuHiiici'mt.Mit to /-arhari.is the priest of the birth
of John as fonriimuM of the Lord (lod. Luke i. 5-25.

Ii.c. 5. l''ii(l of March (?), at Na/.arcth, first aiiiiouticc-
iiKut to the Virj^in Mary (type of the Church) of the birth
of Jisus, God's Son ami David's heir. Her visit to
L'-hsabeth. Tlw first C/in'sfi\iu /lynin. Luke i. 26-56.

H.C. 5. Karly in July (?), at a city of Judah, birth of
John, <.';reatest .son <xf Aaron. J'/ie sccomi Christian Itytins.
Luke i. 57-So.

At Nazareth, second announcement to Joseph (type of
Nrael) of the birtii of Jlisi'.s, the Divine Saviour Irom sin.
Matt. i. iS-25.

It.C. 5. I'.iul of Deci'inber (or is.c. 4, bej^inninfj of

Jaiuiary), ;it nethleiieni, J list's HoKN, and made known to

the shipherds (types of the poor who t^kidly receive the

Cuvspel), by ani',els as a Saviour, Messiah the Lord. First

Oiioration. Luke ii. 1-20. Tlu- hitost rcsoarrh roulirms tlio tradi-
tidiKil (I;it«> of nii(l»\viut("r.

l''i^ht days later, Jesus is circumcised and named, tlius
be^iimint; to fuU'il the Law as perfect Man. Luke ii. 21.

n.C. 4. I'Vbru.uN'. First visit to JcrKsalcin. In the
Temple, Jesus reiiei'med as a first-born son (IC.xod. xiii. ;
Niun. iii. 13), presentee! to Goil the Father, enrolled in
the rcLijister, and riceived by Simeon and Amia (types of
tlu" faithful iiinnant of Lsrael), to whom He is made known
b\' God the Holy Spirit as Jehovah's Messiah. The third
Christ ill)! hyi)!)!. Luke ii. 2J-3S.

At Bithlehem, the Ma<f:;i, to whom He has been made

known by a star as the Kini^ of the Jews, pay the first

/or)H(i/ hoiih\i;v to Christ. His y//'.v/ Miuti/'rstdtioH to the

Grfiti/rs. I^'irst persecution, by I [erod. I''lit;ht into Iv^j'pt

(tradition sa)'s to IVIemphis). Massacre of the Innocents.

l)eath of Herod on April i. Return to Nazareth. Matt.

ii. ; Luke ii. 39- The Miij^i woro probably IVrsi.-ms, and roiirescnted
tiio /ortiastrian system, llir piiiost form of rolii;ioii wiiich man lias
di'visod without knowlodj^o of thr True God. Si-c p. 156.

.\.i\ 8. Tassonkr. St-cofitf visit to fcrusalcu!. In the
Teini>le, Jesus amiouiices, in His first recorded xvordsy His
Divine parentaL;"e and life-work with its sacred law of self-
sacrifice. His youth of sinless obotliencc and obscure toil
as our E.Kample. Luke ii. 40-52.

SECOM) PERIOD,

253

c birth

louncc-
ic birth
I'isit to
6.

iirlh of
I hyniit.

:typc of
rom sin.

mini; <»^
nown to
civc the
J. First
i, the tradi-

ncd, thus

: ii. 21.
In the

till xiii. ;

riiUcd in

(types of
/known
he third

■en made
the first

on to the

to lvj;ypt

iinoccMits.
li. Matt,
k'presciitcd
|h man lias

In the
[ords, His
Iw of self-
Iscuic toil

Si;CONI) I'KUIOD.

Summer of A.D. 26 to Passover of A.D. 27.

TiiK Pkhi'aration for the Ministry.

Matt, iii., iv. i-ii ; Mark i. 1-13; I.uke ill. 1-18, 21-3,
iv. 1-13 ; John i. 19 — ii. 12.

" The Lord hath anointed Me to preach }!;ood tidini^s u to
the nteek" — Isa. l.\i. i.
"//<• Himself hath sujfered Oeinii' tempted"— Wah. ii. 18.

In the wilderness of Jud.L-a, John, a|^;ed 30 (i Chron.
xxiii. 3), begins to preach repentance, to baptize, and to
give \\'\<> first testimony to Jesus as the Comitij.^ One, and
to the Kingdom of God as now at hand. Matt. iii. \-\2\
Mark i. i-S ; Luke iii. 1-18.

In Jorilan, Jesus (a^ed about 30, Num. iv. 3 ; 2 Sam.
V. 4), is baptized by John, and, while praying, anointed by
the Holy Spirit as Prophet, Priest, and Kinj^^, and thus set
apart for His work and made known as God's beloved
Son by the J'Vrst Voice from Heaven, heard probably by
Jesus and the Baptist only. Matt. iii. 13-17 ; Mark i. 9-11;
Luke iii. 21-3.

In the wilderness, He fasts 40 days, and as the Second
Adam retrieves man's I'all by overcomin*; the threefold
temptation for body, spirit, and soul ; concerning sense
God, and man ; to lust of the flesh, vainglory of life, and
lust of the eyes ; or to reliance on self not on God, religious
presumption, and earthly ambition ; or in one word, to
silf-will. Thus His absolute sinlessn( s is tested and proved.
Matt. iv. i-il ; Mark i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1-13. S. Matthew
eviiicntly gives tlio temptations in the order 111 which they occurred,
which is followed above.

At Bethany beyond Jordan, John gives. His second
testimony to Jesus as the Son of God and the Lamb of
God, or divinely given atonement for sin. Jesus calls His
first disciples, Andrew, John, Peter, James (?), Philip, and
Nathanael, and thus begins to form His Church. They
acknowledge Him as Messiah, and Nathanael calls Him
Son of God and King of Israel. John i. 19-5 1.

ir.

Jin

254

THE GOSPELS.

At a marriage feast in Cna of Galilee, Christ works
His \st miracle, changing water into wine, at once a giicious
leave-taking of His old home life, and a figure of the better
covenant He would bring in. The disciples believe. His
first visit to Capernaum, John ii. I-I2.

LI t

: t

Third Period.

Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 27 (6 months).

Christ revealing Himself to the World in Jud.^a.

John ii. 13 — iv. 42.

" TJic Lord shall suddenly come to His Tcnipler — Mai. iii. i,
" To the Jew first." — Rom. i. 16.

First Passover. — Third visit to Jerusalem. First
Cleansing of the Temple by Christ, as a Reformer urging
amendment, to prepare it for His first preaching there (comp.
p. 269). In answer to the first demand for a sign. He gives
the Temple as representing His body, and makes a first
mysterious allusion to His death and resurrection (see Matt,
xxvi. 61, xxvii. 40, 63). He works many miracles and
many Jews believe. John ii. 13-25.

At Jerusalem, to a member of the Sanhedrin, the Rabbi
Nicodemus, He utters His First Discourse about the Birth
from Above, one of the clearest proclamations of His Divine
nature and mission, containing the whole gospel in epitome,
and including a second mysterious allusion to His Passion.
John iii. 1-21.

In the land of Judaea, His disciples baptize, and large
numbers come to Him. John's third testimony to Jesus as the
Messiah, at .^non. John iii. 22-36. Westcott regards w. 16-21
and 31-36 as comments by the Evangelist.

At Sychar, to a Samaritan woman, Jesus utters His
Second Discourse about the Living Water, and makes
the first distinct avowal that He is the Messiah. Many
Samaritans believe and acknowledge Him as the Saviour
of the world. John iv. 1-42.

Note, — Taking John iv. 35 literally, Christ must have been eight
or nine months In Judaea, and only three or lour in Galilee. But John
iv. 3, 45 suggests that the Passover of 27 was still recent when He left

tj t

FOURTH PERIOD.

Judaea, and the events in Galilee before the Passover of 28 must have
occupied at least six months. It may therefore be merely a familiar
proverb expressing the interval between seed-time and harvest. The
inference from John vii. 1 1, that He was usually at Jerusalem for the
Feast of Tabernacles, determines the date here given.

Fourth Period.

Tabernacles A.D. 27 to Passover A.D. 28 (6 months).

Christ revealing Himself to the World in

Galilee.

Matt. iv. 12-24, viii. 2-4, 14-17, ix. 2-34, xiv. 3-5 ; Mark
i. 14 — ii. 22, V. 22-43, vi. 17-20 ; Luke iii. 19, 20, iv. 14 — v. ;
viii. 41-56 ; John iv. 43-54-

" In the latter tune hath He made the land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali glorious." — Isa. ix. i (R.V.).
'^ Jesus, who went about doing good." — Acts x. 38.

Imprisonment of John the Baptist in Castle Machasrus
on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Matt. xiv. 3-5 ;
Mark vi. 17-20; Luke iii. 19, 20.

At Cana, 2nd miracle, healing of fever the son of a noble-
man (possibly Chuza). The first Christian household.
Matt. iv. 12 ; John iv. 43-54. Westcott refers John iv. 44 to
Judaea, not Galilee. Comp. John ii. 24, 25.

On a Sabbath in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus
preaches, and for the second time declares Himself the
Messiah in His First Sermon. First open opposition
from His fellow-citizens, who seek to kill' Him. Luke iv.
14-30.

He begins to dwell at Capernaum, and to preach the
Gospel to the mixed race of Galileans, " the lost sheep of
the house of Israel." Matt. iv. 13-17 ; Mark i. 14, 15.

By the Lake of Galilee, Peter, Andrew, James, and John
receive their second and final call, and Peter prays to Christ
as to God. First miraculous draught of fishes {^rd miracle^.
Matt. iv. 18-22 ; Mark i. 16-20 ; Luke v. i-ii.

A Great Sabbath at Capernaum, " a day of faith."—
In the Synagogue, \tJi miracle, a demonaic healed (over-
coming passion), and 5/// miracle, Peter's mother-in-law
healed (overcoming disease). Many others healed. Demons

^ 'I

t !

f 2

! f

1 I

■^

256

yy/A' a OS /'JUS.

ackiiowK'dju' Josus as Mcssiali, Son of (iml, and Holy One
of(i()il. Matt. viii. \.\-\'/ ; Mark i. Ji-34; l^ikc iv. .Si-41.

JmusT ClKCUIT 'niKOlJCl! (iALlM-;!': after solilaiy
prayer. — Multiludes si-ek Ilini and come to Iliin.aiui j^icat
nuinbers are heakd. Matt. iv. 23, 24 ; Mark i. 35-9, Luke
iv. .IJ-4.

In a certain city, 6/// /////•</(•/<•, a Uper cleansed (overcoming'
pollution). MultitU(U;s come to hear and to be healed.
Christ retires for solitary i)rayer. Malt. viii. J-.j. ; Mark i.
4i>-,|5 ; Luke v. IJ-I().

At ('ai)einaum, 7/// niiitjc/r, a paralytic healed (over-
coming;" weakness). Christ's Divine claim to iori'.ivc sins
li-ads to a St\'0H(/ i'Pf'<>s/fi<>N, irom the Scribis and I'harisees
(comp. Luke \ ii..|t> ; Matt. x.wi. ()5), and wjirsf tuciisation
of bUisf^Jh-ntw Matt. i\. 2-8 ; Mark ii. i-u ; Luke v. 17-26.

\\y the Laki'. lie tiaches tin- multituiie who resort to
Ilini, ami calls Mattluw, who in Capernaum shortly after
i;i\es a tail well feast tt) his fiiiiuls, at w hich Christ teaches
the iu\i\ ersalilN' I'f the t;ospil, anticipates I lis teaching by
par.d>li's in two \iviil similitudes, and makes a tltini allKsion-
(0 His Jt-partiDw riiitii oiid fonrtii ■\f'f^osit!oiis from the
Pharisees (comp. Luke xv. i; I\Litt. xi. 19), because He
reciMvetl siniUMS and did ni)t i-niorce fastiuLT. Matt. ix.

9-1

Mark

U. I.I-2J

Luk

e v,

•/-.")

On the samcula)', S/// </;/^/ 9/// uiiraclcs^w disi>ased woman
healed anil the only dau;j;hter of Jairus raised from the bed
of death (oveicomini; death). Malt. ix. i»S-j(); Mark v.
22-43 ; Luke viii. 41-56.

10/// and I \th »iii(ii-/,\\\ two blind men who acknowleiK;!"
Jesus as Son o'i l)a\id ami a dumb demoniac healed
(^i>\eic<)mini;" loss o{ faculties). l')ft/i of'positioii from tlu-
IMuuisees (comp. IM.itt. xii. 24), and first suggestion of aid
fron; lieel/ebub. Matt. ix. 27-34.

Nivij:. — All tlu* typii ;il luiriiclos nl luMliiiy wrouglit liy our Lord arc
icpri-scnted in tliis I'tiicnl, ami (ivr tonus oi' opposition, recurring
IktimI'Ii'V more vehciui'iiliy, an- illuistratod.

FIFTH PERIOD.

257

Fifth Pkriod.
Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 28 (6 months).

Christ in con I'LIct with the World. From tiik
First Smujath Controversy with the Pharisees

to their open and J5LASPHEM0US REJECTION OF IIlM.

Mark

r.Iall. iv. 25-

11. 23

■ni.

■VIM. I, VIII

S-13, X. 2-4, XI. 2-19, xn. ;
-viii. 3, 19-21, \i. 14 — xii.

I. like vi. I-
John V.

" 'Jlity that seek after my life, lay marcs for nie." — PsaUn
xxxviii, 12.

" Coin'ider Hiiii that hath endured such gaiiisayiiii^ of
sinners^ — lleb. xii. 3.

.SiCCOND Passover. --/'W/'//! visit to JemsaleuL At the
pool of liethcscla, \2th iiiiraele, a man impotent for 38
years healed on the Sabbath. IJroui^IU, it seems, before the
Sanheclrin,and accused of Sabb;ith-breakinf;and blasphemy,
Jesus claims to be Son of God and Son of Man, and the
I'rophet whom Moses foretold ; assumes God's hi^Miest
attributes, lays bare their worklliness and blindness, and
declares that not only the Baptist and I lis own works, but
Mvises, and the Scriptures, and God Himself, all that they
most professed to honour, bear witness to Him. Henceforth
the Pharisices seek to kill Him. ih\^ first deliberate hostility
from them fixes His doom, and He leaves Jerusalem
pri>bably for 18 mcjiUhs. John v.

On a Sabbath shortly after the Passover, in the cornfiekls
near Capernaum, Christ vindicates the Law from super-
stition, declaring Himself f^reater than the Temple; and on
another Sabbath, in the synagogue at Capernaum, heals a
man with a withered hand {y^th miracle). Because He thus
protests against the perversion of a divir.elygiven benefit into
a burden, the Nationalist party of the Pharisees and the Ro-
manising party of the Hcrodians consult toj^ether for His de-
struction. Matt. xii. 1-14 ; Mark ii. 23 — iii. 6 ; Luke vi. i-i i.

By the Lake, great multitudes follow Him, and many
are healed. Demons again arknouicdge Him the Son of
Ciod. Matt. xii. 15-21 ; Mark iii. 7-12.

After solitary prayer, He appoints twelve of His di.sciples

258

THE GOSPELS.

ti \

I i

■I i

i V !■
ft' I ii

Apostles : viz., two sons of Jonah, Siinou surnamcd Cephas
or Peter, and Andrew ; two sons of Zebcdec and Salome,
fames and Jo/m, both surnamcd Boanerges (all four fisher-
men) ; and Philip (all five of Bcthsaida) ; Nathanael, or
Bartholouiew (?>., son of Tolmai) ; three (or four ?) sons
of Alphasus and Mary, Matthew or Levi, the taxgather,
T'lomas or Didymus./rtwt'i-, lind Judas surnamcd Lebbaus
or Thaddaius, son (or brother ?) of James (all five of Cana) ;
Simon the Canana^an or Zealot {i.e., follower of Judas of
Giscala, and therefore a Jew of the strictest and most
patriotic type), and Judas son of Simon. The surname
Iscariot {i.e., of Kerioth in Judaea) may belong (John vi. 71,
R.V.) to both these two last. Matt. x. 2-4 ; Mark iii.
73-19 ; Luke vi. 12-16.

Having thus laid the foundations of His Church, Clirist
utters on Kurn Hattin, the mountain by the Lake of
Galilee, the SERMON ON THE MOUNT, its new Law,
"the Magna' Charta of our faith." vSummary : — {a) The
Citizens of the Kingdom, (i) Their character in nine
Beatitudes ; showing that true blessedness lies in what we
arc, not in what we have (Luke xii. 15); (2) Their influence,
to preserve and to guide, {b) The New Law as a fulfilment
of the Old Law, both generally and speciallv, V) The
New Life, (i) Its acts of devotion ; (2) Its aims; (O T^s
conduct ; (4) Its dangers, id) The Great Contrast, dr -.cribeo
. in the \st parable of the Tzvo Foundations, MatL iv. 35
— viii. I ; Luke vi. 17-49.

In Capernaum, \\th miracle, Christ heals of paralysis
the servant of a Roman centurion, already a proselyte to
Judaism, who becomes the first Gentile believer, and whose
faith Christ specially commends. Matt. viii. 5-13 ; Luke
vii. i-io.

At Nain, i^tJi miracle, He raises a widow's only son
from the bier, and is recognised as a great Prophet.
Luke vii. ii-T'^

In answci t;' <-he Baptist's question. He appeals to His
miracles as proofs tJui: He "s the Coming One of prophecy,
and bears witnos; to His Forerunner. Matt. xi. 2-19;
Luke vii. i;-3c

At CcipernauiL, m a Phar*-.>.-^e's hou.-:2, a sinful woman
bears witness 'j'i jesus as the Messiah by solemnly anoint-

SIXTH PERIOD.

259

Cephas
Salome,
ir fisher-
inael, or
;!■?) sons
ixgather,
Lcbba;us
)f Cana) ;

Judas of
and most

surname

Dhn vi. 71,

Mark iii.

rch, Cirist
2 Lake of
new Law,
:— (a) The
;er in )ii>i^
in what we
,r influence,
a fulfilment
'c) The

n.s ; ( :• . 1 • ^
t, dc:-cribea

tlatt iv. ^^5

\{ paralysis

proselyte to

and whose

f-13; Luke

I's only son
It Prophet.

)eals to His

pf prophecy,

xi. 2-19;

hful woman
uily anoint-

ing Him

His forgiveness of her rouses fresh opposition
from the Pharisees, stimulated by the recent organisation
of His followers, and the growing enthusiasm of the people.
2nd parable of the Tivo Debtors. Luke vii. 36-50.

Second Circuit through Galilee.— The first Chris-
tic \ sisterhood. Luke viii. 1-3.

A Great Day of Conflict at Capernaum.— i6//^
miracky blind and dumb demoniac healed. The people
are rev'y to acknowledge Jesus as Son of David, but the
Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem affirm that He
works miracles through Beelzebub, and choose darkness
for I heir portion by this deliberate and conscious enmity.
Hitherto Christ had avoided open collision with the reli-
gious V.aders of the people. Now He passes from self-
dctenr," i :> rebuke, shows that His power is at once superior
1.0 and contrary to Satan, that the old demon of idolatry
had only given place to new demons of self-righteous
lUib'Jiie", and warns them that their wilful rejection of the
rcve'.'lon of His presence and power would be sin against
tl?c J M)ly Ghost (i Cor. xii. 3), and therefore unpardonable.
iV: answer to the second demand for a sign He gives Jonah,
making -x fourth allusion to His death a)id resurrection, and
declaring" Himself greater than Jonah or Solomon. Matt,
xii. 2.'?-4S ; Mark iii. 20-30 ; Luke ix. 14-36.

Interruption and interference from His mother and
brethren (probi.bly the children of Joseph's first marriage)
leads Hira to expound the difference between natural and
spiritual kindred. Matt. xii. 46-50 ; Mark iii. 31-5 ; Luke
viii. 19-21.

Dining afterwards with one of the Pharisees, He first
calls them hypocrites, utters His first great declaration of
a triple ivoc upon them, and referring to the national treat-
ment of all God's messengers, makes a fiftJi allusion to His
departure. The Pharisees vehemently seek to ensnare Him,
and in presence of a great multitude He teaches His
disciples to fear God onl}'. Luke xi. 37 — xii. 12.

Note. — Sowing began in October, when the early rains ended the
long summer drought, and recalled the husbandman to the plough.
Hence the multitude of Luke viii. 4, xii. i, may have been pilgrims to
the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Twelve were probably sent forth as
soon as the people had returned home. These are the only indications
of date to fix the limits of this Period.

: .11!!

26o

THE GOSPELS.

"• ;!

W ; * I;

\ i

Sixth Period.

Tabernacles, A.D. 28, to Passover, A.D. 29 (6 months).

Christ in Conflict with the World. From the
First Teaching of the Multitude by Parables to
the Culmination of His Popularity and Large
Defection of His Followers.

Matt. viii. 18 — ix. i, ix. 35 — xi. i, xiii. i — xiv. i, 2,
6-36; Mark iv. i — v. 21, vi. 1-16,21-55; Luke viii. 4-18,
22-40, ix. 1-17; John vi.

^^ I IV ill open my inoiitJi in a parable^ — Psalm Ixxviii. 2.
" A man approved of God tmto you by mighty works and
wonders and signs y — Acts ii. 22.

A Great J3ay of Parables.— From a boat on the
Lake, Christ utters five and in the house afterwards tJirce
parables of the Kingdom of Heaven : viz., {ci) The Soiver
(its origin from God), {b) The Secret Growth (its unper-
ceivcd progress), (c) The Tares (its counterfeit by the
devil), {d) The Mustard Seed (its progress in outward
extort) {e) The Leaven (its progress in inward influence).
{/) Tne Hid Treasure (the kingdom as a gift from
Heaven to men), {g) The MercJiant seeking Pearls (as
a power in the individual), (li^ The Drag Net (as a
wide working instrument among men leading to the final
separation between good and evil). Matt. xiii. 1-53 ; Mark
iv. 1-34 ; Luke viii. 4-18.

Jus: as He is about to cross the Lake, He answers two
aspirr 1 ts to discipleship, suggesting what is involved in
foUowmg Him. Matt. vii\ 18-22.

On the Lake He calms a great storm {\'/th miracle). In
the country of the Gerasenes on the eastern shore of the
Lake, He heals a savage demoniac, who acknowledges
Him the Son of God, and sends him as a missionary to
his own people in Decapolis (18//^ miracle). The per-
mission given to the legion of demons to enter some swine,
stirs up the first popular opposition to Christ. Matt. viii.
23 — ix. I ; Mark iv. 35 — v. 21 ; Luke viii. 22 — 40.

Nazareth rejects Christ for the second time. Matt. xiii.
54-8; Mark vi. 1-6.

Third CiRrurr through Galilee.— He sends forth
the Twelve Apostles to the Twelve Tribes of Israel to

Ml I >H

^/A'7'// rERWD.

261

proclaim the kingdom of heaven as the first Missionaries
of His Gospel^ thus converting followers into fellow-workers ;
and gives them the first Pastoral Charge concerning the
extent and character of their mission ; their conduct and
responsibility ; and the inevitable persecution and un-
failing reward of His messengers in all future ages. The
reference to His coming again and the first mysterious
mention of the Cross form a twofold sixth allusion to His
departure. He then continues His own circuit. Matt. ix.
35 — xi. I ; Mark vi. 6-13 ; Luke ix. 1-6.

At Machasrus (or in the palace at Julias), Herod's Feast
takes place, leading to the martyrdom (after at least 18
months' imprisonment) of the Baptist. Matt. xiv. i, 2,
6-12 ; Mark vi. 14-16, 21-29 I Luke ix. 7-9.

