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YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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FORMED BY
James Abraham Hillhouse, B.A. 1749
James Hillhouse, B.A. 1773
James Abraham Hillhouse, B.A. 1808
James Hillhouse, B.A. 1875
Removed 1942 from, the
Manor Mouse in Sachem's Wood
GIFT OF
GEORGE DUDLEY SEYMOUR

THE ANALYZED BIBLE

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN'S
EXPOSITORY WORKS

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THE
ANALYZED BIBLE

BY
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, D.D.

INTRODUCTION
JOB TO MALACHI

New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh

Copyright, 1908, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

Mivss 908rr> v 2.

New York : 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago : 80 Wabash Avenue
Toronto : 25 Richmond Street, W.
London : 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh : 100 Princes Street

CONTENTS

Job.

The Problem of Pain

PAGE 9

Psalms.

The Book of Worship

23

Peovebbs.

Practical Wisdom .

39

Ecclesiastes. The Vanity of Mate
rialism . . .51
Song of Songs. The Canticles of Love 63
Isaiah. The Prophet of the

Theocracy .

69

Jeremiah.

The Prophet of Failure

95

Lamentations.

The Lamentations of

Jeremiah
123
Ezekiel.
The Prophet of Hope .
129
Daniel.
The Prophet of Inter
pretation .
157
Hosea.
Spiritual Adultery
171
6

Contents

PAGE

Joel.

The Day of the Lord .

185

Amos.

National Accountabil

ity ...
193
Obadiah.
The Curse of Cowardice
205
Jonah.
Condemnation of Exclu-
SIVENESS
211
Micah. Authority False and
True . . . .219
Nahum. Vindication of Venge
ance .... 229
Habakkuk. The Problems of Faith . 239
Zephaniah. The Severity and Good
ness of God . . 247
Haggai. The Duty of Courage . 255
Zechariah. The Apocalypse of the
Old Testament . . 263
Malachi. Unconscious Corruption 281
JOB

JOB— THE PROBLEM OF PAIN

Prologue.

The Man Before The Process

1. 1-3

THE DRAMA

e-xlll. S

CONTROVERSY
BETWEEN HEA
VEN AND HELL
i. 6 — it. io

CONTROVERSY BETWEEN JOB AND
HIS FRIENDS

U. II. — XXXVII.

CONTROVERSY BE
TWEEN JEHOVAH AND
JOB
xxxviii. — xiii. 6

I. The First
Cycle I. 6-22
i. Council in
Heaven. 6-12
ii. Conflict on
Earth. 13-22
II. The SecondCycle II. 1-10

Council in
Heaven.

1-6

ii. Conflict on
Earth. 7-10

I. Their Coming ii. 11-111.
i. Their sympathy. il. ix-131
ii. Job's lament. iii.

II. The Controversy Iv.— xxxi.
i. First Cycle. iv.— xiv.
a. The argument. God is righteous. He
punishes the wicked. He blesses the
good.
b. The answer of Job. He is not wicked,
but just, and yet he is afflicted.
ii. Second Cycle. xv. — xxi.
a. The argument. It is the wicked who
are afflicted.
b. The answer of Job. The righteous also
are afflicted. The wicked are not al
ways afflicted.
iii. Third Cycle. xxii.— xxxi.
a. The argument. Job has sinned, there
fore he suffers.
b. The answer of Job. Solemn protesta
tion of innocence.

III. The Last Voice, xxxii.— xxxvii.
Suffering is educational.

I. Jehovah, the
First Unveil
ing xxxvlil.-xxxlx.
The Creation and Sus
tenance of the
material Universe.
A challenge to Job.
II. Interlude xl. 1-9
i. Jehovah's challenge.
ii. Job's answer.

1-2
3-5

III. Jehovah, the
Second Unveiling xl. B-xll.
The Government of the
material Universe.
A challenge to Job.

IV. Job's Answer xlll. 1-8

Epilogue.

The Man beyond the Process.

xlll. 7-17

JOB
TN magnificence of argument and beauty of
*¦ style this book is one of the grandest in the
Divine Library. It is enshrouded in mystery,
as to authorship, as to the characters pre
sented, as to the geographical location of the
scenes, and as to date. There are differences
of opinion as to whether this story is historic
ally true. Some look upon it as a dramatic
poem intended to teach certain truths, but
having no actual historic basis. I hold, upon
the testimony of other parts of Scripture
(Ezek. xiv. 14, 20; James v. 2), that the man
Job actually lived, and that the story of his
experiences as here set forth is a true one.
This view does not for a moment interfere with
the fact that the book is a dramatic poem, and
therefore it is not necessary to suppose that
either Job or his friends uttered their speeches
in the exact form in which they are here pre
sented to us ; but the views they held, and the
arguments they advanced, are accurately set
forth. There is every internal evidence that this
is an ancient story, probably patriarchal. Its

10 Job
great problem is that of pain. Its relations
are three-fold: first, of the relation of man
to the spirit world — evil and good; second, of
the inadequacy of human philosophies to ac
count for human problems; third, of the pur
pose of God as gracious.
The analysis is an attempt to show the form
and content of the book.
The Prologue
The book opens with a picture full of sun
shine and beauty. Job is seen in a three-fold
greatness. The first fact of that greatness is
that of his wealth; the second is that of his
family relationships; and the third is that of
his relation to God. As to material wealth, he
was "the greatest of all the children of the
East." As to his family, he is seen rejoicing
in the joy of his children, while caring for
them in fatherly intercession. As to his God,
he is declared to be "perfect and upright, and
one that feared God, and eschewed evil."
a. The Controversy between Heaven and
Hell
This is a somewhat brief section, and yet
absolutely necessary to a study of all that fol
lows. In it, the veil is drawn aside, and we
are given a view of councils in the spiritual

The Problem of Pain 11
world concerning man. The messengers of
God are seen presenting themselves before
Him. Among them comes one who is called
Satan, or the adversary. He expresses his
opinion concerning Job in the words, "Doth
Job fear God for nought?" The question sug
gests that Job's confidence in God, his faith
and loyalty, are due to the fact that God has
cared for him. In other words, he declares
that man's faith is based on selfishness, affirm
ing that if the things he possesses be taken
from him, his fear of God will cease. In an
swer to this challenge he is given permission
to test Job within the limits of his own sug
gestion, "All that he hath is in thy power;
only upon himself put not forth thine hand."
Immediately we have the story of the calami
ties which overtake Job. The life which was
seen in the prologue in calm and sunshine is
merged in storm and strain, in agony and pain.
Its strength, however, is proved in the fact
that when stripped of everything Job is able
to say, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath
taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Thus the enemy is defeated and his slander
disproved. Again the council in the spiritual world as
sembles. Satan, compelled to admit his de
feat so far, suggests new methods of attack,

12  Job 
and again he is permitted to go forth to do all
that he has suggested. He is strictly limited,
however, by the fiat of God. Job is now seen
plunged into yet deeper darkness, and more
terrible circumstances of trial, and the first
section ends with the picture of a man de
spoiled of earthly possessions, bereaved of chil
dren, and tempted to the uttermost by the sug
gestion of his wife that he should, "curse God
and die." He is still able to resist, and does
not sin with his lips.
b. Controversy between Job and His
Friends
In order to a true appreciation of all that
is to follow, it is necessary that the condition
of Job be clearly apprehended. With no
knowledge of what has passed in the councils
of the spiritual world, he sits in the midst of
desolation and darkness, filled with physical,
mental, and spiritual pain. His greatest an
guish is that he cannot understand why these
things have come to him. His life has been
one of faith in God, and he has no conscious
ness of having committed sin. Why, then, has
he been plunged into the midst of such cir
cumstances? While in the midst of this desolation, and
on the very verge of despair, his three friends

The Problem of Pain 13
come to him. Their coming is prompted by
love of him, and sympathy for him. In the
later movements of the book, Job, in keen
disappointment, inquires what has become of
all the people he had helped in the day of his
prosperity, and the question is a pertinent one.
The day of darkness had sifted the crowds of
his professed friends. For the three who come
we can have nothing but admiration. So ter
ribly was Job changed by his experiences that
these men are overwhelmed with astonishment
as they behold him, and for seven days and
seven nights they sit in silence in the presence
of his grief.
Their silent sympathy appeals to him so that
he pours out his great lamentation in their lis
tening ears. It was a terrible cry pulsating
with pain. He first curses the day of his birth,
and the night of his conception. He then la
ments his preservation, and thinks of the quiet
ness which would have been his if he could
but have ceased to be. Finally he mourns his
continued being, seeing that he is in circum
stances of such unceasing and irremediable
sorrow. So overwhelmed is he that he has lost
his sense of the greatness of personality which
he had affirmed at the close of the first attack
of the adversary. He has, moreover, lost his
clear sense of relation to God in his perplexity

14  Job 
concerning the trial through which he has
passed. The lamentation is a great cry for
escape. In answer to this lamentation the friends
speak, and the controversy commences. It
moves forward in three cycles, in the whole of
which they speak from the standpoint of their
own philosophy of life, and he answers out of
the midst of his consciousness of the actual ex
periences through which he is passing.
In the first cycle the three friends speak to
him in turn, he replying to each one in order.
Their statement of the case may be briefly sum
marized thus. God is righteous : He punishes
the wicked; He blesses the good. It is per
fectly obvious that the deduction which they
expect he will make is that they hold him
guilty of some sin, of which sin all his suffer
ings constitute the Divine punishment. There
is an evident method in their statement of the
case, Eliphaz, in his speech, declares the prin
ciple in general terms. Bildad, in his turn,
illustrates the principle, while Zophar applies
it more directly to the case of Job. To each
of these Job replies, with varying emphases,
according to their differing methods, that he
is not wicked but just, and yet he is afflicted,
his main contention being that he is innocent,
and yet God has afflicted him, and his prin-

The Problem of Pain 15
cipal desire being some explanation of this
mystery. In the second cycle again the three friends
address Job in the same order, and he replies
to each in turn. Their view-point is not
changed, but throughout these addresses they
state it within narrower limits. The whole ar
gument in this case may thus be expressed : It
is the wicked who are afflicted. Job answers
by declaring that the righteous also are af
flicted, and that the wicked are not always af
flicted. On the part of the friends there is now
evidence of some anger growing out of per
sonal resentment. In his first reply Job has
treated them with scorn and sarcasm, and
their consideration for him is not as great as
it was in the beginning. While they are pro
foundly convinced that such suffering can only
be accounted for by the fact of definite sin hav
ing been committed, they look upon his atti
tude toward God as being impious, and there
fore their words are less considerate and their
method of attack more direct. Job, on the
other hand, while treating them with scorn,
seems throughout the movement to be more
than ever determined to make his appeal
directly to God, and thus is seen forcing
his way to the point of direct dealing with
Him.

16  Job 
In the third cycle we have a change. Eli-
phaz and Bildad are the only speakers. Their
philosophy is still unchanged, only now they
state it with more absolute directness of appli
cation to the case of Job. They charge him
definitely with having sinned, and declare that
this is the reason of his suffering. He replies
to Eliphaz and Bildad, denying their affirma
tions concerning himself; and then, after a
pause, in which he seems to have waited for
Zophar, who does not speak, he makes a
lengthy and solemn protestation of innocence.
This takes a legal form, such as a man would
adopt in some high court of justice, where
upon oath he avows his innocence of the
charges made against him.
The last voice of the earthly controversy is
now heard. It is a new voice, and opportunity
never comes to Job to answer it. Elihu intro
duces himself, with apologies to the ancient
men, and yet expresses his disappointment
that they have been unable to deal with
Job. The argument of Elihu moves forward in
three sections. He first of all, at great length,
declares that through suffering God is dealing
with man to some higher issue. According to
this argument suffering is educational. He
closes this first movement by challenging Job

The Problem of Pain 17
to hear him while he speaks, and to answer
him if he has anything to say.
Job gives no answer, and Elihu proceeds.
He then makes two quotations from things
which Job had said in the course of the previ
ous controversy. The first may be summarized
as a contention that he has been afflicted by
God, notwithstanding his integrity. The sec
ond is one which suggests that nothing is
gained by loyalty to God. In answer to the
first, Elihu declares that God cannot do
wickedness. In the case of the second, he af
firms that when Job questions the advantage
of serving God, he sets up his righteousness as
being "more than God's."
After a pause, Elihu commences his last ad
dress, which is intended to be a defence of God
against Job, and proceeds to illustrate it by
reference to a storm. The dramatic setting of
the story makes it probable that he described
a storm which was actually gathering at the
time, out of the midst of which presently the
voice of God was heard.
c. Controversy between Jehovah and Job
Out of the midst of the whirlwind speaks
the Divine voice, for which Job has long been
waiting. This speech of Jehovah is first of
all a setting forth in language of inimitable

18  Job 
splendour of the truth concerning the creation
and sustenance of the material universe, at the
close of which He challenges Job to answer.
The answer is full of suggestiveness. The man
who in mighty speech and strong defiance had
been of unbroken spirit in the presence of the
arguments of his friends now cries out, "Be
hold, I am of small account." He has yet to
be taught that he is of much account to
God. Again Jehovah proceeds, and this time sets
forth, in language equally sublime, the facts
of His government of the material universe,
ending with another challenge to Job. Job's
answer is full of the stateliness of a great sub
mission. This utterance of surrender is God's
victory of vindication.
The great victory being won in the soul of
Job, Jehovah deals with his friends. His
wrath is kindled against them, yet it is
mingled with mercy. Their intention was
right, but their words were wrong. Jehovah's
vindication of Job is marked by the fact that
He speaks of him as "My servant," and also by
His appointment of Job as intercessor on be
half of his friends. They had attempted to re
store Job to God by philosophy. He is to be
the means of restoring them by prayer. As at
the beginning there were things to be said in

The Problem of Pain 19
their favour, so at the close. Their sincerity
is manifest in the fact that they submit. The
rest is told in brief sentences. The latter days
of Job on earth were characterized by greater
prosperity than the earlier ones.

PSALMS

PSALMS— THE BOOK OF WORSHIP

PSALMS

DOXOL-

DOMINANT NOTES OF

DIVINE TITLES

BOOK

X<

2

>X<

OGY
WORSHIP
> O XLi-7
X
O-1 u
z
0 0<
X
I.
i. to xii.
xii. 13
Jehovah— The Becoming
One. The Helper
Adoring Worship.
275
68
14
-
II.
xiii. to
lxxii.
lxxii. 18-19
Elohim— The Wonder
working Cod
Wondering Worship.'
32
214
19
I
III.
lxxiii. to
lxxxix.
lxxxix. 52
Elohim-Jehovah. The
Mighty Helper
Ceaseless Worship.
44
80
15
IV.
xc. to cvi.
cvi. 48
Jehovah— The Governing
King
Submissive Worship.
103
72
2,
7
V.
cvii. to cl.
cl.
Jehovah— The Redeemer
Perfected Worship.
236
40
12
32
PSALMS
THE word "Psalms" is the Anglicized form
of a Greek word, which really means a
poem set to music. The Hebrew title of the
book was simply Praises, or Book of Praises.
It is pre-eminently the worship book of the
Hebrew people, and consists of a collection of
songs which express the attitude of the soul
in the presence of God, when contemplating
past history, existing conditions, or prophetic
hopes. The whole collection consists, in the
Hebrew Bible, of five books. In the English
and American Kevisions this subdivision is
shown. We have no definite proof who the editor
was. His method becomes evident by an ex
amination of the grouping of the psalms. It is
perfectly clear that neither authorship nor
chronology was in his view. Eusebius de
clares that "the psalms are disposed according
to a law of inward affinity," and Dr. Ander
son says : "It must be remembered that every
attempt to classify and arrange the psalms
apart from the division of the whole Psalter
into the five books as found in our Hebrew
Bible, in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate
23

24 Psalms ^^^^
Versions — every such attempt is confessedly
imperfect, and more or less arbitrary."
The key to the method of the editor is to
be found in the doxologies with which the
books close. Each of the five has such a dox-
ology, and an examination of these will reveal
a certain conception of God, and an attitude
of the soul in worship resulting from such
conception. They may be grouped thus :
Book I. Psalm xii. 13. — Worship of Je
hovah as the Becoming One, Who is the
Helper.
Book II. Psalm lxxii. 18, 19. — Worship of
Jehovah as the wonder-working God.
Book III. Psalm lxxxix. 52. — Worship of
Jehovah ceaseless.
Book IV. Psalm cvi. 48. — Worship of
Jehovah rendered.
Book V. Psalm cl. 1-6.— Worship of Je
hovah consummated.
The individual psalms are natural expres
sions by many authors, at various times, under
differing circumstances, of the consciousness
of God. The editing gathers these individual
songs around the notes of truth dominant in
each. These notes are indicated in each book by
the particular title of Jehovah which prepon
derates. The subject of the Divine titles is too

The Book of Worship 25
great a one to be discussed at length now, but
as an introduction to the study of the Psalter,
recognition of difference is necessary. The
proportion in which the four titles are used in
the book of Psalms, as indicated in the dia
gram, is a somewhat rough one. That is to
say, under Elohim are included El and Eloah,
because while there is a minor difference of
suggestion between the singular and the
plural, the underlying thought is the same. So
also with reference to Adonahy and Adon.
Jehovah. In the ancient Hebrew Scrip
tures this particular title was always written
in the form of a tetragrammaton — YHVH —
and there are differences of opinion as to what
the actual form of the word should be. With
out entering into any discussion of the varied
interpretations, I adopt that of Mr. Joseph
Bryant Kotherham in the "Emphasized Bible,"
both as to spelling and significance. He
claims that the word thus abbreviated is Yah
weh, and interprets it as meaning "the Be
coming One." In his Bible he says, "Yahweh
is almost always regarded as the third person
singular, masculine, imperfect tense, from the
root Hawah, an old form of the root Hayah.
The one meaning of Hawah is 'become.' So
that the force of Yahweh, thus derived as a
verb, would be, 'He will become,' or, as ex-

26 Psalms
pressive of use and wont as a noun, it is, 'He
who becometh,' 'The Becoming One.' " In a
letter written to me in the course of corre
spondence on the subject, referring to this
meaning, Mr. Rotherham says, " 'He be
cometh' ; that is, 'He who becometh,' 'The Be
coming One' : becoming to His people whatever
in His rich favour He pleases, in order to
meet their need, and at last becoming Man."
The truth therefore suggested by the use of
this word is always that, first of the essential
Being of God which enables Him to become;
and by deduction, that God in infinite grace
does become whatever man needs.
Elohim. This is a plural noun, but it is
plural in a sense peculiar to the Hebrew lan
guage. Canon Girdlestone says: "It is well
known that the Hebrews often expressed a
word in the plural, so as to give it a special
or technical meaning, as in the case of the
words blood, water, wisdom, salvation, right
eousness, life. ... It is implied that the word
in the singular number is not large enough to
set forth all that is intended; and so, in the
case of the Divine Name, the plural form ex
presses the truth that the finite word con
veys an inadequate idea of the Being Whom it
represents. Other names of God will be found
to be plural also, and it is worthy of notice

 The Book of Worship  27
that in the well-known passage in Ecclesiastes
(xii. 1) the Hebrew runs thus, 'Remember
now thy Creators in the days of thy youth.' "
The root idea of the word is that of strength
or might; and the thought of God suggested
by it is that of His strength as revealed in
creation, and in all the operations of His
power. Adonahy. This is again plural in form.
Its simple signification is "Master" or "Lord" ;
and the thought it suggests is that of sovereign
supremacy. Jah. This is the shorter form of the name
Jehovah, and is only found in Scripture ; twice
in Exodus, a few times in Isaiah, and in thirty-
five passages in the book of Psalms.
These names reveal the doctrine of God,
which creates the worship of man. Recog
nizing that Jehovah and Jah have the same
essential significance, there are three lines of
thought suggested. First, the essential Being
of God, and the fact that He becomes in grace
what man needs. Second, the essential Might
of God, and the fact that it operates in power.
Third, the essential Lordship of God, and His
consequent sovereignty over man.
The analyses are intended to help in the
study of the collection, as to the conceptions
impelling to worship.

BOOK I. PSALMS I.— XLI.
DOXOLOGY

' Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen."

Psa. xii. 13.

A

B

C

D

THE TITLE

THE RELATION

THE QUANTITY

THE QUALITY

"Jehovah"

" The God of

" From everlast

"Blessed"

The mysterious name,

Israel"

ing to ever

The root idea is that of

suggestive of essen

*'God." Elohim.

lasting"

prostration in the

tial Being, becom

The idea of suprem

"The word 'everlast

attitude of adora

ing whatever is

acy.

ing ' means the con

tion.

needed by men, and
therefore uniform
ly used as indicating
God's relation to His

"Of Israel."
The chosen People.

cealed or vanishing
point ; and suggests
the mysterious past,
and the unknown

"Amen, and
Amen"

people as Helper.

future. In its use

The consent of all to

here it reminds the

such adoration.

heart ofthe eternity
of God."
The Divine Name.
The Prevailing Name in this bookT is Jehovah. It occurs in every psalm at least
twice, and in one (xxix) as many as 18 times.
"God" is found 18 times in the singular, 50 times in the plural; in all 68 times.
From 13 psalms it is absent altogether.
The general title " Lord " (Adonahy) only occurs 14 times in all, and these
occasions are all in 8 psalms.
The Dominant Thought.
The dominant thought in this book is that of God as Jehovah, the Helper of His
people. The psalms are songs of varying emotion and differing condition, but all
express themselves in harmony with this note.
TITLES

i. Jehovah's Law. A contrast. Obedience
and disobedience.
a. Jehovah's King. Folly of rebellion. Wis
dom of submission.
3. Jehovah's salvation. Confidence in peril.
4. Jehovah's countenance the cause of con
fidence.
5. Jehovah's leading in time of persecution
6. Jehovah's deliverance in time of chas
tisement.
7. Jehovah's deliverance confidently hoped
in.
8. Jehovah's excellence manifest in Nature
and man.
g. Jehovah's righteous rule rejoiced in.
10. Jehovah's judgment besought.
11. Jehovah's throne the foundation.
ia. Jehovah's rule in the midst of ungodliness.
13. Jehovah's succour sought by the afflicted.
14. Jehovah's knowledge of the godless.
15. Jehovah's friend described.
16. Jehovah the Portion ofthe trusting.
17. Jehovah appealed to, to exercise judgment.
18. Jehovah worshipped.
19. Jehovah revealed in Nature and Law.
so. Jehovah appealed to for help on behalf of
the king.

=3-24.
25-26. 27,28.29.
30-3L32.33-34-35-36.

Jehovah praised as the Strength of the
king.
Jehovah the Succourer of the afflicted
one.
Jehovah the Shepherd of His own.
Jehovah conquering through His King.
Jehovah besought for deliverance.
Jehovah worshipped. Conditions.
Jehovah worshipped. Experience.
Jehovah appealed to and worshipped.
Jehovah in the majesty ofthe storm,
Jehovah delivering from affliction.
Jehovah the Refuge ofthe afflicted.
Jehovah and the backsliding soul.
Jehovah the mighty Deliverer.
Jehovah the constant Succourer.
Jehovah besought for help against
enemies.
Jehovah forgotten and recognised. A
contrast.
Jehovah the Confidence of His people,
Jehovah appealed to in penitence.
Jehovah the Hope ofthe afflicted.
Jehovah worshipped in praise and prayer.
Jehovah recognised as rewarding com
passion.

ANALYSIS

A

B

c

AUTHORITY ESTABLISHED

AUTHORITY DEFENDED

AUTHORITY ADMINISTERED

». — Vltt.

IX. — XV.

xvi. — xii.

I. The Foundations i.-li.
i. Obedience and disobedi
ence, i.
ii. The enthroned King. ii.

I. The Need ix.— x.
i. The Throne and the
enemy. ix.
ii. Appeal for action. x.

I. The Person xvi.— xxiv.
(See Titles.)

II. The Experiences UL-vlt.
(See Titles.)

II. The Activity xL— xv.
(See Titles.)

II. The Process xxv.— xxxix.
i. Songs of Assurance.
(See Titles.) xxv.— xxix.
ii. Songs of Appropriation.
(See Titles.) xxx.— xxxiv.
iii. Songs of Aspiration.
(See Titles.) xxxv. — xxxix.

III. The ultimate
Purpose viii.

III. The Person Xl.-Xll.

BOOK II.

PSALMS XLII.
DOXOLOGY

-LXXII.

" Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things :
And blessed be His glorious name for ever ;
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Amen, and Amen."
Psa. lxxii.

1 8-ig.

A
THE TITLE

B
THE RELATION

c
THE QUALITY

D
THE QUANTITY

E
THE EXTENT

"Jehovah Elohim"
The essential
Helper
Supreme.

"The God
of Israel"
" Who only
doeth won
drous things"

"Blessed"
The Person.
His Name.
" Amen, and
Amen."

" For Ever "

"The wholeearth filled
with His
Clorg "

The Divine Name.
^ The dominant name in this book is "God." It occurs in every psalm at least
twice, and in one as many as 26 times. It is written in the singular (El) 16 times, and
in the plural (Elohim) 198.
" Jehovah " is found 32 times. From 15 psalms it is absent altogether.
The general title "Lord" (Adonahy) occurs 19 times scattered through 12 of the
psalms. In addition, the title "Jah" is used once.
The Dominant Thought.
In the second book the dominant thought is that of the might of God realized by
His people, and manifest through them.
The worship is that of Jehovah as the wonder-working God.

TITLES

42. God remembered in exile.
43. God leading the exiled home.
44. God the Author of good and evil.
45. God gladdening the king and his bride.
46 God the Refuge of His people.
47. God reigning over the nations.
48. God reigning over His own.
49. God the Source of immortality.
50. God manifesting Himself through His
people.
51. God the Saviour of the sinful.
52. God the Destroyer of the sinful.
53. God disappointed in man.
54. God the Helper of the oppressed.
55. God the Deliverer of the betrayed.
56. God the tender Friend of the oppressed.

57. God the Refuge in calamity.
58. God the God of vengeance.
59. God the High Tower of the oppressed.
60. God the Hope of His people.
61. God the Hope of man.
62. God the only Hope of man.
63. God the perfect Hope of man.
64. God the Defence of the persecuted.
65. God the God of harvest.
66. God the Object of worship.
67. God the perfect Governor of the nations.
68. God the Strength of His people.
69. God the Succourer of the sorrowful.
70. God the Hope ofthe despairing.
71. God the Confidence of old age.
72. God the King of the king.

ANALYSIS

A

B

C

MIGHTY DELIVERANCE

MIGHTY DEFENCE

MIGHTY DOMINION

xiii.— li.

lii.-lx.

Ixi. — lxxii.

I. Exile xlll.

-xliv.

I. The Enemy 111.— Iv.

I. The Need 1x1.— Ixiv.

i. The Desire.

xiii.

i. The Godless One. lii.-liii.

i. Assurance. Ixi.

ii. The Prayer.

xliii.

ii. The Cry of Distress.

ii. Patience. lxii.

iii. The Despair.

xliv.

liv. — lv.

iii. Confidence. lxiii.
iv. Certainty. Ixiv.

II. Hope xiv.
i. The King.
ii. The Refuge.
iii. The Victor.
iv. The Defender.
v. The Life-Giver.

-xUx. xiv.
xlvi.
xlvii.
xlviii. xlix.

II. The Defender Ivl-lx.
i. Hope. lvi.— lvii.
ii. Prayer. lviii.— Ix.

II. The Answer ixv.-lxvlll.
i. Praise for Might. Ixv.
ii. Praise for Deliverance. lxvi.
iii. Universal Praise, lxvii.
iv. The Arising of God. xviii.

HI. Restoration

1.-11.

III. The Process lxlx.-lxxll.

i. The Act of God. 1.
ii. The Attitude of Man. li.

i. The Suffering Witness. lxix.
ii. The Cry for Help. Ixx.
iii. The Cry of Confidence. lxxi.
iv. The King and the King
dom, lxxii.
BOOK III. PSALMS LXXIII— LXXXIX.
DOXOLOGY
" Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen." Psa. lxxxix. 52.

A
THE TITLE

B
THE QUALITY

c
THE QUANTITY

"Jehovah"
The Essential Helper.
(See first Doxology.)

" Blessed "
"Amen, and Amen."

"For evermore"

The Divine Name.
The dominant name in this book is still " God." It bccurs once at least in every
psalm, and in one as many as 15 times. It is written in the singular (El) 20 times, and
in the plural (Elohim) 60 times.
" Jehovah " is found in the book 44 times. It is only absent from two psalms, and
occurs in one 10 times.
The general title "Lord " (Adonahy) occurs 15 times scattered through six psalms.
The title "Jah" is used twice.
The Dominant Thought.
In the third book the dominant thought is that of the worship of God under all
circumstances. Both names are used throughout, although that of God predominates.
While this is so, the final doxology speaks of Jehovah, snowing that the thought is
that of worship rendered to God because He is the essential Helper.

TITLES

73. God the Good of His people.
74. God as silent and inactive.
75, God as speaking and active.
76. God the God ofvictory.
77. God the Healer of sorrow.
78. God the God of patience.
79. God the Hope of the distressed.
80. God the Restorer of His people.
81. God the Strength ofthe loyal.

82. God the Judge of the judges.
83. God vindicated as most High.
84. God the Strength of the pilgrim.
85. Jehovah the Restorer ofthe wanderer.
86. The Lord the mighty Helper of the
needy.
87. Jehovah, His city and His peoples.
88. Jehovah the only Hope ofthe sorrowing.
89. Jehovah the God of Discipline.

ANALYSIS

MIGHTY HELP— THE FACT
Ixxiii. — Ixxvii.

MIGHTY HELP— THE
EXPERIENCE
Ixxviii. — Ixxxiii.

MIGHTY HELP— THE HOPE
Ixxxiv. — lxxxix.

I. The View Point Ixxiii.
The Sanctuary.
The Problem of the Pros
perity of the Wicked.
The Solution.
II. The Revelation lxxlv.— Ixxvl.
i. The Hope. lxxiv.
ii. The Certainty. lxxv.
iii. The Activity. lxxvi.
III. The Vision Ixxvll.
The Years of the Right
Hand.

I. History Ixxviii.
Egypt to David.
i. The Institution for chil
dren.
ii. The Patience of God.
II. Special Manifesta
tion Ixxlx.— Ixxxi.
i. The Devastation, lxxxix,
ii. The Appeal. lxxx.
iii. The Deliverance. Ixxxi.
III. Administration IxxxiL— Ixxxiii.
i. Home. lxxxii.
ii. Foreign, Ixxxiii,

I. Confidence ixxxiv.— Ixxxv.
i. The pilgrimage contem
plated. Ixxxiv.
ii. Salvation sought, lxxxr.
II. The Attitude lxxx vi. -lxxx vll.
i. Personal Submission. lxxxvi.
ii. Relative Government. lxxxvii.
III. The Summary
Ixxxviii.— lxxxix.
i. Human Need. Ixxxviii.
ii. Divine Resource, lxxxix.

BOOK IV.

PSALMS XC,
DOXOLOGY

-CVI.

" Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting,
And let all the people say, Amen,
Praise ye the Lord. Psa. cvi. 48.

A
THE TITLE

B
THE RELATION

C
THE QUALITY

D
THE QUANTITY

E
THE EXTENT

"Jehovah"
The essential
Helper.
(See first Dox
ology.)

"The Cod
ofIsrael "

"Blessed "
"Hallelujah."

"From ever
lasting to
everlasting"

" And let all
the peopie
say. Amen"

The Divine Name.
The dominant name in this book is again "Jehovah." It occurs more than once
in every psalm, and in two as many as 11 times.
The name "God" is absent altogether from five, and occurs only 37 times, 9 of
them being singular (£1), and 18 plural (Elohim).
The general title " Lord " i, Adonahy) only occurs twice.
"Jah" is found 7 times.
The Dominant Thought.
In this book the worship of Jehovah is rendered by all people. They are songs
of His government and administration, for which the heart 13 lifted in adoration.

TITLES

90. Jehovah man.
gi. Jehovah
92. Jehovah ing.
93. Jehovah
94. Jehovah
95. Jehovah
96. Jehovah
97. Jehovah

the Eternal Dwelling-place of
he Sanctuar
praised for '.

the Sanctuary ofthe perfect One.
His righteous deal-

the King— the Fact.
the King — Faith's affirmation.
the King — A warning.
the King— Worship.
the King— His Judgments.

98. Jehovah the King — Worship.
99. Jehovah the King— His Reign.
100. Jehovah the King— Worship.
101. Jehovah recognized in public and private
life.
Z02. Jehovah the eternal God.
Z03. Jehovah the loving Father.
104. Jehovah the Creator and Sustainer.
105. Jehovah the true and mighty One.
106. Jehovah the faithful ana patient One.

ANALYSIS

A

B

C

THE PRINCIPLES

THE PRACTICE

THE PRAISE

XC. — XCtl.

xc%\%.~ c.

ct. — CVI.

