By the Rev. A. H. Sayce, LL.D., Author of "Ancient Empires of the East," etc.
WE have heard a good deal of late years about the "untrustworthiness" of Old Testament history. "Criticism," it is said, has shown that the traditional views in regard to the authorship and historical credibility of the Hebrew Scriptures are untenable; that the Pentateuch was written, not by Moses, but by a variety of authors, some of whom lived after the beginning of the Babylonish exile, and that no belief is to be placed either in the historical events it professes to record or in the miracles which it recounts. The history of the patriarchs and of the wanderings in the wilderness is based, we are told, on mere popular tradition and legends for which no contemporaneous evidence ever existed; that a large part of the Levitical legislation is little else than the fabrication of post-exilic writers; for in the age of Moses the Israelites were but a horde of illiterate barbarians, who could neither read nor write.
The results of this negative criticism have found their way at second, or, more commonly, third hand into much of the popular literature of the day. Anonymous contributors to daily and weekly papers refer to them as of unquestionable authority, forgetful or ignorant of the fact that the criticism is of a purely subjective character, unchecked by external testimony, and that it has proved itself to be almost as shifting and uncertain as a quicksand. The conclusions which were announced as incontrovertible twenty years ago are reversed to-day, and what the critic once declared to be the oldest part of the Pentateuch is now asserted with an equal amount of assurance to be the latest.
A Bittite Inscription.—Says Argueta in his "Story of Assyria," in referring to recent discoveries concerning the Hittites.—It is said that A. H. Sayce, of Ireland—to his wonderful ingenuity, his starting industry, and passionate persevering and in opening new holds of Investigation—that we owe a revelation which even now may be termed a revelation, so startling in the light it has unexpectedly thrown us a vast tract of ancient history hitherto obscure and utterly neglected.
While subjective criticism has thus been endeavoring to make bricks without straw, the excavator and the decipherer of the monuments of antiquity have been working patiently, and, as it were, in silence, recovering the buried history of the past from its sleep of centuries, looking for facts instead of theories, and doing their best to reconstruct history, not to destroy it. Instead of making their own theories the test of truth, and rejecting a part if it does not square with their assumptions, they have loyally followed the facts whithersoever they might lead, and have given up their most cherished convictions as soon as the progress of discovery has demanded it.
But the results of oriental archæology are not as widely known as those which the negative criticism claims to have obtained. They are largely hidden away in a variety of learned periodicals which are read only by specialists, and the archæologists have been so busy in making and recording the discoveries which have come crowding upon them that they seldom have had time to throw them into a systematic, much less into a popular, form. Moreover, the archæologists have no theories to fight for, no system to maintain, and consequently the popular attention is not arrested by the voice of controversy or the spirit of propagandism. We can not help hearing about the "higher criticism" of the Bible, and its supposed results. Oriental archæology appeals chiefly to the student of history, and the scholars who are making archæological discoveries have little leisure for discussing its bearings on the Old Testament.
Nevertheless, archæological research has been slowly but surely rebuilding what subjective criticism had attempted to destroy, and has restored credit to those Old Testament narratives which the critic had declared to be the distorted myths and legends of a later day. It has shown that the age of Moses, instead of being illiterate, was one in which the whole oriental world was engaged in writing and reading; and that Moses, therefore, not only could have written the Pentateuch, but that if he was trained in the "wisdom of the Egyptians," he was bound to have done so. It has shown that the age, even of Abraham, was also literary, and that the government and culture of Babylonia extended over Syria and Canaan to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It has shown, too, that this culture involved the existence of libraries and archive chambers, where the records of the past were stored, and the materials out of which trustworthy history is compiled were preserved.
It was in 1887 that one of the most unexpected and important archæological discoveries was made. At Tel-el-Amarna, in Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the Nile, and about midway between the towns of Minia and Siût, there was found the record office of a Pharaoh who lived about a century before the Exodus. This Pharaoh is generally known to the students of Egyptian history as the heretic king. Under the tutelage of his mother, who seems to have been of Asiatic extraction, he endeavored to reform the ancient religion of Egypt, of which he was the official head; to replace the worship of the supreme Theban god, Amon, by that of the solar disk, and to substitute a sort of pantheistic monotheism for the polytheism of his subjects. For the first time in history a religious persecution broke out. The worship of Amon was proscribed, and the very name of the Egyptian deity erased from the monuments. The king changed his own name from Amon-hotep to Khu-n-Aten, "the glory of the solar disk," the visible symbol of the god of the new faith.
