HERE are many advantages in city life. It is convenient; but it is not the ideal life, and in a sinful world it is anything but the ideal life. It was for that reason that after the Deluge God commanded the children of men that they should scatter abroad upon the face of the earth. But men with carnal hearts said, "Go to, let us build us a city, . . . and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad." The natural heart of man is carnal, fleshly. It tends to the lower elements of his nature, and he has no power in himself to lift himself above that condition. Divine grace alone can do it.
Wickedness congregated is worse than wickedness separated. That is why it is that the city is worse than the country. Carnal men in a city as individuals are no different from carnal men in the country as individuals; but when many get together who are sinfully inclined, there is a momentum, an excess, in wickedness, which can not be found in the country. Where country people manifest it most is in times of great gatherings of pleasure, where there is a tendency to commit excesses of foolishness and carnality. Therefore, God in His goodness, in His directions and instructions, in His watchcare and providential leadings over His people, has made them almost invariably a pastoral people; while on the other hand the world has tended toward cities, and cities have invariably corrupted the world. It is a common remark that cities must be recruited from the country. The country makes the best foundation for men. After one or two generations the virile, strong men of the city die out.
One of the blessings of America and its development of strong characters has been the large country population. It is sad that the tendency runs the other way now. The urban population is increasing in greater proportion than is the rural population. And yet God's children have looked forward to the time when there would be a pure city, a city which would not contaminate, which would not degrade, which would not present extremes of wealth and squalor. Abraham looked for "a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God." Those who died in faith, looked also for a country which did not devour its inhabitants; and of them it is said, "God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city." See Heb. 11: 10, 13-16. And once more we read, "Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb. 13: 14. We learned in our last week's study that God would renew the earth after its load of sin had been blotted out; that there would come forth from its purifying fires by the fiat of the Almighty a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness should dwell — God's country, in which all the subjects should be loyal to Him. Let us learn —
The Answer of the Text
1. What did the angel again propose to show John?
And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Rev. 21:9. Note 1.
2. What did he show him?
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Verse 10. Note 2.
3. With what was that city invested?
Having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Verse 11. Note 3.
4. What is the general description of the city?
Having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. Verses 12-15. Note 4.
5. What are the dimensions of the city?
And the city lieth four-square, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. Verses 16, 17. Note 5.
6. Of what materials is it built?
And the building of the wall thereof was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Verses 18-21. Note 6.
7. What is said of its worship and its moral conditions?
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Verses 22-27. Note 7.
Note and Comment
1. ONE OF THE SEVEN ANGELS.—We know no reason why one of the seven angels which had the seven plagues should show John the glorious city, unless it is by the way of contrast to the very work which he had been commissioned to do. Perhaps, too, after God had asked him to do the saddest of all sad works, pour out upon the inhabitants of the earth the plagues in which is filled up the wrath of God, the Lord would give the most delightful work to him in the revelation of a new creation in which there was no sin, and upon which could come no plague forevermore. Note also what he was to show John. If there is any occasion on earth which ought to be a joyful occasion, as well as solemn, it is that of marriage. We know that there are many abnormal ceremonies of this kind, many abnormal marriages, many marriages based not on affection but on expediency. But in the really true, normal marriage, it is always joyful. And the angel declares, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb." "The Lamb," we know, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who died and who suffered that He might win His bride. Who is the bride? Upon this there are various speculations. One of the most general beliefs is that the bride is constituted of God's children, the redeemed, the saved. Some tell us that it is only a portion of the saved — the 144,000; others that it is a select class which God gathers out of all generations. How much better it is to adhere to the very words of the Scripture itself!