L The Age-abiding

I. The Enthroned King

I.

The Attitude of

Pact xc.

xcWL— xcvl.

Praise cl.
Man's Failure.
i. The Fact. xciii.
ii. The Courage of Faith. xciv.
Submission.
II. The Unshaken One
iii. The Caution of Faith.
II
The Benefits
xci.
xcv.
ell.— cvi.
Man's Hope.
iv. Worship. xcvi.
i
The Age-abiding God.
111. The New Reali
II. The Activity of the
ii
The Loving Father, ciii.
zation xcil.
King xcvlL— c.
iii
The Creator and Sus
Man's Restoration.
i. His Judgments. xcvii.
tainer. civ.
ii. Worship. xcviii.
iii. His Reign. xcix.
iv. Worship. u.
iv. V.
The True and Mighty
One cv.
The Faithful and Patient
One. cvi.
BOOK V. PSALMS CVII— CL.
DOXOLOGY

" Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctury. Praise Him in the firmament of His power
Praise Him for His mighty acts : Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound ofthe trumpet : Praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance : Praise Him with stringed instruments and the pipe.
Praise Him upon the loud cymbals : Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." Psa. cl.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

THE TITLE

THE

THE

THE

THE

THE

THE

QUALITY

PLACE

REASON

MEASURE

MEANS

CONDITION

In this Doxology

"Praise

"In"

"For"

"Accord

"With"

" Every

which occupies

Him"

"Sanc

"His

ing to"

" Instru

thing

the whole psalm
thenameof God

tuary."

Mighty

11 His excel

ments

that

only appears: —

Centre.

Acts."

lent great

of mu-

hath

*. As "Jah" in

"Firma
ness."
» sic."
breath"
the perfect note
ment."
of praise, " Hal
Circum
lelujah " twice
ference
repeated,"Jah"
being in such
case a contract
tion of "Jeho
vah.
a. As God in the
singular form
"EL" which is
always signifi
cant of His
might.
It occurs in every
The Divine Name.
Again in the final book, "Jehovah " is the predominant name.
psalm but two, in some of them many times— 236 in all.
The name " God " is absent from 22 of these psalms. It occurs 40 times, 10 in the
singular and 30 in the plural.
The general title "Lord" (Adonahy) is found 12 times. "Jah " 32 times.
The Dominant Thought.
In this book, as an examination of the doxology will show, the worship of Jehovah
is consumated. It rises in volume and beauty until in the closing words of the dox
ology ultimate purpose is declared. "Let everything that hath breath praise the
Lord. Hallelujah.'r
Still the songs are those arising out of various experiences. A large section is
devoted to Songs of Ascent which are those of the pilgrims as they gathered by many
ways and along different paths to the place of the Divine glory.
TITLES

107. Jehovah the Redeemer.
108. Jehovah the Anchorage of Hope.
109. Jehovah the Vindicator of the perse
cuted.
no. Jehovah and His Messiah.
in. Jehovah the Great and Gracious.
112. Jehovah the Blessedness of the trust
ing.
113. Jehovah the High and Lowly.
114. God the mighty Presence leading His
people's exodus.
115. Jehovah and the glory of His name.
116. Jehovah the Deliverer from death.
117. Jehovah the Centre of earth's worship.
118. Jehovah and His enduring mercy.
119. Jehovah and the Perfections of His
revealed will.
120. Jehovah the Hope of the pilgrim.
121. Jehovah the Help ofthe pilgrim.
12a. Jehovah the Glory of the pilgrim.
123. Jehovah the Support ofthe pilgrim,
124. Jehovah the Deliverer ofthe pilgrim.
125. Jehovah the Protector of the pil
grim.
126. Jehovah the Restorer ofthe pilgrim.
117. Jehovah the Home-maker of the
pilgrim.
128. Jehovah the Home-keeper of the <"
pilgrim.
129. Jehovah the Confidence of the pil
grim.

134.135- 136. 137.
138. 139-

141.142. M3-
144MS146.

148.149.
150.

Jehovah the Redeemei of the pil
grim.
Jehovah the Satisfaction of the pil
grim.
Jehovah the Assurance of the pil
grim.
Jehovah the Gatherer of the pil
grim.
Jehovah the Rest ofthe pilgrim.
Jehovah the Object oi His people's
praise.
Jehovah the God of mercy.
Jehovah the God of judgment.
Jehovah the Perfecter.
Jehovah the Omniscient and Omni
present.
Jehovah the Defender of the defence
less.
Jehovah the Keeper ofthe trembling,
Jehovah the Refuge of the over
whelmed.
Jehovah the Confidence ofthe desolate.
Jehovah the Rock of strength.
Jehovah the Object of perfect praise.
Jehovah praised as the Helper of His
people.
Jehovah praised as the Governor of
the world.
Jehovah praised by the whole creation.
Jehovah praised by His saints.
Jehovah praised in perfection.

ANALYSIS

B
SONGS OF
THE
PROCESS
cxiii. — cxviii.

SONGS OFTHE WILL

SONGS OF THE
PILGRIMAGE

cxx. — cxxxw.

E
SONGS OF ¦'
THE EX
PERIENCE
cxxxv.-cxliv

I. Jeho vah'sActivl-t» cxiii.- cxiv.
i. His hu
mility. cxiii
ii. His ac
complishment.

II. Jeho
vah'sServant cxv.— cxvi.
i. The Pas
sion.
The glo
ry of His
name. cxv.
ii. The Ex
perience. Dark
ness and
Deliverance. cxvi.
III. Jeho
vah'sPraisecxvli.— cxviii.
The call
ofthe Ideal
Servant. cxvii.
ii. The
Song of
the Redeem
ed. cxviii.

The Perfection of
the Revealed
Will
Aleph. 1-8
The Perfect Law.
Beth. 9-16
The Way of Cleansing.
Gimel. 17-24
The Fountain of Joy.
Daleth. 25-32
The Strength of Trial.
He. 33-40
The Medium of Guidance.
Vau. 41-4S
The Inspiration of Testi
mony.
Zain. 49-56
The Comfort of Sorrow.
Cheth. 57-64
The Medium of Fellow
ship.
Teth. 65-72
The Key of Affliction.
Jod. 73-80
The Depths of Desire.
Caph. 81-88
The Confidence of Dark
ness.
Lamed. 80-06
The Foundation of Faith.
Mem. 97-i°4
The Delight of Life.
Nun. 105-112
The Light of Pilgrimage.
Samech. 113-120
The Line of Rectitude.
Ain. 121-128
The Hope of Distress.
Pe. 129-136
The Light of Life.
Tzade. 137-144
The Knowledge of God.
Koph. 145-152
The Inspiration of Devo
tion.
Resh. The Principle of Life"
Shin. 161-168
The true Wealth.
Tau. 160-176
The perfect Law.

153-160
.ife

I. The Far
Country cxx.-cxxi.
i. Desire. cxx.
ii. Assurance. cxxi.
II. The Start
cxxli.-cxxill.
i. Anticipation. cxxii.
ii. Confidence. cxxiii.
III. The Jour
ney
cxxiv.-cxxxl.
i. Escape, cxxiv.
ii. First glimpse of
City. cxxv.
iii. Approach. cxxvi.-cxxxi.
a. Laughter and
penitence.
A. The Family
Strength. cxxvii.
c. The Family
Responsibility, cxxviii.
d. A backward
look, cxxix.
e. Penitence and
Confidence. cxxx.
f. Rest in the
Will of God.
cxxxi.
IV. The En
trance cxxxll.
V. The City
and Wor
ship
cxxxlli.-cxxxlv. i. By Day. cxzziii.
ii. By Night. cxxxiv.

I. Suffi cien
cy of
Je
hovah
cxxxv.— cxxxlx.

II. Help
lessnessof Man cxl.-
cxliii.

III. Su
ffici ency.an
swering Helplessness cxliv.

PROVERBS

PROVERBS— PRACTICAL WISDOM

A

B

C

INTRODUCTION

INSTRUCTIONS ON

PROVERBS

PROVERBS

APPENDIX

WISDOM

1st COLLECTION

2nd COLLECTION

i. 1-7
i. S—ix.
x. — xxiv.
xxv. — xxix.
xxx—xxxi.
The Title. i
I. The
I. Parental Counsel
I. Proverbs
I. Title
I. The
Purpose
1. 8-19
x.-xxii. 16
xxv. 1
Words
2-5
II. The
i. Wisdom— True
Friends 8-9
ii. Folly— False Friends. 10-19
II. Wisdom's Call
A collection of
Proverbswhich can
not be anal
ysed.
II. A Series of
II. Proverbs
Of Afiui XXX.
Unknown. i. Title.
ii. Human
Method 6-7
1. 20-33
i. The Announcement. 20-21
ii. The Call. 22-33
III. Parental Counsels
Prover
bial Dis
courses
xxii. 17— xxiv.
A Social Admo
xxv. 2— xxix.
A posthumous
collection.
Another collection of
Proverbs.
Incom
pletenessin Wis
dom. 1-6
iii. Prayer. 7-9
il.-vil.
i. On Wisdom, ii. — iii.
ii. A Personal
Testimony, iv. 1-9
nition.
xxii. 17-xxiii. 14
ii. Parental Counsels.
xxiii. 15-xxiv. 22
These in some
senses are
more picture
sque than
the former.
iv. Conduct 10-33
II. The
Oracles
iii. Exhortations. iv. io— vii.
IV. Wisdom's Call viii.
iii. Concerning Social Order.
xxiv. 23-34
They were
statements.
These are
pictures.
of
Lemuel xxxi.
Unknown.
ii. The Announcement.
i. His
1-3
ii. The Call. 4-36
Mother'sCounsel.
V. A Contrast ix.
i. Wisdom. 1-12
ii. Folly. 13-18
i-9
ii. His
Mother's Picture. 10-31
PROVERBS
THE book of Proverbs is one of the wisdom
books of the Hebrew people. That is to
say, its theme and purpose is wisdom. The
word itself occurs frequently, and there are
others which in some senses are synonymous
with it — knowledge, understanding, discretion,
subtlety. Each of these expresses some appli
cation of wisdom, the word wisdom itself be
ing greater than any, because including all.
In all its teaching this book takes for granted
the wisdom of God, and seeks to instruct man
concerning what His wisdom really is.
The underlying conception of all the wis
dom books of the ancient writings is that of
God Himself, the All-Wise. They also recog
nize that His wisdom is expressed in all His
works and words. Man is wise in proportion
as he recognizes these truths and answers them
in the conduct of his life. The perfectly wise
man is the one who in his whole being lives
and thinks and acts in right relationship to
the All-Wise God. His wisdom commences
emotionally in the fear of God ; is manifest in
tellectually in his acquaintance with the mani-
39

40 Proverbs

festations of the Divine nature in word and
work ; is active volitionally in obedience to the
will of God, as revealed in word and work.
The word translated proverb really means
likeness, and we come nearest to the thought
in our word parable. In this book we have
the setting forth of the underlying wisdom by
discourses on its value, and declarations of its
practical application.
The book may be divided thus : Introduction
(i. 1-7) ; Instructions on Wisdom (i. 8-ix.)
First Collection of Proverbs (x.-xxiv.)
Second Collection of Proverbs (xxv. -xxix.)
Appendix (xxx., xxxi.).
Introduction The first verse constitutes the title of the
book, and the following six contain what we
should to-day speak of as a preface. That
preface first declares the purpose of the book
in terms so simple as to need no comment.
Then follows a statement of method which is
necessary to the right use of the whole book.
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the
Lord. The fact of God, and of man's relation
to Him must be taken for granted and an
swered if there is to be any true wisdom.

Practical Wisdom 41
a. Instructions on Wisdom
These general instructions prepare the way
for the proverbs proper. The first is a pa
rental counsel, in which the wisdom of recog
nising true friends is set forth in words which
urge the habit of loyalty to father and mother ;
and the folly of forming false friendships is
set forth in a series of warnings.
Then Wisdom is personified, and her first
call is stated. It is an appeal to turn from
simplicity and scorning and hatred of knowl
edge, with the promise that she will reward
such as search after her. This is succeeded
by a warning that Wisdom neglected, at last
refuses to answer.
Following the first call of Wisdom we have
a series of parental counsels, all of which be
gin with the words "my son." They deal with
the value of wisdom, and make practical ap
plication of the teaching. The first of these
addresses deals with the search for wisdom,
as to its method, and as to its value. In
the search there must be willingness and de
sire to know, accompanied by devotion. The
values of the search are the discerning and
discreet heart, which enables man to under
stand his pathway; the consequent ability to
refuse false friendships; and the resulting

42 Proverbs

choice of the path of good, with all the benefits
arising therefrom. The next address is an ap
peal to cultivate wisdom. It consists of a
declaration of the essence of wisdom, a de
scription of its excellences, and a declaration
of the safety which it brings. In the next ad
dress the father urges his own experience.
His father had given him advice, which he de
clares was good. This personal testimony
lends urgency to his exhortations to his son.
Then, conscious of the temptations which be
set the path of the young, he urges to obedi
ence. The attitude toward temptation is to be
that of avoiding it completely. Wisdom in the
heart, persistent looking straight ahead, and
untiring caution, are the things necessary to
fidelity. Then follows an exhortation against
impurity, expressed in words of great delicacy
and beauty. The allurement of evil is vividly
described. It is put into immediate contrast
with the issue of yielding thereto. It is a
change from honey to wormwood, from the
smoothness of oil to the sharpness of a sword,
from the path of life to the highway to death.
Impurity of conduct may seem to be of silken
texture in its enticement; it becomes a hard
and unyielding cable when it binds the life in
slavery. The parental exhortations are con
tinued against suretiship, indolence, the evil

Practical Wisdom 43
in man, and certain specific things which the
Lord hates. These counsels close with two
solemn warnings on the same subject. Each
commences with tender and urgent entreaties
to attend to what is said, because the advice
is for the good of the son to whom it is ad
dressed. In the hour of sin's glamour it is
good for the soul to look through to the end,
which is in Sheol and the chambers of death.
When the voice of the siren is heard, it is good
to pause and listen to the moan of the break
ers on the shore of darkness and death, for
to that shore the way of impurity assuredly
leads. The division containing the instructions on
wisdom ends with two discourses, the first of
which is a great call of Wisdom. This takes
up and deals more minutely with the call in
the earlier part of the book. It opens with an
announcement that Wisdom is making her ap
peal everywhere amid the busy activities of hu
man life. Then follows her call. This is first,
an appeal to men to attend. This they should
do because Wisdom speaks excellent things,
and speaks in righteousness. Moreover, they
are plain words, and more valuable than all
riches. The foundations of Wisdom are next
declared. Essentially these are prudence,
knowledge, discretion. As to man, the founda-

44 Proverbs

tion is the fear of the Lord, which expresses
itself in hatred of all He hates. In such Wis
dom lie the secrets of strength. Then the
values of Wisdom are described. All au
thority is based on it. She is the lover of such
as love her. She yields all highest wealth to
such as yield to her. Next, Wisdom claims
age-abiding relation to Deity. Ere the begin
nings of creation, Jehovah possessed Wisdom.
Through all the processes Wisdom wrought
with God, and God delighted in Wisdom, until
man, the crowning glory of all, gave Wisdom
chief delight. This passage may be set side by
side with the prologue to John's Gospel for
fuller understanding. The call ends with a
final appeal. Those who attend to the call of
Wisdom are blessed indeed, and those who sin
against Wisdom wrong their own soul.
The last address is a contrast between Wis
dom and Folly. Each is personified as a
woman calling to youth. Wisdom has built
her house and spread her feast in the high
places of the city. She calls to a feast of life.
Folly, in the garb of the evil woman, sits at
the door of the house also in the high places
of the city. She also calls to a feast, but it is
a feast of death. Between the two descriptions
there is a passage revealing the fact that the
effect produced will depend upon the attitude

Practical Wisdom 45
of those who hear. The man who scorns gets
shame, and it is useless to reprove him. The
wise man is willing to be taught, and it is
worth while reproving him. What, then, is
this first Wisdom which expresses itself in
willingness to learn, and gains yet greater
Wisdom? It is the fear of the Lord and the
knowledge of the Holy One. In every city, on
every street, by every door of opportunity,
these two voices of Wisdom and Folly are ap
pealing to men. To obey the call of Wisdom
is to live; to yield to the clamour of Folly is
to die. How shall we discern between the
voices? By making the fear of the Lord the
central inspiration of the life; by yielding
the being at its deepest to Him for correction
and guidance.
b. First Collection of Proverbs
Here begin the proverbs proper. In this
first collection they are antithetical. They
present a sharp contrast between wisdom and
folly in the outworking of each in practical
life. Seeing that this is indeed a collection
of proverbs, there is no direct connection or
system save this underlying purpose of con
trast. No exposition is possible save that of
taking each proverb and considering it in its
separate value. This in the majority of in-

46 Proverbs

stances is unnecessary, because they are self-
evident expositions of one abiding truth.
c. Second Collection of Proverbs
These, as the title specifically declares, con
stitute a posthumous collection, having been
gathered together in the days of Hezekiah.
Speaking generally, the proverbs in this col
lection are more picturesque than the former.
They were for the most part antithetical and
logical. These are pictures, and are more per
fectly parabolic.
Appendix In this appendix we have the words of Agur
and Lemuel.
It is impossible to say who Agur was. In
this selection from his writings, we have, first,
an introduction, in which he affirms the fact
of human incompleteness in wisdom, and then
utters the memorable prayer, in which he re
veals his faith in the Lord, and his desire for
that balanced life which is one of safety.
From the prayer to the end of the chapter we
have his observations on various matters af
fecting conduct. In these observations we
have, first, a proverb. This is followed by two
groups of four things — four evil things and
four things perpetually dissatisfied. Then fol-

Practical Wisdom 47
lows another proverb, and four groups of four
things. The first four are such as excite won
der. The second four cause terror. The third
four are little things, but exceeding wise. The
final four are things of stateliness. The whole
movement ends with a proverb.
There have been many conjectures as to the
identity of King Lemuel, but nothing can be
certainly affirmed. His words recorded here
fall into two parts. The first of these consists
of his mother's advice to him, wherein she
urged him against becoming the slave of pas
sion, warning him that while there may be
some excuse for the man who is ready to perish
if he takes strong drink, it must utterly be
avoided by kings and princes. Finally, there
is set before him the first duty of the kingly
office — that of caring for all who are oppressed
and needy. The second part consists of a beau
tiful picture of a virtuous woman, and may
be supposed to be King Lemuel's picture of his
mother. After a fine description of her beauty
and her diligence, and the helpful influence
she exerted in bringing her husband to places
of power, he ends with the declaration :
Many daughters have done virtuously,
But thou excellest them all,
and with a blessing pronounced upon her.

THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
THE VANITY OF MATERIALISM

A

B

C

D

THEME

THE EVIDENCE

THE EFFECT

THE
CORRECTION

i. i-ii

i. iz-viii.

ix. — xi. 8

xi. —q-xii.

Title Page i

I. Inclusive

I. Personal i. 12-11.

1. Worldly

I. Stated

Statement 2-3
Vapour of
Vapours.

i. Knowledge. 12-18
ii. Mirth. il. 1-3
iii. Wealth. 4-11
iv. Life. 12-26

Wisdom
Extolled Ix. 1-18
1. One event to all. 1-6
il. Enter into life. 7-10
iii. Advantages are of
little worth. 11-12
iv. Wisdom under the
Sun. 13-16

xl. 9-18

II. Elabora

II. Relative lli.-vlli.

II. Worldly Wis

II. Urged

tion 4-11
Generation.

i. The Mechanism of the
Universe. iii.

dom Exem
plified

xii. 1-12

Sun.

ii. Sociological Oppressions, iv.

Ix. 17-xi. 8

Wind.
iii. Religion. v. 1-7
i. Discretion, ix. 17-x.
Rivers.
This is also wholly of fear.
ii. Diligence, xi. 1-7
Man.
The conscious.
ness of the
iv. Poverty and Prosperity. v. 8— vi.
v. Indifference. vii. — viii.
iii. Darkness. 8
grind of
material
III. Summa
forces.
rized
xll. 13-14
ECCLESIASTES
rpHE word Ecclesiastes means preacher or
*¦ teacher, and this book is, in matter of
fact, one set and systematic discourse. The
theme of the book is the "vanity" of everything
"under the sun." This is first announced, then
proved from the preacher's personal experi
ence, and from his wide-reaching observation.
Finally, by appeal and declaration, he shows
that the whole of life is only found as there is
recognition of things above the sun as well as
of those under the sun — of things spiritual as
well as material.
It is a living book because it still faithfully
mirrors the experiences of such as dwell
wholly in the material realm, and because it
makes the one and only appeal which, being
obeyed, issues in the correction of the despair.
It may be thus divided: The Theme stated
(i. 1-11) ; the Evidence massed (i. 12-viii.) ; the
Effect revealed (ix.-xi. 8) ; the Correction de
clared (xi. 9-xii. 14). 51

52 Ecclesiastes
a. The Theme stated
In the statement of his theme the preacher
employs phrases which recur through the
whole of the book — "vanity," "what profit,"
"under the sun." The statement is a declara
tion of the emptiness of life when it is wholly
conditioned in material things.
In this first division, beyond the preliminary
declaration, there is a more particular state
ment in terms of general illustration. The
generations come and go, while the earth
abides. The sun rises and sets. The wind
moves in a ceaseless circuit. Rivers run into
the sea only to return to the places from which
they came. Man comes to the scene with de
sires which are never satisfied, and passes
away into a land of forgetfulness. The inten
tion of the whole passage is to impress upon
the mind the fact of the constant grind of the
mechanism of the universe in the midst of
which man lives his day briefly, and passes
out to forget and to be forgotten. This is still
the consciousness to which men come who have
lost their vision of the spiritual realities which
constitute the upper half of human life.

The Vanity of Materialism 53
b. The Evidence massed
The discourse now proceeds to state the
ground upon which such conclusions have been
arrived at. They are two-fold. First, the ac
tual experiences of the king ; and secondly, the
widespread observation of other men, and of
matters in general.
Commencing with his own experience, he
states the vanity of knowledge, of mirth, of
wealth. As to knowledge, he had applied his
heart to seek and search out all works done
under the sun, and had come to the conclusion
that they were all vanity, and that knowledge
of them was grief. Knowledge unilluminated
by spiritual consciousness is utterly unsatis
fying. Turning from the pursuit of knowledge to
the pathway of pleasure, the king had given
himself up to mirth, seeking the false stimulus
of wine. In this also he had been disap
pointed, finding that mirth was madness, and
all pleasure incompetent to satisfy.
He next turned to his great possessions, at
tempting to make such use of them as to bring
satisfaction not found elsewhere. He sur
rounded himself with every kind of luxury,
gathered large possessions, gave himself over
to music and to women, allowing full rein to

54 Ecclesiastes

all his desires. All this he had found to be
vanity, nothing but a striving after wind, and
he had again been driven to the conclusion
that there was no profit under the sun.
Once again he had tried a new pathway.
He turned himself from the things that were
almost exclusively physical to those of the
mind. These were better, and he found that
"wisdom excelleth folly." Yet he also per
ceived that "one event happeneth to all," both
the fool and the wise pass on to death, so that
this also ended in disappointment as keen as
the others. He then summarizes the results of
his own experience of life "under the sun"
in the terrible words: "I hated life ... I
hated all my labour . . . under the sun."
The very exercise of wisdom resulted in the
gathering of results into which the toiler did
not enter, but which he left to another.
Everything was vanity. The ultimate conclu
sion of his own experience was that there was
nothing better than to eat and drink. Ma
terialism necessarily becomes fatalism.
Turning from his personal experience to the
evidence gained by observation, he again, but
in greater detail, describes the mechanism of
the universe, referring to its ceaseless routine,
deducing therefrom a conception of God as a
Being Who is absolutely inexorable, and from

The Vanity of Materialism 55
Whom there is no escape. The issue of this is
confusion rather than order. In the place
of judgment and of righteousness, wickedness
exists. After all man is no better than the
beasts. From this general survey the preacher re
turns to examine the condition of the beings
whom he has described as being no better than
the beasts. He sees everywhere the suffering
of society, and even where men are successful
enough to amass wealth, they find themselves
in circumstances of pitiable loneliness. King
ship itself is empty and disappointing.
The observation of the religious life brings
no truer satisfaction. The preacher expresses
no contempt for religion; but there is in his
outlook, no joy, no satisfaction. The recog
nition of God is irksome, and issues, at its best,
in a caution based on fear. Turning again to
a general survey of the conditions under which
men live, the preacher appeals against sur
prise at oppression. Poverty is preferable to
wealth. Wealth is disappointing. His advice,
in view of his observations, may be sum
marized thus : Do not hoard anything, but en
joy it. It is the advice of utter selfishness.
Being experimentally far better acquainted
with wealth than with poverty, he returns to a
full declaration of the sorrows of the wealthy.

56 Ecclesiastes
His evident thought is that the more a man
possesses under the sun, the more profoundly
conscious does he become of the vanity and
vexation of it all.
He then proceeds to the inculcation of in
difference toward all the facts of life as the
only attitude which is in the least likely to
be satisfactory. He recommends that men
should take things as they come. This general
advice he emphasizes by particular illustra
tions. Bighteousness does not always pay;
wickedness sometimes does. Therefore mo
rality is to be a thing of calculation. Men are
urged to walk the middle way. The whole at
titude of mind revealed is that of cynicism;
but it is the attitude of a man who had lived
his life "under the sun."
c. The Effect revealed
In view of the evidences of the truth of his
affirmation, "vanity ... all is vanity," the
preacher now turns to the effect of this fact
on the mind of the man living "under the sun."
He extols worldly wisdom. It is to be granted
that all things are in the hand of God, and
this being so, men do not know them, nor can
they. The only certain thing is that there is
one event to all — righteous and wicked, clean
and unclean, the worshipper and the man who

The Vanity of Materialism 57
fails in worship, the good and the sinner, the
swearer and the man who fears an oath. All
these are really evil, with madness in their
heart during life, and move toward death.
Therefore there is nothing for it other than to
enjoy the present life, to eat and drink, and to
dress ; to enter into the experiences of the life
of vanity. Everything is to be done in the
present moment, and that with might, because
there is cessation beyond. Wisdom under the
sun is granted to be of some relative value, but
in the long issue it is of little worth. How,
then, does worldly wisdom work? The
preacher shows that its first manifestation is
that of discretion based upon selfishness. It
is, moreover, that of diligence in the midst of
the things of this life. Almost weirdly, this
setting forth of the value and method of
worldly wisdom ends in the same wail of disap
pointment which has characterized the whole
discourse. "If a man live many years, let
him rejoice in them all ; but let him remember
the days of darkness, for they shall be many.
All that cometh is vanity."
d. The Correction declared
The first word of the last division of the
book, like the first word of the Manifesto of the
King in later days, indicates the true thought

58 Ecclesiastes

and desire of God for man: "Bejoice." A
statement of life which includes all of truth
recognized in the discourse, and yet which far
transcends the whole of it, is first made. A
man is to enter into life — his owh life and
his present life — with avidity; and he is con
stantly to do so in the sight of God, remember
ing his relationship to Him. Judgment here
does not mean punishment, but verdict.
Everything is to be tested first by the suprem
acy of God. To attempt to find Him through
the medium of our self-pleasing use of life is
utterly to fail. To enthrone Him first, and
then to attempt to find life through Him, is
to cancel for ever the word "vanity."
The preacher proceeds in language full of
poetic beauty to urge the young to remember
the Creator. We then reach the epilogue of
the sermon. It first repeats the theme as an
nounced at the beginning, and tells how the
preacher, through study and diligence, still at
tempted to teach the people knowledge; and
finally, in the concluding two verses, a great
statement of truth is made, understanding and
acting upon which, the pessimistic views of life
resulting from materialism will never be
known. At the centre is this statement : "This is the
whole of man." The word "duty" has no real

The Vanity of Materialism 59
place in the sentence. What is the whole of
man? "To fear God and keep His command
ments." To do this is to find life not merely
under the sun, but over it as well, to pass from
the imperfect hemisphere into the perfect
sphere. To do this is to have light upon the
facts and problems of life, which otherwise are
dark and dismal.

SONG OF SONGS

SONG OF SONGS— THE CANTICLES OF LOVE

THE MARRIAGE
, i".— ii. 7

THE BETROTHAL
ii. 8— vii. g

c
THE UNITED
LIFE
vii. io — viii.

The Title.

1. i

I. The Shulammite
and the
Virgins 1. 2-8
Ready for the Wedding.
i. The Bride. 2-41
Awaiting the Wedding.
ii. The Virgins. 4b
To the Bride.
iii. The Bride. 4c
In the Bridegroom's
house.
iv. The Virgins. 4d
To the Bridegroom.
v. The Bride. 4e-6
a. To the Bride
groom. 4e
b. To the Virgins. 5-6
II. The Bride and the
Bridegroom 1. 7-11. 6
i. The Bride. 7
ii. The Bridegroom. 8-10
iii. The Virgins. n
To the Bride.
iv. The Bride. 12-14
v. The Bridegroom. 15
vi. The Bride, i. 16. — ii. 1
vii. The Bridegroom. 2
viii. The Bride 3-6
(The Singer II. 7)

iii. 6-i 1
iv. 1-15 16

I. Memories of the Wooing II. 8— lil. 4
i. The Bride. ii. 8-14
How the Beloved came.
ii. The Brothers. 15
Interrupting the wooing.
iii. The Bride. 16-17
Answering the Wooer.
iv. The Bride. Hi. 1-4
Her Dreams after the wooing.
(The Singer 3)
II. The Betrothal 111. 6-v. 1
i. The Singer.
The Coming of Solomon.
ii. Solomon. The Proposal.
iii. The Bride.
The Acceptance.
iv. Solomon. v. 1
a. To the Bride. i.a
b. To His Retinue. i.b
III. Experiences following
Betrothal v. 2— vll. 8
i. The Bride. v. 2. — vi. 3
The Maiden's troubled Dream.
a. The coming of the Beloved in the
night. 2.5
b. The Door opened, but the Beloved
vanished. 6a
c. Her Search. 6b — vi. 2
1. Out in the Streets. 6b
2. Theill-treatmentof the Watchmen. 7
3. AppealtotheWomen of Jerusalem. 8
4. Their Answer. 9
5. Her description of her Beloved. 10-16
6. Enquiry of the Women. vi. 1
7. Her Answer. 3
a. She awakes.
ii. Solomon. His Musing.
a. Description of the Shulammite. vi. 4-oa
b. Effect upon the Virgins of the
Vision of her. ob-13
«. Continued Description. vii. 1-9

vi. 4-

vi. 3
-vii. 9

I. The Bride
vii. 18-vlil. 3
Her desire to visit
her home with
her Bridegroom

(The Singer
viii. 4-5a)

II. The Bride
and
Bridegroom together viii. 5b-14
i. The Bridegroom. 5°
ii. The Bride. 6-12
(Quotation from
the Brothers 8-9)
(Answer of the
Bride. 10-12)
iii. The Bridegroom.
iv. The Bride. 14

SONG OF SONGS
NO book has been more provocative of con
troversy than this. The question at is
sue is as to its place and value in Holy
Scripture. Decision as to its right to be there
depends ultimately upon the interpretation
of it which is adopted. While there are differ
ent varieties of each, the interpretations may
be divided into two main classes — the material
and the mystical. Without staying to deal
with the many interpretations of either kind,
may it not be true that the gravest mistake
has been that of imagining that either method
in itself exhausts the meaning? On the ex
treme left are those who declare it to be simply
a voluptuous Eastern love song. On the ex
treme right are those who at once say it is a
portrayal' of the love existing between Christ
and His Church. To take the second view
first, for whatever value the Holy Spirit may
have caused this to be written, it is perfectly
certain that Solomon did not see in it all that
such interpreters find there. I am not deny
ing that these things are there for us, but
63

64 Song of Songs
merely say Solomon did not write to set forth
these things, for the mystery of the Church
was a hidden one under the whole economy of
Hebraism. On the other hand, if some mysti
cal value is recognized as lying within the pur
pose of the writer, the songs are at once saved
from the possibility of being charged with
voluptuousness. In order to understand the value of the
book, I think it necessary to recognize, first, a
basis in actual fact ; and second, an increasing
understanding of the deepest values with the
process of the centuries.
The basis of fact we shall find by recogniz
ing that these songs are idyls, and that behind
them is the actual story of the wooing and
winning of a bride. As Dr. Moulton lucidly
points out, the idyllic form does not proceed
in consecutive order in its description, and it
is necessary to construct the story by careful
examination of the songs themselves.
They first set forth the love existing between
bride and bridegroom. The thought of the re
lationship of bride and bridegroom, as setting
forth that existing between Jehovah and
Israel, is peculiarly Hebrew. In the prophets
this is subsequently made clearly manifest.
Moreover, Jewish expositors have so inter
preted these songs, and it is certainly easily

The Canticles of Love 65
probable that Solomon had some such inten
tion in mind.
In the New Dispensation, that of the
Church, the same figure is the most glorious
in setting forth the nature of the relation exist
ing between Christ and His Church. Some of
the most sainted writers of the Christian
Church have interpreted these songs in the
light of this New Testament truth; such, for
instance, as Eutherford and McCheyne. Dr.
Adeney, in the Expositor's Bible, while argu
ing against the mystical interpretation, yet
says: "It may be maintained that the experi
ence of Christians has demonstrated the apt
ness of the expression of the deepest spiritual
truths in the imagery of the Song of Solomon."
His later contention, that New Testament
writers make no use of the poem in this way,
is of no weight, for we believe in the ever-
increasing light upon the deepest values of
the earlier Scriptures. The fact that Solomon
had no intention of setting forth the relation
between Christ and His Church is of no mo
ment. If through the songs of human love
he did intend to set forth the spiritual idea
of the love between Jehovah and His ideal
people, the fulfilment of the thought of the
songs would come with the working out
into history of the realization of that purpose.