Along with the introduction of the new religion went the introduction of a new art which aimed at substituting an extreme realism for the conventionalities of Egyptian art, as well as an influx of foreigners from Asia, and more especially from Canaan, into the country and the government. The high offices of state were filled by Canaanites; even the prime minister bore the Hebrew name of Dodo. Naturally the priests of Thebes objected to the religious innovations of the king, and the usurpation of political power by the foreigners; and in the struggle which ensued between them and the Pharaoh, they proved too strong for Khu-n-Aten. He left Thebes, the capital of his fathers, and built another capital for himself further north, where the ruins of Tel-el-Amarna now stand. Here he surrounded himself with the adherents of the new creed and his Asiatic officials, before whom he delivered lectures, or rather sermons, morning after morning, on the principles of his religious system. But his reign did not last long; and when he died, civil and religious war was already breaking out. His tomb was violated, and his body hacked to pieces; the city he had built, with its temple and palace, was leveled to the ground; and a new dynasty arose, the nineteenth, which represented the triumph of the national faith and the national cry of "Egypt for the Egyptians." The foreigners were driven out or massacred, those who remained, like the Israelites in the land of Goshen, being reduced to the condition of public slaves, and further decimated by the destruction of their male offspring.
In Khu-n-Aten's record office a large collection of clay tablets was discovered, like those which have come from Babylonia and Assyria. They are all inscribed with Babylonian and not Egyptian characters, and with a few exceptions are written in the Babylonian language. They prove to have been the foreign correspondence carried on with the Egyptian court, and to consist of letters from the kings of Babylonia and Assyria, of Aram-Naharaim, of Cyprus, and of the Hittites, as well as from the governors and vassal princes of the Syrian and Canaanitish states. Canaan was at the time an Egyptian province, and the letters throw a welcome light upon its condition. But the most interesting facts brought out by the discovery are, firstly, that the medium of literary intercourse throughout the Eastern world, in the age of Moses, was the Babylonian language and script; and, secondly, that the whole of this Eastern world was highly educated and thoroughly acquainted with the art of reading and writing.
Let us take the second point first. The letters, we find, were written by all classes of persons. Among the Pharaoh's correspondents were ladies and Bedawîn shêkhs; and the varieties of local spelling show that a knowledge of writing could not have been confined to a special class of scribes. The letters, too, are often on the most trivial matters, and we gather from them that they were constantly passing to and fro along the highways which traversed Western Asia. But, as has been already said, they are written in a language which is not that of the majority of the writers, and must consequently have been learned by them, and in a system of writing which is one of the most complicated and difficult to learn that can possibly be conceived.
The acquisition of the Babylonian characters implies of itself years of patient labor at school. Schools, in fact, must have existed all over the civilized world, where the language and script of Babylonia were taught and studied. And this further means that the ancient literature of Babylonia was also studied. Indeed, among the Tel-el-Amarna tablets fragments of some Babylonian5poems have been found which have been used as school exercises. But by the side of the school there was also the library, as in Babylonia, where the official letters which were received could be stored along with those clay books of which so many have been disinterred from the ruined libraries of Babylonia and Assyria. Here the records and history of the past were preserved on imperishable clay, and the historian had at his disposal an abundance of materials for the earlier history of Canaan. Here, too, such Babylonian stories as that of the Deluge were to be found, which must have been well known in the West long before the days of Moses.
This brings us to the first fact which the Tel-el-Amarna tablets have made clear. The language and writing of the Babylonians were so firmly rooted throughout Western Asia that when the Egyptians founded their Asiatic empire, they were obliged to communicate in them to their Asiatic subjects and neighbors. This means that the influence of Babylonian culture, of which the language and literature were an integral part, must have long since made its way to the shores of the Mediterranean and have obtained a profound hold on the people of Syria and Canaan. And discoveries recently made in Babylonia itself show that such was the case. As far back as B.C. 3800, Sargon, of Akkad, established a Babylonian empire which extended to the Mediterranean, and appointed a "governor" over "the land of the Amorites," as Palestine was then called. Already at that remote period, Babylonian civilization was highly advanced. Art had already reached its perfection, and an organized postal system existed, which carried public and private letters along the principal roads.