2. AND HE SHOWED ME.—Not with physical eyes was this revealed to John. He must see this with a vision which penetrated to his very soul, illuminated by the Spirit of God, that there might be no mistake about it. And so John, taken in the Spirit to a great elevation, looked down upon the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. Let us recall what we have already learned in some of our studies: first, that God created the earth for the home of man, to be inhabited; and in Isa. 45: 17, 18, He bases His very existence on the carrying out of that purpose. After declaring that He had created the earth and formed it to be inhabited, He closes by saying, "I am Jehovah; and there is none else." The very honor, integrity, and existence of the Godhead depend upon the carrying out of that purpose. If that fail, why should not all fail? And repeatedly we learn throughout the Scripture what our Lord Himself echoed in the Beatitudes, that "the MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Isaiah again tells us, in chapters 54 and 62, that in the renewal of that earth there will be a city, Zion, the waiting city, the city which abides, the mansions which Christ has prepared for us. She is now desolate waiting for her children, a pledge to all the heavenly intelligences that God will finish His work and bring His children home. And yet, looking upon it from the purely human standpoint, seeing and knowing how things seemingly go adversely to God's work in this earth, it would seem at times that she was in mourning, waiting for her children, many of whom had gone down under the greatest obloquy, and who had been put to death as criminals in the offscouring of the earth. Yet she has waited through all the ages. That holy city represents the kingdom, the whole earth. It stands for the kingdom just as Washington stands for the Government of the United States, London for the British government, Berlin for Germany. It stands for that glorious kingdom more than any one of these cities can stand for their own people; because in that city whose Builder and Maker is God,7there is represented in a special sense every soul of His kingdom. There are the records, the Book of Life; and in this Book of Life every inhabitant of the new earth will have a name. Therefore, while Christ is spoken of in Isa. 9:6 as our "everlasting Father," we read in Gal. 4:26 that "Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." The redeemed of all ages will be the children, those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
3. HAVING THE GLORY OF GOD.—Most emphatically, the glory of God is His goodness, as declared in Ex. 33:18, 19. Whittier has beautifully phrased it:
Heaven and earth are witnesses
That Thy glory goodness is.
And the holy city Jerusalem is bathed in the glory of God, hidden and veiled many times in earth's long travail, but now outshining with all its glorious resplendency, revealing the character of the very city in which God's presence dwells, and its light like unto a stone most precious, light filtered through pure jasper, clear as crystal, far more beautiful than men ever dreamed.
4. HAVING A WALL.—It is a walled city, but not for protection. Cities of earth have had walls built to protect them from invaders and thieves and robbers. Not so with this. It has a wall, but the wall is given to add beauty and glory and order to the city. Entering that wall are twelve gates, three on each side. At these marvelous portals are twelve angels, who note those who go out and in. On these twelve gates are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, for all God's children are Israel then, and under one of the twelve tribes must come every soul that enters the city. Men may not know that, but there is order with God, perfect order—not rigid perfect order, but natural perfect order. Everything has fallen into its proper place with a divine naturalness when sin has passed away and the healing glory has come. And so God's people will be divided into twelve nations, or twelve tribes of the children of Israel. And these tribes will come into the city through the various gates as they go up to keep festival day,—Sabbath day, monthly feasts (see Isa. 66:22, 23). TWELVE FOUNDATIONS.—We do not know just what is meant by these twelve foundations, whether the twelve foundations are parallel and connected, or whether they are superimposed one upon the other. They may be parallel with each other, parts of the one great foundation corresponding to the gates. On the twelve foundations are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Twelve is the product of three and four—four the world number, three the divine number. The world number has lost its significance of sin and storm and strife. It is multiplied with the divine. Jesus had promised this to the twelve disciples. Peter said: "Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee; what then shall we have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matt. 19:27, 28. The regeneration, the recreation, has come, and God honors His twelve apostles, their names in the foundation of the city, themselves reigning over the twelve tribes, but with a reign of love.