66 Song of Songs
The songs should be treated then, first as
simple and yet sublime songs of human af
fection. When they are thus understood, rev
erently the thoughts may be lifted into the
higher value of setting forth the joys of the
communion between the spirit of man and
the Spirit of God, and ultimately between
the Church and Christ.
No further exposition of these songs is neces
sary in an outline study. As songs of human
love they need no other exposition. As songs
of spiritual love they are better interpreted
experimentally than in any other way.

ISAIAH

ISAIAH— THE PROPHET OF THE THEOCRACY

A

B

C

PROPHECIES OF

HISTORICAL

PROPHECIES OF

JUDGMENT

INTERLUDE

PEACE

i. — xxxv.

xxxvi. — xxxix.

xl. — Ixvi.

I. First Circle, Judah and

I. Hezekiah's

I. The Purpose of Peace

Jerusalem 1.— xii.

Trouble

xl.-xlvlll.

i. During the Reign of Uzziah.

xxxvi.

Prologue. xl. 1-11

i. — v.
ii. During Reigns of Jotham
and Ahaz. vi.— xii.
II. Second Circle. The
Nations and the
World xiii.— xxvii.

II. Hezekiah's Prauer xxxvii.

i. The Majesty of Jehovah. xl. 12-31
ii. The Manifesto of Jehovah. xii. — xiii.
iii. The Messages of Jehovah. xliii.— xiv.
iv. The Fall of Babylon. xlvi. — xlvii.

i. Babylon. xiii.— xiv. 23

v. The Final Appeal xlviii.

ii. Assyria. xiv. 24-27

iii. Philistia. xiv. 28-32

II. The Prince of Peace
iv. Moab. xv.— xvi.
xllx.-lvll.
v. Damuscus and Israel. xvii. i-ii
(Interlude. Prophet's
Soliloquy.) xvii. 12— xviii.
vi. Egypt. xix.— xx.
III. Hezekiah's Sickness xxxviii.
i. Sustained through Suffering. xlix. — lin.
a. Jehovah's Call, xlix.— 1. 3
4. His Servant's Answer. 1. 4— liii.
vii. Babylon. xxi. 1-10
viii. Edom. xxi. n-12
ix. Arabia. xxi. 13-17
x. Jerusalem. xxii.
xi. Tyre. xxiii.
ii. Singing in Triumph. liv. — lvii.
a. The Song of Assurance. liv.
b. The Great Appeal. Iv.
f.. The Administration. lvi.— lvii.
xii. The World. xxiv.— xxvii.
IV. Hezekiah's
III. The Programme of
III. Third Circle. The
Folly
Peace Ivlil. — Ixvl.
Chosen and the
xxxix.
i. The Declaration of Conditions lviii. — lix.
ii. The Ultimate Realization. Ix.— lxii.
iii. The Principle of Discrimina
tion, lxiii.— Ixvi.
World xxviii.— xxxv.
i. The Chosen. xxviii.— xxxiii.
ii. The World, xxxiv.— xxxv.
ISAIAH
F SAIAH was a prophet of Judah. He exer-
*¦ cised his ministry wholly within her bor
ders, and with a view to her correction and
comfort. His burdens of the nations were
uttered concerning those which surrounded
Judah and had harassed her. His outlook was
world-wide, and inclusive ofthe whole purpose
of God. Profoundly conscious of the intention
of God that through His people all peoples
should be blessed, he saw through all the
processes of judgment the ultimate blessing of
the whole earth.
The book as a whole sets forth the two facts
of Judgment and Peace, and shows their inter
relation in the economy of God. Dealing first
with Judgment, his messages show how it ever
proceeds to Peace. Dealing finally with Peace,
they show how it is always conditioned in
Eighteousness. Between these principal parts
of the book is an historical section, the first
part of which is related to the Judgment
prophecies, and the second to those concerning
Peace. 69

70 Isaiah
Isaiah's messages were delivered during a
dark period in the history of the people. He
lived and taught during the reigns of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Contemporary
with him, Hosea was prophesying to Israel,
and Micah to Judah.
The unity of the teaching is conspicuous,
and is the chief argument in favour of the
unity of authorship.
The book naturally falls into three parts:
Prophecies of Judgment (i.-xxxv.) ; Historical
Interlude (xxxvi.-xxxix.) ; Prophecies of
Peace (xl.-lxvii.).
A. Prophecies of Judgment
The prophecies of judgment move in three
circles, the first of which deals with Judah and
Jersualem, the second with the nations and the
world, the third with the chosen and the world.
The prophecies dealing with the judgment of
Judah and Jerusalem were delivered during
the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz. The
first five chapters contain the messages de
livered during the reign of Uzziah. The
prophet first impeached the whole nation.
Having summoned the heavens and the earth
to attention, he uttered Jehovah's complaint
that "Israel doth not know, My people doth
not consider," and made his appeal to them to

The Prophet of the Theocracy 71
learn wisdom from their stricken condition.
He then proceeded in the name of Jehovah to
correct their false notions of religion, declar
ing that while they had been satisfied with
things external, He had sought righteousness
and judgment. After having uttered the call
of Jehovah, which was full of grace and ten
derness, Isaiah described the corruption of the
city and the consequent judgment which was
necessary for restoration, declaring at the
same time that there is a judgment which is
reprobation in the case of persistent sin.
After the impeachment, the prophet uttered
a great appeal, in which he first described the
latter days in which the Lord's house is to be
established, the law is to proceed from Zion,
and the issue is to be peace. Then, calling
them to walk in the light of the Lord, he de
clared what that light revealed of existing cor
ruption and consequent judgment, appealing
to them to cease from man. Following this he
described in detail the judgment of a corrupt
society, which must fall upon the unjust rulers
and the people who had submitted to their
rule. With a keen understanding of the cor
ruption of society and its reason, he declared
the judgment of Jehovah must fall upon the
women who were haughty, who had lived in
luxury, and whose influence had been evil in

72 Isaiah
the life of the nation. The great appeal ends
with another vision of the latter day, which
he described as to its material prosperity, its
moral purity, and its mighty protection.
Finally he denounced the nation, first by
singing to them the song of the vineyard, in
which he showed how utterly they had failed
to fulfil the Divine purpose. Therefore he pro
nounced woes against monopoly, dissipation,
unbelief, moral confusion, conceit, and the per
version of justice. It was because of these
things that the anger of the Lord was kindled
against the people, and the prophet foretold
the coming of the scourge.
The second part of the first circle of proph
ecy contains the messages of Isaiah during
the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz. When Uzziah
died, Isaiah was called to the exercise of a
larger ministry, and was prepared for the same
by the special vision granted to him. It was a
vision of the glory and the grace of Jehovah.
He was revealed as One Who was at once the
centre of adoring worship, and Who heard
the sigh of the sinner in his need, and stayed
the song of the seraph in order that that cry of
need might be answered.
Following the vision and the prophet's
cleansing, he was commissioned to the ministry
of judgment. Immediately following this new

The Prophet of the Theocracy 73
call, the prophet encountered Ahaz, and in
consequence of his obstinacy, foretold the
judgment which would fall upon Judah by the
coming of the Assyrian hosts.
After this encounter the prophet turned
from his more public ministry to devote him
self to a small circle of believing souls. He
was instructed to bind the testimony and seal
the law, and his children were to be for signs
and wonders to the people. Turning to the
work of instructing this small group, the
prophet described to them the false way of
seeking familiar spirits and wizards, with the
disastrous results of doing so; and then de
livered to them the message of hope, which cul
minated in a glorious description of the com
ing Deliverer.
This is followed by a prophecy of judgment
on Israel, which falls into four distinct parts,
each ending with the words : "For all this His
anger is not turned away, but His hand is
stretched out still." Through all the methods
of judgment the afflicted people manifested
stubbornness of heart and persistence in
wickedness, so that the anger of the Lord could
not be turned away, but His afflicting hand
continued to be outstretched.
The prophecy of judgment upon Assyria
comes next in order. Assyria was the power

74 Isaiah
which Jehovah was about to use for the pun
ishment of His people, but because it failed to
understand its true relation to God, it must in
turn be judged. The prophet first indicated
this contrast of intention. Jehovah's intention
was that the Assyrian should be the rod in His
hand. The Assyrian intention was to destroy
the people of God. Therefore Assyria must
also be judged. Nevertheless the purpose of
God would be fulfilled, and the prophecy ends
with a graphic description of the Assyrians'
approach, and of the judgment which would
fall upon the chosen people by their coming.
With judgment imminent, the prophet yet
saw the ultimate issue of it all. He described
the coming Deliverer, which description is fol
lowed by songs celebrating His victories.
The second circle of the first division con
tains Isaiah's prophecies concerning the na
tions of the world. He first described the
doom of Babylon. Media was to be the in
strument of the destruction, and the issue
thereof was intended to be the restoration of
Israel through the compassion of Jehovah.
Anticipating the day of restoration, the
prophet put into the mouth of Israel the par
able or song which celebrates the downfall.
This moves in five distinct strophes, the first
of which describes the overthrow and the con-

The Prophet of the Theocracy 75
sequent rest of the whole earth. The second
speaks of the consternation of the underworld
at the fall of Babylon. The third declares the
sin which culminates in such destruction. The
completeness of destruction is the subject of
the fourth. The final strophe announces the
utter extermination of Babylon.
There follows a fragment concerning As
syria, in which the prophet reaffirmed Jeho
vah's intention to break its power.
That concerning Philistia is of the nature
of a warning spoken to her. Although she op
pressed the people of God, she was herself in
peril. She was not to rejoice because the rod
which smote her was broken, for there were
other forces at the disposal of Jehovah, and
they threatened her.
The prophecy concerning Moab commences
by describing her desolation. A catastrophe
would overtake her in a night, the result of
which would be the mourning of her people,
and their scattering far and wide. The
prophet declared, moreover, that this visita
tion of Moab would be in fulfilment of an
ancient prophecy, and that at last the time
limit was actually set.
The burden of Damascus announces its
doom. It is evident, however, that the prophet
had in mind the alliance which had been en-

76 Isaiah
tered into by Israel or Ephraim with Damas
cus. The doom of Damascus would mean the
destruction of the fortress of Ephraim. The
prophet then proceeded to describe the judg
ment of Ephraim which would issue from the
destruction of Damascus, and he declared that
the effect produced would be that of compel
ling men to look to Jehovah rather than to
idols. The reason of this visitation was that
Ephraim had forgotten God.
In the midst of these burdens of the nations
we have a soliloquy of the prophet, which falls
into two sections. The first reveals his con
sciousness of the opposing peoples, and of Je
hovah as perfect defence. The second is of the
nature of a proclamation to certain ambassa
dors, who were charged to return to their
people, and to wait for Jehovah.
Immediately following this soliloquy we
have the burden of Egypt. Jehovah's advent
will result in the destruction of idols, in civil
war, in failure in counsel, and in the govern
ment of the Egyptian people by a cruel lord
and a false king. This day of visitation will be
one of physical catastrophe. The waters of the
Nile will fail, and consequently all industry —
fishing, weaving, and building — will be para
lyzed. Yet the prophet saw hope even for
Egypt, and with the far-reaching vision of faith

The Prophet of the Theocracy 77
he saw both Egypt and Assyria joined in the
worship of Jehovah, and ultimately a triple
alliance of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria made a
blessing in the midst of the earth.
Turning again to Babylon, the prophet de
scribed the whirlwind sweeping against it, and
so terrible was the sight that he was filled
with horror.
Very brief but very forceful is the burden
of Dumah. The prophet had heard some in
quiring voice demanding the hour of the night.
In briefest words he answered that he saw
morning and night, and invited further in
quiry. The burden of Arabia consists of a vision
and an interpretation. The vision is that of
a fugitive people. The interpretation an
nounces the coming of judgment within a
year upon the children of Kedar.
In the midst of the prophecies concerning
the nations occurs one of protest against the
indifference of Jerusalem to the things con
cerning which the prophet is speaking. He
first described the joyous people as they stood
in contrast to him with his sorrow and his
broken heart. It was a day in which Jehovah
had called to mourning, and they were full of
merriment. This was an unpardonable sin, as
it revealed their callousness. Immediately f ol-

78 Isaiah
lowing this protest, the prophet uttered his
denunciation of Shebna, declaring that he
would be rejected from his office, and his place
be taken by Eliakim.
The burden of Tyre is a graphic description
of her desolation. Her harbours are closed.
Her borders are desolate. The sea, which had
been her highway, is abandoned, and Egypt
her ally is affrighted at the report. This des
olation is the act of Jehovah. After seventy
years the prophet declared that she should be
visited by Jehovah, and restored to a position
of affluence. There is in the prophecy no hint
of any turning to God on the part of Tyre.
Her restoration was to be, in some way, of
service to God's own people.
In the last chapters of the second circle the
prophet takes a wider outlook, and the world
is seen under the government of the throne
of God. In consequence of widespread cor
ruption, widespread desolation is determined
upon. The earth is seen to mourn and fade
away, devoured by a curse, while all mirth
ceases. This prophecy of worjd-wide judg
ment ends with the declaration that it will be
by the act of Jehovah, and will issue in per
fect victory. There follows immediately a
song of praise for judgment both in its pro
cedure and in its results, which results are to

The Prophet of the Theocracy 79
be the spreading of a feast in the mountain
of the Lord, and His illumination of the na
tions, followed by the ending of sorrow and
the wiping away of tears. Naturally follow
ing this prophecy of praise is the great song
which would be sung in the day of Jehovah's
ultimate victory. The deep secret of the new
condition will be that of the mind stayed on
Jehovah. Eemembering that he was still
speaking in the midst of circumstances of
judgment, and that its processes must pro
ceed to consummation, the prophet uttered
the final call to the people of God, urging them
to quietness and patience until the indigna
tion be overpassed. This circle ends with a
message which describes the process toward
ultimate restoration, and announces its cer
tainty. The way is the way of judgment.
The first issue of judgment would be the res
toration of the chosen people, and to this he
referred under the figure of the vineyard. The
figure here stands in striking contrast to the
way in which it appeared in chapter five.
The third and last circle consists of a series
of prophecies concerning the chosen and the
world. It opens with a graphic revelation of
the difficulties with which Isaiah had to con
tend, and of his unswerving loyalty to the
truth. In answer to his declaration that

80 Isaiah
judgment was to fall upon Ephraim; priests
and prophets, overcome by strong drink, taunted
him with the slowness of his speech and its
halting method. He answered them by declar
ing that there was another method of speech,
and, moreover, that there was a purpose in the
halting method which he had adopted. He
then warned them of their folly, declaring that
their false covenant with death should be dis
annulled, and urging them to cease their
scorning. A series of declamations follows this pic
ture. The first sets forth the purpose of Je
hovah in judgment. The prophet then de
nounced an alliance with Egypt, declaring the
shame of it and its uselessness, and proceeded
to foretell again the destruction of Assyria. A
second time he denounced the alliance with
Egypt, declaring it to be a false trust conse
quent upon the turning of their back upon
Jehovah. The prophet then described the reign of the
coming King, which is to be characterized by
the establishment of order, and the consequent
creation of refuge and refreshment for all who
are in distress. The beneficent effects of such
a reign will be the restoration of sensibility,
and of a true sense of values in which men
will know violence and call it by its right

The Prophet of the Theocracy 81
name, recognizing true nobility. Evidently
conscious of how different were the circum
stances described, to those in the midst of
which he was exercising his ministry, he made
his appeal to the women. This recognition of
the influence of women, for the second time in
the course of this volume, is a revelation of
the prophet's keen insight and accurate ap
prehension of one of the most prolific causes
of national disaster. A degraded woman
hood always creates a dissipated and ener
vated manhood.
After the great message the prophet cele
brated a victory, and predicted the method of
the final triumph. The presence of God is a
fire filling the heart of the sinner with fear,
while the righteous dwell in safety in the midst
of its burning.
The last two chapters of the first division
reveal the prophet's breadth of outlook. He
saw, in the future, world-wide desolation.
From this wide outlook he passed to a descrip
tion of the judgment of God upon Edom,
which illustrates the larger truth already de
clared. The final word stands in startling con
trast. Following the picture of desolation, we
have one of restoration. The whole earth was
seen in the former as brought into confusion
and emptiness. Now we observe the restora-

82 Isaiah
tion of the natural order. Thus, at the close,
as throughout the whole of this great division,
God is seen moving through judgment toward
peace.
b. Historical Interlude
This interlude has to do wholly with events
transpiring in the reign of Hezekiah. The
first was that of Sennacherib's invasion. The
hosts of Assyria were assembled in the neigh
bourhood of Jerusalem, and Kabshakeh was
sent as an ambassador of Sennacherib. With
pride amounting to insolence he taunted the
rulers who came out to confer with him. Full
of fear, they requested him to speak in Ara
maic, that the Jews might not understand.
To this he responded by addressing himself
directly to the people still in the Hebrew
tongue, bidding them trust neither Hezekiah
nor Jehovah. Instructed by Hezekiah, the
people maintained a dignified silence.
In this hour of trial Hezekiah sent messages
to Isaiah, who returned to him an answer full
of hope. Eabshakeh having returned to his
master, an insolent and blasphemous letter
was sent to Hezekiah, which he spread out be
fore Jehovah. While he thus waited upon
Jehovah, Isaiah sent him a message declaring
the coming judgment of God upon Sennache-

The Prophet of the Theocracy 83
rib on account of his sin of blasphemy. By the
direct act of Jehovah the Assyrian army was
destroyed, and Sennacherib, returning to Nine
veh, was slain by his own sons.
We next have an account of Hezekiah's sick
ness and of his prayer that his life might be
spared, with the answer vouchsafed. In con
nection with this story there is preserved for
us the psalm which Hezekiah wrote. The
first part of it is descriptive of the days of
darkness and anguish through which he had
passed, while the latter celebrates his deliver
ance by Jehovah. This psalm makes it evident
that he recognized his affliction, as well as his
deliverance, as within the method of God's dis
cipline, for in the course of it he exclaimed,
"O Lord, by these things men live."
The last event chronicled in this historical
interlude is that of Hezekiah's folly. Flat
tered by the letters and present sent to him
from the king of Babylon, he exposed all his
wealth to the messengers. Isaiah visited him,
and evidently understanding the sinister mo
tive of the king of Babylon, predicted the com
ing of a day in which Babylon should carry
away all the things which the spies had seen.
c. Prophecies of Peace
The prophecies of peace move in three cir-

84 Isaiah 
cles. The first deals with the purpose of peace ;
the second with the Prince of peace; the third
with the programme of peace.
The prophecies dealing with the purpose of
peace are introduced by a prologue, which
declares their burden, "Comfort ye, comfort ye
My people." A voice calls for the prepara
tion of a highway in the wilderness for the
march of God, and the prophet is commis
sioned to announce the advent of Jehovah God.
Immediately following the prologue, the
majesty of Jehovah is celebrated, first, in its
essentials of might, of wisdom, and of govern
ment; secondly, by the impossibility of com
parison; thirdly, by the evidences in creation
of the established government of the earth and
of the heavens ; and finally, by the grace which
knows the way, and out of the inherent
strength of Jehovah supplies the need of such
as lack.
The great manifesto of Jehovah comes next
in order. It declares the Divine choice of
Cyrus as a servant of God. The presentation
of the servant is preceded by an argument, in
which Jehovah challenges all peoples as to the
fact that He has made known beforehand
things to come. In the midst of this argument
Israel is addressed as the chosen servant of
God, and Jehovah's purpose for them is de-

The Prophet of the Theocracy 85
clared to be that of peace, through which they
will be able to fulfil their high and holy voca
tion. Yet the people are seen in such condi
tion as to prove their inability to fulfil the Di
vine purpose in their own strength. There is
neither man nor counsellor who is able to an
swer when God calls. Therefore all His high
est purposes are to be realized in one Man in
order that ultimately they may be realized
in the nation. While the eyes of the prophet in
the whole vision were fixed upon Cyrus, it is
evident that he was looking far beyond him to
Another. The description of the Servant of
Jehovah is full of stately beauty. He is pre
sented in Person, His manifestation is an
nounced, His commission declared, His method
described, and His might foretold. This Serv
ant of God was to be called, held, and given
by Jehovah, and that for the glory of His
name. In view of His coming the whole earth
is called upon to sing, as Jehovah declares His
purpose of moving through passion to peace.
The prophet appealed to the people to hear,
look, and understand the meaning of the Di
vine method.
Following the manifesto we have certain
messages of Jehovah. The first declares His
perpetual purpose for His people. He created,
formed, and called them for His glory. The

86 Isaiah
next declares His present purpose of deliver
ance, affirming His intention to destroy their
foes, making an appeal to the people, promis
ing the outpouring of the Spirit in blessing
upon Israel, with resultant blessing to others.
He then compares Himself with idols, claim
ing to be the first and the last, alone knowing
and declaring, and describing with fine scorn
the vanity of idol makers and the unprofitable
ness of idols made. In startling contrast, and
in words full of beauty, He speaks of His own
might. Next in order we have His charge to Cyrus,
consisting of the making of a promise, the dec
laration of a purpose, the claiming of power,
and a protest against objections. Following
this He announces His purpose for Israel, that
all the peoples shall submit to them. Finally,
He declares His purpose for the ends of the
earth, calling upon the nations to compare
Him with idols, and to submit to Him in order
to find salvation. All these messages of
Jehovah are introduced by the prophet by the
same formula, "Thus saith the Lord."
The fall of Babylon is the subject of the next
message, which is delivered to the house of
Jacob, to the remnant of Israel, and first de
clares that the fall of Babylon is determined
upon. This declaration is the occasion of a

The Prophet of the Theocracy 87
striking contrast between the false gods and
Jehovah. They are seen bowing down and
stooping, while men have to carry them in an
attempt to place them in safety. He is the One
Who has carried His people, and will continue
so to do. The fall of Babylon is then described
as degradation from high position, as disgrace
amid the nations, as desolation after luxury
and boastfulness, and as destruction utter and
complete. The section dealing with the Purpose of
Peace ends with a final appeal, in which Je
hovah declares that His method is that of
prophecy and performance. Because of their
obstinacy He had declared from of old what
He would do. For His name's sake He would
defer His anger. An illustration of the
method is that of the calling of Cyrus. He fi
nally declares again that His purpose is their
peace and their redemption. The last word of
the section is, "There is no peace, saith Je
hovah, unto the wicked."
In the next section the Prince of Peace is
presented to our view. In a series of remark
able messages we see Him first sustained
through suffering, and then singing in
triumph. The Servant is Himself the speaker,
and He tells the story of His call by Jehovah.
Conscious of His own call, He yet complains

88 Isaiah
that His labour has been in vain. To that com
plaint Jehovah replies by speaking again of
His first purpose for Him, and declaring that
the purpose is enlarged. The despised and
exalted One is yet to be the messenger of de
liverance to the oppressed people. In answer
to this, Zion declares that Jehovah has forgot
ten her. The reply is that He cannot forget,
and that deliverance is certain. Jehovah chal
lenges the complaining people to produce proof
that He has cast them off, and declares- the
reason of all their suffering to be their own
sin. In all this it is evident Jehovah is calling
His Servant to a triumph which can only be
won through suffering. The Servant answers
by consecrating Himself to the processes,
while His eyes are set upon the issue. He
yields Himself to the smiters and to all the
suffering and shame. Out of this consecration
comes courage. The ministry of suffering is
then described. An appeal is made to those
who sit in darkness to trust in God. Then the
faithful remnant is charged to be courageous
and to rest in the assurance of the comfort of
God, and in His promise of succour. Mes
sages follow to such as are afflicted, which
tell of the coming end of suffering, and the be
ginning of strength, as the result of the
return of Jehovah. An account of the com-

The Prophet of the Theocracy 89
pletion of the suffering of the Servant follows
these messages. The pathway of suffering is
described in the plaintive and wonderful lan
guage with which all are familiar. It is a
pathway of rejection, of vicarious suffering,
of atoning death. Yet it is the pathway which
leads to triumph, and the Servant of God
is seen as He passes through pain to pros
perity, through travail to triumph, through
humbling to exaltation.
Immediately after this description of the
suffering Servant of God there follows a sec
tion which contains the story of triumph.
First there is a song of assurance, which tells
of restoration, and of the end of all forsaking.
The glory of that restoration is described in its
material magnificence, in its moral rectitude,
and in its mighty defence. Upon the basis of
the suffering and triumph, and immediately
following the song, is a message containing a
great appeal. The thirsty and the dissatisfied
are called back to Jehovah in order that they
may enter into the peace and prosperity which
are the portion of those who hear His word
and obey it. The section ends with a descrip
tion of the administration of the kingdom. In
view of the promise of salvation, and of the
fact that salvation is near, the man is pro
nounced blessed who submits himself. More-

90 Isaiah
over, the strangers and all who have suffered
loss through loyalty to Him are to have an as
sured place in the restoration. Evil is to be
judged, and the judgment must first fall upon
the spiritual leaders because of their pollution
and their neglect of the righteous. It is also
to fall upon all the apostate people. Judg
ment is, however, as always in the economy
of Jehovah, to be discriminative. The high
and lofty One will dwell in fellowship with
such as are of contrite and humble spirit.
This section presenting the Prince of Peace
ends with the same declaration as does the first
— "There is no peace, saith Jehovah, unto the
wicked." The last section deals with the Programme
of Peace, and declares, first, what are its con
ditions. The prophet condemns formalism
which is punctilious in its observance of all
external things, and yet complains that there
has been no response on the part of God, de
claring that the reason for this silence is that
the fasting has been formal and not sincere.
He then describes what true religion is, and
declares what are its rewards. Eecognizing
the fact that God has not appeared on behalf
of His people, the prophet breaks out into a
great confession, in which he first describes
the sin of the people, then their suffering, and

The Prophet of the Theocracy 91
finally confesses the sin. Having thus de
clared the moral requirement, and confessed
moral failure, he proceeds to speak of the
moral victory, which is assured. This is based
upon Jehovah's knowledge, and will result
from Jehovah's judgment being carried out by
Jehovah's Eedeemer.
In messages full of beauty, the prophet next
describes the ultimate realization of peace,
first as to its material prosperity. In the
midst of darkness light shines, and the exiles
are seen returning from far and near, bearing
wealth with them, and followed by the peoples.
The city of God is established, and at last
there comes a day of perfect government, per
fect glory, perfect gladness. Beneath the ma
terial realization there is spiritual realization,
which the prophet then describes. This is
brought about by the anointed Messenger,
through Whose work the people are restored
to their true place in the economy of God.
Thus, issuing from the material and spiritual
realizations, the vocational fulfilment is de
scribed. The old names "Forsaken" and
"Desolate" are changed for new ones —
"Hephzi-bah" and "Beulah."
The last messages of the book reaffirm the
Divine principle of discrimination. The glori
ous victories which have been described can

92 Isaiah
only be won through processes of judgment,.
It would seem as though the prophet lifted
his eyes and saw, in clear though distant out
line, the last goings forth of God in judg
ment, with the things resulting therefrom.
He saw the Warrior returning from the fight,
stained with the conflict, but marching in the
might and majesty of the victory won. The
vision called forth his praise, his confession,
and his prayer, which move in orderly se
quence. He then described the sifting of the
people. The rebellious are doomed, while such
as are the servants of the Most High are led
into the realization of all His high purpose of
Peace. The great prophecy closes with the re
affirmation of the coming of Jehovah as a
whirlwind, to plead by fire with men, and to
bring in the new heavens and the new earth.

JEEEMIAH

JEREMIAH— THE PROPHET OF FAILURE

THE PROPHET'S CALL AND
COMMISSION

THE PROPHET'S MINISTRY
xiv. — li.

Title Page.

»¦ 1—3

I. The Call

1. 4-19.

i. Personal.

4-IO

ii. Official.

11-19

II. The Commission

II.— xiii.

i. First Movement.

ii.— vi.

a. Impeachment. ii.
b. Call to Return. iii.— iv. 2
c. Judgment. iv. 3— vi. 26
d. The Prophet Strengthened. vi. 37-30
ii. Second Movement. vii — ix.
a. The, Sins of Worship. vii.— viii. 3
b. Perpetual Backsliding. viii. 4-17
c. The Prophet Strengthened. viii. 18-ix.
iii. Third Movement. x. — xiii.
a. The Sin of Idolatry. x.
b. The Broken Covenant. xi. 1-17
l. The Prophet Strengthened. xi. 18 — xiii.

I. Prophecies before the Pall of
Jer usal em xiv.— xxxix.
i. God's Determination to Punish. xiv.— xvii.
ii. God's Absolute Supremacy, xviii.— xx.
iii. Message to Zedekiah. xxi,— xxvii.
iv. Jeremiah and False Prophets xxviii.— xxix.
v. Prophecies of Hope. xxx.— xxxiii,
vi. Prophecies ofthe Siege, xxxiv.— xxxv.
vii. The Story of the Roll. xxxvi.
viii. History of the Siege. xxxvii.— xxxix.
II. Prophecies after the Fall of
Jerusalem xl.— xiv.
i. Against going into Egypt. xl.— xiii.
ii. In Egypt. xliii.— : xliv..
iii. The Word to Baruch. xiv.
III. Prophecies concerning the
Nations xlvl.-ll.
i. Concerning Egypt. xlvi.
ii. Concerning the Philistine. xlvii.
iii. Concerning Moab . xvliii.
iv. Concerning Ammon. xlix. 1-6
v. Concerning Edom. 7-22
vi. Concerning Damascus. 23-27
vii. Concerning Kedar and Hazor. 28-33
viii. Concerning Elam. 34~39
ix. Concerning Babylon. 1.— li.

Historical Appendix, ill.

JEREMIAH
JEREMIAH was Jehovah's spokesman in
days of darkness and disaster. Through
great personal suffering he delivered his mes
sages of punishment and of promise with un
swerving fidelity, notwithstanding the fact
that the people refused to hear or to obey. He
was the son of Hilkiah, of priestly family.
Whether this was the Hilkiah who discovered
the book of the law in the eighteenth year of
Josiah's reign, that is, five years after Jere
miah's prophesying commenced, cannot be ab
solutely decided. It is possible, if not prob
able. His ministry extended from the thirteenth
year of Josiah to the eleventh of Zedekiah, that
is, over a period of forty years. No prophet
in all the long and honourable succession had
a more thankless work. To stand, the lonely
messenger of God, in the midst of the rebel
lious opposition of his own people, was a task
needing the greatest courage. We wrong Jere
miah when we speak of him merely as the
prophet of tears, or think of him only as a
man haunted by fears. His tears were evi-
95

96 Jeremiah

dences of his compassion, but his compassion
never made him unfaithful to the Divine mes
sage. All evidences of weakness were mani
fested in the presence of God, and never when
he stood as God's messenger. Only once was
there a momentary failure — in the case of the
false word of Hananiah — and this was rather
a mistake of judgment than a deflection from
the clearly marked path of duty.
The first part of the book gives us the story
of his Call and Commission, and the last the
account of his Ministry. It may be that the
messages in the first part were delivered as
they were received, but it is evident throughout
that he was being prepared for that more sor
rowful and yet weighty ministry which was
to follow.
The book thus falls into two parts: the
Prophet's Call and Commission (i.-xiii.) ; the
Prophet's Ministry (xiv.-li.) ; with an his
torical Appendix ( Iii. ) .
a. The Prophet's Call and Commission
The first three verses constitute a title-page,
naming the author, and giving the dates of the
period during which he exercised his ministry.
The call of the prophet was first personal.
Over against the "I" of Jeremiah's fear, Je
hovah set the "I" of His own omnipotence.

