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^~^ 1653 East Main Street

S'.iS Rochester. New York 14609 JSA

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JAMES M. SIMPSON.

GOD'S NATION

HKR ANCESTRV AXI) MISSION

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^"^KV. j. M. SIMPSOY

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TOKONTO

WFLLIAM BRIGGS

1902

JAMES M. SIMPSON.

GOD'S NATION

HER ANCESTRY AND MISSION

REV. J. M. SIMPSON

" Blessed is the nation whose God is the T «r^ • j u
Who. He hath chosen n,. Hisl^ ^^^^tts^^t

TORONTO

WILLIAM BRIGGS

1902

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year
one thousand nine hundred and two, by William Bkiuus, at
the Department of Agriculture.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

I-AOB

God's purpose in founding the Hebrew nation— Call of

Abram — Abram the father of a great nation

Abram's native country— Gospel preached to Abram
—Traits of character in Abram— Abram's new name
— The nation to be a monarchy —The nation in Egypt
— Growth of the nation— God's promise to Jacob-
Through this nation God speaks to the world— The
nation a vassal — The nation's commission — The cov-
enant everlasting— The covenant the nation's law—
A company of nations— Death of Abraham— Covenant
renewed with Isaac— Death of Isaac— Covenant re-
newed with Jacob— Promises not fulfilled in Canaan
—Interests of the Church committed to the nation-
Kingdom of God given to Israel n

CHAPTER II.

Gofl brings the nation out of Egypt— Pillar of cloud
and fire— Miracles of the wilderness— Sin of Moses-
Death of Moses and Aaron— Joslma succeeds Moses-
Cm Tts of Israel— Bribery in high places— Anoint-
ing iaul— Saul's tragic end— David chosen of God
—Monarchy established— David claims the throne-
Kingdom divided -Ishbosheth made King of Israel-
David reigns over Judah— Solomon succeeds his
father— Adonijah and Joab put to death— Solomon's
reign— Two national elements in the nation 23

mwm

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER III.

Solomon's fall — Rehoboam comes to the throne — Unset-
tled state of the nation — Jeroboam's flight to Egypt
— Rehoboam's mistake — Israel revolts — Jeroboam is
made king - All Israel within the ten tribes — Reho-
boam t . js to bring the kic^fdom back, and God stops
him — The tribe of Benjamin goes back to Rehoboam
— Sin of Jeroboam

PAOK

CHAPTER IV.

Captivity of Israel and .Tudah — Return of Judah —
Judah is to hold the sceptre until Christ comes —
Prophecies of the coming of Christ — Benjamin the
one tribe promised to Solomon's son — Children of
Benjamin escape from Jerusalem — Christ is called
Uavid — Benjamin Christ's light in Jerusalem 52

CHAPTER V.

Daniel's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem — Titus
makes a treaty with the Christians — Overthrow of
the ancient capital — The nation to which the King-
dom of God was given— No law making the oldest
son legal heir — National birthright given to the sons
of Joseph — Judah's tribal claim to the Kingdom of
God given to Joseph —Children of Benjamin Chris-
tians — Territory of Benjamin — Beyond Jordan —
Christ with the f° ^.o of Benjamin — First disciples
of the tribe of Benjamin — Paul an Israelite, not a
Jew — God's investment in the Gospel — Cromwell's
array— God wants an army of '• Ironsides" 60

CHAPTER VI.

Remnant of Jacob— Benjamin the key to prophecy —
Pentecost — Benjamin the one tribe which was given
to Judah — Prophetic symbols of the Gospel . - 71

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAOB

The nation given to the sons of Joseph— Ephraim is
Gml's heir— The tree of life -Fruit that is to fill the
world— The name Israel given to the sons of Joseph
—Ephraim means the nation— Ephraim is to bear the
fruit of the kingdom of God— Great Britain the
descendant nation from the house of Israel— How
England may reach the summit of glory 78

CHAPTER VIII.

The Pentecostal Church— The Church persecuted—
Stephen martyred— The Church scattered— God over-
rules it for good— Tho nine tribes— The lost sheep of
the house of Israel— Paul is commissionerl to j.reach
to the children of Israel— The Church of Galatia—
The First Epistle of Peter— Ps. 80: 1, 2 explained. .

CHAPTER IX.

Israel a great nation to-day — Anglo-Saxons the descend-
ants of the lost house of Israel — What Josephus
says — What William Smith says — Testimony of
prophecy— Far-oflF isles— The martyrs' fire— Israel in
captivity prayed with their face toward Jerusalem —
King Solomon's prayer — Public worship in the
national church of England— How Israel became lost
— Life from the dead — Israel speaking the English
language

CHAPTER X.

Israel in the Isles— Prophecy of Isaiah— Fire and sword
of God — Israel means Christ — The preserved of Israel
— Christ the glory of Israel — Israel is neither Jew nor
Gentile— Where is lost Israel? — Queen Victoria's
testimony for the Bible — Israel's isles too narrow —

I CONTENTS.

A multitude of natioriH — Jacob's prophecy concen..ng
Joseph — Christ the stone of Israel — Righteousness
the best diplomacy

PAOI

100

CHAPTER XI.

Israel the leading nation ot the earth — Israel lends to
many nations — Discovery of America — Land of Man-
aaseh — Israel loses some of his children— American
independence— Israel gathered in the Briti'-h Isles —
iJritish coat-of-arms — Prophecy of Moses concerning
Joseph — Israel the great civilizing jMiwer of the
world 110

CHAPTER XII.

God's message to the nation— Israel is heir of the world
— The God of Israel is to be the God of the whole
earth — Anglo-Saxons the descendants of lost Israel —
Christ is Israel's light— Western civilization — Israel
meand the nation, not the Church— Israel's national
policy— Israel is restored— Foreign labor— Legislation
against foreign laborers is unchristian— .i^ll nations
tributary to Israel— The nation that will not sur-
render to Christian Israel shall perish — The nation
must "arise and shine" — Gentiles are coming —
Nations shall learn war no more 122

CHAPTER Xin.

Great Britain in Egypt fulfilment of prophecy— Israel
derives strength from the Gentiles— Israel saved from
captivity— Native races dying— Words of the Coven-
ant-Isles wait for God's law— Charter of the world's
freedom in the hands of England and the United
States 132

-:' ^"M^r^if-y

=»:^T'«a?H

CONTENTS.
CHAHI.5R XIV.

PAOB

Israelites sent to isles a'ar off- Trilie of Dan - Irish
home ruK— Adder that bites the horse heels— Fliders
that fall backward — God's glory Israel's prayer-
Anglo-Saxons prosecuting Israel's mission — (Jold
mines in possession of Anglo-Saxons— Duty of 'British
and American millionaires— Our mission to .^hine —
England's grmt opportunity in Africa— The Church
and nation should l>e alive to foreign mission work—
Encourapng signs of the times 142

CHAPTER XV.

Reign of Christ— Enemies of Christ must go under His
feet— Anglo-Saxons' most dangerous foe— The rum
traffic and the De ;alogue— Will the rum traffic ever
be abolished ? I55

CHAPTER XVI.

What will become of the Jews ?— Testimony of prophecy
—How will united Israel possess Palestine? Jews
will receive Christ— Where Ephraim's fruit is found
—Signs of the times— Sentiments of great men 163

CHAPTER XVII.

Apostasy in the Church— Itching ears— The power that
moves the Church and nation— How to reach the
masses— Human ami divine resources— The lenven of
truth — The Bible Societies — Dangerous literature-
Religious gamblers— Viper of temptatio 171

CHAPTER XVIII.

Sarah chosen of God— Abram and Sarah in Lgypt—
Abram's error— Sarah the covenant mother of the
nation— God protects Sarah in her covenant rights-
Ishmael to be a great nation— The Arabs— Death of
Sarah— Abraham marries Keturah— Ishmael and the
sons of Keturah have no part in the QQVW^nt. , , , , . 182

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CONTENTS.

CHAITER XIX.

Kebckah chosen of (JfMl — /Miezer's mission— Tk>thuel is
convinced that Kcliekah in chonen of (}o<l — How Kli-
ezer knew that (}o<l had chosen Reliekiih— Relwkah
is hiest of her {tooplo— Harmony of (Jen. 24 : iH) and
Gen 22 : 16, 17 — Isaac the only son of Abraham ....

PAOI

188

CHAPTER XX.

Rachel chosen of (Jod— Ctmrtship of Jacob and R'U.Ik 1
— .lacoh deceived Jacoh and Rachel are married -
The wonde'ful [wwer of !ove— Jacoh and Rachel on
their way to Canaan -Jacob has great trouble-
Jacob's present to Ksuu — Jacobs all-night pravcr —
Deatli of Rachel -Pillar of Raciiel's grave -Joseph a
type of Ciirist— Benjamin a connecting link -Tiio
nation given to ihe de8cen<lants of Rachel— Benjamin,
Rachel's son, is (iod's chosen light in Jerusalem— (iod
puts the interests of Church and State in tlie bunds of
the descentlants of Rachel — Rachel weeps for her
children I94

CHAPTER XXI.
Christian character 206

CiOO'S NATION.

CHAPTER I. .

THE DIVINE PURPOSE IN FOVNDJSt
A NATION.

The Hebrews (as i^ was by that nam*' the
nation was known in its ttirly history) wore a
nation especially founded by (Jod Himst f and
for Himself. Prior to this there was no i ni'um
especially known as " God's nation," but • f this
nation the Lord said, "This people ave I
formed for myself; they shall sliow f«. th my
praise" (Isa. 43:21).

The divine purpose in founding this nation
evidently was to establish a national custudiun
for a revelation from Himself to the world, and
in its archives this divine revelation has been
safely kept. In the founding of this nation
God also established a national agency for the
propagation of the true worship of the true
God, and also a national agency for the de-
velopment of His wonderful scheme of redemp-
tion and salvation for the whole human race.
The system of government, laws and methods

GODS NATION.

of administration for this nation, God Himself
provided and directed.

CALL OF ARRAM.

About the year 1921 B.C., the I^rd called
Abram, who was a son of Terah, a tlescendant
of Shorn, the eldest son of Noah. Abrarn's birth-
place is supposed to have been in " Ur of the
Chaldees" ((ien. 11:31). It was from this
place that Terah, and his son Abrani, and Sarai,
Abram 's wife, and Lot, the son of Haran, Abram's
brother who was dead, started for the land of
Canaan. But when they reached the place
called " Haran," they set up their tents and
dwelt there ; and there Terah died.

Of this ancient country a modern traveller
writes: "In former days the vast plains of
Babylon were nourished by a complicated system
of canals and water-courses, which spread over
the surface of the country like a network. The
wants of a teeming population were supplied by
a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the
banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands
rising from a golden sea of waving com stood
frequent groves of palm trees and pleasant
gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their
grateful and highly valued shade.

"Crowds of passengers hurried along the
dusty roads to and from the busy city. The

DIVINE PUIIP«)SE IS Ff»UNDINO A NATION. 13

land was rich in corn and wine. How changed
is the aspect of that region at the present
time. Long lines of mounds, it is true, mark
the courses of those main arteries which for-
merly (litfused life and ve-retation along their
banks, but their channels are now bereft of
moisture and choked with drifted sand; the
smaller oflshoots are wholly ettaced. 'A drought
is upon her waters,' says the prophet, 'and
they shall be dried up.'

" All that remains of that ancient civilization,
that glory of kingdoms, the praise of the whole
earth, is recognizable in the numerous moulder-
ing heaps of brick and rubbish which over-
spread the surface of the plain. Instead
of the luxurious fields, and groves and gar-
dens, nothing now meets the eye but an arid
waste. The dense population of former times is
vanished and no man dwells there." This was
the native country of Abram, the man in
whom God founded His own great covenant
nation.

The Lord said to Abram, "Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show
thee : And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee and make thy name great,
and thou shalt be a blessing : And I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that

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GODS NATION,

curseth thee, and in thee shall all families of
the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12: 1, 2, 3). Thus
the Lord installed Abram the head of a ffreat
nation that was to be.

The reader will remember that it was a
"nation," not a church, that God founded in
Abram. The church was within the nation, and
was before the nation, and was the divine and
vital principle for the development and propa-
gation of which the nation was called into being.
Hence St. Paul says that God preached the
Gospel to Abraham when He said to him, " In
thee shall all nations be blessed " (Gal. 3 : 8).
The Lord conferred great honor upon Abram in
choosing him to be the progenitor of the greatest
people of the earth ; but he conferred upon him
honor infinitely greater when He decreed that
of Abram's line the Redeemer of the world
should come.

There were same traits in Abram's character
that are worthy of special mention. First, he
was a man of peace, no lover of strife and con-
tention. Second, he was unselfish and most
generous. These traits in Abram's character
showed themselves most prominently when he
and his nephew Lot separated. The place where
Abram and Lot encamped did not afibrd suffi-
cient support for the great flocks and herds that
they possessed ; and there arose contention and

DIVINE PURPOSE IN FOUNDING A NATION. 1.5

strife between their herdmen on that account.
" And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife,
I pray thee, between me and thee, and between
my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be
brethren. Is not the whole land before thee ?
Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me : if thou
wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the
right; or if thou depart to the right hand,
then I will go to the left " (Gen. 13 : 8, 9). And
Lot, like all small and selfish men, took advan-
tage of his uncle's unselfishness and large-
heartedness, and chose the best part of the
country ; and Abram did not complain. Third,
he was a man of extraordinary faith in the
great Jehovah of his ancient ancestors. This
unwavering faith marked Abram's conduct from
the time that God called him to leave his native
country and his kindred, and go to a new and
strange land, to the end of his singular and won-
derful life. But in no other instance of his life
did his faith in God tower to such a sublime
height as when he, in obedience to God's com-
mand, laid his son Isaac upon the altar of
sacrifice.

The Lord had told Abraham that his descend-
ants should be as the " stars of heaven, and as
the sand upon the seashore that cannot be num-
bered." And also that this numberless progeny
should be of Isaac's line. And now He says to

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GODS NATION.

Abralmm : " Take now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and pjet thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will
tell thee of " (Gen. 22 : 2).

This command was directly opposed to the
promise ; and it was enough to make the best of
men hesitate ud stagger. But the sacred
recoM says : " And Abraham rose up early in
tht iorning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son
and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and
rose up, and went unto the place of which God
had told him " (Gen. 22 : 3).

We cannot conceive a more severe test of a
man's faith in his God than this. But Abraham
proved himself equal to the occasion, and it was
a beautiful and glorious triumph of faith.

"Abraham, when severely tried,

His faith by his obedience showed ;
He with the harsh command complied,
And gave his Isaac back to God.

" His son the father offered up,
Son of his age, his only son,
Object of all his joy and hope.
And less beloved than God alone.

" O for a faith like his, that we

The bright example may pursue ;
May gladly give up all to Thee,
To whom our more than all is due."

DIVFNE I'UUI'OSE I\ FOUNDfXO A NATION. 17

Tlu- Loi-,1 said to Abniin, "As for me l.e-
'ol.l my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt
be a lather ot many nations. Neither shall thy
na.ne any n.ore he calle.l Abram, but thy nan.e
shall be calle<l Abraham ; for a father of many
nations have I n.ade thee. And I will make
thee e.xc..edin^r fruitful, and I will n.ake nations
ol thee, and kin^r.s .shall eome out of the(' " (Gen.
17: 4-()). This was an intimation to Abraham
that this ^rreat nation would ultimately become a
monarchy. " And kin^^s shall come out of thee."
By force of circumstances this nation removed
to Eoypt, and remaine.! in that country four
hundred and thirty years, and during that time
their increase was remarkably ^rreat, and the
km^r (,t hj.ypt became alarmed, lest the Hebrews
should become a too powerful element in his
country, and to prevent this, he ordered that all
the male children of the Hebrews be destroyed
at their birth. But (Jo.! protected the Hebrews
in His own way, and defeated the cruel purpose
of Pharaoh (E.K. 1 : 15-17).

This marvellous orowth of the Hebrews in
E^ypt was the fulHlment of God's promise to
Jacob. "An.l God spake unto Israel in the
visums of the ni^dit. and said, Jacob, Jacol,. And
he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, th3
^od ol thy father ; fear not to go down into
%ypt, for I will there make of thee a great

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GODS NATION.

nation " (Gen. 46 : 2, 3). But the settlement of
the Hebrews in Egypt, however, was but tem-
porary, because the Lord had already located
their inheritance in the land of Canaan ; there-
fore, the Lord said again to Jacob, " I will go
down with thee into Egypt, and I will also
surely bring thee up again " (Gen. 46 : 4). This
was in keeping with what God said to Abraham,
" Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a
stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall
serve them ; and they shall afflict them four
hundred years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve, will I judge ; and afterward shall
they come out with great suVjstance " (Gen.
15: 13, 14).

This long sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt
was, no doubt, preparatory to their final settle-
ment in the promised land, which was the
divinely chosen sits and oradle for this great
covenant nation, the history of which is a
wonderful history, most interesting and in-
structive. Through the medium of thi.:; nation
God has spoken to universal man ; and has re-
vealed to the world His character and His will.
And not only so, but through this nation God
has made provision for the eternal salvation of
all men.

THE NATION A VASSAL.

• 1

The relationsl"
tion was that of l

1 this great covenant na-
sal, holding, 'js possessions

DIVINE PURPOSE IN FOUNDING A NATION. 19

under God and for God. its mission bein^ to
bless, and its field of service "all the nations of
the earth." And the Lord .said to Abraham. " I
will establish my covenant between me and thee
and thy seed after thee in their generations for
an everlastinc. covenant, to be a God unto thee
and to thy seed after thee " (Gen. 17-7) The
reader will take notice that this covenant which
God made with Abraham, was " an everlastinfr
covenant." It was established forever.

The Psalmist says : " He hath remembered his
covenant t. the word which he commanded

to a thou.sand generations. Which covenant he
made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac •
And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law'
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant"
(Ps. 105 : 8-10).

Let the reader carefully note that this coven-
ant which God established with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, was handed down to the nation for a
"Law." This was a covenant of grace ; in it
God planted the seed of the kingdom of heaven
It was also a covenant of blood, for under it
there was no remission of sins without the
shedding of blood. This blood was typical of
the precious blood of Christ, through which we
have redemption and the remission of sins
This St. Paul calls " the blood of the everlasting
covenant" (Heb. 13: 20.)
And this is the covenant that God made with

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fiODS NATION.

Abraham. The Lord said to Abraliam, " I am
(lod Ahuighty: he fruitful and multiply: a
nation, and a company of nations shall be of
thee " (Gen. 8") : 11). And it i.s our purpose to
direct the reader in the followinj^ chapters as to
the vviiereabouts of this company of nations.

At the ripe old age of one hundred and
seventy five years the venerable patriarch,
Abraham, died, and was jratliei'ed to liis people,
and his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in
the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron,
the son of Zohar.

ISAAC SUCCEEDS HIS FATHER.

After the death of Abraham the Lord renewed
the covenant with Isaac, installintj him the suc-
cessor of his father as head of the nation. And
God said to Isaac, " Sojourn in this land, and I
will be with thee, and will bless thee ; for unto
thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these
countries, and will perform the oath which I
sware unto Abraham thy father: And I will
make thy seed to nuiltiply as the stars of heaven,
and will give unto thy seed all tliese countries ,
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed " (Gen. 20 : 8, 4). Thus we see
the promises which God mado to Abraham, He
renewed to Isaac in all their fulness, placing
special emphas's, it would seem, upon the

DIVINE PURPOSE IN FOUNDING A NATION. 21

nation's mission, namely, to " bless all the
nations of the earth."

Isaac lived one hundred and ei<xhty years,
beinrr five years older at his death than his
father was at his death : and he died and was
gathered unto his i)eople, and his sons, Ksau
and Jacob, buried him by the side of his father
and mother, Abraham and Sarah, in the cave of
Machpelah.

JACOB SUCCEEDS HIS FATHER ISAAC.

The next in the patriarchal succession was
Jacob. And with him the Lord renewed the
covenant and the promises as He did with his
father Isaac : and He also renewed the nation's
commission to " bless all the families of the
earth," saying, " Thy seed shall be as the dust
of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to
the west, and to the east, and to tlie north, and
to the south, and in thee, and in thy seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed " (Gen.
28: 14).

Now, it is well known tiiat these promises
were not realized by the Hebrews during the
time that they dwelt in the land of Canaan.
Indeed they could not be, because spreading
abroad signified going into other lands, and not
only into other lands, but into all other lands.
The nation is to spread to tlie four points of the

I ■ ■

4 I
- 1 ? i

')»>

(JOns NATION.

com|);is,s, oast, vvrst. mnth and .south, even to
" all the uation.s of the t'artli."

lint .soiii- aiv ivady to .say tliat Cliri.st. I.avin^r
come of tl.escHMl of Ahral.aiu, and l.uvi.i^r ucconi-
plisluM tlu' ^rreat work of mlcniption by tlio
mciitko of llin..s(.|f.all tl.at was nimnt l.y the
covenant and pronii.ses was fuinUed. JUit the
caivful rea.loi- of the Scriptures will perceive
that this covenant nation was not only a nation
throu^di which a J)ivinc Kedeeiner and Saviour
WH8 to come, hut a nation to which was com-
mitted the interests of tJods church for all
time, and when Judah, (^hri.sfs own trilu- and
nation, proved recreant to the .sacred trust, our
Lonl .said to them, " The kin^Mo,,. of (Jod shall
be taken away from you and ^riven to a nation
brinnrin^r forth the fruits tliereof." And we
think we sliall be able to show quite clearly
that it was ^rjvon to the kinjjdom of Israel.
We believe the Lord still holds that nation
re.sponsil)le for the publication of the ^rospel (><"
our Lord Jesus Ohri.st in all the nations of the
earth. ^ " For what nation is there .so jrreat, who
hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our
Cod is in all things that we call upon him for ^ "
(Deut. 4:7).

CIIAITI-:U JI.

fij

(}(tl) lUllNdS THE NATION OUT ()V KdYI'T.

TnK Fjord said to .lacol), " I will j;<> down
with tliL-e into K;;y|)t, and I will alno suiusly
hrin^ tlioo up a<;aiii." And He did. Alter a
period of four hundrfHl and tlnrty years the
Lrtjrd fulfilled this promise which He liad tnado
to Jacob by brinj^in^ the naticni out of Ej^ypt,
and this was also the fultilinent of a promise
which the Lord made to Abraham long before
((Jen. 15: 14).

The Lord Iiad told Jacob that He would
make of him a j^reat nation in Egypt (Gen. 4G :
3), and this promise H*; also fulfilled. When
this " great nation " left Egypt under the lea<ler-
ship of Moses it numbere<l six hundred tliou-
sand men, beside women and children, and their
substance, which consisted of flocks and herds,
and silver and gold, was very great. " And the
Lord went before them by day in ' nillar of
cloud to lead them the way, and by night in
a pillar of Hre to give them light, to go by day
and night" (Ex. 13: 21).

^^i

-■* <ii>!»'s NATION-

"Wli.-n Urufl. of H,o I...r.l Lilovnl.

Out fn.ir. tin- 1,-ukI of homing,, ctiuw,

!llT fflthiTs' (Ju.| lu-fun- h.T Mlnvcl,

AiKiv.ftilKnid,.. j„ H„„,kf aii.l Mam,..

" I5.V <l.ty. alniiy M„. a.st.,iiis|„.,l laiids
Tlu'.lnmly pillar ^.!i,l,.,l „!,,« ;
Hy nij,'lit, Aiahia's I'liiiisoriod saiulH
!{«•! uriud tiif (ifiy c-olmims glow.

'"•'ImM priwiit still, thuiiyl, „„„ imsui.ii.

^' li.-i. l.riKl.tly .shiiK-s tl.f i.n.s|.i.r..us .lay
Ml- tli..uj.hts of tUvv a rloM.ly MTft-ii,
To k-iiipor till' ilucvit fill lay.

"And (), wlu'ii «atluT.s on our path.

In shmlf and storm, the fre.picnt ni-lit,
He tlion. IonfT_,siitifrinjr, „!,,« to wrath,"
A Iiurniny and a shining light."

-Sir ir. Srt.lf.

That forty years' wilderness jonrnry of the
Hebrews fro,,, E-ypt to Canaan was a continu-
ous ser,es of n,iraclos. The partiuir of the
waters of the Ke.l Sea an.l the trlun.phant
march of the nation throujrli the deep (Kx.
!-*•• 21, 22), the sweetenin.; of the bitter
waters of Mttrah b^- cuttin^r a certain tree and
castin^r ,t into the water (Ex. 15: 25) the
sendin^r of daily „,anna, witich was the nation's
bread for forty years (Ex. 10: 11-15^ the
bringing of water from the rock in Horeb to
satiate the nation's thirst (Ex. 17: 5-7), the

vf'i.'-i

r.itU MIIINWS TIIK >fATI()N Ol'T OF KCiVIT. 2't

k»M'|.iiijr of their <,'iiriii.'ntH ami sIhm-s from

woiriii;^ out <liirin;,' tlio.st' forty yt^iiiH fDont.

2!> : ."»), tlif H('r|tfiit of hruss 'Num. 21: U),

hikI tlh' (livi(liii;r ,,f the water of tin; llivor

.Ionian vvli.-n tin- hosts of Israel paNse«| over

luider (he Iea<ler.slii|» of Joshua (.losh. ti . 15-17)

all these (h'nioustratictiis of the infinite ;r,jo,|-

ness, an<l love, ami wisdom, an<l power of (jod

are eMdrnces of His deep and [.articular interest

in that people, a nation wliieh He foiuided

for lliuis(!lf and over which He presidc^l in love,

aiHl lonj^-suH'-rin^r, un.l ;rreat mercy, a nation

that He had trained and schooled in ways Ijoth

stran;,'e and mysterious for its j,'roat mission of

■salvation to " all the nations of the earth."

Hut Moses, the oreat leader and law^dver of
Israel, was not permitted to hsad the nation into
the promised land l)ecause of one act of dis-
ohedience and utd.elief. The nation had wit-
nessed the miracle of hrin<^dn<; water out of the
rock in Horeh before they reached Mount Sinai
(Kx. 17:5-7), and when they had reached
the desert of Zin they found no water there,
and they came to Moses with bitter complaints.
They expressed their re^n-et for havinjr left
KWT<^. *"!*! they laid all the blame for their
trouble upon Moses. People who rebel against
God are very apt to lay the blame for their
ill-behavior upon them who are better than

ill

«•

1 1

mms NATION.

tlicnisolveH. It whs at this eiscnmpinent of the
nation that Miriam, the sihiei- of Uonvn and
Aaron, died, and t^ey buried her there. So the
occasion was one of n.ournin;r, nt least with
Moses at.d Aaron. This, and the chidinj; of the
people hccau.se there was no water, made the
trial to Moses a very severe one. IJut Mo.se8
and Aaron took their burden to the Lord in
prayer, just as ev<.'ryone should do. ' And the
Lord .spake unto Mo.ses, sayin{,^ Take the rod,
and j(ather thou the a.s.senibly to^rether, thou,
and Aaron thy broth.-r, and speak ye unto the
rock before their eyes: and it .sliull jrjve forth
his water, and thou .shalt brin<r forth to them
water out of the rock ; .so thou shalt ^rivf the
coii^rre^ration and their beasts drink " fNum. 20 :
7, 8). But instead of speakin<r to the rock, as
the Lord ilirected, " Moses lifted up his hand, and
with his rod he smote the rock twice" (v. 11).
And this was the sin of disobedience and unbe-
lief for which Moses was not permitted to lead
the nation into the promi.sed inhcrita.ice. But
the Lor.l allowed Moses to stand on the top of
I'isgah and view the land which He had ^nven
to Israel. And there Moses died, and the Lord
buried him. Aaron died .some time before this
in Mount Hor, and was succeeded by his son
Eleazar (Num. 20 : 27, 28).

After the death of Moses Joshua was called

GOD HUINOS THE NATION OUT OP KOYIT. 27

to the lemlership of Israel, and under him the
nation took poHsession of tlie hind of Canaan.
Then hcgan iHi-ad's con(|UCHtH in .sulxhiinj; the
native raccH for a pericnl of aUnit three hundred
and fifty years. This jjreat covenant nation, a.s
has beni intimated, was co become a monarchy ;
but (hn-in<,' the patriarchal a<,'e, and until the
time of Samuel the pnjphet, a peri(j<l of about
eijjht hundred and twenty-five years, it remained
under the theocracy, liavinj,' no kin;; but Ood,
and was governed directly from Him until the
anointing of Saul and the establishing of the
monarchy of I.srael.

BRIBKRV ANF) C()KKUl»TIOX IN HKiH I'LACKS.

The sons of the prophet Samuel were judges
in Israel, and they became corrupt in the adnun-
istration of the affairs of the nation, and after
long forbearance the nation {protested. " And
his sons walked not in his ways, but turned
aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perveited
judgment. Then all the elders of I.srael gath-
ered themselves together, and came to "-' unuel
unto Kamah. And said unto him, Behuiw, thou
art old, and thy .sons walk not in thy ways : now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations"
(1 Sam. 8: 3-5).

Is it any wonder that the people of Israel
complained, aiid protested, and cried to God for

f^'S^

Iff ^

GODS NATION.

redress ? Here were the judges of the nation
taking bribes and perverting "u !i;'-i; i,t. They
were selling the most sacred rl ^iit^of the r- ople
to gratify their own greed. V-, .^1 migl t the
elders of Israel fear that God wuulJ l-'*, their
enemies (the Philistines) fall upon them to
destroy them. It is a most lamentable state
of affairs, when the men who occupy the hitrh
places of the nations become corrupt in their
practices and barter the .siicred trust that is
reposed in them for money. Th. elders of
Israel had strong reason for crying to God, and
coming to God's prophet with their grievance,
when the judiciary had fallen into the hands
of bribers. And it is a matter for sore re<>-ret
that bribery and corruption in high places
did not pass away with the ancient theo-
cracy. Good men still have cause to cry to
God against this foul agency of the devil,
wiiich has ever been, and still is, one of the
greatest political, judicial, social and religious
curses of the nations.