Shortly before the Third Passover, at Bethsaida Julias
on the east side of the Lake, whither He has retired with
the Apostles newly returned from their mission, Christ
feeds more than 5000 people {igth miracle, the only one
recorded in all the Gospels). They acknowledge Him as
the Prophet foretold by Moses, and attempt to make Him
King by force. He retires for solitary prayer, and meets
His disciples on their way to the western shore, walking
on the sea {20th miracle). They acknowledge Him Son
of God, and at Capernaum a great multitude gather round
Him to be taught. Many are healed. Matt. xiv. 13-36;
Mark vi. 30-55 ; Luke ix. 10-17 ; John vi. 1-24.

In the synagogue at Capernaum, Christ's Feast leads to
His most profound teaching about spiritual life. Answer-
ing the third demand for a sign, in a twofold sermon to the
multitude (v. 26-40) and to the Pharisees (v. 41-59), He
declares Himself the true Bread of Life from Pieaven,
whose flesh would be given for the life of the world, the
first clear public allusion to His Passion. He has thus
made His most unreserved public declaration of His char-
acter and claims, calling on men to believe not merely in
His words, but on Him ; and this demonstration of the
spiritual character of His Kingdom results in a great
winnowing of His disciples, the first instance of the offence
of the Crr^ss. Many depart from Him, but Peter in the
name of the Twelve confesses Him the Holy One of God.
For the first time He refers to Iscariot's t'-richery. John vi.
25-71.

262

THE GOSPELS.

\ f

I «

f' y

I !'

Seventh Period.

Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 29 (6 months).

Christ revealing Himself to His Disciples in
ou'i LYING Heathen Regions.

Matt. XV. — X '"i. ; Mark vi. 55— ix.; Luke ix. 18-50;

John vii. i.

" / ivill also give thee for a light to the Gentiles^ — Isa.
xHx. 6.

" We were eye-ivitnesses of His majesty . . . in the holy
mount" — 2 Peter i. 16, 18.

Fourth and Final Circuit through Galilee.—
Ma'': vi. 55, 56; John vii. i.

in answer to the Scribes and Pharisees who came as
spies from Jerusalem to discredit Him with the Galileans,
Christ shows how their tradition had perverted the Law,
abolishes caste, and anticii)ates the abroj^ation of Mosaic
ceremonialism. Matt. xv. 1-20; Mark vii. 1-23. (With
Mark vii. 19, R.V., compare Acts x.)

Departing to Phojnic'a in consequence of their malig-
nant hostility, He is ackn.v.vledgcd as Son of David by the
first believer from heathendom, a Canaanite by birth, a
Greek by language, and a Roman citizen by position, so
representing the three most influential peoples of the Pagan
world. He tests and then commends her rare faith (Gal.
iii. 7, 9), rjid heals her demon-vexed daughter {21st miracle).
Matt. XV. 21-28 ; Mark vii. 24-30.

In Decapolis, a half-heathen region between Damascus
and Jabbok, He heals a deaf man {22nd miracle), and many
others, and is followed by a great multitude (comp. Mark
V. 20), 4000 of whom He feeds {2T)rd miracle). They glorify
the God of Israel. Matt. xv. 29-38 ; Mark vii. 31 — viii. 9.

On His return to the western shore of the Lake at Dal-
manutha, the Pharisees, in ominous coalition with the
Sadducecs ivho now oppose Him for the first time, make a
fourtJt demand for a sign. In His last public teaching in
Galilee, He again gives them the sign of Jonah, type of His
death and resurrection {eighth allusion), and warns His

SEVENTH PERIOD.

363

disciples against their hypocrisy. Matt. xv. 39 — xvi. 12 ;
Mark viii. 10-21.

Crossing the Lake again, at Bethsaida Julias He heals a
blind man (24//^ miracle). Mark viii. 22-6.

At Cassarca Philippi, a great centre of heathen worship,
after He has prayed, His teaching and the Apostles' faith
culminate in Peter's great Confession of Him as Messiah,
Son of the Living God. Solemnly ratifying it, Christ
makes first mention of His Churchy and lays the corner-
stone :>{ the New Society on this fundamental truth,
promising Peter the privilege of being the first to proclaim it
both to Jew and Gentile. (Sec Acts ii., x.) This is followed
by the first clear prophecy of His death and resurrection at
Jerusalem to the Twelve, and a second mysterious mcntiojt
of the Cross. Matt. xvi. 13-28 ; Mark viii. 27 — ix. i ;
Luke ix. 18-27. .

One night a week later on Mount Hermon, as He prays,
Christ's revelation of Himself culminates in the vision of
His Glory given to Peter, James, and John. The two
greatest representatives of the Law and the Prophets are
in converse with Him concerning His deaths and a Second
Voice from Heaven, heard by the three Apostles, proclaims
Him God's beloved and chosen Son. Second clear prophecy
of His sufferings. Identification of the Baptist with Elijah.
At the foot of the Mount, He preaches faith as the only
source of strength, and heals an epileptic boy {2^th miracle)
Matt. xvii. i-2i ; Mark ix. 2-29 ; Luke ix. 28-43.

During a farewell secret journey through Galilee, He
utters the tJiird clear prophecy of His betrayal, death, and
resurrection. Matt. xvii. 22, 23 ; Mark ix. 30-32 ; Luke ix.

43-5-

At Capernaum, He provides the half-shekel tribute
(Exod. xxxviii, 26) for Himself and Peter, but while thus
teaching obedience, shows Himself Lord of the Temple,
Son of the King of Kings, and Ruler over creation {26th
miracle). He teaches His disciples concerning humility,
stumbling-blocks for others, and unselfishness, rebuking
the selfish ambition and rivalry which the Twelve begin to
display ; fixe? the extent and limit of toleration ; and in
the nth parable of the Merciless Servant exacting a debt
1,250,000 times smaller than the one he had been forgiven,

3 ■

264

Till'. GOSPELS.

^Hi I

♦ ll,

explains the Christian law of forgiveness. Incidentally, He
again refers to Himself as the Messiah. Matt. xvii. 24 — ■
xviii. 35 ; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50.

Eighth Period.

Tabernacles, A.D. 29, to Passover, A.D. 30 (6 months).

Christ revealing Himself to His Disciples
journeying towards jerusalem. final rejection
BY Jerusalem, Samaria, and Galilee.

Matt. xi. 20-30, xix., xx.; Mark x.; Luke ix. 51 — xi. 13,
xii. 13 — xix. 28 ; John vii. 2 — xi.

" Who hath believed our report ?" — Isa. liii. i.
^^ P read dug good tidings of peace by fesus Christ {He is
Lordof all)}'— Acis x. 36.

Christ refuses to go publicly to the Feast of Tabernacles,
but secretly pays His Fifth visit to feriisaleni, and in the
midst of their talk concerning Him in the Temple, vind-
cates His Sabbath miracles, and declares that He is sent
by God. Much discussion as to whether He is the Messiah.
At the close of the Feast, He utters His great promise
of the Holy Spirit, with a \2th allusion to His departure
whither they could not find Him. Unsuccessful attempt
to arrest Hini^ and division among the people and in the
Sanhedrin. John vii. 2-52.

Teaching in the Temple next morning, He defeats a
base plot by the Pharisees to ensnare Him, and compels
these self-righteous religionists to condemn themselves,
while He exercises the Divine prerogative of forgiveness.
In the Treasury, He declares Himself the Light of the
World, and the great object of faith to the multitude, many
of whom believe. Then He analyses the unbelief of the
Jews, showing Himself the Son of God, and discriminating
children of Abraham through faith from children of the
devil through unbelief. After // ■ 13//; and i^th allusions
to His departure whither they could not find Him, and to
the lifting up of the Son of Man, He closes the discussion
by claiming for Himself the absolute sinlessness which He
elsewhere attributes to God only (Luke xviii. 19), and
assuming the great name I Am. They violently oppose

EIGHTH PElilOD,

2f)S

Him, making -a fust nffc)!if>t to stone Him. John vii. 53 —
viii. 59.

As f Ic begins His last solemn progress towards Jerusalem
(sec p. 247), He is rejected by a Sa.nnritan village, and
shows how His mission differs from that of Elijah. Luke
ix. 51-6.

At another Samaritan village, He heals ten lepers {2yth
miracle), and accepts the faith of one. Luke xvii. 11 -19.

He crosses Jordan into Pera.'a, followed by multitudes.
Matt. xix. I, 2 ; Mark x. r.

After givini'; three illustrations of the sacrifices of true
discipleship, He sends forth the Scz'ciity Disciples, whose
nuHiber is typical of the seventy nations of the earth
reckoned ')y the Jews, to preach the coming of God's
kingdom, especially to the heathen of the outlying districts.
He receives the tidings of their success with joy and
thanksgiving, declaring Himself the Son of God, and utter-
ing a terrible woe on the highly favoured scenes of His
chief teaching which had now utterly rejected Him, followed
by an invitation to the weary and heavy laden of the whole
world. Luke ix. 57 — x. 24 ; Matt. xi. 20-30.

A lawyer's templing question leads to the \2th parable
of the Good Samaritan, tc;iching the brotherhocxl of all
men, and showing Christ as the minister of mercy when
law and sacrifice had failed- At Bethany on Olivet, He
visits Martha and Mary, and teaches concerning the one
thing needful. After praying in a certain place, He teaches
His disciples the Lord's Travkr as the model of all
prayer, and in the 13/// parable of the Friend at Midnight
enforces prayer as the chief means of grace. Luke x. 25 —
xi. 13.

In answer to an ill-judged request, Christ shows the folly
and sin of covetousncss in the 14//^ parable of the Rica
Fool \ and discourses concerning God's providence, illus-
trates watchfulness by the 1 5//; parable of the Servants
waiting for their Lord, makes a i^th allusion to the Passion
as His baptism of suffering, and closes with the \(yth
parable of the Barren Fig-tree, on the coming judgments
of God. Luke xii. 13 — xiii. 9.

In a synagogue on the Sabbath, He heals an infirm
woman (28//! miracle), rousing an uiterly unreasonable

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266

THE GOSPELS.

opposition, but shaming all His adversaries. Discourse on
the way to Jerusalem concerning the Narrow Door, and the
universality and spirituality of the Kingdom of God.
Message to 'S^^xo^, first prediction of the Fall of Jerusalem,
and \^th allusion to His dcatli as taking place there. Luke
xiii. 10-35.

In the house of a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath, He
heals a dropsical man (29/// miracle), and rebukes struggles
for precedence in the i^th parable of the Great Supper,
showing how the last are made first. Luke xiv. 1-24.

Surrounded by great multitudes, He bids them count the
cost of discipleship, making a third mention of the Cross,
in the parables of the Unfinished Tower and the Prudent
King. Parables, in answer to Pharisees murmuring, of the
Lost Sheep (the guileless wanderer from the Church), the
Lost Drachma (the lost slumberer in the Church), and the
Prodigal Son (the wilful apostate from the Church), testi-
fying the free mercy to men of God the Son, God the
Spirit working through the Church, and God the Father.
Parables of the Provident Steward (reproof of worldliness
and covetousncss), of Dives and Lazarus (closing with an
allusion to His resurrection from the dead), and of the
Unprofitable Servants. General lessons of forbearance, for-
giveness, faith, and humility. Luke xiv. 25 — xvii. 10.

In answer to the Pharisees, He shows the character of
the Kingdom of God, and utters to the disciples s. fourth
clear prophecy of His sufferings and rejection, speaking of
His Second Coming. 26th and 27^/5 parables of the Im-
portunate Widow and of the Pharisee and Publican. Luke
xvii. 20 — xviii. 14.

In answer to an ensnaring question by the Pharisees, He
shows the provisional character of the Mosaic legislation
and enunciates the Christian law of marriage. Matt. xix.
3-12 ; Mark x. 2-12.

He welcomes and blesses little children, and shows the
young ruler, a half-hearted rich man, that God claims us
and ours wholly, making a fourth mention of the Cross.
Further discourse with the disciples concerning riches leads
to the 2%th parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, show-
ing that in Heaven there are no struggles for precedence ;
and that God looks at the quality not the quantity of our

!if II

EIGHTH PERIOD.

367

services ; not at what we do, but at what we are, neither to
ourselves nor to the world, but in His own sight. Matt.
xix. 13 — XX. 16; Mark x. 13-31 ; Luke xviii. 15-30.

In December, Feast of Dedication, Sixth visit to Jeru-
salem. On the Sabbath day, after a 21st allusion to the
coming night when He could work no longer, Christ heals
a man born blind (30^// miracle), who becomes the first con-
fessor of Christ to his cost and the first conscious sufferer
for His sake. To him Christ clearly reveals Himself as
the Son of God. The new congregation and new spiritual
Temple of which he is a type are described in the Parabolic
Discourse of the Good Sh'^pherd, wherein Christ clearly and
publicly foretells His voluntary death, in terms implying His
Resurrection. John ix. — x. 18.

In Solomon's Porch, answering an impetuous appeal
from the divided people concerning His Messiahship, He
appeals to His work as its proof and declares Himself one
with God. Second attempt to stone Him. John x. 19-39.

He retires to Bethany beyond Jordan, and the many
(probably former disciples of the Baptist) who there believe
constitute His last large following. John x. 40-42.

At Bethany on Olivet, after prayer. He raises Lazarus,
dead four days, from the grave (31^^ miracle), in this
crowning miracle proclaiming His absolute power over
death ere He submits to it. Martha confesses Him Messiah
and Son of God. Thereupon the Sanhedrin, in which the
Sadducaean party predominates, close the long controversy
by formally determining on His death. He retires to
Ephraim, near Bethel, with His disciples. John xi. 1-54.

On the final journey from Ephraim to Jerusalem, alone
with the Twelve, Christ utters the yf/if/^ clear prophecy of His
suffering (quoted Luke xxiv. 7), stating that in fulfilment
of Old Testament prophecy He should be mocked, scourged,
and crucified by Gentiles, and rise again the third day.
Matt. XX. 17-19 ; Mark x. 32-4 ; Luke xviii. 31-4.

Salome's ambitious request for her sons is checked by
the announcement that He had come to give His life for a
ransom {2^th allusion). Matt. xx. 20-28 ; Mark x. 35-45.

In Jericho, He heals two blind men, who acknowledge

Him Son of David (^2nd miracle).
X. 46-52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43.

Matt. XX. 29-34 ; Mark

263

T/fE GOSPELS.

In Jericho, He lodges, self-invited, with the tax-gatherer
Zacchaeus, a whole-hearted rich man, and in the 29//:
parable, of the Mince teaches His departure to receive a
kingdom and return, to judge every man according to his
works {zovci'^. ^^th parable^. Luke xix. 1-28.

Discussion at Jerusalem as to whether Jesus will come
for the Passover. John xi. 55-7.

Ninth Period.

Nisan 9 to 16 A.D, 30 (one week).

The Passion of Christ.

Matt. xxi. — xxvii. ; Mark xi. — xv. ; Luke xix. 29 — xxiii. ;

John xii. — xix.

" TJie Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all!' — Isa.
liii. 6.

" Who loved me y and gave Himself ttp for m:." — Gal. ii. 20.

Saturday, March 31. — At Bethany, in Simon's house,
Christ accepts Mary's homage as an anointing to prepare
Him for burial {26th allusion').- Many believe through
seeing Lazarus. Matt. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv. 3-9; John
xii. I- II.

Sunday, April i. — Seventh visit to Jerusalem, Trium-
phal entry to claim His heritage and give the Jews a final
choice between accepting or rejecting their King. The
enthusiastic crowd of provincials receive Him with accla-
mation as the Son of David, but amid their shouts He
mourns over the obstinate unbelief of the city He came to
deliver, and utters a second predictiofi of its Fall. (Note
that on this day the paschal lamb was chosen : Exod. xii. 3.)
Matt. xxi. i-ii, 15-17; Mark xi. i-ii ; Luke xix. 29-44;
John xii. 12-19.

Monday, April 2. — On the road from Bethany to
Jerusalem, He condemns the fig-tree whose unusually early
show of leaves had no corresponding promise of fruit. By
this 33r^ miracle^ the only miracle of destruction. He com-
pletes the 1 6th parable, symbolises the inevitable ruin of
the impenitent Jews, warns against hypocrisy, and illustrates
the power of faith. Matt. xxi. 18, 19 ; Mark xi. 12-14.

NINTH PERIOD.

369

r^ all." — Isa.
—Gal. ii. 20.

At Jerusalem, Second Cleansmg of the Temple by Christ
the Priest, as a Judge pronouncing condemnation, to pre-
pare it for His final preaching there (comp. p. 254). Many
are healed in the Temple. Matt. xxi. 12-14 ; Mark xi.
15-19 ; Luke xix. 45-8.

Tuesday, April 3.— On the way into Jerusalem the
fig-tree is found withered. Thk Great Gainsayings IN
THE Temple, a final combined attempt to ensnare Him.
He meets the 'demand of a formal deputation from the
Sanhedrin " By what authority ? " with an unanswerable
preliminary question ; and in the 30///, list, and 12nd
parables of the Two Sons, the Wicked Husbandmen, and
the Wedding Garment at the Marriage of the King's Son,
claims to be God's last great Messenger to His people, and
instructs concerning false profession, abused privileges, and
lost opportunities, and the coming blessing for the Gentiles.
The people still take Him for a Prophet. He answers the
Pharisees' and Ilerodians' test by showing that they had
themselves acknowledged Caesar by accepting his coinage ;
the Sadducees' test by Mosaic proof of the future life ; and
the Lawyer's test by a perfect summary of the whole Law.
He then puts them all to silence by His counter-qujstion
concerning David's Son ; proving His double claim to the
throne of David and of God. Matt. xxi. 20 — xxii. ; Mark
xi. 20— xii. 37 ; Luke xx. 1-44.

Sevenfold woe foretold to the Scribes and Pharisees
whose hypocrisy made void the Law they professed to
honour. Christ refers to Himself as Messiah, and by men-
tion of the one Father, the one Master, and the one Teacher
(see R.V.), indicates the relation of the whole Trinity to
man, and closes with a third prediction of the Fall offeru'
salem. Commendation of a widow, teaching that the
essence of charity is self-denial. Matt, xxiii. ; Mark xii.
38-44 ; Luke xx. 45 — xxi. 4.

In response to the request of some Greeks (first fruits of
Europe, the Christendom of the future), who come to His
cross from the West, as the Magi came to His cradle from
the East, Christ, after prayer, completes His self-revelation
to the World, foretelling that zvlien lifted np He will draw
all men to Him. A Third Voice from Heaven, heard by the
gathered crowd, confirms His words. On leaving the

1 \ '

270

THE GOSPELS.

i \

!;i

i'l

r I

Temple finally, He makes a last appeal to men in the
Father's name, to which S. John prefixes a comment ex-
plaining His rejection, and referring to Christ Isaiah's vision
of the Lord of Hosts. John xii. 20-50.

On Olivet, Christ discourses to the Twelve of the Last
Things, dealing with their four questions as to the {a) time
and {U) sign of the Fall of Jerusalem {predicted for the
fourth time), and the {c) time and {d) sign of His appear-
ing and the end of the world. He passes from judgment
of the Rulers and of Jerusalem to judgment of the whole
World, in the three last parables, 33rd, 34th and 3Sth, of
the Fig-tree and all Trees, the Ten Virgins (the Church
watching), and the Talents (the Church working ; every
man judged according lO His opportunities : comp. 29th
parable), and the Discourse on the Son of Man judging
those who had not known the Law. He closes by a 2Wt
allusion to His death by crucifixion two days thence. Matt.
xxiv., XXV., xxvi. i, 2 ; Mark xiii. ; Luke xxL 5-38.

Meanwhile the Sanhedrin, maddened by the public
exposure of their hypocrisy, meet to arrange the manner
of His arrest, and bribe Judas to sell his Master to them
for the price of the meanest slave, one-third of the price of
what Mary had lavished in loving homage. Matt. xxvi.
3-5, 14-16; Mark xiv. i, 2, 10, 11 ; Luke xxii. 1-6.

Wednesday, April 4, an unrecorded day of solemn
preparation for the Passion, spent at Bethany.

Thursday, April 5 (Nisan or i^bib 14). S. John's in-
troductory words. John xiii. i. Peter and John sent to
Jerusalem to make preparation for the FOURTH PASSOVER.
Matt. xxvi. 17-19; Mark xiv. 12-16; Luke xxii. 7-13.
Christ with the Twelve enters the Upper Room in Jerusalem
for the Paschal Feast. The first cup (of consecration)
passed round and hands washed. Matt. xxvi. 20 ; Mark
xiv. 17; Luke xxii. 14-18. He settles the dispute about
precedence which arose when they were taking their places
by washing their feet Himself. Luke xxii. 24-30 ; John
xiii. 2-17. The Lamb, etc., is then set out, the bitter
herbs eaten, the dishes removed, the second cup filled, and
the inquiry concerning the Feast asked and answered
(Exod. xii. 26, 27 ; Deut. xxvi. 5-9). After this, the first
part of the great Hallel (Psalms cxiii., cxiv.) is sung, the

NINTH PERIOD.

r/i

len in the
imcnt cx-
iah's vision

)f the Last
he {a) time
ted for the
iis appear-
1 judgment
F the 'whole
id 35th, of
the Church
cing; every
comp. 29th
[an judging
:s by a 2%th
nee. Matt.

5-38.
the public

the manner

ter to them
the price of
Matt. xxvi.

I1-6.
of solemn

John's in-
)hn sent to
Passover.

xxii. 7-13-
in Jerusalem
lonsecration)

20 ; Mark
|spute about

their places
14-30; John

, the bitter
Ip filled, and
Id answered

lis, the first

lis sung, the

second cup passed round, and the hands washed again.
As the unleavened bread is dipped in the sauce which
commemorated the mortar of their bondage, with another
thanksgiving, Christ foretells His betrayal, indicates to Peter
and John the traitor, utters his awful doom, and dismisses
him to complete his treachery. Matt. xxvi. 21-5 ; Mark
xiv. 18-21 ; Luke xxii. 21-3 ; John xiii. 18-35.

Then the lamb is eaten, and during the subsequent dis-
tribution of unleavened bread followed by the third cup
(of blessing) Christ institutes tJie Sacrament of the Lords
Supper as a perpetual memory of His precious Death until
His coming again. Matt. xxvi. 26-9 ; Mark xiv. 22-5 ;
Luke xxii. 19, 20; i Cor. xi. 23-5. The fourth cup (of joy),
the second part of the Hallel (Psalm rxv. — cxviii.), and a
final prayer and thanksgiving conclude the last true Paschal
Feast. Christ thrice foretells Peter's denial, and again
speaks of His sufferings as fulfilling prophecy. John xiii.
36-8 ; Luke xxii. 31-8 ; Matt. xxvi. 30-35 ; Mark xiv. 26-31.

Christ completes His self-revelation to His Apostles by
His Last Discourse concerning the Paraclete sent by the
Father and the Son to testify of Him to men. He deals
with His relation to the Father and to His disciples, with
the law and progress of revelation, gives them a new com-
mandment, and for the loth time refers to His departure.
After leaving the Upper Room, He utters the Parabolic
Discourse of the Vine and its Branches, typifying their
union with Him and love for one another in face of the
world's hatred ; and speaks of the Paraclete's testimony to
the world and to the Church, of sorrow turned into joy
and failure issuing in victory. Then our great High
Priest offers Himself as Victim in His Prayer of Consecra-
tion for Himself (v. 1-5), His apostles (v. 6-19), and all

believers (v. 20-26). Westcott suggests that this may have been
uttered in the Temple Courts, which were thrown open at midnight
during the Passover. John xiv. — xvii.

