NOTE.—This is the simple, clear account of the creation of man, bringing into existence that which had not before existed. He was formed of the dust, a perfect being in all his organs and functions, but still lifeless. God breathes into that form the breath of life, and that which He has formed from the dust becomes a living soul. Before that it was a soul, a person, but a lifeless soul. The breath of life made man a living soul. There is nothing said in either of these scriptures about a dual man, or man’s possessing an immortal soul or spirit. Yet it is argued that God is immortal; man is made in God’s image; therefore man is immortal. But this reasoning is a non sequitur; it proves too much; for if to be made in the image of God invests man with one attribute of Deity, immortality, it logically would clothe him with all His attributes, such as omnipotence, and omnipresence. An argument which proves too much proves nothing. “Breath of life” does not mean an entity, a spirit capable of existing consciously and intelligently without the body; for if such were the case, the beasts possess the same “breath of life.” Gen. 7:15, 22. The “breath of life” is simply the vital energy by which the man is caused to live, given to man in harmony with the law of his being. Neither does “living soul” convey any idea of immortality in man. Its meaning is simply living creature. See Gen. 1:30, margin, and Rev. 16:3.
5. What test was placed upon man?
“Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof THOU SHALT SURELY DIE.” Gen. 2:17.
NOTE.—The responsible man was the “thou,” the one that reasoned, chose, decided, moved the hand to take, the mouth to taste. It was the whole man, the responsible whole, that was addressed and that, if disobedient, would die.
6. What contradiction was made to God’s word?
“And the serpent said, . . . YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE.” Gen. 3:4.
Dissolution of Man.
7. What did God do that man might not live a sinner forever?
“Now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and EAT, and LIVE FOREVER; therefore the Lord God . . . DROVE OUT THE MAN; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to KEEP THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE.” Gen. 3:22-24.
8. What sentence did He visit upon man?
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for DUST THOU ART, AND UNTO DUST SHALT THOU RETURN.” Gen. 3:19.
9. What takes place at death?
“Then shall the DUST RETURN TO THE EARTH as it was; and the SPIRIT shall RETURN UNTO GOD WHO gave it.” Eccl. 12:7.
“HIS BREATH GOETH FORTH, he returneth to his earth; in that very day HIS THOUGHTS PERISH.” Ps. 146:4.
NOTE.—Strange, isn’t it, that men should still take the word of the serpent in preference to the word of God? God says when man sinned he should surely die; the old serpent declares, “Ye shall not surely die; . . . ye shall be as God.” Gen. 3:4, 5, A.B.V. To every human sense God’s words have been true; but to deceive men, the theory of an immortal soul, a conscious spirit, surviving the death of the body, has been invented. Men love to believe the invention because it exalts sinful man. Yet how simple is the truth of God. The spirit was given to man as “the breath of life,” and it made the man formed out of dust a living soul. Man dies; the spirit goes back to God as the breath of life, even as God gave it. The dissolution of man is the opposite of his formation. When he dies, the thinking man, the thoughts, perish.
10. In what does continued righteousness always result?
“In the WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS LIFE; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” Prov. 12:28.
Result of Sin.
11. What is always the result of sin?
“SIN, when it is finished, BRINGETH FORTH DEATH.” James 1:15.
“Wherefore, as by ONE MAN SIN entered into the world, and DEATH BY SIN; and so DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12.
NOTE.—The stream can rise no higher than its fountainhead. The children of men can not in themselves rise higher than their first father. They die. All men are subject to death; and death is extinction of life, cessation of being. The whole man dies. How reasonable it is that sin should at last, sooner or later, destroy itself; that the universe should not, could not, know immortal sinners; that God’s law and plan for man should indicate His wisdom and love; and that man should have his own choice, to live or to die. How the simple plan wipes from the pages of the past every charge against God of cruelty and injustice and reveals beauty instead of ugliness.
Man’s Condition in Death.
12. What is man’s condition in death?
“His sons come to honor, and HE KNOWETH IT NOT; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Job 14:21.
“For the living know that they shall die; but THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANYTHING. . . . Also their LOVE, and their HATRED, and their ENVY, IS NOW PERISHED.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
“Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that HE IS BOTH DEAD AND BURIED, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.” Acts 2:29.