 The Prophet of Failure 97
The call was then official, and was ratified
by the two signs, of the almond-tree, and the
seething caldron.
In the commissioning of Jeremiah for his
ministry there are three distinctly marked
movements, each of which ends with the
account of how Jehovah strengthened His
servant. The first movement commences with the
command to utter an impeachment of Israel.
She was charged with forsaking Jehovah, and
with obstinate sinfulness. The impeachment
ended by a summary, describing Israel's in
fidelity and its issue.
Following the impeachment the prophet ap
pealed to the people to return, pointing out
the conditions upon which they might do so.
This appeal was followed by the recitation
of an ideal confession for the sinning people,
and ended with the promise of Jehovah that
if Israel would return she should be estab
lished. Suddenly the prophet turned to the subject
of judgment. He declared that it was deter
mined on, described it, and affirmed its inevi-
tableness. His own anguish was revealed in
the course of this declaration. He proceeded
to announce the reason of judgment as being
their utter corruption of conduct, their unbe-

98 Jeremiah

lief of the prophetic message, and their revolt
ing and rebellious heart. He then foretold, in
graphic description, the taking of the city, and
the suffering of the people consequent there
upon. The movement ends with an account of the
words spoken by Jehovah to Jeremiah, in or
der to strengthen him.
The second movement in the commissioning
of the prophet deals first with the sins of wor
ship. At the gate of the Temple the prophet
rebuked the people for trusting in external
forms. So terrible was the condition that he
was charged at last not to pray for them. For
this idolatry of formalism the sentence of
judgment was again pronounced.
The sin of idolatry had been aggravated by
their terrible persistence therein. If men fall,
it is naturally expected that they will rise;
if they wander, that they will return. In the
case of Judah this had not been so. The back
sliding had been perpetual, therefore the judg
ment must be complete.
The strain of the terrible messages upon the
prophet now becomes evident as it is seen how
he poured out his soul in lamentation. To this
cry of His servant Jehovah replied in a five
fold declaration. He had no choice but to
afflict, because of their sin. He also suffered.

The Prophet of Failure 99
The reason of judgment was that of their per
sistent rebellion. He called the people to lam
entation, but insisted that it should be for
right causes. Finally He proclaimed the true
ground of glorying for man to be, not his own
wisdom or riches, but his understanding and
knowledge of Jehovah.
In the third movement in the commissioning
of the prophet the sin of idolatry is again
dealt with. He revealed its unutterable folly
in a powerful contrast between idols and Je
hovah. On the sin of idolatry he then pro
nounced judgment.
There came to the prophet from the Lord a
special word commissioning him to pronounce
a curse upon "the man that heareth not the
words of this covenant." He was to proclaim
in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jeru
salem the sin of the fathers, and the fact that
it was being repeated by their sons. They
were guilty of conspiracy against Jehovah in
turning back to other gods. Therefore
Jehovah visited with judgment.
The closing part of the third movement is
occupied with an account of how Jehovah
strengthened Jeremiah in view of the persecu
tion which was already stirred against him,
and of the yet severer troubles awaiting him.
From the midst of peril in Anathoth, Jeremiah

100 Jeremiah

appealed to Jehovah to be his Defender, and
was answered by the declaration of the Divine
determination concerning his evil neighbours.
Perplexed, the prophet poured out his soul to
God in questions. The answer of Jehovah in
dicated the fact that the things he had seen,
and the trials through which he had passed,
were as nothing to those which awaited him.
The account of the commissioning of the
prophet ends with the story of how Jehovah
gave him two signs, one for himself and one
for his people.
b. The Prophet's Ministry
The second division of the book contains the
account of the prophet's ministry. It falls
into three sections: prophecies before the fall
of Jerusalem, prophecies after the fall of Jeru
salem, and prophecies concerning the Nations.
The prophecies before the fall of Jerusalem
open with a declaration of God's determina
tion to punish. This is introduced by a
graphic parable of drought, in which the high
and the low are alike affected, the whole
ground is barren for lack of rain, and all
animal life suffers.
Then follows the account of a remarkable
controversy between Jeremiah and Jehovah.
The prophet appealed to Jehovah repeatedly

The Prophet of Failure 101
on behalf of the people. Jehovah replied by
forbidding him to pray for them, and declaring
His determination to punish them. On hear
ing this Jeremiah cried out in his anguish,
and Jehovah replied by promising to
strengthen him for the delivery of his mes
sage. This controversy was immediately fol
lowed by a new charge to the prophet. He
was called to a life of personal asceticism,
and commanded to abstain both from mourn
ing and from mirth. He was to stand aloof
from the people, in order to deliver to them
the messages of God.
Once again Jehovah declared His determina
tion to deal with the people in judgment, be
cause of the defiant definiteness of their sin.
This declaration was followed by a contrast be
tween the man who trusts in men, and the man
who trusteth in Jehovah. The first dwells in
the midst of desert desolation. The second is
rooted by the springs of fruitfulness. To these
words the prophet replied in a great affirma
tion of faith, and an equally great appeal of
need. He was then commissioned to stand in
the gate of the people and offer them the test
of the Sabbath, warning them of how their
fathers failed in this respect, and declaring to
them that if they refused to hearken, the judg
ment must fall.

102 Jeremiah

The second series of messages before the fall
of Jerusalem consists of declarations of God's
absolute supremacy. In preparation, Jere
miah was sent to the house of the potter.
Power was manifest in the potter's manipula
tion of the clay in his hand, and pity in his
re-making of the marred vessel. The explana
tion was given by Jehovah Himself. The
house of Israel was as clay in His hand, but
His will must be accomplished, and they could
not possibly escape from Him. The delivery
of these messages stirred up new opposition
to the prophet, and a conspiracy was formed
against his life. He was then commissioned
to go forth into the valley of the son of Hin
nom, taking with him a potter's vessel, and
there to deliver a message of judgment, sym
bolizing the same by breaking the vessel in
the sight of the people. Eeturning from To-
pheth, having obeyed the command, he sat in
the court of the Lord's House, and repeated
the fact of coming judgment.
This action stirred up yet fiercer persecu
tion against him. He was arrested and im
prisoned. Out of the midst of these circum
stances he poured out his soul in the presence
of Jehovah, complaining that he had been the
laughing-stock of the people, and had become
a reproach and derision. He had declared that

The Prophet of Failure 103
he would not speak the word, but it had be
come a burning fire, and he had been com
pelled to utter it. The tempest-tossed condi
tion of his mind at this time is seen in his
alternating declarations of faith and fear.
The final series before the fall of Jerusalem
consists of messages delivered to Zedekiah.
The scourge which Jeremiah had foretold
seemed to be imminent. Nebuchadrezzar was
approaching. Zedekiah sent to inquire
whether he might hope for the interference
and deliverance of Jehovah. There was noth
ing halting or unswerving in the prophet's
answer. He foretold the disaster in detail.
The message of Jeremiah by the deputation
was not enough. He was commanded to go to
the house of the king. Arrived at the court, he
repeated his call to repentance and his warn
ing. He then reviewed the history of Zede-
kiah's three predecessors — Jehoahaz (Shal
lum), Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin (Coniah),
and proceeded to charge the failure of the
people first upon the kings. In the Divine
economy the king has always been a shepherd ;
but the men who had held the office had de
stroyed and scattered the sheep. He then
turned to the prophets, and spoke of them out
of a broken heart. Their judgment was con
sequent upon the falseness of the messages

104 Jeremiah

they had delivered. They had dreamed their
own dreams rather than delivered the word of
Jehovah. Jeremiah's acute understanding of
the process of the nation's corruption is clearly
revealed. False kings and prophets had led
the people into courses of evil. The people,
in their turn, had willingly listened and fol
lowed. Still speaking to Zedekiah, Jeremiah re
peated three prophecies from the past, the first
being a vision in Jeconiah's captivity, the
second a message delivered in the fourth year
of Jehoiakim, and the last delivered in the be
ginning of Jehoiakim's reign. At this time
false prophets were also speaking among the
captives and in Jerusalem, and throughout the
remainder of Jeremiah's message to Zedekiah
he denied the authority and inspiration of
these false teachers.
Still speaking to Zedekiah, Jeremiah re
minded him of the word which came in the
fourth year of Jehoiakim, announcing the
judgment of God as determined against Judah,
Babylon, the nations, the world. Thus the
king would see how inevitable was the doom
now threatening himself and Jerusalem.
He then repeated the message delivered in
the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. The
priests, the prophets, and the people seized

 The Prophet of Failure 105
Jeremiah, and condemned him to die. The
princes rescued him, and Jeremiah again ad
dressed himself to Zedekiah. Having shown,
by his vision of the basket of figs, what was
determined against Judah, he declared the at
titude of Jehovah in the matter. Messengers
representing a confederacy of kings for the
purpose of resisting Nebuchadrezzar were an
swered by the declaration that all such at
tempts would be useless. He then directed his
attention specially to Zedekiah, urging him to
submit to the king of Babylon.
In the incident between Hananiah and Jere
miah we see the conflict with the false prophets
clearly manifest. For the moment Jeremiah
was deceived, and permitted Hananiah to take
the bar from off his neck and break it. Im
mediately the word of the Lord came to Jere
miah contradicting all that Hananiah had
said. It is evident that the exiles were dis
turbed by the false prophesying, and Jeremiah
sent a letter to them on the subject. He
warned them that it was better for them to
settle in Babylon, and beware of false
prophets. Deliverance was in the purpose of
God for them, but it would not be accom
plished until after seventy years.
At this point there occurs a series of proph
ecies whose dominant note is that of hope.

106 Jeremiah

These are remarkable from the fact that they
were uttered during the time that Jeremiah
was in prison, and the condition of affairs in
the city was calculated to fill his mind with
despair. In the midst of this darkness Jere
miah was granted visions of ultimate restora
tion, and his messages are therefore full of
hope. The first of these may be described as
a song, declaring that the people of God, now
so overwhelmed with sorrow, should yet ulti
mately pass through trouble to triumph. In
graphic language the prophet described the
time of Jacob's trouble, and predicted deliver
ance. In words that still burn as we read
them, he depicted the friendlessness of the for
saken people, and announced their restoration
to favour, describing the tempest by which
the change would be wrought. The song then
merges into a description of the issues of
restoration; the city rebuilt, and the people
gathered back to it, so that sorrow passes
away, and the new contentment with the Di
vine government and administration is mani
fest. In that day a new covenant will be made
between Jehovah and His people, a covenant
not external and material, but internal and
spiritual, and universal in application. The
song ends with a declaration of Jehovah in
which He uses the signs in the heavens as the

The Prophet of Failure 107
seal of His promise. The next of the proph
ecies of hope is introduced by the statement
that Jeremiah is imprisoned, and the account
of the charge given to him to purchase the field
in Anathoth. This command he obeyed, and
then in perplexity inquired of Jehovah what
was the use of purchasing a field when the
land was wholly given over to judgment. The
answer of Jehovah announced the certainty of
the judgment which Jeremiah anticipated, but
also declared the equal certainty of ultimate
restoration, so that the purchase of the field
was intended as a sign of the ultimate repos
session of the land. The last of the prophecies
of hope is a song full of beauty, and full of
confidence. It celebrates that ultimate res
toration which Jehovah had promised, first as
to the gathering of the people and the build
ing of the city, describing a moral and conse
quent material restoration. This is all to be
brought about in the days of the Branch, when
the two functions of king and priest shall be
restored in the person of one Deliverer. The
song ends with the Divine affirmation, in
which Jehovah again uses the sign of day and
night, and declares His determination to ac
complish His purpose in spite of unbelief.
Next in order we have three prophecies de
livered while Nebuchadrezzar and his army

108 Jeremiah

were round about the city. In the first the
prophet foretold the success of Nebuchadrez
zar and the consequent fall of Jerusalem, and
described the manner of Zedekiah's death.
The next is a denunciation of Zedekiah for hav
ing broken his covenant with the Hebrew serv
ants. The prophet delivered the message of
Jehovah, describing the sin and pronouncing
judgment. In the last Jeremiah told the story
of how the Rechabites, when put to the test,
were true to their vow, and refused to drink.
The purpose of the telling of the story was
that the prophet might put into contrast with
it, the sin of Judah. The sons of Rechab had
been true to the command laid upon them by
their father. Judah had been untrue to the
perpetual messages of Jehovah. Upon Judah,
therefore, evil should come, while a gracious
promise was made to the Rechabites.
Chapter thirty-six constitutes a break in the
historic method of the prophecy, and gives us
the account of how the prophecies of Jeremiah
against Judah and Jerusalem were committed
to writing. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim
Jehovah commanded Jeremiah to write. He
obeyed by dictating to Baruch. In the follow
ing year, the fifth of Jehoiakim, Baruch read
the writings in the hearing of all the people.
He next read them by special invitation to the

 The Prophet of Failure 109
princes, who in alarm advised Baruch and
Jeremiah to hide. Finally they were read by
Jehudi to the king, who in anger mutilated the
writings and destroyed the roll. It is possible
to mutilate and burn a writing, but not to de
stroy the word of Jehovah. Jeremiah again
dictated, and Baruch wrote, but this time
many other words were added.
The final movement in the section of the
book devoted to the prophecies before the fall
of Jerusalem consists of a history of the siege.
Jeremiah is first seen as free. The army of
Pharaoh had come forth out of Egypt, and
the king hoped that it might aid him against
Nebuchadrezzar. Then Jeremiah declared
that there was no hope in that quarter. For
the moment events seemed to contradict his
prophecy, as the army of the Chaldeans fell
away. He left the city to go to Benjamin, and
was arrested and imprisoned on the charge of
falling away to the Chaldeans. After many
days' imprisonment Zedekiah sent for him, and
to him he delivered the same stern message,
foretelling the victory of the king of Babylon.
The issue of the interview was that Jeremiah
was removed, still as a prisoner, into the court
of the guard, and was there supplied with
bread. He continued his foretelling of the
doom about to fall upon the city, and as a re-

110 Jeremiah

suit was cast into a loathsome dungeon.
Through the intervention of Ebed-melech he
was released from thence. Sadly perplexed,
and almost distraught, Zedekiah again sent for
him, and the prophet still insisted upon the
truth of his declaration that the city should
be taken by the Chaldeans. He therefore ad
vised Zedekiah to surrender, and so save the
city from burning, and himself from death,
warning him that if he refused, even the
women of his own household would heap re
proaches upon him. The section ends with the
story of the fall of Jerusalem, which the
prophet had so long foretold. Nebuchadrez
zar and his princes forced an entrance, and
Zedekiah fled. He, however, was pursued and
overtaken, his sons were slain before his eyes,
and then his own eyes were put out, and he
was bound in fetters and carried to Babylon.
This was followed by the sack of the city. In
the midst of the rout Jeremiah was protected,
undoubtedly as the result of the overruling of
Jehovah, and he was commissioned specially
to find Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, who had
succoured him, and to declare to him that he
also was under Divine protection.
Chapters forty to forty-four tell the story of
Jeremiah and his prophesying after the fall of
Jerusalem. The first movement in this section

 The Prophet of Failure 111
gives an account of the events immediately fol
lowing, and of Jeremiah's protest against go
ing into Egypt. The second chronicles the
prophecies in Egypt. Released by Nebuzara
dan, Jeremiah joined the remnant remaining
in the land under the governorship of Geda
liah, who sought to restore order, urging the
people to avail themselves of the privilege
granted to them to settle in the land, he prom
ising to abide at Mizpah in order to stand be
fore the Chaldeans. In response to this invi
tation, many of them gathered from the dis
tant places to which they had been scattered.
The governor was warned by Johanan of the
plot formed against his life by Ishmael, but he
refused to believe the report. Ishmael through
the basest treachery carried out his design,
slaying Gedaliah and others, and leading cap
tives away to the children of Ammon. Jo
hanan, who had warned Gedaliah of his
danger, rescued these captives, compelling
Ishmael to flee, and prepared to go into Egypt.
Before going, they sought counsel from Jere
miah, asking that he should inquire the will of
Jehovah, and promising implicit obedience to
whatever might be revealed. After ten days
he delivered his message, telling them dis
tinctly that the will of God was that they
should not go into Egypt, urging them not to

112 Jeremiah

be afraid of the king of Babylon, declaring
that Jehovah was with them, and that His pur
pose was one of mercy, and that they should
return to their own land. With great solem
nity, he warned them that if they went into
Egypt, the judgment of God would fall upon
them. He moreover charged them with dis
honesty in inquiring from him ; and therefore,
he foretold the certain judgment of God which
would fall upon them.
As Jeremiah had foreseen, his word was not
obeyed. They charged him with having
spoken falsely under the influence of Baruch,
and in rebellion passed over into Egypt. They
compelled Jeremiah to accompany them, and
his next messages were delivered there. The
first of these consisted of a prophecy of the
coming victory of Babylon over Egypt. The
next was a fiery protest against the persistent
rebellion of the people of God, in which he
reminded them of the patience of God, of how
His anger had already been poured out upon
Jerusalem, and declared that the rebellious
remnant which had found its way into Egypt
should be wholly cut off. This message the
men answered by a defiant and persistent word
of rebellion, in which they misinterpreted
their own history by declaring that all the
evils that had fallen upon them had resulted

The Prophet of Failure 113
from attacks made upon idolatry, and they de
liberately declared their intention to continue
their idolatrous practices. To this attitude
Jeremiah replied by first answering their ar
gument, declaring that their sorrows were the
result of their idolatry, rather than, as they
affirmed, the result of their turning from idols.
Continuing, he declared that the judgment of
God was determined against them, that they
should be consumed, and only a small remnant
should escape ultimately from Egypt. He
ended by declaring that the sign of Jehovah to
them should be the defeat of Pharaoh Hophra,
and his handing over to those who sought his
life. The messages of Jeremiah to the chosen
people end at this point, and there is inserted
a special word to Baruch. It is evident that
this faithful ally of the prophet had become
depressed. He had manifestly hoped for great
results, and was at once rebuked and com
forted. He was charged not to seek great
things for himself ; and promised that his own
life should be preserved.
The third and last section of the division
containing the prophet's ministry is occupied
with his messages concerning the nations.
The first of these has to do with Egypt, and
consists of two prophecies. The earlier one

114 Jeremiah

described the army of Egypt, in its prepara
tion and advance, and declared that this was
in reality the coming of the day of the venge
ance of Jehovah. In general terms the
prophet predicted the doom of Egypt. The
second distinctly foretold the defeat of Egypt
by Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon.
This visitation was that of Jehovah, and the
agent was Nebuchadrezzar. The prophecy
ends with the message of comfort to Jacob,
who, while afflicted, is yet not to be utterly
destroyed, but corrected by judgment.
The word concerning the Philistines was a
foretelling of the coming against them of a
scourge from the north, which would utterly
break their power. In figurative language the
prophet then described the sorrow which
would overtake the proud, yet broken people.
The word of the Lord concerning Moab was
one of judgment, which nevertheless closed
with a gleam of hope. The judgment was de
scribed first from the standpoint of the
scourge. The widespread extent of it was
foretold, and the affliction and helplessness
graphically set forth. The judgment was then
spoken of from the standpoint of Moab, that
is to say, the long security of Moab, and
his freedom from affliction was recognized, as
was also his self-confidence. In contrast with

The Prophet of Failure 115
this, the judgment was announced. All his
past security was to end, and his strength to
vanish. Finally, in a long passage, full of
tremendous power, the judgment of Moab from
the standpoint of the on-looker was described.
Surrounding nations were called upon to ob
serve and to lament, while yet they recognized
the justice of the judgment, as it was a punish
ment for Moab for the sin of magnifying him
self against the Lord. The prophet himself,
observing the judgment, broke out into mourn
ing and lamentation, Avith sobs describing the
desolation, until at last, in one brief sentence,
he announced the promise of Jehovah, that
finally He would restore the captivity of Moab,
and indicated that until that time of the Di
vine intervention the judgment of Moab must
continue. Against the children of Ammon, Jeremiah
raised a protest because their king was in
possession of Gad. He declared that by the
fierce judgment of war they were to be dis
possessed and driven forth. The message ends
with a gleam of hope, in which the prophet
foretold the bringing again of the captivity of
the children of Ammon.
Concerning Edom, destruction was foretold,
in spite of her wisdom. The reference to wis
dom in Teman would seem to be a satirical

116 Jeremiah

literary allusion to the fact that it was the
birthplace of Eliphaz, the counsellor of Job.
The destruction was described in figurative
language, and the prophet declared, that not
withstanding the arrogancy and security of
the people, Jehovah would bring them down
into the dust. The destruction of Edom was
intended to be a warning to the whole earth.
Damascus was described in her decay, and
in the destruction determined against her by
the Lord of Hosts. This reference to Damas
cus is brief, for it does not seem that in Jere
miah's time there was anything like intimate
relationship of any sort between her and the
chosen people. It is evident, however, that
as his vision swept the horizon he saw that
she also was within the circle of the Divine
government, and that judgment was deter
mined against her.
Kedar and Hazor represent the Arab peo
ples, the former such as were nomadic, the
latter those who dwelt at settled centres, and
yet not in walled cities. Against both of
these Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon,
was to be the instrument of judgment.
The prophecy against Elam was one of judg
ment, ending once more with a gleam of hope.
Of Elam nothing can be said with any cer
tainty. It is evident, howffiver, that in the

 The Prophet of Failure 117
far-reaching vision of Jeremiah she was seen
as under the Divine displeasure, and conse
quently to be visited by the Divine judgment.
The last of the prophecies concerning the
nations has to do with Babylon. Through
out the whole of Jeremiah's prophetic utter
ances, she has been seen as the instrument
of God's judgment. Finally, on account of her
own sin and corruption, that judgment must
inevitably fall upon her. That is the great
burden of this message. It is perfectly evident
throughout that the prophet had in mind the
nations of Judah and Israel, and what he said
concerning Babylon had its direct bearing
upon these as the people of God. The proph
ecy falls into two parts, the flrst foretelling
Babylon's doom and Israel's delivery; the
second indicating Israel's responsibility in
view of this doom determined upon Babylon.
In general terms the prophet announced the
coming overthrow of Babylon, and described
the repentant return of the children of Israel
and Judah. He then more definitely described
the destruction of the city of Babylon. A con
federacy of nations would come against her,
and destroy her, and that because she had
rejoiced and been wanton in her dealing with
the people of God. That people, though scat
tered and driven away, would be gathered

118 Jeremiah

and restored, while the iniquity of Israel and
the sins of Judah would be pardoned. The
prophecy increased in power as it proceeded,
and Jeremiah foretold the completeness of the
overthrow. There was to be the utter hum
bling of her pride, and the absolute destruction
of her power. The instrument of the destruc
tion would be a people from the north, but
the judgment would be that of the invinci
ble Jehovah. In the second movement the
prophet again declared the determination of
Jehovah to bring about the complete overthrow
of Babylon, in order to ensure the deliverance
of His people. To emphasize this, he described
the invincible power of Jehovah, as Creator
and Sustainer of the world, in the presence
of Whom man is vanity. He thereupon de
scribed the judgment, first recognizing that
Babylon had indeed been an instrument in
the hand of Jehovah for the accomplishing of
His judgments, but proceeding to declare that
Jehovah was now against Babylon, and that
therefore she must become a desolation with
out inhabitant, repeating finally the truth that
the purpose of His judgment was the deliver
ance of His people. Upon the basis of these
great declarations Jeremiah, in the name of
Jehovah, made his appeal to the people of God,
urging them to escape from the midst of Baby-

The Prophet of Failure 119
Ion, and declaring again the certainty of her
doom. The prophecy concerning Babylon
closes with an account of the charge which
Jeremiah gave to Seraiah to write these words
and read them in Babylon. Here the words
of Jeremiah end.
The last chapter consists of an historical
appendix, written, as the final words of the
previous chapter show, by another hand. It
first repeats in brief form the story of the cap
ture of the city, and chronicles the oppression
of the people which followed. A list is then
given of Nebuchadrezzar's captives, and the
story of Jehoiachin's position in Babylon is
told.

LAMENTATIONS

LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH

A
THE
SOLITARY CITY f.

B
THE SOURCES
OF HER
SORROW ii.

C
THE PROPHET'S
IDENTIFICATION iii.

D
THE
DESOLATION iv.

E
THE APPEAL
OUT OF
SORROW V.

I. The Des
olation l-ll

I. The Act of
the Lord 1-10

I. In Affliction 1-21

I. The Des
cription 1-12

I. "Remem ber, O
Lord" 1-18

II. The
Confession 12-22

II. The Afflic
tion of In
iquity 11-17

II. In Assur
ance 22-33

11. The Cause 13-18

II. "Turn
Thou us
unto Thee" 19-22

III. The
Appeal of
Penitence 18-22

III. In Appeal 34-94
IV. In Assur
ance 95-88

III. Vain Help 17-20
IV. Hope 21-22

LAMENTATIONS
T N the Septuagint the Lamentations are
¦¦¦ prefaced with these words: "And it
came to pass, that after Israel had been car
ried away captive, and Jerusalem made deso
late, Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented this
lament over Jerusalem, and said. . . ." This
serves to show that, long before the coming of
Christ, they were considered by Jewish
scholars to be the work of Jeremiah.
In his prophecy Jeremiah is revealed as a
man having a keen sense of the righteousness
of judgment because of sin, and yet over
whelmed with sorrow for his people. Through
out the whole of his ministry he shrank from
the difficulty of his work, and yet manifested
heroic loyalty to the will of God. In this brief
book of Lamentations the spirit of the man
is strikingly revealed. There is no exultation
over the fulfilment of his predictions; and
there is a twofold loyalty manifest throughout,
first to God in the confession of sin, and then
to his people in the expression of their sorrow.
The chapter-division of the book is the nat
ural one. It consists of five poems, the titles
133

124 Lamentations

of which may thus be written: The Solitary
City (i.); the Sources of her Sorrow (ii.) ;
the Prophet's Identification (iii.) ; the Desola
tion (iv.) ; the Appeal out of Sorrow (v).
a. The Solitary City
In this poem there are two movements. The
first describes the desolation of the city as to
her relationships with other nations, and as
to her internal condition, declaring the cause
to be that she "hath grievously sinned." In
the second the city personified bewails her
affliction, appealing to the passer-by, and
describes her sorrow; she then confesses the
justice of the desolation which has overtaken
her, appealing to Jehovah for sympathy and
deliverance.b. The Sources of the Sorrow
In the second poem the prophet dealt with
the sources of the sorrow. He first affirmed
that it was the result of the direct action of
Jehovah, and was manifest in material and
spiritual judgments. He then broke out into
a description of the affliction of iniquity, as to
the actual sufferings endured, and the even
more painful contempt of the nations. The
poem ends with a double appeal : first that of
the prophet to the people, in which he urged

Of Jeremiah 125

them to penitence; and secondly that of the
people to Jehovah, in which they described
their affliction.
c. The Prophet's Identification
In this central and longest poem Jeremiah
identified himself completely with the experi
ences of his people. In the first movement,
in language which throbs with pain, he de
scribed his own sorrows, recognizing, through
all, the action of Jehovah, as the almost mo
notonous repetition of the pronoun "He" re
veals. This recognition of the fact that judg
ment is the work of Jehovah, compelled the
ending of this dirge by the affirmation of hope.
The next movement is one of assurance, in
which the prophet, having in the previous sec
tion recognized Jehovah's activity in judg
ment, now recognized His activity in mercy.
This section ends with an expression of sub
mission to judgment and a song of hope. The
third movement is one of appeal, in which the
prophet first recognized the justice of the Di
vine visitation, and then earnestly appealed
to the people to turn to God in true peni
tence, ending with a declaration of his own
sorrows. The final movement is one which
first celebrates in song the deliverances already
wrought for the prophet by Jehovah, and con-

126 Lamentations

eludes with a declaration of his consequent as
surance that God would yet act on behalf of
His people.
d. The Desolation
The fourth poem is for the most part a dirge
of desolation, which nevertheless ends in a
song of hope. The prophet described the dis
aster in Zion, and the consequent degradation
of the people, and then proceeded to show
that the sins of the prophets and the priests
constituted the cause of the disasters, and
declared that these prophets and priests were
therefore hated of the people. In the next
place he showed how vain had been their hope
of help from men, and described the remorse-
lessness of their enemies. The last movement
is a satirical address to Edom, and a declara
tion to Zion of coming deliverance.
e. The Appeal out of Sorrow
The final poem is an appeal to Jehovah. It
first calls upon Him to remember, describing
the actual desolation, the affliction of all
classes, and the consequently prevalent sor
row. Then, affirming confidence in the abid
ing throne of Jehovah, it appeals to Him to
turn them unto Him. The last word of this
poem and collection is a wail out of the then
present distress.

EZEKIEL

EZEKIEL— THE PROPHET OF HOPE

A

B

c

THE PROPHET'S

REPROBATION

RESTORATION

PREPARATION

f. — iii.

iv. — xxvi.

xxv. — xlviii.