Crossing Kedron, Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemane
on the slope of Olivet. His solitary prayer and mysterious
Agony, as the Sinless One bearing our sins, " the sufferings
of His .soul forming the soul of all His sufferings," is wit-
nessed by the Three who had seen His Glory. Matt. xxvi.
36-46 ; Mark xiv. 32-42 ; Luke xxii. 39-46 ; John xviii. i, 2.

i I

M I

272

THE GOSPELS.

He is betrayed by Judas, and, after display of His power
that proves Him a willing Victim (John x. 18), is arrested
by the emissaries of the Sanhcdrin, and heals Malchus' ear
(34/// miracle). After a futile resistance, the disciples all
forsake Him. Matt. xxvi. 47-56 ; Mark xiv. 43-52 ; Luke
xxii. 47-53 ; John xviii. 3-12.

First Trial soon after midni^jht, in the High Priest's
house at the north-cast corner of Mount Zion, by Annas the
legitimate, though deposed, High Priest. No witnesses are
brought, but Jesus is practically condemned to deaths and
insulted by the servants. John xviii. 13, 14, 19-23 ; Luke
xxii. 54.

Second Trial in the same house, by Caiaphas, the
actual High Priest, and an informal gathering of part of
the Sanhedrin. False witnesses accuse Him of speaking
against the Temple, perverting His words. Questioned by
the rulers of the nation. He confesses Himself Messiah
and Son of God, and is potentially condemned to death for
" blasphemy." First Derision as Messiah by the High
Priest's servants. Matt. xxvi. 57-68 ; Mark xiv. 53-65 ;
Luke xxii. 63-5 ; John xviii. 24. In the courtyard below,
Peter, who has followed with John, being questioned by
two or three servants, thrice denies his Lord. Matt. xxvi.
58,69-75; Mark xiv. 54,66-72; Luke xxii. 55-62; John
xviii. 15-18, 25-7.

Friday, April 6 (First Day of Unleavened Bread). —
Third Trial at dawn, in the Gazith or Hall of Polished
Stones, or some other chamber adjoining the Temple on
Mount Moriah, by a formal assembly of the Sanhcdrin.
Again He confesses Himself Messiah and Son of God, and
is formally condemned to death by the ecclesiastical authori-
ties. Matt, xxvii. 1,2; Mark xv. i ; Luke xxii. 66-71.

The suicide of Judas. Matt, xxvii. 3-10 ; Acts i. 18-20.

Fourth Trial in the Prastorium or official residence of
the Roman governor in the castle of Antonia, north of the
Temple on Mount Moriah, by Pontius Pilate, procurator
of Judffia. First accusation of sedition against Rome, the
pretext for di nanding His death being that He threatened
to use force to establish Hir. Kingdom, while the real
offence in their eyes was that He would not use force. He
makes no reply, but in a first private interview with Pilate

NINTH PERIOD.

273

acknowledges Himself King of the Jews with a kingdom
not of this world. First warning to Pilate in the awe-
inspiring aspect of his Prisoner. \st acquittal by Pilate.
Second accusation of insurrection. Pilate's first expedient of
sending Him to Herod. Matt, xxvii. 2, 11-14; Mark xv.
1-5 ; Luke xxiii. 1-7 ; John xviii. 28-38,

Fifth Trial in the old palace of the Asmonean princes
on Zion, by Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. Third
accusation met with unbroken silence. Second Derision as
King by Herod and his soldiers. 2nd acquittal by Herod.
Return to the Praetorium. Luke xxiii. 8-12.

Sixth Trial in the Praetorium by Pilate, w^io, after
a 3ra? declaration of His innocence^ proposes for a second
expedient to release Him as an act of artificial grace, not
plain justice, and receives in his wife Claudia Procula's
message a second warning. But the Jews ask for Barabbas,
the brigand and murderer. For the Holy and Rightc One
they demand that most shameful and painful form ot death
which was reserved for felonious slaves. After a ^th acquittal
Pilate scourges Jesus, and He endures a Third Derision as
King from the Roman soldiers. As his tJiird expedient^
Pilate brings Him before the people, saying, " Behold the
Man," and pronouncing a ^th acquittal. Mention of the
Son of God awes him with a third warning, ar d in a second
private interview Christ calmly judges His judge. Mount-
ing his tribunal for the third time, Pilate makes a final
attempt to release Christ, washing his hands with a 6th
acquittal of " this righteous man." The maddened people
accept the guilt of His blood, loudly professing allegiance
to their Roman conqueror only, and thus disclaiming all
their Messianic hopes, and demanding formal condemnation
to death by the civil authorities of their true King, which
Pilate at last pronounces. Matt, xxvii. 15-31 ; Mark xv.
6-20 ; Luke xxiii. 13-25 ; John xviii. 39 — xix. 16.

Rejected by the Pharisees, condemned by the Sadducees,
denounced by the multitude, and forsaken by His own
disciples, Jesus is led to death by the Romans. On the
way He utters His last Sermon and fifth prediction of the
Fall of ferusalem to the pitiful women who bewail Him.
Simon bears His cross. Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21 ;
Luke xxiii. 26-32 ; John xix. 17.

274

THE GOSPELS,

About nine o'clock, at Golijotha, He refuses the soporific
offered to alleviate the anguish of crucifixion, and is nailed
to the cross between two robbers with a superscription in
the three languages of the civilised world over His head,
just as the morning daily sacrifice is being offered. First
Word of priestly Intercession for the impenitent. He is
mocked by the members of the Sanhcdrin as Saviour,
Messiah, and King of Israel ; by the soldiers as King of
the Jews ; and by the multitude as Son of God. Matt,
xxvii. 33-44 ; Mark xv. 22-32 ; Luke xxiii. 33-8 ; John
xix. 18-24. Second Word of royal Grace for the pen' .>nt
and believing robber (the first Jew won by the Cross).
Luke xxiii. 39-43. Third Word of tender Love and care
for His Mother. John xix. 25-7.

Noon. Three hours of supernatural darkness and awful
silence begin. Three o'clock. Fourth Word of spiritual
Agony. Fifth Word of physical Agony. Sixth Word of
Triumph. Seventh Word of calm Trust, and then our
Saviour yields up His spirit just as the evening daily sacri-
fice is beginning, and the first Sabbath trumpet sounding.
The sign from heaven so long clamoured for appears, the
Rent Veil of the Temple proclaims the Law abrogated and
man brought nigh to God, earth quakes, the rocks are rent,
and the tombs are opened. The centurion confesses Him
righteous Son of God (the first Gentile won by the Cross),
and the multitude mourn and fear exceedingly. Matt,
xxvii. 45-56 ; Mark xv. 33-41 ; Luke xxiii. 44-9 ; John
xix. 28-30.

In the evening, Joseph of Arimathaea obtains Pilate's
permission to take away the body of Jesus, and when His
derth has been proved by the soldier's spear thrust, Joseph
and Nicodemus bury Him with all possible honour in a
new tomb in a garden near Golgotha, just as the wave
sheaf (comp. Lev. xxiii. 10, 11 ; i Cor. xv. 20), is carried
across Kedron. Matt, xxvii. 57-61 ; Mark xv. 42 7 ; Luke
xxiii. 50-56 ; John xix. 31-42.

Saturday, April 7, the Sabbath. — The disciples rest.
The priests secure a guard for the tomb. Luke xxiii. 56 ;
Matt, xxvii. (>2-(i.

TENTH PERIOD.

875

soporific

is nailed

iption in

lis head,

d. First

t. He is
Saviour,
King of

d. Matt.

5-8; John

; pen" :nt

le Cross).

; and care

and awful
,f spiritual
h Word of

then our
daily sacri-
t sounding,
ppcars, the
logated and

s are rent,
"esses Him

the Cross),

;ly. Matt.
■9 ; John

Ins Pilate's
when His
•ust, Joseph
lonour in a
the wave
is carried

\2']

Luke

Isciples rest.
le xxiii. 56 ;

Tenth Period.

Between Passover and Pentecost, A.D. 30,
Nisan 17 to Sivan 3 (40 days).

The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ.

Matt, xxviii. ; Mark xvi. ; Luke xxiv. ; John xx., xxi.

" Thou hast ascended on high" — Psalm Ixviii. 18.
'^ Noiv hath Christ been raised from the dead'' — i Cor.
XV. 20.

Sunday, April 8 ("The first Lord's Day ").— In Joseph's
garden, before dawn, there is a great earthquake, and
Christ is raised from the dead, being thus for the fourth
time declared (Rom. i. 4) the Son of God. Matt, xxviii. 2-4.

In the morning twilight, Mary of Magdala visits the
tomb, and departs with the news that the Lord is not there.
Matt, xxviii. i ; John xx. i, 2.

At daybreak, Mary wife of Alphaeus, Salome wife of
Zcbedee, Joanna wife of Chuza, and other women visit the
tomb, and hear of the Resurrection from an angel, who
sends them to tell the Apostles. Matt, xxviii. i, 5-8 ; Mark
xvi. 1-8; Luke xxiv. i-ii.

Mary of Magdala returns to the tomb with Peter and
John, who find it empty and depart. John believes. First
Appearance of the Risen Lord to her at the tomb. Luke
xxiv. 12 ; John xx. 3-18 ; Mark xvi, 9-11.

Second Appearance to the other women returning to
Jerusalem. Matt, xxviii. 9, 10.

Third Appearance to Peter. Luke xxiv. 34 ; i Cor.
XV. 5.

The Sanhedrin bribe the guard to promulgate an im-
potent fabrication. Matt, xxviii. 11-15.

Fourth Appearance in the evening, on the road to
Emmaus, to Cleopas and another. The Lord discourses
on His fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, and is made
known to them " in the breaking of the bread." Mark xvi.
12, 13 ; Luke xxiv. 13-32.

Fifth Appearance^ later in the evening in the Upper
Room at Jerusalem, to ten Apostles and other disciples.

276

THE GOSPELS.

The Lord's fits/ charge to His Church to evangelise the
world, and His Easter evening gifts to it : viz., peace (comp.
John xiv. 27), assurance, understanding, spiritual authority,
power to work miracles, and the Holy Spirit quickening
them with new faith in anticipation of His endowing them
with new power at Pentecost. Mark xvi. 14 ; Luke xxiv.
33-48; John XX. 19-23 ; i Cor. xv. 5.

Sunday, AI'RIL 15. Sixth Appearance in the evening
in the .same Upper Room to the Eleven Apostles. Thomas
worshipr, Him as Lord and God. John xx. 24-9.

Seventh Appearance by the Lake of Galilee to Peter,
James, John, Thomas, Nathanael, and two others, probably
Philip and Andrew (viz., the six first called and the con-
vinced doubter), 'if^th miracle. Second miraculous draught
of fishes, typical of the gathering in of a perfect Church in
heaven, as the 3rd miracle had been typical of the gathering
in of a militant Church on earth. The Lord again made
known *' in the breaking of the bread." Peter's threefold
confession undoes his threefold denial. John xxi. 1-23.

Eighth Appearance on Kurn Hattin, in Galilee, to the
Eleven and more than 500 disciples. He receives their
homage as Lord of heaven and earth, and shows how the
Chosen People of the past give place henceforth to the
Universal Church of the future. He institutes the Sacra-
ment of Baptism in the name of the Trinity as the rite of
admission into it, and gives a second charge to His CJiurch to
evangelise the tvorld, promising power to fulfil the com-
mand, and His abiding Presence till the consummation of
the age. Matt, xxviii. 16-20 ; Mark xvi. 15-18 ; i Cor, xv. 6.

Ninth Appearance to James, " the brother of the Lord,"
I Cor, XV, 7. (There were but three to individuals in all.
Acts i, 3 suggests other unrecorded Appearances.)

Thursday, May 17 (ten days before Pentecost).— r^«//!
Appearance in Jerusalem to the Eleven, whom He leads
out to Bethany. After renewing His promise of the Spirit,
and giving a third charge to His Church to evangelise the
world, from Mount Olivet, while blessing them, He ascends
to Heaven, where He ever liveth to make intercession for
us, until He comes again in like manner as He went up.
Mark xvi. 19, 20 ; Luke xxiv. 49-53 ; Acts i. 3-12 ; i Cor.
XV, 7

TENTH PERIOD.

277

rclise the
:c (comp.
Aithority,
lickcnin^
ins them
ukc xxiv.

; evening
Thomas

to Peter,
, probably
i the con-
US draught

Church in
; gathering
gain made
s threefold

d. 1-23. ,
ilee, to the
ceives their
vvs how the
Drth to the
the Sacra-
the rite of
is Church to
the com-
mmation of
I Cor. XV. 6.
■ the Lord,"
duals in all.

o's.'C).— Tenth
^ He leads
)f the Spirit,
'jangelise the

He ascends
ercession for

te went up.

.12 ; 1 Cor.

S. John's Epilogue on the purpose of the Gospels, and
a^ confirmation of liis narrative, probably added by the
Ephesian ciders. John xx. 30, 31 ; xxi. 24, -"S.

" By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation ;
By Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision ;
By Thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation ;
By Thine Agony and bloody Szveat ;
By Thy Cross and Passion ;
By Thy precious Death and Burial ;
By Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension ;
And by the coming of the Holy Ghost,

Good Lord, deliver us."

NINTH TERM.

The Days of S. Paul.
The Gospel Preached to the Gentiles.

A.D. 51—97-

Acts A'l'. — AW 17//. I T/ifssalotiians. 2 Thcssahiiians. i Corni
thiaits. :, Corinthians. Galatians. Romans. Philippiaits. Colos-
sians. Phil-'mon, Kphcsians. \ Timothv. Tims. 2 Timothy.
I, 2, and 3 John. Revelation. {\yj chapters.)

"Thou hast known the sacred writings which arc able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith."— 2 TiM. iii. 15.

33rd MONTH (32).

ActsXV.— XVHI. 17, I and 2
Thess. Acts XVII i. 18-XIX.
20. I Cor. Acts XIX. 21 -
XX. I. 2 Cor. I.— in.

34th MONTH (32).
2 Cor. IV.-XIH.
2. Gal. Rom.

Acts XX.

3Sth MONTH (33).

Acts XX. 3— XXVIII. Phil.
Col. Philem. Eph. i Tim.
Titus.

36t!i MONTH (^2,2).

2 Tim. I. 2, 3 John. Rev.

I. General Summary.

NO one chapter in the intertwined and unfinished history
of mankind can be nltot^cther isolated from its other
chapters. I laving rounded off the story of the literal Israel,
the people who were chosen to be a kingdom of priests in
the past (Exod. xix. 6), wc must trace its connexion with
the story of the spiritual Israel, chosen to be a kingdom of
priests in the present (Rev. i. 6, R.V. : sec p. 5). Israel
was called out of the world ; the Church i placed in the
world, though not of it. Extraordinary privileges as
regards God and extraordinary obligations as regards mai
charactcri>c both. One nation only God knew and made

278

GENERAL SUMMARY.

279

Himself known to (Amos iii. 2). Yet while Gentiles
knowinff only false gods were desiring the true God (Acts
xvii. 23), Israel went p.fter other gods whom they knew
not (Jcr. vii. 9), and so God removed them from their
place among the nations, and " the times of the Gentiles "
began.

l^^om B.C. 6c6 to A.D. 45 they were prepared for the
Gospel, just as Israel had been prepared for the Law from
R.C. 1921 to 1490 (see p. 25). Individual Gentiles had already
received blessing through contact with Israel (see p. 162,
Question XXX.). And when the nations who had been
scattered at Babel (Gen. xi.) were re-united under Nebu-
chadnc'.zar (Jer. xxvii. 4-7), Israel, hitherto kept apart,
was placed in the midst of them to bear witness in the
Gentile tongue to the true God (Jer. x. 11, R.V. margin ;
Dan. iii. 29) ; and the Psalms which we have called " the
Missionary Hallel " (p. 209), anticipated blessing through
Israel to all the world. Not only have Jew and Gentile
lived in closest contact with each other since l?.c. 606,
but the history of the whole world may be grouped round
that of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose names are on the
gates of the City of the Future (Rev. xxi. 12 ; comp. Deut.
xxxii. 8).

As we have seen, the Church in its infancy appeared to
be only a sect of Jews who believed that the Messiah had
come, and emphasized the Pharisaic doctrine of the Resur-
rection (Acts xxiii. 6). Christ's own fulfilment of the
Law consisted in its spiritualisation, and once at least He
had pointed to its abrogation (Mark vii. 19, R.V.). He
sought Gentiles as well as Jews (John iii. 16, xii. 32), and
strongly commended Gentile faith (Matt. viii. 10, xv. 28).
But the first Christians seem to have had no clear con-
ception of their faith as the one worldwide religion with
whose expansion the ceremonial Mosaic Law would vanish
away. The Greek in which the New Testament is written
is symbolical of the universality of its revelation, and it was
one of the greatest of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians,
S. Stephen, who first enunciated two new truths as cardinal
as the two uttered at Sinai (sec p. 54). {a) All men,
both Jews and Gentiles, are equally unacceptable to God
in view of their fallen and sinful condition, and all arc

.1 ^

^:i 'il

Joo

NINTH TERM.

equally acceptable to God if they call upon Him through
Christ (Rom. iii. 9, 22, 23, x. 12, 13). ip) The Mosaic
Covenant is temporary and imperfect (Ileb. viii. 13).

Let us now trace the application of these principles. S.
Peter anticipates the first in Acts ii. 39, iii. 26 ; and it was
acted on in the successive admissions to the Church of
the Samaritans, somewhat heretical followers of Moses ;
of Cand ace's treasurer, a proselyte of the gate ; and of
Cornelius and his household, all of v/hom could hardly
have been proselytes. But it was at Antioch that some
Cyprian and rvfrican missionaries first preached to Gentiles
as Gentiles (Acts xi. 20, R.V.). There the emergence of
the Church from Judaism was furthc, marked by the name
" Christian," invented by the quick-witted Antiochenes and
formed by adding a Latin suffix to the Greek translation
of a Hebrew idea (comp John xix. 20). That it was at
first used by the world opprobriously, is clear from each
recurrence of it in the New Testament (Acts xi. 26, xxvi.
28 ; I Peter iv. 16). Later on the Church adopted it and
gloried in it (James ii. 7). It shows that our faith is not
centred in a doctrine, but in a Person.

Meanwhile the Apostle through whom God " caused the
light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world " had
been called, and the r^ystery of a Gentile Church had been
revealed to him (Eph, iii. ; Acts xxvi. 16-18). Step by
step he acted upon this revelation (Acts xiii. 46, xiv. 1 5,
27, XV., xviii. 6), and tctught in accordance with it. (Rom.
i. 16). And so wc come to the most memorable journey on
record (Acts xiii.), the first definite act of obedience to our
Lord's last command (Mark xvi. 15). For in contrast to
the Old Dispensation, where \hc Proselyte sought admission
into Israel's congrcgaiion, in the New Dispensation the
Apostle went out \o seek converts whom he might lead into
the Chuich. Divinely guided, S. Paul and his companions
went westwards towards the scenes of the epoch-making
events in the world's future history.

Three circumstances were in his favour, through which
God had prepared men to receive the truth : —

(rt) The intellectual conquest of the \\orld by Greece had
produced a unity of language, so that the Apostles speakiiig
and writing in Greek were everywhere understood.

GENERAL SUMMARY.

281

(b) The material conquest of the v.orld by Rome had
produced a political unity, which gave them free scope and
fair protection everywhere.

{c) The dispersion of the Jews had carried some know-
ledge of the One True God and some purer notions of
morality into many parts, and the heathen were often
reached through the proselytes, of whom the larger number
were women (Acts xiii. 50, xvii. 4, 12).

On the other hand, he had greater difficulties to contend
with than any missiortaries could have now in any part of
the world. Disowned and cast out at Jerusalem, he carried
a message to the Jcvvs concerning the abrogation of their
cherished exclusive privileges ; despised and loathed as a
Jew, he had to tell the Gentiles of a revelation that would
supersede all their national beliefs and transcend all their
proudest philosophies. But he went for Christ and with
Christ, anc' God chose weak things that He might shame
the things that were strong.

In A.D. 51 the Church contained these seven classes of
Christians : — {a) Strict Hebraists, such as those in Acts
xxi. 20. {b) Liberal Hebraists, such as S. Peter, Acts
xi. 3. {c) Strict Hellenists, such as those in Acts ix. 29.
id) Liberal Hellenists, such as S. Paul (e) Proselytes of
Righteousness who were circumcised, such as Nicolas, Acts
vi- S- if) Proselytes of the Gate who were uncircumcised,
such as Cornelius, {g) Heathen converts, such as Trophimus,
Acts xxi. 2Q. He is a type of nearly all the Christians of to-
day, and he belongs chronologically to the last class brought
into the Church (see Farrar's " Life of St. Paul." Cassell, Gs.).

What was to be the relation of this class to the Mosaic
Law? Over that question arose the first controversy. It
was settled, not without loss of velocity through frictioti
meanwhile, but with ultimate gain, theoretically at the first
synod of the Church, and in S. Paul's second group of
Epistles ; practically, just 40 years after the Resurrection,
by the Fall of JciUsalem.

S. Paul recognises four stages in the world's history
dating from four persons, of whom the first like the last
stands at the head of a long line of representatives : —

{(i) Relative innocence ending in Sin in Ac/am, whose
transgression developed a death-working principle.

382

NINTH TERM.

" "^

! :i

i i

(/') Awakened conscience and Promise in AbraJiam.

if) Imputable transgression and Law in Moses.

{d) Free justification and Gospel in Christ, whose
righteousness developed a new life-working principle. The
Law of Moses had shown the need of this, and it fulfilled
the Promise to Abraham. In Christ the Law found both
its accomplishment find its conclusion, in one word, its
"end" (Rom. x. 4), as He Himself indicated (Matt. xi. 13).

For its relation to the Gospel, work out this summary.

The Lazu was negative, particular, complex, preparatory,
temporary, and easy to act up to, in that it controlled
deeds. It uttered precepts and commands, requiring works
and saying, "Thou shalt love," " Do and live " (Dcut. iv. i).

The Gospel is positive, general, simple, final, eternal, and
hard to act up to, in that it controls motives. It utters
principles and sanctions, requires faith, and says, " God so
loved," " Live and do " (Rom. viii. 2-4).

The moral Law still binds us, not as the condition of
our acceptance before God, but as an evidence of our accept-
ance by God before men.

The relation of Judaism to Christianity is not that of
error to truth, but of the bud to the flower, of the child to
the man, of the dawn to the day, of the acorn which
perishes when it has germinated to the oak which it has
produced. " Tear up the Jewish root, and the Christian
branch will perish," thought Titus when he took Jerusalem.
In reality its Fall settled the Judaic controversy ; .separated
Christians from Jews finally in the eyes of the heathen ;
cut the cords which bound the new faith to a local habita-
tion, and enabled it to become worldwide. In S. John's
writings Jew and Gentile stand undistinguished in the
same fold.

Why did Titus desire to destroy Christianity ? For in
Acts, which records twelve separate persecutions that S.
Paul suffered from the Jews (i Thess. ii. 14-16) we see the
Roman jower protecting him from his own compatriots;
the heathen indifferent, curious, tolerant, and docile, but
only hostile on those rare occasions when fears for their
worldly interests were roused. In ancient days worship
of other gods by Gentiles had been recognised if not
actually permitted (Deut. xxix. 25, 26). But later on the

BOOKS TO BE READ.

383

Waham.