From the time of Sargon of Akkad onward, the Babylonians claimed supremacy in Canaan. We hear of campaigns made in the Lebanon by kings of the dynasty of Ur, which immediately preceded that under which Abraham lived; and Abraham's contemporary, Khammurabi, or Ammurapi, the Amraphel of Gen. 14:1, calls himself, in one of his inscriptions, king of the land of the Amorites. The migration of Abraham is thus shown to be no isolated and extraordinary event. On the contrary, in moving to Canaan he was merely doing what hundreds of other Babylonians——soldiers, civil functionaries, and traders——were constantly doing; and in Babylonia itself there were colonies of "Amorite" merchants. In Canaan he would find the same law, the same literature, and the same official language as in the country of his birth; the deities of Babylonia had been adopted by the Canaanites, and the Canaanitish princes paid tribute to Babylonia.
What light all this throws on the campaign of Chedorlaomer and his allies! "Criticism" had declared that the campaign was imaginary, a mere reflection of the campaigns of the Assyrian kings into a distant and unknown part, and that even the names of the Canaanitish princes were etymological inventions. But the discoveries of archæology have now shown that the political situation described in the narrative is scrupulously exact, and that even the names of the invaders have come down to us with but little change. It is no longer the Bible only, but the inscriptions of Babylonia as well, which tell us that Kudur-Laghamar, or Chedor-laomer, the king of Elam, had made Babylonia subject to him, and that while the native prince, Amraphel, was allowed to remain at Babylon, an Elamite, Eri-Aku, or Arioch, ruled at Larsa, the Ellasar of Genesis, over Southern Babylonia. Tidal, king of "nations," proves to be the Tudkhula of the monuments, who seems to have been sovereign of the half-barbarous "hordes" of Kurdistan, and, like the princes of Babylonia, was subject to Chedorlaomer. As lord of Babylon, Chedor-laomer was lord also of Canaan, over which the father of Arioch was appointed "judge." When Amraphel succeeded at last in overthrowing the Elamites and restoring independence to Babylonia, the empire in the West passed to him along with the kingdom of Babylonia, and the title of "king of the land of the Amorites" was accordingly assumed by him and his successors. The Egyptian empire in Asia was built up on the ruins of that of Babylonia.
Such are a few samples of the way in which archæological discovery is verifying the Old Testament story. Each year, almost each month, brings new and unexpected confirmations of the Hebrew Scriptures, or throws light on points that were misunderstood or obscure. The Biblical narrative no longer stands alone, to be dissected and disparaged without fear of contradiction by the subjective critic; it is becoming part of that ancient history of the East which archæology is unfolding to our view, supplementing and being supplemented by the discoveries of oriental research. Hardly had the critic proved to his own satisfaction in a learned volume that the Israelites were "never in Egypt," when Prof. Flinders Petrie, two years ago, discovered a stela among the ruins of Thebes, on which the name of "the Israelites" is spelled out in hieroglyphic characters. The stela contains a hymn in praise of Merneptah, the son and successor of Rameses II., the builder of Pithom, and the Pharaoh of the oppression; and the author of the hymn refers to the Israelites as having been left "without seed." But it would seem that they were no longer in Egypt; while the other people referred to by the poet have the determinative of locality attached to their names, the Israelites alone have no such indication of local habitation. They must have already been lost to sight in the wilderness, and the land of Goshen, which they had inhabited, been left empty for others to occupy. When the stela, which is now in the museum of Cairo, was engraved, the Exodus must have just taken place.
A. H. Sayce.
Queen's College, Oxford.
A Clay Tablet (diverse side), from Tel-el-Amarna. The inscription is a letter in emotional characters from Abi-sulkh, risks of Tyre, to the king of Egypt, about s.c. 1290.
FAITH; WHAT IS IT?
By Elder S. N. Haskell
BY ELDER S. N. HASKELL.
GOD Himself has answered this question in the words, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Then follows the illustration, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” How were the worlds framed?—By the word of God. Reason can not explain the origin of things, but faith grasps the truth of God’s creative power in His word.