5. TO MEASURE THE CITY.—We can not understand how men can say that the city represents the church, when God has given such specific description, the very measurements, the form of the city; in fact, every description indicates that it is literal. We do have cities representing nations, and kindreds, and tongues, etc. Babylon is one of those; but we have no literal, particular description of the city. It is simply the name and the thought of the city as an aggregation of peoples. But the city of Revelation 21 is separate from the peoples. The peoples enter that city. The city has an existence in and of itself, before the people enter it; it is prepared for them before they enter it. It is just as literal as the earth upon which it rests. And what a fitting capital it is for that earth made new! "The city lieth four-square, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth." He gives us the measure of the city, 12,000 furlongs. With eight furlongs to the mile, that would be 1,500 miles; according to the ancient method of measuring cities, the distance around it. This would give us a city 375 miles square. It is impossible for mortal to appreciate such a city as that. All the cities of the earth could be placed in that. More than 140,000 square miles; almost as large as the entire State of California, nearly as large as Montana, as large as three States like New York. That is the wonderful capital of Christ's kingdom, large enough to have a mansion for every one of God's children that shall perfectly inhabit this earth. How the great cities of earth sink into utter insignificance as compared with it! Chicago has 190½ square miles, New York 326, New Orleans 196. How insignificantly small they are compared with that glorious city which God is reserving for His children! THE WALL.—Of jasper, 250 feet or more high, not built for protection, but for beauty and glory. "The length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal," we read in verse 16. The word "equal" has also the meaning of proportionally proper. They are fitted together so as to make one harmonious whole. It is a perfect city.
6. THE BUILDING . . . THE FOUNDATIONS.—We may not stop in this study to describe these. We can take the most wonderful dreams of beauty which man ever had, and they would pale into inferiority compared with the glory of the city of God. Of the wall it is said to be jasper, the city gold, the gold so pure that its burnished luster reflects like pure glass, its foundations adorned with all manner of precious stone, and the foundations themselves of precious stone—jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, amethyst. Men have tried to define these colors, but it is utterly impossible. Let our readers, the next time they enter some museum where there are exhibitions of precious stones in quantity, keep this description in mind, and look upon those precious stones. Some of these stones run through almost every shade of color. Some of them are changeable in the light; and where all manner of precious stones are combined in glory and beauty, we can understand something of the dazzling display of that holy city. All these colors constitute the pure white of God's glory. They reveal in the separation of those white rays more of the wonderful glory of Him who is light itself. The purchase of Christ's blood, the works which He has wrought, furnish the means of revealing more of the glory of God than if we should see Deity itself. These mediums through which that glory shines soften and beautify it. Its glory is indescribable.
7. THE GLORY OF GOD.—It is this one thought upon which the prophet dwells. He saw no temple there. He had seen a temple before this. The temple which he had formerly seen was that which had to do with sin and the putting away of sin. Sin is no more. The temple itself, the reminder of sin, has vanished. "The Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof." The resplendent glory of God lights the city. It has no need of moon or sun, or artificial light. What does this mean? Will not the sun shine there? Isaiah tells us that "in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound," when sin shall be banished from the earth, and the works of God shall stand forth in their undimmed clearness, the "light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Isa. 30:26. And yet, tho that sun shine with its sevenfold brightness, it will be eclipsed by the marvelous glory of God in the holy city. For again Isaiah tells us, "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Jehovah of hosts will reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His elders shall be glory." Isa. 24:23. That would not be a pleasing light to the deeds of wickedness in our large cities now. God's city is a well-lighted city, and the nations of the saved shall walk in the light thereof, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory, all the beauty of their goodness, into it. There is no danger of robbers, and the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut. Dread night shall no longer spread her dark wings over the world. Into that city will be brought all the honor and all the beauty and all the best of all nations; but there shall enter into it nothing which is in any wise unclean, or that makes an abomination, or is false. All that is untrue, all that is unlike God, all who have identified themselves with sin and who have rejected His righteousness, will have perished. They who are in that city are those whose names are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. Men are proud that they have citizenship in some of the cities of the earth. We hear them again and again boasting, "I was born in New York," and "I was born in London," and "I was born in Paris," and "I am a German of Germans," "I was born in Berlin." And so of old, men were glad that they were born in Babylon and Tyre. But beyond Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia, it will be said of the city of God, "This one was born there." "Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; and the Most High Himself will establish her. Jehovah will count, when He writeth up the peoples, This one was born there." Ps. 87:4-6. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born from above, he can not see the kingdom of God." Those who have yielded themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ are born from above, and so God counts them as being born in that holy city. Their names are written there. Surely, for those who want an eternal inheritance in a land which is perfect, a mansion in a city which is eternal, what more can be found than that which God offers freely through Jesus Christ our Lord?