JCS.

irist, whose
nciple. The
id it fulfilled
' found both
ne word, its
Matt. xi. 13).
summary,
preparatory,
it controlled
[uiring works
(Dcut. iv. i).
, eternal, and
es. It utters
ays, " God so

condition of
of our accept-

5 not that of

)f the child to

acorn which

which it has

the Christian

ok Jerusalem.

y ; separated

ic heathen ;

local habita-

In S. John's

shed in the

lity? For in
tions that S.
6) we see the
compatriots ;
d docile, but
ears for their
days worship
rniscd if not
later on the

prophets call on all men to worship one God only (Jer.
xvi. 19-21). And when the Gentiles found that Christianity
always and everywhere claimed to be not only a religion,
but the one true religion, they resented this claim. In 64
the First of Ten heathen Persecutions cf the Church broke
out, and thenceforth the Empire was at war with the Church
until A.D. 313. See Blunt's " Christian Church during the
First Three Centuries," chap. viii. (Murray, 6s.).

Israel's religion had never before won other nations or
saved Israel from ruin ; Gentile wisdom had proved power-
less to arrest decay of all forms of belief, and universal
depravity of morals. Yet 1900 years ago, from the midst
of Jewish weakness and Gentile uncleanness (Job xiv. 4),
there sprang a new thing irresistibly mighty, and not only
clean but cleansing, which has been the salt of the earth
ever since. Secular history seeks to account for this in
vain. We know that the new principle of life which made
this marvellous change possible was the indwelling Spirit
of God working through the Church of the Living Jesus.

II. Books to be Read.
(See " Oxford Helps," § xv.)

Save for the remaining chapters of the Acts, our reading
this term is wholly of the two greatest authors of the Apos-
tolic age, S. Paul and S. John, with one of whom we now
make our first acquaintance. Poetry is not an element that
we commonly recognise in the New Testament. But besides
the parallelism in many of our Lord's discourses, the
poetical structure of some of His parables, and such rhyth-
mical outpourings as Rom. viii. 29-39, xi. 33-6 ; i Cor.
xiii. 1-8, XV. 35-58 ; 2 Cor. vi. 3-10 ; James v. 1-6, it contains
one whole book, which is in the highest sense poetry, viz.,
the Apocalypse.

Acts XV. — xxviii. tells of the Gospel's progress westward
from its cradle in Jerusalem to Rome, the capital of the
world, and dwells, with all the minute accuracy of a con-
temporary historian and eye-witness, upon those parts of
S. Paul's career during which S. Luke was his coinpanion.
It breaks off .'uddcnly at the eve of the Ncronian persccu-

iii .

Jfj

U ll

384

NINTH TERM.

fl i

! .'

tion, concerning which it would have been unsafe to speak
freely, and we must glean the events of the last thirty-four
years of our period from less complete records. The key-
note of Acts XV. — xxviii. is The Gentiles are felloiu-Jieirs
a7id felloiv-partakers of the promise.

S. Paul's thirteen Epistles fall into four groups, and
should always be read in their chronological order. Six
were written to Europe (viz., three to Macedonia, two to
Achaia, and one to Italy), three to Asia Minor, and four
to individuals. Of the churches S. Paul addresses, five had
been founded by him. (i Cor, v. 9 ; 2 Cor. x. 9; Col. iy.
16 ; 2 Thess. iii. 17, indicate that he may have written other
letters not preserved.) As a rule, his Epistles consist of six
parts : {a) Solemn Salutation ; (J)) Expression of Thank-
fulness for God's work in the church addressed ; (c) Re-
ligious Doctrine ; {d) Practical Exhortation ; {e) Personal
Details and Greetings. (/) Autograph Benediction as a
mark of authenticity. (The notes at the end, which R.V.
omits, are very late, and in some cases evidently erroneous.)
But we misunderstand the Epistles if we try to reduce
them to regular subdivisions as so many set treatises on
abstract doctrine. Clause by clause they were dictated to
his children in the faith, as he sat stitching the coarse tent
cloth, and wondrous thoughts of things Divine were welling
up within him. From his heart to their hearts, and to
our hearts, he speaks, with all the tenderness and all the
familiarity of personal intercourse, and in these living
utterances of a living man the expositions of truth are
incidental. Each thought leads on to the next, not by a
process of elaborate reasoning, but by a natural association
of ideas. There is in them not formal system, but sponta-
neous coherence and sequence. Each Epistle should be
looked at apart from the rest. Each should be read swiftly
at a sitting, as well as studied in detail, that its general
purpose and character may be duly apprehended.

First Group. — The Advent Epistles, written at Corinth
in 52, and addressed to a Macedonian Church, whose
religion was practical and straightforward. Hence they
are the simplest of all in their matter and manner, and deal
with Christian life rather than Christian doctrine. Their
subject is the Second Coming of Christ, and our prepara-

BOOKS TO BE READ.

385

ife to spoak

; thirty-four

The key-

fclloiv-heirs

groups, and
order. Six
)nia, two to
)r, and four
SOS, five had
:. 9 ; Col. iy.
viitten other
lonsist of .six
1 of Thank-
;ed ; {c) Re-
ie) Personal
^diction as a
, which R.V.
y erroneous.)
ry to reduce
■ treatises on
e dictated to
e coarse tent
were welling
arts, and to
and all the
these living
of truth are
_xt, not by a
il association
, but sponta-
e should be
ead swiftly
its general
.cd.

_n at Corinth

lurch, whose

Hence they

ner, and deal

trine. Their

our prepara-

tion in patience and watchfulness for it. Undue curiosity
as to the time of the end is discouraged.

1 Thessalonians was occasioned by Timothy's return with
cheering news of Thessalonian steadfastness. Its tone is
very sweet and consolatory. S. Paul commends the Church
as a whole, admonishes the sinful, comforts the sorrowful,
and concludes with general exhortation. Its keynote is
The Coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

2 Thessalonians was occasioned by the erroneous infer-
ences which had been drawn from the former letter. The
Advent must be unexpected, but it may not be near.
Its keynote is The Rcv:lation of the Lord Jesus loith the
angels of His poiver. S. Paul's favourite trilogy of Faith,
Hope, and Love pervades both epistles.

Second Group. — The Anti-Judaic Epistles, written in
57 and 58, in the midst of physical and mental trials which
have left deep traces on their style. Their subject is
Individual Christian Life, God's Grace and our Faith.
Compared v/ith Macedonian, Achaian religion was more
enlightened, r)ut more conceited and of lower type morally.

1 Corinthians^ written in Ephesus at the Passover of 57,
was occasioned by a letter asking questions as to marriage,
things offered to idols, spiritual gifts, public worship, collec-
tions, and the Resurrection. S. Paul shows that there may
be love and unity where there are different opinions, and
that practical details of life should be decided by eternal
principles. Its keynote is Take heed, be steadfast, and let
all ye do be done in love.

2 Corinthians, written at Philippi (?), is in two parts. Ch.
i. — ix., occasioned by a cheering account of che church from
Titus, whose keynote is Transient light affliction and eternal
weight of glory ; ch. x. — xiii., occasioned by news of a
fresh attack upon S. Paul's authority, and WTitten in a
sterner and more sorrowful tone, whose keynote is In notJiing
behind the very chief est Aposlles. Of all the Epistles this
is the one in which we see deepest into S. Paul's heart.

Galatians, written at Corinth in 58 (?), was occasioned
by news that the Galatians w^ere forsaking the freedom of
Christ for the bondage of Moses. It is "a trumpet note
of defiance to the Pharisees of Christianity." It falls into
three parts of two chapters each, personal, historical, and

286

NINTH TERM.

i '■■•■

's ;j

! ,

practical, and its keynote is Neither circuvichion nor uncir-
cuvicision, but a new creature,

Romans, written at Corinth in 58 in expectation of
visiting the capital, fills the central place in S. Paul's
writings, both chronologically and doctrinally, and contains
the sum of his theology, dealing in the largest and most
general way with the universality of sin and the univer-
sality of grace. Galatians is like a rough sketch for it. Its
keynote is The revelation of the Righteousness of God ; and
we may sum up its main argument thus : " The Gospel is
the power of God unto salvation because it contains the
revelation of a righteousness. This is needed because
God's wrath is upon sin, and all, both Jews and Gentiles,
have sinned (i. — iii. 20). God offers man a salvation, whose
freeness the Old Testament illustrates and vindicates,
whose effects, as we ourselves know, are immediate, pro-
gressive, and ultimate. It is a reversal of the Fall, a lifting
up of the individual life above sin ; a complete deliverance
from sin and its consequences (iii. 21 — viii.). The relation
of this Gospel to the Jew is a sorrowful story, but it involves
no injustice on God's part, and will be gloriously compen-
sated hereafter (ix. — xi.). The practical results of this
Gospel should be dedication of ourselves to God, devotion
to duty in all the relations of life, in submission to authority,
love, toleration, conscientiousness, in one word, in imitation
of Christ (xii. — xv.)." Or we may say the Epistle shows the
dealings with men of God the Father (i. — iii. 20), God the
Son (iii. 21 — vii.), God the Holy Ghost (viii.) ; or see, as its
dominating ideas, Faith (iii. — vii.), Hope (viii.), and Love
(xii. — xiv.). Faith, which links God's righteousness and
man's justification, is mentioned some sixty times. Those
who know something of Greek can have no more helpful
guide to the understanding of Romans and of S. Paul's
Epistles generally than Dean Vaughan's edition of its Greek
text with notes (Macmillan, ys. 6(i.).

Third Group. — The Anti-Gnostic Epistles, all written at
Rome in 63. They deal with loftier and more mysterious
themes than the earlier ones, and show throughout thought
enriched and ripened, and growth both in grace and wisdom.
Their subject is Corporate Christian Life, and Christ as
God and Man.

BOOKS TO BE READ.

287

nor itncir-

ctation of
S. Paul's
id contains
; and most
the univer-
. for it. Its
f God; and
e Gospel is
ontains the
ed because
id Gentiles,
ation, whose
vindicates,
icdiate, pro-
^all, a lifting
J deliverance
The relation
Lit it involves
jsly compen-
sults of this
od, devotion
to authority,
in imitation
Je shows the
20), God the
or see, as its
.), and Love
lousness and
imes. Those
more helpful
of S. Paul's
n of its Greek

all written at
j-e mysterious
rhout thought
J and wisdom,
knd Christ as

Philippians, occasioned by the visit of Epaphroditus, and
written to a church which seems to have been to S. Paul
what the household of Bethany was to his Master, falls, like
Galatians, into personal, doctrinal, and practical sections
Its keynote is Press on and rejoice always.

Colossians, occasioned by the return of Onesimus, combats
error. Its keynote is Christ is the Head of the Chnrch^ and
in Hiiu dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead.

Philemon, written and sent together with Colossians,
forms " the practical manifesto of Christianity against the
horrors and iniquities of slavery." Its keynote is No longer
as a bondman, but as a brother beloved.

Ephesians, which may have been a circular letter to all
the Asiatic churches (i. i, R.V. margin), builds up truth.
Its keynote is TJie Church is Christ's Body, the fulness of
Him that fillet h all in all. It may be called the Epistle of
the Ascension.

Fourth Group. — The Pastoral Epistles, manuals of
practical discipline rather than expositions of doctrine.
They have not the depth and grandeur of the earlier
epistles, their purpose being wholly different. Their subject
is the Work of the Ministry, Being and Doing. The
trilogy of Faith, Hope, and Love again becomes prominent.

1 Timothy, written from Macedonia in 65 or 66, has
least structural unity of all the epistles. Its keynote is
Teach healthful words, and the doctrine lohich is according
to godliness.

Titus, written from Macedonia in 66, has for keynote
Those who are God's must be godly.

2 Timothy, written from his Roman prison in 6^ to
implore his best-beloved disciple to come to him quickly,
contains S. Paul's last brave and tender words, and its
keynote is Through the cross to the crown.

The three Epistles of S. foJm were probably written at
Ephesus during his last years, i foJin is addressed to the
Church generally, and especially to Gentile Christians in
Asia Minor. Its recurring thoughts are Light, Life, Truth,
Abiding, and above all Love ; and its keynote is Eternal
Life through the Incarnation of the Eternal Word.

2 John, one of the three private letters in the New
Testament which illustrate Christian intercourse rather

988

NINTH TER}t.

\ !3

I i

than Christian doctrine, is addressed to a lady of uncertain
name and abode, with her children. This fact in itself in-
dicates the new value attached to womanhood and child-
hood in Christ. Its keynote is Love in truth and truth in
love.

3 JoJin is addressed to a hospitable Christian who bore
the common name of Gains. Its keynote is Imitate not
the evil, but the good. The use of the word " friends " in
the last clause is peculiar to S John. Comp. John xi. ir,
XV. 14, 15.

All that S. John teaches might be inferred from S. Paul's
writings, but the last of the Apostles sums up Divine revela-
tion in a clear and final exposition of loftiest truth, which
transcends the controversies of earlier days. The Judaic
question has fallen into the background ; and S. John
opposes those subsequent heresies which all began and
ended with denial of the doctrine that Christ is truly God
and truly ^an, by showing forth truth rather than com-
batting error. He makes three great declarations about
God. God is Light, God is Love, God is Righteous. He
expresses our Christian privileges through three conceptions
brought out through a threefold metaphor, {a) That of
Righteousness from the law court, looking at Christ as the
Righteous One (i John ii. i, 29). {p) That of Sonship
from the household, looking at Christ as the Son (i John
iii. I, 8). id) That of Sanctification from the Temple,
looking at Christ as the Holy One sacrificed (i John iii.
3, 5, i. 7). He uses eternal, not in antithesis to temporal,
but to seen. He speaks of eternal life, not as that which
shall be, but as that which is for all believers.

Revelation. That this is a work by S. John of special
value and importance, forming a fit climax to the whole
Word of God, is certain. Its exact date and its meaning
are far less easily determined. Internal evidence con-
nects it with two startling and most important events,
the first great outbreak of Heathen Persecution by Nero
in 64, when all the world hated the Christians on the false
charge that the Christians hated all the world ; and the
Fall of the Jewish Nation (^6 — 70). Those who had lived
through the anguish and tumult of that time, and seen its
awful bloodshed, would find more than poetic metaphor in

BOOKS TO BE READ.

289

f uncertain

in itself in-

and child-

nd truth in

n who bore
Imitate not
' friends " in
John xi. Hi

Dm S. Paul's
ivine revela-
truth, which
The Judaic
ind S. John
I began and
is truly God
er than com-
ations about
ghteous. He
•c conceptions
(rt) That of
Christ as the
,t of Sonship
Son (I John
the Tcmplo,
- (I John iii.
, to temporal,
as that which

Lhn of special
I to the whole
Id its meaning
Isvidence con-
trtant events,
ftion by Neio
IS on the false
prld ; and the
Fwho had lived
le, and seen its
Ic metaphor in

such passages as Rev. xiv. 19, 20. If written then it is
S. John's earliest work. But external evidence connects it
with the Second Persecution of the Church by Domitian
in 96, and some of its pictures of judgment seem drawn
from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, which must have
made an even deeper and wider impression than U/ziah's
earthquake of old (Amos i. 1). In any case, S. John's
Gospel, in which we find the deepest teaching of the whole
Bible, was doubtless later than the Apocalypse ; yet our
Cycle most fitly completes its revolution with this New
Testament counterpart of Daniel. For {a) Its new Heavens
and Earth, its Paradise, and River, and Tree of Life, its gold
and pearl and precious stones, its Bridegroom and Bride
carry us back to the first pages of revelation, and show
how God's will regarding man, though thwarted for a time,
will be gloriously fulfilled to all eternity. (J)) It is the last
magnificent development of divinely inspired prophecy.
{c) It pos.sesses at once the unity of a great poem, and the
gorgeousness of a dream, and thus closes the diapason
with a transcendent note of music, {d) It gathers up all
the rest of the Bible in its allusions, and looks furthest into
the future, {e) " The Revelation of Jesus Christ " (that is
the correct name of a book often ignorantly called " The
Revelations of John ") is the last gift of the glorified Saviour
to His Church. Old Testament witness beforehand, New
Testament preparatory prophecy, Christ's own witness to
Himself on earth, and the Apostolic witness to Him later
on, are all consummated by His final witness to Himself
from Heaven. Its keynote is The revelation of the Risen
Christ as the Lord God.

Rev. i. 19 is a table of contents for the whole book. Ch.
i. refers to the Past, chs. ii., iii. to the Present. Chs.
iv. — xxii, contain visions certainly past as visions when
S. John described them, and certainly prefiguring things
that were Future to him. The question is how far are
they future for us ? Here interpreters of three different
schools come forward.

{a) The Prcutef ists, who point to the word " shortly " in
Rev. i. I, and say that they have been fulfilled in the past.
Sodom is Jerusalem, Babylon is heathen Rome ; and the
book finds its great and sufficient theme in the downfall

i«i«i

390

NlNiH TERM.

of these two cities which had drunk so deeply of the blood
of the saints. Just €is Daniel's " vile person " was Antiochus
Epiphancs, so Nero, to whom divine honours were blasphe-
mously paid, is the Beast out of the Sea, and the Beast
out of the earth (evidently the same as the False Prophet)
is probably Simon Ma^us. The Sun-clad Woman is the
Primitive Church in its flight to Pclla. The earliest
commentators favour this interpretation, and a general
expectation that the world would end in A.D. 1000 sprang
out of dating the 1000 years of Rev. xx. 4 from the
foundation of the Church.

{l)) The Prcscfitists, or Historical School, who say that
they are being fulfilled in the present, that Revelation is a
synopsis of anticipated history, either of the whole world
or of the Church, This view is not much more than 600
years old, and the greatest diversity exists among its
exponents as to the application of details, and the point
we have now reached chronologically.

(/) The I'utiinsts, who say that they are to be fulfilled
in the future. Between ch. iii. and ch. iv. there is a gap of
at least i8cx) years. These interpreters have generally
been few in number, but they have had representatives in
all ages.

Without attempting to judge between the three views,
one or two principles may be laid down for those students
of Scripture who do not undertake to be authoritative
exponents of it.

(i) The Apocalypse is a book of signs, and the use of
similar signs elsewhere will be our best key to them. We
must be consistent in our explanations. A dried-up river
is more possible than a woman riding a seven-headed
beast. We arc not therefore to regard one as literal and
the other as figurative.

(2) No book is so saturated with Old Testament allusion.
Hence the Old Testament meanings of the various things
alluded to must be reckoned with.

(3) Our own century and continent are large to us out
of proportion to their real size. Hence those whose
knowledge of other ages and regions is limited rashly
assert that the Apocalypse is full of the events of to-day.

(4) " Divine prophecies," says Bacon, " have steps and

PERIODS AND DATES.

391

the blood
Antiochus
•c blasphc-

thc Beast
ic Prophet)
man is the
he earliest

a general
000 sprang
4 from the

ho say that
/elation is a
whole world
»ie than 600
. among its
id the point

o be fulfilled
re is a gap of
Lve generally
psentativcs in

three views,
lose students
authoritative

\A the use of
. them. We
|lried-up river
jseven-headed
las literal and

Iment allusion,
various things

Irge to us out
I those whose
limited rashly
Is of to-day.
lve steps and

grades of fulfilment through divers ages," Just as Old Testa-
ment prophecies had primary reference to David and
ultimate reference to Christ, so S. John's visions were for
his own generation, and referred to events of his own ag*.'
in the first instance. This does not exclude the possibility
of a wider reference to ages yet to come.

(5) Study of the history of the first century will to some
extent unravel the primary reference. The ultimate re-
ference must remain more or less dim until all is fulfilled.

(6) Meanwhile the preciousness and sacredness of the
book lie deeper than either. Whatever its details mean,
it enunciates two things unmistakably, {a) As " a Christian
philosophy of history," it shows that the affairs of men in
all ages and places arc governed by God. {b) It also shows
that although falsehood and evil are potent, truth and
goodness will prove omnipotent in the world which a good
God made. Christ will triumph. Those who hate Him
will perish, those who love Him will be unspeakably blest.
Could the persecuted Church, feeble, despised, and opposed
by both the " religious " and the secular world, have met her
foes without the spiritual tonic of this Divine encourage-
ment?

III. Periods and Dates.

That Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 52,
that Festus became Procurator in A.D. 60, and that Nero's
persecution of the Christians took place in A.D. 64, arc the
only fixed points from which we can calculate the chro-
nology of these 46 years. We may fairly think of S. John's
life as closing with the first Christian century, but the actual
dates assigned to its close vary from 89 to 120. For the
details of S. Paul's journeys see "Oxford Helps," §§ xxiv.
and XXV., and refer again to the lists of rulers on p. 228.

(i) A.D. 51 to Pentecost 54 (3 years). From the Con-
ference at Jerusalem to S. Paul's last return to
Antioch. 6". Paul's Second Journey. Acts xv. — xviii.
17 ; 1 Thessalonians ; 2 Thessalonians ; Acts xviii. 18-22.

(2) A.D. 54 to Pentecost 58 (4 years). From S. Paul's
last return to Antioch to his Imprisonment. St.
Paul's Third Journey. Acts xviii. 23 — xix. 20:

292

NINTH TERM.

<>\

1 Corinthians; Acts xix. 21 — xx. 1; 2 Corinthians;
Acts XX. 2 ; Oalatians ; Romans ; Act:, xx. 3 — xxiii.

(3) A.D. 58— 6^ (5 years). From S. Paul's Imprisonment

to his Liberation. S. Pau/'s Captivity at Cczsarea
and Rome. Acts xxiv. — xxviii. ; Philippians; Colos-
sians; Philemon; Ephesians.

(4) A.D. 63 — 67 (4 years). From S. Paul's Liberation

to his Martyrdom. S. Paul's Fourth fourney.
1 Timothy; Titus; 2 Timothy,
(c) A.D. 67—97 (30 years). From S. Paul's Martyrdom
to the close of the New Testament Canon. Jlie
Last of the Apostles. 1, 2, 3, John; Revelation,

IV. Geography.
(See " Oxford Helps," Maps X., XL, XII.)

Jerusalem, whose church S. Peter founded, became the
first metropolis of Christianity, and these five visits paid
to it by S. Paul form useful landmarks in his history,
(i; Alone in A.D. 40 to sec Peter (Gal. i.) ; (2) with Barna-
bas in 44 to bring his collection (Acts xi. 30) ; (3) with
Barnabas in 51 to report upon the evangelisation of the
Gentiles ; (Acts xv.) ; (4) with Silas and Timothy in 54
to salute the church and keep Pentecost (Acts xviii.) ;
(5) with Luke, Aristarchus, Timothy, Trophimus, and
others in 58 to keep Pentecost and bring his collection
(Acts xxi.). The extension of the Church from Jerusalem
th'ough three different areas, orthodox, heterodox and
heathen, is sketched in our Lord's very last words on earth,
v.hich are an outline of all subsequent Church history
(Acts i. 8).

Antiocli, whose church S. Barnabas and S. Paul founded,
the third city in the Romau Empire, became the second
metropolis of Christianity and the mother church of all the
Gentile churches. In his first journey S. Paul went to
Cyprus and Asia Mino'% in his second he re-visited Syria
and Asia Minor, and just half-way through his whole
Christian career entered Europe, where Philippi and Thes-
salonica in Macedonia and Corinth in Achaia became
the great centres of Christianity. In his third journey he
re-visited Asia Minor and Greece, but spent most of bis

GEOGRAPHY.

Jorinthians ;
— xxiii.

prisonment
at Ccesarea
Lans; Colos-

Libcration
■th Journey.

Martyrdom
^anon. The
elation.