Faith, then, is simply taking God at His word, believing it, acting upon it, resting upon it. In faith is power—“casting down reasonings [margin], and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
There is, however, a distinction which should be borne in mind. There is a belief that is wholly distinct from faith. The existence and power of God are facts that even Satan and his hosts can not at heart deny. The Bible says that the devils “believe and tremble;” but this is not faith. Faith is a personal application of the word of God to the soul.
Faith is God’s gift to every man; and this faith it is in our power to exercise. By it the grace and salvation of Christ come to the soul, and thus are we brought into partnership with the great Author and Dispenser of creative power. We are to believe we receive the blessing promised, before it is realized. “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Here is faith in its essential simplicity. By believing, we receive; when the promised blessing is received and enjoyed, faith is swallowed up.
Faith is simple. It dwells in a simple, obedient heart. It can not abide in a proud heart which boasts of its own works. The person who draws nourishment from Christ, walking humbly with Him, is the one in whose heart faith thrives. Humility is the soil from which it springs.
Faith is an active principle. “It works by love, and purifies the heart.” It transforms the character into the likeness of Christ. It materializes hope. It marshals one into the army of God. It takes hold of God’s promise. “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” “Whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
Faith does not depend upon circumstances; for it believes God, who controls circumstances. Neither does it depend upon feelings, which are the outgrowth of circumstances; for it reaches to that within the vail, and rests upon the Word of God. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
There is nothing in the material world but that is subject to him who has faith in Christ. While faith brings life and peace to the troubled soul, it has power to quiet the stormy billows. It has opened prison doors; it has quenched the violence of fire; it has stopped the mouths of hungry lions. To Moses God said, “Go forward,” and the Red Sea divided. In response to the faith of Joshua, the Jordan, with its overflowing banks, stayed its onward course until Israel had passed over. And when he had to meet the kings of the Amorites, the Lord said to Joshua, “Fear them not; for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” Joshua believed it; he saw no defeat, and when he perceived that the day would not be long enough to secure the full result of the victory, he said, “Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed.” God was able to manifest His power through these men because of their constant faith in His power and loving intentions.
It was this implicit faith in God that made Moses what he was. When God commanded Moses to go forward, he did it without stopping to consider what the consequences might be. He believed God had wisdom to know what He meant, and firmness of purpose to mean what He said; therefore Moses acted as seeing the invisible. Here is an important lesson.
The simplicity of faith is often overlooked. Man looks for some great display, and without this he is led to think that he has no faith. Many suppose that they have faith when enjoying much of the Holy Spirit, and that they can not have faith unless they feel its presence. Such confound faith with the blessing which comes through faith; for faith is not joy, but it brings joy, rest, and peace. The time to exercise faith is when we feel destitute of the Spirit. When deep clouds envelop the mind, let living faith pierce the clouds and let in the sunshine of Christ’s righteousness.
The secret of the power of faith is obedience to God’s requirements. Secret prayer, and meditation upon God’s Word and the character of Christ, prepare the heart to exercise faith. As the vine is to the branches, which live by the nourishment passing up through the vine, so is Christ to the Christian. To exercise faith we must continually draw sap and nourishment from the Living Vine; for, separated from it, we have no life, no strength. We should not dwell upon our unworthiness even; but the mind should dwell upon the worthiness of Christ, His love, His merits, and His words. This will prevent Satan from taking away our shield of faith. When that is removed, the heart is exposed to his fiery temptations, and clouds and darkness are the result.
THE MARRIAGE OF THE SKIES.
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stutter
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTER.
O, ring the bells of heaven high!
The marriage feast has come;
The glorious jubilee is nigh,
The saints are going home.
The mighty pennons of the skies
Are waving in the air,
And o'er the gates of Zion rise
Her battlements so fair.
The King is mustering His guests;
I see His glorious band;
I see the shining habitants
Of far-off Beulah-land.
They come, they come on wings of light.
I hear the bugle blast;
I know the reign of sin's dark night
Forevermore is past.
From cloud to cloud, from dome to dome,
The myriad army cries:
"The marriage of the Lamb has come—
The marriage of the skies."
Come, bring the linen white and clean,
The wedding guests prepare,
Garments which gleam like silvery sheen,—
The bridal robes so fair.
The Bridegroom, too, methinks I see,
While myriad voices ring:
"Chiefest among ten thousand He—
Immanuel, my King!"