Child Wives in India
In one division of India, the Madras Presidency, according to the census of 1891, there were 23,238 girls under four years of age, and 142,606 between the ages of five and nine, married. There were 988 baby widows under four years of age, and 4,147 girl widows between five and nine years of age. Should the bridegroom die between the first and second ceremonies of the Indian marriage, the poor little child becomes a widow, doomed to life wretchedness and ignominy. Many little girls are married to old men tottering on the verge of the grave. In the Madras Presidency alone there are 60,000 Brahman widows, widowed in childhood, and doomed for life to the coarse white cloak and shaven head of the woman who is under the curse of the gods.
In India there are said to be 174,000 widows between five and nine years of age. They were not responsible for their betrothal or their marriage in any way. They had no wish or thought in the choice of husbands for themselves. As it has been said, no law, human or divine, can justify such a thing as the treatment of these children of India. And yet, after they are widows they are denied the right of marriage. The father of the widow may marry when he chooses, but the poor girl never.
What are you doing to help them?
Soul-Winning
It is glorious work. No labor this side of heaven is so full of rich compensations. They who have realized how satisfying it is to toil for Jesus, will never be content with any lower occupation.
But, says one and another, "I can not break through my reserve, and talk to my neighbor about spiritual things." This is the experience of many. The instant that conversation takes a turn toward direct religious topics, bearing on the life and conduct of individuals present, lips are sealed. Christian mothers can not talk to their children. Fathers yearn over their boys, that they may decide to be for the Lord; but they can not ask them a single simple question about it. Friends talk to friends about everything else. The world is full of Christ-loving hearts; but an enchanter's spell is over so many of them that their love does not overflow into speech.
If you love Jesus, and want others to love Him, too, see that you are so sunny, so brave, so full of joy and gladness, that they will look for the motive that lies at the root of your conduct. Do not let it be said of you, even in misunderstanding and partial error, that you are grim, forbidding, morose, and uncourteous. One can be selfish in prayer and devotion as well as in lesser things. To speak glad, bright, inspiring words, to do kind acts in a kind way, to let your life be, to all who feel its force, what the river is to the trees on its banks, and the sparkling rill to the meadow it kisses, will be to take a long step onward in the vocation of winning souls.—Christian at Work.
Our Bible Reading
He Will Come Again
Proposition 1: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the eternal Word, came to this world once in human form.
Proof: And the Word became flesh, and DWELT AMONG US (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth. John 1:14.
Proposition 2: As He came literally the first time, so, truly, will He come the second time.
Proof: So Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear A SECOND TIME, apart from sin, to them that wait for Him, unto salvation. Heb. 9:28.
Proposition 3: He promised His own disciples that He would come again.
Proof: Little children, yet a little while I am with you. . . . Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow afterwards. . . . Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I COME AGAIN, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 13:33 to 14:3.
Proposition 4: That coming will be a personal, literal coming.
Proof: Thus the angels declared at His ascension: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? THIS JESUS, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come IN LIKE MANNER as ye beheld Him going into heaven." Acts 1:9-11.
Proposition 5: As a cloud of angels received Him out of sight as He ascended, so will He come with clouds of angels.
Proof: Behold, He COMETH WITH CLOUDS; and every eye shall see Him. Rev. 1:7.
And then shall they see the Son of Man COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. Luke 21:27.