Title Page 2. 3

I. The Visions 1.
I. Results of Reprobation
I. The Nations
i. Fire. 1 and 4
iv.— xiv.
xxv.— xxxll.
i. The Four Signs. iv.— v.
i. The Doom of Four — Ammon,
ii. Living Ones. 5-14
ii. The Denunciations, vi. — vii
Moab, Edom, Philistia. xxv.
iii. Wheels. 15-21
iii. The Judgment. viii.— xiv.
ii. The Doom of Two— Tyre and
iv. The Likeness.
Zidon. xxvi.— xxviii. 24
32-28
(Parenthesis Restoration of
Israel. 25-26)
iii. The Doom of One— Egypt.
xxix. — xxxii.
II. The Voice
II. Reason of Reprobation
II. The Nation
11. — III.
xv.— xix.
xxxiii.— xxxix.
i. The Message.
i. The Two General Figures.
i. The Watchman. xxxiii.
ii.— iii. 3.
xv.— xvi.
ii. Shepherds, false and true.
ii. The Riddle. xvii.
xxxiv.
ii. The Equipment.
iii. The False Excuse. xviii.
iii. The New Order. xxxv.— xxxvi.
iii. 4-15
iv. The Lament. xix.
iv. The Vision of the Bones.
iii. The Responsi
xxxvii
v. The Last Enemy.
bility. 16-21
xxxviii.— xxxix
iv. The Commission.
III. Righteousness of
III. The Restored Order
22-27
Reprobation xx.— xxiv.
xl.-xlvlll.
i. Vindicated to Elders, xx. 1-44
i. The Temple. xl.— xiii.
ii. The Song ofthe Sword.
ii. Jehovah. xliii.
xx. 45 — xxi.
iii. The Service of the Temple.
xliv.— xlvi.
iii. The Utter Evil of the City.
iv. The River. xlvii. 1-12
xxii.
v. The Land. xlvii. 13-23
iv. Oholah. Oholibah. xxiii.
vi. The People. xlviii. 1-29
v. The Destruction of the City.
vii. The City. xlviii. 3»-35
xxiv.
EZEKIEL
OF the prophet Ezekiel personally we only
know that he was a priest, and the son
of Buzi. If the expression "the thirtieth
year" in the opening verse of the book refers
to his age, which is probable, seeing that he
was a priest, and that thirty was the age at
which they commenced their work, he must
have been twenty-five years of age when the
captivity commenced. During the whole of
those years Jeremiah was exercising his min
istry. This would account for the evident in
fluence exercised upon Ezekiel by the teaching
of Jeremiah. His method was superlatively
that of symbolism. The book is full of visions,
symbolic actions, similitudes, parables, prov
erbs, allegories, and open prophecies. He
was the prophet who supremely looked
through the then existing devastation to ul
timate deliverance. Eecognizing the fact of
the reprobation of the people by Jehovah, and
the righteousness thereof, he yet foretold a
glorious restoration, basing his conviction
upon his conception of the character of God.
The main object of his prophesying would
129

130  Ezekiel 
seem to have been the comfort of the exiles,
and their preservation from the idolatry by.
which they were surrounded. The book falls
into three main parts, the first describing how
the word of the Lord came expressly to him,
by visions and in a voice; the second dealing
with the reprobation of the people of God ; and
the last foretelling their restoration, and in
dicating the methods by which it would be
brought about. It may be divided thus: the
Prophet's Preparation (i.-iii.) ; Reprobation
(iv.-xxiv.) ; Restoration (xxv.-xlviii.).
a. The Prophet's Preparation
The division dealing with the prophet's
preparation falls into two sections, the first
describing the visions he saw, and the second
the voices he heard. The second and third
verses, which are really parenthical, may be
treated as a title-page. This gives the date,
states the fact that the word came expressly to
him, and indicates the place in which he saw
the visions and heard the voice.
The visions were inclusive visions of God.
They proceeded in four manifestations. The
first was that of a cloud swept into sight by
a stormy wind, surrounded by brightness, and
continually flashing forth in glory. The
second was the appearance out of the midst of

The Prophet of Hope 131
this fire, of four living ones, who moved in
rhythmic unity. The third appearance was
that of wheels which rotated in harmony with
each other, and in co-operation with the move
ments of the living ones. The last appearance
was that, first of a firmament over-arching the
ceaseless activity of the living ones ; above the
firmament a voice was heard, and then the like
ness of a throne was seen, and finally a Person
was manifested, of the nature of fire, sur
rounded by a glory like that of the rainbow.
In the presence of the manifested glory Ezekiel
fell upon his face, and then heard the voice.
This voice called him to listen, and then com
missioned him to deliver the message of God
to the children of Israel, charging him that he
was to speak it whether they would hear or
forbear. The commission was ratified by the
symbolism of a roll handed to him, which he
was commanded to eat. He obeyed, and found
the roll in his mouth "as honey for sweetness."
Continuing, the voice announced to him what
his equipment for the fulfilment of his mission
would be, warning him of the difficulties
awaiting him, promising him that he should be
strengthened for his work, and charging him
to be loyal to the word of the Lord. In an
interval he was borne up by the Spirit, and
carried to the midst of the captives, where he

132 Ezekiel

sat "astonied" for seven days. The word of
Jehovah then came to him again, laying upon
him his responsibilities anew. He was first re
minded of the source of the message, and told
that his first responsibility was that of hear
ing, and his second that of speech. He was
called into the plain, where once again he saw
the glory of Jehovah as he had seen it by the
river. A double charge was again laid upon
him, the first part of which was that of silence,
and the second that of speech.
b. Reprobation
The second division of the book contains the
messages of the prophet concerning the repro
bation of the chosen nation. These fall into
three parts. In the first, by symbol and
speech, he described the results of reprobation ;
in the second he declared its reason; and in
the last he proclaimed its righteousness.
The results of reprobation were first sym
bolically set forth in four signs. These were
immediately followed by general denuncia
tions. Finally the coming judgment was dealt
with at length, as to its cause and its process.
Ezekiel's first sign was that of a tile, upon
which he portrayed a city, around which were
depicted all the forces of a siege. His second
sign consisted of a posture. For three hun-

 The Prophet of Hope 133
dred and ninety days he lay upon his left side,
and for forty days upon his right, prophesying
during the whole period against Jerusalem.
The third sign was that of the food of which
he partook during the period of the three hun
dred and ninety days. The fourth was that of
the shaving of his hair from head and face.
This hair was divided into three parts, a third
was burned, a third was smitten with the
sword, and a third was scattered to the wind.
This last sign was carefully explained. The
hair symbolized Jerusalem, and the treatment
of it indicated the method of the Divine judg
ment against it.
These signs were followed by denunciations.
The first foretold the coming judgment of the
sword against the whole land, and the conse
quent scattering of the people. In this process
of judgment a remnant would be spared, in
order that the lesson might be learned. The
prophet was charged to deliver this message
of the sword with vehemence, and to make
clear the fact that vengeance moved toward the
purpose of making the people who had forgot
ten, know Jehovah. The second dealt with the
fact of the completeness of the judgment. Its
keynote was expressed in the words "an end."
The prophet declared that an end was deter
mined upon the land, and upon the people ; and

134  Ezekiel
that it should be accomplished by the act of
God. He then proceeded to describe that end.
Its first manifestation would be the paralysis
of the people, so that although the trumpet was
blown to the battle, and all was ready, yet
none moved forward, being overcome by terror
and grief. This paralysis would issue in
poverty, not wholly in the absolute lack of sil
ver and gold, but in the awful consciousness
that these things were useless as means of
deliverance from the wrath of Jehovah. All
this, finally, would produce the confession of
overwhelming perplexity, and no interpreter
would be found. The second denunciation
ended, as did the first, by indicating the pur
pose of the vengeance : "They shall know that
I am the Lord."
The long prophecy, descriptive of the cause
and process of judgment, came to the prophet
as he sat in his own house in the presence of
the elders of Judah. In its first movement
it described the idolatry in Jerusalem, which
was the sin to be visited with punishment.
The prophet first saw the image of jealousy at
the entrance of the inner court of the house
of God. He then saw, through a hole in the
wall, all secret abominations before which the
elders of Israel were burning incense. In
the third place he was shown the depravity of

The Prophet of Hope 135
the women of Israel, who were seen weeping
for Tammuz. Finally, in the inner court men
were seen with their backs toward the Temple,
worshipping the sun. On account of this utter
corruption of the people, Jehovah would pro
ceed in judgment.
The next section of the message reveals the
fact of the Divine discrimination in judgment.
A man with an inkhorn passed through the
midst, and set a mark upon the foreheads of
such as mourned the abominations. These
were to be spared, while all the rest were to
be slain. The vision appalled the prophet, and
he cried out in intercession, but he was told
that the sin of Israel and Judah was great,
and therefore the punishment was irrevo
cable. The prophet then described the process of
judgment. He was first granted a preliminary
vision. The man with the inkhorn gathered
coals of fire from between the cherubim, and
scattered them over the city. Out of the midst
of visions of the glory of God, similar to those
which he had seen by the river Chebar, this
fire was taken.
Again the prophet saw the princes of the
people devising iniquity; and, instructed of
the Spirit, he uttered a denunciation of them,
and declared God's vengeance against them.

136  Ezekiel 
One of the princes died, as he prophesied, and
he appealed to Jehovah in terms of interces
sion. This appeal was answered by the dec
laration that Jehovah would protect those
scattered among the nations, that eventually
they should be restored, but that vengeance
would inevitably fall upon such as were per
sistent in their sin. Again there was granted
to him a vision of the glory of God, but he saw
it departing from the city. Returning from
the height of these visions, the prophet uttered
in the hearing of the captives all the things
that the Lord had showed him.
He was next commanded, in the sight of
these people, to act as an exile going forth from
his country. In answer to the inquiry of the
people as to the meaning of what he did, he
foretold the capture of the people and the
princes in Jerusalem, and their carrying away
to Babylon. By the sign of his own method
of eating and drinking, he was charged to
foretell the desolations which would fall upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The people of
Israel declared in proverbs the failure of
prophecy, or the distance of its fulfilment;
and Ezekiel was charged to announce that the
things foretold would immediately be fulfilled.
The next movement in the prophesying was
that of a denunciation of false prophets and

The Prophet of Hope 137
false prophetesses. The evil inspiration of the
former was described, and its disastrous effect
declared. Their destruction was foretold, and
its reason made clear. They had seduced the
people by promising peace, when judgment
was determined. The prophetesses had been
guilty of the same iniquity for the sake of hire,
and their judgment was equally sure.
Certain of the elders of Israel came to
Ezekiel, and he was instructed by Jehovah to
declare to them that, while idolatry remained
in their heart, the only answer of Jehovah to
them must be that of punishment.
This determined attitude of judgment was
then explained to Ezekiel, first by a state
ment of principle. In days of wilful and per
sistent corruption men as righteous as Noah,
Daniel, and Job could not prevent the opera
tion of vengeance, but only save their own
souls by their righteousness. The application
of this to the sore judgments against Jerusa
lem would prove to the prophet how that all
that the Lord had done had been not without
cause. This final word as to the results of reproba
tion leads naturally to the part of the prophecy
dealing with the reason thereof. This reason
is first set forth under two general figures;
secondly, in the form of a riddle; thirdly, as

138 Ezekiel

an answer to a false excuse; and finally, in a
great lament.
The figures were familiar, because they had
been used by former prophets. The flrst was
that of the vine, and the second that of the
adulteress. As to the vine, the prophet de
clared its uselessness as a tree, and its still
more pronounced uselessness when burnt; the
intention of which declarations was to show
that the only value of a vine is in the fruit it
bears. The application of the figure was made
immediately to Jerusalem, whose inhabitants
were to be given to the fire on account of their
trespass. The second figure the prophet wrought out
at greater length. It was that of Jerusalem,
the faithless city, as an adulteress. Maintain
ing his figure throughout, he traced the history
of the city. An abandoned child, born and for
saken, was found and nurtured by Jehovah.
At maturity the child was taken in marriage,
and loaded with benefits. Then as wife she
trusted in her beauty, and turned to harlotry,
in which she prostituted her husband's wealth.
This harlotry had been worse than the com
mon, in which the harlot receives gifts, in that
in this case she had bestowed gifts to seduce
others. The punishment of the adulteress was
that of stripping and shame. Yet this very

The Prophet of Hope 139
process was intended to produce in the heart
of the sinning city the shame of repent
ance. The last movement is one in which the
prophet foretold the restoration of the wife
by the remembrance of the covenant and its
re-establishment by Jehovah.
The prophet then, commanded by Jehovah,
put forth a riddle. A great eagle came upon
Lebanon, took off the top of the cedar ; carried
away the seed of the land, and planted it in a
fruitful soil, where it became a spreading vine.
Toward a second eagle it bent its roots, that he
might water it. The vine was denounced for
this act of treachery, its judgment being that
it should be plucked up by the roots, and with
ered by the east wind. The riddle was then
explained. The first eagle was the king of
Babylon, who carried away the king, and
planted the seed royal in Babylon. The
second eagle was the king of Egypt, whose
help Zedekiah sought, and who was punished
by Jehovah in consequence. The riddle ended
with the promise of Jehovah that He would
ultimately plant again a cedar in the mountain
of the height of Israel, and as a result there
should be universal recognition of the activity
of Jehovah.
The people at this time were quoting a prov
erb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and

140  Ezekiel 
the children's teeth are set on edge," by which
they intended to lay the blame of their pres
ent suffering upon their fathers. The truth
of this the prophet denied, first by illustra
tions, declaring that the righteous man lives,
that the wicked son of a righteous man dies,
that the righteous son of a wicked father lives.
He then stated the principle that God deals
with individuals directly, and consequently
that the sinner, turning to righteousness,
should live ; and the righteous man, turning to
sin, must die. Then in the name of Jehovah
he appealed to Israel to turn from transgres
sion, and declared that God had "no pleasure
in the death of him that dieth."
The final movement in this section is that of
the lament of the prophet over Jehoahaz, in
which he first described Judah, the lioness
mother, and the captured whelp; then over
Jehoiachin, the second whelp, and his cap
ture; finally, over Zedekiah, whose mother,
Judah, was like a vine plucked up, and de
stroyed by fire proceeding out of her rods,
that is, from her children.
In the next section we have a series of proph
ecies, showing the righteousness of reproba
tion. This was first vindicated to the elders;
secondly, celebrated in the song of the sword ;
thirdly, declared in a description of the utter

 The Prophet of Hope 141
evil of the city; fourthly, shown in a descrip
tion of the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem;
and finally, manifested in a description of the
destruction of the city.
Certain of the elders of Israel came to in
quire of the Lord, and Ezekiel was commis
sioned to answer them. This he did, first by
reviewing their past history, and showing how
God had dealt with them for His name's sake,
in delivering them from Egypt; in deliver
ing them in the wilderness; and in sparing
them there. He then examined the relation
of the present sin to the past. The fathers
had sinned in the land ; so also had the sons ;
and consequently they were punished. He
then foretold the future. The Lord God, by
a mighty hand, would gather His people to
the wilderness and discipline them, and sanc
tify His name among them. As a result, Israel
would be restored, and Jehovah's name sancti
fied among the nations; and all this for His
name's sake.
The prophet was then commissioned to
prophesy against the forest of the south, that
a fire should be kindled in it. Not under
standing the meaning of the message, he made
his appeal to God, that men would say to him
that he was a speaker of parables, and im
mediately the explanation was given. Th«

142  Ezekiel  ^^
sword of Jehovah was about to proceed against
the land of Israel. The prophet's anguish in
the presence of the judgment was to become
a sign to the people. All this prepared the
way for the song of the sword, in which in
graphic language the process of its sharpen
ing, and its readiness for use were described;
and its commission was uttered. The song was
immediately followed by an interpretation, an
nouncing that the king of Babylon was com
ing against the city, and the prince of Israel
was to be degraded by Jehovah, who would
overturn until the coming of the rightful king.
This interpretation was followed by a brief
address to the children of Ammon, who had
drawn the sword, commanding them to sheathe
it, and declaring the judgment decreed against
them. The next movement described the utter evil
of the city. Its fundamental sins of bloodshed
and idolatry were named, and the resultant
evils of oppressions by princes, irreligion,
lewdness, and greed were described. On ac
count of these things, the judgment of Jehovah
would be terrible, and would proceed to pur
pose which was illustrated under the figure1
of the furnace into which Israel was cast.
Again the prophet described the corruption of
the inhabitants, first in general statement, in

The Prophet of Hope 143
which he described a land with no water, hav
ing no teaching; and the springs as polluted,
having no prophets; and then proceeded to
make particular charges against priests,
princes, prophets, people. He concluded by
describing the utter hopelessness of the case.
There was no man to stand in the gap. There
fore the fire of wrath must proceed upon its
way. The next prophecy dealt with the sins of
Samaria and Jerusalem under the figure of
two women, Oholah and Oholibah. Samaria
was charged with unfaithfulness in her con
federacy with Assyria and Egypt, this being
the cause of her judgment. Jerusalem was
charged with unfaithfulness with Assyria,
with Babylon, and with Egypt, this being the
cause of her judgment. In other terms the
prophet declared their sins. They were guilty
of idolatry and bloodshed, profanation of the
sanctuary, and unholy alliances. Returning
to the figure, he declared them to be worthy
of judgment by righteous men, of stoning by
consent of the assembly, in order that the land
might be purged.
Under this section the last prophecy
described the destruction of the city. This was
first done under the parable of the caldron
set upon a fire, filled with water, and made to

144 Ezekiel

boil, which symbolized the coming destruction
of Jerusalem and its people.
The prophet was then bereft of his wife, and
commanded not to mourn, in order that he
might be a sign to the people of coming judg
ment. Ezekiel was then told that the news
would be conveyed to him of the fall of the
city, and that in that day his mouth would
be opened, and he would be able to speak with
assurance the messages of Jehovah.
c. Restoration
The last division of the prophecy deals with
the subject of the ultimate restoration of the
chosen nation. It falls into three sections.
The first has to do with the nations ; the second
with the Nation; and the last describes the
restored order.
The prophecies concerning the nations fall
into three groups. The first pronounced the
doom of four, the second the doom of two,
and the third the doom of one.
The doom of four dealt with Ammon, Moab,
Edom, and Philistia. Ammon had mocked the
people of God in the day of their desolation,
therefore they were to be destroyed. Moab
had rejoiced in the degradation of Judah,
therefore judgment was determined against it.
Edom had been brutal in her treatment of

 The Prophet of Hope 145
Judah, and therefore was to be made desolate.
Philistia had taken vengeance with perpetual
enmity, and therefore vengeance was de
termined against her. Each of these dooms
ended with the same thought — that these
people by judgment should know Jehovah.
The doom of two dealt with Tyre and Zidon,
but principally with Tyre. Concerning her
the prophet first made a general statement de
scribing her sin and the judgment determined
against her, declaring that the purpose was
that she should know Jehovah. He then de
scribed in detail the destruction of the city by
Nebuchadrezzar, and foretold the lamentation
of the princes over her downfall. At the com
mand of Jehovah, Ezekiel then took up a lam
entation for Tyre, which first described her
commercial supremacy and enterprises, and
then in language full of force foretold her
commercial ruin. The prophecy concerning
Tyre ended with a message to its prince, and a
lamentation for its king. To the prince the
prophet declared his sin to have been that of
pride, which thought of himself as a god, and
boasted accordingly. His judgment was to be,
that by humiliation and destruction, even to
the pit, he should learn that he was a man,
and not God. The lamentation concerning the
king of Tyre first described his glory, and his

146 Ezekiel

appointment by God to his original position.
The prophet then described his sins, and their
consequent judgment. Unrighteousness was
found in him, and therefore he was cast out of
the mountain of God. Pride filled him, there
fore he was cast down in the presence of kings.
For the multitude of his iniquities a fire de
voured him, and he was burnt to ashes.
Judgment was to fall upon Zidon that she
might know the Lord; and that there should
be no more a pricking brier to the house of
Israel. Immediately following this prophecy
dealing with the doom of two is a brief paren
thesis describing the restoration of Israel ; the
prophet declaring in the name of Jehovah that
she should be gathered and settled, in order
that her people should know that Jehovah was
their God.
The doom of one had to do with Egypt. It
consists of seven prophecies, which are placed
here, not in the order of their delivery.
Throughout these prophecies the purpose of
judgment is constantly declared to be that of
making Jehovah known. The first is against
Pharaoh, and all Egypt. His sin the prophet
declared to be the pride which claimed the
river as his own creation, and the doom he
poetically described as the taking of Pharaoh
as a great fish out of his river, and casting

The Prophet of Hope 147
him upon the land. That doom he then pro
ceeded to foretell as the coming of a sword
upon the land of Egypt, and the scattering of
its people among the nations. After forty
years he declared that Jehovah would gather
them again, and in their own land make them
a people degraded, no more to rule over the
nations. The second prophecy foretold that
the instrument of judgment should be Nebu
chadrezzar, and the capture of Egypt would
be his wage for the defeat of Tyre. The third
prophecy described the process by which Nebu
chadrezzar would accomplish this purpose of
Jehovah. His stroke would fall on the multi
tudes, on the idols, on the cities. The fourth
prophecy was directed against the power of
Pharaoh, and declared that the Lord would
break his arms, and strengthen those of the
king of Babylon for the accomplishment of
His purpose. The fifth prophecy was against
the greatness of Pharaoh. That greatness was
first described as that of a stately cedar in
Lebanon, and then its destruction was fore
told, first under the same figure, and then by
a graphic and awful picture of the descent of
Pharaoh into Sheol. The sixth prophecy was
a lamentation for Pharaoh, in which his doom
was first described, and then its widespread
effect. Again the prophet declared that the

148 Ezekiel

destruction of Pharaoh and of Egypt would
be brought about by the sword of the king of
Babylon. The seventh prophecy was a wail
for the multitudes of Egypt, in which the
descent to death is portrayed, and all the com
panies of the dead from among the nations are
represented as companions of Pharaoh and
his hosts in the under-world.
Ezekiel next delivered a series of messages
concerning the chosen nation. The first de
scribed the watchman; the second dealt with
shepherds, false and true; the third set forth
the new order ; the fourth consisted of a vision
of the valley of bones ; and the fifth dealt with
the last enemy.
The first message to Israel described the
function and responsibilities of the prophet
under the figure of a watchman. The duty
of the watchman was to give warning of the
approach of a foe. Ezekiel occupied that posi
tion. He was charged to declare to the people
in the midst of their sins that Jehovah had
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and
that they were to remember their responsibili
ties. Past acts of righteousness would not
atone for present trangression. Past sin
would be pardoned if the sinner turned to
Jehovah. Upon the basis of this announce
ment the prophet defended Jehovah against

The Prophet of Hope 149
the people who charged Him with being un
equal in His ways. Immediately upon the de
livery of this message fugitives who had es
caped from the sack of Jerusalem came to the
prophet. He was prepared and commissioned
to deliver to them the message of Jehovah.
The attention of the people was aroused, but
they were disobedient to his voice.
The next prophecy dealt with the one Shep
herd. Its first movement was an indictment
of the false shepherds, through whom the evil
things had happened to the chosen people.
They had cared for themselves, and neglected
the flock, with the result that the flock was
scattered and devoured. Therefore Jehovah
was against the shepherds, and required His
sheep at their hands. This indictment was
followed by a description, full of beauty, of
Jehovah's method of deliverance. He Him
self would come to search for His sheep. His
government would proceed in strict dis
crimination and righteous administration.
The message ended with the promise of the
appointment of the one Shepherd under Whose
rule order would be restored, blessing would
be bestowed, and peace established.
The prophet then described the new order
by contrasting Mount Seir with the mountains
of Israel. The sin of Mount Seir had been

150 Ezekiel

that of perpetual enmity, and its judgment
would be that of perpetual desolation. Its
guilt had been that of the possession of Je
hovah's land, and its punishment would be
that of dispossession. The mountains of Israel
were to be delivered from their enemies, and
to be made abundantly fruitful. This predic
tion the prophet was charged to explain by
affirming the fact that their own sin had been
the reason of their sufferings, and by declaring
that for the sake of His holy name they would
be restored. A description of the method of
restoration followed. The people were to be
gathered from all countries, and cleansed
from filthiness, and spiritually re-made. The
results of restoration would be that they
should dwell in their own land, and in place
of desolation there should be fruitfulness.
The conditions of restoration were that Je
hovah would be inquired of for these things,
and its purpose that He should be known.
There was now granted to the prophet the
great vision of the valley filled with bones.
Over these bones he was commanded to
prophesy. He obeyed, and beheld the bones
coming together, and being clothed with
sinews and flesh. Again he was commanded
to prophesy to the wind. He obeyed, and
saw the corpses in the valley stand upon their

 The Prophet of Hope 151
feet, a living army. This vision was the out
come of a proverb in which the people had
declared, "Our bones are dried up, and our
hope is lost, we are clean cut off." The appli
cation of the vision was made in the declara
tion that God would bring His people from
their graves, and make them live. Having thus
foretold the renewal of the people, the prophet
was commanded to take two sticks and join
them into one, and to declare to the people,
by an explanation of his action, that God
would gather the scattered ones from among
the nations, and make them one under the
dominion of a new king, and within the terms
of a new covenant.
The final message concerning the nation
dealt with matters far removed from the times
of the prophet. He described the final an
tagonism of Gog, who with his allies would
gather, under Divine compulsion, and in
malice, against Israel. The prophet declared
that this coming would be against Jehovah.
He then proceeded to foretell the antagonism
of God to the gathered hosts. The destruction
of the enemy would be brought about by the
act of Jehovah, completely and terribly; and
the issue would be the restoration of the whole
house of Israel.
The final movement in the prophecies of

152 Ezekiel

restoration described the restored order, and
dealt with the Temple, Jehovah, the service of
the Temple, the river, the land, the people,
and the city.
Fourteen years after the sack of Jerusalem,
Ezekiel was given visions of the ultimate
restoration of the scattered and desolate
people. His description of the new Temple
commenced with the courts, of which he de
scribed the outer and the inner. Passing to
the Temple proper, he portrayed it first from
the outside, describing the actual Temple, with
its holy place, and holy of holies; then the
side-chambers, finally the separate building;
ending with general dimensions of the inner
court, the house buildings, and the separate
building. He then gave a description of the
internal woodwork and ornamentation. Re
turning to the buildings, he described the
chambers in the inner court, and their uses,
ending with external measurements of the
whole. His next vision was that of the return of
Jehovah to His house. The visions which he
had seen by the river Chebar appeared again,
and all the glory moved into possession of the
new Temple. Again he heard the voice de
claring that Jehovah had taken up His abode
in the house, and that Israel should no more

The Prophet of Hope 153
defile His holy name. Then follows a paren
thesis, which chronicles the charge delivered
to the prophet to show this house of future
glory to the house of Israel, that she might
be ashamed of her iniquities. The prophet
then described the ordinances of the altar, giv
ing its measurements and the arrangements
for its consecration.
The next section described the service of the
new Temple. The gate by which the God of
Israel entered would be kept shut. The place
of the prince was appointed, and the prophet
was charged to pay careful attention to the
instructions concerning the ordinances of the
house. No aliens would be allowed to minister
therein. The Levites would be restored to the
service of the sanctuary, and the priests to
their sacred offices. Careful instructions were
given for the support of priest, Levite, and
prince. The duties of the prince would be to
provide for the offerings. The actual services
were next set forth. The feasts, the Sabbaths
and months, the freewill offering, the daily
burnt-offering, were all arranged for. Instruc
tions were given concerning the inheritance of
the sons of the prince, and the prophet was
shown the boiling-houses.
The prophet was brought back again to the
door of the house, and there beheld the won-

154 Ezekiel

derful symbolic river proceeding under the
threshold past the altar. He watched it in its
course, and observed its marvellous growth
and its life-giving effect.
The new boundaries and divisions of the
land were next described, and careful instruc
tions were given concerning the disposition of
the people. At the centre was the sacred land,
occupied by priests and Levites, the city, and
the prince. To the north places were ap
pointed for Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh,
Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah; and to the
south places for Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar,
Zebulun, and Gad.
The last vision granted to Ezekiel was of the
city in the south of the sacred land. Its gates
and dimensions were given; and the final
words of this prophet of hope announced the
name of the city, Jehovah-shammah, "The
Lord is there."

DANIEL

DANIEL— THE PROPHET OF INTERPRETATION

THE HISTORIC NIGHT

B
THE PROPHETIC LIGHT
vii. — xii.

I. The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar l.-iv.
i. Daniel's History. i.
ii. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream. ii.
iii. Nebuchadnezzar's Pride. iii.
iv. Nebuchadnezzar's Manifesto. iv.

II. The Reign of Belshazzar v.
i. The Carousal. 1-4
ii. The Writing. 5-13
iii. Daniel. 13-39
iv. The Fulfilment. 30-31

III. The Reign of Darius vi.
i. The Appointment of Daniel. 1-3
ii. The Plot. 4-15
iii. The Deliverance. 16-24
iv. The Proclamation. 25-28

I. Belshazzar's Reign vll.-vlil.
i. Daniel's first Vision in first year. vii.
u. The Vision. 1-14
b. The Explanation. 15-28
ii. Daniel's second Vision in third year. viii.
a. The Vision. 1-14
b. -The Explanation. 15-27

II. Darius' Reign

lx.

i. Daniel and the Prophecy of Jeremiah. 1-2
ii. Daniel's Confession and Prayer. 3-19

iii. The Coming of Gabriel.
iv. The Revelation.

20-2324-27

-Xii.

III. Curus' Reign
i. The Introductory Apocalypse, 1.
ii. Prophetic History. xi.
iii. The last Things foretold. xii. 1-3
iv. The Closing of the Book. xii. 4-13

DANIEL
DANIEL was carried away into captivity
before Ezekiel, having been among the
number of those captured by Nebuchadnezzar
in his first invasion, in the third year of Je
hoiakim. His whole life from that time would
seem to have been spent in Babylon. His per
sonal history is a remarkable one, in that not
withstanding the fact that he was of the cap
tive race, he rose to positions of power in
three kingdoms, those namely of Babylon,
Media, and Persia ; and this, moreover, not as
the result of any deflection from unswerving
loyalty to the God of his fathers. His proph
ecies deal in detail far more fully with Gentile
nations than with the history of the Hebrew
people. In the midst of the densest darkness
he was the medium through which the light of
the Divine government shined. His ministry
was exercised largely in the atmosphere of
visions, and its nature was that of interpreta
tion. The first half of the book is occupied with
historic matter, giving us pictures of the times
157

158 Daniel  .
and conditions in which he lived. The second
half of the book deals with visions and their
interpretations, and thus constitutes his
prophetic message. The book thus falls into
two divisions: the Historic Night (i.-vi.) ; the
Prophetic Light (vii.-xii.).
a. The Historic Night
During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel
came into favour and power. The king would
seem to have been impressed by the people he
had conquered, and desired that some of the
choicest of their young men should be included
among his own confidential servants. Among
those selected were four specially named, and
among the four, Daniel. These were set apart
for training and preparation for the fulfilment
of their official duties. This training lasted
for three years, and included special physical
attention, their food and drink being supplied
from the king's table. Daniel at once mani
fested his strength of character in the purpose
he formed to abstain from the king's meat and
wine. His attitude was characterized by cour
tesy, and he asked for a ten days' test. The
test vindicated his purpose, and Daniel and
his friends were allowed to proceed with their
training. At the end of that training they
were presented to Nebuchadnezzar, approved

The Prophet of Interpretation 159
by him, and appointed to positions in the
kingdom. In the second year of his reign Nebuchad
nezzar, troubled by dreams, called together his
magicians, and sought their interpretation.
Their difficulty consisted in the fact that he
could not tell them his dream, and demanded
that they should discover it and interpret it.
Being unable to do so, he was furious, and
commanded their destruction. In this decree
the Hebrew youths were involved. Daniel
sought an interview of the king, and asked for
time, promising to show the king the interpre
tation of his dream. This being granted, he
at once gathered his friends together, and they
betook themselves to prayer. In answer to
that prayer the secret was revealed to him in
a vision of the night. He then stood before
the king, and first, in language full of confi
dence and dignity, ascribed to God the glory
of the interpretation he was about to give;
exonerating the wise men from any blame in
their inability to interpret the dream. He
then vividly described the image of the king's
dream, and proceeded to an interpretation of
its meaning. Tracing the progress of events
through the successive kingdoms of Babylon,
Media, and Persia, Greece, Rome, the ten king
doms, and the final setting up of the kingdom

160 Daniel
of heaven, he showed that there would be a
process of deterioration. This interpretation
carried conviction to the mind of Nebu
chadnezzar, who at once recognized the
supremacy of God, and rewarded Daniel by
setting him over the province and the wise
men. The next story is that of the pride of Nebu
chadnezzar in setting up in the plain of Dura
a great image of gold. There may have been a
connection between this and the interpretation
of the dream which Daniel had given. The
head of gold in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream symbolized Babylon. Nebuchadnez
zar's image was all of gold, and perhaps re
vealed his conception of the power of Babylon.
To this he commanded all peoples to bow down
in worship. This would also explain the atti
tude of the dauntless three who declined to
bend their knee to the image. In the first
place it was an act of idolatry ; and moreover,
such obeisance on their part might have been
construed into a recognition of the continuity
of the power of Babylon, of which the Divine
revelation to Daniel had predicted the down
fall. With splendid heroism they cast them
selves upon God, and were supernaturally de
livered from the fierce fire of the furnace.
This deliverance more deeply impressed Nebu-

The Prophet of Interpretation 161
chadnezzar, and he made a decree that no word
should be spoken against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and promoted them
in the province of Babylon.
The last story connected with the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar consists of the king's own
manifesto, setting forth the dealings of the
Most High God with him. It opens with an
ascription of praise, then proceeds to tell the
story of his own humbling before God, and
ends with a description of his restoration, and
a final ascription of praise. In the midst of
his prosperity he had a dream which filled him
with fear, and his magicians were unable to
interpret it to him. Again he sent for Daniel,
and minutely described his vision of the tree
growing to great height, and then eut down,
so that only roots and stump were left.
Daniel "was astonied," evidently because he
saw the application of the dream to the king.
He nevertheless, in loyalty to truth, inter
preted to him its meaning, declaring that he,
by the decree of the Most High, would be
driven out a madman from the ways of men
for a long period, and appealing to him to turn
from sin. A year later the dream was fulfilled.
In the midst of a proud boast he was stricken
with madness. Finally restored to reason, he
recognized the God of heaven, and was re-

162 Daniel
stored to his kingdom, and uttered the praise
of the Most High.
The next scene is cast in the reign of Bel
shazzar. A man of profligate habits, he had
succeeded to the throne of his father. In the
midst of a great carousal there appeared to
him a mystic hand, writing on the wall his
doom and that of his kingdom. Again the
wise men were unable to interpret the mean
ing; and Daniel, who evidently was not now
in proximity to the king, who did not seem
to know him, was sent for. The attitude of
Daniel before him was full of dignity and
heroic loyalty to God. With clear, incisive
words he first declined all the king's gifts, and
then charged upon him his guilt. Continuing,
he proclaimed God as seated high over the
thrones of earth and interpreted the writing
as indicating God's knowledge of the kingdom
and His determination to end it ; His estimate
of the king ; and finally the future of Babylon,
as divided among Medes and Persians. With
dramatic and terrible force the story declares,
"In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King
was slain. And Darius the Mede received the
kingdom." The last scene in the historic portion is in
the reign of Darius. Having come into the
kingdom, he appointed Daniel as one of three

The Prophet of Interpretation 163
presidents, and proposed to set him over the
whole realm. This naturally stirred up jeal
ousy in the hearts of the other presidents and
satraps, who with great cunning planned his
downfall. Knowing that they would be unable
to find occasion against him, save in the mat
ter of his relation to God, they induced the
king to sign a decree which would necessarily
involve Daniel. His loyalty never swerved ; he
continued to observe those acts of worship
which had been his custom. Against the
desire of the king, he was cast into the
den of lions, and was supernaturally delivered.
This deliverance issued in a proclamation
made by Darius, and Daniel prospered through
his reign, and in the reign of Cyrus.
b. The Prophetic Light
During the reign of Belshazzar two visions
were granted to Daniel, which constituted the
prophetic light of that particular period. The
first of these was of four beasts arising from
the sea, the last of which had ten horns. In the
midst of these there arose another, which de
stroyed them. The vision then became that of
the setting of thrones, and the appearing of
the glory of One Who overcame the beasts, and
received dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom.
These visions troubled Daniel, but an interpre-

164 Daniel  ^^^^
tation was given to him, first in general terms.
The beasts symbolized four kings, and the final
vision indicated that the saints of the Most
High should yet receive and possess the King
dom for ever and for ever. A particular inter
pretation of the meaning of the fourth beast,
and the horns, was vouchsafed to him ; and the
ultimate value was again declared to be the
government of Jehovah, and the final estab
lishment of His Kingdom over all others. The
whole matter troubled the prophet, but he kept
it in his heart.
Two years later another vision came to him.
It was that of a ram with two horns pushing
westward, northward, and southward. As he
watched, a he-goat attacked the ram, and over
came him, and magnified himself. Four horns
appeared, out of one of which there came an
other, which grew until it had broken down the
sanctuary. A voice of a holy one inquired as
to how long this should continue, and the an
swer was given to Daniel. Again he pondered
the vision, and sought to understand it, and
an interpretation was granted to him. The
two-horned ram represented the united power
of Media and Persia ; the rough he-goat was the
king of Greece. Against him a fierce one
should arise, succeeding through policy, but
ultimately being broken without hand. The

The Prophet of Interpretation 165
effects of the vision upon Daniel was such that
he fainted, and was sick. Being restored, he
continued to fulfil his office in the kingdom,
until the hour came in which, as we have
already seen, he interpreted the writing to Bel
shazzar, and Darius succeeded to the throne.
In the first year of the reign of Darius,
Daniel became conscious that the seventy years
of judgment upon Jerusalem, foretold by Jere
miah, were drawing to a close. He set himself
to personal prayer and penitence on behalf of
his people, making confession of their sin, and
pleading their cause. He besought the Lord
that the reproaches which had fallen upon
Jerusalem might be put away, and as the men
of vision had so often done, he based his plea
upon the honour of the name of the Lord. In
the midst of this intercession Gabriel came to
him, declaring to him first of all that he was
"greatly beloved," urging him to consider the
matter, and understand the vision. He then
made a revelation to him concerning the Di
vine programme. Seventy weeks were decreed
upon the people and the city. These were
divided into three periods, the first of seven
weeks, the second of sixty-two weeks, and the
third of one week.
The last things were revealed to Daniel in
the reign of Cyrus. In the third year of his

166  Daniel 
reign Daniel was mourning and fasting for
three weeks. Following this morning there
appeared to him, as he was by the river Hidde-
kel, a Person glorious in appearance, in the
presence of Whom he was reduced to weakness,
and evidently filled with an overwhelming
sense of awe. This glorious One touched him,
and then addressed him in words full of ten
derness, and subsequently gave him a pro
phetic history of what should befall his people
in the latter days.
That history dealt first with Persia, showing
how there should be three kings, and yet a
fourth "richer than they all." It then foretold
the coming of a mighty king whose kingdom
would be divided after his death. Proceeding,
it described the conflict between the kings of
the north and they of the south in the centuries
following, until there should arise one con
temptible in person, but gaining the kingdom
by flatteries. The reign of this one, undoubt
edly Antiochus Epiphanes, is described at
greatest length. The last things were then
foretold ; the coming of Michael, and the subse
quent time of trouble; beyond that the resur
rection, and the advent of a new age. Daniel
was charged to shut the book and seal it to
"the time of the end." In mystic language he
heard the man clothed in linen swear "by Him

The Prophet of Interpretation 167
that liveth" that these things should be for "a
time, times, and a half." Being filled with a
sense of mystery, he asked what would "be the
issue of these things" ; and was answered that
the words were "shut up and sealed till the
time of the end," and assured that to such as
waited there would be blessing, and that he
would rest, and yet stand in his lot at the
end of the days.