The Resurrection.
13. Inasmuch as the descendants of Adam were not responsible for his sin and the death which came in consequence, how does God save them from it?
“For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22.
14. But as Adam’s nature was not originally sinful and ours is, because inherited from sinful parents, how does God meet our need that we may not die for our own sins?
“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Rom. 5:20.
Eternal Life by Faith.
15. In what way is grace manifested that we may live again?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, but have EVERLASTING LIFE.” John 3:16.
16. Do men have eternal life, connection with God, by nature? Is there hope apart from Christ?
“That at that time ye were WITHOUT CHRIST, being ALIENS from the commonwealth of ISRAEL, and STRANGERS from the covenants of PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, and WITHOUT GOD in the world.” Eph. 2:12.
“Having the understanding darkened, being ALIENATED FROM THE LIFE OF GOD.” Eph. 4:18.
17. But what do those who are in Christ possess?
“And this is the record, that God HATH GIVEN TO US ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son HATH LIFE; and he that hath NOT the Son of God hath NOT life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that YE MAY KNOW THAT YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13.
Two Resurrections.
18. How, then, will the dead live, and how many classes will there be?
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which ALL THAT ARE IN THE GRAVES SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE, and shall come forth; THEY that have done GOOD, unto the7RESURRECTION OF LIFE; and THEY that have done EVIL, unto the RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION.” John 5:28, 29.
“There shall be a resurrection of the dead, BOTH OF THE JUST AND UNJUST.” Acts 24:15.
19. Wherein, then, does the hope concerning the dead rest?
“Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if THERE BE NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, THEN is CHRIST NOT RISEN: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and YOUR FAITH IS ALSO VAIN. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For IF THE DEAD RISE NOT, then is NOT CHRIST RAISED: and IF CHRIST BE NOT RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS VAIN; ye are yet in your sins. Then THEY ALSO WHICH are fallen asleep in Christ ARE PERISHED.” 1 Cor. 15:12-18.
20. When will the resurrection of the righteous occur?
“Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be changed. For this CORRUPTIBLE must put on INCORRUPTION, and this MORTAL must put on IMMORTALITY. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Cor. 15:51-54.
21. In connection with what great event will the trumpet sound?
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the COMING OF THE LORD shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the LORD HIMSELF SHALL DESCEND from heaven with a SHOUT, with the VOICE of the ARCHANGEL, and with the TRUMP OF GOD: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:15-17.
22. Who only possesses immortality by nature?
“The blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: WHO ONLY HATH IMMORTALITY.” 1 Tim. 6:15, 16.
“Now unto the KING ETERNAL, IMMORTAL, invisible, the only wise God.” 1 Tim. 1:17.
NOTE.—Everywhere in the Scriptures man is spoken of as mortal, subject to sin and death. He is vain man with a vain life, which is as a vapor, a cloud, his days swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, likened to things the most transitory and fleeting, everywhere demonstrating the truth of the word of God, “THE SOUL THAT SINNETH, IT SHALL DIE.” Eze. 18:4, 20. His only hope of living is the resurrection thru Christ. If he be a sinner, he is raised mortal, among the unjust, in the resurrection to condemnation; if he be clothed with Christ’s righteousness, he is raised to absolute eternal life and immortality of being, God’s stamp of an incorruptible character. Upon the perversions of truth concerning man’s nature, rather upon that first serpent’s falsehood, have been builded the structures of idolatry in all its various forms: spiritism, ancient and modern, purgatory, invocation of saints, transmigration of souls, an eternally burning hell, and other equally soul-destroying errors.
The closing chapters of Numbers deal with the cities of refuge,—type of the refuge to be found in Christ Jesus,—the law concerning murder, and concerning heiresses.
The remainder of the week's reading includes the first fourteen chapters of Deuteronomy, the last of the five books of Moses. The word "Deuteronomy" means "the repetition of the law," rehearsed and emphasized by Moses just before his death, as Israel was about to enter the promised land. The whole book abounds in practical religious instruction. It has been one of the targets of the higher critics; but as against all their criticism, it is sufficient to bring the Master's reverence for the book. In His threefold temptation Jesus met the devil successfully each time by a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy; and He quoted it without question. See Matt. 4:1-10.