This form of wickedness dates back to a very
early period in the history of man. The devil,
in order to defeat the good and wise purpose of
God in the creation of man, resorted to bribery,
and thereby won over to himself our first
parents, bringing an awful and universal calam-
ity upon their race. And he tried to win over

itt-?T:

GOD BRINGS THE NATION OUT OF EGYPT. 29

to himself the Divine Redeemer by the same
means, in order therel)}- to defeat the Lord's
wise and lovin-- purpose of redenjption. He
offered the Saviour "all the kingdoms of the
world and the f,dory of them," if He would fall
down and worship him. Pnit the blessed Lord
said to him, 'Get thee hence, Satan, for it is
written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve."

If Eve had met Satan as Jesus did, it would
have been a grand thing for herself and her
posterity. And the old enemy of (Jod and
destroyer of man is still at his old business,
trying to buy over to himself the followers of
Christ, by preaching to them the lying delu-
sion that the world can only be possessed and
enjoyed by those who bow down to him. And
it is painful to see how many there are who
seem to believe it. To some the tempter says,
I will give you wealth if you will fall down
and worship me. And down they go. And to
some he says, I will give you the glory of
worldly honor if you will fall down and wor-
ship me. And down they go. And to others he
is saying, I will give you the gratification of
your lusts, and full satisfaction to your thirst
for worlilly pleasure if you will fall down and
worship me. And down they go. And if they
do not repent of their sins and come back to

>ii

''h

GODS NATION.

Christ from whom they liave turned, they will
forever go down.

When the Jewish officials were clamoring for
the Saviour's blood, there was a Judas Iscariot
in the Christian camp who was heard to say,
" What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him
unto you ?" And those blood-thirsty officials
were ready with their bribe of "thirty pieces of
silver." Thus we see that bribery originated
with the devil, and it has ever been a powerful
agency in his service for the accomplishment
of unholy and wicked purposes. If we are
competent to judge of sin and sinners, compara-
tively, we would say, taking a bribe is worse
than giving one. He who sells himself is a
greater sinner than he who buys him.

We are pleased, however, to know that in the
Dominion of Canada there is K-.t little cause for
complaint against the ju.lici But there are

place-seeking men and pov ..-eking parties
who are ever ready to adopt Satan's methods
to accomplish their purposes; therefore, good
men, as of old, should cry to God for deliver-
ance from men and parties who would bribe
their way to power, and then use that power
for the special advantage of the highest bidder.
From such men and from such parties, good
Lord, deliver the nation.

GOD BRINOS THE XATIOX OUT OF EGYPT. 31

" The advociito for him who offered iiu)st
Pleaded ; tlie scribe, .iccordiiig to the hire,
Worded tlie lie, julding for every piece
An oatii of coiitirinatioii ; juilges raised
One hand to intimate the sentence, death,
Imprisonment, or fine, or loss of goods
And in the other held a lusty l)ril)e
Which they had taken to give the sentence wrong
80 managing the scale of justice still,
That he was wanting found who poorest seemed."

- li. I'ollol:

CKOWNINfJ OF SAUL.

This protest afjainst the corrupt administra-
tion of tiie judges and the demand for a king on
the part of tlie elders of Israel resulted in the
change from the theocracy to the monarchy, Saul
being anointed the first king of tiie monarchy
of Israel. The reader will observe that Saul
was the Lord's choice for the throne. 1 Sam.
9: IG. 17: "To-morrow about this time I will
send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,
and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my
people Israel, that he may save my people out of
the hand of the Phili.stines : for I have looked
upon my people, because their cry is come unto
me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said
unto him, Behold the man whom 1 spake to thee
of ! this same shall reign over my people." Ch.
10:1: " Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and
poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and

GODS NATION.

said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed
thee to bo captain over his inlieritance ?" Verse
24 : "And San>uel said to all the people, See ye
him whom the Lord iiath chosen, that there is
none like him among all the people ^ And all
the people shouted, and said, God save tiie kin<r."
The Lord told Abi-aham that he should be a
father of kings, intimating, as we have already
said, that the nation would become a monarchy,
and here we see the actual fulHlment of that
promise in the anointing of Saul.

Saul reigned over Israel forty years. We
have previously noticed that the Lord chose
Saul to be " captain over his inheritance," and
to deliver the nation from the hand of the
Philistines. He was a popular king, and a very
successful leader of the armies of Israel against
their enemies, while he remained humble and
obedient to God. But when he became great
in his own eyes, and «lisobeyed the connnand-
ment of the Lord, he failed. An.l the Lord
"rejected him from reigning over Israel"
(1 Sam. IG: 1).

There is nothing more fatal to the usefulness
of the servant of the Lor<l than to become great
in his estimate of him.self. When Saul was
little in his own eyes, the Lord made him king ;
but when he became great in his own estima-
tion, and self-sutiicieut, the Lord rejected him.

GOD BRIXGS THE NATION OUT OF EfJYPT. 33

Saul's career ended most tra^rjcally upon the
battle-fieM. He became wounde.l hy an arrow
from the bow of a Philistine archer, and raiher
than be taken and slain by theent.uy, he pierced
hnnself throu-rh with his own sword and dio.j
Sonu^ years after Saul's death, Davi.l ^^athered
his bones, an<l the bones of Jonathan his son
and buried them in the sepulchre of Kish, in
the country of Benjamin (2 Sam. 21:14).

DAVIJ) CHOSEN OF (JOD.

The Lor.1 said to Sanmcd, "Fill thine horn
with oil, and cro, I will send thee to Jess.- the
Bethlehemitc : for I have provided me a kincr
amoncr his sons" (I Sam. 16: 1). "And Sanni.d
said unto Jesse. Are here all thy chil.lren ?
And he .said. There remaineth vet the youn<r,..st
and, behold, he keepeth the .sheep. And Samuel
said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him : for we
will not sit down till he come hither. And he
sent, and brounrht him in. Now he was ru'ldy
and withal of a beautiful conntenance, and'
^'oodly to look to. And the Lord said Arise
anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel took
the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst
of his '-ethren; and the Spirit of the Lord
came upon ])avid from that day forward"
(1 Sam. IG: 11-13).

Thus, we see, God did establish the monarchy

1*!
'A'

i I

■ ^ \' t_

^E^

GODS NATION.

of Israel, but He did not establisli an hereditaiy
line of kings. Thi.s He reserved to Himself, to
choose from time to time whom He would for
the throne of His own nation. And when the
man of His own choosing becomes unfaithful to
Him and disloyal to the covenant, He rejects
him. All the Lord's appointments are made
for the period of faithfulness and good be-
havior.

DAVID COMES TO THE THUOXE.

After the death of Saul David claimed the
throne, which was his right by divine appoint-
ment, and for which he was already iinointed.
But he met strong opposition from Abner, who
was commander-in-chief of Saul's army, and
some say that he was a cousin to King Saul.
According to Hebrew tradition, he was a son
of the Witch of Endor, This man thought to
keep David from the throne, and to make Ish-
bosheth, Saul's youngest son, king in his father's
stead.

This effort on the part of Abner resulted in a
division of the nation for a period of seven
years. Ishbosheth, therefore, was brought to the
throne of Israel, but only reigned two years,
when he was assassinated b^^ the enemies of his
father. The house of Judah, however, stood
loyally with David, and he reigned over Judah

yja-..

GOD UKINGS THE NATION OT'T OF EGYPT. .35

seven years and six months at Helron. l?ut
Israel and Judali united aj^ain un.ier ])avid,and
David's throne was established at Jerusalem,
where he rei<rned thirty-three years.

It is somewhat intrrestin^r to note that Aimer,
who was the chief actor in <lividin<;- the kin^r.'
dom and in brin<,M„^r Ishhosheth to the throne
of Israel, was the very man who, when reproved
by the kin- for iiis corrupt deed, turned traitor
and threatened to have the kin<r(lom restored to
David. " And Ishbosheth said no n.ore, for he
feared Abner." It appears that Abner thouj,d.t
himself sutiiciently popular with the army and
the public, that no matter what he would do
they would stand by him, and that the king
wouM not dare to oppose him. And no doubt
there was considerable truth in it.

When men are elevated to positions of au-
thority and power by political schemers and
wire-pullers and bribers, they will very soon
learn that, if they do not use their positions for
the special advantaore and gratification of these
schemers, they will find them among their most
dangerous foes, just as ready to cast them down
as they were to set them up.

David reigned forty years, and was succeeded
by his youngest son, Solomon. David had
intended that Ab.salom should succeed him upon
the throne, but his foolish and wicked attempt

1*1

«!<)I)S NATION.

to rca. h tlic ilin.n.> Ju-forc liis tiiiio n'sultnl
in a (lislionoiv.l jui.l ti.i<;ic .Icitli. The .Icutli
of Ahsaloiu I, .ft M vacancy as to who .should
suc('(>...l Davi.I upon tiic thron«» (.f Lsraol.
A(h)nijali, who was next to Ah.^^aloiu in onh'r of
birth, th()u<;ht he ha.l th-st clait.i to the throne,
nil. I he uuih'rtook to <;et po.ssession of it in a
clan(h>stine way hefoiv the proper tini(>. hut his
etloit was a failure. A yoini^^ man who is ,so
an.xious to <,ret pos.sossion of his father's estate
that he would tak.' it from under him in his
oM aije, deserves to he disiidierited.

David, however, had uuulo. a promise to

r.ath.slieha that lier son Solomon s!-oul.I ho his

successor: and when Adonijah had comi)leted

his plan, hy whicli he expected to he i)roclaimod

killer of Israel, liathsjiel.a, Solomon's mother, who

was promi)ted hy Nathan the prophet, went to

the kin<; and informed him of what Adojnjah

wa.s doin<;, and also reminded me kin<r of Ids

promise and oath to her that Solomon^ should

"rei^Mi after him, and sit upon his throno "

(I Kinus I: H-1,S). This earne.st en.h'avor of

SolouK.n's mother, indorsed hy Nathan the

prophet, who wjis David's adviser, resulted in

the anointinjj of Solomon kinj; of Israel. Tliis

was oidy a few months before David's death

when Solomon became solo occupant of the

throne at the early age of twelve years.

'i^.^:.

<'^*:

<i«»I) |!KlN,is Tlir.; NATION OCT OF ECiYIT. .'i?

.I«»;il., win, |„i,l Hnm-cdc.l Al,ii..r ..,s c.m-
inan.l..,-i„.(.l,i,.r ..f tl.c unny of Isnu-I, an.l vvl...
wus .-i u.-plH. • „r Kin^r Davi.l, ,..s,,„;,,s(mI the cuus..
of A.lonijul,. This wa,s likHy to ...ukc troul,!,.
for the y,„n.- kin^r, th.-ivfon. h.; or.hT...| thut
A.lomjah, his huir-hroth,.r, und .hnih he put to
«lo!ith, iiM.l this onl.T u-.is .■xceutcd. S.,|,„„„„
•soon hemiru" a very p(,pul.ir nil<T. 11,. was
lamous forp,.rs(,nul wis.Jotn a.i.l sci....tific attai.i-
iiients,as wdl as r,.r th<. spl..n,|..r „r his court
ami the prosp rity „f his sul.j.-cts. Ik- built
the first tuinph. at .Jerusalem, which his father
lia.l in contemplation, and ior which ho had
ma.h- nreat i)reparation, and the huildin<r of the
temple, n-ore than any other thin^j, cont'ihuted
to Solomon's <,dorv.

After a rei<r„ of forty years Solomon died
and was succee.led by his son Kehoboam'
Durin^r the rei.irns of these three kin<rs, Saul,
David and Solomon, exten(lin<r over a period of
one hun.lred and twenty years, the kin^rdon,
reuiamed united, witli the exception of the^brief
interruption as stated above, when Ishbosheth
was made kin;; of Israel. But, notwithstandin-r
the unity of the kin-dom, there were two dis'^
tnict national elements in the nation, known as
"Israel" and " Judah." This is clearly shown
by such passa^ros as the followinrr: "But all
Israel and Judah loved David " (1 ,Sam. IN : Ijj;

lii

■■lilHB

■ ^'1

(iODS NA'ION.

•' !)Hvi<l was tliirty yeiu-H old when li.» )u»^iu\ to

i-eii,Mi, and ho rr\<rim\ forty y.-Ms. In Hchron

ho roi^rnod ovor .In<lah sovcn yojirs and six

months: and in .forusalcni ho ioi;,Mioil thirty

and throo yoars ovor all luraol and .ludnh"

(2 Sam. a: 4, .')); " Then yo sliall oomo np alt or

him. that ho may como and sit upon my thron»!;

for ho shall i.o kin<,' in my stead: and I have

appointed him to bo ruler ovor Israel, and ov;'r

Judah" (1 Kind's 1 :.*].-)): "When Israel went

out of K«,'yi)t, the liouse of Jacob from a people

of stranjfo lan<rua^^> ; Judah was his sanctuary,

and Israel hi8 dominion" (I's. 1 14: 1).

From the above passajjes the reader cannot
fail to see the two distinct national elements in
the kin<,'dom, and also that the dominion of
Jacob was '• Israel " distinct from Judah. St.
Paul says, ' " -y are not all Israel, who are of
Israel." Atk. no doubt it was the Jews he
referred to, becau.se the Jews certainly are of
Isrr.el, but it is ocpially certain that they aie not
Israel. Tlierefore, the readier needs to bear in
mind that from a very early period in the
history of the Hebrews, the two distinct elements
were recot,Miizod in the nation known as " Israel"
and "Judah," and that it was Israel that
revolted a<;ainst Rehob<jam, and was subse-
quently carried away into captivity by the
Assyrians, and never returned from their
captivity.

GOD HIIINOS TIIK NATION OUT OF EOYIT. 39

TIk! <|UcHti«)ii UN to tlio whcrcalxjutH «tf the
hoiiHc of Israel is tmo that has uii;;ap;<l tlic
attention of a iiu ruber of stiulerits of prophecy
and national hist<jry, a!i«l one that we shall
hrielly discuss in the following chai)ters. "Ami
what one nation in th(( earth is like thy people,
even like Israe' whom (Jod went to redeem
for a iK'ople to himself f " (2 Sum. 7 : 2.'J).

■f.

)■■' ; t

niAI'TKU III.

soLoMoys FA LI..
Whkn- Solo.i.on can,., t.. th,> tlu-onc of I,s,,u.|
' -^'^^t^"'- part of his rei.n, w-.s t .rr.'

-W'^''"'l"»"r,r,,,.t.,,,,t,. ,Uli.u„.,.s«.H7,i,|,,,,,
It c,.„,e t„ p,.,,s, «.|„.„ ,s„l,„„„„ ,,„, „|,| ,

w,v„M„,.„.,, „„,,, ,„. ..,,.„•,,, ,„;„/^„

This dopa,-t,„v 1V„,„ t|,e t,,„„ (.,,,1 ,,._,^
l"«e.I by crrupt p,ao(icc., an.l „„wi.,.. ,,„!

° ""■?';"■' ■■'"'• "■'"'^'' ™l"'i-t"l i" .no,al di.,.

,7""" »^'lfamltl,clos., of the ki„.d«„, to

tlie house of David. °

liHHOIlOAM COMES TO THE Tl£KONE,

Atte,. the death of Soloinon l,is son Reho-
boam ca„,e to the t.,ro„e. ,vl,ieh he found to be

SOLOMONS FALL.

a ...ost u.u.isy s-ut, lor th. wl.„|,. „atiu„ was i„
astute oJ fonnent; u,,,! tj.i.s ceniiti.,,, <,1' .jis-
satiMlHction un.l „nn..st Ihtu,.,.. .....n, i„t,M,.se

altrr li,.|„W«);,,i. cam,. i„t., ,„nv.T for he iv-

fuse,! t(. jriv,. ,1... ju«t (lenmn.ls ,,( his s.,l.ircts

a l;ivorubl<. (.,„si,i.,nitio„, which was ...ost i,n-

po.tic. 11. ivjecf..! the- wise counsel of the

<•'<! ""•'«, whose mature ju.|;r,„,„t m.mI ripe ex-

i)enence woul.l have heeu of u,.t.,l.| vah.e to (ho

youn- ruler i,. his ellorts to harmoui/.e co..lliet-

in^' elements an. I t.) win the respect an<l loyalty

"t the people ,u..| he act.'.l upon the a.lvice .if

tlu- youn^r „„.„ ^,„, ,,,,t the kinK,lo„,. Many a

come to ruiu an.l ^rrief fn,,,, a similar cause.

.JEKOHOA.M's FLKJHT TO EOYI'T.

When the Lor.l toM Soloumn that He wouhl
r.'n.i the kin-dom from him an.l ^rive > to his
■H^-rvant, it uwakene.I the kin^.'s wrath ac,vinst
.leroboam, who, on learnincj the fact an.l fearin^
that the km- mi;,rht slay hin., Ile.l to E^^-pt an.'l
<ii'l not return until after th.,> death of Solomon •
an.l soon after his return he was made kinrr of
Israel. *

One day as Jerohoam was walkin^r out of the
city of Jerusalem, he m-t the prophet Ahijah
vvho intimated a desire to speak to him. As
they turned aside from tiie public thorough-

■•Ml

i!t

god's nation.

fare, the prophet caught liold of Jeroboam's new
garment and rent it into twelve pieces, and gave
ten pieces to Jeroboam, saying, "Thus saith the
Lord, the God of Israel, Beliold, I will rend the
kingdom out of the liand of Solomon, and will
give ten tribes to thee " (1 Kings 11 : 31).

REHoboam's mistake.

Wlien King Solomon died, the people of Israel
thought the time had come for them to seek
certain reforms in the government and the
administration of the laws of the kingdom ; for
Solomon had laid burdens upon them that they
were unwilling to bear any longer. Therefore,
led by Jeroboam, they went to Rehoboam,'
Solomon's son who succeeded his father, and
asked for these desired and much-needed re-
forms. After hearing them Rehoboam sent them
away, telling them to come again after three
days, and in the meantime he consulted the
old men who had served under Solomon, his
father, and they advised him to adopt a policy
of conciliation and thereby win the people to
himself. He also consulted the youno- men
who had grown up with him, and they advised
just the opposite course : that he should make
the people's burdens still heavier and rule
them more severely than his father had. The
advice of the young men was more to hia liking

Solomon's fall.

and disposition, so he adopted it: and when
the people came the second time to lieur what
the young king would say witli regard to the
relief they were seeking, he said to them : " My
father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to
your yoke : my father also chastised you with
whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Then the people said to the king, What portion
have we in David ? neither have we inherit-
ance in the son of Jesse : to your tents, O Israel :
now see to thine own house, David. So Israel
departed unto their tents" (1 Kings 12: 1-19).

THE KINGDOM REVOLTS AND JEROBOAM LS
MADE KING.

Immediately after this unsuccessful interview
with Rehoboam, the kingdom of Israel revolted
and called Jeroboam and made him kino-.

The reader will take notice that the ten tribes
that were given to Jeroboam were the kingdom
of Israel. 1 Kings 11:37: "And I will take
thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that
thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel."

The careful reader of the Old Testament
Scriptures will not fail to see that the ten tribes
that revolted constituted the kingdom of Israel
before the revolt. As I have already shown, the
two distinct elements were in the nation, viz.,
"Israel" and "Judah." Therefore, when the

W!WB««»!5P-V

god's nation.

Lord took the ten tribes, He actually took the
whole kingdom of Israel, as He said : " I will
rend the kin<rdom from thee, and will cjive it to
thy servant."

"ALL ISRAEL" WITHIN THE TEN TRIBES.

It lias been generally supposed that the ex-
pression, « Alllsrael," means the twelve tribes;
but the reader will see that such is not the case,'
for the Scriptures clearly show that " All Israel''
was within the ten tribes. Ten tribes were
given to Jeroboam, and he was king over " All
Israel." " And it came to pass, when all Israel
heard that Jeroboam was come again, that
they sent and called him unto the congregation,
and made him king over all Israel : there was
none that followed the house of David, but the
tribe of Judah only " (1 Kings 12 : 20).

REHOBOAM TRIES TO BRING THE KINGDOM BACK
AND THE LORD STOPS HIM.

Immediately after the revolt of the house of
Israel and the crowning of Jeroboam, Rehoboam
set himself to the task of gathering what was
left and organizing the kingdom of Judah. He
also gathered a large army for the purpose of
forcing Israel back to himself. But the Lord
interfered and put a stop to his bloody pro-
cedure. " And when Rehoboam was come to

SOLOMON'S FALL.

Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah,
with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and
fourscore thousand chosen men, which were
N rriors, to h<^rht a^rainst the house of Israel, to
bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son
of Solomon. But the word of God came unto
Shemaiah the man of God. saying, Speak unto
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah,
and unto all the house of Judah, and Benjamin.'
and to the remnant of the people, saying. Thus
saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, noV fight
against your brethren the children of Israel :
return every man to his house, for this thing is
from me. They hearkened therefore to the word
of the Lord, and returned to depart, according
t ) the word of the Lord " (1 Kings 12 : 21-24).*'
Here, the reader will ob.serve, the tribe of
Benjamin is with Judah, and yet Benjamin was
one of the tribes given to Jeroboam, and there-
fore a member of the house of Israel. But the
Lord had promised Solomon that He would give
one tribe to his son, and this promi.se He fulfilled
by .sending the tribe of Betijamin back to Judah.
1 Kings 11: 13 : " HowbeitI will not rend away
all the kingdom ; but will give one tribe to thy
son, for David my servant's sake, and for
Jerusalem's sake which I have cho.sen."

And now we see Jeroboam king of Israel, and
Rehoboam king of Judah, reigning contemporary

I-
It

god's nation.

in the little country of Palestine. These are
the two elements of which the Hebrew nation
was composed. But here we find them separated,
and having their respective national organiza-
tions, and they will remain separate until all the
Gentile nations have accepted Christianity ; then
Israel and Judah will become united forever.
Of this reunion we shall speak more particu-
larly further on.

THE SIN OF JEROBOAM.

Solomon's servant, to whom the Lord said He
would give the kingdom, and to whom He did
give it, was this Jeroboam, a son of Nebat,
an Ephraimite, who at that time was serving
under Solomon as superintendent of some public
work, and also of the collecting of taxes from
the great tribe of Ephraim to which he belont^ed

He was a man of superior ability and of great
force of character. He was very ambitious,
and no doubt expected to reach the throne, and
in this he was not disappointed. But he was
more of a politician than of a saint ; and this
led him to interfere unwisely with the religious
affairs of the people, which was a fatal error,
and proved to be the great mistake of his life.
Jeroboam was afraid that if his people con-
tinued their yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem to
participate in the great religious feasts of the

SOLOMONS FALL.

nation, it would have the etiect of drawing
the people of Israel back a<rain to Rehoboam!
Therefore, to prevent such a result, he de-
cided to take the bold and unwise step that he
did. He established two seats of national wor-
ship, one in the .southern and the other in the
northern part of his dominions; and he made
two calves of gold, and set one in Bethel and
the other in Dan, and then said to the people,
" It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem :
behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt. And Ik; set the one in
Bethel and the other put he in Dan. And this
thing became a sin : for the people went to
worship before the one. even unto Dan" (1 Kiivrn
12:28-80). "

The calf was an Egyptian symbol of the
Deity, and by his long sojourn in Egypt and
luiving married an Egyptian woman, Jeroboam
appears to have concoivetl some of the religious
ideas of that people. When he decided to
establish these seats of national worship he
adopted his Egyptian idea and made these golden
calves, and set them up for the people to worship.
The reader will remember that long before
this, while Moses was in the Mount with God,
the people became restless and rebellious, and
came to Aaron and said, " Up, make us gods,
which shall go before us ; for as for this Moses,

OODS NATION.

the man that brought us up out of the land of
Kgypt, we wot not what is become of him"
(Ex. 32:1). And Aaron applied his Egyptian
idea and made a golden calf, and the people
furnished the gold. There are people to-day
who profess to be Christians who put their gold
into idols rather than into the treasury of the
Lord.

This blind and idolatrous scheme of Jeroboam
proved to be the great national sin of Israel for
which the Lord allowed their enemies to carry
them away into captivity. " For the children of
Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which
he did ; they departed not from them until the
Lord removed Israel out of his sight " (2 Kincr.s
17:22,23).

Jeroboam's blind ambition and his lack of
the wisdom that is from above, proved disastrous
both to himself and the great nation over which
the Lord had made him king.

Oh, how great is the honor and how solemn
the responsibility which the Lord la s upon
men when He makes them the rulers and guar-
dians of His heritage. And when a man, so
divinely honored and exalted, allows his vain
ambition to carry him away from the strong-
holds of faith, and prayer, and humility before
the Lord, and personal devotion to Him, as the
source of all true success, he may be sure that

SOLOMOX's FALL,

his reward will be the reward of him that sows
the wind and reaps the whirl wind.

Jeroboam dit-d in the twenty-second year of
his reicrn, and was succeeded by his son Nadab
And Xadal) was no better than his father for
" h.' did evil in the si^rht of the Lord, and walked
in the way of his father, and in his sin where-
with he made Israel to sin" (1 Kinfrs 15:26).
But Nadab (miy reigned two years? when"hj
was slain by Haasha, son of Ahijah, of the tribe
of Issachar, who took the throne of Israel a-id
rei-ned twenty-four years. Baasha not only
slew Nadab, but he put to d-.ath the entire house
of Jeroboam (1 Kincjs 1.5: 28, 2!))

This extermination of tlie house of Jeroboam
was the fulfilment of the word of the Lord by
the prophet Ahijah (1 Kin<rs U: 7-11). But
Kinrr Baasha, by whom tlie word of God was
fulfilled in the extermination of the house of
Jeroboam, was soon found to be as vain and
foolish and wicked as was Jeroboam, whose
house he destroyed. For Kinrr Baasha "did
evil in the sicrht of the Lord, and walked in the
way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he
made Israel to sin " (1 Kings 1.) : 34).

And now, as Baasha proved to be no better
ruler over God's nation than Jeroboam had been,
the Lord disposed of him also in a similar man-
ner. 1 Kings IG: 1-3: "Then the word of the

F^m

GODS NATION.

Im !

It r

Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani a^'ainst
Baasha, sayin(,', Forasmuch as I exalted thee
out of the dust, ami made thee prince over my
people Israel ; and thou hast walked in the way
of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to
sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;
Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha,
and the posterity of his house ; and will make
thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat." This prophecy was fulfilled during
the brief reign of Elah, son of Baasha (1 Kings
IG : 8-12).

When the Lord chooses men antl exalts them
to positions of honor and trust, it is no guaran-
tee that they will be successful in such positions,
if they do not prove loyal to God and faithful
to the principles and conditions of the covenant.
David's last charge to his son and successor was :
" And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God
of thy father, and serve him with a perfect
heart, and with a willing mind: ... if
thou seek him, he will be found of thee ; but if
thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever "
(1 Chron. 28: 9). And when Asa came to the
throne of Judah, the Spirit of God came upon
Azariah, and he went out to meet the new king,
and he said to him: "The Lord is with you,
while ye be with him : and if ye seek him, he
will be found of you ; but if ye forsake him, he
will forsake you" (2 Chron. 15: 2).

SOLOMON'S FALL.

And this is not only true with rec/ard to
kin<rs and rulers, but it is true witli re^rard to
everyone, no matter what our position nmy be,
whether tillin- the soil or ruhn^r the empire.'
In the liome, in the school, in the field, in the
church, in the shop, and in the councils of the
realm, "God is with tliem that are with him ; "
and those who seek Him shall surely find Him.

If it is true (and it surely is) that all real
success is from God, and if God is always with
them that are with Him, and if beinj,' with God
means loyalty to Hi.n and faithfulness to the
principles and conditions of Gods covenant with
man, and if Jesus Christ is the sum of that
covenant, then we conclude it is only the true
Christian that has proper crround for his hope
of success.

CHAPTER IV.
CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL AND JUUAIL

AnouT seven Imndred aiul twenty-five years
before tlie birth of Christ the kingdom of Israel
was carried away into captivity by tlie king of
Assyria. 2 Kings 17 : 22, 2:i : " For the children
of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam
which he jlid : they departed not from them;
Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight,
as he had said by all his servants the prophets.
So was Israel carried away out of their own
land to Assyria unto this day." From this
captivity Israel never returned.

About one hundred and thirty-four years
after the captivity of Israel the kingdom of
Judah was cari'ied away captive to Babylon, and
after a period of seventy years they were per-
mitted tu return to Palestine under the reign of
Cyrus the Persian.

On their return to their native land they
reorganized the nation, rebuilt the temple,
restored the former religious services and cus-
toms according to the law oi Moses, and they
continued in their national capacity until the

^^H

urn

CAITIVITY OF ISUAEL AND JUDAH.

advent of Christ and tho openinji; of tho Chris-
tian dispensation. This was in keeping with
the prophecy of Jacob : " The sceptn- shall not
depart from .ludah, nor a iawj^iver from iK'tween
his feet, until Shiloh conn*; and unto him shall
the gathering of tluj peo[)le be. Hintling his foal
unto the vine, and his a8.s's colt unto the choice
vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his
clothes in the bUxxl of grapes " ((ien. 49 : 10, 11).

"Shiloh," in this passage, means the Messiah.
In this beautiful prophecy of Jacob the vener-
able patriarch seems to see in the distant future
the coming of the Divine Redeemer, and the
figures he employs are of the same character as
those employed by the prophets Isaiah and
Zechariah.

And now as Ju<lah was to hold the sceptre
only until Christ should come, it is a matter of
no small importance that we ascertain what
became of it.

We will now call the reader's attention to two
prophetic pictures <jf the coming Messiah, and
we shall see how perfectly they harmonize with
the abt>ve prophecy of Jac'). Isa. (\ii: 1-4:
" Who is this that cometh from E<lom, with
dyed garments from JJozrah ? this that is glori-
ous in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of
his strength ? I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in

'41 ;

." JL. — . 777% ^L ::i-"

■m^

^■A.J. ' .'rJ,

rw"

GODS NATION.

thine apparel, and tliy jjarnicnts like him that
tmuleth in the winefat ' I have trtHlden the
winepress alone, and of the people there was
none with ine: for I will tread tin in in mine
an^'er, and trample them in my fury; and their
blood shall be sprinkled ui>on my ;^'arments and
I will stain all my raiment. For the day of
venj^eance is in mine heart, and the year of my
redeenjed is come." This picture shows Jesus
treading; in the wineprcis alone, and his gar-
ments stained with the blood of j^rapes. This
is symbolic of the labor of tlu' cross.

Zech. !) : 9 : " Rejoice jjreatly, O daughter of
Zion; shout, O dautrhter of Jerusalem: behold,
thy king cometh unto thee : he is just, and
having salvation ; lowly, and riiling upon an
ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an as.s." This
picture shows Jesus entering Jerusalem riding
upon an ass.