HOSEA

HOSEA— SPIRITUAL ADULTERY

THE TRAINING OF THE PROPHET

THE TEACHING OFTHE PROPHET

Title Page. i
I. His domestic Life and National
Conscience I. 2— ii. 1
i. The Word of the Lord at first. i. 2
ii. The Marriage. i. 3
iii. The domestic Life and the national
Conscience. i. 4-9
iv. The Vision of Hope. i. 10 — ii. 1

II. His Home Tragedy a
Revelation 11. 2-23
i. The Charge. Hosea and Jehovah. 2-5
ii. The Severity of Love. Jehovah only. 6-13
iii. The Tenderness of Love. Jehovah only. 14-23
III. His Dealing with Comer. A
Command and a Revelation iii.
i. The Instruction of Jehovah. 1
ii. Hosea's Obedience. a-3

iii. The national Interpretation.

I. Pollution and its Cause Iv.- vi. 3
i. The General Charge. iv. 1-3
ii. The Cause declared and Results
described. iv. 4 19
iii. Special Message to Priest, People and
King. v.
iv. The plaintive Plea of the Prophet. vi. 1-3
II. Pollution and its Punishment vl. 4-x.
i. The Case stated. vi. 4— vii. 16
ii. The Judgment pronounced. viii. — ix.
iii. Recapitulation and Appeal x.

III. The Love of Jehovah xl.— xiv.
i. The Message of Jehovah with prophetic
Interpolations. xi.— xiii.
ii. The final Call of the Prophet, with the
promise of Jehovah. xiv. 1-8

Epilogue

xiv. 9

HOSEA
T T OSEA dated his prophesying by giving
•*¦ ¦*¦ the names of four kings of Judah and
one of Israel. This reveals a remarkable
length of prophetic utterance. His voice was
heard in reigns which covered no less a period
than one hundred and twenty-eight years. The
probability is that he exercised his ministry
between sixty and seventy years. The period
covered was undoubtedly the darkest in the
whole history of the kingdom of Israel. Politi
cal life was characterized by anarchy and mis
rule. The throne was occupied by men who
obtained possession by the murder of their
predecessors, and the people were governed by
military despotism. Foreign alliances in
volved the nation in inextricable confusion.
These alliances, moreover, resulted in the in
troduction of the corrupting influences of
Syrian and Phoenician idolatry. The condi
tions were terrible in the extreme; luxurious
living, robbery, oppression, falsehood, adul
tery, murder, accompanied by the most violent
intolerance of any form of rebuke.
In the first part of the book we have an
171

172 Hosea
account of the preparation of Hosea for the
delivery of his messages, and in the second
part a condensed epitome of his prophetic ut
terances. The prophecy falls into two di
visions — The training of the Prophet (i.-iii.) ;
the Teaching of the Prophet (iv.-xiv.).
a. The Training of the Prophet
In the account of the training of the
prophet for his work there are three distinctly
marked movements — his domestic life and na
tional conscience; his home tragedy, a revela
tion ; and his dealing with Gomer, a command
and a revelation.
The statement, "When the Lord spake at the
first," is a declaration made by Hosea long
after the event. Looking back', he understood
that the impulse which resulted in heart agony
was also part of the Divine method of teaching
him. There is no reason to believe that Gomer
was outwardly impure in the days when Hosea
married her. In the picture of the domestic
life which follows, the supreme matter is its
revelation of Hosea's national conscience.
There were born to him three children, and in
the naming of them he revealed his conviction
concerning the condition of his people. While
this was a dark outlook indeed, yet the section
ends with words which show that the prophet's

Spiritual Adultery 173
faith was unshaken in the final fulfilment of
the first Divine purposes, in spite of all con
tradictory appearances.
No details of the unfaithfulness of Gomer
are given; but in the second movement the
prophet is seen nursing his own agony, and by
that process learning the true nature of the
sin of his people as God knew and felt it. All
that Hosea said concerning Gomer was also
the language of Jehovah concerning Israel.
As she had violated her covenant with him, so
had Israel with Jehovah. In the latter part of
the section the prophet speaks for Jehovah
only, the tragedy in his own life being the
background of illustration. The Divine atti
tude was that of the severity of love, which
determined upon stern measures in order ulti
mately to win again the sinning and wandering
people. Hosea was taught the truth of the tenderness
of the Divine heart by the command of Jeho
vah to love, and find, and restore his sinful
and wandering bride. Through his obedience
he entered into fellowship with the amazing
tenderness of God, and was thereby prepared
for the delivery of the messages which fol
lowed. The method of his training for work may
thus be summarized. Out of his communion

174 Hosea
with God in the days of prosperity he was able
to see the true condition of his people. He was
conscious that on account of their sin, the
judgment of Jehovah threatened them; that
on account of their obstinacy, mercy was not
obtained ; and that the issue of all could only
be that they should be a people cast out from
their place, power, and privilege.
Out of his own heart agony he learned the
true nature of the sin of his people. They
were playing the harlot, spending God's gifts
in lewd traffic with other lovers.
Out of that personal suffering he came to an
understanding of how God suffered over the
sin of His people, because of His undying
love. Out of God's love, Hosea's new care for
Gomer was born; and in the method God
ordained for him with her, he discovered God's
method with Israel.
Out of these processes of pain there came a
full confidence in the ultimate victory of love.
Thus equipped he delivered his messages,
and through them all there sounded these deep
est notes of sin, of love, of judgment.
b. The Teachings op the Prophet
In any attempt to analyze anr tabulate the
teaching contained in this second division of

Spiritual Adultery 175
the book, it must be remembered that the pro
phetic utterances cannot be treated as verba
tim reports. As they here appear, they are
rather the gathering up of the notes or leading
ideas of a long period of preaching. In our
analysis the method is that of indicating, not
the periods at which the messages were deliv
ered, but rather their subject-matter.
They fall into three distinct cycles, dealing
with pollution and its cause ; pollution and its
punishment ; and the love of Jehovah.
In dealing with pollution and its cause the
prophet first preferred a general charge
against the nation. Israel was summoned to
attend and hear the word of the Lord because
He had a controversy with the inhabitants of
the land. The charge made was that of the
absence of truth and mercy and knowledge of
God, and the consequent widespread existence
of all kinds of evil. The result was to be seen
in the mourning land, the languishing people,
and the fact that man's dominion over nature
was lost.
The prophet next declared the cause of the
sin and more carefully described the results.
The cause was that of the pollution of the
priests. Priest and prophet stumbled, and the
people were destroyed for lack of knowledge.
As the priests multiplied they sinned, and their

176 Hosea
glory was changed to shame. The result was
the pollution of the people. Following the ex
ample of the priests, had issued in lack of
understanding. The prophet declared that
God would not punish for the smaller offence
of physical harlotry, but for the more terrible
outrage of spiritual adultery which lay behind
it. In this connection he counselled Judah to
take warning by the terrible example of Israel.
Having thus declared the cause of pollution,
the prophet's next message was specially ad
dressed to priest, people, and king. First to
the priests and the king as leaders and respon
sible, though the people were included as hav
ing followed the false lead. The message af
firmed the Divine knowledge of the condition
of affairs, and announced the inevitable judg
ment which must follow. A threefold method
of judgment was indicated. First that of the
moth and rottenness, which is slow destruc
tion; secondly, that of the young lion, which
is strong devouring judgment ; and finally, that
of withdrawal, which is the most terrible of
all. The section closes with the plaintive plea
of the prophet which constituted his appeal
in consequence of the judgment threatened.
In its local application it was a call to return
to Jehovah, based upon the certainty of the
Divine pity, and a declaration of the equal

Spiritual Adultery 177
certainty of prosperity if there were such a
return to Him. The appeal is full of beauty,
and has in it Messianic values, for all that the
prophet declared only finds its fulfilment in
the Christ, by way of His first and second
advents. Passing to pollution and its punishment, the
prophetic word first stated the case as it ex
isted between Jehovah and His people. The
Divine attitude toward the people was af
firmed to be that of perplexity. In the pres
ence of the shallowness of their goodness, Je
hovah had adopted different methods in His
desire for their welfare. The human response
had been that of persistent transgression and
treachery, the proofs of which were to be found
in Gilead and Shechem. The true state of af
fairs was that of the Divine desire to heal,
frustrated by the discovery of pollution, and
by their persistent ignoring of God. The pol
lution of the nation was manifest in the king,
the princes, and the judges. The prophet de
scribed Ephraim as mixing among the people,
with reference to the widespread influence of
that tribe; as a cake not turned, indicating ut
ter failure, being undeveloped on one side, and
on the other destroyed by burning; as a silly
dove, indicating fear and cowardice. The
statement of the case was concluded by a dec-

178 Hosea  ^^
laration of the utter folly of the people whom
God was scourging toward redemption. They
responded by howling, assembling, and re
belling. From this statement of the case the prophet
turned to the pronouncement of judgment.
This he did first by the figure of the trumpet
lifted to the mouth, uttering five blasts, in each
of which the sin of the people was set forth as
revealing the reason of judgment. The first
blast declared the coming of judgment under
the figure of an eagle, because of transgression
and trespass. The second emphasized Israel's
sin of rebellion, in that they had set up kings
and princes without the authority of Jehovah.
The third dealt with Israel's idolatry, an
nouncing that Jehovah had cast off the calf of
Samaria. The fourth denounced Israel's
alliances, and declared that her hire among
the nations had issued in her diminishing.
The fifth drew attention to the altars of sin,
and announced the coming judgment.
The judgment is then described in detail.
Its first note was that of the death of joy;
Israel could not find her joy like other peo
ples; having known Jehovah, all to which she
turned in turning from Him, failed to satisfy.
The second note was that of the actual exile
to which she must pass; back to the slavery

Spiritual Adultery 179
of Egypt and Assyria, away from the offerings
and feasts of the Lord. The third was that of
the cessation of prophecy ; the means of testing
themselves would be corrupted. The fourth
declared the nemesis of fornication; the
prophet traced the growth of this pollution
from its beginnings at Baal-peor, and clearly
set forth the inevitable deterioration of the
impure people. The fifth and last was that of
the final casting out of the people by God, so
that they should become wanderers among
the nations. This section closes with the
prophet's recapitulation and appeal. The
whole case is stated under the figure of the
vine. Israel was a vine of God's planting
which had turned its fruitfulness to evil ac
count, and was therefore doomed to His judg
ment. The result of this judgment would be
the lament of the people that they had no king
who was able to save them, and chastisement
would inevitably follow. The last word was
that of earnest and passionate appeal to return
to loyalty.
The third cycle of the prophecy sets forth
the love which Jehovah had for His people,
notwithstanding their sin. This section con
tains a declaration of this attitude of Jehovah
towards His sinning people, and is for the
most part the speech of Jehovah Himself. He

180 Hosea
sums up, and in so doing declares His sense of
the awfulness of the sin, pronouncing His
righteous judgment thereupon. Yet through
out the movement the dominant notes are those
of His love, and the ultimate victory of that
love over sin, and consequently over judgment.
Thrice in the course of this great message of
Jehovah to the people, the prophet interpolates
words of his own. In studying the section it
is necessary to take the words of Jehovah in
sequence, and then the interpolations of the
prophet in sequence also. This division will
easily be made by examination of the text.
The message of Jehovah falls into three
clearly marked movements which deal respec
tively with the present in the light of past
love; the present in the light of present love;
the present in the light of future love.
In the first, Jehovah reminded the people of
all His past love for them in words full of ten
derness, setting their present condition in its
light, and crying, "How shall I give thee up?"
His own inquiry was answered by the deter
mined declaration of the ultimate triumph of
love, and the restoration of the people.
In the second, Jehovah set the present sin in
the light of His present love. The sin of
Ephraim and its pride and impertinence were
distinctly stated, and yet over all, love would

Spiritual Adultery 181
triumph. Jehovah declared Himself to be the
God Who had delivered from Egypt, and Who
would be true to the messages of prophets, to
the visions of seers, to the similitudes of the
ministry of the prophets.
Finally he set the present condition of Israel
in the light of His future love. Sin abounded,
and therefore judgment was absolutely un
avoidable. Nevertheless, the almighty strength
of love must overcome at last.
Turning from this main line of the Divine
message, we must examine the prophet's inter
polations. These set forth the history of Israel
indicating their relation to Jehovah, and pro
nounce judgment. They form a remarkable
obligato accompaniment in a minor key to the
majestic love song of Jehovah, and constitute
a contrasting introduction to the final message
of the prophet.
The first of them reveals the prophet's sense
of Jehovah's controversy with Judah, and His
just dealings with Jacob. The second was
reminiscent of Jacob's history, and made a de
duction and an appeal. The third traced the
progress of Israel to death, beginning with the
flight to the field of Aram, through the exodus
from Egypt and preservation to the present,
in which Ephraim was exalted in Israel,
offended in Baal, and died. The last declared

182  Hosea 
the doom. It was indeed the last word of man,
the pronouncement of awful judgment, and
constituted the plea of "guilty," to which the
answer of Jehovah, as revealed in His message,
was that of the victory of love.
The cycle closes wTith a final call of the
prophet, with the promise of Jehovah. The
call was to the people to return, because they
had fallen by iniquity. It suggested the
method as being that of bringing the words of
penitence, and forsaking all false gods. To
this Jehovah answered in a message full of
hope for the people, declaring that He would
restore, renew, and ultimately reinstate.

JOEL

JOEL— THE DAY OF THE LORD

A

B

THINGS PRESENT

THINGS TO COME

i.— ii". 27

tV. 28 — iii.

Title Page. i

I. Locust Plague and First
Meaning 1. 2-20

I. The Dispensation of the Spirit
II. 28-32

i. The Call to Contemplation. 2-12

i. Initiation and Characteristics. 28-29

ii. The Call to Humilation. 13-20

ii. Signs of Ending and Coming ofthe
Day of the Lord. 30-31

iii. Deliverance from Terrors of that Day. 32

II. Locust Plague and Deeper
Teaching 11. 1-27
i. The Trumpet of Alarm and Answer

II. The Dag of the Lord III.
i. God's Dealings with His Ancient
People. 1-8

of God. 1-14
ii. The Trumpet of Repentance and
Answer of God. 15*27

ii. God's Judgment of the Nations. 9-16
iii. The Restoration of Israel. 17-ai

JOEL
JOEL was specially a prophet to Judah.
It is impossible to speak dogmatically
concerning the date of his prophesying. Inter
nal evidence makes it plain that he was one
of the earliest, or one of the latest, of the
prophets. The burden of his message was the
Day of the Lord. It seems to be one remark
able utterance rather than notes of a ministry
covering a long period,, as in the case of
Hosea. A terrible locust plague which had
devastated the entire country was the occasion
of its deliverance. He spoke of things which
were evident to those whom he addressed, then
predicted an immediate judgment, and finally
looked far on to the ultimate Day of the Lord.
Thus the book may be divided into two parts —
Things present (i.-ii. 27) ; Things to come
(ii. 28-iii.).
a. Thiisgs Present
In the first division there are two sections.
Joel interpreted the meaning of the actual
locust plague, and then declared that it was a
sign of yet severer judgment imminent. In
185

186  Joel  '
dealing with the actual locust plague, he called
the old men and all the inhabitants to contem
plation. Singling out the drunkards, the wor
shippers, the husbandmen, and the vine-dress
ers, he reminded them of the completeness of
the devastation, showing how it had affected
all classes. He then proceeded to call the
people to humiliation. Beginning with the
priests, he included the whole nation, and at
last voiced the cry of the people.
Having thus dealt with the actual visita
tion and its terrible devastation, and having
called the people into the place of humilia
tion, the prophet rose to a higher level, and in
terpreted the visitation as indicating a deeper
and more terrible judgment which threatened
them. In doing this, he made use of the figure
of the blowing of a trumpet.
The first blast sounded a note of alarm as
it announced the approach of the Day of Je
hovah. With the figure of the locusts still in
mind, he described the swift, irresistible, and
all-consuming character of the armies which
were about to come as the scourge of God upon
the people, being careful to declare that this
whole movement would be under the command
of Jehovah. The prophet, however, declared
that God still waited. If the people would re
turn to Him, He would spare them.

The Day of the Lord 187
Then the second blast of the trumpet called
for an assembly of the people in the attitude
of repentance. The character of the assembly
was to be that of a fast, and its constitution the
actual gathering together of all the people,
from the youngest to the oldest. Being as
sembled, they were to cry for mercy, the ulti
mate reason being that the nations should not
say, "Where is their God?" To such attitude
Jehovah would respond in grace. The prophet
insisted that both the things of judgment and
the things of mercy were in the government of
God; the first, rendered necessary by the peo
ple's neglect of Him ; the second, made possible
by their return to Him. At this point ended
the second chapter of the prophecy in the Bible
of the Hebrews. The prophet, having indi
cated the judgment imminent, and called the
people to repentance; and having, moreover,
declared the merciful attitude of Jehovah to
ward such repentance, had come to the end of
his message as it had to do with things then
present.b. Things to Come
He now moved on to a yet higher level, and
there was granted to him a vision of the final
Day of the Lord, of which the things then
present were but the shadow and forecast. In

188  Joel 
this second section he dealt wholly with things
to come. The great word introducing it is
aftertcard. Some of the things foretold have
now been fulfilled, some are still in the
future. In looking toward the distant Day of Jeho
vah, Joel saw an intervening period of an
entirely different character. This he first de
scribed, ending his message with a declaration
concerning the Day of the Lord, which was
the real burden on his spirit.
Of the intervening period, he declared that
its initiation would result from the outpouring
of the Spirit upon all flesh. It would be
characterized by prophecy, dreams, and vi
sions. The signs of the end of this period and
of the approach of the Day of the Lord, would
be "wonders in the heavens and in the earth."
From the terrors of the Day such as called
upon the name of the Lord were to be delivered.
This is a perfect description of the Pentecostal
age in which we now live, with a statement
of the signs which will precede its end, and a
declaration of the way of deliverance from the
terrors immediately to follow.
Finally, the prophet saw in the far distance
the ultimate Day of Jehovah. In this He will
first restore Judah and Jerusalem, and then
find His scattered people Israel. Following

The Day of the Lord 189
this, His judgment of the nations is to proceed.
The last vision of the prophet is that of the
complete restoration of the ancient people, in
which Jehovah will dwell in Zion — a city holy
and full of prosperity.

AMOS

AMOS— NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

A

B

C

D

DECLAMATIONS

PROCLAMATIONS

REVELATIONS

RESTORATIONS

i. — 11.

iii. — vi.

vii. — ix. 10

ix. 11-rj

Title Page. j. 2

I. Damascus

I. Jehovah's Ver

I. The Locusts

I. Restora

I. 3-3

dict and Sentence

vll. 1-3

tion. Pre

II. Caza 1. 6-8

Iii.
i. Privileged People to be
Punished. 1-2

Judgment Threatened
and Restrained.

liminary 11-13
i. "I will."

IILTyrei.9-10

ii. The Prophet's Vindica
tion of himself 3-8
iii. Reason of Punish
ment. 9-15

II. The Fire vll. 4-6
Judgment Threatened
and Restrained.

ii. "That they
may."

IV. Edom i. 11-12

II. Jehovah's
Summons Iv.
i. Indictment of the

III. The Plumbllne vll. 7-S
Judgment Determined.

II. Restora
tion. Pro
gressive 14

V. Children of
Ammon 1. 13-13

Women. 1-3
ii. Final Summons to the
People. 4-13

(Historical Interpola
tion, vii. 10-17)

i. " I will."
ii. "They shall."

VI.Moahll.1-3

III. Lamentation

IV. The Basket of

III. Restora

and its Causes
Summer Fruit viii.
tion. Per
VII. Judah
v.-vi.
Judgment at Hand.
manent 19
ii. 4-3
i. The Lamentation v. 1-2
i. " I will."
ii. The Sequenceof Explan
V. Jehovah lx. 1-10
ii, "They shall"
VIII. Israel
ations, v. 3-17
iii. The Double Woe.
Judgment Executed.
ii. 6-16
v. 18 — vi.
'
AMOS
AMOS was practically contemporary with
Hosea. In the reign of Jeroboam he
came out of Tekoa to Bethel. In all proba
bility his messages were delivered during the
short period when Jeroboam was king of Israel
and Uzziah king of Judah. The latter years of
the reign of Jeroboam were characterized by
great material prosperity on the one hand, and
on the other by the prevalence of injustice,
oppression, and vice. The poor were ground
down under the heel of the rich. This material
prosperity was construed by the people as
evidence of Divine protection, while yet they
were forgetful of the requirements of the
law. The burden of his message is that of national
accountability, which he delivered in a series
of declamations against the nations as such;
in set addresses to the chosen people; in a
series of visions which deal with the coming
judgment ; and in a brief final word, prophetic
of ultimate restoration.
The book falls naturally, therefore, into
193

194 Amos
these divisions: Declamation (i., ii.) ; Procla
mation (iii.-vi.); Kevelation (vii.-ix. 10);
Restoration (ix. 11-15).
a. Declamation
The second verse of the first chapter gives
us the key to the book. Jehovah declared Him
self in judgment. Beginning at the point fur
thest from Israel, the prophet delivered his
messages to the nations as such. Each in turn
is seen to pass before Jehovah and receive
sentence. The sin of Syria had been that of cruelty.
Jehovah's patience had been manifested. At
last sentence was uttered ; the flame would de
vour; all defence would be useless, and the
people would be driven into captivity. The sin
of Philistia had been that of the slave trade.
Here, as before, and as in each subsequent
case, the form of the declaration reveals the
patience of God. Philistia would be visited
with the devouring flame, her inhabitants be
cut off, and even the remnant perish. Phoe
nicia's special guilt had been that, in spite of
the covenant made, she had acted as a slave
agent. Edom was doomed for determined and
revengeful unforgiveness. The children of
Ammon were specially denounced for cruelty
based upon cupidity. Moab's chief wicked-

National Accountability 195
ness had been her shocking and vindictive
hatred. Having thus uttered the word of God con
cerning the surrounding nations, thereby re
vealing the fact of His government over all,
the prophet turned to Judah, and declared that
she also was to share the doom of the other
nations, because she had despised the law of
Jehovah, and had not kept His statutes.
Finally, he spoke to Israel. All the foregoing
had been in preparation for this. He described
the sins of Israel in detail and with almost
startling directness. He charged the people
with injustice, avarice, oppression, immo
rality, profanity, blasphemy, and sacrilege.
Moreover, he declared that their sin had been
greatly aggravated by the privileges which
they had enjoyed. They had seen the Amorites
destroyed before them for the very sins which
they themselves had subsequently committed.
They had been brought up out of Egypt, and so
knew the power of Jehovah. They had raised
up sons for prophets, and young men for Naza
rites. These sons they had corrupted, having
given wine to the Nazarites, and silenced the
prophets. The sentence against them was that
of oppression and judgment, from which there
should be no possibility of escape.

196 Amos

b. Proclamations

Having thus uttered the declamations of
Jehovah's judgment upon all the nations, the
prophet proceeded to deliver his special mes
sage to Israel. This was done in a series of
three discourses. In each the introductory
word is "Hear this word." The first discourse
consists of a statement of Jehovah's verdict
and sentence. It opens with a simple declara
tion that the privileged people were to be
punished; their privileges were named, and
their punishment announced. In view of the
probability that the people would object to this
message* the prophet, in an interpolation, de
fended himself. By a series of seven questions
he illustrated a principle which may thus be
stated — an effect proves a cause. The illus
trations may thus be summarized : communion
proves agreement ; the lion roaring proves the
prey; the cry of the young lion proves the
prey possessed; the fall of a bird proves the
bait ; the springing of the snare proves the bird
to be taken ; the trumpet proves alarm ; calam
ity in the city proves Jehovah. From this
principle the prophet deduced an application :
Jehovah hath roared, therefore fear; Jehovah
hath spoken, therefore prophesy. Turning
back to the main argument, Amos proclaimed

National Accountability 197
the punishment of the privileged, and declared
its reason. The reason was stated to the hea
then, who were invited to witness the justice of
the doom.
The second discourse consists of Jehovah's
summons to the people. It commences with
a severe and terrible indictment of the women.
He addressed them as "Ye kine of Bashan,"
which description reveals the fact of the deg
radation of womanhood to mere animalism.
The prophet described their doings, declaring
that they oppressed the poor and crushed the
needy, and said unto their lords, "Bring and
let us drink." Their doom would be that they
would be taken away with hooks, that is, in
shame and helplessness, and in the presence of
judgment would take refuge in wild flight.
He then uttered the final summons to the peo
ple. In this call there was a piece of stinging
satire. They were to come to Bethel to trans
gress; to Gilgal to multiply transgression.
Their sacrifices they were to offer every morn
ing instead of once a year; their tithe every
third day instead of every third year; their
sacrifice was leavened; they made freewill
offerings and published them. He then de
scribed God's patience and their perversity.
He had spoken to them by famine, by drought,
by blasting and mildew, by pestilence and

198  Amos 
sword, by earthquake. After each description
the prophet declared, "Yet have ye not re
turned to Me." All this culminated in a great
call, "Prepare to meet thy God."
The third discourse was a description of
Jehovah's judgment. This opened withi a
lamentation for the virgin of Israel, "She shall
no more rise, she is cast down upon her land ;
there is none to raise her up." Following this
the prophet uttered a sequence of explana
tions, each commencing with the words, "Thus
Saith the Lord." Finally he pronounced the
double woe. Two classes of the sinning people
were addressed. First those who desired "the
day of the Lord," that is most evidently, ac
cording to the description, the hypocrites.
They were religionists who kept feasts, ob
served solemn assemblies, brought burnt meal
and peace offerings, sang songs and made
melody with viols ; but who, nevertheless, were
living the life of sin. With tremendous force
the prophet described God's attitude toward
such : "I hate, I despise. ... I will take no de
light. ... I will not accept . . . neither will
I regard. ... I will not hear." Jehovah's call
was for righteousness and judgment. The
"day of the Lord" for the hypocrites would be
one of darkness and destruction. The second
class were the indifferent, those "that are at

National Accountability 199
ease in Zion." The prophet described them
as living in luxury and abandoned to animal
ism, declaring that against them Jehovah
would proceed in swift and terrible judgment.
c. Revelation
In this division the prophet gave a fivefold
vision of judgment, introduced in the first four
cases by the words, "The Lord God shewed
me." The last vision was that of Jehovah Him
self. The vision of the locusts declared judg
ment to be threatened and restrained in answer
to intercession. The prophet saw the locusts
eating up the grass, and made intercession on
behalf of the people. In answer to this Jeho
vah repented, and judgment was arrested. The
vision of the fire had the same significance.
The prophet saw the devouring fire, and inter
ceded. His intercession was answered by Je
hovah's repentance, and the judgment was re
strained. The vision of the plumbline is
different. Jehovah was seen standing by a
wall testing it with a plumbline. Having done
so, He appealed to the prophet. No charge
was made; but it is evident that as Amos be
held, he realized all the irregularities the
plumbline revealed. There was no interces
sion. Doom was determined.
So long as prophecy was mingled with mes-

200  Amos  .
sages of mercy it was tolerated by the people.
Directly that element was missing, hostility
broke forth, and we have an interpolation upon
the revelation, giving the story of the opposi
tion of Amaziah and the answer of Amos. This
Amaziah was an impostor, and yet held the
position of priest of Bethel. He reported to
Jeroboam what Amos was saying, advising his
exile. He, moreover, attempted to appeal to
the fear of Amos, and advised him to flee to
Judah. The answer of Amos was full of dig
nity born of the consciousness of the Divine
authority of his commission. He declared that
he was no prophet, but that Jehovah had taken
him and spoken to him, thus he had become
a prophet in very deed. Then, answering Ama
ziah, he declared that God's judgment would
overtake him.
The next vision, that of the basket of sum
mer fruit, indicated the imminence of the judg
ment. Jehovah declared that the end was
come, that He would not pass by them any
more. This announcement was followed on the
part of the prophet by an impassioned address
to the moneymakers, in which he first declared
the effect of their lust for gain. They swal
lowed the needy, and caused the poor to fail.
He described the intensity of that lust; the
new moon and sabbath were irksome. Then

National Accountability 201
there is a figurative description of judgment
which declared Jehovah's perpetual con
sciousness of these things, and His consequent
retribution. The final issue of judgment the
prophet declared to be a famine of the words
of the Lord, as a result of which there would
come eager and fruitless search, followed by
the fainting of the youth for lack.
The final vision was that of judgment ex
ecuted. In this there was no symbol, no sign.
We hear the manifesto of Jehovah Himself.
It is one of the most awe-inspiring visions of
the whole Bible. The message proceeded in
two phases. First an announcement of judg
ment, irrevocable and irresistible ; secondly, a
declaration of the procedure as reasonable and
discriminative. Jehovah is seen standing by
the altar, declaring the stroke of destruction to
be inevitable, and all attempts at escape futile,
because He has proceeded to action. While
the judgment is to be reasonable and discrim
inative, the claims in which Israel had trusted
were nothing. They became as children of
Ethiopians. Philistines and Syrians had also
been led by God. The eyes of Jehovah were
on the sinful kingdom. The sifting process
must go forward, but no grain of wheat should
perish.

202 Amos

d. Restoration

The phrase "In that day" indicates the clos
ing message of restoration and all that is to
precede it. It is now declared that the reason
of the Divine judgment is not revenge, but that
it is the only way in which it is possible to
usher in the restored order upon which the
heart of God is set. The process of restoration
is described as threefold. First, preliminary,
"I will raise up . . . that they may possess."
Then as to progress, "I will bring again the
captivity . . . they shall build the waste cities
. . . plant vineyards . . . make gardens."
Finally, the permanent, "I will plant them
. . . they shall no more be plucked up."