Chapters 1 to 3 inclusive are a rehearsing of God's dealings with Israel after they left Horeb. What might have been but "eleven days' journey" into the promised land, took Israel, because of unbelief, thirty-eight years, forty, from Egypt. Especially keep in mind as we read this book the words of the apostle concerning the people of God during this time: "Now these things happened unto them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:11, 12.
Note the "take heeds" thruout the book. The very thing which God warned against was the sin into which Israel fell. They did not heed the warning. A "take heed" for this time is found in Luke 21:34.
Note the greatness of God's deliverance from Egypt as told in chapter 4. A greater deliverance is coming by and by. That deliverance from Egypt was redemption. It takes the same power to redeem as to create; therefore the Sabbath became to redeemed Israel not alone a memorial of creation (Ex. 20:8-11), but a sign of redemption. Deut. 5:15.
The giving of God's law on tables of stone is clearly told and told again; but it is even more emphasized that that law must be in the heart, and the service of love is the only true service. Note the instruction to parents. What a different world it would be if all these instructions were heeded.
Psalm 72 closes the second division of the book of the Psalms, with the words, "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." The first book, or division (see A.R.V.), closing with Psalm 41, is made up wholly of David's psalms. The second book—Psalms 42 to 72—is mostly psalms of David, with a few others from Asaph and the sons of Korah. Others of David are found in the two last books or divisions of the psalms, but many of them are from different sources; Asaph is the author of quite a large number. Psalm 72 is clearly prophetic of Christ thru Solomon. Compare Ps. 75:8 with Rev. 14:10. God's just wrath is still mixed with mercy.
Soul and Spirit.—The original words in the Hebrew and Greek from which "soul" and "spirit" are translated occur about 1,700 times in the aggregate. But never once are they called immortal. Immortality is never attributed to either in this life. Sometimes soul means the entire person; sometimes, the animal life; sometimes the affections, emotions. Spirit sometimes refers to a complete thinking being, as God, Christ, and the angels; sometimes to the life. The context readily determines the sense in which it is used.
The Knowledge of Man.
WHAT is man?' It is a Bible question echoing the longing of humanity thru the ages. Neither science nor philosophy has answered it. Science knows man as so many chemical elements combined into an organized, living, thinking animal. It knows no more. Philosophy, perverted by tradition, differing among its various schools of thought, gives no satisfactory reply. The old heathen inscription said to be over the door of the Delphic temple, "Know thyself," is yet, and forever will be, unrealized as long as man seeks for that knowledge within himself. Left to himself or sought within the limits of his own research or understanding, the quest is fruitless, the oracle is dumb.
The question can receive satisfactory answer only when we come to the oracles of the word of God, and listen to the revelations of Him who created man. Forever astray shall he go in his search who ignores God and the Scriptures of truth. Apart from that man is but the higher step in a series of which the polyp or mullusk in mud is the first, or he is an immortal soul winging its way thru countless metamorphoses up or down in the scale of living till thru countless weary efforts the poor thing arrives to the blessedness (?) of nirvana, or ego extinction.
Men have discussed moral philosophy thruout the ages, but how has man been helped by it? The moral nature and faculties of man have been analyzed and his conduct marked out, its limits determined, but what better is he? Vice and crime and sin in every form and manifestation hold sway, and betterment of conduct and morals has not kept pace with enlightenment. How much better to come with simple faith to the word of God, and admit the truth of the revelation which the ages have so abundantly demonstrated! Listen:
"O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jer. 10:23.
"The heart is deceitful above all things; and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?"
The thought is clearly implied that man of himself can not know it. Yet we are not left in doubt. The prophet continues: "I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 17:9, 10.
The mental and moral in man, all that pertains to character—the only thing of worth in man—are known only to God; and from God must we learn the lesson. It is a perversion of truth, echoed in Pope's lines:
"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man."
Not so does the word of God put it. Listen to the words of earth's greatest Teacher: "And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ." John 17:3. The value of knowledge is measured by results, by what it brings. The value of the knowledge of man apart from God has resulted in nothing.
The value of knowledge of God issues in a life that parallels the existence of Deity. And in the knowledge of God and His will can we find the knowledge of ourselves,—physically, mentally, morally, spiritually. We therefore commend the reader to the partial study of man found in our Bible-reading department. And all that is not there given may be found in the word of God.