II.)

became the
e visits paid
t his history,
with Barna-
,0) ; (3) with
sation of the
[mothy in 54
;Acts xviii.);
Iphimus, and
liis collection
,m Jerusalem
terodox and
irds on earth,
,urch history

*aul founded,
le the second
irch of all the
.^aul went to
-visited Syria
rh his whole
;pi and Thes-
hhaia became
[d journey he
most of bis

time at Ephesus, whose church he founded, which became
the third metropolis of Christianity. Here S. John com-
pleted the work of the Apostles, and from its church the
Church of England ultimately traces her descent. Then
from Ca.\sarca, Roman capital of Palestine, "Paul the
prisoner " was brought to Rome, the capital of the whole
empire, which became the fourth metropolis of Christianity.
Its fifth metropolis was Alexandria, second city in the
empire, whose church, probably founded by S. Mark, has
ApoUos for its chief New Testament representative. More
than two centuries later, Constantinople, the first city which
was Christian from its foundation, became the hixth metro-
polis of Christi<?.nity. In its greatness that of Ephcsus was
merged ; and omitting Ephesus these five cities became
the seats of the five patriarchates round which early ecclesi-
astical history groups itself.

All the countries which Acts n, 9-1 1 enumerates in their
exact geographical order had Christian » churches planted in
them by the end of the first century In Palestine, besides
the church of Jerusalem, where Simeon, the Lord's brother,
presided over a feeble remnant, we hear of churches in
Lydda, Joppa, Sharon, Ca^sarea, and Samaria ; and of
Syrian churches in Tyre, Ptolemai'^, Antioch, and Damascus,
In Asia Minor, where we perceive greatest mixture of
race in narrowest compass, where Jewish faith, Greek
culture, and Roman power all influenced the original in-
habitants, churches grew apace, and were some of them
old enough to have lost their first love when the Beloved
Disciple presided in their midst. There were churches in
Cyprus (whose ancient church still preserves its indeper-
dcnce through an almost unique history), Macedonia,
Achaia, Crete, Illyricum, and Dalmatia, for all of which
S. Paul himself had laboured fervently.

From Rome the Gospel had spread westward, ever
following the course of the sun, to Spain and Gaul ; it had
also reached Carthage and Egypt and Ethiopia in the
south ; and in the east Armenia, Persia, Parthia, Arabia,
and perhaps India ; beginning in most cases in the syna-
gogue, and spreading from Jew and proselyte to heathen.
For in those days every Christian was a missionary, and
wherever he went throughout the empire he was received

t t :•

294

NINTH TERM.

as a brother by humble little companies of fcllow-bclievers.
The " Barbarians " outside the empire had not yet been
reached, but ihere were Christians in regions too distant to
contain a church, and Christian influences slowly quicken-
ing and purifying human life in all its phases in regions
which no Christian had yet reached. The story is repeating
itself to-day in not a few of " the uttermost parts of the
earth" ; and now, as then, we know that the issue is certain
and glorious.

ill

!ir

V. Heroes.

Keynotes ^ ^ y^/^,^^ j^^^^ ^ g, 9, 18, 19.

Among Israel's many great men three stand out pre-
eminent as her greatest — viz., Moses, of Levi, the founder
of her religion and polity ; David, of Judah, the founder
of her everlasting monarchy ; and vS. Paul, of Benjamin,
the chief builder of the Church, in which both her religion
and her monarchy are to find their highest realisation.
Imagine for a moment the Bible deprived of the Pentateuch,
the Psalms, and the Epistles of S. Paul, and you will to
some extent estimate the importance of these three. The
commanding personality of the last dominates all our
reading this term ; he occupies 17 out of the 28 chapters
of the first Church history, and writes 13 out of the 27
books of the New Testament. He was the first and
greatest of missionaries to foreign parts, the Christian who
did the grandest life-work for Christ on record, the man who
received from Christ's own lips the most ample and splendid
commission human being was ever honoured with (Acts
xxvi. 16-18). How many events there were in his life of
which we know nothing may be gathered from 2 Cor. xi.,
yet " there is scarce one other person of history," says
Dean Vaughan, " so familiarly known to us, Cicero perhaps
— perhaps Napoleon — I could scarcely name a third." A
great spiritual convulsion cleft his career in twain, when
*' Saul the Pharisee " became " Paul the Bondservant of
Jesus Christ." In a moment he turned, not from

irreligious to a religious life, not from an immoral to a
moral life but from a conscientious and honoured anta-

/1I

HEROES.

295

gonism acjainst Christ to a conscientious and passionate
devotion lor Christ that cost him everything most men
hold dear. God revealed His Son to him, Christ appre-
hended him, that is the only reasonable explanation of
this sudden and absolute change. Rightly understood, the
story of his " wonderful conversion " checks doubt as to
the possibility or reality of conversion to God ; it also
check'; glib talk about conversion as if it meant no more
than external reformation, or change of religious opinion,
or strong spasm of feeling. And although his conversion
was instantaneous, and his knowledge of Christ direct and
all-convincing, his public testimony to the truth was pre-
ceded by three years of solitary thought and prayer (Gal.
i. 17, 18), spent in that wilderness where Moses was taught
of God, and where perhaps Christ, as true Man, stood the
test of temptation. A pupil of Gamaliel and member of
the Sanhedrin, a native of Tarsus, and a Roman citizen,
he hid been influenced by the religious enlightenment of
the Jews, the intellectual sovereignty of the Greeks, and
the political supremacy of the Romans, and so became a
highly trained instrument in God's hands. For 30 years
a Christian, for 27 years a missionary, by his unflinching
endurance ^f keenest temptation, sorrow, and persecution,
he not only gave proof of the reaHty of his conversion, but
of the power and reality of the Gospel to which he had
been converted. The man who had amplest opportunity
and strongest inducement to disprove the Resurrection of
Christ, had it been a delusion or an imposture (as some
try to assume), sacrificed all to witness to it as a great fact.
And this witness is mighty in our days as well as in his.

Notice also that he is, of all missionaries, the most
representative, for he dealt with all sorts and conditions
of men, bigoted Pharisee, sceptical Sadducee, time-serving
Herodian, serious Jew, trifling Creek, practical Roman,
dreamy Oriental, and impulsive Barbarian. And his work
was done in face of obstacles from without and from within
that would have baffled most men. What hi.'- thorn (or
stake) in the flesh actually was we cannot know certainly,
but careful comparison of Acts xxiii. 5 ; Gal. iv. 12-16, vi.
17, II (R.V.); I Cor. ii. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 10, v. 4,vii. 5, x. i, 10 ;
Col. i. 24, indicates that it was an acute form of Oriental

i«

996

NINTH TERM.

ophthalmia, which renders the sufferer blind and helpless,
and is at once painful and disfiguring. If he were indeed
liable to such a malady, he would be unusually dependent
upon companionship; and like Jeremiah, he was surrounded
by a group of devoted followers and friends, each of
whom deserves separate study.

We owe S. Paul three debts of the first magnitude : —
(i) The emergence of Christianity from Judaism ; (2) the
planting of the Gospel in what is now the Christian con-
tinent ; (3) the shaping of Christian theology, in works
whose renewed study has again and again brought renewed
spiritual life to different ages and different sons of the
Church. How little he himself knew what his consecrated
genius was achieving ! How little can we judge his mis-
sionary successors by what they seem to their own genera-
tion to accomplish !

5. John's piety, like that of Samuel, ripened by gradual
stages without violent break, from the day that he followed
Jesus, as a young and ardent disciple of the Baptist, to the
day when he was carried in extreme old age into the church
at Ephesus to preach his last sermon, " Little children, love
one another," to a new generation in the new age which
he had lived to see. His calm, certain, didactic style differs
widely from the enthi^siastic argumentation of S. Paul. His
power of righteous indignation, and that bold faithfulness
which brought him only of the Twelve to the foot of the
Cross, show that he is most inadequately represented by
the feminine-looking youthful S. John of mediaeval art.

The first age of the Church's history exhibits three types
of the Apostolate redected in three successive phases of
that history. A prism analyses the one brightness into
three distinct hues, so the ^ne faith is seen, to our no
small advantage, through three individualities. S. Peter,
the founder, looking back to the past, dwells on Hope and
Christian practice, and is reflected in the Modiseval Church.
S. Paul, the propagator, looking at the present, dwells on
Faith and Christian doctrine, and is reflected in the Church
of the Reformation. S. John, the consummator, looking
far into the future, dwells on Love and Christian experience,
and foreshadows a type yet to come.

This chapter has dealt wholly with men hitherto.

THE COMING ONE.

297

Women there are in Old Testament histoiy of striking
character and great influence, but the mention of "the
women " in Acts i. 14 inaugurates a new order of things.
Never did any woman directly oppose Christ. Women
ministered to Him (Luke viii. 2, 3 ; Matt, xxvii. 55) and
spake of Him (Luke ii. 38 ; John iv. 39 ; Matt, xxviii. 5, 7).
Women were last at His cross and first at His tomb, and
when He rose He appeared twice to women ere He appeared
to any man. Woman's true exaltation must be traced to
and can only be rightly recognised in connexion with Him
who deigned to be born of a virgin ; and the large and
fruitful share which women from the first took in the
highest work of the Church calls upon us to note her^u'ies
as well as heroes henceforth.

VI. The Coming One.

" Christ shall appear a second time to them that wait
for Him, unto salvation" — Heb. ix. 28.

Each term wc have seen the Hope of the Promise
broadening and brightening, and it was not until the
God-sent Deliverer had come and gone that inspired pens
could sum up all that He was and all that He had done.
Again and again history has shown that a creed based
upon the idea that Christ was merely the wisest and best
of men, who died a martyr's death, is powerless over men's
hearts and quickly vanishes away. If Christianity is to
be more than a vague sentiment or a dead morality, it
must be founded upon three foundation truths concerning
Him. All have been taught at all times by the Catholic
Church, but all have not always been equally prominent : —

{a) His Resurrection. "God raised Him" was the key-
note of S. Peter's teaching (Acts ii. 32), the first great
startling witness to the world (Acts xxv. 19).

{b) His Crucifixion. " He gave Himself for us " was the
keynote of S. Paul's teaching (i Cor. ii. 2). And He had
Himself clearly alluded to His atoning work, saying that
He would and could be a Ransom for the remission of
sins, because He was both Human and Divine (Matt. xx.
28, xxvi. 28, 62,, 64).

if) His Incarnation. " He became flesh " was the key-

298

NINTH TERAf.

note of S. John's teaching (John i. 14 ; i John iv. 2, 3).
The Church is only now entering upon her full heritage
in this glorious truth of the Divine Man and Incarnate
God, and never has it seemed of such paramount impor-
tance as it seems to-day.

Christ Incarnate, Crucified, Risen, reversing the order
of time, these truths were successively insisted upon ; and
there is yet a fourth truth at once earliest and latest of all :
Christ Ascended and Coming Again (i Cor. xvi. 22, R.V.).
We end as we began our consideration of the Coming One
by looking out into the future. The Old Testament Hope
has been fulfilled ; our " living Hope " in the New Testa-
ment has yet to be fulfilled. We stand, as S. Paul so
often shows, between the epiphany of His grace in the
past, and the epiphany of His glory in the future, and
find a motive power for the present in both (Titus ii. 11-13,
R.V.>

Four events, each twofold, in that future of the world's
history which we sometimes wrongly regard as an abso-
lutely blank page, have been revealed to us (Rev. i. 1-3).

{a) Christ will come for His saints to receive His own
to Himself (i Thess. iv.). Christ will come with His saints
to be seen and known of all men (2 Thess. i. ; Rev. i. 7).

{b) There will be a first resurrection of those who are
His, and a second resurrection of the rest of mankind
(Rev. XX.).

{c) Christ will judge Hir. saints that they may be rewarded
according to their works (2 Cor. v. 9, 10). Christ will judge
the whole world (Rev. xx.).

{d) Christ will reign a thousand years over the earth
(Rev. XX.). Christ will reign for ever over the universe
(Rev. xi. 1 5).

Four names are given to this great group of events in the
New Testament : (i) That Day (2 Thess. i. 10), the Great
Day (Jude 6), or the Day of God (2 Peter iii. 12), or the
Day of the Lord (i Thess. v. 2), or the Day of Jesus Christ
(Phil. i. 6), or the Day of our Lord Jesus (2 Cor. i. 14).
(2) The Coming (or Presence) of Christ, used seventeen
times in all, and especially in the Epistles to the Thes-
salonians. (3) The Appearing (or ?2piphany) of Christ
used seven times in the Pastoral Epistles, and not else-

GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 299

I iv. 2, 3).

II hcrita^^c
Incarnate

ant impor-

the order
upon ; and
Ltest of all :
i. 22, R.V.).
oming One
ment Hope
New Testa-
S. Paul so
race in the
future, and
tus ii. ii-i3>

■ the world's
as an abso-
2V. i. 1-3)-
ve His own
h His saints
Rev. i. 7)-
jse who are
of mankind

I be rewarded
ist will judge

ir the earth
Ithe universe

events in the
d), the Great
^i. 12), or the
Jesus Christ
Cor. i. 14)-
;d seventeen
Ito the Thes-
fy) of Christ
Tnd not else-

where. (4) The End or Consummation of all things
(l Peter iv. 7).

Nothing less will solve all problems and abolish all evils,
will carry out those purposes of God which for a while were
thwarted, will bring about our individual satisfaction and
perfection, and the perfection and l..ippiness of the world
Christ came to redeem, than this " one far-off divine event,
To which the whole creation moves." Unhappily contro-
versy and speculation have been imported into the whole
subject to such an extent that many Christians are not a
little hindered and troubled in its study, and others doubt
that the second Advent will be literal. But most of
the arguments against a literal second Coming of Christ
are equally applicable to His first Coming, which certainly
was literal. A merely figurative coming would contradict
the " again " of John xiv. 3, and the emphatic " in like
manner " of Acts i. 1 1.

And as the Jews were blamed for not being better
prepared by prophecy for the First Coming, so may we be
blamed, if we do not discern in part that which has still to
be fully revealed. As usual, the fulfilled prophecy of the
Old Testament is the best key to the unfulfilled prophecy
of the New Testament.

VH. God's Revelation of Himself to Man.

Legend says that the Apostles, ere they dispersed from
Jerusalem twelve years after the Ascension, assembled to
shape the Apostles' Creed as an authoritative statement of
Christian doctrine. The fact underlying this tale is that
from earliest times there was definite teaching of the leading
mysteries of the faith, and before truth was fully expounded
in the New Testament, terse summaries of it, as keys to
Scripture and safeguards against error, were current in the
Church. We are not to regard them as human attempts
to define Divine mysteries, but as formulating truth which
God had already revealed. The earliest examples of them
are Acts viii. 37 ; i Cor. xv. 3-7 ; Heb. vi. i, 2 ; i Tim. iii.
16, and the "faithful sayings" of the Pastoral Epistles.
Two creeds are now recognised throughout the whole
Church. The Apostles^ Creed, whose substance can be

300

NINTH TERM.

traced back to earliest times, originating in the baptismal
profession, and still used for the testing and instructing of
catechumens. Tlie Nicoie Creed, shaped in 325 at the
First General Council, and used as a fuller and d'.'cper ex-
position of truth for testing and instructing communicants.
The Western, but not the Eastern Church, adds for the
last 1 1 00 years to these t/ie j-lthanasuin Creed, a masterly
exposition, for the teacher, of the doctrines of the Trinity
and of the Incarnation.

The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be explained to our
natural faculties (though nature illustrates it in our own
threefold being, i Thess. v. 23) ; and the Scriptures contain
no formal expression of it. For there was much that
Christ Himself could not say till He had risen, much that
the Apostles only learned slowly under the Spirit's guidance
as they looked back to His earthly and up to His heavenly
life. But all the following passages imply it, just as Gen. i.
implies without stating the existence of God : Acts vii. 55,
X. 38; Rom. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14 ; 2 Thess. iii. 5 (comp. Rom.
V. 5) ; Eph. ii. 18, iii. 14, 16, 17, iv. 4-6 ; i Peter i. 2 ; Rev. i.
4, 5. Notice also that the Creeds fix our attention not on
what we are and should do, but on what Christ is and has
done (contrast Luke xviii. 1 1 and Heb. xii. 2), and that God,
Three in One, is revealed to us, not in His absolute Being,
but in His relation to ourselves. Some bond of union
among men connecting each with all through something
higher than themselves has, in all ages, been the need of
the human heart, but no age has felt and expressed that
need so strongly as our own. So acknowledged the intelli-
gent artizan, who was uttering some well-worn cavil at the
doctrine of the Trinity, to one of our bishops lately. The
bishop silenced his cavil, and won him to holier and truer
thought of God by translating that abstract theological
mystery into language he could comprehend, thus : " The
doctrine of the Trinity expresses three things, the Father-
hood of God, the Brotherhood of God, the Matcship of God."

What is this new relation of God to men of which the
Christian revelation speaks ? We may put the matter
briefly thus. Unless thought is wholly drowned in pleasure
and excitement or worldly care, every man is conscious of
two things — («) That apart from vice whereby we wrong

GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 301

ined to our

ourselves, and rn'nie whereby wc wrong others, there is also
in us sin whcrcDy we wronj; God. {h) That this sin is un-
natural, i.e.y is not part of God's law for man, but a bondage
whence we would fain be delivered, and whence no outward
religious rites and no good resolutions can really deliver us.
bo we arc led to seek and to find a Saviour in Christ.

Kow does Christ save? He bore, say some, as my
Substitute, all the punishment that I deserved to bear.
God, like a judge who arbitrarily allows an innocent man to
endure the sentence that a criminal has incurred, setting
the criminal free, has thus been reconciled to me, and will
take me to heaven if I believe that Christ has done this.
This too common but most inadequate setting forth of the
gospel illustrates it by the imaginary act of a human judge
who is guilty of a double outrage upon justice. But right-
eousness demands righteousness, and cannot accept mere
punishment instead. The Scriptural view (as careful
students of S. Paul's Epistles especially will see for them-
selves) is this : Christ, as my Representative, assumed that
humanity which He had originally created in His own image,
conquered where Adam fell, and by enduring death con-
demned sin, and saved sinners by uniting them to Him-
self. Thus He reconciled, not God to me, but me to God,
who in His wondrous love had given His Son for us men
and for our salvation. He died, and I died in Him, and
must therefore reckon myself dead to sin. He lives, and I
live in Him, and must therefore live unto righteousness.
He gave Himself up for me, and I must therefore give
myself up to Him, not by mere intellectual assent to a
doctrine, but by personal trust in a personal Saviour, I
strive, not upwards to salvation, but onwards from salva-
tion, not to win heaven for myself, but because He has won
it for me " by His precious blood-shedding," and calls upon
me and can enable me to walk worthy of what He has done.

From its opening assertion of a Divine Creator, to its
closing cry heavenwards of a definite faith and certain
hope in a Divine Redeemer, the Bible makes a wondrous
ascent. Starting from the being of God and the spiritual
nature of man, it leads us up, not through vague proposi-
tions, but through historical verities, to that unfathomable
revelation of God in Christ which 's the key to the under-

■ (

ft I

302

NINTH TER.\f.

I'm

standing of all nature and ail history. Wc still, it is true,
know only in part. But instead of mourning over the
limitations of our knowledge, should we not rather rejoice
that we have an inexhaustible creed and an unsearchable
God ? (Rom. xi. 33-6.)

VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship.

Christ left the preservation and propagation of the truth
He taught in the hands of the Society which He formed,
a body of men all united to each other because they were
each united by a real spiritual tie to God, in the world, but
not of the world, extending to all races, all times, and all
countries. Ads i. i strikes the keynote of the whole history
of the Church by representing its work as the continua-
tion of Christ's ow n. Its power depended on His abiding
Presence (Matt, xxviii. 20; John xiv. 18). It witnessed
to His truth in four ways which we take chronologically.

{(i) By its two Sacraments, which are not only rites of
entrance and of continued membership to Christians, but
ever-recurring declarations to the world of their faith
(i Tim. vi. 12 ; i Cor. xi. 26).

(b) By its sacred Seasons. Easter and Pentecost seem
to have passed straight into the Church from Judaism,
their new significance gradually superseding their old (i Cor.
v. 7, 8 ; Acts XX. 16). The Lord's Day as a weekly festival
of the Resurrection also replaced the Sabbath (Acts xx.
7 ; Rev. i. 10). That weekly celebration of the Holy
Communion was the primitive rule, is suggested by the
New Testament, and shown clearly in a recently discovered
treatise called " The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,"
which is probably the next oldest Christian writing.

{c) By the New Testament Scriptures, written by some
of its members, and gathered up and preserved as a
divinely inspired book by the whole Church.

{d) By the Creeds, and by the various liturgical forms
which grew up.

In some ages. Christians have been content to listen
only to the spoken testimony of the Church without
verifying her teaching, each for himself, from the Bible.
Then truth has been exaggerated or mutilated, and error

MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN IVORSHIP.

3"3

it is true,

over the

Acr rejoice

searchable

iSlllP.

f the truth
-le formed,
\ they were

world, but
les, and all
lolc history
c continua-
His abiding
t witnessed
ilogically.
nly rites of
ristians, but

their faith

tecost seem
m Judaism,
r old (i Cor.
[ekly festival

(Acts XX.

the Holy
|sted by the

discovered

Apostles,"

Iting.
n by some
icrved as a

lrc[ical formi

It to listen
lich without
the Bible.
Id, and error

has grown apace. In other ages, Christians have been
content to listen only to the written testimony of the
Hible, saying, " My religion is a matter between God and
my own .soul, and concerns no one else. What I take
to be the meaning of His word is the measure of all truth."
Then divisions have sprung up, and internal dissensions
have weakened the Church's power for good. Each man,
it is true, is directly responsible to God and spiritually
free. But each as a Christian is also member of a corporate
body. The Church, as the " witness and keeper of I loly
Writ " (Article XX.), testifies to the inspiration of Scripture ;
Scripture attests the truth of what the Church teaches.
We must not separate these testimonies. The communion
of the Church and the study of the Word are both needed,
and beyond and above both we must learn, through the
teaching of the Holy Spirit, from the Living Christ
Himself. And so we arrive at the threefold evidence of
Christianity, {a) The personal experience of Christians
(John ix. 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. 13). {b) The New Testament
Scriptures, which have just come victoriously through fifty
years of the ablest and keenest hostile criticism to which
any book was ever subjected, {c) The unbroken chain of
living witnesses, ever lengthening and ever widening with
the ages, whose daily worship for more than i860 years
has borne witness to a history for whose truth hundreds,
nay millions, have been ready t( vouch with their lives.
What stronger or more varied authentication could any
statements have?