OBADIAH

OBADIAH—THE CURSE OF COWARDICE

A
THE JUDGMENT OF EDOM
i -id

B.
THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
17-11

Explanatory Introduction. i

I. The Doom Declared 2-6

I. The Delivered Remnant 17

II. The Reason Assigned 10-18

II. The Victorious People 18

III. The Conquering People 19

/

IV. The Returning Captives 20

V. The Final Issue 21

OBADIAH
THERE is no personal history of Obadiah,
and it is impossible accurately to fix
the date of his prophecy. The only ground on
which it may be done is that of the capture
of Jerusalem, to which reference is so clearly
made. Certain passages in Jeremiah, appar
ently quoted from this book, make it probable
that the capture referred to is that by Nebu
chadnezzar. The corrected tense in verses
12-14 in the Revised Version, "Look not," in
stead of "Thou shouldest not have looked,"
would seem to indicate that the prophecy was
uttered before the fall of Jerusalem, and not
after it. The nation at this time was a hive of
political disturbance. The people were di
vided into factions and parties. Fierce pas
sions characterized these parties, and evil
counsels prevailed. The whole nation was
rushing headlong toward a great catastrophe.
Obadiah had a vision of the attitude of Edom
toward the chosen people in their calamity,
and his message was delivered concerning
them. It was not spoken to Edom, but to Is
rael, and was intended as a word of comfort
205

206 Obadiah

for those who, loyal to Jehovah, were yet suf
fering with the whole nation. Its message
falls into two parts : The Judgment of Edom
(2-16) ; the Restoration of Israel (17-21).
A. The Judgment of Edom
The prophecy opens with a peculiarly digni
fied and authoritative introduction, which sets
forth the method of communication, the value
of the message, its subject, and a confirmatory
coincidence. The doom of Edom was announced in an ad
dress of Jehovah which asserted His act, de
clared the proud attitude of Edom, and an
nounced the superior power of God. This was
followed by the commentary of the prophet,
consisting of his exclamations of astonishment,
and his address to Edom, which declared that
the events and men in which Edom had trusted
were working Jehovah's will. This commen
tary was followed by a second address of Je
hovah, foretelling the destruction of the wise
men and the dismay of the mighty.
The reason for the doom was then stated.
First broadly, Edom had done violence to his
brother Jacob. In the day of Jacob's struggle
Edom stood aloof, and subsequently joined the
enemies. Then, in the form of a warning, the
prophet indicated the attitude of Edom : in the

The Curse of Cowardice 207
day of disaster, "Look not" ; in the day of de
struction, "Rejoice not" ; in the day of distress,
"Speak not proudly" ; in the day of calamity,
"Enter not into the gate, . . . look not on af
fliction, . . . lay not hands on substance" ; in
the day of distress "Cut not off . . . deliver
not up."
While these words were spoken as a warn
ing, they declared exactly what Edom would
do, and the final word of judgment announced
the doom impending.
b. Restoration of Israel
While the prophet saw the coming judg
ment, and uttered his curse upon the coward
ice of the people who rejoiced in the calamity,
he yet saw the day of restoration, and spoke
of it for the comfort of the afflicted people.
He first declared that there should be a de
livered remnant in Mount Zion which should
be holy. He then foretold the fact that the
people would be victorious, a conquering
people, possessing their own land. The final
word of the prophecy is the final word of all
prophecy, "The kingdom shall be Jehovah's."

JONAH

JONAH— CONDEMNATION OF EXCLUSIVENESS

A
THE FIRST COMMISSION
i. — ii.

B
THE SECOND COMMISSION
iii. — iv.

I. The Prophet's Commission and
Disobedience 1. 1-3

I. The Prophet's Commission and
Obedience ill.

i. The Commission. i_2
ii. The Obedience. 3-4
iii. The Result. 5-10

II. Jehovah's Interposition 1. 4— II.

II. The Prophet and Jehovah Iv.

i. The Tempest. i. 4-14
ii. Jonah cast out. i. 15-17
iii. The Experiences of the Deep. ii. 1-9
iv. The Deliverance. ii. 10

i. Jonah displeased. 1-3
ii. Jehovah. 4-8
iii. Jonah distressed. 8
iv. Jehovah. 9-11

JONAH
JONAH was the son of Amittai. There can
be no reasonable possibility of doubt as to
his identity with the prophet referred to in
2 Kings xiv. 25. These names, Jonah and
Amittai, occur nowhere else in the Old Testa
ment. It is evident therefore that Jonah exer
cised his ministry about the time of the acces
sion of Jeroboam II. This would make him an
early contemporary of Hosea and Amos.
The relation of the Hebrew people to foreign
nations at this period was characterized by
a strange contradiction. They were making
political alliances with outside nations, while
yet religiously they were bitterly exclusive.
Both these attitudes were wrong in the meas
ure in which they misinterpreted the Divine
attitude and prostituted the Divine purpose.
The book as we have it was undoubtedly writ
ten for Israel, and is a prophetic story. In
narrating his own experience in the matter of
his commission to Nineveh, Jonah intended to
teach his people the lesson of the inclusiveness
of the Divine government, and thus to rebuke
211

212  Jonah 
the exclusiveness of their attitude toward sur
rounding peoples.
The book naturally falls into two parts : the
First Commission (i., ii.) ; the Second Com
mission (iii., iv.),
a. The First Commission
In this first division we have the prophet's
account of Jehovah's command, his own diso
bedience, and the Divine interposition.
There was evidently no doubt in his mind
that the command was from Jehovah. In or
der to understand how strange a commission
it must have seemed to Jonah, it is necessary
to remember the national prejudice of the
Hebrew against all other peoples in the matter
of religion. Believing in Jehovah as a loving
God, they yet thought of Him as their God
exclusively. The charge to deliver a message
to a city outside the covenant, and one more
over which was the centre of a power which
had been oppressive and cruel, must have been
a startling one to Jonah. His attempt to es
cape was an act of wilful disobedience. The
statement that he went out from the presence
of the Lord is equivalent to a declaration that
he abandoned his prophetic office and work.
Circumstances seemed to favour him, as he
found a ship at Joppa going to Tarshish.

Condemnation of Exclusiveness 213
Outside the path of duty he recognized that he
was chargeable to himself, and with a touch
of fine, if mistaken independence he paid his
fare. His going out from the presence of the Lord
did not, however, ensure his escape from His
government. All the forces of nature are at
the command of God, and are pressed into His
service when need requires. The ship had
started on her course, but Jehovah sent out a
wind. The incidents of the storm are full of
interest. In reading the account of it one
cannot help feeling that Jonah when he ulti
mately wrote the book which tells the story of
his failure had indeed learned the lesson which
he intended to teach others, for the men out
side the covenant are revealed in such a way
as to suggest how much of good was in them.
Terrified by the storm, and at their wits' end,
they nevertheless made every possible effort
to save the life of Jonah. The governing God
however, Who had sent out the wind, presided
over the casting of the lots, and at last Jonah
was cast out into the deep. There he was re
ceived by the fish, prepared. In the midst of
the strange and awful circumstances he poured
out his soul in anguish before God. The
prayer, as chronicled, consists of quotations
from the book of Psalms. It is exactly the kind

214 Jonah
of cry which a man, familiar with the sacred
penitential writings of his people, would utter
in such circumstances. Again Jehovah inter
fered, and the prophet was released.
b. The Second Commission
Immediately he was charged to go to Nine
veh. There is a fine revelation of the patient
grace of God toward His servant in the dec
laration, "The word of the Lord came unto
Jonah the second time." With a new sense of
the authority of Jehovah, Jonah arose and
obeyed. It was a strange and startling thing
for Nineveh, this coming into it of a man who
had been cast out to the deep; and it is easy
to understand how the monotony of his dec
laration, that within forty days Nineveh
should be destroyed, would fill the hearts of
the people with terror. They heard, they be
lieved, they were filled with fear, and repented
from the greatest to the least. This repent
ance on their part was answered by the re
pentance of God, so that the doom was averted,
and the city was spared.
All this leads to the final picture of the con
troversy between Jonah and Jehovah, which
revealed in the most vivid light, on the part of
Jonah, the attitude of the ancient people
which his story was intended to correct; and

Condemnation of Exclusiveness 215
on the part of Jehovah, that attitude of care
for, and patience with all sinning peoples,
which they so little understood. The prophet
was angry because mercy had been exercised
toward those outside the covenant. Of course,
behind this was a strict sense of justice. He
could not comprehend why a people so cruel
and oppressive should be spared. It seemed a
violation of justice, and in his anger he asked
that his own life might be taken. The wrong
of this attitude lay in the fact of Jonah's
knowledge of God. He declared that he knew
Him to be "a gracious God, and full of com
passion, slow to anger and plenteous in
mercy." The answer of Jehovah is a wonder
ful revelation of His patience. It consists of
a question: "Doest thou well to be angry?"
Without reply the prophet went out of the
city, and in distress and resentment sat in a
booth of his own making to watch the course
of events. Again the overruling of Jehovah
was manifest in the prepared gourd, the pre
pared worm, and the prepared sultry east
wind. So great was the anger and anguish of
the prophet that he fainted, and asked again
that he might die. Jehovah repeated His ques
tion, but now with a new application, "Doest
thou well to be angry for the gourd?" He who
had been angry that the city was not de-

216  Jonah  ^^
stroyed, was angry that the gourd was de
stroyed, and he answered the inquiry by af
firming, "I do well to be angry, even unto
death." Thus the last picture we have of
Jonah is that of a man still out of harmony
with the tender mercy of God, and the last
vision of Jehovah is that of a God full of pity
and compassion even for a city such as Nine
veh, and willing to spare it as it returned to
Him in penitence. Thus in the story, Jonah
unveils an episode in his life which reflected
upon him, as it revealed a side of the Divine
nature of which the people had no apprecia
tion. It was a revelation far in advance of
the age in which Jonah exercised his ministry.
As a matter of fact, the people as a whole never
came to understand it, and thus in his per
sistent displeasure Jonah represented the na
tion in its ultimate failure to understand the
deepest truth concerning their God.

MICAH

MICAH— AUTHORITY FALSE AND TRUE

A

B

C

TO THE NATIONS-

TO THE RULERS— CON

TO the CHOSEN— CONCERN

CONCERNING the CHOSEN

CERNING the COMING ONE

ING the CONTROVERSY

i. — it.

III. — V.

vi. vii.

Title Page. i

I. Sin and consequent

I. The Prophet vl. 1-2

I. The Summons 1. 2-4

Judgment ill. 1-12

The Summons.

i. The Princes. 1-4

II. Jehovah vi. 3-3

II. The Proclamation
of Jehovah i. 9-7

ii. The Prophets. 5-8
iii. All Ruling Classes. 9-12

A plaintive Appeal.
III. The People vii. 6-7
Questions of Conviction.

II. The Coming One

IV. The Prophet vi. 8-9

III. The Prophetic
Message 1. 8—11. 5

and consequent
Deliverance iv— v

The Answer.
V. Jehovah vl. 10-18

i. Lamentation of the

i. The Vision of restored

A terrible Charge.

Prophet. i. 8-10

Order. iv — v. ±

VI. The People vll. 1-10

ii. A wailing Description of

ii. The Deliverer and the

Confession and Hope.

the Judgment. i. 11-16
iii. The Cause stated ii. 1-5

Deliverance. v. 2-15

VII. The Prophet vii. 11-13
The Answer of Hope.
VIII. The People vll. 14

IV. The False Prophets ii. §-ll

At Prayer.
IX. Jehovah vll. IS
The Answer of Peace.

V. The Promise of

X. The Prophet vll. 16-17
Deliverance
Faith expressing the Promise
II, 12-13
XI. The People vll. 18-20
The final Doxology.
MICAH
MICAH prophesied in the early part of the
reign of king Hezekiah. He was contem
porary with Isaiah. He began his ministry
after Uzziah's death, and it must have closed
in the early part of Hezekiah's reign, for the
idolatries which he rebuked were done away
at Hezekiah's reformation. His message was
peculiarly to the cities, as centres affecting the
national thought and action. This he dis
tinctly affirmed in his opening words. The
prophecy is a declaration of a Divine pro
gramme, and consists of three addresses, each
beginning with a call to hear. Micah declared
to those in authority in the cities, which were
centres of authority, the messages of the One
Whose authority is supreme.
The book may thus be divided: A Message
to the Nations concerning the Chosen (i.-ii.) ;
a Message to the Rulers concerning the Coming
One (iii.-v.) ; a Message to the Chosen con
cerning the Controversy (vi.-vii.).
a. To the Nations concerning the Chosen
This first message consists of a summons, a
proclamation of Jehovah, and a prophetic
219

220 Micah  ^^^^^
message based upon the proclamation. This
division ends with an account of the interrup
tion of the false prophets, and finally the
promise of ultimate deliverance.
In the summons the prophet had clearly in
mind the attitude of Jehovah toward the whole
earth. All peoples were called upon to attend.
Israel was Jehovah's medium of teaching, if
not in blessing, then in judgment. He wit
nessed among the nations by His dealings with
Israel. The description of His coming forth
from His place is full of poetic beauty. Under
the figure of a great upheaval of nature the
prophet described the advent of God.
The proclamation of Jehovah first declared
the cause of judgment. It was "For the
transgression of Jacob . . . for the sins of the
house of Israel." The reason of judgment was
declared to be the apostasy of the whole nation
as evidenced in the cities. He next described
the course of judgment, commencing with the
destruction of the city, and the destruction of
false religion. The city wherein was gathered
the wealth and wherein authority was exer
cised, was to be demolished, and the religion of
apostasy swept out.
Upon the basis of this proclamation the
prophet delivered his message. This opens
with a personal lamentation expressive of his

Authority False and True 221
own grief concerning the incurable wounds of
the people. This is followed by a wailing de
scription of the judgment. The passage is a
strange mixture of grief and satire. At the
calamity he was grieved. Because of the sin
he was angry. This merging of agony and an
ger flashes into satire. The connection or con
trast is not easy to discover. A translation of
the proper names appearing in this section
may enable the reader to discover the remark
able play upon words which runs through it.
Following this, the prophet stated the cause
of the imminent judgment. The sin consisted
in the devising of evil at night, the practising
of it in the morning, and the abuse of au
thority. Covetousness, expressing itself in op
pression, was the peculiar sin of the rulers.
Against this Jehovah proceeds in just retribu
tion : "I devise an evil." The prophet then de
scribed the mockery of observers who would
imitate their sorrow, and finally declared that
they would be utterly dispossessed.
Micah was interrupted by the false prophets,
who protested against his message, basing
their objection upon the goodness of God. To
them Jehovah's answer was that the changed
and rebellious attitude of His people account
ed for the change in His attitude toward them.
Against the people misled by false prophets

222  Micah 
Micah indulged in indignant satire. The first
message, delivered in the hearing of the na
tions, closes with words spoken to Jacob. It
is an indefinite promise of deliverance yet to
come.b. To the Rulers concerning the Coming
One
Addressing himself directly to the rulers of
the people, in this second message the prophet
described their peculiar sin, and announced
the coming judgment. He then foretold the
coming of the one true Ruler, and the conse
quent deliverance.
In dealing with the sins of the rulers, he
first addressed the heads or princes, charging
them with being corrupt. As to character,
they hated the good, and as to conduct they
spoiled the people.
Turning to the prophets he declared that
their sin consisted in the fact that they made
the people to err, exercising their sacred office
for their own welfare. If they were fed they
were prepared to cry peace; if they were not
fed they made war. Judgment must overtake
them in kind. Micah defended his own
ministry by putting it into contrast with
others. He finally dealt with all the ruling classes,

Authority False and True 223
and his summary of their sin is forceful. The
heads judge for reward; the priests teach for
hire ; the prophets divine for money. As a re
sult of their sin, judgment must fall on Zion
and Jerusalem.
From this scene of a corrupt people gov
erned by corrupt rulers, the prophet lifted his
eyes, and looking into the future, saw the day
when, under true government, deliverance
should be wrought and the Divine order es
tablished. In this look ahead he saw the
mountain of Jehovah's house established, and
the peoples flowing into it. Out of Zion the
Lord would come forth, and the Word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. The result of this es
tablishment of Divine authority would be the
cessation of war, and peaceful possession of
the land with all its benefits. In the light of
this future deliverance the prophet addressed
himself to the present. In the midst of afflic
tion there was assurance. Even while the cry
of pain and travail was heard there was hope.
He declared that there was to be yet further
pain and suffering, but that the day of deliver
ance was certain.
Having thus described the coming deliver
ance, Micah uttered the wonderful prophecy
concerning the Deliverer and the deliverance
under His administration. The Person of the

224  Micah 
Deliverer is first described. He is One Whose
goings forth are from of old, and when He
comes it will be to Beth-lehem Ephratah. His
programme is next described. Its first move
ment will be that of abandoning the people,
and the second that of gathering and feeding
them. The central declaration of the whole
prophecy is found in this connection: "This
Man shall be peace." The local application of
the foretelling is seen in the fact that Micah
described the victory as one over Assyria. Its
far-reaching value has become perfectly evi
dent by the literal and local fulfilment. Con
cerning this coming deliverance the prophet
then uttered the word of Jehovah which de
clared that in that day there will be the de
struction of all the false confidence which had
ruined the people through the period of their
sin and unbelief.
c To the Chosen concerning the Con
troversy
This closing section is dramatic and magnifi
cent. The prophet summoned Israel to hear,
and the mountains to the controversy of Je
hovah with His people. The key-word is "Je
hovah . . . will plead." From there the ad
dress falls into dramatic form. It sets forth
the controversy in which Jehovah, the prophet,

Authority False and True 225
and the people take part. Jehovah utters a
plaintive appeal in which He asks His people
what He has done to weary them. In answer
to this the people inquire how they may ap
pear before Him in view of the complaint made
against them in His appeal. This inquiry of
the people the prophet then answers, telling
them what Jehovah requires of them. Immedi
ately the voice of Jehovah is heard crying to
the city and describing its sins, declaring them
to be the reason of His visitation. This con
stitutes a terrible charge against them. Fol
lowing it, the people break forth into a lamen
tation which is of the nature of a confession,
submission to judgment, and hope. The
prophet then breaks out into an answer of
hope, which yet ends with the consciousness of
the necessity for judgment. Following this
the people offer prayer for the guidance of Je
hovah; and Jehovah answers with a promise
that He will guide them as of old. Then the
prophet in faith repeats the promise Jehovah
has made. The last movement is that of a
great final doxology uttered by all the people,
which celebrates the patience of God, and His
certain restoration of His people.

NAHUM

NAHUM— VINDICATION OF VENGEANCE

A
VERDICT OF VENGEANCE

B
VISION OF VENGEANCE
ll.

C
VINDICATION of VENGEANCE
til.

1. Subject and Method 1

1. Preliminary Declaration

1-2

I. Vice declared and
Vengeance 1-3

IL Jehovah 2-8

II. The Vision of
Vengeance

3-10

II. Vice described and
Vengeance 4-7

III. The Verdict 9-14

III. The Prophet's
Exultation 11-13

HI. Vice dissected and
Vengeance 8-17

IV. The Cry to Judah 15

IV. Vice destroged 18*19

NAHUM
NOTHING more is known of the prophet
Nahum than is declared in the title. He
was a native of Elkosh, but this town cannot
be located with any certainty. Some place it
in Assyria, and defend this by the traditions,
and by his evident acquaintance with local
terms. Some place it in Palestine, and quote
his reference to Lebanon, Carmel, and Bashan.
The location is uncertain and unimportant.
The date of the prophecy must have been
after the fall of Thebes, 663 B.C. (see iii. 8,
where No-amon refers to Thebes), and before
the fall of Nineveh, 606 B.C. This is sufficiently
definite, and there is practical unanimity con
cerning the date.
There is suggestiveness in the meaning of
the prophet's name, which signifies "the full of
exceeding comfort."
At the time of the utterance of the prophecy,
the northern kingdom had been destroyed, and
the ten tribes dispersed. The prophet's mes
sage was to Judah, and it was delivered almost
certainly during the days succeeding Heze
kiah's reign, and probably in close connection
with Manasseh's return from captivity. The
229

230 Nahum

Assyrian power was at its very height, and
the descriptions given of it reveal its arrogance
and habitual oppression of others. Nahum
was not sent to Nineveh, as Jonah was. The
time of such opportunity for her was for ever
passed. The message of Nahum was that of
the full end determined. It was a declaration
of the vengeance of God upon Nineveh, and
may thus be divided: The Verdict of Venge
ance (i.) ; the Vision of Vengeance (ii.) ; the
Vindication of Vengeance (iii.).
a. The Verdict of Vengeance
The prophet preceded the announcement of
the verdict by a section dealing wholly with
Jehovah Himself. In this we find, first a dec
laration of His character, then a revelation of
His majesty, and finally an affirmation of His
method. As to His character, He is a God of
vengeance and yet the central fact of His
nature is that He is slow to anger. Under the
figure of a storm the prophet set forth the
overwhelming majesty of Jehovah. The de
scription of the storm moves in two sections —
a hurricane on the sea, a simoom over the land.
He finally described the method of God; as
toward His friends He is "good, a strong
hold"; toward His foes "He will make a full
end."

Vindication of Vengeance 231
Having thus set forth the majesty of Jeho
vah, the prophet proceeded to declare His ver
dict concerning Nineveh. Addressing himself
to Nineveh, he inquired, "What do ye imagine
against the Lord?" This hints at the deepest
sin of Nineveh, namely, that she had set her
self up wilfully against the power of God. In
answer to his own question Nahum affirmed
the irresistible nature of the judgment which
must fall upon the city, and finally made his
central charge against her ; "There is one gone
forth out of thee, that imagineth evil against
the Lord, that counselleth wickedness." This
charge in all probability referred to the blas
phemous boasts of Sennacherib chronicled in
Isaiah xxxvi. 18-20 and xxxvii. 10-13. As other
prophets had summoned the nations to attend
to God's controversy with Israel, Nahum ad
dressed himself to the chosen people, declaring
that the yoke of Assyria should be broken.
The last word in this first section is one
which was addressed to Judah. The verdict
of vengeance on Nineveh was an evangel to
Judah.b. The Vision of Vengeance
Having thus announced the verdict the
prophet proceeded to describe the process of
vengeance. He declared that the "hammer"

232  Nahum 
had come up against Nineveh, and ironically
advised her to prepare. He then gave in de
tail the process of Nineveh's destruction. The
interpretations of this description greatly dif
fer. I suggest that it falls into three clearly
defined parts. First the conflict (3-5);
secondly, the conquest (6-9) ; finally the con
summation (10). The picture of the conflict
is a graphic one. We first see the attacking
army outside the walls, then the defending
host within the city. The battle itself is next
described. The conquest of the city is secured
by the act of God: "The gates of the rivers
are opened." It is interesting to remember
that Diodorus Siculus mentions an old
prophecy that the city would never be taken
until the river became its enemy. He moreover
declared that during an enemy's attack the
river burst its banks, and washed away the
wall for twenty stadia. Continuing, Nahum
described the city under the figure of a woman
and her attendants. They flee, and the enemy
capture the spoil. Finally the consummation
of judgment was announced. Nineveh "is
empty, and void, and waste." The utter col
lapse of the people was set forth in figurative
language. "The heart melteth" indicates the
failure of inward courage. "The knees smite
together" indicates the failure of outward

Vindication of Vengeance 233
courage ; the anguish in the loins the resulting
agony ; and the faces waxed pale the ultimate
death. The prophet then immediately broke forth
into exultation. The den of the lions was gone,
all the cruelty of Nineveh was at an end. He
moreover recognized this as the righteous act
of God. It was His act of vengeance. He was
against Nineveh, therefore the overthrow was
complete.
c The Vindication of Vengeance
This last movement of the prophecy is de
voted wholly to the vindication of Jehovah in
His action with regard to Nineveh, and is a
fitting defence of the introductory declarations
concerning His character. Here in detail vice
and vengeance are shown in their inter-rela
tion, the first being the reason of the second,
and the second, therefore, the inevitable re
sult of the first. There are four movements in
this final message.
In the first vice is declared, and vengeance
also. The prophet described Nineveh as a
"bloody city," evil and cruel. A graphic de
scription of vengeance, consisting of seven il
lustrations, followed.
In the second movement he more particu
larly described both the vice and the venge-

234 Nahum

ance. The national method had been that of
whoredom, that is, idolatrous practices; and
witchcraft, that is, deceptive methods. The
national influence had been that of selling na
tions and families. Jehovah's vengeance was
then described, and its unquestioned righteous
ness in the inquiry, "Who will bemoan her?
whence shall I seek comforters for thee?"
In the third movement vice and vengeance
were dealt with in yet greater detail. Ad-
drssing himself to Nineveh, Nahum inquired,
"Art thou better than No-amon?" The argu
ment being that No-amon, or Thebes, which
was not so corrupt as Nineveh, had been
destroyed, and that notwithstanding her
strength; how much more certain was the de
struction of Nineveh, in view of her greater
corruption! In the case of Thebes strength
had been of no avail. In the case of Nineveh
her corruption had cancelled her strength.
The vengeance of Jehovah was then set forth
as proceeding from the outlying country to the
very centres of the national life. First the
outer fortresses are captured, then the gates
of the land and the approaches to the capital,
until finally the city itself is seen in a state
of siege, and both the commercial and govern
ing centres are destroyed.
The last section is a weird declaration of

Vindication of Vengeance 235
the destruction of Assyria. The shepherds, the
nobles, and the people are dealt with in judg
ment. The universal verdict agrees as to the
righteousness of the judgment. There is to be
no healing, and because of the universal op
pression exercised by Assyria, there will be
great rejoicing over her downfall.
The message of Nahum was to Judah, and
if delivered in the period of the reformation
under Manasseh it was singularly appropriate
as a message of encouragement and of solemn
warning. Coming back from Babylon it was
probable that the hearts of the people were
fearful lest their old enemy Assyria should
trouble them again. This message of Nahum
would greatly strengthen and assure them, as
it taught that Jehovah was still actively gov
erning, and was on the side of those returning
to loyalty.
Coming back from captivity in repentance
for past sins a solemn warning was thus ut
tered against repentance which was evanes
cent. Nineveh had repented under the preach
ing of Jonah and had been restored, but hav
ing returned to her sins the day of repentance
was passed, and doom was determined. Je
hovah is slow to anger, but He can by no means
clear the guilty.

HABAKKUK— THE PROBLEMS OF FAITH

THE PROPHETS PROBLEMS
l. — ll. 4

THE PROPHET'S PROCLAMATIONS
ii. 5 — ;'i'i.

Title Page. i
I. The First Problem and Answer i.2-11
i. The Problem. 2-4
ii. The Answer. 5-11

II. The Second Problem and
Answer 1. 12—11. 4
i. The Problem. i. 12-17
ii. The Prophet's Attitude. ii. 1
iii. The Answer. ii. 2-4

1. Ofthe PutTed-up

il. 5-20

i. Description.

5

ii. Woes.

6-19

iii. Final Statement.

to

II. Of the Righteous 111.
i. The Initial Prayer. *
ii. The God in whom faith is centred. 3-'5
iii. The Fear and Faith ofthe Just. 16-19

HABAKKUK
OF Habakkuk nothing more is known than
his name, and that he was in all proba
bility a Levite. There is no serious discrep
ancy in the opinions concerning the date of his
prophesying. Internal evidence brings it into
relation with the Chaldean invasion, so that
the range is from 635 to 586 B.C. This invasion
was punishment for Manasseh's sin, and yet
did not occur until after the death of Josiah,
in the reign of Jehoiakim. When he delivered
his message, the condition of things calling for
reformation still existed. The probability,
therefore, is that he prophesied during the
closing years of Manasseh, or during the reign
of Arnon, which was earlier than Zephaniah,
who prophesied in the days of Josiah. A de
scription of the times of Manasseh, Arnon, and
the early days of Josiah, is contained in 2
Kings, xxi., xxii., and the prophet's descrip
tion (i. 2-4) would exactly coincide. The book
is a prophecy, and yet its methods differ from
any other. The burden of the prophet is that
of the problems of permitted evil, and the
using of the Chaldeans as the instrument
239

240 Habakkuk

to scourge evil-doers less wicked than them
selves. In this book we have a man of faith asking
questions and receiving answers. A compari
son of i. 2 with iii. 19 will give an indication
of the true value of this book. Opening in
mystery and questioning, it closes in certainty
and affirmation. The contrast is startling.
The first is almost a wail of despair, and the
last is a shout of confidence. From the af
firmation of faith's agnosticism, we come to
the confirmation of agnosticism's faith. The
book is a movement from one to the other. The
door of exit and entrance is ii. 4. The former
part is a pathway leading thereto, and the lat
ter is the highway leading therefrom. The
book falls naturally into two parts: The
Prophet's Problems (i.-ii. 4) ; the Prophet's
Proclamations (ii. 5-iii.).
a. The Prophet's Problems
In this first division we have the prophet's
statement of the problems which vexed his
soul. The first was that of the apparent indiffer
ence of Jehovah both to his prayer and to the
condition of prevailing evil. It is such a prob
lem as could only occur to a man of faith.
Take away God, and- there is no problem. He

 The Problems of Faith 241
indicated the whole condition of affairs by the
one word "violence," and then proceeded to
describe it in greater detail. To this Je
hovah replied that He was at work, but that
the prophet would not believe if he were told.
He then proceeded to declare explicitly that
His method was that of raising up the Chal
deans as a scourge against His people.
This answer of Jehovah, while strengthen
ing the faith of the prophet, immediately
created a new problem. This he stated by first
affirming his faith, and then expressing his
astonishment that Jehovah should use such
an instrument, for notwithstanding all Israel's
sin, she was more righteous than the Chal
deans. Thus the method of God constituted
a new problem. The prophet declared his de
termination to watch and wait. This was the
attitude of faith and honesty. He knew that
God had an answer, and would give it; and
therefore he determined to wait. The answer
came immediately. The prophet was first com
manded to write, and to make his writing plain
for easy reading. The vision granted to him
was stated in the words : "Behold, his soul is
puffed up, it is not upright in him: but the
just shall live by his faith." That is the central
revelation of the prophecy. It is a contrast
between the "puffed up" and the "just." The

242 Habakkuk

former is not upright, and therefore is con
demned ; the latter acts on faith, and therefore
lives. The first is self-centred, and therefore
doomed ; the second is God-centred, and there
fore permanent. This was the declaration of a
great principle, which the prophet was left to
work out in application to all the problems
by which he was surrounded. From this point
the prophecy becomes a proclamation of the
contrast, and therefore an affirmation of faith
in spite of appearances.
b. The Prophet's Proclamations
These fall into two parts. The first is con
cerning the "puffed up," the second concern
ing the righteous.
In the proclamation of the "puffed up," the
view-point is that of the sin of such and its
consequent judgment. He first described the
"puffed up" as haughty, ambitious, conquer
ing, against whom he then proceeded to pro
nounce woes. In considering these the prog
ress is to be carefully noted. The first was
against ambition, which was described. The
judgment pronounced against it was that of
the revolt of the oppressed, and retribution in
kind. The second was against covetousness,
that lust for possession which led to the de
struction of the peoples for increase of per-

The Problems of Faith 243
sonal strength. Its judgment was to be that
of the breaking out against the oppressor of
the subjugated people, the stones and beams
of the house testifying. The third was against
violence, the infliction of cruel sufferings upon
the subjugated. Its judgment was that the
very cities so built should be destroyed. The
fourth was against insolence, the brutal act of
making a man drunk and then making sport
of him. Its judgment was to be retribution in
kind. The fifth was against idolatry, the
description of which was wholly satirical. Its
judgment was declared to be that of the un-
answering gods. The final statement of the
prophet in this connection declared that he
had found the solution: "The Lord is in
His holy temple." The apparent strength of
wickedness is false. Jehovah reigns.
In the proclamation concerning the right
eous the view-point is that of the majesty of
Jehovah, and the consequent triumph of His
people. It consists of a psalm which is a
prayer. In the first movement the prophet de
clared his recognition of the Divine interfer
ence, and his consequent fear. He then pro
ceeded to celebrate the greatness of Jehovah
as manifest in His dealings with His ancient
people. The last section of the psalm ex
pressed the fear and the faith of the just. The

244 Habakkuk

contemplation of the judgment of the "puffed
up" had filled him with fear, yet he triumphed
in God. Describing the circumstances of utter
desolation, he declared his determination in
the midst of them to rejoice, and announced
his reason for this determination.