THE study in Romans last week showed that God's promises are in harmony with God's law; they do not in any sense set aside the law of God; on the contrary, the promises of God are rendered all the more sure because the righteousness of the law of God can not by any means be abolished.
The law of God requires a perfect, righteous character on the part of the individual, and this law can not be changed or abrogated; hence it was necessary for a plan of salvation to be devised that would enable the sinner to be brought into harmony with the law. This could be done only by giving to the sin-defiled individual, as a free gift, the life and righteousness of the Christ of God. The Lord bestows the great gift of righteousness upon all those who will accept it by faith. This was true in the case of Abraham, and he is set before us in the word of God as an illustration of what every other individual may have and become if he will only avail himself of the active power of the law of faith. But upon this point let us proceed to consider the following verses in the apostle's Roman letter:
"And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not thru unbelief, but waxed strong thru faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on Him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification." Rom. 4: 19-25.
It was the Lord's plan that Abraham should have a son to whom he could personally teach the great principles of righteousness that had been committed to him. And this son in turn should teach them to his children and thus they would be handed down from generation to generation as a blessing to mankind. But Abraham was already "about a hundred years old," and his wife, Sarah, had passed the time of life when, according to the due course of nature, it is possible for women to bear children. But the Father in heaven had given the promise to Abraham that he should have a son, and, "looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not thru unbelief, but waxed strong thru faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform."
Here is the secret of power in a godly life. Abraham kept "looking unto the promise of God." He did not consider his own age, neither did he consider the fact that Sarah was an old woman who had been childless all her life. If he had considered those things he never could have believed the promise of God, neither could he have had the great benefits that come from believing. But you are ready to say that this is "blind faith without evidence." There is right where you are mistaken. The best evidence any one can have is the promise of God. If God has given His promise, that is unmistakable evidence that we can have the thing promised. We highly regard the promises of capable, honest men; but the promises of God are beyond all comparison with any of the promises that men may give. Even an honest man may sometimes be placed in a position that renders it impossible for him to carry out promises that he has made in all good faith and with no other intention than to carry them out to the letter. But with God this can never be the case. He can not make a promise that He can not and will not fulfil. Therefore His promises are the strongest evidence that a person can possibly have.
When Abraham was asked to present the evidence that he was to have a son, he said nothing about his age, but pointed to the promise of God. He was ever looking at the promise. That promise was his constant joy. That promise was an ever-present reality to him. It was his never-failing evidence that he was to have a son to whom he could commit the promises of God as the priceless heritage that they are.
When we learn to regard the promises of God themselves as the strongest evidence that can be given, then are we learning to stand on those promises. Then are we learning to waver not thru unbelief, but to wax strong thru faith. And as we learn this lesson the text assures us that this faith is "reckoned" to us for righteousness.
We should learn to look at the promises of God as the most tangible and substantial thing in all the universe. Says the Master, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Matt. 24: 35. And we have also this divine statement, "For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but9watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isa. 55: 10, 11. God is able to accomplish everything that He has ever promised in His word. And not only is He able to accomplish all that He has said, but He is fully determined to do it. His word shall not return to Him void; it is divinely decreed that it shall accomplish the thing whereunto the Lord hath sent it.
The heavens may be in commotion; the earth may be shaking, but God's word stands solidly secure. This is a truth that we may all depend upon. And since it is such a soul-comforting, and soul-satisfying truth, why is it that so few avail themselves of the blessing of an abiding trust in the promises of our divine Father?
The wonderful promises that blessed and purified Abraham, together with the record of the wonderful work that was accomplished for him, were not given and kept intact till the present day merely for the sake of the patriarch who lived so many centuries ago. For the apostle says, "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on Him that raised our Lord from the dead." Rom. 4: 23, 24.
We have frequently referred to the scriptures showing that God is no respecter of persons. If we exercise faith in the promises as did Abraham, God will work for us now just as mightily as He worked for Abraham then. Every promise is for us to-day.
T.
Studies in the Book of Daniel
God the Preserver
The Mighty Power of Faith.