"Thrice blest are they who hear the call,"
A mighty angel cries.
"Haste to the supper of the Lamb—
The marriage of the skies."
THE PERFECT SALVATION
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
By Dr. E. J. Waggoner, Editor of the "Present Truth," London, England.
I AM not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1:16.
"Power belongeth unto God." Ps. 62: 11. It is an attribute of Divinity, for "there is no power but of God." Rom. 13: 1. God is the Almighty—the One who possesses all the power there is in the universe. "Wisdom and might are His." Dan. 2: 20. "His way is perfect," and whatsoever He doeth, "it shall be forever." Ps. 18: 30; Eccl. 3: 14. Therefore it follows that the salvation which is effected by the power of God must be perfect, all-comprehensive, and eternal. "My salvation shall be forever," says the Lord. Isa. 51: 6.
This salvation is not a theoretical salvation from some possible future evil, but a present salvation from a present and very real trouble. It is not merely salvation from some danger that threatens, but salvation from ills that have already well-nigh overwhelmed us." "Behold, now is the day of salvation." It is true that the Gospel reaches out into the future, but only because it saves now, and eternity is only one continual now. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
When the birth of Jesus was foretold, it was said, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1: 21. Jesus means Saviour. He saves people from sin. When sin entered into the world, death entered (Rom. 5: 12); for sin carries death within it (James 1: 15). "The sting of death is sin." 1 Cor. 15: 56. Sin, therefore is a mortal disease that is on all mankind. Unless men are saved from sin, they must die; and in being saved from sin, they find salvation from death.
Death is simply the absence of life. If life be taken away, death results. The words of the Lord are life and those who hear His words have life; even tho dead already, they receive life through the Word. Isa. 55: 3; John 5: 24, 25. Death has come upon all men, because all have rejected the Word of the Lord, the source of life. Jesus Christ is the Word (John 1: 1), and He is the life (John 1: 4; 14: 6). So it is by giving men Himself that He saves them from sin and death. We are saved by His life. Rom. 5: 10. His life is the power that conquers death, and it conquers death because it is proof against sin, which is the cause of death. "There is no unrighteousness in Him." His name is Jesus, Saviour, because He is in Himself salvation.
A Saviour from All Trouble.
Any so-called salvation that should deliver a man from one trouble, only to leave him to be destroyed by another, would be no salvation at all. If a man were condemned to death, the person who should nurse him through an illness only that he might be spared to be hanged, would not be entitled to the condemned man's warmest gratitude. It is not in any such way as that that God saves us. The inspired prayer, which must be fulfilled in every believer, is, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 5: 23. "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."
Jesus Christ saves us from sin—not merely from the punishment of sins already committed, but from sinning—by giving us His own sinless life. This life is eternal life. Now, the characteristic of eternal life is that it is ever new. It is eternal because each moment it springs up fresh. Then it follows that the renewing of the body is necessarily included in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God says, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee," or, literally, "I am the Lord thy physician." Ex. 15: 26. So when Jesus was on earth, He "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him." Acts 10: 38. For be it known that the Gospel does not stop with the mere saving of a man; it has for its object something far beyond that,—so far beyond that it leaves no room for anybody to wonder if the Lord can save him;—it takes a man from the very lowest state of degradation and makes him a salvation to others. Isa. 49: 6-9. So the well of water which springs up into everlasting life to those who receive the words of the Lord, also flows out in rivers of living water to refresh others.
When Jesus saw the poor paralytic lying at the pool of Bethesda, He asked him, "Wilt thou be made whole?" John 5: 6. When Peter found the man who had kept his bed for eight years, he said to him, "Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. . . . And he arose immediately." Acts 9: 34.
This wholeness which comes through Jesus of Nazareth is wholeness of body as well as of soul and spirit. This is shown by the fact that the body was made whole; and the body was made whole in order that men might see the completeness of the salvation that is in the Gospel. So we read, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction." Ps. 103: 2-4. The words of the Lord are "life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." Prov. 4: 20-22. This is no theoretical, imaginary, or mystical salvation, but a real thing for practical, every-day life.
A Perfect Wholeness.