ZEPHANIAH

ZEPHANIAH
THE SEVERITY AND GOODNESS OF GOD

A

B
THE DAY OF WRATH WITH
THE DAY OF WRATH AND
AN APPEAL
ITS ISSUE
i. — ii.
111.
Title Page.
i
I.
The Day of Wrath
1.
2-18
I.
The Day of Wrath
1-8
i
ii
iii
Announced in General Terms.
Described Particularly.
Described as to Character.
2-6
7-13
14-18
i
ii
iii
The Woe Declared.
The Reasons Declared.
The Final Word.
X
2-7 S
II
The Appeal
II.
II.
The Issue of the Day
9-20
i
The Cry of the Nations.
X-2
i
The Gathering of a Remnant.
9-13
ii
The Call to the Remnant.
3
ii
The Remnant Addressed
20-14
iii
The Argument.
4-15
ZEPHANIAH
THE prophecy is clearly dated in the reign
of Josiah. From the genealogy of Zeph-
aniah it is evident that he was a prince of
the royal house, and about the same age as
Josiah. In all probability, therefore, he ut
tered his prophecy when the reformation of
Josiah was in progress. It is remarkable that
he makes no reference thereto, speaking only
of the sin of the people, and the consequent
swift judgment of God upon them; finally de
scribing a restoration, the details of which had
no counterpart in the work of Josiah. This
omission is to be accounted for by a reference
to the story of the finding of the book of the
law by Hilkiah, and the word which Huldah
the prophetess uttered in answer to the mes
sengers sent by Josiah. She declared that be
cause the king was sincere, God would spare
him, and that he should not share in nor even
see the judgment; but she empathically de
clared that the curses written in the book of
the law were certain to fall upon the sinning
people. The people took part in the reforms
initiated by Josiah, simply because the king
247

248 Zephaniah

led, and not out of any real heart-repentance.
Zephaniah, speaking under the inspiration of
the Spirit, and perfectly understanding that
the outward appearance of reform was not in
dicative of a true change of heart, ignored it.
He therefore, more definitely perhaps than any
other prophet, declared the terrors of the Di
vine judgment against sin. Yet to him fell the
lot of uttering the very sweetest love-song in
the Old Testament.
The great burden of the prophecy is that of
the Day of Wrath. It may be divided into
two parts : The Day of Wrath, with an Appeal
(i. 2-ii.); the Day of Wrath, and its Issue
(iii.).
a. The Day of Wrath, with an Appeal
The first movement of this section is that of
the prophet's declaration of the coming judg
ment of Jehovah. This he first announced in
general terms, then described more particu
larly as to procedure, and finally as to char
acter. This description opened with a com
prehensive announcement : "I will utterly con
sume all things from off the face of the ground,
saith Jehovah." Zephaniah then showed that
to be a description of the creation in so far as
it had become evil; man and the sphere of
his dominion, the stumbling-blocks with the

The Severity and Goodness of God 249
wicked and the race, were to be consumed.
The local application was that judgment
would descend upon Judah and Jerusalem,
falling upon those who had practised idolatry,
those who had indulged in mixed worship,
those who had back-slidden from following the
Lord, and those who had never sought or in
quired after Him. Proceeding to describe
more particularly the judgment, the prophet
announced the presence of Jehovah for the pur
pose of judgment. The stroke of that judg
ment would fall first upon the princes, then
upon the extortioners, also upon the merchant
men, and finally upon those who were "settled
on their lees," that is, those who were living
on their wealth in idleness and indifference.
He finally gave a graphic description of the
day in which men should walk as blind, none
being able to deliver them because Jehovah
would make "an end, ... a terrible end, of all
them that dwell in the land."
After this declaration he uttered his great
appeal, first to the nation as a whole, calling
upon it to pull itself together before the oppor
tunity for repentance should pass, before the
hour of judgment should arrive. As though
conscious that that larger appeal would be un
availing, he turned to the remnant, to such as
were the "meek of the earth," and urged them

250 Zephaniah

to renewed devotion. This appeal he enforced
by argument, in which he again set forth the
fact of the coming judgment upon the nations,
interspersing his declaration with words of
hope concerning the remnant. He first ad
dressed the nations on the west, declaring that
they should be utterly destroyed, and in their
place the remnant of the house of Judah should
feed their flocks. He next turned to the na
tions on the east, declaring that they should
become a perpetual desolation, and that the
remnant should inhabit their lands. He then
turned to those on the south, declaring that
they should be slain by the sword. Finally
he declared that those on the north should
be destroyed, and their cities made a desola
tion.b. The Day op Wrath and its Issue
In this section the prophet yet more clearly
set forth the sin of the people, and uttered
the hopelessness of the case from the human
standpoint. This gave him his opportunity to
announce the victory of God, Who, notwith
standing the utter failure of His people, would
ultimately accomplish the purpose of His love
concerning them. The address opened with a
declaration of woe against Jerusalem, which
the prophet described as rebellious, polluted,

The Severity and Goodness of God 251
and oppressing. The reason of the woe he then
set forth with great care, first describing the
city as a whole as one which "obeyed not . . .
received not correction, . . . trusted not in
Jehovah, . . . drew not near to her God."
The reason of the sin of the city was that of
the corruption of the rulers, who are all re
ferred to. Princes, judges, prophets, and
priests alike had failed, each in their distinct
ive office. In the midst of the city, Jehovah
the Kighteous One had brought forth His
judgment, but His presence had been insulted.
He had, moreover, delivered the people, but
their answer to His deliverance had been that
of increased and persistent corruption. In
the presence of this utter hopelessness the
prophet cried, "Therefore wait ye for Me, saith
Jehovah." This was the first gleam of hope.
The very hopelessness and sin of the people
made Divine action necessary, and that action
would be that of judgment. The judgment,
however, would be but the prelude, for immedi
ately the prophet had declared it to be inevi
table, he proceeded to describe the ultimate
restoration. From this point the prophecy is clearly
Messianic. Zephaniah gave no picture of
the suffering Servant, nor any hint of His
method. He only dealt with the ultimate re-

252 Zephaniah

suit to Israel. This he first described as the
turning "to the peoples a pure language" by
Jehovah gathering again all His dispersed
ones. In that gathering the "proudly exult
ing ones," that is, the false rulers, would be
deposed, while in the midst of the city the
afflicted people who trust in the name of Je
hovah would be established. Zephaniah then
addressed himself to the remnant, charging
them to sing and rejoice because their enemy
should be cast out, and their true King Je
hovah be established in the midst of them. He
next called them to true courage and to serv
ice. The prophecy reached its highest level
as Zephaniah described the attitude of God in
poetic language under the figure of mother
hood. Jehovah in the midst of His people will
rejoice, and from the silence of love will pro
ceed to the song of His own satisfaction.

HAGGAI

HAGGAI— THE DUTY OF COURAGE

A

B

c

D

FIRST PROPHECY

SECOND PROPHECY

THIRD PROPHECY

FOURTH PROPHECY

l. I— II

11. / — g

11. 10 — ig

1. 20—13

Introductory x

Introductory. 1-2

Introductory. 10

Introductory. 20-2ia

I. The Reason 2

I. The Reason 3

I. The Message

I. The Reason

Neglect of the

The Old Men.

11-19

Ratification of

Lord's House.

Disappointment.

i. Appeal to Priests

Promise.

The Time not come.

and Principles
Deduced. 11-13
ii. Application of

" I will bless."

II. The Message

IL The Message

Principles. 14-19

II. The Message

3-11

4-9

21D-23

i. Their own

i. The Call. 4a

i. The Shaking of

Houses. 3-4

ii. The Immediate

II. The Reason

False Authority. 2XD-22

ii. Consider your

Promise. 4b. 5

19a.

Ways. s-7

iii. The Larger

The Delay of

ii. The Establish

iii. The Reason of

Promise. 6-9

Blessing.

ment of True

Failure. 8-xx

See Zechariah. i. 1-6

Disappointment.

Authority. »3

III. Historic

III. The Promise
'
Interlude
19b
12-15
i. Obedience. 12
ii. Encouragement. X3
iii. Enthusiasm 14-15
HAGGAI
OF Haggai's personal history nothing is
known, but the dating of his prophecy
is very exact. It is noticeable that for the first
time a Gentile date is given. Darius reigned
during the years B.C. 521-486, so that Haggai's
four messages fell within four months in the
years B.C. 520-519. For the understanding of
the conditions in which he exercised his pro
phetic ministry the book of Ezra must be
studied; a tabulation of the leading events
in connection with the return from Babylon
will help us thus to place his prophecy.
B.C. 536. Keturn from Babylon under Ze
rubbabel (Ezra iii. 1-4). Altar built.
Sacrifices offered. Feast of Taber
nacles.
B.C. 535. Foundations of the Temple laid.
Opposition of Samaritans and cessation
of building.
B.C. 520-519. Prophesying of Haggai and
Zechariah. The people recommenced
building.
B.C. 515. The Temple completed.
255

256 Haggai 
Thus it will be seen that the work of rebuild
ing the Temple had ceased, and in order to stir
up the leaders and people to their duty in this
matter these messages were uttered.
The book is naturally divided by the four
messages the prophet delivered: The First
Prophecy (i. 1-11) ; the Second Prophecy (ii.
1-9) ; the Third Prophecy (ii. 10-19) ; the
Fourth Prophecy (ii. 20-23).
a. The First Prophecy
The prophet Haggai delivered his first mes
sage on the first day of the sixth month of the
second year in the reign of Darius, and it was
especially addressed to those in authority.
The people were excusing themselves from
building by declaring that the time had not
come. To this the prophet replied by remind
ing them that they were dwelling in their own
cieled houses, while the house of God was
lying waste. He called them to consider their
ways, reminding them of the long-continued
material failure in the midst of which they
had lived. He then urged them to build the
house of God, declaring that all the failure
to which he had already referred was of the
nature of Divine punishment for their neglect
of His house. There was an immediate re
sponse to the appeal of Haggai, first on the

 The Duty of Courage 257
part of the governor and priest, and then by
the people. This response was followed, first,
by a word of encouragement, in which the
prophet declared that Jehovah was with them ;
and secondly, by new enthusiasm on the part
of the people.
b. Second Prophecy
About seven weeks later, on the twenty-first
day of the seventh month of the same year of
the reign of Darius, Haggai delivered his
second message. This was addressed to Zerub
babel the governor, Joshua the priest, and all
the people. A comparison of Ezra iii. 13
with this message will show how certain of
the old men who remembered the former house
lamented the comparative inferiority of this.
Such memory tended to dishearten the people,
and the prophet appealed to them to be strong
and to work, promising in the name of Jeho
vah His immediate presence and help. Upon
the basis of this promise he then rose to the
height of a more gracious one. The central
phrase of this larger promise is difficult of in
terpretation, "The desire (singular) . . . shall
come" (plural). Perhaps the simplest expla
nation is to be found in the use made of the
connected words in the letter to the Hebrews
(xii. 25-29) . It is evident that in this promise

258  Haggai 
there is a revelation of an order of Divine
procedure which is manifested in the method
of both the first and second advents of the
Messiah. That order may thus be briefly sum
marized: "I will shake;" "the desire shall
come;" "peace." Thus the disheartened on
account of lesser material glory were called
to look for the spiritual glory which would be
the crowning splendour of the new. After this
prophecy Zechariah delivered a message
(Zech. i. 1-6).
c. Third Prophecy
About two months later, on the twenty-
fourth day of the ninth month of the same
year in the reign of Darius, Haggai delivered
his third message. In this the people are ad
dressed through a colloquy with the priests.
The content of this prophecy shows that after
three months of hard building there were still
no signs of material rewards, and the people
were again disheartened in consequence there
of. As a result of his questioning of the
priests and their answers Haggai taught the
people that their present obedience could not
immediately result in material prosperity be
cause of their past sin. Yet the final word
of this third message is a promise of blessing :
"From this day will I bless you.'"

The Duty of Courage 259
d. Fourth Prophecy
The last message of Haggai was delivered
on the same day as the third, and was an en
forcement and explanation of the final prom
ise, "I will bless you." It consisted first of a
repetition of the declaration of Jehovah's de
termination to shake, carried out in greater
detail, in order to reveal the fact that He
would destroy all false authority and power;
and finally in the promise of the establishment
of true authority.

ZECHARIAH
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

A
MESSAGES DURING BUILDING
OF TEMPLE

B
MESSAGES AFTER BUILDING
OF TEMPLE

i.—viii.

ix.—xiv.

I. The First Message
1. 1-6
I.
The Burden of Hadrach Ix.— xl.
Complementary to Haggai.
i
ii
iii
The Anointed King Rejected.
The King Announced.
The King's Programme.
The King Rejected.
ix. 1-10
ix. n— x.
xi.
II. The Second Message
1.7-vl.
II
. The Burden of Israel
xll.-xlv.
VISIONS.
The Rejected King Enthroned.
i. Of Myrtle Trees. i. 7-17
Picture of Israel to-day.
ii. Of Horns and Smiths. 18-21
Overthrow of Israel's Enemies.
i
Final Victories ; as to the Nations and Israel.
xii. — xiii. 6
a. As to the Nations. xii. 1-6
b. As to Israel. xii. 7— xiii. 6
iii. Of measuring Line. ii.
Resultant Condition of Jerusalem.
iv. Of Joshua. iii.
Israel as a Priest cleansed.
v. Of Candlestick, iv.
Israel according to Ideal.
vi. Of Flying Roll. v. 1-4
Government of the Earth.
ii
Final Victories; as to the King.
a. His Rejection.
b. His Day.
c. His Process.
d. His Kingdom.
xiii. 7 — xiv.
xiii. 7-9
xiv. 1-8
9-t5
16-21
vii. Of Ephah.
Restriction of Wickedness.
5-i 1
viii. Of Chariots.
vi. 1-8
Historic Interlude. Great Sym
bolic Act Vl. 9-15
III. The Third Message
vil.-vlll.
VOICES.
i. The Question Asked.
ii. The Fourfold Answer.
vii. 1-3
vii. 4 — viii.
ZEOHAEIAH
THE association of Zechariah with Hag
gai has already been seen. Of the
prophet himself we are only sure that he was
the son of Iddo (Ezra v. 1, vi. 14) . In the book
of Nehemiah reference is made to a priest
named Iddo (xii. 4) and to his son Zechariah
(xii. 16). If these references are to the same
persons, Zechariah was also a priest.
The first part of the book is carefully dated,
and contains prophecies closely related to
those of Haggai, having practical bearing
upon the work of the Temple building. The
latter part of the book is undated, and deals
with three distinct events in the history of the
people. The time was all-important. The
Messiah had been promised through the chosen
nation. Prior to the Edict of Cyrus that
nation was practically dead, and, indeed, was
being buried in its captivity. This is clearly
evidenced by the small ness of the remnant who
had interest and enthusiasm enough to return
(Ezra ii.). Yet through this remnant the
coming of Messiah was made possible, as to
a human channel. This fact gives us the clue
263

264 Zechariah _^__^__
to the difference between the first and the
second parts of the prophecy of Zechariah. In
the first he urged the people to build the Tem
ple, by prophecies which showed the far-reach
ing effect of such work in the coming and
Kingdom of Messiah. In the latter part he
dealt more in detail with certain events lead
ing toward that great future.
The book, therefore, naturally falls into two
parts: Messages during the Building of the
Temple (i.-viii.) ; Messages after the Building
of the Temple ( ix.-xiv. ) .
a. Messages during the Building of the
Temple
In this first division there are three mes
sages. The first was local and immediate.
The second consisted of a series of visions set
ting forth God's ultimate purpose for His peo
ple Israel. This was followed by a brief his
toric interlude; and the third message con
sisted of a threefold answer of Jehovah to an
inquiry on the part of the people concerning
the observance of certain fasts.
About a month after Haggai's second
prophecy, in which he had encouraged the
people who were in danger of being disheart
ened by the memory of the past, Zechariah
uttered his first prophetic word. He gave

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 265
them another view of the past, intended to
warn them. He reminded them that Jehovah
was sore displeased with their fathers, and
Avarned them not to walk in the same sins.
Thus the value of his first message was that
from another standpoint he urged the people
to be obedient to the message of Haggai.
While they were lamenting the departed great
ness, they were also to remember how it had
been lost, and not repeat the folly. Haggai
encouraged them by looking on to the new
spiritual glory, while Zechariah exhorted them
by looking back to the past of disobedience.
Two months after Haggai had delivered his
last message, which was one of hope for the
future, as it declared that Jehovah would de
stroy false authority and establish the true,
Zechariah delivered his great message consist
ing of eight symbolic visions. There are three
methods of interpreting these visions. First,
that which confines their significance to the
times of Zechariah. Secondly, that which
spiritualizes very much by application to the
Church. Thirdly, that which makes them
refer to events still in the future. I adopt the
third. The first is untenable because the
things declared have not yet been fulfilled.
Any attempt to explain the glorious announce
ments of the defeat of the foes of Israel and

266 Zechariah  ,
her victories, by the poor conditions then
existing, and continuing until Messiah, is to
suppose the prophet guilty of the wildest and
most foolish exaggeration. The second in
volves exposition in inextricable and endless
confusion, for there are things which will not
admit of spiritualization. Moreover, to apply
to the Church the order and service herein
revealed is to contradict New Testament
teaching as to her order and service. This
series of visions constitutes the Old Testa
ment Apocalypse, or unveiling of God's final
dealings with Israel.
Under the figure of the myrtle trees Israel
is described as "in the bottom," or, far bet
ter, as the margin reads, "in the shady place."
It is the day of her overshadowing, but she is
yet watched. The whole earth is sitting still
and at rest. The angel watcher makes appeal
to Jehovah on behalf of Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah, and is answered with "com
fortable words." These words declare Jeho
vah's determination to deliver and re-establish
His people. This vision therefore is a picture
of Israel as she has long been, and still is,
outcast from privilege and position, yet never
forgotten by Jehovah, Who declares His
determination ultimately to return to her
with mercies, and to restore her to favour.

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 267
The second vision of horns and smiths while
indefinite as to detail, yet carries its own ex
planation. The horn is a symbol of power,
and the four stand for the powers which have
scattered the chosen people. The smiths are
the symbol of that which destroys power, and
stand for those who are to break the power of
the horns. The vision therefore foretells the
ultimate overthrow of Israel's enemies.
The vision of the measuring line reveals the
condition of Jerusalem which will result
from the overthrow of her enemies. The
young man with a measuring line goes forth
to measure the restored city, and is prevented
from doing so by an angel messenger, who in
figurative language declares to him that Jeru
salem will be such that it is impossible to
measure. The nature of that prosperity is
indicated in the statement that the presence of
Jehovah will make walls unnecessary, and its
extent is declared to be so vast as to make
walls impossible. In view of this remarkable
vision of ultimate prosperity the prophet ut
tered his call to the scattered people to re
turn, making the declaration of Jehovah's
determination, and calling them to rejoice
thereat. As the first three visions have dealt princi
pally with the material side of Israel's tribula-

268 Zechariah 
tion and restoration, the remaining five deal
with her moral and spiritual influence.
The vision of Joshua, first clothed in filthy
garments, and then cleansed and charged by
the angel of Jehovah, shows how the nation,
having failed through sin, is restored by way
of moral cleansing to the -priestly position and
function, of access to God and mediation.
The vision of the candlestick immediately
following, sets forth Israel as fulfilling the
Divine intention. The candlestick was the
symbol of Israel as the light-bearer amid the
darkness. The two olive trees refer in the first
place to Zerubbabel and Joshua, the governor
and the priest, and thus finally to the offices of
priest and king as they would be realized
and fulfilled in the Person of the Messiah.
Through these the Spirit would be communi
cated to Israel, and so the light would shine.
The vision of the flying roll represents the
principle of law as it will be administered
by Israel when she fulfils the true ideal. It
is the curse upon evil in action and in speech,
and that not merely pronounced, but active.
Thus while Israel stands as priest mediating,
and as lightbearer illuminating, she will also
affirm and apply the principle of law in the
midst of the earth.
The vision of the ephah shows what will be

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 269
the result of this application of law. The
ephah is the symbol of commerce, and the
woman, according to the distinct declaration
of the prophecy, is the personification of wick
edness. Thus the principle of wickedness is
to find its final vantage ground in commerce.
This, however, is to be centralized in the land
of Shinar, where the tower of Babel was
erected, and Babylon was built. The vision
teaches that even in the administration of
restored Israel, the spirit of lawlessness will
still exist, but that it will be restricted in its
operations. The last vision, of the chariots driven from
between the mountains of brass, is symbolical
of the four winds or spirits of heaven going
forth from the presence of the Lord to walk
to and fro in the earth, and suggests finally
that in the day of restoration the administra
tive forces of righteousness will be spiritual.
After the delivery of this second message
there followed a great symbolic act. Skilled
workmen prepared crowns of silver and of
gold which were set upon the head of Joshua.
To him, thus crowned, the prophet foretold the
coming of One Who should fulfil the predic
tions made in the message of the visions. His
office was to be dual — that of priest and king.
The crowns which Joshua wore during this

270 Zechariah

ceremony were retained for a memorial in the
Temple of the Lord. The final words of the
prophet reveal the purpose he had in his heart
in all that he had said. It was that the work
of Temple building should be continued.
The third message of Zechariah was uttered
nearly two years later, on the fourth day of
the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius.
It was a fourfold answer to an inquiry made
by the people concerning the necessity for
observing certain fasts. The history of these
fasts is contained in 2 Kings xxv. One was
established in the tenth month, in connection
with the besieging of the city. The next
occurred in the fourth month, and commemo
rated the taking of the city. The third was
held in the fifth month in memory of the burn
ing of the city, and the last in the seventh
month, in which Gedaliah was murdered.
The inquiry was confined to the fast of the
fifth month, as to whether it was necessary to
continue its observance. The answer of the
prophet was delivered in four statements of
what Jehovah had said to him.
The first of these answers declared that the
fasts had been instituted not by Divine com
mand, but entirely upon the initiative of the
people themselves. It declared also that they
should consider the messages which had been

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 271
delivered to them before the occasion which
gave rise to the fasts of which they now com
plained. The second answer reminded them that God
sought the execution of justice and the mani
festation of mercy, rather than the observance
of self-appointed fasts. It also reminded them
that they had refused to hear the call of jus
tice, and therefore all the evil things which
had befallen the city had resulted. The in
ference of the answer was, that had they been
obedient, the occasion of the fasts would never
have arisen.
The third answer was full of grace. It
declared that God was jealous for Zion, that
He was returned to it, and that therefore its
prosperity was assured, notwithstanding the
fact that these people saw only the devasta
tion which caused their lamentation. Because
of the certainty of this restoration, the
prophet appealed to the remnant to be strong
and build, promising them in the name of
Jehovah, that instead of being a curse, they
should become a blessing. Be-affirming this
Divine intention to restore, the prophet called
the people back to the attitudes which the sec
ond answer had declared God sought, those,
namely, of the execution of justice and the
manifestation of mercy.

272 Zechariah

The final answer to their question was a
declaration that Jehovah would turn all their
self-appointed fasts into feasts, and that the
city, the destruction of which had caused the
appointment of these fasts, should become the
centre to which many peoples and the in
habitants of many cities should come to seek
Jehovah.
b. Messages after the Building of the
Temple
In this second division there are two mes
sages. The first the prophet described as "The
burden of the word of the Lord upon the land
of Hadrach"; and the second as "The burden
of the word of the Lord concerning Israel."
The first deals with the rejection of the
anointed King, and the second with the en
thronement of the rejected King.
The first message is characterized by the
prophet's vision of three outstanding events
in the future of his people. These are set in
the light of the Kingship of Messiah. Each
foretelling is merged into, or connected withy
the glorious hope of the people of God. The
three events referred to are, the coming of
Alexander and the protection of the city; the
victory of Judah under the Maccabees; the
final Koman overthrow of the city and the

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 278
scattering of the people. These are all related
to the Messianic hope. The first merges into
a great triumph song concerning the King;
part of the prophecy contained therein has
now been fulfilled, and part is still unfulfilled.
The second passes to a description of Jeho
vah's triumph through His people, and of all
the blessings of His Kingdom; this is wholly
unfulfilled. The third is accounted for by the
rejection of the true Shepherd when He
appeared. In the first movement the prophet an
nounced the coming of the king. He foretold
the preservation of the city of Jerusalem in
days when Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia
would be overcome by the enemy, who, acting
under Jehovah, would thus execute His judg
ments upon them. This prophecy was in large
measure fulfilled by the coming of Alexander
the Great. He captured Damascus and Sidon,
and after a siege of seven months, Tyre itself.
He then marched against Gaza and razed it
to the ground. In the course of this campaign
he passed Jerusalem more than once, but
never attacked it. Thus, according to the
prophecy of Zechariah, the city was pre
served for the coming of the King. That com
ing he then foretold, calling upon Zion and
Jerusalem to rejoice, declaring the character

274 Zechariah

of the King, and announcing His complete
victory. The prophet proceeded to describe the
King's programme. He foretold a coming
triumph for Zion against Greece, under the
direct guidance and in the might of Jehovah.
This prophecy was fulfilled in the victory
gained by Judas Maccabeus over Antiochus
Epiphanes. This victory led him to describe
the yet greater and final victory of the people
of God. He introduced this description by
appealing to Zion to ask help of Jehovah, and
immediately declaring His intention to accom
plish their deliverance. Consequent upon this
determination on the part of Jehovah, the
people would be strengthened. The prophet
finally, speaking in the name of Jehovah, de
scribed His re-gathering of the people. "I will
hiss for them ... I will sow them ... I
will bring them out ... I will bring them
into ... I will strengthen them."
The last movement of the message is one
in which the prophet described the rejection
of the King. He first foretold the coming of
judgment under the figure of the Roman fire,
devouring the people and spoiling the glory of
the false shepherds. The reason of this judg
ment he then declared to be the rejection of the
anointed King. This King is portrayed as

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 275
having two staves, one called Beauty, which
signified grace, and the other Bands, which
signified union. This true Shepherd rejected
the false, and then was Himself rejected of the
people. It is noticeable that the prophet
spoke of that rejection from the standpoint of
Divine interference. Beauty was cut asunder,
the price being thirty pieces of silver, and the
result was the breaking asunder of Bands.
The result of this rejection of the true Shep
herd would be the restoration of the false, and
the consequent affliction of the people. The
last note of this message pronounced woe upon
the worthless shepherds.
Thus the prophet foresaw the Roman vic
tory over the chosen people following their
abandonment of their true King.
The second message has to do with things
wholly future. The King spoken of in the pre
vious burden, Whose rejection was there fore
told, is now seen as coming into His Kingdom.
This, the prophet described in two movements,
which are complementary. In the first he
looked at the opposing nations as they will be
dealt with in judgment, and at Israel as she
will be restored through the acknowledgment
of her true though rejected King, and by her
own spiritual cleansing. In the second move
ment he viewed the same events from the

276 Zechariah

standpoint of the King, beginning with His
rejection and then describing His coming, day,
process, and administration.
The final victories of the King are described
as to the nations and as to Israel. By the
strength of Jehovah operating through His
people, the strength of the nations is discom
fited, and perfect victory is assured. This
victory over the nations will issue in the res
toration of Israel to supremacy under the
government of One Whom they had pierced.
This, however, will be brought about when,
recognizing their sin, the chosen people repent
with mourning. In that day, by way of a foun
tain opened to them, Israel will be cleansed
from all the things which have defiled and
degraded her.
The prophet finally described the ultimate
victories as to the King, commencing with a
description of the smiting of the Shepherd and
the scattering of the sheep. In this process of
scattering a remnant would be loyal, and they
would become the people of Jehovah. The
prophet then proceeded to describe the ulti
mate day of the Lord, which would be ushered
in by the coming of Jehovah in the Person of
His King to the Mount of Olives. This advent
would initiate the new processes of the settle
ment of the land, and the cleansing of Jeru-

Apocalypse of the Old Testament 277
salem by judgment, to be followed by the
establishment of the Kingdom in which all
nations would gather to Jerusalem as a centre
of worship, those refusing being punished,
while all life would be consecrated.

MALACHI

MALACHI— UNCONSCIOUS CORRUPTION

A
FUNDAMENTAL AFFIRMATION
i. 1-5

B
FORMAL
ACCUSATIONS l. b—ii.

C
FINAL
ANNUNCIATIONS iii—iv.

Title Page.

i

I. The Sensitive Word
of Jehovah 2a

I. i.

Against the Priests i. 6-11. 9
Their Corruption declared. 1. 6-14

I. The Coming One III
i. Announcement of Advent. 1-6
ii. Appeal to the Nation 7-15

ii.
The Punishment threatened. ii. 1-9
iii. Attitude of the Remnant. 16-18
II. The Sceptical
Question
2b
II.
Against the People II. 10-16
II. The Coming Dag iv. 1-3
III. The Answer In
Proof 2c-3
Ill
. Against All II. 17
III. The Closing Words Iv. 4-6
MALACHI
"^"OTHING more is known of Malachi
¦*-^l than the book which bears his name re
veals. The word Malachi means messenger,
and this has given rise to the supposition that
it is a title rather than a name. While it is
probable that Malachi was indeed the actual
name of the prophet, its significance is most
suggestive, for throughout the prophecy the
burden of the message of Jehovah is supreme,
and the personality of the messenger is abso
lutely hidden.
The connection of this prophecy with the
work under Ezra and Nehemiah is evident.
The abuses against which Malachi made his
protest, namely a polluted priesthood, mixed
marriages, and failure to pay tithes, were
those which existed during the time of Nehe
miah. Malachi is mentioned neither by Ezra
nor Nehemiah ; probably, therefore, he prophe
sied after their time. It would seem as though
the special evils, which they set themselves
to correct, still existed side by side with cor
rect outward observances. The attitude of the
281

282 Malachi

people is revealed in the sevenfold "Wherein"
(i. 2, 6, 7, ii. 17, iii. 7,8, 13).
The prophecy falls into three parts: Fun
damental Affirmation (i. 2-5) ; Formal Accu
sations (i. 6-11) ; Final Annunciations (iii.-
iv.).
a. Fundamental Affirmation
After the introductory word, which really
•constitutes the Title Page, the message begins
almost abruptly with the tender and sensitive
word of Jehovah to His people : "I have loved
you." This is the real burden of the proph
ecy; everything is to be viewed in the light
thereof. The prophet then, in an equally brief sen
tence, indicated the attitude of the people to
wards Jehovah: "Wherein hast Thou loved
us?" The only explanation of such a ques
tion possible is that the people, conscious of
the difference between their national position
and their past greatness, and of the apparent
failure of fulfilment of the prophetic prom
ises, called in question the love of Jehovah.
This sceptical question the prophet an
swered by reminding them of Jehovah's love
for Jacob, and His hatred of Esau; of His
destruction of Edom, and His deliverance of
Israel.

 Unconscious Corruption 283
b. Formal Accusations
Having thus made his fundamental state
ment, the prophet proceeded to utter his for
mal accusations. These fall into three groups,
those against the priests, those against the
people, and those against the nation in
general. In dealing with the priests, he declared
their corruption, and indicated the line of
their punishment. He charged them with pro
fanity, in that they had despised the name of
Jehovah; with sacrilege, in that they had
offered, polluted bread upon His altar ; with
greed, in that none of them were found will
ing to open the doors of His house for nought ;
with weariness, in that they had "snuffed at"
the whole system of worship as "a weariness."
In the study of these accusations against the
priests, it is most evident that they resented
the charges made against them, as the recur
rence of the questions — "Wherein?" — shows.
This makes it evident that the prophet was pro
testing against a formalism which was devoid
of reality. Against them he therefore uttered
the threatenings of Jehovah. Their blessings
were to be cursed, and the punishment of
corruption would be that they should be held
in contempt by the people. In the midst of

284 Malachi

this declaration occurs a passage full of
beauty, describing the true ideal of the priest
hood. The prophet specifically charged the people
with two sins, and in each case pronounced
judgment upon them. He introduced this
charge by the enunciation of a principle — that
of the common relationship of all to God as
Father, and the declaration of the consequent
sin of dealing treacherously with each other.
The first specific sin was that of the mixed
marriages of the people, while the second was
that of the prevalence of divorce.
The final accusation was against the. whole
nation, and consisted of a charge of accommo
dating doctrine to the deterioration of con
duct. In the presence of ethical failure, the
people were declaring, that notwithstanding
the doing of evil, Jehovah delighted in the
people, and were inquiring sceptically,
"Where is the God of judgment?"
c. Final Annunciations
The last division of the book contains the
prophet's announcement of the coming of
Messiah. It falls into three sections* dealing
with the coming One, the coming Day, and ut
tering the closing words.
The prophet announced the advent of Jeho-

Unconscious Corruption 285
vah's Messenger, describing His Person, the
process of His administration, and finally de
claring the principle of the unchangeableness
of Jehovah.
He then appealed to the nation, generally
calling them to return, and then making a
twofold charge against them of robbery and
of blasphemy. To each of these they re
sponded with the same inquiry, "Wherein?"
thus showing that the people, like the priests,
were observing formalities of religion while
deficient of true spiritual life.
In the midst of this wide-spread apostasy
there was a remnant yet loyal to Jehovah,
which the prophet first described, and then
addressed, declaring to them Jehovah's knowl
edge of them, and determination concerning
them. All this leads to his great declaration con
cerning the coming Day. This Day he de
scribed in its twofold effect. Toward the
wicked it would be a day of burning and of
destruction. Toward the righteous it would
be a day of healing and of salvation.
The closing words of the prophet called
upon the people to remember the law of Moses,
promised the coming of a herald before that
of the day of the Lord, and ended with a
solemn suggestion of judgment.

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