We will also direct the reader's attention to
the prophecy of Balaam. Num. 24: 17-19: "I
shall see him, but not now : I shall behold him,
but not nigh : there shall come a Star out of
Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.
. . . Out of Jacob shall come he that shall
have dominion."

These beautiful prophecies all point to Him
who, amid the loud hosannas of the multitude
that went before, and the multitude that fol-

CAITIVITY OF ISHAKl, AN'l> Jl'DAH

lowed lifter, iM.uK; His tuinnplml cntmncf' into
.liTUsiiKiii ri<liii^ upon an ass; to Him who sjiiil,
" All j)()Wir is ;;iveti unto nie, in heaven and in
earth"; to Hiiu who said, "I am the root, and
th.- ortsi.ihi^' of David, an<l the bri^dit and
morning' star." ThiH is the star that was to
come "out (jf .Ia<'<>l»" and that was to have
"dominion." This i< the kinjj Muit was to
come, " lowly," brin^irjj; justice and " salvation."
This is He who hoi !s the scei»tre of Israel, and
to whom the " j,'athe m^ of the people shall he."

"The sceptre ell lu mes His limuls ;

All hejiven > iltiiiit.s n His coiuiiiHnds :
His justice shrill jiverige the poor,
And pride and ni^e prevail no more.

" As rain on meiulows newly mown,
So slmll Ho Hen<l His influence down :
His <,Mvice u!i fiiintini; souls distils,
Like heavenly liew ><i\ thirsty hills.

"Thi! saints shall flourish in His days.
Decked in the robes of j«y and praise ;
Peace, like a river, from his thron>
Shall flow t,) nations yet unknown

We have already noticed that after ti.e revolt
of the house of Israel, the tribe of Henjauun
returned to Rehoboam and remained with Judah
durinf; their subsequent history. This wa.s the
one tribe that the Lord gave to Solomon's son

^1!

'..» i\

GODS NATION.

Nf *

The general idea, however, seems to be that the
tribe of .Judah was the "one tribe "that was
given to Rehoboam, as it was that tribe only
that did not revolt. But it will be remembered,
that when the nation divided, after the death of
Saul, Israel accepted Ishbosheth, the son of Saul
as their king, but the tribe of Judah stood
loyally with David ; and so in the great revolt
agamst Rehoboam, this same tribe remains with
David's grandson. And another reason for the
loyalty of this tribe to the house of David was
th ^ fact that the house of David belonged to the
tribe of Judah. But the Lord's promise to
Solomon was that He would give his on one
tribe of the kingdom of Israel, and we have
already, shown that the kingdom of Israel was
within the ten tribes ; therefore, when the tribe
of Benjamin returned to Rehoboam, it was the
fulfilment of God's promise to Solomon.

The tribe of Benjamin remained with, and
formed part of, the kingdom of Judah, until the
overthrow of the nation by the Romans.

THE CHILDREN OF HENJAMIN ESCAPE FROM
JERUSALEM.

At the time of or just before the destruction of
Jerusalem, the people of Benjamin, in response
to a prophetic cull, made their escape from the
city. Jer. 6 : 1 : " O ye children of Benjamin

f. 4

''1:

CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH.

gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of
Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and
set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem : for evil
appeareth out of the north, and great destruc-
tion."

This evil of which the prophet speaks, coming
" out of the north," and which did bring great
destruction, was Titus with his mighty Roman
army, by whom the " city and the sanctuary
were destroyed."

CHRIST IS CALLED DAVID.

When the Lord promised to give one tribe to
Solomon's son. He said," That David my servant
may have a light before me in Jerusalem, the
city which I have chosen me to put my name
there."

Now, we think it is quite evident that " David
my servant," in this passage, means the Messiah.
Our Lord, it is well known, was of the tribe of
Judah, and of the house and lineage of David ;
and He is frequently called " the son of David,"
and in a number of passages " David " can only
be understood as applying to Chri.st, such as the
following : " But they shall serve the Lord their
God, and David their king, whom I will raise
up imto them" (Jer. 30:J)); "And I will set
up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed
them, even my servant David; he shall feed

f.;:.

GODS NATI(>N.

V •

IVt

:« '

them, and he shall be their shepherd " (Ezek.
34: 23); "Afterwanl shall the children of Israel
return, and seek the Lord their Cod, and David
their king ; and shall fear the Lord and his
goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:5):
" Incline your ear, and come unto me : hear, and
your soul shall live: and I will make an ever-
lasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Behold, I have given him for a wit-
ness to the people ; a leader, and commander to
the people " (Isa. ')5 : 3, 4). The above pas-
sages, we think, are quite suthcient to show that,
in the Scriptures, " David " and " David my
servant " often mean the Messiah, and cannot
be understood as applying to any other.

Jacob said of Christ, " Unto him shall the
gathering of the people be." The gathering of
the people must surely be unto him whom the
Lord has made " leader and commander."

THE TRIBE OF BEMJAMIiN CHRIST'S I.ICHT IN
JERUSALEM.

Now, it appears quite evident that the one
tribe that was given to Rehoboain, that " Christ
might have a light before him in Jerusalem,"
w^as the tribe of Benjamin. This tribe being
one of the ten that revolted, and therefore
a member of the kingdom of Israel, was the
tribe that went back to Judah ; and that it was
the children of Benjamin that were specially

:. h.

■ im p j i UM Kgffff

-UL JJL.

»i»'*fel

CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH.

called of God to "gather thomHelves and flee
out of Jerusalem " before the destruction of that
city, appears to leave no (:fround for doubt that
the tribe of Benjamin was the " one tribe " that
the Lord gave to Solomon's son, and that for the
special purpose, as already stated, viz., that
Christ might have a light before Him in Jeru-
salem, the city which He chose to " put his name
there." Therefore, as Edward Hine says, " they
were Christ's light-bearers in Jerusalem. The
Jews could not serve in this capacity; first,
because they rejected Him, and secondly, be-
cause they were not Israel."

" Ye are the light of the world " (Matt. 5 : 14).

" Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven " (Matt. 5 : 16).

" For God who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ " (2 Cor. 4 : G).

" Let, there be light ! " The Eternal spoke,
And from the abyss where darkness rode.
The earliest dawn of nature broke,
And light around creation flowed.
The glad earth smiled to see the day.

The first-born day, come blushing in ;
The young day smiled to shed its ray
Upon a world untouched by sin.

— C. F. Hoffman.

itfi

ill

Mtjjf'^'.i'm*

CHAPTER V

DANIEL'S PROPHECY.

that the children of Benjamin were called of
Orod to "gather themselves and flee out of Jeru-
salem " and It is a most reasonable thing to sup-
pose that they obeyed the call ; and as. we are
informed by Josephus, at the time of the siege
ot Jerusalem some were permitted to leave the
city under truce, it is altogether likely that
these were the children of Benjamin.

We will now direct attention to the pro-
phecy of Daniel 9 : 26. 27: "And after three-
score and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut
off. but not for himself: and the people of the
prince that shall come shall destroy the city and
the sanctuary; and the end tliereof shall be
with a flood, and unto the end of the war deso-
ations are determined. And he shall confirm
the covenant with many for one week : and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacri-
hce and the oblation to cease, and for the over-
spreading of abominations he shall make it

Daniel's PROPiiEcr.

desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Josephus, in his account of the siege and
destruction of Jerusalem, speaks of some who
pled with Titus to grant a respite over the
seventh day that they might observe the holy
Sabbath and attend upon its sacred services
without disturbance, and the request was
granted.

The passage we have just read from the pro-
phecy of Daniel is a prediction of the crucifixion
of our Lord and of the war between the Jews
and Romans that soon followed. The prophet
says, " Messiah shall be cut off, but not for him-
self," indicating the vicarious character of His
death. As 8t. Paul says, " Christ our passover
is sacrificed for us."

Then follows, in the second part of the pro-
phocy, the destruction of the "city and the
s ictuary by the people of the prince that
sliould come." This prince that was to come, of
whom the prophet speaks, was Titus, a son of
Vespasian, Emperor of Rome, who at that time
was at the head of the Roman army.

The prophet tells us that this prince would
" confirm the covenant with many for one week."
This, no doubt, refers to the treaty that Titus
made with some of the people of Jerusalem, by
which he, according to Josephus, agreed to

'^h

GOD S NATION.

withdraw until after the Sabbatli, that they
nji<^ht not be disturbed in the relij^ious observ-
ance of CJod's holy day. And the prophet says,
" In the midst of tlie week he shall cause the
sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the over-
spreadinjj of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poui-ed upon the desolate."
This foretells thq renewing of hostilities, and
the awful destruction and complete overthrow
that followed. Not long before the fulfilment
of this prophecy our Lord had told the people
of Jerusalem that those great and magnificent
buildings would be thrown down, and that the
overthrow would be so complete that there
would " not be left one stone upon another "
(Luke 21: G). Travellers who have visited the
place of ancient Jerusalem, tell us that this is
literally true. " Not one stone is left upon
another."

.1 i

THE NATION TO WHICH THE KINGDOM OF GOD
WAS GIVEN.

Our Lord said to the Jews, " The kingdom of
God shall be taken from you, and given to
a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"
(Matt. 21: 43). This leads us to inquire as to
what nation the kingdom of God was given.
It certainly was taken from Judah, and to say

Daniel's prophecy.

tliat it w;is orivon to a Gentile nation would be
to contradict all pnjpliccy relatintr to the mis-
sion ol" Israel. If, then, th.- kinf,^loni of God
was taken from Judah, and was not given to a
Gentile nation, it must have been sfiven to Israel :
and that it was nriven to Israel we think we
have abundant proof.

In the Hebrew nation there was no law
makin<,' the first-born son, or any other son, the
legal heir to the national estate. This the Lord
reserved to Himself, to choose from time to time
whom He would to stand at the head and bear
the responsibilities, and wear the honors of His
own nation. In patriarchal times, however,
there was a custom that recognized the first-born
son as having a suMerior claim by birth to the
family estate, and later on in a royal family the
eldest son was considered heir to the throne.
But this birthright could be forfeited, sold, given
away, or taken from him. Esau and Reuben
are cases in proof of this. E an sold his birth-
right, but in the case of F ;ube;! the birthright
was taken from him on ac^-ou-.c of his sin, and
given to the sons of Joseph ; and also Judah's
tribal claim to the kingdom of heaven (Christ
being of that tribe) was given to Joseph
(1 Chron. 5: 1, 2). And we shall see a little
farther on, the nation to which the Lord gave
the kingdom of heaven, 'bringing forth the

Mill

■I-

■ i (
I'.

11^

god's nation.

fruits thereof "—the fruit of the glonous Gospel
of the blessed God, the fruit of Christian
sacrifice and toil.

CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN CHRISTIAN.S.

We will now direct the reader's attention
again to the tribe of Benjamin. We learn from
Josephus that just before the destruction of the
city of Jerusalem by the Romans a company of
people were permitted to leave the city under
truce, and it is the opinion of some that those
people were Christians, and no doubt they were.
There appears to be no ground for doubt
that they were the children of Benjamin. In
Dan. 9: 27, the prophet tells us that this prince
of whom he speaks would " confirm the cove-
nant with many for one week." This, no doubt,
was the treaty that Titus made with the Chris-
tians under which they left the city. As I have
stated already, there can be no doubt that they
were the children of Benjamin. This, the reader
will perceive, establishes the identity of the
Christians in Jerusalem at that time and the
people of the tribe of Benjamin. Tliese people
of Benjamin had accomplished their mission
as " a light before the Lord in Jerusalem," and
now they answer the call to " gather themselves
and flee out of Jerusalem."

DAXIEl/s F'HOI'HECY,

IJENMAMIX'S TEKHITOKV.

On thf return of the Jews from their Baby-
lonish captivity the territory known as " Gil-
ead " was (riven to tlie tribe of Benjamin.
Obadiah 19: "And Benjamin shall possess
Gilead." This is a strip of country alonjr the
east side of the River Jordan, extending nortli-
ward to the Sea of (Jalilee and southward to the
Dead Sea, a distance of aljout sixty miles and
not moio than twenty miles wide at any point.
This, as the prophet tells us, became the posses-
sion of the tribe of Benjamin. And it was here
in Benjamin's territory that John was baptizing
when Christ came to him to be baptized. " Then
Cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John
to be baptized of him " (Matt. -S : 18).

" Then there arose a question between some of
John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
And they came unto John, and said unto him,
Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to
whom thou barest witness, behold the same
baptizeth, and all men come to him " (John
3 : 25, 26). This interview took place at Enon,
which is on the west side of Jordan, and about
two miles from the river. So the expression,
" beyond Jordan," would naturally mean the east
side of the river. Again, we read in John 1 : 28,
" These things were done in Bethabara bevond
6 ^

HI"

god's nation.

.4\

Jordan, where Jolin was baptiziii;^." Bethubara
is on the east side of Jordan, and at the point, it
is supposed, where the Israelites crossed the
river under the leadership of Joshua. And from
the best authority we have, we learn that " be-
yond Jordan," always means the east side of the
wmiar. This territory, as I have prev lously stated,
was anciently called " Gilead," but is now known
as " Perea."

My reason for making particular inepMon of
these things is to show that when the time had
come for our Lord to enter upon His public min-
istry, He turned His steps toward the teiritory
of Benjamin, the tribe that was to be " a light
before him in Jerusalem." And it appears that
our Saviour chose His first disciples from this
tribe. The reader will bear in mind th;it
the tribe of Benjamin belonged to the house of
Israel, and not to Judah. This tribe was loaned
to Judah for a special [nirpose, as already stated.
It is true the children of Benjamin were known
as Jews, but this was because their true relation
to Judah w«,s not known. Their identity was
hidden for a time even from themselves, and
that, no doubt, for a wise and merciful purpose.

That our Lord's first disciples were of the
tribe of Benjamin appears evident from the
words of St. Paul (Rom. 11 : 1-5) : "I say then,
Hath God cast away his people ? God forbid.

■IP

DANIEL'S PROPHEOV,

For I also am an Israelite, of the seel of Abra-
ham, of the tribe of Benjamin, dml hath not
east away his people which he foreknew. Wot
ye not what the scripture saith of Klias ? how
he nmketh intercession to God a^'ainst Israel,
sayin^r, Lord, they have kill.-d thy proj)l„ts, and
di<(;re,l down thine altars: and I am left alone,
an<l they seek my life. Hut what saith the
answer of God unto him ^ I have re.served to
myself seven thousand men, who have not Ix)wed
the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant accord-
ing to the election of srrace "

Here the apostle iccognizes the fact that the
earlier apostles were (,1* the tribe of Benjamin,
and therefore (,f the house of Israel, atul 'not of
the house of Judah. Hence he says, " For I also
am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the
tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his
people."

The Jews suppo.sed that God had cast away
the house of Israel forever, and that they (the
Jews; we; ' the only surviving descendants of
Abraham. But St. Paul evidently discovered
this great mistake, and now ho hastens to cor-
rect that mistake. He finds that one of the
tribes that compose the kingdom of Judah is
actually a member of the house of Israel, and
not of the house of Judah as was supposed ; and

(JODS NATION.

•«f i

tlmt ho liiinst'lf, beinj; of that trihc, belotif^ed to
thn house of Israel uiid not to the house of
•ludah. Hence he says, "I am an Israelite"
He was an Israelite, because he was of the tnbi-
of Benjamin.

Here the apostle refers to the case of the
prophet Elijah, who at one time thou^lit that
the nation had sunken so completely into i.loia-
try that he was the only one left winsliippl ij>
the Ood of Abraham. Hut the Lord rolicMil
the prophet's mind when He told him that He
had reserved to Himself seven thousand men
who had not bo»ved their knees to the imai;e of
Baal. So, bad as it was, it was not so serious as
Elijah supposed. Our Father above often com-
forts His children by showinj^ them that matters
are very much better than they suppo.sed them
to be.

Jacob at one time thouj^ht that Jo-seph and
Simeon were lost, and if Benjamin .should go to
Egypt he would never see him again, and with
great sorrow of heart he cried, " All the.se things
are against me " ((Jen. 42 : 3G). But a very
happy chan^-e awaited the patriarch. In a very
short time he was comfortably settled in the
land of (ioshen, with his sons around him, and
what was best of all, Joseph held the keys of
Egypt's stores, and the good things of all the
land of Egypt were at his disposal.

"Ti'MRT y^'::s^iia^nMrtsrv>>^'mst^

IfKlj^'rr'-i.ill

DANIEI.'s PROPHECY.

SoiiM'tiint's ;ro(Ml nic ;;et Mivler tb»' clotn 4"
diHcoMra«;einont and tuuik evfrvtliin--- is <n,> ,(r
wrohfT. T!m- C'hui' h iH ^'oiiiy down and t; *-
ccuntry i.s <,'oin;r wvouj;, aiul iliore i> Httl.- a^-
tryiii;: to nwi!:.- matt s any lit-tk-r liisast*'!' is
sure to < 'ifiu'.

Poor Elijah ! Hi- seems to have fome to tli*>
conc'usjon thiit all was j,'(>ne. that ht- wa.s tani
only one left, and th.y wen .seekin<j his lite.
Oh, what a hunl.'n of distress it must have iiti^d
from the prophet's lieart when the l.oro ui-
fornie<i hiin that tlien- were yet seven thousand
men v. ii.» wen; witnes^in;; f.,r the (.od of Israel '

Wlui ■■
(■■!;■,:,> (.!•;>.•:

mv.v I 1

i have larf^e investments in worldly
hey are most apt to do tiieir best
i ; enterprises successful, and the
i . vdd never forf^et that the <rreat
' I ; and Father, has i'lHnit*' invest-
^j. 11 ions enterprise of the (iospel.
His ar' ihv investments of hne. " (3(^.1 so lovt'd
the world, tiiat he gave his only begotten sun."
" He wa.s rich, yet for 3'our sakes he became
P'X)r, that ye through his poverty might he
rich " (2 Cor. 8 : 0).

We may rest a.ssured that our blessed Lord
will do His best to make the Gospel a glorious
success. But there are three things that God
cannot sacrifice, viz., Truth, Justice and Honor,
and these three things must not be sacrificed by

OCDS NATION.

11 <

lii

tlie followers of Christ. It is truth that makes
men free; it is mercy and justice divinely
blended that pardons the penitent sinner; and
{^is blessed work honors the Lord, ;iud it honors
the servant, too.

Cromwell's army, we are told, was composed
of men who had t'-3 fear of God before their
eyes. They went into battle praying and sing-
ing psalms. Each soldier carried a copy of the
Word of Go I in his pocket, and their watch-
word was, " The Lord of hosts is with us, the
God of Jacob is our refuge." This army was
known as Cromwell's " Ironsides," and they were
always victorious.

The Christian warfare is not a warfare
"against flesh and blood, but against principali-
ties, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in hi<''h
places." What the Lord Jesus wants in this
warfare is an army of Christian " Ironsidej,"
composed of men and women who have the love
of God in their hearts, and the fear of God before
their eyes, who go into every day's battle
praying and singing, and whose watchword is,
" The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob
is our refuge." Such an army in the service of our
Divine Lord and King, and under the leadership
of the Holy Ghost, must always be victorious.

T^fiTTJ?^

'tAi.iU-i-ii'V-.

ns^

. '■*«■■

-i..'f>if.''i'

CHAPTER VI.

BENJAMIN THE HEXtNANT OF JACOB.

?!■

In this chapter we shall continue to discuss
the tribe of Benjamin. There is a \ar<i;c portion
of the prophecies relating to Israel and Judah
that cannot be understood until we first under-
stand the position and relationship of the tribe
of Benjamin. This is the key that unlocks much
of the mystery of prophecy.

It is generally supposed that the three tkou-
sand that were converted on the day of Pentecost
were Jews, but on a careful examination of the
record (Acts 2 : 1-11) the reader will see that there
is but little, if any, ground for such a supposition.
Luke tells us that there were "at Jerusalem Jews,
devout men, out of every nation under heaven."
And the two marvellous features of the occasion
were, that the converts spoke in the several
languages of that mixed multitude, and that all
who spake were Galileans. And who were these
CJalileans ? It has been generally supposed
that they were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles,
but this idea is due to the fact that the true

!i'

•^i^^^

GOD S NATION.

I|n.
liii

ffi

If *

|.s

relationship of the tribe of Benjamin was not
known. The territory that was given to Benja-
min on the east side of Jordan, runs up and
connects with the northern province at the Sea
of Galilee. It is more than likely that the
Hebrew element of that part of the country
was of the tribe of Benjamin, so tlw.L these
Galileans would be a mixture of tlie people of
Benjamin and Gentiles. All the apostles were
Galileans either l)y birth or residence, except
Judas Iscariot, who, doubtless, was of the tribe
of Judah. When the little apostolic band stood
upon the Mount of Olives, gazing up to heaven
after their ascended Lord, the angels addressed
them as " men of Galilee," and it is our de-
cided opinion that the three thousand converted
on the day of Pentecost were the jieople of
Benjamin and Gentiles. We think it very
doubtful hat there were any of the tribe of
Judah among the converts of that day. Judah
rejected Chri.st. " He came unto Ids own (i.e.,
his own tribe), and his own received h'm not "
(John 1 : 11). The tribe of Benjamin, as we have
previously noticed, was the " Lord's light in Jeru-
salem," and that we may clearly understand the
peculiar relationship of this tribe, let us notice :

1. The tribe of Benjamin was one of the ten
tribes given to Jeroboam.

2. It was this tribe that went back to Reho-

I HI

BENJAMIN THE REMNANT OF JACOB.

boam after the revolt, and remained with Judah
during their subseciuent history.

3. The Lord said He would fjive one tribe to
Solomon's son, that David (Christ) His servant
mif^ht have a "light always befoi'e in'ni in
Jerusalem."

4. This tribe must be a member of the king-
doin of Israel, and therefore one of the ten tribes
that revolted.

5. Benjamin was the only trilx; that went back
to Judah.

(J. God called the children of Benjamin to
gather themselves, and flee out of Jerusalem
before the destruction of the city by the Romans.

iis we learn from Josephus, in his account
of the overthrow of the ancient ca; 7I, that
some were permitted to leave the city under
truce, therefore we think it (juite clear ihat
the one tribe that was given to Rehoboam was
the tribe of Benjamin ; and that this tribe
was only loaned to Judah, and that for a
special purpose and for a particular period, and
that they did flee out of Jerusalem in answer
to the divine call: and furthermore, as Benja-
min possessed " Gilead " on the east side of
Jordan, forming a connection with tlie northern
province at the Sea of ( lalilee, and as the people
of that section were called Galileans, and as the
apostles were Galileans, and as those on whom

jji, • <<|

iil

GODS NATION.

wu ;

the Holy Ghost descended at Pentecost, ^qving
thenj power to speak in all the langua<,'es of that
mixed multitude, were Galileans, and as it is
doubtful that there were any of the tribe of
Judah among the converts of tliat day, therefore
it is ([uitc probable that the first Christian
Church in Jerusalem was compi)sed chiefly of
the people of Benjamin,

There is no reasonal)le tjround for doubt that
the tribe of Bcaijamin was the " remnant of his
brethren" spoken of by the prophet (Micah 5 : 3):
" Therefore will he <,dve them up, until the time
that she which travaileth hath broutrjit forth ;
then the remnant of his brethren shall return
unto the children of Israel."

This "remnant of his brethren" was the
tribe of Benjamin which God gave up to Judah
until the Messiah should come ; then this " rem-
nant of his brethren" was to "return to the
chil.jren of Israel." " His brethren " were the
people of the lost house of Israel, of which Ben-
jamin was the remnant. Hence, to return to
the children of Israel was simply to go back to
their own nation where they belonged.

In the same chapter, v. 7, the prophet speaks
of this " remnant " under the beautiful symbols
of the dew and the showers : " And tiie renniant
of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as
a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the
grass.'

BENJAMIN THE REMNANT OF JACOB.

This and similar passages have no application
whatever to the Jews, because the Jews do not
represent the Gospel, and all s'ch passages are
prophetic symbols of the (Jospel of oar Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord says, " I will be as the
dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and
cast forth his roots as Lebanon, His branches
shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive
tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell
under his shadow shall return : they shall revive
as the corn, and grow as the vine : the .scent
thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon " (Hosea
14 : 5-7). And again : " My doctrine shall drop
as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as
the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass " (Deut. 32 : 2).

These beautiful symbols, divinely chosen from
nature, speak to us of the spiritual refreshing
that comes from the presence of the Lord. They
represent the life-giving and soul-cleansing grace
of God, which is ottered to all men in the glori-
ous Gospel of Christ.

Again, the prophet draws from nature a sym-
bol which represents God's plan for .saving sin-
ners. " Drop down, ye heavens, from above,
and let the skies pour down righteousness : let
the earth open, and let them bring forth salva-
tion, and let righteousness spring up tog<.'ther ; 1
the Lord have created it " (Isa. 45 : 8). From

IH,
i !

l-'t

god's nation.

this symbol we learn that heaven and earth
must come together in harmonious action in
order to produce the desired and needed fruits
of the earth. In like manner in the spiritual
realm, heaven and earth must come together
in harmonious action in order to " bring forth
salvation." " Heaven " and " earth " in this sym-
bol are intended to represent divine and human
agency in the gospel mission, the object of which
is to save sinners. Hence the " faithful saying,"
" Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin-
ners." And St. Paul's exhortation to the Philip-
pians is, " Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God which work-
eth in you both to will and to do of his good
plea.su re."

Again, we read in Micah 5 : 8, " And the
remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles
in the midst of many people as a lion among
the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among
the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both
treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none
can deliver." In this passage the prophet intro-
duces the " Hon among the beasts of the forest "
to represent the " remnant of Jacob among the
Gentiles, in the midst of many people."

The lion is the symbol of power. It represents
that superior ability that holds the mastery
over all others. The reader cannot fail to see

BENJAMIN THE REMNANT OF JACOB.

how perfectly this prophecy applies to the
Aiifjlo-Saxons as a race and to Great Britain as
a nation. The Lord .said to Israel, " I will make
thee the head, and not the tail : and thou .shalt
be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath."
" And thou shalt reign over many nations, but
they shall not reign over thee."

Everyone who knows anything of the history
of the Jews knows that these pa.ssages do not
apply to them. We know of but one nation in
the workl to which these prophecies and promises
do apply, and that nation is Great Britain.

The reader will notice that in these beautiful
prophecies the "remnant of Jacob" and the
Gospel of Christ are inseparably connected.
This " renniant " was to return to the children
of Israel after the Christ should come, and this
"remnant" was the tribe of Benjamin.

I ; i I

CHAPTER VII.

^r^?

'irl

JACOB HANDS THE NATION OVER TO THE
SO^S OF JOSEPH.

I WILL now ask the reader to go back in the
history of the chosen race to tlie occasion when
the fortunes of the nation were settled upon the
sons of Joseph, Ephraini and Manasseh.

Tlie venerable patriarcli, Jacob, was nearinf
his end, and Joseph brought his two sons to
their grandfatlier, that he miglit impart to them
the patriarchal blessing. And Jacob, crossing
his hands wittingly, placed his right hand upon
Ephraim's head and his left hand upon Man-
asseh's head, and said : " The Angel which re-
deemed me from all evil, bless the lads: and let
my name be named on them, and the name of
my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them
grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his
right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it dis-
pleased him : and he held up his father's hand, to
remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not

JACOB HANDS THE NATION OVER.

SO, my father, for tliis ia the firstborn ; put thy
rijrlit hand upon his head. And liis father re-
fused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it:
he also shall become a people, and he also shall
be great: but truly his younger brother sliall be
greater than he, and his seed shall become a
multitude of nations. And he blessed them that
day, saying, In thee 'shall Israel bless, saying,
God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh :
and he set Kphraim before Manasseh" ((Jen. 48:
lG-20).

Thus we see the patriarch Jacob, who was the
head of the nation, settles its fortunes upon the
two sons of Jo.seph, making Ephraim his heir
and succe.ssor in the patriarchal succession of
Israel. And this was done not simply because
Jacob wished to have it so, but because it
was the Lord's appointment. Jer. IH : 9 : " They
shall come with weeping, and with supplica-
tions will T !. vi (hem: I will cause them to
walk i>v tho I'lvi fs of waters in a straight
way, wherein tlt«>y shall not stumble : for I am
a father to T«rae., and !"p!n-aim is my firstborn."
That is, Ephi.i'm h- i. v ■ ■ ir. And the descend-
ants of Ephraim, as n-e liave jn- 1 learned from
the prophecy of .';icob, wei* to become a
"multitude of nation •'

Now, in this grea-^ covenant nation God
planted the seed of promise, V\hich v>'a3 to

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GODS NATION.

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" take root, and bud and blossom, and fill the
face of the world with fruit." From this seed of
promise came the tree of life, the leaves of
which are for the " hcalinj; of the nations."
"This tree of life," no doubt, is intended to
symbolize the Gospel of Christ, which is to bf
published in all nations, and which does brinj.^
spiritual healinijf to all people. We think the
Scriptures plaiidy show that (iod committed to
His own natif)n the develojment and propaga-
tion of His marvellous scheme of redc^mption and
salvation for the entin- race. It is true Christ
came out of the trilie of Judah, which entitled
that tribe to the birthnVjht of the kinirdoin of
heaven, but in rejecting the .Me.ssiah they for-
feited their birthrijj'it, and as the national
birthright was taken from R. iiben and given
to the sons of Joseph, so the birthright of the
kingdom of heaven was taken from Judah and
given to Jost-ph (I Chron. .') : 1, 2).

