SIGNS AND WONDERS IN ISRAEL.
By D. T. Bourdeau
TEXT:—“Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion.” Isa. 8:18. In order to arrive at the true import of this text, it will be necessary to ascertain first who is the speaker in the text, and who are his children; and, secondly, how they are for signs and wonders in Israel. I. Who is the speaker? and who are his children? We regard this as one of the many instances in the Scriptures in which the sacred writers either speak of themselves, or are spoken of by others, in a manner to represent the future experience of other individuals. David very often refers to Christ in this way. Jeremiah, by putting yokes upon his neck in the presence of the children of Israel, typifies the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. Jer. 27:28. Ezekiel typifies the awful judgments that awaited the Jews by lying a number of days on his left side, and then by lying another number of days on his right side, and by eating bread by weight, and drinking water by measure, and by eating defiled bread, to represent the food that the children of Israel would eat in their captivity among the Gentiles. Eze. 4. John, in vision, has a view of the power and glory that was to attend those who were to lead out in receiving and proclaiming the doctrine of the second advent; and to represent the experience of Adventists as well as the interest that he had in their work, he is made to figure in the scene by eating a little book and realizing sweetness and bitterness from so doing, thereby prefiguring the joy that would be experienced by God’s people in the last days upon receiving the advent doctrine, and the bitter sorrow that would follow their disappointment. In further shadowing forth the experience of the church, and to show that their work was not finished, John is told that he must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings, etc. Rev. 10:11. In like manner, we understand that Christ and Christians are typified in our text. Christ is “the everlasting Father” of his people, Isa. 9:6, and it is very proper to call Christians his children. But a New-Testament commentary should be considered sufficient to settle this question. The following is the only instance in the whole Bible in which our text is quoted, and in this instance, the persons mentioned in our text are shown to be Christ and his children: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” Heb. 2:10–13. II. How are Christ and Christians for signs and wonders in Israel, or among those who profess to be God’s people? Christ became a sign and wonder to the professed people of God by his humble birth, and humble, self-denying life, and especially by his suffering the cruel death of the cross rather than sacrifice the truth to which he had been a faithful and bold witness. Christ came outside of the popular channel, and he remained outside throughout his life of usefulness. He spent most of his life in the unpopular town of Nazareth, of which it was said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He entered upon the duties of his ministry having been known as the carpenter, having often been seen passing through the streets of Nazareth with his carpenter’s tools in his hands or on his shoulders, going to or returning from his work, as a faithful son, to help in supporting himself and his father’s family. In contrast with the teachers of his day, his dress was plain and his features were not delicate and effeminate, but were well developed, and by physical exercise, indicated strength and robustness of constitution, which were so necessary in the performance of his arduous duties, but which were doubtless looked upon as coarseness by the popular class, who said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? . . . And they were offended at him.” Mark 6:3. As the work of Christ’s ministry was increasing on his hands, he did not select as helpers men of learning, fresh from the schools, but men of good minds and humble occupation, who, like himself, had been inured to hardships. How strange and mortifying this must have been to the learned scribes and lawyers, who felt above the work of Jesus and his disciples. They did not study to use the high-sounding words of the schools, but aimed to clothe rich and exalted truths with simple language that all could comprehend. And what must have added to the surprise of popular religionists was the fact that Christ preached to the poor, and to sinners who were looked upon as past all hope of being saved, and that he even condescended to bear the diseases of this despised class of people, who appeared to supplant religionists in their progress in the new doctrine. How strange it must have seemed to the priests and doctors of the Jews, who rolled in wealth and luxury, and preached to please the people, to hear Christ, who was dependent, and had not where to lay his head, plainly yet affectionately denounce the sins of the high and the low, of the rich and the poor. And how surpassingly surprising it must have been to those who were governed by selfish and worldly principles to see him who claimed to be the Saviour of the world die as a malefactor at the close of so humble a career. How clearly and forcibly is the unpopularity of Christ’s appearance and place of residence described in the following prophecy of Isaiah:— “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isa. 53:1–3. And why should the Lord of glory appear in so unpopular and unpretending a manner? To accomplish a two-fold purpose: first, to bring to light the pride and wickedness of the wicked, and to prove a stone of stumbling to them, if they harden their hearts in sin; and, secondly, to develop and cultivate the meekness of the meek, and to cure men of selfishness by drawing them out in a path of self-denial, where their service to God will not be to please men and get their applause, but to manifest pure and disinterested love to the Author of all their blessings. And all true Christians have traced the footsteps of their Master in the path of self-denial, and have suffered persecution from those who were reproved by their course. It was a tremendous cross for early Christians to preach faith in one who had been crucified. Paul, the most learned and eloquent of the apostles, was very careful not to build himself up and make the way of truth popular by his learning. 