The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and ALL THE ANGELS with Him. Matt. 25:31.
Proposition 6: At His coming His people will enter upon their reward.
Proof: For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and THEN shall He RENDER UNTO EVERY MAN according to his deeds. Matt. 16:27.
Proposition 7: The living righteous shall be changed to immortality; the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible.
Proof: Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not 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. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Cor. 15:51-54.
Proposition 8: Then will they be caught away from the earth, with their Lord, and ascend to those mansions which He has prepared.
Proof: For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen 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 that are alive, that are left, shall TOGETHER WITH THEM BE CAUGHT UP IN THE CLOUDS, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. 4:15-17.
Proposition 9: In the glory of His presence will perish all of sin, and all that is identified with sin.
Proof: At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even ETERNAL DESTRUCTION from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints. 2 Thess. 1:7-10.
Proposition 10: Then will begin His everlasting reign.
Proof: At His APPEARING and His KINGDOM. 2 Tim. 4:1.
When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the angels with Him, THEN shall He sit on the THRONE of His glory. Matt. 25:31.
NOTE.—The student of Scripture will see that in all these scriptures there is nothing on which to base the popular idea that Christ's coming is at death, or that it is by His Spirit, or that it is in some great spiritual awakening or movement; but that it is personal, literal, visible, just as truly as was His first coming. At the first advent He came in humility, in weakness, as a human among humans, to glorify the Lord in His life, and to save His children by His death. At the second coming His work for sinful humanity will be over, and He shall come in indescribable glory.
Jochebed's Babe
By Delwin Rees Buckner
By Delwin Rees Buckner
The Nile seems noiseless, save where minnows mine
Quicksilver bubbles from its quiet deep;
Where long-legged, buoyant frogs elastic leap
From reeling reeds to some more virile vine;
Or, through the fragile waters, woven fine,
Queer slime-smeared, sinuous serpents subtly creep;
Or crocodiles splash—struggle—in their sleep,
Like ships that strangle in the blue-sea brine.
Naught more disturbs the drowsy calm—Yes;
hark!
'Mid blossom bath-tubs, filled with nectared dew,
Where bees wash off the tinsel from their wings,
Within a tiny, pitch-daubed bulrush ark
Soft weeps a Hebrew babe. Hushed maidens view
One fair enough to be the heir of kings.
Isla de San Andrés, Colombia.
H. A. ST. JOHN
By H. A. St. John
A Gathering and a Supper—No. 2
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Rev. 16:13-16.
THESE prophetic words bring to view another great gathering, which will come immediately after the decree. It will be in the day of fierce wrath, and in the time of the seven last plagues. Under the sixth plague the gathering will be accomplished, and under the seventh and last plague will come the battle.
God speaks from His throne, and His voice shakes heaven and earth, causing the greatest earthquake in all earth's history. The cities of the nations fall, every island flees away, and the mountains are not found. Then will come the time when earth's teeming millions will seek a hiding-place, and find none. Then will they cry for rocks and mountains to fall on them.
Then will heaven be opened, and Jesus will appear in all His glory, riding upon a white horse. The armies of heaven follow Him on white horses. His name is called "The Word of God." He is the "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." To all the wicked gathered together in bundles, or armies, He appears as a flaming fire, taking vengeance. With the sword of His mouth the nations are smitten with death. None escape. No one is left to gather and bury the slain.
Then comes the supper of the great God. The table will be the earth devoured by the curse. The food will be dead horses, kings, captains, mighty men, all men. An angel makes the call to this supper. The call is given to all fowls that fly (Rev. 19:17), and all beasts (Eze. 39:17); and they all come, feast, and are filled.
Reader, do you want to have a part in this gathering, and become food for fowls and beasts? If not, see to it that you heed the first call, and sup with Jesus.
H. A. ST. JOHN
Smiles After Sorrow
“NONE smile in summer like those who wept in winter.”