The reader will remember that Jacob said of
the sons of Joseph. " And let my name be named
on them." Tiiis was the name that (Jod gave to
him on that memorable night, when he wrestled
with the angel of God until the bioak of day.
And the Lord said to him, " Thy nanie .shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel : t'or as a prince
hast thou power with God and with men, and
liast prevailed " (Gen. 32 : 28). It was this God-

JACOH HANDS THE NATION OVEU. 81

given name that was han<l.;<l down to the sons
of Joseph, and it was hy this name, " Isratl,"
that the nation was known ever after. This
name sijrniHes con(|Ueror. Thus we see the
nation was ^rjven to the sons of Joseph, Kphi-aini
bein^r placed at the head, and in many passa^res
of tlie prophetic Scriptures, " Kphraim " stands
tor " Israel." meaning; the nation ; such, for in-
stance, as Hosea 5 : i:J: "When Ephraim .saw his
sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went
Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to kin.'
Jiireb. yet could he not heal you, nor cure
. you of your wound;" Hosea 8: S, 9: 'Israel is
swallowed up; now shall they be a.nonjr the
Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure.'' For
they are gone up to A.s.syria, a wild ass alone by
himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers," Rosea
11:3: "I tauorht Ephraim also to <;o. takin«r
them by their arms; but they knew not that I
healed then. ; " Hosea f i : 4 : " O Ephraim, what
•shall I do unto thee f () Judah, what shall I do
unto thee ? "

The reader is referred to these pas.sa^res simply
to show that Kphraim l)ein<r the head, his name
fre(iuently appears instead of " Israel," meanincr
the nation. This nation was lost. The prophe"
says, "They are swallowed up amon^r the Gen-
tiles." But there was one of Israel's tribes,
viz., the tribe of Benjamin, that was lost

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GODS NATION.

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in .Jmliih: that is, their iilcntity as a inom-
l)L'r of the house of Israel was lost, and nodouht
God intended it to he so for a time, until the
purpose for which they were loaned to .Judah
should be acconiplishe<l.

The Jews bdieved that ( ! -d had cast the
liouse of Israel away, and would have no more
to do with them, and that they (the Jews)beino;
the descendants of Abraham were the only legiti-
mate heirs to the estate of Israel. But as we
have previously noticed, St. Paul fully discovered
this great mistake, and sjiys, " God hath not
cast away his people : for 1 also am an Israelite
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Ben-
jamin."

We have already directed attention to the
prophecy of Micah, " Tlie remnant of Jacob
shall be in the midst of many people as a dew
from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass."
And the Lord says, " I will be as the dew unto
Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth
his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread,
and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and
his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under
his shadow shall return. They shall revive as
the corn, and grow as the vine ; the scent thereof
shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall
say. What have I to do any more with idols ? I
have heard him and observed him : I am like a

JACOB HANDS THE NATION OVER.

me is thy fruit found

^een fir tree. Froin

(Hosea 14: 5-8).

This is a charminor passajre; it is a cluster of

beautiful symbols, brimful of the spirit and
ru,t of the (iospc!. The rea.ler will notice

that It IS from Ephraim that the Lord's "fruit
IS found." The Lord's fruit is the fruit of the
Oospel, the salvation of sinners, the fruit of the
kingdom of God, and this kingdom was .-iven
to "a nation bringing forth the fi uits thereof "
The prophet Isaiah tells us that this fruit
shall fill the face of the world. This, we repeat
IS the nation to which the king<Iom of God was
given -"a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof.

This fruit is the turning of men " from dark-
ness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God, It 18 the carrying of the light of life to
all who sit in darkness and the shadow of death
It is the giving of the bread and water of life to
the hungry and thirsty millions of all nations-
and It IS the planting and the building up of the
institutions of Christianity and the cultivation
of a pure and glorious Christian civilization
among all people. All this is the fruit of the
kingdom of God; and the kingdom of God was
given to a nation, and that for no other purpose
than to bring forth its fruits. To my mind
It 18 as clear as sunlight that the kingdom of
God was given to the house of Israel. It is

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GODS NATION.

equally clear to my nund that Great Britain
is the descendant nation from the lost kin«;dom
of Israel; and, therefore, the high commission
of our great British nation is to give the Gospel
of Christ to all the nations of the earth. The
great republic of the United States, being of the
same race as our.selves, is under the same com-
mission and obligations.

This divine commission, to give the Gospel of
Christ to all the nations of the earth, is some-
thing in which the nation should glory above
everything else. Everything desirable for the
nation, the family and the individual is involved
in the successful prosecution of this royal com-
mission, and if the nation ever reaches the
summit of glory and honor, it will be by the
conquests of the Gospel of Christ. This means
reformation at home as well as conquest abroad.

*' Soon may the last glad song arise
Throuj^h all the millions of the skies —
That song of triumph which records
That all the earth is now the Lord's.

"Let thrones, and powers, and kingdoms be
Obediont, mighty God, to thee ;
And over land, a!id stream, and main,
Now wave the sceptre of thy reign.

" O let that glorious anthem swell ;

Let host to host the triumph tell.

Till not one rebel heart remains.

But over all the Saviour raigna."

— Mrs. Voke.

CHAPTKR VII [.
THE PENTECOSTAL (lIUliCH.

We sliall now make some in(|uiry as to the
whereabouts of that "^a-eat nation,' of that
"company of nations," of that "multitude of
nations."

Can we, in the face f)f all that God has said
by the prophets concernintj Israel, believe, as
some would have us believe, that they are an
extinct people? Surely not. No thoughtful
reader of the Scriptures could come to any such
conclusion.

We have been told by the prophet Micah, that
the " remnant " should " return to the children
of Israel"; that is, they would be restored to
their own nation. I tliink it is reasonably
clear that the primitive Christian Church in
Palestine was composed chiefly of the people of
this " remnant," and that this renmant was the
tribe of Benjamin.

We will now continue our incjuiry as to
what became of the Pentecostal Church. The
reader is no doubt aware that a great and fierce

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GOD S NATION.

persecution arose against the infant Church at
Jerusalem, in which Saul of Tarsus took an
active part. Stephen, the saint of God, was
stoned to death, and Saul held the clothes of the
young men while they did the stoning. It is
little wonder that Saul, after his conversion,
would speak of himself as the " chief of sinners."

As a result of this persecution, the Church
became scattered abroad. This was a Jewish
persecution of the Clnistians, and it was the
fulfilment of prdphecy. Zech. 13 7: "Awake,
sword, against my shepherd, and against the
man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts :
smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scatteiod."

This persecution, however, was overruled by
the Lord for good, for these scattered sheep
went everywhere preaching the kingdom of
God, and scattering th3 holy fire, and kindling
new centres of religious interest wherever they
went ; and thus they became what the prophet
Micah said they would be, " a dew from the
Lord," and as "showers upon the grass," and
like a " lion among the beasts of the forest," a
refreshing, and life-giving, and all-conquering
power. So the T,ord did make the wrath of
man to praise Him.

THE I'EXTECOSTAL CliritCir.

THE NIXE TRIBES.

Wt' will now direct our iiuiuiry with regard
to the whereabouts of the nine tribes of tlie
house of Israel at the time the infant Church
became scattered abroad. Aliout seven hun<lred
and fifty years l)efore this the kin^'doni of
Israel, which tiien included only nine trilx's,
was carried away into cai)tivity by the Assyri-
ans, and for some time they were known to be
anionrj the Gentile naticnis of western Asia.
Our Lord called them "the lost sheep of the
house of Israel," and Ht? directed His disciples
to go to them especially with the fjospel mes-
safje. "Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and
into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel" (Matt. 10: o, 0).

Some suppose that because Paul was the
apostle of the Gentiles, his mission was exclu-
sively to the Gentiles; but such was not the
case, for the Lord said of Paul, ' He is a chosen
vessel unto me, to bear n^y name befor(; the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children <:f Israel "
(Acts 9: 15). And when St. Paul went abroad
among the Gentiles, he found these peoph; of
Israel having their synagogues nnd their religious
worship according to the law of Moses. Here
Paul found the people of his own nation, Israel,

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GODS NATION.

to whom tlie " roinnunt" was to return after the
Messiah should come, and Paul l)elon^e(l to that
" remnant, " heino; of the tribe of Benjamin. And
as we have no proof that the people of Benjamin
are with the .lews at tl:e present time, it is cer-
tain that they are with their own nation Israel.

CHURCH OF (iALATIA.

It is (|uite evident that the Church of Galatia
was composed, at least in part, of the people of
Israel, because they had the law, which tlie
(ientiles did not have, and they were trusting in
the law and seeking justification by the works
of the law and Paul in his epistle points out
their error and directs them to the true and only
ground of justification. Gal. 3: 1, 2: "O fool-
ish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, ihat ye
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, cru-
cified among you ? This only would I learn of
you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith / " And in vs.
11-13: "But that no man is justified by the
law in the sight of God, it is evident : for, The
just shall live by faith. And the law is not of
faith : but. The man that doeth them shall live
in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for
it is written. Cursed is every or - that hangeth
on a tree."

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THE PKNTECOSTAL CHUKCH.

Thus it appoai-H <niiti' evidont.asi h.iv.- statcMl
above, that the Church of (Jalatia was composed,
at least i» part, of the people (»f lost Israel.
And it would appear that the Apostle Peter
addrcsse«l his first epistle to these people of
Israel (I Peter 1:1): " Prter, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, to the stran;,'ers scattered throu^di-
out Pontus, (Jalatia, Caj.padijcia, Asia, and
Hithynia."

These " strangers" to whom St. Peter a<ldresse.l
his first epistle, were not (Jentiles, and if any of
them were fiom Judah, they must have been
the people of the " remnant of Jacob" returnin«r
to the "children of Israel," as the Lord said
they should do. And wherever the kingdom of
Israel is at the present time, the tribe of B.-n-
Jamin is with them, making ten tribes, which m
the full number belonging to the house of
Israel.

And now, having noted these changes in the
history of God's gre.i- nation, and having .seen
tlie fortunes of the nation settled upon the liouse
of Joseph, and having shown the peculiar rela-
tionship of the tribe of Benjamin to both Judah
and Israel, and having seen the tribe of Benja-
min (the renniani, of Jacol)) returning to the
children of Israel, we can understand more
clearly, and we can more fully appreciate the
Psalmist's prayer: "Give ear, O shepherd of

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«i<)l>S NATION.

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Israol, thou tluvt Icailost JoHcph like ii llork ;
thou Unit (l\V('II(«st h(<t\v<M!n the chrruUiiiis, .shine
forth. jjcfoiv Kphniiiii ami Hfiijainin aii<l
Maiia.ssch .stir iip thy stn-n^^'tli, aii.l come aiul
•save u.s" (P.s. 80: I, 2).

We woultl call the readrr'.s particuhir atten-
tion to tho order in which th<se three nanus
appear in this heautiful, coinprehensivi! and
very instructive prayer.

1. Kphn 'in. 'I'his name repi"o.s»;nts (Jod's
^rcH,, nation " Israel." The Lord made Ephraim
Hi.s heir, and the nation was handed over to
him as the .sucees.sor ol" Abraham, Isaac and
Jacol).

2. Benjamin This name represents tlie"rejii-
nant of .Jacob," wliich was C'hrist's li^'ht in
Jerusalem and Israel's representative in .Judah,
wh«). after accomplishing^ their mission in ,)u<la.
returned to the house of Israel.

3. Mana-sseh. This name reprc^sents a brancli
of the (^reat national family who wen; to become
a (^'roat and independent jH'ople. But, wliile
Mana.sseh was to become a fjreat independent
nation, he and Ephraim wou! 1 remain one in
religion. " In the;; shall Israel bless, saying,
God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh "
(Gen. 48 : 20).

ClIAITKIt I\.

ISIiAKL A NATION TO-hAY.

Wk will now ask tli<! nwlcr to }r<) out with
us in search for this lost nation. One thinu is
(|uito certain, wherever the ten lost tribes are,
they are a nation.

The Jews, thou<,'h cairied away into captivity,
were never lost, and they are woil known ainon^
the nations of the world at the present time,
and they are known to be without national
tjxistence. Kut Israel was never to cease bein*'
a nation. Jer. .'H : 85, .S6 : "Thus saith the
Lord, which j^iveth the stin for a li<rht by day,
and the ordinances of the ntoon and of the stars
for a lifjht by nirjht, which divideth the .s.-a
when the waves thereof roar : The i -ord of Ijosts
is his name : If those ordinances dej)art from
before me, saitli the Lord, then the seed of Israel
also shall cease from beinfj a nation Itefore me
forev ^ r."

One could scarcely suppose that even the Lord
Himself could use stronger terms than these to
assure His people Lsiael of their perpetuity as a

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GODS NATION.

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nation. As well mi^rht we expoct to soe the sun
an<! infjon and stars ceaHt' to occupy their respec-
tive places in the heavens, us to expect Isratl to
cease heinjj a nation in the earth. Therefore we
say, upon the authority of th.; inspired Word of
Go<l, Israel is a nation soniewhere in the earth
to-day.

Some yeara a<,'o Edward Ifine, an Kn<,'liHh
writer, took up the subject of the identification
of the British nation with the lost house of
Israel, and he pul»lished some very able articles
upon it. Thesi! articles were stron«;ly criti-
cised by men of learnin<r and ability, but their
ablest efTorts totally failed to show that iMr.
Hine was in error with regard to liis contentions,
viz., that the Anglo-Saxons are the descendants
of the lost hou.se of Israel. And thougli we
cannot agree wit!) Mr. Hii: in everything,
yet in the main we believe him to be correct,
and in writing the.se pages the author has been
greatly aided by the articles of tlie above-named
writer.

Now, as to the whereabouts of the lo.st king-
dom of Israel, Josephus, the Jewish historian, in
speaking of the ten tribes says: "They are
buyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense
multitude not to be estimated by numbers."
And William Smith, the author of the Bible
Dictionary, in speaking of the lost tribes in

ISRAEL A VATION TO-DAY,

Assyriii says : " Tlioy kept up their imtional di.s-
tinction aixl were kuowi us the <lispersion, timl
in coiirso of time tliey servt'fl a ;;r«'at purpose,
UiH'usin;^' a knowledge (if the true (Jod, an«l iii
artor.lin;; a point f r the ci.niniiMjctMu<!nt of tlie
«'t!brts of tlu' L'vanjfflists of the Christian faitli."
This is a vnluabh' testitnony for Israel, hoth as
to their itiona! distinction and thtjir reliijiouH
charactei-.

It is not our purpose to track these peoph'
throutjfh all their jou»'neyini;s, an<l to sliovv hy
what particular route they reached any ^iven
point. That would be a task altoj'ether too
ditticult. Hut we sliall look for them throuirh the
marks set upon them, and the descriptions given
Oi' them by the prophets.

ISK.vEL AN INSULAK NA'i.«»X.

From the testimony of prophecy it appears
(piite evident that Israel was to become an insu-
lar nation. .I<r. M: 10, 1 1 : " Hear thi- word of
the Lord, () ye nations, and declare it in the isles
afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will
gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth
his rtock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and ransomed him from the hand of him that
was stronger than he."

From this prophecy we learn that the Lord
would deliver the peoplt of Israel from the

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power of Assyria, " from the hand of him that
was stronger than he." This was the power
that carried Israel away into captivity, and
although they did not return to their native
land, as did the Jews, yet they were delivered
from the hand of their enemies, and are a free
people and a great nation somewhere.

Those "isles" of which the prophet speaks,
were "far off"; that is, they were far off from
Palestme, Israel's native land.

It appears to be a clear indication that God
had located the national fold in these " far-off
isles," and that there He would gather the lost
sheep of the house of Israel, whom He had scat-
tered, and that He would keep them as a shep-
herd keeps his flock. And before I finish these
pages I hope to satisfy the reader that those
" far-off isles " are the British Isles.

We learn from prophecy that in these isles
Israel would glorify God in the fires of martyr-
dom. Isa. 24: 15: "Wherefore glorify ye the
Lord in the fires, even the name of the Loi-d
God of Israel in the isles of the sea." This,
I think, may be taken as a proof of the iden-
tity of the British nation with the ancient
kingdom of Israel. The reader of English history
has only to go back to the year 155G in order
to witness the scene of the fulfilment of this
prophecy, when Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop

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ISRAEL A NATION TO-DAY.

of Canterbury, Hii(;h Latimer and Nicholas
Ridley were burned at the stake, because they
denounced tlie false do<;mas of the Church of
Rome. These men certainly did " tjlorify God
in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of
Israel, in the isles of the sea."

We learn from sacred history that Israel in
captivity prayed with their face toward Jerusa-
lem, and when we read tlu^ prayer of Kin<;
Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, we are
led to think that he anticipated the captivity of
the nation, an event that actually did follow.
2 Chron. G : 34-39 : "If thy people go out to
war against their enemies by tlie way that
thou shalt send them, and they pray unto
thee toward this city which thou hast chosen,
and the house which I have built for thy name ;
Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer
and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
If they sin against thee (for there is no man which
sinneth not), an 1 thou be angry with them, and
deliver them over before theii- enemies, and they
carry them away captives unto a land far off' or
near ; Yet if they bethink themselves in the land
whither they are carried captive, and turn and
pray unto thee in the land of their captivity,
saying. We have siiuied, we have done ami^s, and
have dealt wickedly: If they return to thee
with all their heart and with all their soul in

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the land of their captivity, whithor they have
carried them captives, and pray toward their
land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and
toward the city whicii thou hast chosen, and
toward the house which I have built for thy
name : Then hear thou from the heavens, even
from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their
supplications, and maintain their cause, and for-
give thy people which have sinned against
thee."

This prayer of King Solomon was almost
prophetic. It seems to have anticipated the
captivity of the nation, and not only the cap-
tivity of the nation, but it anticipated the return
of Israel to (Jod, by repentance and prayer: and
it also anticipated divine mercy in their for-
giveness and the maintenance of their cause.
When the enemies of Daniel had completed their
plan for his destruction, that Hebrew saint went
to his chamber, and there upon his knees, before
his open window, with his face toward Jerusalem,
prayed, and gave thanks three times a day.
And the Lord heard him, and maintained his
cause, and delivered him from the hand of his
enemies.

Now, it may be interesting to some to know
that in the national churcii of England the
officiating priest in the public service always
turns his face to the east when he prays ; and

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ISRAEL A NATION TO-DAY,

the house of worship always has an east window.
In fact, the custom of turnin<jf the face to the
east in public prayer is maintained everywhere
in what is known as the Hicrh Church. This,
no doubt, is a relic of a reli<^ious custom prac-
tised by our Israelitish forefathers in captivity.
80 there arc some of our An^lo-Saxon people
who still keep up the custom of prayini,' " to-
ward the land which the Lord <;ave to our
fathers," and " toward the citv which the Lord
chose, to put his name there."

The house of Israel was lost. The pr()i)het
saj's, " They are swallowed up amontf the Gen-
tiles." And it is evident that God intended that
they should be, not only as a chastisement,
which it certainly was, and a chastisement that
the nation richly deserved, but also for the
purpose of preparing them for their j^reat
Christian mission in the comini^ dispensation.
But by what means did the house of Israel
become lost ?

When the Lord wanted to scatter the people
from Shinar He confounded their lancuace so
they could not understand one another, and by
means of different tongues they separated from
each other and became scattered. The Lord
told the people of Israel that if they proved
false to the covenant, He would " scatter them
among the heathen " (Lev. 20 : 38). And they

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■ (lid prove txtreniely false and rebel li(nis, and
the Lord did scatter then, as He said He would.
Ezek. .S6 : It) • " And I scattered thenj ainon<,^ the
heathen, and they were dispersed throu<;h the
countries : according to their way, and according
to their doings I judged them."

Now, if the people of Israel had retained their
native Hebrew tongue, they could not have been
lost, but the prophet said, " With stanunering
lips and another tongue will he speak to this
people " (Isa. 28 : 11). So the people of Israel
lost iLeir native Hebrew tongue, and not only
their tongue, but also their name, for the Lord
said He would "call liis servants by another
name" (Isa. Go: 1.5). But if the people of
Israel had retained their native laniruace and
their old national name, " Israel," they could not
have been lost ; therefore, when Israel is found
he will be found speaking anothfr language,
and not the Hebrew, and he will also be found
under another name and not the old name,
" Israel." But the time will come when the
people of Israel will find themselves, i.r., they
will discover their identity with the ancient
house of Israel that was lost. And this dis-
covery, St. Paul says, " will be like life from the
dead." But the reader will naturally inquire,
" If the people of Israel lo.st their native tongue,
what is the language that they are most likely

ISRAEL A NATION TO-DAY.

speakinff now?" To this we reply, Israel's
mission is to "bless." Gen 28: 20: "In thoe
shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as
Ephraim and as Manasseh," i.e., God make thee
Christian.

Through the agency of this great nation, " all
the nations of the earth" are to be "blest";
and, as I have already shown that blessing to
be the spread of the Gospel of Christ to all
nations, and as the Gospel is being spread chiefly
by the English-speaking people, therefore we
think it most reasonable to conclude that the
Engli' '.I language is the language spoken by
Israel at the present time. And when the
national descendants of the lost house of Israel
are found, I have not a doubt that they will be
the people of the English language and of the
Anglo-Saxon name.

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CHAPTER X.

ISRAEL IN THE ISLES.

: M»

li^^i

Now we will turn our attention affain to the
prophecy of Isaiah, and here we shall find
much that applies to Israel after they had set-
tled in the isles. Isa. 49: 1-3: "Listen, isles,
unto me : and hearken, ye people, from far; The
Lortl hath called me from the womb " from the
bowels of my mother hath he made mention of
my name. And he hath made my mouth like a
sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he
hid me, and made me a polished shaft ; in his
quiver hath he hid me ; And said unto me, Thou
art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be
glorified."

In this passage, it will be observed, Christ and
Israel are very closely connected. It is Christ
who speaks, and it is not to the natives of these
" isles " that He speaks, but to " the people
from far " who dwell in these isles, the people
whose native land is far from these isles. He
then speaks of Himself, and says, "The Lord
hath called me from the womb; from the bowels

100

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ISRAEL IN THE ISLES.

101

of my mother hath he made mention of my
name, and he hath made my mouth Hke a sharp
sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid
me.

John, in his apocalyptic vision of Christ, sa\s :
" Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edjjed
sword." And St. Paul tells us that the " sword
of the Spirit is the word of God." The sword
here is employed to symbolize the Go«pel of
Christ. By this sword sin is slain and sinners
are saved. " F'or by fire and by his sword will
the Lord plead with all flesh : and the slain of
t.»e Lord shall be many" (Isa. 66: 10). In this
passage tire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so
the fire and sword represent the Spirit and Word
of God. "The letter killeth, but the Spirit
giveth life." It is the sharp two-edged sword
of gospel truth that slays the man of sin ;
but the preacher too often keeps the efFec- we
blade inside of a gold-mounted scabbard ad
talks about it to his congregation. No wonder
that sinners remain dead, where sin is allowed
to live.

" Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I
will be glorified." " Israel " here evidently means
Christ ; and this is .sufficient to show that Israel
is with Christ, or in other words, that Israel is a
Christian nation. Isa. 49 : 6 : " And he said. It is
a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant,

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102

GOD.S NATION.

to raise up the tribes of Jacob, nml to restore the
preserved of Israel : I will also j^ive thee for a
lij^ht to the (Jentiles, that thou inayest be my
salvation unto the eml of the eai'th." This pas-
sage applies directly and only to Christ ; and it
shows that while He was to be a " light to the
Gentiles and the salvation of God ' > the end of
the earth," His first work v/as to " raise up Tie
tribes of Jacob and restore the preserved of
Israel."

My opinion is tha* " the preserved of Israel "
refers to the remnant of Jacob, or the tribe of
Benjamin. These, the reader will remember,
were to be restored to Israel after Christ should
come. And they were specially preserved of
God from the awful destruction that fell upon
Jerusalem and the Jews.

In the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy
we have the record of the blessings which Moses
pronounced upon the tribes of Israel before he
died. And these words of Moses w^ere prophetic
words. " And of Benjamin he said, The beloved
of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him ; and
the Lord shall c^ver him all the day long, and he
shall dwell between his shoulders" (Deut. 33: 12).
This shows that the tribe of Benjamin was to be
specially protected and preserved of the Lord,
which they certainly were.

When Simeon, in the temple, took the child

ISHAEL IX THE ISLKS.

103

JesUH in his inns. ]\v sjiid : "Lord, now Ifttest
thou tliy servant <le{)!irt in peace, according to
thy word: For mine eyes liave seen tliy saUa-
tion, Whieli thou liast prepared beforf tlie face
of all people: A li;^ht to lifjhten the Gentiles,
and the jijlory of thy people Israel" (Luke 2:
29-32). It is too well known to need a remark
here tha^ the .Jews have never «,'lorieil in Christ,
but have ahvays" desi)ised and rejected him."

It was the Jews who shouted, " Away with
him, crucify him, cruciiy him," anil they are .say-
in<j it still. But He is the " glory of Israel " as
well as a " li<rht to liiihten the CJentiles." The
reader will perceive that " Israel " is neither
Gentile nor Jew, and the fact that Christ is the
gloi'y of Israel is proof conclusive that Israel is a
Christian nation.

Now let us infjuire. Where is this threat Chris-
tian nation that is neither (jJentile nor .lew, and
of which Christ is the glory ? It ai)pears to me
that there is not room for two opinions with
reirard to this : for if there is a nation on the
earth that glories in Christ, it certaiidy is the
British nation. Here in these British Isles are
the people who have brought their gold and
silver to Jesus for the purpose of building up
and extending the kingdom of God in the world
as no other nation has done. Here in these
British Isles are the people who glory in giving

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104

GODS NATION'.

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the Bible, the open Hible, to all the families of
the earth.

We an' t'jM that some years ago a foreij^n
prince, who knew but little, if anything, about
the Bii>le, visited England, and was presented
to our late beloved Queen. Having formed
some idea of Britain's vealth and strength and
greatness, and of the superior character of her
empire, he askiid Her Majesty what tht; secret of
it all was ; and that great Christian Queen took
a copy of the Bible in her hand, and said to him,
" This book is the secret of it all."

Here in these British Isles we find the people
of whom Christ is the glory, and they are the
people whose ancestors "came from far" — the
people who are known as " Anglo-Saxons " — and
they are, we believe, the d^'scendants of the lost
kingdom of Israel.

We learn from prophecy that Israel, when
settled in the isles, would find their possessions
too small for them, that they would not have
sufficient room for their increase of population,
Isa. 49 : 19 : " ^^ or thy waste and thy desolate
places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even
now be too narrow by reason of the inbabitants,
and they that swallowed thee up shall be far
away."

This territorial difficulty that Israel would
experience would be when thev were far iuioved

ISHWA. IX THK ISLES.

105

from tlu'iii who " swallowed tht.'in up." We hnve
lieuii toM by the Drophet Hcjsea that Israel was
"swallowed up ainon^' the (ieiitiles." These
"Gentiles' were the Assyrians, who carried
Israel away into captivity, l>ut they are now
" far away " from them. And now Israel's
"waste and desolat*.' places" in these w»'stern
isles are " too narrow l)y reason of the inhabi-
tants." Israel s increa.se wouhl be .so <;reat that
their island territory would soon become too
small for them. Tliis became the actual fact
with the Saxons in the British Isles, and
the overflow population of Great Britain have
^one to every part of the globe, especially to
the we.stern and northern wastes and wilds of
the j^reat American continent, subduing the
heathen and planting colonies, and building up
strong, free and prosperous commonwealths.
And this is not only the ca.«e upon the great
north-western continent, but also upon what
some are pleased to call the continent of Aus-
tralasia, so that the Anglo-Saxons are to-day
what ancient Israel was to become, " a nnilti-
tude of nations."

(Jreat Britain has her possessions in every
zone. Her sceptre reaches to the four corners
of the eartli, and as one \vriter has correctly
said, " Great Britain's morning drum-beat is
heard around the world."

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106

god's natiov.

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I will now ask tliu rt'ji.ler tu rea<l eai-ffully
the proplnry of .lucoli concern iii^' ./o.vplj. (J,.n.
4!): 22-'2(>. ".Joseph is u tVuitl'ul l.ou;;h, even a
fruitful hou^'h by a well ; whos.. hmnches run
oye-r the wall : The archers have sorely ;,'rieve..I
him. an<l shot at him, an<l hated him: llut his
bow ttbo<le in stren{,'th, and the arms of his
hands -.vere made stron;; by .1,^ hajids of the
mi<rl,ty (UkI of Jacob: (from lh...nce is the
shejdierd, the stone of Israel : ) Even by the Ood
of thy father, who shall help thee; and ly the
Almi^fhty, who shall bless thee with blessiii;;s of
heaven above, blessin^^s of the deep that 'i^ieth
under, blessing's of the breasts, and of the womb :
The blessing's of thy father have prevailed above
the blessin;,'s of my pro^'enitors unto the utmost
bound of the everlasting; hills: they shall be on
the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the
hea<l of him that was separate from his brethren."
We have already sIk .vn that the national
birthi-ight was transferred from Reuben to the
sons of Joseph, and also that Judah's tribal
claim to the kin<;d<jm of heaven, was ^'iven to
Joseph: HO that the fortunes of Israel, both
political and ec.iesiastical, were settled upon the
house of Joseph.

In this prophecy of Jacob we learn that
Joseph's " branches " w(, -Jd " run over the wall."
This teaches us that the nation's children would

ISKAEL IN THK ISI.KS.

107

^<> forth beyoinl the nntional limits iiml lorm
ii«'W coiitrt'.s of national Viiv iiml stn-iij'th : hikI
thi.s, it in well known, is a characteristic ftatur*!
of the IJritish nation and of the An< Saxon
race. We learn from this prophecy the world-
wide eommisision of the nation. " I'nto the
utmost IxniiuJ of the everlastin;,' hills," and
we also learn from this prophecy the Christian
character of the nation, " From the«K-e is tlie
shepherd, the stone of Israel. "

Thi.s i.s the "(;oo<l Shepherd," who pive His
life for the sheep, and who 'uid, "Other sheep I
have which are not of this fold," intimaiinf;
that His mission of love and mercy was not to
Israel oidy, hut to all men. And He is the
"stone of Israel," the ' foundcuon stone," the
"tried .stone," the " elet L precicis stone," the
"chief corner-.stone." The reaii^r will hear in
mind that Christ is the " stone of Israel," that
is, of the nation. It is perfectly ri^dit to preach
Christ as the foundation and chief corner-stone
of the Church, for .such He certainly is: but He
is the foundation and chief ccMiier-stone of the
nation as well; and this is the ^reat and all-im-
portant truth that the nation is in dantjer of
losing .sight of.

Christ, the foundation and chief corner-stone,
is as true of a Christian nation as it is of :i
Christian Church, and a nation tliat does not

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108

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GODS NATION.

Ill

tft

recognize Christ as its foundation and chief
corner-stont', is not a Christian nation, any more
than a Church that does not recoirnize Christ as
its foundation and chief corner-stone is a
Christian Church.