The words "whole" and "holy" have a common Saxon origin. They are, in fact, but one word. So to be made whole means to be made holy. Wholeness is holiness. Now a man is not made whole if something is lacking. There can be no real wholeness of body without inward holiness. A man may have eyes that are as good as any man has in this world; but if he does not see God in His works, they are of no use to him. Ears are useless to a man who will not hear the Word of the Lord. If a man does not speak as the oracles of God, of what use are a mouth and a tongue to him? If a man does not think God's thoughts, he might as well have no brain. In short, if our bodies do not move in response to the impulse of the Spirit of God, they are altogether corrupt and perverted, no matter how fair and healthful an appearance they may present.
"The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." God sees the sin in the heart; and since death is the product of sin, and disease is the working of death, He looks at the body of the person who is a sinner, and sees that "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it." Isa. 1: 5, 6. For that sin, if not removed, will at the last reveal itself as "a noisome and grievous sore." Rev. 16: 2.
Now, it is from every sin and every disease that Jesus saves those who believe on Him. "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." Matt. 8: 17. When the lame man at the gate Beautiful had been healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, Peter said, "His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong; . . . yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." The next day, being questioned about the matter, he said: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, . . . even in Him doth this man stand here before you whole. . . . And in none other is there salvation; for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved." Acts 3: 16; 4: 10-12, R.V.
The man who was healed, made whole, was saved. He is presented as a specimen of Christ's salvation. Peter's statement was, "He stands here before you whole in the name of Jesus, and there is not wholeness in any other." Jesus takes the man in whom there is "no soundness," and gives him "perfect soundness." He makes the man whom He saves "every whit whole."
In the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, this identity of sin and sickness is indicated: "Whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all Thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house; then hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and forgive." 1 Kings 8: 37-39. The plagues that come on the land are only the outward manifestation of the plague that is in the hearts of men; and that is why it is said to those who make the Lord their refuge, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." Ps. 91: 10.
The limits of this article do not allow us to go into any details. We can only look at the general facts as stated in the Scripture. It must suffice now to say that this healing of the body, together with the forgiveness of sin, is not an arbitrary matter. It comes from an intelligent faith in the Word of the Lord. That Word must be taken absolutely as one's life, and must be brought into every act of life. When one lives wholly by the Word of the Lord, then it must necessarily follow that he will be every whit whole. God contemplates nothing less than this.
This does not mean that the believer is immortal. Immortality is a gift bestowed only at the coming of the Lord. 1 Cor. 15: 51-53. But it does mean that the perfect life of Christ shall be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4: 2), so that none of the weaknesses of the flesh shall hinder our perfect service to God and humanity. Jesus Christ has "power over all flesh," so that even as He Himself conquered in the flesh, He can deliver every one from the bondage of the flesh. Heb. 2: 14, 15. And this life of Christ dwelling in us is the assurance of immortality at His coming in glory.
Absolute Freedom.
This deliverance is the absolute freedom which Christ declares to the world. He proclaims "liberty to the captives." Isa. 61: 1-3. "For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death." Ps. 102: 19, 20. This freedom that the Lord gives, is His own freedom. It is freedom from every bond. The one who acknowledges that he is the Lord's servant by right, and that God has perfect right to him, soul, body, and spirit, can say, "Thou hast loosed my bonds." Ps. 116: 16. Nothing that pertains to this sin-cursed earth can bind the soul that is absolutely yielded to God.
The soul that knows this perfect freedom which the Gospel gives, will never, can never, appeal to any lower power to deliver him from oppression. "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." Ps. 103: 6. "I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor." Ps. 111: 12. Surely the Lord will care for His own, and "hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?" "Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?" "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily," said Jesus.
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." James 5: 7. "What!" exclaims one, "have we, after all, to wait till some future time for deliverance?" Be patient. The Lord has not promised that tribulation shall cease before His coming. In fact, it is impossible that it should cease as long as sin is in the world. Even the inanimate creation suffers because of sin which man has committed; and so long as there are sinners there must needs be trouble; but the Lord gives peace that is proof against tribulation. John 16: 33. He promises enough to sustain life to all those who trust Him. Matt. 6: 31-33; Ps. 37: 3. And at His coming there is the surety of such complete deliverance from7every semblance of evil and oppression as the wildest dreams of social reformers have never imagined. Moreover, that deliverance is nearer than any reformer has dared to set for a realization of his plans.
Therefore, "trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." "With the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption."