For the regulation of worship, the maintenance of truth,
and the preservation of unity, provision was made from
the first for a succession of authorised teachers (2 Tim. ii. 2).
Regular Christian worship grew out of attendance at
the daily services of the Temple (Acts iii.), and there are
many traces of it in the New Testament (Acts ii. 42,
iv, 24, xiii. 3, XX. 7 ; i Cor. xiv. ; Hcb. x. 25). The first
difference of opinion that arose was settled at the first
synod of the Church (Acts xv.). The various Christian
communities were federated into one Catholic Church,
and although sects dropped off it from time to time, it
continued one in intercommunion until 1054. But the
notion that the Apostolic Church was ideally perfect in

»♦(

t* M

304

NINTH TERM.

knf»wl((lj;c and practice is most mislcadinfj and dis-
coura^injj. Like other kingdoms, Christ's Kin«^dom con-
tained both loyal and disloyal subjects, and from the very
first the wheat and tares grew together, discriminated only
by God, Church history includes some of the saddest and
most disapjxjinting as well ar, some of the most glorious
pages ever penned. Turbulent self-conceit, rancorous party
strife, graver moral delinquencies, unstable quest of novel
teachings, Judaising apostasy (see Galatians) Antinomian
error (see Rom. vi), Gnostic heresies (see Colossians), meet
us again and again in the New Testament ; and the Pastoral
Epistles show that in little more than one generation there
were many mere professors as well as true Christians in
the Church,

Yet a benumbed and moribund past had given place to
a future full of hope and glory, which has become our
present. By A.D. 100 the faith of Christ had been firmly
established among the three great civilisations of the world,
Greek, Roman, and Jewish. Men say the age of miracles
is now over. In reply we ask them to look at what is
going on to-day in many parts of the Mission Field
at home and abroad. There they are not content with
studyifii^ Christian evidence ; they make it. For there the
miracle A changed human hearts and lives, which Christ
reckoned me greatest of all, still takes place, through the
all-subduing power of His Spirit (John xiv. 12). And
remembering that the Church has only within the last
century really attempted to cany out systematically her
"marching orders" (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20), we recognise
that we arc only on the threshold of the possibilities of
Christianity. The Chronological Scripture Cycle deals
with time, but it ends, as it began, in eternity (Rev. xiii. 8 ;
I Cor. XV. 28).

IX. Questions.
(See pp. 13, 18.)

[Questions Vll., X., XVI,, XVII., and XXV. may be answered with help
of any Ijooks.]

I. What do you know of S. Paul's father, and of his
kinsfolk, also of his education and social position ? Quote
two pajisagcs in which he is called "our beloved." (8.)

QUESTIONS.

305

and dis-
dom con-
i the very
uvtcd f)tdy
iddcst and
it glorious
rous party
t of novel
.ntinomian
ians), meet
lie Pastoral
ation there
iristians in

en place to
)ecomc our
been firmly
»f the world,
of miracles
at what is
ssion Field
[ontent with
or there the
/hich Christ
through the
1 2). And
■lin the last
atically her
e recognise
ssibilities of
Cycle deals
Rev. xiii. 8 ;

wered with help

and of his
on ? Quote
d." (8.)

II. Make a list of fourteen places at which S. Paul
founded churches, and a list of churches to which he
wrote. (8.)

III. Enumerate the seven occasions on which he was
cnhYjhtcncd on encouraged by a vision of the Lord or of
His angel. (7.)

IV. How often did he suffer shipwreck, and how often
was he opposed and persecuted by heathen ? (3.)

V. Make a list of his seven recorded sermons, noting
when, where, to whom, and with what result each was
spoken, and indicating very briefly its leading thought.
(28.)

VI. Fill in the statement of Acts xx. i, 2 by a brief
narrative of S. Paul's movements drawn from 2 Corinthians.

(6.)

VII. Would you justify or condemn S. Paul's conduct
as described in Acts xxiii. 3,6? (6.)

VIII. What were the objects of the collection S. Paul
made, and what motives does he urge upon contributors
to it ? (7.)

IX. What allusions are there in S. Paul's Epistles to the
soldier that guarded him ? (4.)

X. Give three passages in which S. Paul quotes Christ's
own words spoken before His Ascension, and three in which
he quotes from Greek authors. (6.)

XI. " Faithful is the saying." Quote all the passages
that begin thus, and show their doctrinal significance. (5.)

XII. Find some references to the Mosaic ritual, and
to Greek and Roman usages and customs in S. Paul's
Epistles. (12.)

XIII. Name — {a) The only church for which S. Paul
has no commendation. (J)) The only church for which
he has no reproof, {c) The only church to which he does
not call himself an Apostle, {d) The only church to which
he sends his love, {e) The only church from which he
accepted personal gifts. (/) The three Epistles that contain
no clear Old Testament quotations. (^) The Epistles
whose salutation adds " mercy " to " grace and peace."
(//) The only mention of S. John by S. Paul. (?) The
only mention of S. Paul outside his own Epistles and
Acts. (10.)

■ ^cTZ,

3c6

NINTH TERM.

XIV. Construct a life of Christ from the Epistles of
S. Paul. (24.)

XV. Summarise S. Paul's teaching as to — {a) Tolerance ;
{Jj) Sectarian designations from personal names ; {c) Con-
science. (9.)

XVI. Is there any contradiction between the teaching of
S. Paul and S. James concerning Faith and Works ? (9.)

XVII. "By grace have ye been saved" (Eph. ii. 5).
" Which are being saved " (i Cor. i. 18). " Now is salvation
nearer to us than when we first believed" (Rom. xiii. 11).
How can S. Paul consistently make these three statements
simultaneously of the same class of people ? (6.)

XVIII. "We stand," "We walk," "Filled with,'' "Built
up." Illustrate by quotations S. Paul's use of these four
metaphors. (12.)

XIX. " Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth,
but . . ." Quote S. Paul's three conclusions to this sentence,
and illustrate his characteristic teaching that blessing docs
not depend upon the privileges we enjoy, but upon the use
we make of those privileges. (5.)

XX. Illustrate i Cor. xf. i by showing how S. Paul, as
a follower of Christ, gave evidence both in word and deed
of — {a) Courage ; {b) Patience ; {c) Humility ; {d) Long-
suffering ; {e) Self-denial ; (/) Self-discipline ; (^g) Self-
abnegation ; (Ji) Unworldliness ; {i) Single-heartedness ;
(/) Laboriousness ; {k) Conscientiousness ; (/) High aspira-
tions ; (;«) Patriotism ; («) Consideratencss and courtesy ;
{p) Enthusiasm ; (/) Passionate Devotion ; {(j) Prayerful-
ness ; {r) Submission to God's will ; {s) Zeal for God's
glory ; if) Intense love to God and man. (20.)

XXI. Find in the Church History of the New Testament
fulfilments of the prophecies in Matt. x. 19, 23, xxiv. 12;
John xvi. 2 ; and of the promises in John xiv. 26 and
xvi. 13. (6.)

XXII. Briefly sketch the early history of the Church of
Ephesus, as told in the New Testament. (10.)

XXIII. Give examples of the following callings from the
Acts and Epistles : — (i) Governor or Procurator ; (2) Deputy
or Proconsul ; (3) Chancellor of the Exchequer ; (4) Trea-
surer, i.e.^ fiscal city officer ; (5) Chief Captain, i.e.^ Colonel ;
(6) Centurion, i.e.y Captain ; (7) Judge ; (8) Barrister ;

QUESTIONS.

307

pistles of

blerancc ;
; (c) Con-

saching of
ks? (9O
:ph. ii. 5)-
3 salvation

[1. xiii. ii)-
statcm«-nts

th,'- " Built
these four

on availetb,
lis sentence,
essing does
pon the use

S. Paul, as
^d and deed
(d) Long-

(g) Self-

leartedness ;

igh aspira-

d courtesy ;

|) Prayerful-

1 for God's

Testament

xxiv. 12;

:iv. 26 and

le Church of

\gs from the
; (2) Deputy
,. ; (4) Trea-
\i£., Colonel ;
\) Barrister;

(9) Doctor ; (10) Silversmith ; (11) Coppersmith ; (12) Tent-
maker ; (13) Tanner ; (14) Bondservant. (14.)

XXIV. "We know that . . . if (or because). . . ." Trace
this statement through i John, giving its contexts. (10.)

XXV. What do you understand by these expressions, as
used in the New Testament? — Faith, Justification, Grace,
Mystery, Church, Bishop, Elder, Deacon, Saint, Ana-
thema. (20.)

XXVI. Make a list of the names and titles given to our
Lord by S. Paul and S. John. (25.)

XXVII. Mention, in alphabetical order, noting the abode
of each, 28 Christian women referred to in the Acts and
Epistles. (28.)

XXVIII. Give, in tabular form, an epitome of ths mes-
sages to the Seven Churches (Rev. ii., iii.), showing in
each : — (a) The Lord's attributes ; {b) His commendation ;
{c) His reproof; {d) His warning of judgment; {e) The
enemies He notes ; (/) His exhortation ; {g) His promise
to him that overcometh. (21.)

XXIX. Enumerate the eleven Songs in the Apocalypse,
and write out the seven Beatitudes it contains, (9.)

XXX. The imagery and phraseology of the Apocalypse
are borrowed throughout from the Old Testament. Illus-
trate this by references, especially to the Pentateuch,
Ezekiel, and Daniel. (15.)

XXXI. What do you know of the following ? — Antipas,
Demas, Diotrephes, Epaphroditus, Mnason, Oncsiphorus,
Silvanus, Tertius. How many of the name of Titus and
of Gaius can you discriminate ? (20.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "They
are worthy " (twice), (b) " Mighty in the Scriptures."
(c) " Measuring themselves by themselves." {d) " Dwelling
in the things which he hath seen." (e) " Supposing that
godliness is a way of gain." (/) " It behoved the Christ to
suffer." {g) " Who emptied Himself." {k) " He died for
all." {i) " That He might have mercy upon all." (J) " On
whom we have set our hope." (k) " I press on toward the
goal." (/) "The life which is life indeed." (w) "Sin is
lawlessness." («) " Apart from the law sin is dead."
{0) "The world through its wisdom knew not God."
(J>) " Everything that is made manifest is light." (^) " Light

3o8

NINTH TERM.

shall shine out of darkness." (/-) " Be not weary in wcll-
cloin<if." {s) " Through love be servants one to another."
(/) " Follow after things which make for peace." (ti) " Judge
nothing before the time," (v) " Let each man prove his
own work." (w) " Comforted each of us by the other's fliith."
(.r) " I have kept the faith." (y) " He shall spread His
tabernacle over them." (rr) " At home with the Lord." (27.)
For Second Series of Questions, sec p. 309.

L'ENVOY.

What next ? is the question with which we have ended each term's
work. No one who has really entered into the enjoyment of our three
years' IJible study will wish merely to drop it now. Two determina-
tions will rather be formed. First, since our course is not a straiglit
line but a Cycle (or wheel that returns into itself), to read the whole
Bible again systematically. If our first reading was delightful and
instructive, our second cannot fail to prove even more delightful and
instructive. For we are dealing with the one inexhaustible Book.

Secondly, to continue the iiistory of the Church which we have just
begun. Many things in the New Testament would be explained, many
disputes upon which the energies of Christians now waste themselves
would cease to exist, if we rightly linked the New Testament story
of that first of all the Christian ages of which we arf> heirs, with the
story of this latest age, which is at once so interesting and so difficult,
because we ourselves are part of it. The history of the 1800 years that
lie between them explains the transition from the one to the other.
There is a Church History Class in the College by Post ; and all can
read up the subject for themselves in such works as Smith's "Students'
Ecclesiastical History" (Murray, "js. 6d.\ or Cutts' "Turning Points of
General Church History " (S.P.C.K., 5^.)-

' in wcll-
anothcr."
)" Judge
3rovc his
n-'s faith."
read His
i-d." (27.)

each term's
of our three
» detennina-
.ot a straight
[1 the whole
ihRhtful and
slight ful and
: Book,
we have just
lained, many
e themselves
itament story
eirs, with the
1 so difficult,
oo years that
to the other,
and all can
's " Students'
ing Points of

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES,
(See p. 14.)

[Throughout books may be freely consulted for all the questions except
Question XXXII. The maximum of marks for each Paper is 400, the
maximum for each question is added to it.]

FIRST TERM.

I. Find seven Scriptural metaphors expressing the excel-
lence of the Word of God. (14.)

II. What portions of the Bible were composed by
women ? (4.)

III. Which three of the Twelve Tribes furnished authors
for the largest number of books in the Bible? State
approximately the number to be attributed to each. (18,)

IV. Mention all those parts of the Old Testament whose
authors are not certainly known. (10.)

V. Name any created things existing before God said
" Let there be light," and any intelligent creatures of
whose crealion we have no record in Genesis. (4.)

VI. Can we prove from Scripture that the " days " of the
Creation were 24 hours long ? (5.)

VII. Enumerate the most remarkable nations descended
from each of the three sons of Noah. (15.)

VIII. Show from the study of Abraham's life what
great facts about God he had firmly grasped. (9.)

IX. Account for the statement in Rom. ix. 13 by
contrasting the characters of Jacob and Esau as shown in
their personal history and in the spiritual teaching con-
nected with them. (Remember that "Esau is Edom.")

(15.)

X. Point out the difference in origin and meaning of

309

U'\

3IO

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

"Jacob" and "Israel," and illustrate this difference from
the contrasted use of these terms in the Prophets. (15.)

XI. Show how each of the Twelve Tribes fulfilled, in
gco<^raphical position and history, Jacob's words about
their I'nccstors. (24.)

XII. Make a list of the passages which enumerate all
the sons of Jacob, or all the tribes named after them.

(14.)

XIII. "Ye meant evil, but God meant it for good."
Give other instances of this. Divine overruling in Bible
history. (6.)

XIV. Name ei(:^ht children of Heth mentioned in the
Bible. What is known concerning the origin, conquests,
and migrations of the Hittites? (12.)

XV. Enumerate fourteen kings of Egypt named in
Scripture, Briefly summarise the intercourse between
Egypt and the Chosen People throughout their history.
(200

XVI. Sum up, in two or three sentences, each of the
sixteen speeches forming the colloquy of Job iii. — xxv.,
showing the progress of the argument throughout. (32.)

XVII. Discuss fully the meaning of each of the three
signs described in Exod. iv. 2-9. (12.)

XVIII. Explain the things alluded to in the following
passages: — Gen. xxxi. 30, xli. 42; Heb. xi. 21; Exod.
viii. 26. (12.)

XIX "I have sinned." Quote instances of this con-
fession in Scripture, distinguishing those which marked a
satisfactory repentance from the rest. (9.)

XX. Name the day and hour that the Exodus began.
What v/ere the ^^n^yptians doing while the Israelites were
departing ? (2.)

XXI. Consider the historical origin and purpose of the
two national ordinances of Circumcision r.;:d the Passover.
What light do they throw upon the two Christian Sacra-
ments ? (20.)

XXII. Reconcile Exod. iv. 10 and Acts vii. 22 ; also
Exod. xxiv. 10 and i Tim. vi. 16. (6.)

XXIII. Was the Manna a natural product ? (4.)

XXIV. Tabulate the events that took place between
Passover and Pentecost, 1491. (10.)

FIRST TERM.

XXV. "The Blood of the Covenant." Quote the two
Old Testament and five New Testament passages where this
phrase occurs, showing how they explain each other. (lo.)

XXVI. Name six places called after events that took
place in them. (6.)

XXVII. Illustrate Heb. ix. Ii, 12 by expounding the
typical meaning of each of the eight parts of Aaron's garb
as enumerated in Lev. viii. 7-9. (16.)

XXVIII. Tabulate the events that took place between
Pentecost 1491 and Passover 1490. (10.)

XXIX. Work out with New Testament references the
typical meaning of any one of the events between Passover
1 49 1 and Passover 1490. (4.)

XXX. Note all the facts and incidents concerning the
Patriarchs and Moses for a knowledge of which we arc
indebted solely to the Psalms, Acts, and Hebrews. (12.)

XXXI. Each of these phrases occurs both in Genesis or
Exodus, and in the New Testament. (Slight variations
are indicated by italics.) Give two references to each : —
{a) " Blessing I will bless thee." {b) " God rested on the
seventh day." (c) " Man became a living soul." (d) " They
shall be one flesh." (e) " The tree of life in the midst of
the gardenr (/) " Be thou perfect." {£) " The elder shall
serve the younger." {It) " The earth is the Lord's."
(/) " Your lamb without blemish." (J) " The people which
Thou hast purchased." (^) " I will be to you a God." (/) " I
will give thee rest." (24.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "What
is this thou hast done?" {b) "I will do this thing that
thou hast spoken." {c) " The thing that thou docst is
not good." (d) " Wherein have I sinned against thee ? "
(e) " God is great, and we know Him not." (/) " I have
waited for Thy salvation." (g) " My life shall behold the
light." (h) " Fear not, for God hath heard." (i) " The
people believed and worshipped." (j) " Thou hast saved
our lives." (k) " The Lord hath blessed me for thy sake."
(/) " He knoweth the way that I take." (;«) " God did send
me." («) " There will I meet with thee." (o) " I know
it, my son." (p) " And the boys grew." (g) " He licth
under the lotus trees." (r) " He shall be as a wild ass."
{s) " Thou art much mightier than we." (t) All the men are

3 '2

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.'

dcnd which soucjht thy hfc," (u) " Wilt thou s^o with this
man?" {v) Show them the work that they must do."
(w) " They ^^urned trembling one to another." {x) " I shall
die in my nest." (j) " Hating unjust gain." (2) " He
maketh peace." (26.)

SECOND TERM.

I. Which of the five sacrifices ordained in Lev. i. — vii.
seem to have been instituted for the first time at Sinai?

(4.)

II. After what events were the sacrifices ordained in
Lev. xvi. and Num. xix. appointed ? Describe them.
What light is thrown upon their unique character by the
New Testament ? (10.)

III. Name ei'j^/it notable periods of 40 years and ei'^/it
periods of 40 days in the Bible. (16.)

IV. Tabulate the events that took place between the
Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles, 1490. (15.)

V. Under what circumstances were two men stoned in
the Wilderness ? (4.)

VI. Had Korah, the son of Izhar, any descendants? (4.)

VII. Write a brief life of Aaron, giving dates and places
of his birth and death, and of the chief incidents in his
career. (18.)

VIII. Summarise in about twelve sentences the three
parts of Balaam's prophecy. (12.)

IX. Make a list of all the nations mentioned in Deutero-
nomy. What inferences as to the date of this book does
the catalogue suggest ? (14.)

X. Note the facts and incidents mentioned in Deutero-
nomy only. (15.)

XI. Find eighteen New Testament quotations from Deu-
teronomy. In how many of these is the book referred
to Moses? (18.)

XII. Quote some memorable instances of obedience to
the command in Deut. xii. 2, 3. (12.)

XIII. "Be pitiful" (tender-hearted, R.V.). Illustrate S.
Peter's exhortation from the injunctions in the Mosaic Law
concerning (a) aliens, (d) the young and helpless, (c) dumb
creatures. (12.)

SECOND TERM.

3^3

n Deutcio-

jcdience to

XIV. Consider how far the curses of Deut. xxviii. 15-68
have come upon and overtaken Israel during the last 2500
years. (15.)

XV. " Thy Thummim and thy Urim." What were these,
and how often are they mentioned in Scripture ? (8.)

XVI. Enumerate the occasions on which " The Angel
of the Lord " was seen of men. Who was this Being ? (15.)

XVII. What New Testament references are there to the
Shcchinah or manifested Glory of God ? (5.)

XVIII. Seven tribes are likened to beasts. Name them
and their symbols. (7.)

XIX. Give the R.V. equivalents of the following: —
{a) " Tabernacle of the congregation." {b) " Meat offer-
ing." (c) " Trespass offering." (d) " Curious girdle."
(6') "Bonnets." (f) "Badgers' skins." (^) "Fowls that
creep." (/i) " Scape goat." (?) " Unicorn." (J) " Giants."
(/^) " Groves.'' (/)" Observe times." (12.)

XX. Trace the progress in Israel's national character,
which was the result of their 40 years' experience in the
Wilderness. (8.)

XXI. State the period of time covered by each of
these books : — Exodus, LeviticuSy Numbers, Deuteronomy,
foshua. (5.)

XXII. Compare Psalm xc. with the personal experience
of Moses as described in the Pentateuch. (9.)

XXIII. Give the name of Joshua's grandfather. Sketch
the course of the successive campaigns by which Joshua
made the Israelites masters of Palestine. (12.)

XXIV. Enumerate the Cities of Refuge, stating in whose
portion each was, and mentioning any historical incidents
connected with it. To whom did .hcse cities belong ?
What is their typical significance ? Name a murderer who
met his death at one of them. (24.)

XXV. Write a short history of Jericho, city of palm
trees, from B.C. 1451 to A.D. 30. (10.)

XXVI. How many cities were assigned to Kohath,
Gcrshon, and Merari respectively? What was the con-
sequent geographical position of each of the three Levitc
tribes ? (6.)

XXVII. Give the exact meaning and origin (if you can)
of these terms : — Canaan, Palestine, the Holy Land, Galilee

314

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

Sharon, Jordan, Suph, Anibah, the Hinder Sea, the Brook
of E^ypt. (20.)

XXVI I I. What events are connected in this term's
reading with the following places ? — Baal-tamai, Rezek, the
Fords of Jordan, Hazeroth, Kibroth-Hattaavah, Massah,
Moscra, Shittim, Tabcrah, the brook Zcred. (10.)

XXIX. Specify which of the original inhabitants of
Canaan were left in each tribe's portion, w h the places of
their abode. (14.)

XXX. Illustrate from Old Testament history the differ-
ence between choosing what is right and merely desiring'
what is right. (10.)

XXXI. Find twelve Moabites and nine Ammonites
mentioned in the Bible, and sketch the relations of Moab
and Ammon to Israel throughout their history. (30.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "A
Syrian ready to perish." {I)) " One of his chosen men."
{c) " The day thou stoodest before the Lord." {(I) " The
goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush." {e) " March
on with strength." (/) " Cut down foi" thyself there."
{g) " Vex them not nor contend with them." (//) " He
shall dwell alone." (/) "Ye shall know the revoking of
My promise." {j) " He will not fail thee." {k) " Thou
shalt eat and be full." (/) " Because ye sanctified Me not."
(in) " That there be no plague." («) " As I have done, so
God hath requited me." {0) " I pray Thee, let me go
over." (/>) " Lo, I am come unto thee." {q) " To destroy
the moist with the dry." (r) " That man perished not
alone in his iniquity." (.s) "The word is very nigh unto
thee." {t) " He shall write him a copy of this law." {n) "He
left nothing undone." {v) " Aaron held his peace." {w)
" They became servants to do taskwork." {x) " They pro-
claimed peace unto them." (y) " They spake no more of
going up against them." {s) " Thou hast lacked nothing."
(26.)

THIRD TERM.

I. Briefly contrast the characters and careers of Gideon
and Samson. (12.)

II. Find ^ve allusions in Judges to previous events in
Israel's history. (5.)

THIRD TERM.

3«5

III. Consider Samuel as {(i) a servant of God, {b) a
prophet, {c) a patriot, id^ a statesman. (12.)

IV. Name four men who owed their names to the
sorrowful circumstances of their birth. (4,)

^''. Find /(>///' Amalekites mentioned in the Hible. What
is known of the origin and abode of this people? Quote
the earliest and latest allusions to them. (12.)

VI. Give with ''ferences the refrain of a song which is
quoted thrice referred to once in the Scriptures. (3.)

VII. Consumer caicfully the causes that led to the rejection
of Saul. (10.)

VIII. Who killed one of Goliath's brothers? What do
we know of his kinsfolk ? (2.)

IX. Give as many Old Testament illustrations as you
can of I Cor. i. 26-9. (10.)

X. Find twelve Philistines mentioned in the Bible.
Name three false gods worshipped by the Philistines, and
connect some historical incident with each of their five
cities. (24.)

XI. What is known of the origin and national character
of the Philistines ? Sketch their relations to Israel through-
out. (20.)

XII. May we infer from Scripture that the dead can
manifest themselves to the living and communicate with
them ? (3.)

XIII. Give references in the Psalter and elsewhere to
passages where God is called "our " or "my " (0 " Salvation,"
(2) "Health," (3) "Life," (4) "Strength," (5) "Hope,"
(6) "Refuge," (7) "Portion," (8) "Inheritance," (9) "Praise,"
(10) " Song," (II) "Joy," (12) "Glory." (12.)