The Church is expected to follow the teachings
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to govern herself
by those great and holy principles that He incul-
cated, because she is a Christian Church ; and
should not a Christian nation be expected to do
the same ?

The great evil that cursed Israel three
thousand years ago, was this : Their rulers for-
got the Lord, and departed from the ancient
covenant, and bowed down to other gods. It
was on this account that God took the kingdom
from the house of David, and it was on this
account that He permitted the captivity of
Israel by the Assyrians. The people of Israel
partook of the sins of their rulers, and the whole
nation fell into the hands of their enemies.
" For the children of Israel walked in all the
sius of Jeroboam which he did; they departed
not from them ; Until the Lord removed Israel
out of his sight " (2 Kings 17 : 22, 23).

The great need of the world to-day is a much
higher grade of national righteousness in Chris-
tian nations. It is righteousness that truly
exalts a nation, and not only so, but it is the

ISRAEL IN THE ISLES.

109

most effective form of diplomacy. " Opon ye the
gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth may enter in " (Isa. 26 : 2).

Let England and the United States rise to a
much higher grade of national righteousness,
and let them put away the accursed things of
national sin, and let them follow Him whom
God has made " leader and commander of the
people," and the gate of every Gentile nation
will open to them of its own accord. For the
Lord God of Israel has ordered that the "gates"
be opened, that the " righteous nation which
keepeth the truth may enter in."

" Open ye the yateway,
Vnd let tile natiiin in
Wliich keepeth truth, and justice,
Whose king ahlioiretli sin ;
Swing open wide the gateways,
From mountain to the sea.
And liail with joy the coming
Of earth's great Jubilee."

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III;

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CHAPTER XL

ISRAEL THE LEADING NATION OF
THE WORLD.

The Scrii. ill res teach that Israel would become
the leadiiif^ nation of the world, and that many
nations would come to Israel to secure thei
money loans, and that Israel would not be under
tinancial obligations to other nations. Deut.
15:6: " For the Lord tliy Gotl blesseth thee, as
he promised thee : and thou shalt lend unto many
nations, but thou shalt not borrow ; and thou
shalt reign over many nations, but they shall
not reign over thee " And again, Deut. 28: 12, 13:
" The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure,
the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in
his season, and to bless all the work of thine
hand : and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and
I hou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make
thee the head, and not the tail ; and thou shalt
be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath."
Now, these promises and predictions were not
fulfilled in Israel before the captivity of the
nation, therefore we must look for their fulfil-
ment since the nation left Palestine. Now, it is

110

ISRAEL THE LEADING NATIOX.

Ill

well known to all who know anytliin;,' of the
history and condition of the Jews that these
passages do not apply to them.

It is true that some Jewish families have
become great money-lenders, particularly the
Rothschilds, a part of whom, at least, are British
subjects. But while a part of a passage may
seem to apply to a people other than the Anglo-
Saxons, it cainiot be taken as proof of identity
with Israel : the whole passage must apply
before it can be admitted as evidence of identity.
In the first passage (juoted above we are told
that Isi-ael should not only " lend unto many
nations," but that Israel should also " reign over
many nations," and that they should not reign
over Israel. The second part of this passage
the reader will see at onct; has no application
whatever to the Jews, but 't certainly <loes
apply to (Jreat Britain. She r, igns over many
nations, but they do not reign over her.

In the second pa.- ige quoted above the Lord
said He would make Israel the " head, and not
tlie tail," and that Israel should be " above only "
and not " beneath." This also has no ajjplica-
tion whatever to the Jews, but it shows the
position that Israel was to occupy among the
nations of the earth, and it is the exact position
that Great Britain occupies in the world to-day.
The British nation stands at the head of all

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; 81

112

GODS NATION.

I !

nations, and she is above all nations. We do
not say these things in a spirit of vain boa.stin<^,
but simply to prove the identity of the British
nation with the ancient kinj^dom of Israel by a
plain statement of well-known facts. The reader
will see at once that every point in these prom-
ises and predictions is fulHlled in the Jiritish
nation.

It is in Enjjland where the " many nations "
have secured their mone^^ loan.s. It is Great
Britain that is "head" and not "tail" amo /
the nations of the world, and it is CJreat Britain
that is above and not beneath the other nations
of the earth. Therefore, we think we have here
.some convinci ^g proof of the identity of the
British nation with the lost house of Israel.

Here we tind Ephraim, who by divine author-
ity was made the .successor of Abraham, I.saac
and Jacob, on whom the name " Israel " was
conferred, and whose descendants were to become
a " multitude of nations." And this is actually
true of the Anglo-Saxon race.

We have previously noticed that Israel's isles
would become " too narrow bv reason of the
inhabitants," that i.s, "-here would not be suffi-
cient room for their increase of population, and
it is a well-known fact that one of the questions
that has troubled England from time to time in
the past has been how to provide for her rapidly
increasing population.

ISRAEL THE LEADIN(i NATION.

113

But whcji tiie time arrived, in the order of
God's good !Uid wi.so providence, the veil was
drawn aside and the great north-western con-
tinent wa« hroiiglit to light. This newly dis-
covered world soon became an open and inviting
field for emigration : an<l herein the thousands
of England's sons and daughters founded honjes
for themselves and their children and established
colonies under the crown. These colonies soon
developed all the essential elements of a nation,
and for good reasoiKs, we think, they struck for
independence : and in this strike for indepen-
dence, though resisted by the home authority
unto blood, they were successful, and their his-
tory is one of marvellous advancement. In the
development of all the elements that belonrr to a
great and independent people they are unsur-
passed. Here we have the fulfilment of Jacob's
prophecy with regard to Manasseh, ' He also shall
become a people, and he also shall l)e great."

The reader will remember that the fortunes
of the nation were settled upon p]j)hraim and
Mana.sseh Jointly. The venerable jiatriarch Jacob
placing his two han.ls ui)on their heads, said :
" Let my name be named on them, and the name
of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them
grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
But it appears that the time would come when
Manasseh vvould separate from Ephraim aud
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114

god's nation.

become "a people, a great people": and in our
search for lost Israel vv<Mnust tinda j^reat pecjple,
an independent nation of the same original stock,
havinir its national existence from the house of
Joseph, which is the lost house of Israel. And
this great independent nation evidently is the
United States of America. This great people
are the only people who answer the prophetic
description of Manasseh, wlio is a part of the
house of Joseph.

We will now turn to Isa. 49 : 20 : "The chil-
dren which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost
the other, shall say again in thine ears, The
place is too strait for me : give place t(j )ne that
I may dwell."

Here the reader needs to give particular
attention to the words of the prophet, " after
thou hast lost the other." What other :* It
appears that some of Israel's children would
break away from the national household and
withdraw their allegiance from the crown, and
in doing so they would take the territory with
them, and this, of course, would narrow Israels
borders again, so that her children would say
again, " The place is too strait for uje : give place
to me that I may dwell."

Now, we think the " other," which the prophet
mentions as bein<£ lost to the national house-
hold, were the American colonies, now the great

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ISRAEL THE LEADING NATION.

115

Republic of the United States of America. Here
we find the great people of Manasseh, the sou
of Joseph.

The gro\vin<» friendline.s.s and national sym-
pathy that is manifested at the present time
between Great Britain and the United States, is
a most hopeful sign of the times. These two
sections of (Jod's great nation should never have
been enemies. The independence of the colonies
should have been an event with England's full
consent and without recourse to arms. If the
Anglo-Saxons had understood their missioti and
destiny, as shown in the prophetic Scriptures,
there would have been no blood shed to obtain
the independence of the American colonies, and
it is a matter of very great importance that
there be the best of understanding between
these two grand divisions of God's nation. It
is a matter of still greater importance that this
great Anglo-Saxon race recognize their national
ancestry, because w^th this i-ecognition of our
Israelitish origin will come a clearer perception
of our divine mission, wliich is not to light the
torch of war, but to carry the lamp of light and
life to all the families of the earth.

The Lord said to Abrahan), " 1 will make of
thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great, and thou shalt be a bless-
ing." This is what God intended this great

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116

GODS NATION.

nation always to be — "a ble.ssin<j.'

This

people have I formed for myself, they shall
show forth my praise."

But Israel has been unfaitiiful. They have
sinned grievously against the Lord from time to
time, and would not keep His covenant and His
statutes, and they iiavo bowed down and wor-
shipped other gods. " And the Lord removed
Israel out of his sight." He gave them into the
hands of their enemies for chastisement and
they " carried them away into captivity out of
their own land to Assyria."

But notwithstanding the very sore chastise-
ment inflicted upon Israel, the Lord said He
would "gather them, and keep them as a shep-
herd doth his flock."

Ephraim shall say, " What have I to do any
more with idols ? I have heard him, and
observed him, I am like a green fir tree : from
me is thy fruit found." "Thy fruit;" that is,
the fruit of the kingdom of heaven — the fruit
of the (Jospel.

The Lord said to Israel, " For a small moment
have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies
will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my
face from thee for a moment ; but with ever-
lasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith
the Lord thy Redeemer " (Isa. 54 : 7, 8). And
we may be sure that Israel's Redeemer has

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ISRAEl THE LEADINO NATION.

117

fulfilled His promise and j^utliered His scattered
nation sonie\vher« .

And again we say, there is abundant evidence
in support of our contt-ntion, viz., tliat the
British Isles is the plac(! where they were
gathere<l. Here is the national fold, where God
has gathered His scattered .sheep of the liouse of
Lsrael, and where He keeps them " as u shepherd
doth Ids flock."

THE BR IT LSI I COAT-OF-AUMS.

It would .seem most reasonable that the Lord,
having founde<l a nation for Himself, would
choose its emblems; and it would appear that
He did so, as He repeatedly likens Israel to the
" lion " and the " unic(irn." He .says, " The
remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles
in the mid.st of many people as a lion among the
beasts of the forest" (Micah o: H). And again,
Num. 24: 8, 9 : "God brought him forth out of
Egypt ; he hath as it were tlie strength of an
unicorn : he shall eat up the nations his enemies,
and .shall break t' "ir bones, and pierce them
through with his arrows. He couched, he lay
down as a lion, and as a great lion : who shall
stir him up ?" From the.se and similar passages
it appears evident that the origin of the British
coat-of-arms is found in the emblems chosen by
the Lord for His own nation Israel.

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118

GODS NATION.

ISRAELS I'OLICY WITH HE«JAllD TO THE
AIIOIMCINES.

We will now direct attention to th(^ words of
Moses, the <;reat prophet and lawgiver of Israel,
which he spake just befon he <Iied, concerning
Joseph. Dent. iS: i;i-17: "And of Joseph he
said, Blessed of the Lord be his lan<l, for the
precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for
the deep that coucheth beneath. And for the
precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and
for the precious things ])ut forth by the moon.
And for the chief things of the ancient moun-
tains, and for the precious things of the lasting
hills. And for the precious things of the earth
and fulness thereof, and for the good will o:
him that dwelt in the bush : let the blessing
come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the
top of the head of him that was separated from
his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of
his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of
unicorns : with them he shall push the people
together to the ends of the earth : and they are
the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the
thousands of Manasseh."

These prophetic words of Moses were spoken
nearly two hundred years after the death of
Joseph, hence " Joseph " here means the house
or line of Joseph. The reader will perceive

ISUAEI, TIIK LEAI)IN<i NATION.

110

that theso uttcraiici-s ol" Mosos. .ire in perfect
Imnnoliy witli the la-t will iin<l testiiliietit of
tlio |>atriivich .laeoh, with ie;4anl to the iiatitmal
estate of Israel : therefore the hlessiii-,'s which
are eiuuueratetl here hy Moses, are the iinniense
fortunes of the nation, the hea<l of which is the
house of .losej»h.

The last verse of the above ijuotation applies
to the housi; of Joseph when ilivideM hy na-
tional lines, un<l it shows that the two n itions.
represented hy the sons of Joseph, " Hpliraini
and Maniisseh," would jmrsue similar policies
with regard to th<- natives of those lan<ls to
which they would <,'o. " His horns are like the
horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the
people toj^ether to the ends of the earth : and
thev are the ten thousands of Kphraim, and
they are the thousands of Manasseh." This has
been the pi^licy of (Ireat Britain and the Tnited
States with regard to the aborii^dnes of the
countries to which they have jrone— pushin;,'
the people before them, and pushiui; them to-
irether, narrowiui,' their territory and taking;
possession of their heritage. This is true to
pro[)hecy conei'rninL' Israel. Isa. .",4 ; .S : "For
thou shalt break fcn'th on the ri^^lit han<l and on
the left: and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."
Israel was to be the <;reat civili/inj? power (jf

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GODS NATION.

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the woiM, and that is what the Knglish-.spoiik-
in;T people in the world iirc to-day— the ^jrcat
civili/.in<; power: and the more tlioroujjhiy
Christian our means and methods of operation
are, the sooner will we carry our j^dorious Chris-
tian civilization to the ends of the earth.
If these two «;reat Kn<,dish-speakin<; imtions,
Great Ihitain and the I'nited States, are true
to the Lord Jesus Christ, they will increase
more and more in groatness and power; Imt if
they for^ret the Lord Jiod of Lsrael, and become
recreant to the sacred trust of the kin;;dom of
heaven, and compromise with intidelity, and
bow down and woi-ship their own L'reatncss
and disrej^jard the relifjjious need of perishin"'
heathen«lom, then it need be no mv i -ise if L)\e
Lord should permit some sore calamity to come
upon them. But it is to be hoped that the.se two
great Christian nation.s will soon become fully
co<jni/ant of their Lsraelitish origin : for until
they do, they will not appreciate their special
obligation to give the Gospel to "all the families
of the earth."

" Fling out the banner ! let it tloat

Skyward and seaward, high and wide ;
The sun that lights its shining folds,
The cross on which the Saviour died.

ISK.'.C.I, THK I.EADI.NfJ NATION.

121

' Fliiin out tlu' liHiiner I Hiim-lw h»n<l
In finxiiuis siloiKO n'vr thf sjj^n
And vfiinly st-ek to coni|>ri'hfii(l
The womltT of thu lovu <li\ iiu-.

" Flinij out the hnnnvr ! hoithen liimU
Sli.ill Mff from ffir tlio i^'lorious sit,'lit ;
And nfitioiiH, c'lowdiii;; to he liorn,
I{ii|)ti/.u their Hpiiits in its li^lit.

" Fling out tho li.'innt'i- ! nin sick souIh,
Th;it sink .md perish in the strife,
Shall touch in faith its nidiiint hem,
And spring immortid into life.

'* Fling out the iKiiinei- I let it float

Skyward and seaward, high and wide ;
Our glory oidy in the cross ;
Our only hope the Crucitieil.

" Fluig out tiie oannor I wide and high,
Seawanl and skyward let it shine ;
Nor skill, nor might, nor merit ours ;
We conijuer only in that sign."

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^!?Slil^^.

CHAPTER XII.

aOD'S MESSAGE TO THE NATION.

The Lord sai<l to Israel, " En]ar<re the dIhcc
of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur-
tains of thine habitation : spare not, lengthen thy
cords, and strengthen thy stakes : for thou shait
break forth on the right hand, and on the left ;
and thy seed shalt inherit the Gentiles, and
make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear
not : for thou shalt not be ashamed ; neither be
thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to
shame : for thou shalt forget the shame ol thy
youth, and shalt not remember the reproach
of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker
is thy husband ; the Lord of hosts is his name ;
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Lsrael : The
God of the whole earth shall he be -ailed " (Jsa.
54: 2-5).

In this passage the Lord calls upon the nation
to " enlarge " her possessions and strengthen
herself therein. Ephraim is to forget the shame
of his 3'outh, when he forgot the Lord God of
Israel, and bowed dowii and worshipped the

122

r.ODS MESSAGE TO THE NATION.

123

go] ; ;n cai ves vhich Jeroboam set up. The
na' cr is to li- no more like a wife divorced
fro : hv r l;u.sl):.nd, but i:s to return to the Lord
who is her husband, and her chil<h'en are to be
multitudinous, and they are to " inherit the
Gentiles": that is, Israel is to take possession
of the Gentiles as a lawful heir takes possession
of his estate. St. Paul says, " For the promise,
that he sliould be the heir of the wliole world, was
not to Abraliam, or to his seed, throu<^h the law,
but througli the righteousness of fa-th" (Rom.
4: 13).

Abraham here represents God's "great na-
tion " which is the heir of the world, not througli
the law, but through the righteousness of faith ;
and the righteousness of faith is Christ. " 'i'his
is his name whereby he shall be called. The
Lord our Righteousness " (Jer. 23 : G). "And
the Gentiles shall see thy righteousne.ss, and all
kings thy glory " (Isa. ()2 : 2). Christ is the
riirhteousness and the glorv of Israel.

Israel's descendants are to cultivate the deso-
late places, and build up cities and inhabit them.
And the God of Israel is to be the '(lod of the
whole earth." This foreshadows the overthrow
of idolatry and the establishment of the wor-
ship of the true God in all nations.

The reader cannot fail to see tliat this pro-
phecy brings together the kingdom of Israel of

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GODS NATION.

the past and the Angrlo-Saxon of tlie nresent.
The people of Israel were the only j cople to
whom this prophecy ori^nnally applied, and the
Anglo-Saxons are the only people to whom it
applies at the present time ; hence the identity is
quite clear.

A beautiful and important prophecy, bearing
directly upon this point, is found in Isa GO : 1-5 :
"Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, he-
hold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and
gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall
arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon
them. And he Gentiles shall come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift
up thine eyes round about, and see : all they
gather themselves together, they come to thee :
thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters
shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see,
and flow together, and thine heart shall fear,
and be enlarged : because the abundance of the
sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of
the Gentiles shall come unto thee."

Here the Lord is speaking to his nation
" Israel." He speaks of the coming of Israel's
" light," which is Christ. " Arise, shine ; for thy
light is come." The night is past, the sun is up,
the promised day of Israel is here. " Arise " and
reflect the light, be a nation of light-bearers for

^m.

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125

Chri.st in nil the worl<l, as the tribe of Heiijainiu
was in Judaii. In the second verse the prophet
says, " But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
his jjjlory shall be seen upcju thee." This is the
j,d<n-y of the true li<;ht, which is Christ. This
St. Paul calls "the li<jfht of the knowledge of
the j'lory of God in the face of Jesus Christ "
(2 Cor. 4 : G). " And the Gentiles shall come to
thv liirht, and kiiiirs to the bri<jhtness of thy
rising."

We often hear people speak of our western
civilization as being so superior to the civiliza-
tion of the old eastern nations, and, indeed, it is.
But we must not fortret that it is the Christian
'ent that <^ives to our civilization its superi-
. If Christ were taken from our western
civilization we would fall to the Fevel of, if not
below, the civilization of .semi-barbarous ncotions.
It is Jesus Christ who makes our civilization
stronf:^, active, bri<rht, proj^ressive and glorious.
And Jesus Chri.st, it will be remembered, is "a
light to lighten the Gentiles." And He is the
" F^l'^O' of God s people Israel."

There are some religious teachers who tell us
that " Israel " means the Church of God, or, in
other words, all who accept Christ, of whatever
nation or race they may be. Now, it appears to
me that anyone entertaining tliat idea has never
taken very much pains to inform himself as to

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V. jds nation.

the history, i. miiin<r an<l relation of the name
" Israel." This name the Lord gave to Jacob at
the breakinor of the day, after hi.s all-niglit
wrestling with God in prayer; and the name
signifies " confiueror," and after this Jacob was
called " Israel." This name was handed down
to the descendants of Jacob, and it became the
national name of the Hebrews af:er they left
%TPt- The name "Israel" is never used in
the Scriptures to mean the church, br.i always to
mean the nation.

But let us continue in the sixtieth chapter of
Isaiah. The prophet says : " Lift up thine eyes
round about and see : all they gather themselves
together, they come to thee . . . The forces
of the Gentiles shall come unto thee
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy
walls, and tlieir kings shall minister unto thee :
for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor
have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates
shall be open continually ; they shall not be shut
day nor night ; that men may bring unto thee
the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings
may be brought."

In these passages we have the assurance that
lost Israel is restored. " In my wrath I smote
thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on
thee." And we also have Israel's national policy.
" Thy gates shall be open continually ; Jiey shall

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god's me.s.sa(;e to the nation. 127

not be shut <\ny nor night ; that nien may brin^
unto thee the forces of the (Jentiles." Here we
liave the oj)en port oi free trade policy under
which Great IJritain has become the richest and
the mightiest nation of the world. We also
learn that Israels labor would be performed
largely by foreigners. "The .sons oi strangers
shall build up thy walls." This, no doubt, has
reference to the public works of the nation, such
as the canals, and harbors, and fortifications, and
railways, and all public enterprises for the
improvement of the nation's material eijuipment
for defence and progress. These public works
recjuire armies of laboiers, and throughout the
Anglo-Saxon world these armies of laborers are
made up chiefly of foreigners, so that it actually
is the "sons of strangers" who "build up our
walls." We are surprised to find a Christian gov-
ernment legislating against the foreign laborer,
the man by whom our " walls are buili, up."
Legislation that shuts the national gate against
the foreigner who is attracted to our shores by
the superioi advantages which he finds in a
Christian country, is a contravention of the Cos-
pel of Christ, and is opposed to the word of God
as spoken by the prophets concerning His nation
Israel. The Lord says to restored Israel, " Thy
gates shall be open continually, they shall not
be sliut day nor night ; that men may bring unto
fchee the forces of the Gentiles."

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128

(JODS XATIOX.

The forei;j;ner on coiiiiiifj to our country .should
be met at the l.indin;; with a ('hristian ^reetin;^,
and should be made welcome to our fields of in-
dustry, an<l cordially invitcil to our altars of
worship, and every reasonable tneaiis should be
em[)loyed to brinjf him to Christ. P)ut let it be
rememb(!red that the only eti't'ctual way ol*
brini'inir the heathen to Christ is brin-nn;; ( "hrist
to the heathen. Every Jh'iti.sh subject shoidd
understand that the nation's hiufh commission is
from the Lord Otxl of Israi'l, and thai the com-
mission is to " ble.ss," and that our obligation
extends to " all the nations of the earth." Clos-
ing' our iratesairainst the foreijfti labcjrer is selfish,

wort r^

cowardly, impolitic and unehristian. Such a
course is not calculated to iujpre.ss the heathen
as he should be impressed by a l-h.ristian nation.
The.se forei<(ners, in their corres[)onilence with
friends at home, and with their fellow-country-
men, should have the most favorable rejjorts to
give of the people ami laws, and especially of
the reli^rion of the.se Christian countries. This,
we judge, would be a great advantage to the
Christian missionary in foreign lands.

If the.se two irreat C/hristian nations, (Jreat
Britain and the United States, are true to their
Divine Founder, they have nothing to fear from
the foreign laborer or any<jne else. The Lord
says, " I will bless them that bless thee, and
curse him that curseth thee."

ODDS MESSAfiE TO TIIF. NATION.

120

The roaiier will not only sec that Israel must
1)(; a C'hristiaii nation, but that hr nnist Ix- the
ruling nation in thf conunerce of tic worM.
All nations are t<^ be tribntaiy to Isiael, ami in
V. 12 the Lord says to Israel: '' For the nation
and kinj^doni tliat will not serve thee shall per-
ish ; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted."

The faet is just this: The Kin^^dom of heaven
must increase until it fills the whoh; earth.
" He shall cause them that come of Jacob to
take root, Israel shall blo.ssom and bud and till
the face of tin; world with fruit" 'Isa. 27 : (»).

This is the " Stone of Israel " that the prophet
Daniel saw in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, "cut
out without hands." and it "becatne a ^avat moun-
tain, and tilled the whole earth " fDan. 2 : 'U, -i'i).

Awl if the An<rlo-Saxons, who, as we contend,
are the descendants of the lost house (jf Isi-ael,
are true to Christ and to their God-<,dven tnission,
they will ere lon<^ establish Christianity in every
idolatrous and antichristian nation of the earth.
And the nation (jr kinj^doni that will not sur-
render to Christ must "perish : yea, that nation
shall be utterly wasted." But Israel nnust " arise
and shine." The nation must exalt Christ who
is Israels " Lit,dit," and " llin;hteousness," and
"Glory." " And the (Jentiles shall come to thy
li<dit," and they are eomin«r now.

We learn that there is at the present time in
9

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GODS NATION.

■^ if

the New Helti'ides a movement for annexation
to the British Empire. A petition siijiied hy a
hundred and six chiefs and others has heeii for-
warded to the British Government, in wliich tlie
petitioners pray to be annexed to Great Britain.
The petitioners say tiiey believe that under tlie
British Government they would enjoy justice and
peace, and that they would become ac([uainted
with the En<flish languai^e, and that they would
enjoy the blbssin^^s of Christian civilization
which, they say, "always comes throu<;h England,
the most humane race toward the black man."
This looks like the birth of a nation in a day.

The reader will undei'stand that if the author's
view is the correct one, the Anido-Saxons are
the descendants of the lost kin<rdom of Israel,
who, in their national capacity, are Great Britain
and the United States of America. If these
two grand divisions of the Saxon race stand
tot^ether they can dictate terms to the world ;
and if they stand together for Christ (which
they must do if true to their Divine mission),
then the terms which they shall dictate will be
righteous and for the peace and prosperity of all
nations. Then will come the promised time of
universal peace, when " nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more."

god's message to the nation. 131

•' No Htrife shall mj,'e, iiur hostile fciuls
Disturb those pcat'oful years ;
To plouijlishiirus men shiill bout their swords,
To pruning-hooks their speurs.

No longer hosts, encountering hosts.

Shall crowds of slain deplore ;
They hang the truni;.et in the hall,

And study war no more.

Come, then, () house of .lacob '. come

To worship at His shrine ;
And walking in the Lght of (iod,

With holy beauties shine."

— M. Bruce.

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CHAPTKR XIII.
GREAT BRITAIN IN EUWT.

In this chjiptiT we shall diioct attention to
the fulfihnent of prophecy, as seen in the posi-
tion that Great Britain occupies at the present
ti'»»c in Kj^ypt. Isu (50:14: "The sons also of
t) ' !.. that atHicted thee shall come bendinj^' unto
thee; and all they tliat despised thee shall bow
themselves down at the soles of tJjy feet."

This passatjfe, no doubt, refers to the E;,'yp-
tians, the people who despised and afflicted Israel
and enslaved them. But tlieir sons, the prophet
says, would come " bending " unto Israel ; they
would " bow down at the soles of Israel's feet."
And the reader, no tloubt, is aware that the posi-
tion which Great Britain liolds in Egypt to day
is a literal fulfilment of this prophecy. Egypt
bows down to England, and is at the present
time under a British protectorate. How strangely
things do change sometimes in the history of
men and families and nations !

Joseph's brethren were jealous of him, and their
jealousy grew into hatred, and they treated him

132

GHKAT imiTAIN IN K(iYIT.

133

most Piiielly ami sold him Solomon says : " -It-al-
otlsy is cnifl us tliH ;^ruvf: the coals tin rcol' air
coals of fiiv, whicli hatli a most vcht'iiioit llaiiu' "
^Caiit. S : <)). Hut a <freat clian;;*' awaittd tlu-se
hrcthroM in the futuic. This chari;;i' was t'oro-
Hha(U)\vt'<l in Josopli's dreams. Joseph (hcamed
that he and his brethren were liindinj,' sheaves
in the field, and the sheaves of his brethren
stood round about and made obeisanct; to his
sheaf : and he also (Ireanted that the sun, moon
and eleven stars made obeisance to him. Later
on in the history of the family, we seetliis same
Josej)!! exalted U) a position of <;reat honor, only
second to the kinir himself, an<l havin<r control of
all the wealth of K<;ypt. We see these brethren
who hated him and .sold him, standing ' fore
him and bowing down to him, and lece-ivin^ aid
from his hand. Still later on we see this Hebnnv
nation enslaved, despised and attiicted by the
Egyptians. But in the distant future there
would come a time when this Hebrew nation
would be exalted to honor, wealth, great-
ness and power. It will be remembered that
the fortunes of the nation were settled upon the
house of Joseph. And the time would come
when the de.scendants of these Egyptians would
come bending to Israel. an<l "bowing themselves
down at the soles of tlieir feet." We have only
to look at the position that Great Britain holds

III

13i

(lODS NATION.

in K<;y|»t at tl'o prosent tiiiu! to. sen tlio fultilmt'ut
of this prophecy. (Jroiit Britain holds tho nias-
t(.'ry to-(hiy where, in the lonj^ a<»o, our ancestors
were enslavetl, despised and atHicted. This, we
think, is a very cU^ar and stronj^ ])roof that the
British nation is the descendant nation of th«!
ancient kin^fdoni of Israel.

^ ■"

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ISUAKL DEiaVES STUEXfJTII FROM THE
(iENTILES.

The Lord said to Israel, "Tliou shalt .snck the
milk of the (uMitile.s." This passage teaches us
that, couuncM'cially, Israel would draw the ele-
ments of life, and j^rowth, and stren<;th, and
wealth from the (Jentile nations — " suck tlie milk
of the (Jentiles." It is a fact well known,
that iKjtli Great Britain ami the United States
do draw innnensely from all other nations the
elements of streuf^th, and fjrowth, and wealth ;
and while some of the CJ«ntile countries are in
national decline, and none of them making much
advancement. Great Britain and the United
States arc most vigorou.sly developing their own
resources and pushing forward with ever-increas-
ing speed to greater greatness and power.

It is true the Lord chastised His nation most
severely, and cast them off for a time, and scat-
tered them among the heathen ; but He still
watched over them, and preserved them, and said

^-^-^^feJllFAfXIL-akJ^.. ..ic^

fJHKAT nRfTAlV I\ F.CYI'T.

lU.-)

unto tluMii, " Kt'ur thou not, (' my s.Tviint .liicol.,
saith tin- Lor<l : lu-itluT Ih' <lisin.iy«'<l, O Isru.-I ;
Tor, lo, I will Hjivr tliec Troiii alar, aiwl lliy sr.-.l
from tlif laud of tluMf i-aptivity: and .lai-oh shall
return, and shall !•<• in nst, and he .|uift, and
none shall make him afrai.l. For I am with
th.'.'. saith the Lord, to save the.-: though I
maki- a lull nid of all nations whith.r I ha\ .•
,scattercd th.e. y.'t will I not make a full end of
thee : hut I will correct thee in nuasur- , and will
not le.'ivethee Mlto;;eth<r unpunished" (.ler. :{<);

10, 11).