1 Cor. 1:2. He says, “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle (Gr. theater) unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.” 1 Cor. 4:9–14. It is the suffering and self-denying part of Christianity that has made Christians signs and wonders to formal, ease-loving professors of religion. This part of religion has been shunned by the masses of professors; but, thank God that the Bible and history show that millions of Christians have cheerfully drank the cup of suffering for Christ’s sake and for the sake of unpopular truth. They were crucified, they were stoned, they were beheaded, they were thrown into boiling oil, they were drowned, they were hanged, they were burned at the stake and made torches to illuminate kings, emperors, and crowds of cruel spectators in their hellish exultations; they were burned slowly on heated griddles of iron; they were pricked with pins and needles from head to foot; they were pounded to death on racks to which they were tied; they were dragged in the streets by horses by the hair of their head; in some instances, their fingers and their hands and feet were cut off; their tongues, which had been used in praising God and defending his truth, were cut out; their eyes were bored out with augers; their hands and feet were tied, and in their helpless condition they were thrown to hogs or other voracious beasts; their limbs were torn from their bodies by four horses, or by a slower and more painful process; they were compelled to fall from eminences on to sharp spikes; they died by being deprived of sleep, or by being stung by wasps; they were made marks to shoot at; virgins were torn from their parents and maltreated by their persecutors; many, in fleeing from their enemies died by fatigue, hunger, and exposure, having left pleasant homes and home comforts behind, while myriads were enduring the cruel tortures of the inquisition, away from sympathizing friends. Wicked men tormented Christians by marring their household stuff, by lashing them, by pinching and tearing off their flesh with pinchers, by causing aquafortis to drop on them gradually and eat out their flesh, by putting over their heads kettledrums turned upside down, and beating on the drums until the sufferers lost their senses. They bound mothers, that gave suck, to posts, and let their sucking infants lie languishing in their sight for several days and nights, crying and gasping for life. Some they bound before a great fire, and being half roasted, let them go. Amidst a thousand hideous cries, they hung up men and women by the hair, and some by their feet, on hooks in chimneys, and smoked them till they were suffocated. They tied some under the arms with ropes and plunged them again and again into wells; they bound others, and with a funnel filled them with wine till the fumes of it took away their reason. They blew up men and women with bellows till they burst them. Christians were butchered in such numbers that sacred blood would flow in torrents and touch the hardest hearts. And can we, while gazing at this painful picture, complain in view of our trials, hardships, and self-denial, for the sake of unpopular truth? Though we may not now be tested as these worthy Christians were, yet we may know how far our lives are sanctified by our willingness to suffer in the cause of truth. If we are unwilling to deny ourselves and suffer for God now, we certainly would be unwilling to lay down our lives for his sake. One interesting feature of our text is that it has a special application to the time in which we live. The two verses preceding it bring us to a time when the law of God is to be bound up, or brought together, and sealed among the disciples, and when the church looks for Christ; and the verse following brings to view the work of modern spiritualism, and shows how its evil tendency may be detected. It is taking a stand on the coming of the Lord near when the church have been disappointed with regard to it, and for keeping all of God’s commandments (the Sabbath included), and the faith of Jesus, that the remnant people of God will be regarded as signs and wonders in Israel. But the fact that they are made so for the sake of truth and “from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion” above, is enough to encourage them to persevere in the way of truth and duty. The approbation of God is worth more than the applause of men, and more than makes up for our self-denial here. And what satisfaction we shall experience when all who have suffered with Christ here shall receive their rich reward and reign with Christ in his kingdom! Dear brethren and sisters, let us not become weary in walking in the way our Leader has trod. Let us ever cherish gratitude to God because he has connected crosses with present truth. While these may be darkness to those who love ease, they are light to those who desire to overcome their sins, that they may be blameless at Christ’s coming. While God is giving power and influence to the truth, adding to our numbers, and connecting intelligence and sanctified learning with the message, may we not get above our primitive simplicity, but ever pray that we may be kept in the narrow way.