XIV. Which of the High Priests enumerated in
I Chron. vi. 3-15 are mentioned elsewhere? Can you
name any Prae-Captivity High Priests omitted in this list?
(10.)

XV. What do you know of Azel, Beerah, the Hagrites^
and Saraph? (8.)

XVI. !Vame two notable citizens of Anathoth, (2.)

XVII. Write a brief life of Abner. (10.)

XVIII. State the exact number of priests and Levites
that brought the Ark up to Mount Zion. (4.)

XIX. Gather up twenty-five allusions in the Psalter to

3i6

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

Jerusalem as {a) the Holy City, abode of God, or (b) the
Royal City, abode of the King. (25.)

XX. " The Lord's Anointed," " My Anointed," " Thine
Anointed." Where docs this phrase first occur, and of
what persons is it used ? Give its New Testament equi-
valent. (12.)

XXI. Discriminate two places named Aphek, Aroer,
Bethlehem, Bethshemesh, Carmel, Gibeah, Hebron, Mizpah,
Ramah, and Ramoth. (20.)

XXH. " The Lord hath put away thy sin." Quote nine
metaphors through which the completeness of this Divine
putting away is expressed in Scripture. (18.)

XXH I. Would you condemn or justify David's conduct
with regard to (i) Saul, (2) Achish, (3) Shimei ? (9).

XXIV. Mention six Old Testament women living be-
tween B.C. 1500 and B.C. I OCX) who were married more
than once. (6.)

XXV. Give instances of sickness being sent as an
exemplary punishment for flagrant sin. Show that sick-
ness is not always a judgment on the sufferer. (14.)

XXVI. Name a common edible brought to a prophet
in his old age who had brought it to others in his youth.

(3.)

XXVII. "I will do it, {a) For My own sake, {b) For

My servant's sake." Give instances of this Divine principle
of action. (12.)

XXVIII. Distinguish between Abiezer and Ahiezer ;
Abijah and Ahijah ; Abimelech and Ahimclcch ; Abinoam
and Ahinoam ; Adonibezek and Adonizedek ; Amos and
Amoz ; Buz and Buzi ; Elah and Eli ; Elcazar and Eliezer ;
Gedaliah and Gemariah ; Gcrshom and Gershon ; Hosea
and Hoshea ; Joab and Joah ; Korah and Kohath. (28.)

XXIX. Knowledge of God is light and ignorance of
God is darkness. Trace this image in the Psalter and
elsewhere. (20.)

XXX. Each of the following queries refers to a different
tribe : — (i) Whose warriors were bold as lions and fleet
as roes? (2) Whose warriors jeoparded their lives unto
the death ? (3) Whose warriors were not of double heart ?
(4) Whose warriors proved in battle the power of the
prayer of faith ? ($) Whose warriors were noted for a

FOURTH TERM.

3'7

■^

physical pccuH.iiity mentioned thrice ? (6) VVhic! of the
Ten Tribes extended their borders by conquest over
Philistines and Amalekitcs after the otlvr tribes had gone
into captivity? (7) Which was the least warlike tribe?
(8) Which produced men who had understanding of the
times? (9) Which is more than once rebuked for pride?
(10) Which led Israel in sin ? (11) To which were Joshua's
only recorded words of blessing spoken? (12) To which
was the privilege of teaching given as the reward of faith-
fulness, (13) To which was the gift of song given in the
largest measure? (26.)

XXXI, Explain exactly what is meant by Redcuiptum.
Trace this metaphor throughout the Bible. (18.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "The
bread of the mighty." {p) " As the man is, so is his
strength." {c) " The war was of God." {d) " God is a
righteous Judge." {e) " By Him actions arc weighed."
(/) "He hath redeemed my soul." {g) "Deliver us, and
we will serve Thee." {Ji) " What shall be his work ? "
(?) " What do these Hebrews here ? " (j) " Whose son
is this youth ? " (k) " Who am I, O Lord God ? " (/) " I
know that Thou delightest in me." {»i) " The records arc
ancient." («) " There is none like that." (p) " The covetous
contemneth the Lord." (/>) "These men be too hard for
me." (<7) "The land was wide and quiet and peaceable."
(r) " Shall the sword devour for ever ? " (s) " Rebuke the
wild beast of the reeds." (t) " Thou shalt be turned into
another man." (u) " The Lord hath made Himself known."
(v) " He hath wrought with God this day." (za) " Blessed
be thy wisdom." (x) " Glad with joy in Thy presence."
(/) " They mini.stered with song." (c) " In His temple
everything suith, Glory." (26.)

FOURTH TERM

I. Elucidate all the historical and geographical allusions
in Psalm cxxxiii. (6.)

II. What is the exact meaning etymologically of the
words Satan and Devi/? Does either occur in the plural ?
Trace the use of both in Old and New Testament, distin-
guishing " devil "from " demon." (18.)

3»8

QUEST/ONS. SECOND SERIES.

III. Make a list of the names or descriptive tiies of the
Tabernacle and the Temple which bring out their purpose
and character, (25.)

IV. State precisely the contents of the Ark (a) in the
Tabernacle, (/;) in the First Temple. (3.)

V. Name five great warriors who dedicated the spoil
won in battle to the repair of the Temple. (2.)

VI. What became of the treasures in the storehouse
named in i Chron. xxvi. 15? (2.)

VII. "The shadow of Thy wings." Give the probable
origin of this metaphor, and quote six passages in the
Tsaltcr, and six elsewhere in which it occurs. (14.)

VIII. Name ^ve Phoenicians and /our Phoenician cities
mentioned in Scripture, noting the earliest and latest
allusicjns to Tyre. What false gods did the Phoenicians
worship? (12.)

IX. Sketch the relations of Israel to Phoenicia through-
out her history, and account for the contrast presented to
her relations with the Philistines. (15.)

X. Illustrate Psalm xlv. 6 by giving six references in
the Psalm.s, niue in the Prophets, /our in Revelation, and
six elsewhere in the New Testament to the Throne of
God. (25.)

X(. Name three sons of Abraham who married Egyp-
tian princes.ses. (3.)

XII. Mention three women who rode on camels, and two
men who rode on mules. Give some other Biblical refer-
ences to both animals. (10.)

XIII. What inferences as to the scenery and physical
characteristics of Palestine might be drawn from Hebrew
literature generally ? (10.)

XIV. Quote passages that allude to the ant, the dee, the
£nat, the mot/i, and the spider. (5.)

XV. Quote ten passages in Proverbs enforcing the fifth
commandment. (5.)

XVI. Each of the things mentioned in Prov. vi. 16-19
is characterised elsewhere in Proverbs as an abomination
to the Lord. Give references. (7.)

XVII. Find sixteen aphorisms which occur more than
once in Proverbs. (16.)

XVI II. What has Proverbs to say of wives and of

FOURTH TERM.

319

cs of the
r purpose

a) in the

the spoil

itorchousc

; probable
OS in the

4.)

ician cities

ind latest

*hcenicians

1 through-
escnted to

fcrenccs in
lation, and
Throne of

ricd Egyp-

;ls, and two
>lical refer-

td physical
,m Hebrew

the hce, the

|g the fifth

vi. 16-19

Ibomination

more than
Ives and of

widows ; of a gracious, a wise, and a virtuous woman ; and
of a contentious, an indiscreet, and an odious woman ?
(10.)

XIX. Illustrate Prov. xxii. 6 by a short essay on the
principles and methods of education in Israel. (10.)

XX. Where do the Scriptures allude to figs, dates,
melons, pomegranates, almonds, nuts, cucumbers, lenities, and
honeycomb ? (18.)

XXI. What conclusions as to the authorship of Ecclesi-
astes may be derived from a careful consideration of the
book itself? (8.)

XXII. Briefly summarise the argument of each of its
four sections. (12.)

XX II I. Give instances of persons who with few religious
privileges were blest and made a blessing ; and of persons
who in the midst of many privileges forfeited blessings
that might have been theirs. (8.)

XX IV. Discriminate two persons named Ahab, Amaziah,
Deborah, Enoch, Ezra, Gad, Hoshea, Iddo, Ishmael, Jehu,
Job, Joel, Jonadab, Jonah, Jotham, Levi, Manasseh, Micah,
Nadab, Nathan, Noah, Obadiah, Phinehas, Shallum, and
Zephaniah. (50.)

XXV. Consider carefully the causes, immediate and
remote, which led to the revolt of the Ten Tribes. (8.)

XXVI. "The light of Thy countenance." To what past
and future manifestations of God would an Israelite have
referred this phrase? Note all the passages where it
occurs. (12.)

XXVII. Sketch the history of King Asa, and discuss
his character. (6.)

XXVI II. Give Biblical examples of temptation resisted
and yielded to, illustrating i Cor. x. 13 and James i. 14. (10.)

XXIX. Can we reconcile 2 Sam. xxiv. 24 and i Chron.
xxi. 25, I Kings iv. 26 and 2 Chron. ix. 25, i Kings xvi. 8
and 2 Chron. xvi. i ? (6.)

XXX. (i) Man is ready to halt and perish. (2) God is
ready to pardon and save. (3) God can make us ready to
(a) speak for Him, {b) work for Him, {c) die for Him. Give
at least one reference for each of these assertions. (12.)

XXXI. Each of the following queries refers to a different
tribe : — (i) Whose portion contained Jerusalem ? (2) Whose

320

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

portion became the abode of two dauntless reformers separ-
ated by nine centuries? (3) In whose portion did our
Lord dwell longest? (4) In whose portion did He preach
and work most ? (5) In whose portion were two mourning
mothers made suddenly joyful ? (6) Which tribe is omitted
in Deut. xxxiii. ? (7) Which is omitted in 1 Cbron. iv. —
viii., and Rev. vii. ? (8) Which was Judah's rival through-
out ? (9) Which contributed most largely to the Bible ?
(10) Of which was it said " Let his men be few " ? (i i) Of
which was it said "He shall be great"? (12) Of which
do we twice find representatives faithfully worshipping at
Jerusalem? (13) From which were all the high priests,
save Aaron, descended ? (26.)

XXXII. Give references for he following: — (a) " A
discreet counsellor." {b) " A thousand years twice told."
{c) " I will make known my words unto you." (d) " That
they may know My service." (e) " The knowledge of the
Holy One is understanding." (/) " As well the small as
the great, the teacher as the scholar." (g) " He shall die
for lack of instruction." (/i) " One sinner destroyeth much
good." (/) "The righteous is a guide to his neighbour."
(J) " My hand was stretched out in the night." (k) " Let
thine eyes look right on." (/) " I am sent to thee with
heavy tidings." (m) " The wicked earneth deceitful wages."
(«) " I hated life." (<?) " A flattering mouth worketh ruin."
(/>) " Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously."
(q) " He that despiseth his neighbour is void of wisdom."
(r) " Our shield belongeth unto the Lord." (s) " Victory
is of the Lord." (/) " It is the gift of God." (?0 " Give
me neither poverty nor riches." (v) " The Lord gave them
rest." (w) " This is My resting place for ever." {x) " The
Lord searcheth all hearts." (j/) " I have trusted in the
Lord without wavering." (z) " That wc may seek him
with thee." (26).

1 ^!

FIFTH TERM.

I. Sketch the relations between the kingdoms of Israel
and Judah frcm 976 to 770. (15.)

II. Name two persons who did not see death, and nine
who were raised from the dead. (6.)

FIFTH TERM.

321

;rs FCpar-

did our
[e preach
nourning
s omitted
ion. iv.—

through-
tie Bible?
(II) Of

Of which
lipping at
rh priests,

r :—{a) " A
[vice told."
(^)"That
;dge of the
le small as
[e shall die
3yeth much
neighbour."
{k) " Let
■) thee with
itful wages."^
irkcth ruin. 'I
graciously."
\i{ wisdom."
A "Victory
(«) " Give
crave them
\x) " The
[sted in the
seek him

IS of Israel
th, and nine

III. Give instances from Kings and Chronicles of recog-
nition of laws in the Pentateuch. (6.)

IV. Whose descendants avenged the murder of Zcchariah,
son of Jehoiada ? (2.)

V. Find ten Syrian kings and tivclve other Syrians men-
tioned in the Bible. Name eigJit Syrian cities. What do
we know of the gods of the Syrians? (32.)

VI. Sketch the relations between Israel and Syria
jhroughout their history, (15.)

VII. Name a successor of Jeroboam I. whose prayer
God answered. (2.)

VIII. Find a parallel in the Psalter for every verse of
Jonah's prayer. (9.)

IX. Note the chief illustrations in Amos from natural
objects and agricultural pursuits. (6.)

X. Explain Amos iv. 5 by quoting two New Testament
statements of the meaning of leaven. (2.)

XI. Elucidate the historical allusions in Amos i. 3, 9,
ii. 4, iii. 14, iv. 2, (10.)

XII. Illustrate Amos iii. 8 by naming two princes, one
farmer, three shepherds, six priests, and six Levites whom
God called to be prophets. ( 1 8.)

XIII. Sketch the history of the schools of the Prophets
from Samuel to the Captivity. (10.)

XIV. Find twelve allusions to Egypt in Hosea. (6.)

XV. Trace out carefully the ever-recurring tendency
to idolatrous worship of God among the descendants of
Rachel who " stole the teraphim." (10.)

XVI. Investigate the other causes which led to the
downfall of the kingdom of Israel. (8.)

XVII. " A vine out of Egypt." Trace the typical use of
the vine throughout the Bible. (8.)

XVIII. Explain the historical allusions in Micah i. 5,
10, 13, ii. 5, iii. II, iv. 8, 13, vii. 14. (16.)

XIX. Discriminate three persons named Azariah, Hana-
niah, Jeremiah, Joshua, Micaiah, Saul, Shemaiah, Zechariah,
and Zedekiah. (27.)

XX. Make a list of incidents peculiar to the books of
Samuel and Kings and to the two books of Chronicles,
bringing out the characteristic differences of these two his-
torical works. (15.)

322

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

XXI. Find three allusions to Hezckiah outside Kings,
Chronicles, and Isaiah. (3.)

XXII. Illustrate S. Paul's great declaration of the
solidarity of humanity (Rom. xiv. 7) by giving instances
in which {a) one man's faithfulness has saved a people,
{b) one man's unfaithfulness has destroyed a people. (8.)

XXIII. Explain Chiun, Huzzab, Nehushtan, Rahab
(Isa. XXX.), Siccuth your King, the tax of Moses (2 Chron.
xxiv.). (12.)

XXIV. Note how recently discovered monuments illus-
trate and confirm the following passages : 2 Kings xvi.
7-9, xviii. 7, 14, 33, 34, xix. 28, 32. (10.)

XXV. Illustrate Isa. xxvi. 9 by collecting passages that
speak of man seeking God. (8.)

XXVI. Distinguish the following places : — Baalah and
Baalath, Bethel and Bother, Bcsor and Bezer, Cush and
Cuth, Elam and Elath, Etam and Etham, Gaza and Gezer,
Hachilah and Havilah, Hor and Horeb, Kadesh and
Kedesh, Lachish and Laish, Moreh and Moriah, Nob and
Noph, Seba and Shcba, Shcnir and Shinar, Sin and Zin.

(32.)

XXVII. Make a list of persons to whom or of whom it
is said that God would be or was with them. (8.)

XXVIII. Point a contrast between ancient and modern
Oriental women by Biblical instances of women {a) cooking,
{b) sewing, {c) buying and selling, {d) writing letters,
{e) building, (/) succouring the needy, {g) rescuing the im-
perilled, {h) giving counsel about public affairs, (J) ruling,
{J) teaching, {k) praying, (/) prophesying. (12.)

XXIX. God {a) cares for the poor, {b) blesses those who
aid them, (c) judges those who oppress them. Illustrate
by quotations, especially from the Psalms and Prophets.
(10.)

XXX. Name twelve men and three women of the tribe
of Benjamin, and six men and six women oiManasseh. (27.)

XXXI. Name a general, two judges, and three idolaters
of the tribe of Epiiraim ; three rulers, a prophet, and an
oppressed subject of Issachar ; two rulers and a prophet of
Zebulon ; a ruler and an artificer of Dan ; three sinners of
Reuben ; a ruler of Naphtali, and an idolater of Simeon,
(21.)

2 Kings,

of the

instances
a people,

e. (8.)
, Rahab
[2 Chron.

mts illus-
;ings xvi.

S/XT/r TERM.

323

sages

that

aalah and
Cush and
ind Gezer,
idesh and
, Nob and
a and Zin.

if whom it

.) ,
nd modern

a) cooking,

ng letters,

Ing the im-

, {t) ruling,

those who
Illustrate
Prophets.

|)f the tribe
2sse/i. (27.)
ee idolaters
let, and an
prophet of
- sinners of
[of Simeon,

XXXIl. Give references for the following : — (a) " Written
among the living." (d) " A brand plucked out of the
burning." (c) " The Lord saw the affliction of Israel."
(a) " His eyes observe the nations." (e) "God saw their
works." (/") "I will never forget any of their works."
lif) " They dealt faithfully." (//) " Like people, like priest."
(/) " Your eyes the prophets, and your heads the seers."
(y) " Yc trample upon the poor." (^) " Forgive them not."
(?) " I would not look toward thee nor see thee." (w) " How
shall Jacob stand ? " (n) " They shall see Thy zeal for the
people." (0) " Though I would redeem them." (/) " (He)
made them sin a great sin." (</) " He had sackcloth within
upon his flesh." (r) " The meadows by the Nile . . . shall
become dry." (s) " I am • thy servant and thy son."
(/) " By the strength of my hand I have done it." (n) " Is
thine heart right ? " (y) " On whom dost thou trust . '
(tv) " Have we made thee of the king's counsel ? "
(x) " Sheep that no man gathcreth." ( j) " Thou hast in-
creased their joy." (^) " Wait on thy God c jntinually." (26.)

SIXTH TERM.

I. Compare and contrast the four Reformations in
Judah's history with regard to the Reformers, the abuses
reformed, and the results. (12.)

II, Which would you reckon the six most important
battles in Israel's history ? (6.)

HI. Describe six memorials of Israel's past history
which a traveller through Palestine might have seen before
the Captivity. (6.)

IV. Make as complete a list as possible of those who
formed in Jeremiah's days (a) the heathen party of the
princes and nobles, (d) the great body of the sacerdotal
and prophetic order. Note the chief offences with which
both parties are charged by Jeremiah and Ezckicl. (12.)

V. Contrast the political position of Jeremiah with that
of Isaiah. (5.)

VI. Find twelve parallels between Zcphaniah and Jere-
miah. (12.)

VII. Briefly indicate the meaning of the six parables in
Jeremiah. (12.)

324

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

VIII. « I swear by Myself," or, "by My Name." Find
seven passages in which God uses these words. (7.)

IX. Summarise the dialogue with which the book of
Habakkuk opens. (4.)

X. For what lawful and unlawful purposes was the
Valley of Hinnom used? Note all the Old Testament
allusions to it and to them, and find twelve New Testa-
ment passages containing the Greek form of its name. (20.)

XI. Write a concise history of the kingdom Nimrod
founded. Does the Assyrian character as delineated by the
Hebrew prophets correspond with the Assyrian character
as portrayed by the monuments ? (14.)

XII. Note passages in six prophets referring to Assyria
and Nineveh ; and consider how far their predictions have
been fulfilled. (12.)

XIII. Name some women in Bible history whose per-
sonal influence for good or for evil was very great. (6.)

XIV. Make a chronological list of passages in the
Psalter and the Prophets from which the Jews might have
learned the lesson enforced by our Lord in Matt. ix. 13.
(8.)

XV. Mention two Ethiopians whose piety met with a
great and unexpected reward. What promises to Ethiopia
does Scripture contain, and to whom might they be applied
now ? (4.)

XVI. Had the exiles in Babylon any intercourse with
Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah ? (2.)

XVII. Where are the Chosen People called Jeshurun,
Hephzibah, God's flock, God's hosts, God's armies, God's
assembly or God's congregation, God's inheritance, God's
peculiar treasure ? (9.)

X^'III. Summarise Ezekiel XX. — xxii. (8.)
XiX. Give references for each of the five similes — wind,
water, fire, oil, and dew — under which tlie operations of
the Holy Spirit are spoken of, indicating the significance of
each. (15.)

XX. What evidence is there as to the religious and
political condition of North and South Palestine and of the
exiles in Egypt immediately after the Captivity? (6.)

XXI. Discriminate two places named Antioch, Bethany,
Caesarea, Gilgal, Kir, Luz, Rimmon, Succoth, Sion. (18.)

SIXTH TERM.

325

2." Find
; book 01

was the
rcstamcnt
;\v Tcsta-
.mc. (20.)
n Nimrod
ted by the

character

to Assyria
tions have

Arhose per-
at. (6.)
res in the
Tiight have
latt. ix. 13.

net with a

to Ethiopia

be apphcd

:ourse

with

Jeshurun,
Imies, God's
ance, God's

liles — wind,
jcrations of
[nificance of

lligious and
and of the

? (6.)
\\\ Bethany,
ion. (18.)

XXII. Note how recently discovered monuments illus-
trate and confirm the following passages: Hab. ii. 12;
2 Chron. xxxiii. 10, 1 1 ; Isa. xlvii. 6 (R.V.). (6.)

XXIII. Illustrate Isa. xliii. i by quoting as many
instances as you can of men and women whom the Lord
or His angelic messengers addressed by name. (15.)

XXIV. Make a list of Old Testament saints upon
whom God " put His name " by being known as their God.

(5-)

XXV. Summarise Isa. xlix. — Ivii. (14.)

XXVI. Illustrate Isa. xlix. 7 and Isa. Ixiii. i by citing
ten passages where we are told that God is faithful, and
twelve where we are told that God is able. (22.)

XXVII. Are there any traces in the Old Testament of
a definite belief in. "the Resurrection of the body and the
life everlasting " ? (8.)

XXVIII. Illustrate Isa. Ivii. 3, 4 and Isa. Ixv. 23 by
giving Biblical examples of {a) godly children of godly
parents, (Ji) ungodly children of ungodly parents, (t) godly
children of ungodly parents, {d) ungodly children of
godly parents. (16.)

XXIX. Make a list of forty men oi fudah who were
memorable for goodness, valour, or wisdom ; and of
eighteen who were infamous for their evil deeds. (58.)

XXX. Distinguish between Mahlah and Mahlon, Medad
and Medan, Mesha and Meshach, Naamah and Naaman,
Obed and Oded, Rezin and Rezon, Shaphan and Shaphat,
Sheba and Sheva, Shimea and Shimei, Uriah and Urijah,
Uzzah and Uzziah, Vashti and Vashni, Zebul and Zebah,
Zillah and Zilpah. (28.)

XXXI. Quote some prophecies that mention definite
periods of time that were in the future for the prophet who
uttered them. (4.)

XXXII. Give references for the following : — {a) " Israel
My glory." {b) " The dearly beloved of My soul." (c) " Thou
shalt not be forgotten of Me." (d) " I will strengthen thee
for good." (e) " The oaths to the tribes were a sure word."
(/) " In the latter days ye shall understand it." (^) " The
joyous city that dwelt carelessly." {/i) " A land that is very
far off." (z) " The land whercunto their soul longcth to
return." (j) " We are weary and have no rest." (X.*) " How

326

QUEST IONS. SFXOM) SERIES.

lotvj: shall it yet be ? " (/) " I will satisfy My fury." (///) " I
poured out their life blood." (;/) " The earth was waste aud
void." {()) " He created it not a waste." (/) " Ye have dealt
deceitfully against your own souls." {</) "Thy doom is
come unto thee." {r) " Thou hast had thy way." {s) " I Ic
shook the arrows to and fro." (/) " V\^e will denounce him."
{u) " This shall they have for their pride." (7/) " He hum-
bled himself greatly." {iv) " Cursed be he that doeth the
work of the Lord negligently." (x) " Yet will I gather
others to him beside his own." (y) " That they may all call
upon the name of the Lord." (.::) " Then answered I and
said, Amen." (26.)