'I'his projihecy, which is repeated in Jer. 4t( :
27, 2S, contains a very precious pnauise to I-rael.
The substance of this promise is, tirst, thai rhey
HJiould 1)0 delivered from their captivity, and
second, that the Jiation should not pass away and
become extinct. Thou^di other nations may
come to a full end, Israel -shall remain a nation.
Therefore, as wo have said before, tlie lost km;^'-
dom of Isra«d is a nation somewhere in the earth
to-dav. And our contention is that it is the
P»ritish nation.

In many countries to which the An^do-Saxons
have f(one, the native races have {greatly declined,
and in some instances they havf totally dis-
appeared. So that while the Kn^lish-speakin^'
people arc advanciiiix in population, wealth, edu-
cation and general intelligence, a ' full end" is

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GODS NATION.

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^ ■

being made of those ra-^es that precederl them in
those lands. All this is true to prophecy con-
cerning Israel. It is another strong proof of
our identity with the lost house of Israel, and
it is in this way that the descendants of the
house of Joseph have become " a multitude of
nations." They have 'pushed the people to-
gether to the ends of tiie earth," and have taken
possession of their " lieritages," just as God said
they should do, They have built up a great
and powerful company of nations in the western
and northern world. It is truly amazing, when
we consider that the greater part of this mar-
vellous development and advancement has been
accomplished within the last two hundred years.

THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT.

The Lord said to Abraham, " I will establish
my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed
after thee in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant." This covenant, as we have noticed,
God renewed with Isaac, and afterwards with
Jacob, and still later with Moses and the nation.
Ex. 34 : 27, 2« : " And the Lord said unto
Moses, Write thou these words : for after the
tenor of these words I have made a covenant
with thee and with Israel. And he was there
with the Lord forty days and forty nights : he
did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he

GREAT BRITAIN IN EGYPT.

137

wrote upon tlio tallies the Wi^-rds of the covenant,
the ten coiiniiandnients."

Now, if in our search for lost Israel we follow
this divine constellation, it will surely conduct
us to the " place of his tent," for Israel is a cov-
enant nation, and wherever the nation is found
it iDUst he found havinrr a constitution and laws
based upon the covenant that God made with
Moses and Israel, and the sum of that covenant
is the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments.

Now, when we come to the British Isles we
find a monarchy whose constitution and laws
are founded upon the Ten Commandments. This
is the monarchy of the united kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland The following are the
words of this covenant (Ex. 20 : 3-17} :

" 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

" 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth :.

" 5. Thou shalt not bow down thy.self to them,
nor serve them : for I the Lord thj' God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me ;

" 6. And showing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me, and keep my command-
ments.

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GODS NATION.

! V

"7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

"8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it
holy.

" 9. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy
work :

" 10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-
servant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates :

" IL For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in them i;;, and
rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord
blessed the sabbatli day, and hallowed it.

" 1 2. Honor thy father and thy mother : that
tliy days may be long upon the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.

" 13. Thou shalt not kill.

" 14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

' 15. Thou shalt not steal.

" 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.

" 17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his
man.servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's,"

The prophet Isaiah says, " The isles shall wait

GREAT BRITAIN IN EGYPT,

139

for his law " (Isa. 42 : 4). This law is thr cov-
enant that God made with Abraham. au«l re-
newed it with Isaac and Jacob, and finally with
Moses and the nation. Ps. 105:.S-10: "He
hath remembered his covenant for ever, the /ord
which he commanded to a thousand (generations.
Which covenant he made with Abraham, and
his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same
unto Jacol) for a law, and to Israel for an ever-
lasting covenant." This covenant, we see, was
handed down to the nation for a " law," and
this doubtless is the law for which the " Isles "

waited.

This covenant law, we perceive, was to extend
to a " thousand generations," and the words of
this covenant are the "Ten Commandments."
Now, from Abraham to Christ there we^ ^ only
about forty-two generations, so it is evident the
covenant was intended for all time.

In a sermon delivered by the Rev. Mr. Scott,
in the city of Quebec, to the first Canadian con-
tingent as they were leaving for South Africa,
the preacher said: '^Looking back over three
thousand years, we can see the half-civilized
tribes pouring from the southern mountains into
the valley of Jordan, animated by devotion to
God and law, bearing with them the charter of
the world's freedom. It is in no spirit of blind
patriotism, nor is it with any sense of incon-

III

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140

god's nation.

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gruity that I pass from the divine mission of
the Hebrewr of old to that of the Anglo-Saxon
peoples of to-day. We stand to-day as an
empire comprising one-fifth of the human race,
in the van of civilization. The charter of the
world's freedom, once grasped by the warrior
hands of ancient Israel, surely rests now in the
keeping of England and her great daughter
empire of the West. Israel's Sinaitic law is our
law, Israel's God is our God, and with a wider
conception of responsibility than Israel ever
attained to, we go to the ends of the earth pro-
claiming human liberty and the Christ of human
salvation. England and England's flag must
remain the symbol of our common patriotism.
Btit the British Empire, the empire of the future,
the empire rising with the sun of a new century,
18 founded on deeper principles than mere senti-
mental devotion to the land of our fathers. The
principles underlying it are the liberty, and
brotherhood, and welfare of man."

It is evident from the above extract that the
preacher believes in the Hebrew origin of the
Anglo-Saxon race, and also that the charter of
the world's freedom is in their possession. This
is one of the great and important facts that we,
as British and American subjects, need to under-
stand—a fact that, we think, the Scriptures
plainly show. And when England and the
United States awake to a clear perception of

GREAT BRITAIN IN EGVPT.

141

this fact, they will then recognize their responsi-
bility for the freedom and salvation of all
men. When these two great Christian nations
become fully alive to the fact of their identity
with the house of Israel, we may then look for
a forward movement for the salvation of the
world, such as has never been seen.

"Our country's voice is pleading,

Ye men of God, luise I
His providence is leading.

The land before you lies ;
Day-gle-iin.s are o'er it brightening.

And promise clothes the soil ;
Wide tields, fr)r harvest whitening,

Invite the reaper's toil.

" Go where the waves are breaking

Along the ocean shore,
Christ's precious gospel taking.

More rich than golden ore ;
Go to the woodman's dwelling,

Go to the prairie broad.
The wondrous story telling,

The mercy of our God.

" The love of Christ unfolding.
Speed on from east to west,
Till all, his cross beholding.

In him are fully blest.
Great Author of salvation,

Haste, haste the glorious day.
When we, a ransomed nation,
Thy sceptre shall obey 1 "

— Mrs. Anderson.

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CHAPTER XIV.

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SOME OF THE ISRAELITES ARE SEXT TO
THE ISLES AFAR OFF.

Ix Isa. GG: 19 the Lord says: "I will set a
sign amoiijr tlieiii, and I will send those that
escape of them unto the nations ... to the
isles afar off, that have not heard my fame,
neither Jiave seen my glory; and they shall
declare my glory among the Gentiles."

When the Assyrians carried the kingdom of
Israel away into captivity, there were some of
the Israelites w ho made their escape from their
enemies, and it is of these, no doubt, the Lord
speaks in the above passage. He said He would
send them to the " isles afar off," that had not
heard His "fame" nor seen His "glory," and that
they shoidd "declare his glory amon^ the
Gentiles."

Edward Hine, the author to whom reference
has previously been made, is of the opinion that
those who escaped were the people of the tribe
of Dan, who, as he thinks, came into Ireland
about the time of the captivity of Israel ; and

142

ISRAELITES SENT TO THE ISLES AFAU OFF. 143

there certainly is some very weij^'hty evidence
ill support of that opinion.

There are some thin<;s in connection witli the
tribe of Dan that are not easily explained.
Jacob said, " Dan shall .jud<(e his people as one
of the tribes of Israel" (Gen. 41): IG). What
this really means is difficult to understand. But
it seems to imply self-government. In the
seventh chapter of the book of Revelation we
have the record of the sealing of the hundred
and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the
children of Israel, twelve thousand from each
tribe. But, strange to say, the tribe of Dan is
omitted, and a second twelve thousand is taken
from the house of Joseph under the name of
Manasseh, Joseph's elder .son.

Now, if Mr. nine's opinion with regard to the
tribe of Dan settling in Ireland be correct, and
if the prophecy of Jacob respecting the tribe
of Dan imply self-government, then it is pos-
sible that 'His is the explanation of Ireland's
persistent demand for " home rule." But Irelan<l
has had " home rule," and from the testimony of
history we learn that it was a very unhappy
and unsuccessful rule. We believe it is quite cor-
rect to say that Ireland was never governed
better than she is at the present time, and it
is very doubtful that home rule, such as some of
the Irish are seeking, would improve the con-
dition of Ireland in any way.

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144

aODS NATION.

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But Jacob'n prophecy concernin'j the tribe of
Dan continues. " Dun .sliall be a serpijnt by the
way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse
lieels, HO that his rider shall fall backward."
This prophecy is not by any nusans contpli-
nientary to the tribe of Dan. The serpent is a
s'-inbol of evil, the representative of deception,
and treachery, and cruelty. He lurks by tlie
wayside, and from his place of hidin<^ lie leaps
upon his prey. " He bites the horse heeds."

The bitten or bruised heel is a symbol of
trouble, pain and sorrow, but not of conijuest.
In the Lord's first promise of a Redeemer the
" bruised heel " is used to syiid)()li/e all the trials,
sorrow and suffering that our Saviour endured
while pursuin|)^ His mission of love and mercy in
the world.

But the " bruised head " of the serpent syin-
bolizes our Lord's (glorious conquest in His fin-
ished work of redemption. Thank the Lord for
that glorious con<|uest.

And in connection with the aibninistration of
government in Ireland, England has had many
experiences of the " biting of the horse heels,"
notably the Ph<t'nix Park tragedy, on the Gth
of May, 18S2, when Lord Frederick Charles
Cavendish, Chief Secretary of Ireland, and
Thomas Henry Burke, Under Secretary of Ire-
land, were cruelly assassinated in the open light

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ISRAELITES SENT TO THE ISLES AFAR OFF. 145

of day, by men who repivsenteU a. society known
as "The Irisli InvincibleH." These aHsa.s.sinate<l
representatives of the j^overnnient were the
"riders" wlio fell "backward."

But wliether those who effected their escape
from tlie Assyrians were the people of the
tribe of Dan or not, is not a matter of very
much importance to our subject : tiie in»portant
fact is that some did escape, ami the Lord said
He would " send them to the nations," " to the
isles afar ofF" that had not heard His "fame"
lior " seen his glory," and thnt they should
"declare his glory among the (Jentiles."

Now, I suppose, tliere is but one opinion as to
what is meant by " my glory." This, doubtless,
is the Gospel of Christ. St. Paul says, " God,
who connnanded the light to shine out of dark-
ness, hath ghined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ " (2 Cor. 4 : G).

We are told that ^.. ..lOses came forth from
the presence of the Lcrd at Mount Sinai, his face
" shone," and that he put a veil over his face
while he talked to the people. This was the
glory of God that shone rarliantly in the face of
Moses, the servant of the Lord and lawgiver of
Israel. But in Jesus Christ the glory of God is
seen to be infinitely more glorious.

It is in Jesus Christ that we see the glory of
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<JOI)S NATION.

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infinite wisdom and power (1 Cor. I : 24). It
is in Jesus Christ that we see the ^lory of in-
finite love and compassion (Joh-» li: IG; Rom.
5 : 8). It is in Jesus Christ thiit we see the
•^loryof infinite justice and mercy (1 John 1 : 9).
It is this " glory " of Cod's power, wisdom,
love, compassion, ju^cice and mercy that is
revealed to us as by speakin<jj thunder and Hash-
iiifj li{^ht, when preached, " not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, hut in demonstration of
the spirit and of power;" and it is this glorious
gospel of the glory of Cod that the world needs
more than anything else. It is only by the
j»ropagation of the " glorious gospel of Christ "
that "all the nations of the earth " can be " blest
in Israel."

The patria.Ji Jacob, when
fortunes of the nation upon
Manasseh, said, " In thee shall Is

settling the

hraim and

•1 1)1 ess, say-

ing, God m vke thee as Ephraim and as Manas-
seh." Ephraim and Manasseh, as we have shown,
are the two great Christian nations of the world,
and their prayer is that all nations may be made
like themsflves. "God make thee as Ephraim
and as Manasseh." Hence Israel's prayer is for
tl Christianizing of all the nations of the earth.
This is Israel's great and glorious mission ;
and although the \nglo-Saxons have not yet
recognized their identity with the ancient king-

ISRAELITES SENT TO THE ISLES AKAR OFF. 147

(lorn of Israol, they have pnicticiilly reco^'nized,
in a laeasure. at Ituist, the divine commission of
Israel to " hless all the nations of the eartli."

This connnission dates back to Abraham, in
whom G(xl fonnded the nation for Himsi-lf,
and that with the evitlent design of developing
His own economy of grace for the redemption
and salvation of the world; and of Abraham's
seed Go<l provided a sacrifice for sin and a
Saviour for siiniers. "For ( Jod so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten S«jn, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life " (John '-i : Hi). ' And
being made perfect, he Ixicaine the author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him "
(Heb. 5:9).

We have already noticed that the mission of
Israel is to " bless." God .said to Abraham, " I
will bless thee and make thy name great, and
thou shalt be a blessintj." And this " ble.ssin;; "
was to come through Abraham's posterity, of
whom God's great nation "Israel' was composed,
and this nation the Lord calls His inheritance.

" In that day shall Israel be the third with
Egypt and with As.syria, even a ble.ssing in the
midst of the land. Whom the Lord of hosts
shall bless, saying, Bles.sed be Egypt my peonle,
and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel
mine inheritance ' (Isa. 19: 24, 25). In this

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(lODS NATION.

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pftHs ^ i SO nations art; tncntionc"!, AHsyria and
K \' >t il;i, werr «>neiuu;a to «'nch otli:;r, anil lH)tli
of i( i\ v (J eneniit'H to Isivu'l. Hut Israel is a
blcNUi,;; lu tlie midst of tlieiii, an<l through the

anil Mj KM. i.s

joy 1 ill voiOd-
li'Jren' I

ael Cod's pu»"pososare accomplished,
. ;■'; ■;• cd to nation, so that those
bl«)ody conflict now luect in
.e true and merciful <-!od.
uii and the Ujiittid States are
tnu to (lod and to the ])rinciples of the (Jospel
of Christ, ineor})oratin<^ them into their laws
iuid institutions, adherin<j to them in their
methods of j^overtung their international rela-
tions, making these principles the basis of their
foreijrn policy and insisting that other nations
respect and honor such principles, we would
very vsoon be blest with the millennial dawn,
that happy period predicted in Isa. 2 : 2-4.

Israel is the Lord's " inheritance," and there-
fore Israel must be a "blessing" to "all the
nations of the earth." And Israel's prayer must
ever be for the Christianizing of the world.
" God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh."

When the Anglo-Saxons awake to the fact of
their Israelitish origin and their divine commis-
sion to plant the " tree of life " on every shore,
and to spread the gospel feast within the reach
of all people, and to hoist the flag of Liberty
and Salvation over all nations, then, and not

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ISRAELITES SENT TO THE ISLES AFAH OFF.

149

till tlien, will tlu-y appreciate the Tact that the
Lord has put in their possession aii<l uiuier their
control nearlv all the known ;rol(l mines of the
worl'l. An«l the Lord says, "The silver is
mine, and the ^old is mine." An<i for what
purpose shouM the Lord's silver and ;jold he
used if not for the purpo.ses for which lie founded
the nation ;*

Why should the Lord's silver and i^old he
devoted to ohjects directly opposed to the pi'in-
eiples and mission of the kinj^'tlom of heaven :"
And yet such is the fact, and that hy thousand-,
and tens of thousands of Ihitish an<l American
subjects who profess sincere loyalty to the
Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes. We
would not question tin; sincerity of many of
these people, but, alas ! alas ! th(;y are yet lost.

If (ireat Britain and tlie United States were
fully alive to the fact that the j^reatest measure
of national prosperity is Ijound up in the fjreat-
est achievements of the (Jospel oi Clirist, there
would bo no lack of financial aid to prosecute
the work of Christian missions in all liinds. If
those men who pos,sess such immense wealtli
would brinij their millions to the altar of Christ,
that armies of consecrated men and women, with
all necessary equipment for the work, mit,dit be
sent forth into all the earth, brinjjini; ('hrist to
all nations, and brinmnt^ all nations t<} Christ,

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GODS NATION.

i -

it would increase the commerce and strengthen
the influence of the nation in all the world more
than all other methodH and schemes put together.
But we would not have these armies of conse-
crated men and women go among the heathen
with Jesuitical methods and schemes, taking
kings, and emperors and governments by the
throat in order to force acceptance of their
creed. Such methotls have always borne evil
fruit, creating strong prejudices against Chris-
tians and Christian nations : and such methods
always must bear evil fruit, because they are
the very opposite of the teachings and spirit of
Jesus Christ.

Our Christian mission is to " shine " and
" bless." " Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and
the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." " Let
your light so shine before men that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven."

Our Lord said, " I am come a light into the
world, that whosoever believeth on me should
not abide in darkness." And this is the way
that Christ must be represented by the nation
in the heathen world. Shine ; turn on the light,
turn on the light ; let it shine more and more,
clearer and clearer, until the darkness is over-
come, and all the world is full of light.

As in the natural world light only can over-

ISRAELIT^S SENT TO THE ISLES AFAR OFF. l-'il

"onie the darkness, so in the moral and reli^Mons
world there is nothing; that can overcome the
darkness of sin, and ignorance, ami idolatry but
the true li<;ht of the risen Sun of Righteousness.
This is Israel's light, and Israel must " arise and
shine."

The British nation has a grand opportunity
at the pr(>sent time in South Africa, and this
opportunity is infinitely more than to annihilate
a cruel and degrading system of human slavery
and to make all men free and eijual before the
law. It is to throw the light upon them, so
that tho poor down-trodden native may see his
spiritual need and accept the Saviour of sinners,
and rise to a higher plain of intelligence and
social and moral being.

It is the light, the " true light," that the Gen-
tiles must see, and seeing it, they and their
kings will come to the "brightness" of the
nation's " rising."

St. Paul, the great apostle to the (Jentiles,
tells us that his commission was " to open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts
2G: 18). This noble apostolic missionary pos-
sessed the quallKcations that arc of first import-
ance to the Christian missionary at the present
time. 1. He was thoroughly educated. 2. He
was soundly converted to God— "A new creature

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nons \ATioN.

li I*

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in Christ." I). Ho luul jio tni.sgivin<jH with
r('<,'ar(l to his divino call to liis ini.ssioii, and
althou<;lj his Wiv was oii(> of <rn'nt sacrifice and
surtorinj^ for the (Jospel's sake, yet he jrloried in
the honor of h«>in;; counted worthy to suffer
for the name of .lesus. It is ph'asinjj and en-
couraginjj to know that this licjroic spirit and
apostoh'c devotion to .lesus Christ is still alive
upon many of the nu'ssion fields, hoth foreign
and domestic, and this spirit of Christian
heroism and apostolic devotion to Jesus shouKl
possess the Church and the nation at home, as
well as those who are sent forth to face the giant
foes of the Lord. The nation and the Church
needs to be seized of a holy and intelligent en-
thusiasm for Christ, and for the successful prose-
cution of the nation's high commission, and
when so seized we shall glory in the cross of
giving and sacrificing for the name and cause of
Jesus, as the consecrated missionary glories in
the cross of sacrifice and toil for Christ and
humanity.

Why should men and women living under
these flags and protected by the governments
and laws of these Christian nations, and enjoy-
ing the material, social anci religious luxuries of
the richest, brightest and happiest civiliza-
tion in the world, allow the missionary of the
Cross, in his field of sacrifice and toil, to suffer

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FSUAEMTKS SENT TO THK ISI,KS AFAU OFF. I'l.'i

hwauHc ol" iiisufHfirnt tiiiiiiicial siip|»»rt ' And
wliy shouM any part of lifailifmloni i-cinain in
relij^ious daikncss for lack of nifMris to Hfinl tho
lif^lit, vvhil»r thoiiHaiuls of I5riiisli and Ani<Tif;iin
siil)jo('tH arc lioldin^j tlieir poHscsHions of niillioMH
for which tlicy an; indcjhtcd to ( "hr istianity more
than to anythinj^ cl,s(! :*

This war a;fainst Satan, )ind sin, and <hirkncss
is our war, an<l the Lord -Ichiih Christ is tlsc
"leader atul commander <jf the {x^ople." Our
missionarios are our soldiers who nre sent to
tJH! front, and the whole people sliouM )»' at their
back with their sympathies, ihc'w prnyirs and
their njoncy. If our (lod )-e(|uires faithfulness
on the part of th(js(! who <^o f(jrth to })attle, He
surely does not I'ecjuire less than that from those
who stay at homt; with the " stuH"."

One of the most hopeful si^ns of the pnjsent
time is tlu; " Forward Movement " in tin; interest
of missions; and this sif^n is all the more hopeful,
seeiiifj that it is lar^^ely amonj,' the yotith of the
nation. This, we think, is a prophecy of j^lorious
achievements in the near future, in the overthrow
of false systems and the extension of the kin<(-
Jom of heaven in the world Another encourag-
ing sii^n of our time is the unity of sentiment
amonj; all sections of the Church with regard to
foreign missions. And yet anothin- encouraging
sign of our time is the growing public sentiment

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GODS NATION.

that stands opposed to all systems, institutions
and traffics that antagonize the mission of the
Gospel of ChriL;t ; and we believe the time is
coming when all such systems, institutions and
traffics will fall before the force of a vigorous
Christian public sentiment.

" Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveller, o cr yon mountain height.

See that gl()ry-l>eftming star I
Watchman, does its beauteous ray

Aught of hope or joy foretell ?
Traveller, yes ; it brings the day.
Promised day of Israel."

— Sir J. Botvrin(i.

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CHAPTKR XV.

THE REKIN OF CIIRISr.

St. Paul says of Christ, " He must rei<^n, tilt
he hath put all enemies under his feet " ( I Cor.
lo : 25). This leaves the (juestiun as to the time
when His reign will end (|uite indefinite. This
" reign " of Christ of which the apostle speaks is
the gospel dispensation, a period of Christian
warfare against the enemies of Christ, and
these enemies of Christ are all principles, organ-
izations, systems, institutions and traffics that
antagonize the principles, spirit and mission of
the Gospel. Hence there are many mighty foes
to be conquere<l. The apo.stle says, " The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is deatli " (1 '^^ t
15 : 26). That will be the triumph of the n r-
rection, when death will be van(]uished forever,
and the slumbering du.st of all the generations of
men shall be restored to life, " some to everlast-
ing life, and some to shame and everlasting con-
tempt "(Dan. 12:2).

But before that day of final triumph is reached,
many strong enemies in Israel's domain must go

155

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GOD S NATION.

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under the Conqueror's feet. All systems of idol-
atry must be overthrown, because idolatry is a
mighty enemy to Christ ; but in tlie future as in
the past this enemy will fall before the conquer-
infr force of li<^ht, until, as the Scriptures teach,
the God of Israel shall be the " God of the whole
earth."

The institution of modei*n slavery is one of
Christ's enemies — an institution blacker than
the skins of its helpless victims, a system most
cruel, degrading and demoralizing. But, thank
heaven, it has gone under the Conqueror's feet
both in Great Britain and the United States, but
not till after many hard struggles and, in the
latter nation, great loss of life and wealth. Now
that Israel is free from this abomination, we feel
assured that all men, of every race and color,
must be free wherever these flags are unfurled.

Another of Christ's enemies, and one that is
mightier for evil than all other antichristian
systems put together, is the legalized rum traffic
— a traffic that we believe is the greatest na-
tional, political, social, religious and domestic
curse of our times. This legalized liquor traffic
appears to be the chief agency of the devil for
the purpose of defeating the Gospel of Christ and
destroying mankind ; and the worst feature in
connection with this antichristian and man-
destroying business is, it has its headquarters and

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157

stronijliolds in our Christian countries, an<l is
authorized and protected l)y Christian govern-
ments and tolerated by a Christian public.

Both Great Britain and the United States
have their stronjj and jealous foes, who would
overthrow them very ([uickly if they could.
But the strongest anci most dangerous foe that
these two nations have to-<lay, is the legalized
rum traffic, and if these nations do not rise up
in their might, and in the might of t he Lord
God of Israel, and in the name of Christ and
humanity strike down and stxmp out this
national curse and disgrace, there is no telling
what sore chastisement may be visited upon
them. The rum traffic is an internal foe, eating
at the very root of our national life, poisoning
the heart, and brain, ami blood of the common-
wealth, and leading both government and people
captive at its will.

While the churches are contributing thousands
for the purpose of enlightening and saving the
heathen, the rum traffic is investing millions to
counteract the influence of the Gospel, and
destroy (as it often does) the good work already
accomplished by Christian sacrifice and effort.
Is it any wonder that the heathen looks upon
the Christians with suspicion, when the coming
of what he understands to be Christians, in
many instances means nothing but rum and

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ruin ? If every ship laden with intoxicating
liciuors and bound for heathen shores should
sink in mid -ocean to rise no more, it would be
cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving, save for
the lives that might be lost.

And are those men who are directly engaged
in this business the only guilty parties ? No, by
no means. The government that authorizes
and protects it, for the money it pays into the
national treasury, is a partner in the business
and a sharer of the spoil.

It is most humiliating to know that a part of
our national revenue is blood money, that it
is money that men pay to the government for
the privilege of carrying on a traffic that is
slaying our fellow-subjects by wholesale — a
traffic that desolates the home, that degrades
manhood, that crushes womanhood, and that
robs and starves helpless childhood — a traffic
that is evil, only evil, terribly evil, and that
continually.

It is a most shocking thing to think of — God's
own nation, the nation that He has so highly
honored, and exalted, and blest in every way so
remarkably, whose mission is to bless the world,
authorizing and protecting the rum traffic. As a
British subject I blush at the mentio f it.

If a small percentage of the mon that is
v> orse than wasted on strong drink in these two

THE REIGN OF CHRIST.

i:)9

Christian nations, were jjiven for tlu> support of
missions, the bread of life could be jriven at once
to all the families of the earth.

We have already stated, us an evidi'iice of our
identity with the kin*,'doin of Israel, that the
constitution and laws of the British nation are
founded upon the ten cotuniandments, or the
covenant that God made with Moses and Israel.
And what, we ask, could be more unreasonable,
inconsistent and suicidal than for the irovern-
ment to legalize and protect a traffic that wajjes
perpetual war against every stone in the nation's
foundation ? For what part of the Decalogue is
the rum traffic not at Wi.r with ^ It certainly
turns men away from the true God : and that is
the only way it ever did, or ever can turn men.
For no man can enjoy the favor of God and run
a liquor business, or patronize it. It has no
ecpial as a fountain of profanity, especially in
the use of the most sacred name. The fume of
the vilest profanity that characterizes many of
the liquor saloons and hotels, makes one feel
that he is walking within the suburbs of the
infernal regions. The rum traffic has no respect
for the Lord's day, and would abolish it alto-
gether, if it had the power.

One of the stones in the nation's foundation
is, " Honor thy father and thy mother." And
everyone knows that the rum traffic is the most

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proliHc source of all that diishonors father and
mother, and often crushes their spirits and
breaks their hearts.

Another stone in the nation's foundation is,
" Thou shalt not kill." And yet the ruin traffic
has slain nu)re British ami American subjects
than war and pestilence combined, and it is a
fact too well known to retpn're any special
arijument that, both directly and indirectly the
licjuor traffic has no ecjual as a cause of murder
and suicidoi

Another stone in the nation's foundation is,
" Thou shalt not steal." But the rum traffic has
always been a thief factory. The licjuor traffic
itself is a system of legali/od robbery, and one
of the natural results of its operations is to
make thieves of men and women and children.

Another stone in the nation's foundation is,
" Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor." And who does not know that lying
and perjury are among the natural fruits of the
liquor traffic ?

The fact is just this : Strong drink robs a man
of his manhood, and of his sense of honor and
self-respect, and when these are gone he is pre-
pared for anything low, false, vile and cruel.
And he is the product of this devilish rum
traffic that our statesmen and politicians have
been trying a long time to regulate and control

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THE REIGN OF CHlllST.

161

by acts of parliuineiit, hut have never succeeded.
Nor can we ever ho[i»' to succeed in our etibrts
to regulate and control an evil tiiat we make
legal. The power of the rum tndfic for »vil is
in its legal status, and just as long as it ranks
among the institutions that are authorized and
protected by the National Government, it will
continue its evil work, producing the same dread-
ful res'ilts as in the past.

And there are some who are saying, " The
li(|Uor traffic will never be abolished. It is
so deeply rooted in society, an<l it has reaehetl
such a prominent place in the connnerce of the
nations, and it has such a controlling power over
the political parties of the nations, that its alxili-
tion is impossible."

Well, we know the traffic is deeply and
strongly rooted in .society, and we know it holds
a place in the con)merce of the nations, and we
al.so know that it has a powerful influence over
the political parties of the nations ; but it is one
of Christ's enemies, and not only so, but it is His
greatest enemy, and, therefore, must go under His
feet. " For he must reign until all his enemies
are put under his feet." Therefore, if the legalized
rum traffic is an eneniy to Jesus Cli ^ and if
Christ must reign in this dispensation until all
His enemies are put under His feet, then we may
rest assured that the day will come wii'-u this
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^iunt I'oc of tlie Lord will ;;o under tlu; Coii-
<|ueror'H foot. Ami it is <|uitt' possihie that this
httppy (fvt'iit is much nuarcr than the most hope-
ful advocjitj* of prohihition supposes. One thiii«(
is certain, if Christians would vote as they pray
the leiralized rum traffic would soon be a thintr
of the past.

" Oh, selling of rum is tho host device
To iiinku Guhuniiii of I'linidisu.
Wiiurever luiiy roll the lii;ry Hood,
It is swollen with teiirs, it is crested with Mood,

An<l with wrecks, how numberless laden.
The voice that wiis heard erewhilo in prayer,
With its muttered curses stirs the air.
And the hand once jtrompt to shield from ill,
In its drunknn wrath is raised to kill,

Or wife, or sire, or maiden."

~fV. II. HoAehjh.