BABYLON, great Babylon, “the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean’s pride,” the mighty city that, by her religion and education and influence, had, for fifteen centuries or more, molded the world,—Babylon, that had brought under her wondrous spell civilizations Hamitic and Semitic, friend and foe, conqueror and conquered, had at last fallen. Hamitic civilization had put forth mighty endeavor to rule the world, and had failed. The children of Shem followed, and were dominant for many centuries. Now the children of Japheth, in the nations of Media and Persia, are given the throne. Babylon’s mighty walls, supported only by weak, effeminate, luxury-loving men, were insufficient to protect her from the clearer-thinking, hardier, more frugal Medes and Persians.
Over the Medo-Persian forces was Cyrus, the virtual monarch of both peoples; but with rare forethought and wise policy he allayed the suspicions of the conquered Medes by placing one of their own nation upon the throne,—the probable son of Astyages, Cyarxes II. He may have been one of the cousins of Cyrus. At any rate he was a Median, and known to the Jews as Darius the Mede, the term Darius meaning “coercer,” “conservator,”—probably a title rather than name, the same as Pharaoh.
The character of Darius the Mede, as shown in Daniel 6, is, like that of most other men, a blending of weakness and strength. His large division of the responsibility of his empire showed wisdom, and his choice of a prime minister revealed sagacity. But he was susceptible of one of the greatest temptations a ruler has to meet,—flattery from those seeking favors,—and he yielded to it, to his own discomfiture and disgrace.
One character shines out in this chapter above all the others,—that of Daniel the captive. He was an old man now. He had kept thru all the years his purpose not to be defiled by the corruptions of Babylon, not alone in his eating and drinking, but in all his life.
He had stood as prime minister under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, uncontaminated by court life, untouched by bribery. God was with him. To him had the Revealer of secrets opened the future. His knowledge, drawn from the great storehouse of God, had been demonstrated to be greater than that of magician or Chaldean. His wisdom, drawn from the great Fountain, exceeded that of all the wise men of the greatest empire of earth, enriched (?) by the traditions of centuries. In the business of the kingdom he was without a rival.
With such a record, knowledge of which must have extended to every kingdom with which Babylon had had to do, it is not wonderful that Darius chose him as one of the three presidents; not the first, as in the common version, but “one” of the three, as in the Revision, Septuagint, and others, a division of responsibilities. Dan. 6:1, A.R.V. The king would not at first thus exalt him; that was to come later, as Daniel’s wisdom and merit were demonstrated in counsel. Thus the record reads: “Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” Verse 3. The Septuagint declares that this was done, and following verses show this to be the fact. Daniel was made prime minister, the chief of the cabinet of three, the representative of the king.
Envy and Its Fruit.
The result of the king’s preference was soon manifest. Never was merit exalted but it aroused envy in the hearts of the selfish, envy that is ever pained at the seemingly equal or greater prosperity of another.
Here is the record of their envious plotting:
“Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him CONCERNING THE LAW OF HIS GOD. Then these presidents and satraps assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the interdict.” Verses 4-9.
1. Note the remarkable record of Daniel. Was there ever a politician in America against whom some charge of evil-doing or mistake, wrought sometime in his public career, could not be brought? Sometime he had slipped, committed some sin, made some egregious blunder (worse than sin in a politician’s estimation), and so marred his life. But this was not the case with Daniel. The presidents and satraps, one hundred and twenty-two in number, set themselves to find some occasion against Daniel in his public work. They searched the records of state, looked over Daniel’s books, cross-examined his private secretary,—if he had one,—interviewed his enemies; but after all the searching and prying, “they could find none occasion nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” It was a remarkable record.
2. Then they tried another tack. Our only hope, said they, is to find some occasion “against him concerning the law of his God,” his religion. Envy would condemn him for his very virtues.
3. Then the whole number of the presidents and princes came to the king,—“came tumultuously” (verse 6, margin), with great enthusiasm, telling the king that he was divine, and worthy of worship, and that all his officers had agreed that his worship should be firmly established by royal decree. Thirty days were to be given to this, during which time no one was to ask any petition of any God or man save the king.
4. The king, blinded by the “poisoned flattery,” yielded, and signed the decree. Little did he know what it meant. Hannah More well says:
“No adulation; ’tis the death of virtue;
Who flatters is of all mankind the lowest,
Save he who courts the flattery.”