SEVENTH TERM.

\. " I the Lord have spoken it." Find twelve passages
in Ezekiel where this phrase or an ec[uivalent phrase
occurs. (12.)

II. Illustrate Ezck. xxxiv. 11, 1 3 by collecting passages
which speak of God .seeking man. (10.)

III. Which idolatrous nations received the most signal
proofs of the Deity of Jehovah. (12.)

IV. Why did Daniel refuse the King's meat ? (2.)

V. Trace the successive stages in Nebuchadnezzar's
knowledge of the true God. (6.)

VI. Do secular historians or the monuments enable us to
identify the four royal persons mentioned in Dan. iv. ? (8 )

VII. Note all the Old Testament prophecies concerning
Babylon and the Chaldeans. Consider the symbolical use
of Babylon. (20.)

VIII. Sketch the relations between Babylon and Assyria,
and between Babylon and Israel throughout their history.
(20.)

IX. tind episodes in Daniel which illustrate Matt. vi. 33,
xviii. 20 ; i John v. 4 ; Luke xii. 8 ; i Peter i. 11. (5.)

X. Discriminate four Gentile decrees for the restoration
of the Jews, giving the date and purpose of each. (8.)

XI. Show by quotation chiefly from the Psalter how true
satisfaction may be found. (10.)

XII. Of what ancient hostilities was the persistent
enmity met with by the restored Jews a revival ? (6.)

SEVENTH TERM.

)27

XIII. "The fear of the Jews." Where docs this phrase
occur, and what are its various contexts ? (4.)

XIV. Mention the only Old Testament book that docs
not name God, and the only New Testament book that
does not name Christ. Show how each recognises God or
Christ notwithstanding. (4.)

XV. What do you know of Ezra's personal history ?
How far does his ancestry account for his piety and
influence ? (9.)

XVI. Enumerate the epistles of the Old Testament
noting the author, date, and theme s^i each. (8.)

XVII. What do you know of the following? — Arioch,
Bigthan, Geshem, Jahaziah, Jarib, Melzar, Shcmaiah,
Tatnai, Tobiah, Zercsh. (20.)

XVIII. Illustrate Zcch. ix. 9 by showing that the ass is
the most prominent animal throughout Israel's history. (15.)

XIX. Explain Horonite, Ncthinim, Ophcl, Purim, Solo-
mon's servants, Tirshatha. (12.)

XX. Name seven Old Testament prophetesses. (7.)

XXI. What arc the favourite metaphors and similes in
the Psalter to express {a) God's righteousness, {b) God's
wrath, (t) man's frailty, (d) slander, {e) the prosperity of
the righteous ? (20.)

XXII. Show from internal evidence that Malachi
belongs to the later, not the earlier period of the Restora-
tion. (4.)

XXIII. Illustrate Mai. ii. 7 by showing what the priest-
hood had done for the preservation of the knowledge and
worship of God in Judah. (10.)

XXIV. What evidence is there that the priests exercised
judicial functions ? (6.)

XXV. Make a chronological table of the three groups
of Old Testament prophets, approximately indicating the
length of time during which each prophesied, showing
which were each other's contemporaries, and naming the
chief nations concerning whom each prophesied. (32.)

XXVI. On whom were the three last curses of the Old
Testament pronounced ? (5.)

XXVII. Make a list of faithful and unfaithful servants
in Scripture, indicating which were slaves. (10.)

XXVIII. How often does each of these pravers occur in

328

QUESTJO{VS. S/'X'OND SERIES.

Psalm cxix. ? — {(i) Remember mc, (/;) Hear mc, {c) Seek me,
{d) Save me, (e) Redeem me (/") Deliver inc, {(f) Consider
me, (/r) flelp me, (/) Quicken me, (j) Strengthen me,
{k) Teach me, (/) Give mc understanding. (12.)

XXIX. Find fifteen books no longer extant to which the
Old Testament refers, (15.)

XXX. Make a list of twenty-six famous and six in-
famous Levitcs. (32.)

XXXI. Mark off by horizontal lines twenty-one inches
to represent the centuries from B.C. 2000 to A.u. 100. In-
dicate by perpendicular lines {ii) the periods named on
p. 169, (/') the duration of the united monarchy, (f) of the
monarchies of Judah and Israel, {li) of the Captivity, ie) of
the Assyrian, I^abylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman
lunpircs, ( /') of the priesthoods of the houses of Eleazar
and Ithamar, {if) of the P^irst and Second Temple. (32.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {li) "The
bread of heaven." (/;) " The day of small thhigs." {c) " A
time of much rain." (^/) " Ivory inlaid in boxwood." {e) "The
housv. Vvhich a great King of Israel builded." (/) " Whose
arc all thy ways ? " {if) " They have laid their swords
under their heads." (//) " Thou shalt surely fall before him."
(/) " They have overthrown me wrongfully." (7) " Woe
worth the day ! " {Ic) " They conspired to cause confusion
therein." (/) " Brought to silence in the midst of the sea."
{ill) " He was a faithful man." (//) " He shall magnify him-
self in his heart." {d) " Every one unto his work." (/) " As
thou hast said, so must we do." (</) " O Lord, shine forth."
(/-) " That we should have discernment in Thy truth."
{s) "The sum of Thy word is truth." (/) "Make crowns."
{li) " I am the son of Thine handmaid." {v) " I will accept
you." {w) " From this day will I bless you." (.r) " When I
shall be sanctified in you." (j) " All the peoples have seen
I-Iis glory." {s) " The Lord is there." (26.)

EIGHTH TERM.

L Trace the influence of Isaiah's writings upon John the
Baptist. (9.)

II. Give references for all the sayings of the Baptist
about Christ, and of Christ about the Baptist. (9.)

EIGHTH TERM.

339

III. Note in chronological order all the events and in-
cidi:nts in Old Testament history to which our Lord
alludes. (20.)

IV. Does Scripture warrant us in anticipaiinj; a future
literal restoration of Israel to their own land ? (10.)

V. Give the occasion, date, and chief incidents of each of
Christ's recorded visits to Jerusalem. (21.)

VI. Which miracle of healing did Christ repeat oftenest?
Which class of Mis miracles is unparalleled among miracles
wrought by others P (4.)

VII. "According to your fc.ith." Eluci ' tc this by
showing that sonte of His miracles were instantaneous, and
others more or less gradual. (6.)

VIII. In which of His miracles did He seek human
co-operation ? What is the significance of His doing this ?

(6.)

IX. Illustrate Acts ii. 22 by showing from Scripture
(rt) that miraculous manifestations are not necessarily of
Divine origin, {p) that Christ's miracles were evidences of
His Divine mission rather than of His Divine nature.
(10.)

X. After which of His miracles did the people glorify
God? (7.)

XI. Illustrate Dr. Westcott's remark that S. Mark more
than any other evangelist records the effect produced on
others by the Lord's working. (24.)

XII. Contrast the parables of the Mince and of the
Talents^ of the Great Supper and of the Marriage Feast.
Account for their characteristic differences by pointing out
the circumstances under which each was spoken. (8.)

XIII. Give two references to each of twenty-four sayings
of Christ which occur in more than one context. (24.)

XIV. "As He said," Matt, xxviii. 6. Note all the
occasions here referred to. (5.)

XV. Harmonise Matt. ix. 17 and xiii. 52, Luke ix. 50
and xi. 23, John v. 31 and viii. 14. (9.)

XVI. Enumerate all the sayings and incidents of Christ's
ministry which reveal Him as "a Light to lighten the
Gentiles." (10.)

XVII. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Consider
this aspect of the characl<:r and work of Christ. (10.)

330

QUESTIONS. SECOND SEH/ES.

XVIII. Quote a verse In which the Father, the Son, .ind
the Holy Ghost nre each referred to twice. (2.)

XIX. 'The higher and holier the teacher in the eyes
of other men, the unworthier is he in his own eyes." Give
Biblical instances of this, and point out one noteworthy
exception to it. (12.)

XX. Enumerate all the persons hy whom and all the
occasions on which Christ was acknowledged to be the Son
of God. (12.)

XXI. Prove from Scripture, without reference to the
writings of S. John, that Christ is " very God of very God."
(10.)

XXn. From the private interviews with Christ, which
are recorded in the Gospels, illustrate His patient con-
desccnsior, also the importance He attaches to individual
influence upon individuals. (9.)

XXI II. Mention by name thirty men and ten women
who believed in Christ before His Ascension. (40.)

XXIV. Sketch the growth of opposition to Christ
during the three and a half years of His ministry, and
show how it influenced His teaching and action. (20.)

XXV. Quote the various accusations brought against
Him by His enemies. Which did He refute, and which
did He tacitly accjpt? (12.)

XXVI. Name (a) one who knew the exact age he
would attain, (d) one who knew the manner of his death
years before he died, (c) two who received Divine assurance
of their personal salvation, (d) the only one of Christ's
followers to whom lasting earthly fame was promised. (5.)

XXVII. Trace out in S. John's Gospel how Christ
reveals Himself as the One having Life in Himself and
giving Life to men. (12.)

XXVIII. What personal details can we glean of the
authors of the Synoptical Gospels ? (12.)

XXIX. Summarise the external and internal evidence
for attributing the fourth Gospel to the Apostle John. (12.)

XXX. Sketch the life of S. Peter and discuss his
character. (12.)

XXXI. Illustrate James v. 16 by giving twelve Old
Testament instances of answered intercessory prayer.
(12.)

NINTH TERM.

331

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "My
Son, My Chosen." {/>) " A new teaching." {c) " The things
concerning the Kingdom of God." {<i) "For a testimony
unto all the nations." (<')" Making no distinction." (/)"Thc
multitude welcomed Him." {^if) "Ye know nothing at all."
(//) " Certain which set all others at nought." (/) " Is it not
for this cause that yc err ? " {j) " Because they were not
united by faith with them that heard." {k) " On some have
mercy who arc in doubt." (/) " Having forgotten the
cleansing." (;//) " They stood still, looking sad." («) " He
was much perplexed." {0) " God is one." (/) " All live unto
Him." {q) " No word from God shall be void of power."
(r) " Therefore do these powers work in him." {s) " On
whom yc have .set your hope." (/)"Yc are Christ's." («)"Be
yc free from the love of money." {v) " Keep yourselves from
all covetousnes.s." {w) " Be not anxious." (x) " Watch ye at
every .season." (y) " Looking for the Kingdom of God."
(s) " Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord." (26.)

;an of the

NINTH TERM.

I. Give the occasion, date, and chief incidents of each of
S. Paul's recorded visits to Jerusalem. (15.)

II. Note in chronological order twenty-five events and
incidents in Old Testament history to which S. Paul
alludes. (25.)

III. Write a conci.sc biography of S. Paul's dearest
friend. Is he mentioned in S. John's writings ? (15.)

IV. " He shall bear witness of Me." Quote twelve
passages bearing out the above statement in this term's
reading. (12.)

V. What are the three objects 01 Christian ambition
which S. Paul puts before the Thessalonians, Corinthians,
and Romans? (See R.V. margin.) (3.)

VI. Illustrate i Cor. iv. 1,2 by tracing the metaphor of
stewardship throughout the New Testament. (14.)

VII. Illustrate Gal. v. 22, 23 from the earliest chapters
of Church history. ( 1 2.)

VIII. Quote all the passages in which S. Paul speaks of
giving thanks for and praying for those to whom he writes,
and in which he asks their prayer for himself To which

333

QIESTJONS. SECOND SERIES.

cluirchcH and individuals is he silent on this subject?

(25-)

IX. In reference to subsequent uses of the phrase, con-
sider all S. Paul's references to " the cross." (8.)

X. Summarise the argument of the Epistle to the
Ephesians, (i2.)

XI. " I am not able,"" I am able." Trace out, especially
in S, i aul's I^pistles, the two ideas of weakness in self and
strengtii in Christ. (i2.)

XII. Examine the significance throughout the liible of
the act of laying on of hands. (lo.)

XIII. Give Scriptural instances of conscience {a)
awakened, {b) enlightened, {c) perverted, {<l) seared. (8.)

XIV. What New Testament characters and incidents
are connected with Ashdod, Damascus, I'^gypt, Gaza,
Joppa, Kidr(jn, Salem, Sharon, Sychar, Tyre, and Sidon ?
What Old Testament mention is there of Olivet ? (i2.)

XV. *' The end of your faith, even the salvation of your
souls " ( I Peter i. 9). " By hope were we saved " (Rom.
viii. 24), " Iwery one that lovcth is begotten of God"
(l John iv, 7), Harmonise these three statements. (12.)

XVI. Consider generally our gain in having different
aspects of the same truths presented to us in the writings
of different Apostles. (10.)

XVII. What do you know of the Churches of Thyatira
and Antioch in Syria? (10)

XVIII. Illustrate i John iv, 8 by a list of the objects of
God's love that are expressly named in Scripture, (12.)

XIX. Name the twenty-one sevenfold things mentioned
in the Apocalypse. (21.)

XX. " He that openeth " (Rev, iii, 7), Where are we
toid of the Lord opening {a) the eyes, {U) the ears, id) the
understanding, (^) the heart, {c) the mouth ? (6.)

XXI. "The Lamb of God." Examine the historical
origin and doctrinal significance of this title, (10.)

XXII. Find seven references in the Apocalypse and
elsewhere to God's Book of Life. (7.)

XXIII. Find three allusions in the Psalter to the River
of God, (3.)

XXIV. "An unfallen creature may proclaim the Gospel
as a he mid \ only a redeemed creature can testify from

NINTH TERM,

333

personal experience to the Gospel as a 7vttt7ess** Illus-
trate, especially from the writings of S. Luke and S. John.
(12.)

XXV. Trace throuj^hout the Bible {a) the Divine call
to salvation, " CfliiiCy' (/>) the Divine call to service, " Go."

(I5-)

XXVI. What light docs the Old Festamcnt throw upon

these expressions : " The middle wall of partition, I'he

pl.ice called liar-Magedon " ? (6.)

XXVII. Make a list from the whole Bible of " things
which God hath prepared." (i2.)

XXVI II Name all the books of the Bible that contain
explicit internal evidence as to their authorship. (i2.)

XXIX. Give five Old Testament references to " .S'//<?<?/,"
eleven New Testament references to " Hades" and three
New Testament references to " Paradise." Expound the
meanings of these words as shown by their derivations.

(24.)

XXX. Quote .seven New Testament passages bearing
upon the present condition of those who " have departed
this life in God'j faith and fear." (7.)

XXXI. Do any of the following occur :n the Bible ? If
not, where do they occur, or of what texts are they mis-
quotations ? — (a) " Assurance of salvation." {b) " Justifica-
tion by faith." (c) " Hope full of immortality." {d) " Not
lost, but gone before." {c) " A reason for the faith that is in
you." (/) " In the world, but not of the world." {g) " In the
midst of life we are in death." (/r) " His end was peace."
{i) " Charity begins at home." {J) " Money is the root of
all evil." {k) " Spare the rod and spoil the child." (/) " God
tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." (12.)

XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "There
is no distinction " (twice), {b) " Teachers of that which is
good." {c) " Helpers of your joy." (d) " Giving no occasion
of stumbling in anything." (e) " The uncertainty of riches."
(/) " I would have you to be free from cares." (^) " All
things are yours." (/f) " Encourage the faint-hearted."
(i) " Complete the doing also." (j) '* I have found no works
of thine fulfilled." (/&) " Worse than an unbeliever." (/) " I
speak this to move you to shame." (m) " Hold such in
honour." (n) *' Not knowing God, ye were in bondage."

334

QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES.

(o) " We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest.''
(/) " The earth was lightened with his glory." ((/) " Try your
own selves." (r) " Approved in Christ." (s) " T hat thy pro-
gress may be manifest unto all," (/) " Manifest throughout
the whole praetorian guard." (u) " The patience and the
faith of the saints." (v) " In all the world bearing fruit and
increasing." (w) " God's own possession." (x) " For whom
Christ died." (jj/) " And such we are." (js) " Remember
Jesus Christ." (26.)

THE END.

GENERAL INDEX.

(The pages given are those on which either the book itself or its subject-
matter is dealt with.)

Genesis . •

PAGES

. 19-35-

The Psalms .

FACES

45, 66, 67, 84,

Exodus . .

. 2o, 23-35 39.

85, 104, 105,

40. 50-

126, 127, 147,

Leviticus

. 43, 44, 50-55.

170-212.

Numbers

. 41-46, 49, 53-

The Proverbs

82-84, 89.

Deuteronomy .

. 43, 45, 49,

Ecclesiastes .

83, 84.

53.

The Song of Songs

81, 82, 89.

Joshua .

. 41-50-

Isaiah .

52, 102-105,

Judges .

. 42-46, 55, 61,

109-113, 122,

62, 65, 66, 68.

123, 127, 130-

Ruth

. 42, 44, 46, 50.

132.

I Samuel

. 61-64, 66, 68-

Jeremiah .

119-121, 123-

74-

132, 139, 140.

2 Samuel .

. 62, 64, 66-68,

Lamentations

125, 127, 131.

70-74.

Ezekiel .

124-127, 131,

I Kings ,

. 79, 80, 84-91,

132, 143, 147,

96-100, 104,

152, 153.

107, 108, 112.

Daniel . .

143, 144, 147-

2 Kings . • .

. 96-100, 104-

155, 165-167.

iio, 113, 114,

Hosea . .

lOI, 104, III,

118-121, 126-

"3-

128, 132, 133.

Joel . .

102, 104, III,

1 Chronicles .

. 64-66, 69-74,

112.

84.

Amos .

loi, 104, III,

2 Chronicles .

. 64, 65, 79, 80,

112.

84-91, 96-100,

Obadiah

124, 127, 131,

104, 105, 108-

132.

iio, 118-121,

Jonah . •

100, loi, 104,

126-128, 132,

106, no, 112.

133, W-

Micah . •

103, 104, III,

Ezra

. 140-142, 144,

113-

146-152.

Nahum . .

103, 105, 113.

Nelicmiah .

144, 147, 15I'

Habakkuk .

123, 126, 130,

152.

131, 132.

Esther , ,

141, 144, 145,

Zephaniah

123, 126, 130,

147, 148, 156.

132.

Job

. 21-23, 28, 31.

Haggai . 145

147, 153. 154.

335

336

Zechariah •

Malachi .

The Apocrypha
S. Matthew .

S. Mark

S. Luke .

S. John .

The Acts

Romans . •

1 Corinthians .

2 Corinthians .
Galatians ' .

GENERAL INDEX.

PAGES

145, 147, 153,

154, 157.

146, 147. 153.
154.

164-169.
218-221, 227-
240, 244-277.
218-222, 227-
240, 244-277.
218-222, 227-
240, 244-277.
218-222, 227-

240, 244-277.
223, 227, 234,
238, 239, 278-
284, 291-300,
302, 304.
284, 286, 292,
301.

284, 285, 292,
284, 285, 292.
284, 285, 292.

Ephcsians «
Philippians .
Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews

James .

1 Peter .

2 Peter .

I, 2, 3 John

Jude

Revelation

PAOES

284, 286, 287,

292.

284, 286, 287,

292.

284, 286, 287,

292.

284, 285, 291,

292.

284, 285, 291,

292.

284, 287, 292.

50-53,224,226,

227.

223-225, 227.

287, 288, 292.

223-225, 227.

288-292.

I*
i»
f»

t>
i»
II
II
i>
II

•I

•»

II
•1

•I

•t

••

PAOES
[84, 286, 287,
[92.

J84, 286, 287,
[92.

[84, 286, 287,
292.

284, 285, 291,
292.

284, 287, 292.
284, 287, 292.
284, 287, 292.
284, 287, 292.
50-53,224,226,
227.

223-225, 227.
223-225, 227.
223-225, 227.
287, 288, 292.
223-225, 227.
288-292.

INDEX TO THE PSALMS.

(The Arabic numerals are those assigned to the Psalms on pp. 179-212.)

i^salr

n I. .

II. .

»»

III. .

IV. .

V. .

VI. .

VII. .

VIII. .

IX. .

X. .

•1

XI. .

•1

XII. .

XIII. .

XIV. .

XV. .

XVI. .

»l

XVII. .

•1

XVIII. .

•1

XIX. .

XX. .

XXI. .

»i

XXII. .

XXIII. .

XXIV. .

•1

XXV. .

XXVI. .

XXVII. .

l»

XXVIII. .

•I

XXIX. .

XXX. .

XXXI. .

XXXII. .

•I

XXXllI. .

XXXIV. .

XXXV. .

XXXVI. .

No.

Psalm

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

XLI.

XLII.

XLIII.

XLIV.

XLV.

XLVI.

XLVII.

XLVIII.

XLIX.

LI.

LU.

LIII.

LIV.

LV.

LVI.

LVII.

Lvin.

LIX.

LX.

LXI.

LXII.

LXIII.

LXIV.

LXV. .

LXVI. .

LXVII. .

LXVIII. .

LXIX. .

LXX. .

LXXI. .

LXXII. .

333

No.
64
40
41
43
42

105

95
96

97
87
79
37
16

55
II

17
8

31
60

51
102

103
104

44
106

338

INDEX TO THE PSALMS.

No.

Psalm LXXIII. .

. 88

Psalm CXII. .

. 90

„ LXXIV. .

. 107

CXIII. .

• 139

„ LXXV. .

. 100

CXIV. .

. 140

„ LXXVI. .

. lOI

CXV. .

. 141

„ LXXVI I. .

. 81

CXVI. .

. 142

„ LXXVIII. .

CXVII. .

. H3

„ LXXIX. .

. 108

CXVIII. .

. 144

LXXX. .

. 98

CXIX. .

. 150

LXXXI. .

. 80

cxx. .

. u8

LXXXII. .

CXXI .

. 119

LXXXIII. .

CXXII. .

. 120

LXXXIV. .

. 85

CXXIII. . .

. 122

LXXXV. .

. 121

CXXIV. .

. 123

LXXXVI. .

CXXV .

. 124

„ LXXXVII. .

CXXVI. .

. 125

„ LXXXVIII. .

CXXVII. .

„ LXXXIX. .

CXXVIII. .

XC. .

CXXIX. .

XCI. .

CXXX. .

109

XCII. .

131

CXXXI. .

XCIII. .

132

' »f

exxxii. .

XCIV. .

126

CXXXIII. .

xcv. .

133

l»

CXXXIV. .

128

XCVI. . .

134

exxxv. .

129

XCVII. .

135

CXXXVI. .

130

XCVIII. .

136

CXXXVII. .

117

XCIX. .

137

CXXXVIII. .

c. . . .

138

CXXXIX. .

CI. .

CXL. . . .

CII. .

III

CXLI. .

cm. .

112

CXLII. .

CIV. .

113

CXLIII. .

cv. .

114

exLiv. .

127

CVI. .

• 1

CXLV. .

, evil. .

CXLVI. .

145

CVIII. .

CXLVII. .

146

CIX. .

CXLVIII. .

147

„ ex. .

CXLIX. .

148

„ CXI. .

• 1

CL . . .

149

No.
90

140
141
142

H3
144

150

118

119

120

122

123

124

125

n
78

no
109

128

129

130

117

127

145

146

147
148
149

- I