" Let j^ood men ne'er of truth despair,

Tliougli humble efforts fail,
Oh, give not o'er until once more

The rightecms cause prevail ;
The brave and true may .seem but few.
But hope has better things in view"

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ISHAEL A.\l> JIIDMl MUST USITK.

What wiil i.c^cmc of tli.> Jews; 'I'liis is a
proper uiid io.is..ii;J)le (|U<, ->;..ii, aiul uuf tli.it w.-
think is tt: My an* wen I in tlit- Scriptuns.

TliJit Israel an. I Judfih i, ivo been sepunitecvcr
.since the revolt ot Isnul ji<,'aiust Kehoboani,
needs no argument, and the Scriptures sh<»\v
HO clearly that they will ht- reunited, no one will
undertake to di8{)ute it.

Let us for a moment li.sten to the te.stim uy
of prophecy. E/ek. 37 : lG-22 : ' Moreover ; V u
son of man, takt' thee one stick, and write i , i^
it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel i.s
companions: then take another stick, and write
upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ki)hraim, and
for all the hou.se of Israel his companions : And
join them one to another into one stick ; and
they shall become one in thine hand. And when
the children of thy people shall speak unto thee,
saying. Wilt thou not shew us what thou mean-
est by these ? Say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of

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Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraini, and the
tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them
with him, even with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they shall be one in
mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writ-
est shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord (Jod ;
Beheld, I will take the children of Israel from
amon<( the heathen, whither they be gone, and
will gather them on every side, and bring them
into their own land : And I will make them one
nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel ;
and one king shall be king to them all ; and they
shall t)e no more two nations, neither shall they
bo divided into two kingdoms any more at all."
If the prophecies icerning Israel and Judah
are to be fulfilled, and they surely are, then
these two sections of the ancient nation must
surely be reunited. The simple manner oy which
God represents that great and happy event, is
exceedingly interesting. The " stick of Joseph,"
which represents the kingdom of Isiael.is in the
" hand of Ephraim." This agrees with the pro-
phecy of Jacob and of Jeremiali, making Kphraim
the head of the nation. The other is the " stick
of Judah," and these two sticks were united and
became one stick in the hand of tlie prophet;
and so, the Lord says, Israel and Judah shall
become one in His hand. This prophecy is very

ISRAEL AND JUDAH MUST UNITE. 165

explicit. "■ And I will make then, one nation.
And they shall be no nion; two nations."

Again, we read in Jor. .'50 : '.i : " Foi-, lo, the
days con.3, saitii the Lord, that I will l.rinjr
again the captivity of my people Isni.-I and
Judah, saith the Lord : and I will cause them to
return to the land that I gave to their fathers,
and they shall possess it."

Now, some are ready to ask, If (ireat Hritain
is the descendant nation from the lost house of
Israel, how are we to understan.l their return to
Palestine ^ Surely it cannot mean the rctuiu of
all the people, for there would not be room even
for a small fraction of them.

The first thing to be noticed here is the re-
union of these two sections of iUVs ancient
nation. They will first become one in Gotl's
hand, as shown by the prophecy of ]v/A'k\v\ ; and
that will be when the Jews embrace Christ as
the Messiah of Hebrew prophecy, a thing that
they certainly will do. An<l this very <lesirabl..
event will be brought to pa.ss through th« instru-
nsentality of the British and American people,
who are the only real friends tiiat the Jews have
in the world to-day.

The next thing will be the restoration of pos-
session and authority over the huul which the
Lord gave to our fathers. This simply means
that the united nation will take pos-session of

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Palestine. It will not be necessary for the in-
habitants of the country to be the people of
united Israel exclusively. The Lord says: "I
will take you, one of a city, and two ( a family,
and I will bring you to Zion" (Jer. 3 : 14) Hence
the return to Palestine will be by representatives
clothed with authority to administer the laws
and government of Uod's great united nation.
This, of courfie, means the exclusion of Turkish
authority and rule from the ancient domain ant!
the establishment of Christian government in
that country.

One more pa.ssage will be quite sufficient upon
this question. Jer. :i : IH: "In those days the
house of .ludah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the
land of the north to the land that I have given
for an inheritance unto your fathers."

The reader will observe that Judah is to
" walk with Israel." This passage is very sig-
nificant. Judah will walk in Israel's light.
Through the agency of Christian Israel the
Jews will embrace their long rejected Messiah,
and Israel and Judah will become one in Christ.
"Can two walk together except they be agreed ?"
(Amos '^ : :5). Judah will agree with Israel by
accepting Christ, and so walk with Israel in the
true light.

This will be the fulfilment of Ezekiel's pro-
phecy, wheu the stick of Joseph which is in the

ISRAEL AND JUDAH MUST UNITE.

167

hand of Ephraim and tlie stick of Judah sliall
become one in tlie Lord's hand. Tlie fultihuent
of this prophecy is, of course, in the futurt', hut
how far in the future no one can tell. Hut if
these two great Christian nations, (ireat Britain
and the United States, should awake to a full
realizatioT of their Israelitish origin and to
greater activity and liberality in the prosecution
of our crreat Christian mission among the Gentile
nations, it would hasten the happy event of
Judah's acceptance of Christ, which is the con-
dition upon which the reunion of Lsrael and
Judah is to take place. " For in those days the
house of Judah sh.all walk with the house of
Israel. "

The reader will observe that the return of
Israel and Judah will be " from the land of the
nortli." That is Great Britain, whose possessions
lie both west and north of Palestine. It is in
the north-western world that Ephraim's " fruit
is found." But Ephraim has not yet found
himself, for he is yr' in partial "blindness."
But when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in
and the partial blindness of Israel has pass«Ml
away, and wlien the Jews have accepto<l Christ,
and when united Israel has taken possession of
Palestine, the land which the Lord gave to our
fathers, tiien, and not till then, may the second
coming of our Lord be expectetl. And we believe
that when our glorious Lord and Saviour shall

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god's nation.

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appear the second time, which He surely will, it
will be at the same place where He took His last
leave of His apostles at dear old Olivet.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

But what are the ;;T^ns of the present times,
pointinjj to the consummation of the ])urposes
of God concerning Israel and the world ?

The Lord said to Israel, " Enlarge the place
of thy tent and let thetn stretch forth the cur-
tains of thy habitations, strengthen thy stakes
and lengthen thy cords " (Isa. 54 : 2). And this
is exactly what Great Britain and the United
States are doing at the present time. They are
enlarging their possessions, " the place of tluir
tents." Never did these two nations occupy so
much of the earth as they do at the present
time. " The curtains of their habitations" were
never stretched forth as they are to-day.

These two nations are also " strengthening
their .stakes." These "stakes" are our military
posts and garrisons for protection and defence.
They are also strengthening the army and navy,
and all this is being done at very great cost.
It is a matter of very great importance that
the nation be kept strong, not for war, but for
national defence and peace; because it is onl}'^
when we are well prepared for war that we can
command peace.

H»

ISRAEL AND .JUDAH MUST UNITE.

1G9

Another most favorable si^n of the times is
the mutual sympathy and <;oo(l-\vill that exists
betvs'een Great Britain and the United States.
Ephraim and Manasseh nuist become fully recon-
ciled to each other and stand toj,'ether as brothers,
which they are, before they can exert that in-
fluence for goo<l upon the world that CJod intends
they should.

As we have previously remarked, it is a matter
of the utmost injportance that a good under-
standing be maintained between these two
Christian nations. The sentiments expressed
recently by representative men in high places
are most encouraging. At a ban<|uet in London,
En"-., the Ri<dit Hon. Joseph Chamberlain in his
speech congratulated his hearers upon the fact
that Great Britain's opposition to tlie French
proposal had been heartily supported by tlie
United States. "That," said the speaker. "I
think, is a significant and noteworthy fact; nay,
I think and hope it will becom-^ history." It
shows that circumst.inces are bringing about the
community of interest between Anglo-Saxons,
which in the future may have far-reaching and
beneficent results."

In a discussion upon Anglo-American relations
recently Mr. Cecil Rhodes said : " What we want
is an intertwining of mutual interest in the inter-
ests of humanity upon the part of the English-

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speaking people throughout the world, whereby
we can prevent war. We want peace."

At a ban(|uet in London, Eng., given in honor
of Mr. Joseph H. Choate, the American Ambas-
sador to England, Lord Charles Beresford pre-
sided, and, in referring to the American and
British navies, he said : " I hope the time will
very shortly come when there will be such an
understanding between the two countries that,
if anything occurs disagreeable to us or affecting
our honor and safety, these two fle<'ts will be
together for peace." In replying to a toast, Mr.
Choate said : " I express the appreciation of my
countrymen for the forbearance, good-will and
friendship manifested toward them so freely by
the British people. It is true, gentlemen, that
the first interest is peace between the United
States and Great Britain. I believe that if these
countries, laboring together for peace, unite their
voices in demanding it, it is almost sure in every
ca.se."

Sucli expressions of mutual .sympathy, good-
will and hope and faith, coming from the repre-
.sentative men of both section.s of God's m-eat
nation with regard to the future of these nations
and the world, are very significant, and most
encouraging to the student of prophecy concern-
ing Israel, and to all Christian people and lovers
of peace.

CHAPTER XVII.

APOSTASY IN THE CIU^UCll.

In the national church of England there is a
party known as " Ritualists." This party hol.ls
to and advocates many of the erroneous dogmas
of the Church of Rome, such as baptismal regen-
eration, the real presence of the Ijody and blood
of Christ in the elements of the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, the adoration of the Eucharist,
and the authority of the priest to forgive sins.

This party in the Anglican Church has made
strenuous efforts from time to time to establi.sh
these Romish errors in the national church ; and
because they have not succeeded to their own
satisfaction, some of them have gone over to the
Church of Rome.

In St. Paul's second epistle to Timothy he
says: "The time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine : but after their own lusts
shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears ; And they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables "
(2 Tim. 4 : 3, 4). And this is the fact in the

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national church of En^rjand at the present time.
The Ritualists are turning away their ears from
the truth of the Gospel, and are turning to the
fables of Roman Catholicism.

It is evident the apostle was writing of people
in the Church, and not of the people of the world
generally. He says, "Tiie time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine." These are
prophetic wofds, written with regard to a state
"of apostasy in the Church at a future period.
And this state of apostasy is a very serious thing.
The time will come when people in the Church
" will not endure sound doctrine."

If the doctrine is unsound, l.r., unscriptural,
not wholesome, not true, they will endure it ; but
they " will turn away their ears from the truth."

The mission of gospel truth is to save sinners,
" turning them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan unto God." But we learn
from this apostolic prophecy that the time would
come when the truth would be unpopular with
some people in the Church, and, turning away
from it, they would resort to fables

These people are in the national cliurch, and
many of them are wealthy, and worldly, and
sensual, and there is nothing they love so much
as the gratification of their lusts. Hence they
will not " endure " the plain gospel truth that
uncovers and denounces their particular sins.

APOSTASY IN' THE CHURCH.

17.S

The dfxitrine of rt'pentance towards Go<l and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way
of justification and salvation from sin is a doc-
trine they will not endure.

The doctrine that insists upijn practical refor-
mation and the abandonment of uidioly alliances
and practices is a doctrine they will not endure.

The doctrine that tells of an awful and eternal
hell that awaits impenitent and unbelievini^ sin-
ners is a doctrine they will not endure.

Their ears "itch" for .something; that will
soothe, please and entertain — .something; that
does not meddle with their conscience nor liunt
out their secret sins. Therefore they turn to the
fables, and pictures, and images, and mitred
priests, and i;or<^eous robes, the tinklint;: bells,
and empty performances of popery. Stepping
into the confessional and holding a private inter-
view with a priest, contributing at the same time
a liberal fee, appears to be to them a most con-
venient way of escape from the wrath to come.

These are tiujt's when Christian men and
women need to be thoroughly in earnest in
maintaining a simple, personal and spiritual
devotion to Jesus Christ — a devotion that treats
with scorn the tempting offers of the world, the
flesh and the (hnil — a devotion that finds ex-
pression in the words of the great apostle to the
Gentiles, " Yea, doubtless, and I count all things

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GOU'S NATION.

but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord : for wiioni I have suf-
fered the loss of all things, and do count them
but (hnig, that I may win Christ ; and be found of
him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is tluough the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of Cod
by faith" (Phil. 3 : H, 9). Herein is the power that
moves the dmrch and the nation in the right
way; and herein is the most effective protest
against the absurd claims, empty performances
and gew-gaws of popery.

There never was a time when the followers of
the Lord Jesus Christ needed to be more alive
unto God than at the present. Spiritual life
and personal devotion to ' 'lirist and His cause
are the only things that can counteract the popu-
lar tendency to worldliness and an empty and
dead formality.

The Church may ask the (|uestion, " What
can we do to reach the masses ? " The only
answer to that question is. rench God. Our
preaching, and praying, and singing, and giving,
and every-day living must reach the heart of
God, before we can hope to reach the heart of
the ma.sse8. " When a man's ways p'ease the
Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace
with him" (Prov. 16: 7).

" But if all prophesy, and there come in one

APOSTASY IN THE CHrRCH.

175

that bclieveth not, or one unl(»nrn«'tl, lie is con-
vinced of all, he is ju(l;red of all : And thus are
the secrets of liis iieart made manifest ; and so
falling down on his face he will worship (Jod,
and report that Clod is in you of a truth"
(1 Cor. 14: 2+, 2.')).

Let Christian nien and womt-n evcrvwl re
stand up loyally and heroically for Christ and
our glorious I'rotestant Christianity, and the
Lord God of I>i-ael will take <rood cure of the
nation and the Church.

We live in a period of the world's history that
is most marvellous in the development, organiza-
tio'i an<l practical ap})lication of the elements
and forces of tlie physical universe. All this
mar* ellous development and une(|ual pro^^ness
that has marked the years of the ninet< nth
century, is the result of the activity of the
human intellect. It not only shows the amazinj^
possibilitie.s that are in man ; but it also shows
the unlimited resources of the great Creator.
These unlimite<l resources of tlw great (Jod are
intended for the especial benefit of mankind;
and yet man remains ignorant of (Jod, \mtil the
light of revelation is flashed upon him ; then, like
Jacob, when he awoke from his dream, he
exclaims, " Surely God is in this place, and I
knew it not."

When Saul of Tarsus was on his way from

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Jerusalem to Damascus, pressing on in his blind-
ness and ignorance of God, the light from heaven
flashed upon him, revealing to him tin great
truth of which he was ignorant, viz., that God
was in this Jesus whom he was persecuting ;
and the light that shows the sinner the way to
God in Jesus Christ the Saviour, is the light
that permeates our Christian civilization, and
awakens and sets in motion the slumbering
genius of man. Hence the dexelopment, organ-
ization and practical application of the physical
resources of the world for the improvement of
man's condition and advancement of his highest
interests are in all countries preceded by Chris-
tian civilization and operated by its forces.

The power that is to leaven the whole lump of
humanity, is the living word of the living God.
Our Lord represents it by the " leaven which a
woman put into three measures of meal until
the whole was leavened."

" The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life " (John 6 : 63). There
can be no estimate placed upon the grand work
that has been accomplished by the Bible societies
of Great Britain and the United States, in the
translation of that living word into many lan-
guages and dialects of the earth, and in placing
the open book of God in the hands uf all the
people. It is gratifying to know that these

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177

societies are prosecuting their great and good
work with a fair measure of succss. We know
of no institution or society that has stronger
claims upon the sympathy and support of the
Church and the nation than the Bible societies.
One of the most subtle and dangerous enemies
to the Bible is the antichristian and fanatical
literature that is so industriously circulated
among the people by the enemies of the home,
the Church and the State.

Parents, and teachers, and pastors need to be
very earnest and vigilant in their opposition to
this subtle foe, that would, if possible, undermine
the best moral and religious superstructure of the
home, the Church, and the nation. This poison-
ous element does its evil work in the indi . idual
heads and hearts of the people, especially the
young people who are more easily induced to
read that kind of literature that poisons both
their heads and their hearts.

St. Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians (4 : 14),
speaks of " wind of doctrine," which are the
inventions of cunning and crafty men for the
purpose of deceiving, " whereby they lie in wait
to deceive."

These men are religious gamblers, their doc-
trines are a kind of theological legerdemain, and
there is any amount of it in the world under

the name of religion. These cunning deceivers
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god's nation.

" lie in wait," they wayla> the chiklren of God,
they lif. in ambush, waiting an opportunity to
spring their trap, and catch the honest and
unsuspecting follower of Christ.

St. Peter says, " Be sober, be vigilant ; beca,use
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour "
(1 Peter 5 : 8).

While it is true that the old destroyer some-
times attacks' God's children like a "roaring
lion," he more frequently attacks them like the
venomous reptile that lies hidden in the grass
and among the fruits and flowers that we all
admire and love, and from his place of hiding
springs upon them, like the viper upon Paul's
hand ; and as Paul shook the beast from his
hand, so may we, by the grace of God, shake the
serpent from our hand, and we, too, like Paul,
shall receive no hurt.

The viper of temptation is present everywhere,
and in almost every conceivable form. Jesus
says, " Watch ye, and pray, lest ye enter into
temptation " (Mark 14 : 3S). He does not^ say,
" Watch ye and pray, lest ye be tempted," but,
"lest ye enter into temptation." It is the
entering into temptation that brings the sad

results.

Young men and young women who are em-
ployed tn our banks and offices and mercantile

APOSTASY IX THE CHTfUCH.

179

houses, are daily r posed to temptation, : > act
a dishonest part, and tiioy need to use the
Saviour's prescription every day and liour as a
preventive. " Watch ye, and pray, lest ye enter
into temptation." If the viper of temptation
seize your hand, do not delay to shake it ofi' in
the name ol Christ, lest your heart and character
become fatally poisoned.

The viper of temptation to be dishonest and
untruthful in business transactions sometimes
j^ets hold of the trader's hand, and if he does not
shake it off, it will poison his name, ai. '' his
character, and his business.

The "iper of temptation to withhold support
from the cause of Christ f:fets hold of the
Christian's hand sometimes, and to their irreat
injury some have allowed the beast to remain
on the .land, until the poison reached the heart,
robbing them of their peace with God, and
resulting in their separation from the Church,
and possibly from Christ. Oh, how sad the
ending !

The viper of temptation gets hold of God's
minister sometimes, and tells him he has missed
his calling, and that he would be a greater
success in some other business or callint; to
which he is more adapted. But tlie preacher
should bear in mind this fact, that if he has
missed his calling by taking to the pulpit (and

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« ■',

180

god's nation.

it is possible he has), the devil is the last one
that would tell him of it. It is the man that
God puts into tlie pulpit, that the devil would
like to get out of it. The preacher should be
sure that God has called him to the gospel
ministry ; and then, no matter what tl e sacrifices
that he has to make may be, he must shake off
the viper of temptation that would take him
from the blessed work to which lie is divinely
called. i

The preacher must not forget that, in calling
him to the Christian ministry, the" Lord con-
ferred upon him the highest honor possible for
man ; and that his highest ambition should be
to magnify his sacred office, make full proof of
his ministry, and to honorably wear his honor,
in humility and purity of life, and faithfulness
to God, the Church, and the State.

"There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man : but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able ; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear it" (1 Cor. 10: 13).

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation :
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them
that love him." (James 1 : 12).

APOSTASY IN THE CHURCfl.

"Thou on the Lord rely,
So sjife Hhalt thou y(. on ;

Fix on his work thy steiitlf.ist oye,
So shall thy work be done.

" No i)rofit canst thou gain

By self-consuming care ;
To him couunend thy caupo, his vnr

Attends the softest prayer."

181

I'i'

CHAl'TKK XVIII.

'■If

i'»

' •

; 'f

iiii^

... il

SAUAII IS CIIOSEX OF (UUK

This "great nation" which tiie Lord founded
for Himself had not only its fathers in the
persons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but it
Imd its mothers also, in the persons of Sai^hli,
Rebekah and Rachel. And there is no clearer
evidence of the divine call of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob to the hijjh and important stations
which the}' occupied in succession, than there is
of the divine call of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel
to the equally hi^^h and important stations
which they occupied in succession.

When the Lord called Abram to leave his own
country and kindred, and his father's house, and
go to a country liiat He would tell him of,
Abram was a married man, and of course the
call included his wife. And I suppose the first
thing that Abram did after he received the call,
was to inform Sarai, his wife, of the fact, that
the great unseen and mysterious God, the God
of their great ancestors, Noah and Shem, had
called them to leave their native country, and

182

SARAH IS CHOSEN OF (ioD.

I8;i

jjo to another, \vliert> ihfy are to Im'COHU' a <;reat
nation. And I fancy tliat Sarai's first (jut'stion
would be, Pray, where are we to <;o, Ahrain !
And Aijrani would say, The Lord has not yet
told nie where the land is that we are to go to,
hut He says He will ttdl nic, and I am sure He
will ; so let us j^et ready and ;jo at once.

On cominjT into tln' land of Canaan they soon
found that a famine prevailed in that country,
so they decided to go down into Egypt and
sojourn there for a time. But their stay in
Egypt was shortened by a circumstance for
which Abram has been very severely censured.
It appears that Sarai was a very eautiful
woman, and Abram feared that the Eg^ ntians
would kill him in order to obtain her, and to
avoid .such a calamity, he introduced her as his
sister.

Now, I am not disposed to offer an apology for
Abram's indiscreetness, but I do not like to hear
it said that Abram t(jld a falsehood, becaus(! ho
did not. He said, " She is my sister," and in
saying that he told tlie truth, for she was his
sister. Abram and Sarai were both childi-en of
Terah, but they had separate mothers, and, there-
fore, they were half brother and sister. So we
see that Abram's error was not in telling an
untruth, but in not telling all the truth: con-
sequently what he said was misleading and

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184

GODS NATION,

li! '

decidedly indiscreet. And Abraham and Sarah
committed the Hame error when they dwelt in
CJerar (Gen. 20 : 1-3).

But wv ni.ust remember that Abraham and
Sarah were just risinjj out of the obscurity of
heathenism, and it would be very unfair to judge
them by the clear light of Christianity. If Chris-
tian people of this age lived up to the light they
have as faithfully as Abraham and Sarah lived
up to the light they had, we would be a much
holier people than we are.

When the Lord made a covenant with Abram
He changed his name from Abram to Abraham,
which signifies, " father of a multitude," and at
the same time the Lord changed the name of
Abraham's v/ife. Gen. 17 : 15, 16 : " And God
said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou
shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall
her name be. And I will bless her, and give
thee a son also of her : yea, I will bles.s her, and
she shall be a mother of nations ; kings of people
ohall be of her."

Thus we see that in founding the nation God
bestowed equal honor upon Abruh-m and Sarah,
showing that Sarah was chosen of God to be
the mother or His nation as truly as Abraham
was chosen of God to be the father of His nation.
And later on, when Sarah demanded that
Hagar anr her son Ishmael should be put away,

SARAH IS CHOSEN OF (JOD.

185

it grieved Abraham, nnd he was not diaposo<l to
do it until the I^rd int«'rfered in Iteii ill of Sarah.
" And God said unto Abraham, Let it not \)c
grievous in thy sight because of tin- lad, and be-
cause of thy lx)ndwoman ; in all tli.it Sarah hath
said unto thee, hearken unto her* voice ; For in
Isaac shall th ' seed be called " ((Jen. 21:12).

Here we see the Lord protects Sarah in her
right to the motherhood of the nation, and it is
evident that God intended that His nation should
be of the lineage of Sarah as truly as of the line-
age of Abraham. T.iis instauc** shows that
under some circumstances a man .should obey his
wife.

I read a letter in one of our religious papers
not long ago, written by the wife of a missionary
in India, and in speaking of their tent-life, mov-
ing from place to place, she said : " I often re-
mind myself of Abraham in his wanderings from
plai-e to place." And I thought, does not that
Ijomi sister know that Abraham had a wife,
orn who was always with him, sharing the
sacntices and trials of a life consecrated to the
w»' >f' God und why is it that she does not
i« erseif of her great ancest ,1 mother

St. But we will call it m oversight and

In -^1 Abraham's wanderings, cind sacrifices,
and ii i8hij>s we have every reason for believ-

186

OODS NATION.

ill-*

in«^' that Sara! bore Ikt full share ; ami iti the
ac'cuniulir ion of his great weaMi, no doubt,
Abraham owed as »nuch to the iniiustry and
economy of Sarah * . to that of himself. Tliis
was only as it sjunild Ik?, because tlu; Lord
created woman to be a " helpmeet " for man :
and in lier sp!,, re and with e(iual otlvanta •
she has ever proved herself to be luan's etjUa ' -
every relation of life— in the home, the church,
the lool and the State.

It IS (juite evident that Abraham expected
that the promises of CJod respectinjj his de-
scendants would be fulfilled through Ishmael,
the son of Hagar, for when the Lord intimated
to him that the covenant line was in Sarah,
Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said,
" O that Lshmael might live before thee " (Gen.
17: 17, 18). And because I mael was Abra-
ham's son God said He would ike him a ' great
nation " (Gen. li : 20). But He gave no promise
that through Ishmael other nations should be
blest. Indeed, the very opposite has been the
fact in the history of the Arabs, who are the
descendants of Ishmael. The.sc people have
always been a wild race of robbers, and pirates,
and mui-derers. " Their hand has ever been
against every man, and every man's hand has
ever been against them " (Gen. 1(J : 12). But the
descendants of Sarah are the covenant people.

:^7;^-lfi^

SARAH l'^ 'HosKN OK (;ol>.

1S7

tiiro',j;,'h whom "all the nations o' Uh- luilli wo
tv be blest."

" Antl (Joil saiil, Saiali tiiy wil'o shall lifuithee
a son in<lee(l ; and thou shalt call his iianx- Isaac :
and I will e.stahlish my covenant with him I'or an
everlastin<; covenant. an<l with his seed al'lcr
hi I " ((Jen. 17: 19).

At the aj^c of oiie hu'vlrcd and twenty-seven
ytars Sarah, the first mother of (Jods ^qvat
nation, died, and Abraham i. ourned and wept
f o • Sarah, and he buried her in the cave of the
field of Maeh[)elah at Hebron, in the land of
Canaan.

After the death of Sarah and the marria(,'e of
Isaac, Abraham, at the a<^e of about one huntlre<l
and thirty-eiijht years, took another wife, wiiose
name was Keturah. Hut like Ha;^ar and her son
Ishmael, Keturali and her six sons had no part
whatever in the covenant under which the Lo!'d
founded the nation for Himself, because the
covenant required that the nation should be n(it
of the seed of Abraham only, but of the de-
scendants of Sarah as well. And Sarah bein;j
the mother of the covenant son of promise, with
wliom the Lord established His covenant, she
was the first chosen mother of God's <(reat nation.

•' For in Isaac shall thy seed be called." " Look
unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that
bare you " (Isa. 51 : 2).

ill

)

' i

CHAPTER XIX.

REBEKAH IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

The second chosen mother of the covenant
nation was Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel.
She was a woman of great force of character and
tact, and she believed in God with all her heart ;
and she evidently had strong convictions with
regard to her duty as a divinely chosen mother
of the great covenant nation that was to be.

A great many unkind things have been said
about Rebekah, on account of the part she acted
in securing to Jacob the patriarchal blessing;
and while we judge it unimportant to enter into
a lengthy defence of Rebekah respecting the
course she took in that instance, we think, how-
ever, that we shall be able to show that she was
the Lord's chosen woman for the station she
occupied, and also that God communicated to her
information respecting future events touching
the interests of His nation. The Lord told
Rebekah that she would be the mother of two
sons, and that these two sons would represent
two nations and two manner of people, and that

188

l-I...U«l).^>"Ni

BB^B^'^Bff

REBEKAH IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

189

the " elder should serve the younger " (Gen.
25 : 23). These words, " The elder shall serve
the younger," imply superiority on the part of
the younger, and are to be understood as apply-
ing to the " two nations" and the " two manner of
people " ; and no doubt Rebekah understood that
the younger son was to be the link in the cove-
nant chain of progenitors of God's great nation.
Hence her great anxiety to accomplish what she
believed to be the will of God, and which cer-
tainly was the will of God, and that was the
thing that came to pass. And if Rebekah, in her
earnest solicitude for the carrying out of the
expressed will of God, did use means of doubtful
propriety, I think it best to suspend judgment
in the case until we get the explanation in the
clearer light of the world to come.

When Isaac had reached the age of forty years,
and about three years after the death of his
mother, he decided to take to himself a wife.
Then Abraham his father called Eliezer, who was
his most trustworthy servant, and after giving
him full instructions with regard to the mission
upon which he was about to send him, and after
exacting a solemn oath from Eliezer that he
would faithfully carry out the instructions given
him, Abraham sent him away to Mesopotamia,
which was Abraham's native country, to get a
wife for his son Isaac.

W^iP"!P^

SP^

ili

190

GODS NATION.

U'li

"ii.

1 1,

■ I

And Eliezer went in the name of the God of
his master and with much prayer for divine
guidance. It is (|uite evident that God directed
his steps, for he came to the home of Bethuel,
who was Abraham's nephew. Here he bowed
down and gave thanks to God for leading him
to the dwelling-place of his master's people.
Then, in his simple manner and with great
earnestness, he related to Rebekah's people how
God had blessed his master Abraham and sfiven
him great wealth, and had also given him a son
in his old age, and that this son was soon to suc-
ceed his father in the family estate, and that he
(Eliezer) had been sent by his master to get a
wife for this son and heir, and that God had led
him to their home and chosen their daughter
Rebekah to be the wife of Isaac.

After hearing Eliezer's story Rebekah's peo-
ple appear to have been fully convinced that
Rebekah was indeed chosen of God to be the
wife of their kinsman Isaac. But the final deci-
sion was left with Rebekah herself, just as it
should be in all cases of matrimony. So Rebekah
was called, and the question was presented to her,
" Wilt thou go with this man ? " and she said, " I
will go." And that settled it. Eliezer knew that
God had chosen Rebekah to be the wife of Isaac,
for he had said to the Lord, " Behold, I stand
here by the well of water ; and the daughters of

H^nn^ram

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UEBEKAH IS CHOSEN OF fiOD.

191

the men of the city come out to draw water : Ami
let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I
shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that
I may drink ; and she shall say, Drink, and I will
give thy camels drink also ; let the same he she
that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac;
and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed
kindness unto my master" ((Jen. 2^ : l.S, 14).