5. Daniel knew what they were about, but it did not change his purpose. Character was more precious in his estimation than wealth and honor and position combined; aye, even than life. Duty must be done. He did not even counsel with his brethren. He knew what was right in the premises. He did not appeal to the king to change the law; he knew this would be futile in view of the purpose of those who framed it. They had perverted the God-given authority of the kingdom to destroy him; the faithful servant would leave his case with his beloved Master. To yield to the law of iniquity10meant destruction of character; more than this, it meant dishonor to God, whose representative he was. Better death a thousand times than loss of character or falsity to his trust. The king and all Medo-Persia were but for a time; God and His kingdom were eternal. He would stand for God.
Studies in the Book of Daniel.
(Continued from Page 9.)
The Worth of a Purpose.
The worth of a purpose is shown, not in sweet sunshine and pleasant paths, surrounded by friends, but it is revealed when the sky is dark, the path rugged and uninviting, beset by temptations and snares, and there is no one to help save God, and He seen only by the eye of faith. Daniel’s purpose was not for a sunshiny day and on easy paths, but for life, in whatever paths it led; and therefore, when he “knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem); and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” Verse 10.
There was no spirit of braggadocio in Daniel. He did not defy the law. If the law contravened the righteous purpose of his life, his solemn duty to God, that was only incidental; it was not a principle to mold or change his steadfast purpose. He continued to do as he had ever done. Neither did the man of God yield to human fear. He might have argued that discretion is the better part of valor; that it would be more politic to close his windows and pray in secret for the next thirty days. But he did nothing of the kind. His windows were usually open toward his beloved Zion; he would leave them so. He had his regular seasons of devotion, the doubtless the busiest man in the empire; he would not depart from this duty and privilege. And his enemies knew that he would not. They assembled at the stated time, “and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.” Verse 11. They expected to find him there. He prayed as beforetime, and doubtless for the very men that were plotting his destruction; for did he not serve God? and had not God said, “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it”? Jer. 29:7. Daniel also gave thanks to God. He knew that his prayer was heard; that it would be all well whatever came.
(Concluded Next Week.)
"Shall He Find Faith?"
THE Independent, once quite an orthodox journal, now a leader in higher criticism, refers to 238 different titles of works on the second coming of Jesus Christ, and counts that the great majority are "veriest rubbish," and the remainder hopelessly out of date; and then advises its correspondents to take Dr. Clark's "Outline of Christian Theology," which is a "mine of common sense and spiritual insight on the truth of the Christian religion." But the poor correspondent if he follows this advice, will find nothing—absolutely nothing—but Dr. Clark's say-so and his own conclusions; for Dr. Clark admits even the fallibility of Jesus, and questions whether Christ Himself was not mistaken as regards His second advent.
The same article tells us that as we advance in the New Testament, the writers themselves change, for we learn "in the fourth Gospel the return is no longer marvelous and apocalyptic, but the quiet coming of the Spirit to the heart. And this is the only parousia which can be preached with any compelling message to the men of to-day."
We are further told that "no considerable body of people will ever again anticipate the personal return of Jesus to the earth. The pervading of society by His Spirit, which is actually taking place,11is something a great deal better." But that simply means human consciousness; and of course the unregenerate Christian is much better satisfied to go on in the old way. People do not like to hear of the Lord's personal coming, and yet that is the very thing which the fourth Gospel presents. "If I go, . . . I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." In that last recorded prayer of Christ's in the 17th of John, we read further, "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am;" and we are also instructed in those wonderful unfoldings of spiritual truth,—the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters,—that the Spirit takes Christ's place when He is absent, and that it is expedient that He go away in order that the Comforter might come. And the closing book of the Bible, written by the same beloved apostle, at about the same time, rings with the second coming of Christ from beginning to end.
We will not dispute the Independent's statement that no considerable body of people will anticipate His coming, but we are sorry that that is so. This, too, confirms the words of Jesus, that "when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith?"—that is, this faith, as to His coming, on earth. The question implies that He will not; and leaders of religious thought are doing all in their power to educate men away from the thought of His coming. Yet He is coming again. "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