On the following day, when Eliezer and
Rebekah took their leave of Rebekah's people,
they blessed her, and the (jccasion was <jne of
peculiar interest. The reader's attentit)n is par-
ticularly called to the prophetic words that were
.spoken by Rebekaii's people as they blessed her
on her departure : " And they hle.ssed Rebekah,
and .said unto her, Thou art our sister, be tluni
the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy
seed possess the gate of those which hate them "
(Gen. 24 : 60).

It would appear that Bethuel and his family
understood the character of this call, that it was
from God, and that it placed Rebekah in the
covenant line of divinely chosen mothers of
God's nation. Therefore they said to her, " Be
thou the mother of thousands of millions, and
let thy seed possess the gate of tho.se which hate
them." How beautifully this pa.s.sage harmon-
izes with God's promise to Abraham on the
occasion of his offering Isaac in sacrifice, which

?.,

wmmmmm

192

ood's nation.

li'

II i

1. I"

promise Isaac was to inherit : " By myself have
I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son : that in blessing I will bless
thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand
which is upon the sea shore ; and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies" (Gen. 22 : 16, 17).
Here we have two passages almost identical,
one applying to Isaac and the other applying to
Rebekah, and in both cases their descendants
were to be multitudinous, and in both cases
their descendants were to " possess the gate of
the'i enemies." Therefore, it is perfectly clear
that Rebekah was chosen of God to be the wife
of Isaac, and to be second in the noble succession
of divinely chosen mothers of God's great nation.
The reader will notice that in establishing his
covenant with Abraham, and in the promise that
his descendants should be as the stars of heaven
for multitude, God recognized none but Isaac as
Abraham's son. " Take now thy son, thy only
son Isaac." Ishmael was Abraham's son as truly
as Isaac was, but Isaac was the only son of
Sarah, and therefore he was the only covenant
son of Abraham.

The time of Rebekah's death is not given, but
it is supposed that she died while Jacob so-
journed in Padan-aram. Therefore it is not

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REBEKAH IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

193

likely that she ever saw Jacob's wife or any of
his children, or even Jacob himself after leavin<;
home for Padan-aram to seek a wife. But Re-
bekah filled her place faithfully and well, not
simply as a wife and mother in the ordinary
sense, but as a divinely chosen mother of God's
great covenant nation.

'i t

CHAPTER XX.

RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

The third and last name in this succession of
divinely chosen mothers of God's nation is
Rachel— beautiful and gentle, and lovely Rachel.
This charming woman was a daughter of Laban,
Rebekah s brother, and therefore she and Jacob
w .e first cousins.

After Jacob had secured the national birth-
right, and also the patriarchal blessing, he started
olfor Padan-aram to get a wife. This was a
very proper thing to do, for there is no earthly
fortune so important and valuable to a young
man who is starting out in life as a good and
suitable wife. And this Jacob did at the ear st
request of his father and mother, who were ,x-
ceedingly anxious that he should marry a woman
of thei'r own kindred and nationality, and not
enter into matrimonial relations with foreign

blood. ,

On reaching the country of his mother s people,
and while making some inquiry with regard to
his uncle Laban and the family, Rachel appeared,

194

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RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF (;0D.

It")

brinj^ing her father's sheep to the well for
watering. Jacob app(;ars to have fallen in
love with Rachel at first sight, and after roll-
ing the stone from the mouth of the well and
drawing water for her Hock, he introduced him-
self to Rachel, telling her who he was. On
learning that he was her aunt Hebekah's son,
she hastened back to the house and told her
father that her cousin Jacob, one of her aunt
Rebekah's sons, had come ; and her father, as
soon as he heard this, went out and met Jacob
and gave him a very cordial welcome to their
home.

Jacob remained a month at his uncle Laban's
as a visitor, and his conduct during that month
made a very favorable impression upon the
mind of Laban, and he became ([uite anxious
that Jacob should remain and work for him, so
he asked Jacob to name his wages. This was
Jacob's opportunity, for his heart was set upon
Rachel, and he said to Laban : " I will serve thee
seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter,"
This proposal was quite agreeable to Laban, so
he accepted Jacob's offer. This agreement be-
tween Laban and Jacob being settled, Jacob
entered at once upon his seven years' engage-
ment, full of hope and with happy anticipations
of the time when the beautiful and c'uirming
Rachel, the object of his warm affection, should

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196

(JODS NATION.

I I

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become his wife. But alas ! Jacob was doomed
to disappointment and deception. At the ex-
piration of the seven years, Jacob, having faith-
fully performed his part of the agreement,
demanded his wife, and it was only reasonable
and right that he should have received the one
that he asked for, and the one that was promised
to liim, the one that he served for, and the only
one that he loved and wanted. But instead of
£rivin<r hiu. Rachel, Laban deceived and cheated
him by giving him Leah, the elder daughter, the
girl he did not love and that he did not want.
There are not many youn^^ men who would en-
dure such treatment as that without resentment.
But it id surprising to know what a young man
will endure sometimes in order to get the girl he
loves and wants, especially when he knows that
she loves and wants him.

Under these very unpleasant circumstances it
is not surprising to know that Jacob very
frankly gave his uncle Laban to understand
what he thought of his conduct; but all the
satisfaction that Jacob got v/a-? another promise
from Laban that he should have Rachel on con-
dition that he should serve another seven years.
To this Jacob consented, and gave his uncle
another seven years' faithful service, and then
received his promised reward in the person of
his beloved Rachel.

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RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

197

Thus we see tliis heroic youiij; man suhinittinLf
to a very ;;reat hardship nitli«>r than ahumlon
luH cherislpfl hope of ^ettinj,' Haclnl. It is sai<l
that the first seven years that .lacoh was in tht;
service of his uncle LaV)an seeuiecl as but a few
days, " for the love he ha<l for Rachel." A
burden l»orne for one we love is always li<;ht.

The burdens we bear and the sacrilices we
make in the service of God should always seem
light for the love wo have for Jesus. It is in the
absence of love for Christ that these burdens
seem heavy and these sacrifices seem too great.

There is wonderful power in love. St. Paul
says, " It beareth all things, hopeth all things,
and endureth all thinjjs." That it is greater than
faith and greater than hope, and that it never
fails. Lo\ »' was the moving cause of redemption-
" God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever be'ieveth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life "
(John 3: 16). He gave His back to the smiter,
His head to tlie thorn. His hands and His feet to
the nails, and His side to the spear.

" Love Divine I whit lia.st thou done !
The incarnate God hath died for iiie I
The Father's co-eternal Son

Bore all my sins upon tlie tree :
The incarnate God for nie hath died ;
My Lord, my Love, is crucified. ''

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lOS <JOI>'s NATION.

" Love strong as (loath, nay, strnnger,
Lovi- mightier than tliu grave ;
Broajas the earth, and longer
Than ocea widest wave.

T'lis is the h>ve that sought us,
This is the h)Ve thit h<»ught us,
This is the love that brought us
To gladdest day from .Siuhlest night,
From deepest sliame ta glory bright.
From depths of death to life's fair height.
From darkness to the joy of light."

— H. Bonnr.

Now we shall have to pass over a space in the
history of Jacob and Rachel, and join them again
on their homeward journey from Padanriram to
Canaan. Here Jacob had great trouble and a
wonderful experience. He was told that his
brother Esau was coming to meet him with four
hundred men. This was an alarming report,
and Jacob became very uneasy, for he remem-
bered how he had taken advantage of Esau in
his absence and had deceived their old blind
father, and by that meaub he had obtained the
paternal blessing which his father had intended
for Esau, He also remembered that Esau was
greatly enraged towards him on account of
what he had done, and had threatened to slay
him, and he feared that Esau was now coming
to be avenged of him. So he resolved on win-
nincr his brother's favor, if possible. In order

'' .1

HACHFI- IS riloSK '>K <i<H).

199

to accoinplislj this lu' s«>nt hi servants. .n brfoiv

him, with a viihiahle present to his l.roth.r.

consisting of catnels, cows, - ats an.l sl»<,'e|) to

the nmnb.'r of five hinuh-e.l u m1 ei«;hty. After

these he sent his family over the For<l Jahbok,

while he himself tarried ulor.e with CJo<l in

prayer. So earn»>^'

that God woultl l

tinued all night

and triumphed at

Lord changed 1

which signifies " a v

When a man h ■

n M Jacoh md so anxi(»us

is n'i\\i t that he con-

tiest pl.iiii iig with G(k1,

real, of .1 v. Here (he

,♦' fi -n .III' 'h to Israel,

|ueror

iues -'. truest :»'m1 anxious

for the salvation • ' sinm- th-it he w ul . ontmue
all r.i'dit alone with G. .raver, arnestly

pleading until tLe break h he may be sure
that God will an wer hi> |>#Hy,r And when a
sinner becomes -.o earn, -t mln^ut his own salva-
tion that he I wf -st?

ii (iod all night in

pleading pen > nee, li '
breaking of the day * '
forgive his sins and i
Christ Jesus, giving hii
oil of joy for mourns

in* s

re that by the

1 answer his prayer,

•u a new creature in

,iuty for ashes, the

and the garment o!

praise for the spirit of ..eavines^

Upon that memorable instant of Jacobs all-
night prayer, Charles Wesley . niposed the fol-
lowing beautiful and sublime hymn :

i I

i 'I
S II

200 fJOD's NATION.

'* Come, () thou Trnvoller unknown,
Whom ntill I hold, hut cannot nue !
My company hofore is gom?.

And I am left alono with thee ;
With thee all night I mean to Ntay,
And wresth) till the hreak of day.

" I need not tell thee who I am,
My miHcry and sin declare ;
Thyself haat called mo by my name.

Look on thy hands, and read it there ;
But who, I ask thee, who art thou I
Tell me thy name, and tell mo now.

•' In vain thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my held !
Art thou the man that died for mo ?

The secret of thy love unfold ;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go.
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

" Wilt thou not yet to me rvveal
Thy new, unutterable name ?
Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell ;
To know it now resolved I am ;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go.
Till I thy name, thy natur ) know.

" What though my shrinking He.sh complain,
And murmur to contend so long ?
I rise superior to my pain.

When I am weak, then I am strong ;
And when my all of .strength shall fail,
I shall with the God-man prevail. "

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RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF f:(»I).

201

Jacob's partifulur re^janl for Rachel and her
son JoHopli is seen in the way h.- ilivitled his
family whci lie went forward to nu-et Ksau. He
sent the two handmaids, Hilhah and Zilpah, with
their children, on before, and next to them he
sent Leah and her children, and last of all he sent
Rachel and Jaseph. This arrangement evidently
was intended to afford Rachel and her son tlie
best possible chance to escape, should Esau be
coming to smite them.

This act on the part of Jacob shows that of
all his liousehold Rachel and Joseph were the
most precious to him. And this was (|uite reas-
onable, because Rachel was, without doubt, the
wife that God chose for iiim, and she was the
only wife that Jacob chose for himself.

Not long after this Benjamin was born, and
Rachel died, leaving two son.s, Joseph and Ben-
jamin. And Jacob buried Rachel near the old
historic town of Bethlehem, where he erected a
monument to her honor and memory, which is
known to this day as " The Pillar of Rachel's
Grave."

And now, behold, Josepli becomes a most
interesting type of the Divine Redeemer and
Saviour. He is sold by his brethren, and is
taken down to Egypt, where he is made to suffer
the deepest humiliation and greatest indignity
on account of the sins of others, but finally

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202

god's nation.

rises above all his enemies, and becomes the
temporal saviour of his people.

Benjamin, the younger son of Rachel, becomes
a connectin<; link between Joseph and his
father's house. For Joseph had said to his
brethren, " Ye shall not see my face except your
brother be with you " (Gen. 43 : 3).

The reader will remember that the fortunes
of the nation were settled upon the house of
Joseph, and divided between his two sons, Eph-
raim and Manasseh, the grandsons of Rachel.
Benjamin, as we have shown, was the Lord's
chosen tribe to be a "light before him in
Jerusaleu)." And Judah's tribal claim to the
kingdom of heaven, as we have also shown, was
given to Joseph ; so that the entire fortunes of
the nation, both political and ecclesiastical, were
settled upon the descendants of Rachel ; and
Rachel, we must remember, was the wife that
God cliose for Jacob. It would appear that
the Lord intended to confer special honor upon
Rachel when He put the interests of both the
nation and the church into the hands of her
descendants.

Another divine recognitiim of the national
motherhood of Rachel is found in Jer. 31 : 15, IG:
"Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in
Ramah* lamentation, and bitter weeping ; Rahel
weeping for her children refused to be comforted

RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

203

for her children, because they were not. Thus
saith the Lord ; Refrain thy voice from we(•pin<^^
and thine eyes from tears : for thy work sl\all
be rewarded, saith the Lord; and tliey shall
come again from the land of the enemy."

There are some who liold tliat tiiis prophecy
has reference to the captivity of the Jews and
their return to Palestine, and there are others
who think that it refers to a mas.sacre of the
children of Benjamin or EphraiuK at the Kama
in Benjamin, or in Mount Ephraim. But St.
Matthew says this prophecy was fulHlled when
the young children of Bethlehem and vicinity
were slain under an order from Herod for the
purpose of securing the destruction of the child
Jesus. " Then Herod, when he saw that he was
mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth,
and sent forth, and slew all the children that
were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the
time which he had diligently inciuired of tlie
wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was
spoken by Jeremy the prophet, .saying, In Rama
was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weep-
ing, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be -omforted, because
they are not. But when Herod was dead,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a
dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and

204

GODS NATION.

take the young child and his mother, and pfo
into the land of Israel : for they are dead which
sought the young child's life" (Matt. 2: IG 20).

Whether there is any ground or not for the
opinion that this passage in Jeremiah refers to
the captivity and return of the Jews, or to a
massacre of the children of Benjamin at Rama,
or the Ephraimites in Mount Ephraim, we cer-
tainly are bound to accept the testimony of St.
Matthew, who, after giving an account of the
slaughter of the young children of Bethlehem,
says, " Then was fulfilled that which was spoken
by Jeremy the prophet. Saying, In Rama was
there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping,
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted, because
they are not."

"They shall come again from the land of the
enemy." This refers to the rei\c, a of Joseph
and Mary and Jesus from Egypt, ' the land of
the enemy."

But the point we m ish to make prominent
here is the divine recognition of Rachel's national
motherhood. It was the nation that wept over
the slain children, and Rachel represents the
nation, God's covenant nation, in mourning.

And it would seem that the Lord intended
that the future succession of the nation should
be of Rachel's line, as the interests of the nation

RACHEL IS CHOSEN OF GOD.

205

were consolidated in tlie two houses of Josepli
and Benjamin. Hence the prayer of the
Psalmist to which reference has already been
made. " Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou
that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that
dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh
stir up thy strength, and come and save us"
(Ps. 80: 1,2).

CHAPTER XXI.

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

"Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath
hewn out her seven pillars" (Prov. 9:1).

In discussinfj this subject I shall speak first of
wisdom's house, this house of wisdom is
Christian character: here is where wisdom
dwells and rules ; and this is not the wisdom of
the world, because the " world by wisdom knows
not God," but it is the " wisdom which is from
above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy"
(James 3 : 17). James says, " If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of Ood, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall
be given him." And Solomon says, " Wisdom is
a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her."
And again, " Wisdom is profitable to direct."
And again, "Wisdom is the principal thing."
And David says, " The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom." And St. Paul says,
" Christ is tlu power of God, and the wisdom of
God" (1 Cor. 1: 24). Thus we understand

206

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

207

"wisdom" to mean Christianity pure and simple.
And we understand wisdom's house to be a sound
and symmetrical Christian character.

" Wisdom is protitable to direct." Character
buildinj^ is the most important kin.l of biiildiiio;
with which we have to <lo. It is a kind of build-
ing in which every per.son is employed, and every
person acts under some directinj; and <,roverninfr
principle. Wisdom's house is built only by tlios.;
who are directed and <roverned by wisdom her-
self. Without this divine directing; and govern-
ing force we may build the house of folly upon
a foundation of sand, only to fall into eternal
ruin when the flood comes. Without it we may
build the house of vanity, pride, worldly ambi-
tion, selfishness and lust: but when the final
test shall come, great and terrible will be its
fall. But not so with wisdom's house, which is
founded upon the Rock of Ages. Our Lord says,
" Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my say-
ings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom
he"is like : He is like a man who built an house,
and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a
rock ; and when the flood arose, the stream beat
vehemently upon that house, and could not shake
it: for it was founded upon a rock" (Luke

6 : 47. 48).

St. Paul says, " Other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

208

GOD S NATION.

• f

The Saviour says, " Upon this rock I will build
my Church, and the ^ates of hell shall not
prevail against it." The Church of Jesus is
composed of individual stones, and they are
" hewn stones," and it is the hewing process that
poor, proud, vain and lustful human nature does
not like. They are also " lively stones," that is,
they are alive, and they show it by their activity.
Each stone is fitted for its place in this divine
temple by the great Master Builder Himself.
Each individual character is a house, and the
true Christian character is wisdom's house.

ARCHITECT.

The architect of this house is God, who has
given the fullest instructions with regard to it in
His holy book ; and not only so, but He has
also given us a perfect pattern in the person of
the " man Christ Jesus.

When Moses was about to build the taber-
nacle the Lord charged him that he should
" make all things according to the pattern
showed to him in the Mount.'' If we would
build up the best character that it is possible to
build, we must build according to the pattern
that the Divine Architect has given us in the
person and life of Jesus Christ. St. Peter says,
" Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example
that ye should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2: 21).

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

209

St. Paul .says, " Lie not one to another seeinfj that
ye have put off the old man with liis deeds : and
have put on the new man, which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him thatcrealed
him."

In shaping and building up our character we
need to keep our eye on the perfect patterii,
" Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith." He who builds after this pjittern,
builds wisely and safely, and he only can reach
the hig 3st altitude of excellence of character.
The Apostle Paul in Phil. 4 : 8 gives a pre-scrij)-
tion for character building : "Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatso-
ever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things." This apostolic pre-
scription must be adopted by all who would
grow in grace, and successfully build up a pure
and strong Christian charactei-. Our habits of
thinking must be upon these things which the
apostle prescribes. " Wisdom hath builded her
house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars."

SEVEN PILLARS.

We shall now speak of the seven pillars of the
house of wisdom. Seven is a scriptural number,

210

god's nation.

( ,

^>^

signifying fulness or perfection. Hence we read
of the " seven spirits of God," the seven golden
candlesticks, the stone with seven eyes, and the
house of wisdom with "seven pillars." From
this we learn that the support of a sound
Christian character is perfect.

FAITH.

The first pillar in wisdom's house is faith.
Christian character building begins with faith
in CJod, because it begins in coming to God, and
" he that cometh to God must believe that he
is, and that he is a rewarder of them who dili-
gently seek him,and without faith it is impossible
to please him" (Heb. 11: 6).

" Being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ : By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God" (Rom. 5: 1,2). By faith we
reach the landing of justification in the temple
of Christian experience ; but there is a higher
landing in this temple, " by whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." This
is the higher landing of rejoicing. It is in this
higher grace that we stand, and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. This is the " unspeakable
joy that is full of glory." " This is the victory
that overcometh the world even our faith."

HOUSE OF WISDOM. 211

" A faith that shines mure bright and (^lear
When tempests rage witliout;
That when in danger knows n<> fear,
In darkness foels no doubt :

" A faith that keeps the narrow way
Till life's last hour is tied,
And with a pure and heavenly ray
Illumes a dying bed."

A man's faith decides the object of his su-
preme veneration and worsliip, and it effects a
connection between his moral nature and the
object upon which his faith is phiced, and if that
object is inferior to himself, then faith in it
must be debasing. If, like the heathen, his faith
is in an animal god, it will debase him to the level
of the animal. If his faith is in mammon, the best
it can do for him is to feed his lusts and carry
him down into a wretched and eternal captivity.
If his faith is in himself, he is like a man trying
to lift himself by the straps of his boots. The
effect of all false faith is but to debase.

The highest and only proper object of religious
faith is God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ, and for whoso service and glory all
things were created. This God oi' creation is in
" Christ reconciling the world to himself." And
He is the only proper object of supreme venera-
tion and worship. '*■, is faith in this Divine Lord
and Saviour that effects a connection between

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212

god's nation.

our moral nature and that which is true, h.onest,
just, pure, lovely and divine.

This is the faith that " overcomes the world ; "
that removes mountains of obstructions ; that up-
roots the sycanjore trees of persistent opposition,
and make the impossible possible.

This is the reason why Christian civilization
is the only civilization that improves the race.
It proceeds upon the divine plan of redemption
and salvation, and thereby leads pians thought
and faith back and up to God. It is only the
faith that elevates man : that can develop the
wonderful powers that are in him. Hence it is
under the Christian faith that the discoveries
and inventions have been made by which the
world advances.

It is faith in Jesus Christ that produces the
highest type of character, becjiuse this is the only
faith that reaches God. Jesus says, " No man
cometh unto the Father but by me." And this
faith not only comes to God, but it puts on
Christ, who is the perfect pattern, and who more
than fills our highest ideal character.
The second pillar in wisdom's house is

HOPE.

This St. Paul calls an " anchor to the soul, both
sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil." This is the soul's sheet anchor

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

213

lo(lf»e(l ill the cltft of the Ilock ol' A^jch in the
mountain of Cod's holiiiess.

Now I liavf f<iuiwl tliu i^inuiiil wluri-iii
Sure my sourN fiiiclior may iumfii\

The wouiuls of .IfsuM, fur my sin

Hrfore the worlil's foiinilation sliiiii ;

Whitso intTcy sli.ill iinsli.ikuii stny.

When heaven iind oiirtli me tied awfiy.

^ And every iimn that hath this hope in him
puritieth hiiu.self, even as he is pure' (1 Jolin
3 : 3). This hope conteniphites a j^'lorious and
eternal realization of all that (Jod has promised
to His peophi, and that Clirist has purehased
with His hlood. "Every man tliat liath this
hope in him puritieth himself." He abandons
all impure habits of life and conversation, and
by divine grace com piers every " lust that wars
a}^ain.st the soul." He hopes to Ihj like Christ,
and to "see him a.s lie is," and to be with Him
where He is forever.

The third pillar in wisdom's house is

LOVE.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy (Jo<l with all
thy lieart, and with all thy nnnd, ji ' with an
thy soul, and thou shalt love thy nei<;hbor
thyself." " Love w^orketh no ill to your nei<,dibor,"
and " Love is the fulfillinjj of the law."

Love was the moving cause of redemption.

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214

god's nation.

" (J(h1 80 loved the worM, that hi; jjnvo hi» only
hejjotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
.shouhl not perish, but have everlasting life"
(John 3 : Ki). " He that dwellrth in love, dwell-
eth in God, and God in him." " Go<l is love."
"Love beareth all things, believeth all things,
hupeth all things, endureth all things." " Lovi"
never faileth." Prophecies may fail, tongues
may cease and knowledge may vanish away,
but love still lives, rejoices and concjuers.

" Unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own bUxxl, and hath made us
kings and priests unto God and his Father, to
him be glory and dominion forever."

"<) Love, thou bottomless abyss

My HiiiH are swallowed up in thee I
Covered Ih my unrighteousness,

Nor spot of guilt remains on me,
While .lesus' blood through earth and skies,
Mercy, fret>, bountUess mercy, fries."

The fourth pillar in wisdom's house is

TRUTH.

Solomon says, " Buy the truth and sell it not."
And Jesus says, " Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free " (John 8 : 32).
The Apostle John says, " I have no greater joy
than to hear that ray children walk in truth "

HOUSE OF wisrioM.

215

(3 John 4). " I»r<l, who shall ahidn in thy talx-r-
nacle? who shall .Iwell in thy holy hill' ll<'
that walketh upri^^htly, and work.'th rio;htooUM.
ness, an<l .sp<'akrth the truth in his heart" (Ps.
15 : 1, 2). Kincr Duvid said, " I have chosen the
way of truth." " The lip of truth shall he esbih-
lishod forever" (Prov. 12: 19). St. Paul speaks
of " the triith as it is in .Jesus." And Jesus says
of Himself, "I am the truth."

In .lesus is the truth of all that the prophets
.sai<i respecting; the Lord's wonderful plan of
redemption and salvation. In Jesus is the truth
of all the types, and shadows, and symbols of the
Old Testament, pointing; to the cominj,' Messiah.
In Jesus is the truth that makes us free from the
guilt, the power, the dominion and eternal con-
sequences of sin.

Truth is one of the central pillars in wisd
house of Christian character. A dumb boy v -
asked, " What is truth { " and he moved hw.
tin<;er in a .strai^'ht line. He was then asked,
" What is untruth i " and he moved his finj,'er
in a zigza*; way. This answer was correct.
Truth is always straight, while untruth is always
crooked. It is .said of George Washington that
when he was a small boy he hacked one of his
father's cherry trees with his knife, so that the
tree was ruined, "'d when his father .saw it he
said, "George. \w. did that?" George looked

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216

GOD S NATION.

at his father with r|uivering lip and said, "Father,
I cannot lie ; I did it." " Alas," said the father,
"my beautiful *-v-^ i- ruined, but I would rather
lose all the tr ts I ha\ e l';;- n that iny son should
be a liar." Tiitii is In-JiUiful and (gentle. Truth
is mighty ami i.ii;»;'..i^il. Truth is divine.
The fifth pillar in wisdom's house is

TEMPERANCE.

This is a pillar of very great prominence and
importance in wisdom's temple of Christian char-
acter. "Everyman who Striveth for the mas-
tery is temperate in all things" (1 Cor. 9: 25).
St. Paul speaks of the Chri.stian life as a warfare,
and his earnest exhortation to young Timothy
was, " Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal' life." And of himself he said, " I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith." This " mastery " for
which the Christian must daily strive in build-
int'- the temple of Christian character, is the
mastery over himself, his temper, his tongue,
his appetite, his ambition, his dispo.sition, and
his aspirations, as well as the foe without which
attacks him in a thousand ways, only to cast
him down and rob him of his strength, of his
honor, and of his hope.

St. Paul says: "Whether ye eat or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Jk^ir

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HOUSE OF WISDOM.

217

And in order to do this we must hold the mas-
tery over the world, the Uesh and the devil.
Paul vsaid : " I keep under my body and brin<^ it
into subjection, lest that by any means, when I
have preached to others, I myself shouM be a
castaway" (1 Cor. 9 : 27).

If you would build up wis'om's house of
Christian character, strong and pure, and beau-
tiful, and imperishable, then wisdom herself
nnist dictate, direct and rule in everything, and
wisdom will sec to it that temperance has a
prominent place among the pillars.

The sixth pillar in wi.sdom's hou.se is

HUMILITY.

"God resi.stelh the proud but giveth grace
unto the humble." " Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and he .shall lift you up"
(James 4: 0,10). " Before honor is humility"
(Prov. 15: 33). "Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in due time" (1 Peter 5 : 6). " He that huni-
bleth himself shall be exalted." " He humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cro.ss" (Phil. 2 : 8). Our Lord was
a perfect pattern of humility. See Him yonder
performing the menial service of washing the
disciples' feet ; and when one of His murderers
smote Him on the face, His calm and humble

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218

god's nation.

i!!.

reply was, " If I have spoken evil, bear witness
of the evil, but if well, why smitest thou me?"
" When he was reviled, he reviled not again ;
when he suffered, he threatened not. '

Humility is always a prominent feature in
good and great men ; and it is essentially so,
because humility belongs to goodness, and with-
out goodness there is no true greatness.

The humility that adorns the true Christian
character is the opposite of pride, and vanity,
and egotism, and self-admiration: such things
have no place in the true Christian character.
" Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the
lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud "
(Prov. 16 : 19).

Tupper !="^-s: "Humility is the softening
shadow V the statue of excellence, and

lieth lowly -.le ground, beloved and lovely as
the violet ; humility is the fair-haired maid that
calleth worth her brother, the gentle, silent
nurse that fostereth infant virtues. Humility
bringeth no excuse ; she is welcome to God and
man; her countenance is needful unto all who
would prosper in either world. And the mild
light of her sweet face is mirrored in the eyes
of her companions. And straitway stand they
accepted children of penitence and love."
The seventh pillar in wisdom's house is

r i

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

219

I'ATIENX'E.

" Let patience hf.ve her perfect work, that yo
may be perfect and entire, \v!intin<r nothinj? "
(James 1 : 4). " Tliat ye be not slotliful but
followers of them wlio throufjh faith and patience
inherit the promises" (Heb. 6: 12). Every
Christian realizes from time to time his <,'reat
need of patience. Lack of patience in many in-
stances has been the cause of serious injury to
every o-race of Christian character.

"In your patience possess ye your souls"
(Luke 21 : 19). " Patience," says Hopkins, " is
the ballast of the soul, that will keep it from
rolling and tumbling in the greatest storm."

Bishop Home says: " Patience is the guardian
of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of
love, the teacher of humility. Patience governs
the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the
temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues
pride; she bridles the tongue, restrams the
hand, tramples upon temptation, and endures
persecution. Patience produces unity in the
Church, loyalty in the State, and harmony m
fatnilies and societies. Patience is clothed m
the robes of the martyrs, and in her hand she
holds a sceptre in the form of a cross. She rides
not in the whirlwind and stormy tempest of

220

god's nation.

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passion, but her throne is the humble and con-
trite heart, and her kingdom is the kin;.'dom of
peace."

" Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath
hewn out her seven piUars." Now let me ask,
which of these pillars can you afford to dispense
with in the temple of Christian character ?
Faith ? No. Hope ? No. Love ? No. Truth ? No.
Temperance:' No. Humility? No. Patience? No.
No, indeed, not one of them can be spared
from the house of wisdom. Then lot your faith
be vigorous and active ; let your anchor, hope,
abide in the cleft of the Rock of Ages : let your
love be a fire that many waters cannot (juench ;
let truth be your constant companion with whom
you never disagree ; let temperance be your fair
and lovely sister on whose cheek you will never
cause the blush of shame ; let humility be your
adornment in whatever position you are placed,
and let patience have her perfect work in the
building up and completing of wisdom's house
of a sound, symmetrical, and well-balanced
Christian character, a character that can always
be counted among those who are the salt of the
earth and the light of the world.

" If these things be in you and abound, they
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ."

imm

HOUSE OF WISDOM.

221

And when life's {glorious warfare is ended,
and you have finished the work that is divinely
assigned you, God will gi.e you an "abundant
entrance into tae everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Amen.