DURING the one hundred and fifty-four years that
elapsed between the death of Joseph and the returning of the Israelites
from
From this it would seem that the idea prevailed
in Pharaoh's court that the Israelites contemplated a wholesale emigration to
some other country. His policy, however, was to prevent it, and to maintain the
numerical superiority of the Egyptians, by exhausting the Israelites by
oppressive toil, and destroying their children at birth. But what can the
policy of kings effect when they undertake to combat the purposes of God? The
cup of
This was a just and equitable decree; the
illustration of which is yet to be exhibited on a grander scale, "when God
shall set his hand again A SECOND TIME to recover the remnant of his people
which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and
from Khush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea. And when he shall utterly destroy the tongue of the
Egyptian sea (the
But, spiritually dark as were the Egyptians with
all their wisdom, the Israelites could boast of little more light than they.
The relative condition of these two people was very similar to what it is now
in regard to the Jews and papal nations among whom they are scattered. The Jews
have a vague idea of the promise made to Abraham, and, therefore, cherish the
hope of restoration to
Such was the benighted condition into which God's
people
He sent an angel to deliver them. Moses was
tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, in the vicinity of Horeb.
Seeing a bush on fire yet not consumed, he drew near to take a closer view of
it. As he approached, the angel addressed him in behalf of the Lord, saying,
"I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in
Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know
their sorrow, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large,
unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, etc.
Come, now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring
forth my people, the children of
Moses being thus called of God, was first sent to
the elders of
Having received his appointment after this
manner, he was commanded to go and introduce himself to the elders of
In obedience to the voice of God, Moses presented
himself before the elders of
This was as astounding a pretension as that of
the "ministers" and "clergy" of this time, who also claim
to be "called of God as Aaron was", and to be sent with the word of
the Lord to the people as His ambassadors! The important difference, however,
in the case is, that God attested the truth of Moses' pretensions, but does not
confirm theirs. Clerical and ministerial ambassadorship rests upon their own
word, and is predicated upon a feeling which no one can perceive but
themselves. It is assertion without proof; and until they can adduce
credentials divinely attested as in all other cases of real appointments in
scripture, if they are not set down at once as impostors (which would be quite
justifiable after waiting for credentials many centuries), mankind are at all
events under no obligation to attend to the word they profess to have received.
When Moses received his commission, he objected
to go to
Being accepted as a ruler and a deliverer, he and
his prophet, accompanied by the elders of
After this manner, being made to feel the need of
deliverance, Moses was sent again to them with glad tidings of a sure and
speedy redemption. In communicating it to Moses, the Lord prefaced the message
with a reiteration of the memorial. "I am the Lord", said He:
"and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of
God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH (He who shall be) (Isa. 42:8,9) was
I not known unto them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to
give them the
Such was the preamble. The God of Abraham was
about to begin the fulfilment of the covenant in that part of it which
related to "the fourth generation" of the natural seed. He was
therefore in relation to
Because, then, after nearly 430 years from its
confirmation, God had remembered His covenant, He said to Moses, "Say unto
the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will
redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments; and I will
take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know
that I am the Lord your God, who bringeth you out from under the burdens of the
Egyptians. And I will bring you unto the land, concerning the which I did swear
to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a
heritage: I am Jehovah." According to all these words Moses spoke to them,
"but they hearkened not to him, for anguish of spirit, and for cruel
bondage".
After this the judgments of God fell fast and
heavy upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, until at length they rose and thrust the
Israelites out of
The terrible display of power by the hand of
Moses, while it filled the minds of the Egyptians with dismay, convinced
But, when Israel was brought to the birth, and
stood trembling on the shore of the Red Sea, they were about to be introduced
into Moses. They had been begotten of God as His national first-born but were
they to be born of water into the everlasting possession of Canaan?; or into a
possession in which they were only "strangers and sojourners" in the
land? That would depend upon the question of their national baptism into Moses,
or into Christ: if into Moses, they could only inherit according to his law;
but if into Christ, then they would obtain an everlasting national possession
of the land, of which no other nation, or confederacy of nations, could deprive
them. But they could not be nationally baptized into Christ, for Christ had not
come; and until he came, and as the mediator of the New Covenant, suffered
death, neither individual nor nation could have everlasting inheritance in the
land; for the covenant was of no force while the mediator was alive.
But there is an end of all question in the case.
The apostle, in reference to the passage of the Red Sea, writes, "I would
not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized INTO Moses in
the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:1,2). This was the national
baptism: an entire obscuration of a whole nation from the view of all beholders
on either shore. It was buried, not in the sea only, but in the cloud and in
the sea -- a cloud, which was black with darkness to the Egyptians, but light
to Israel between the icy walls of the sea. But though buried, the nation rose
again to a new life upon the opposite shore, leaving all their tyrant
taskmasters, and all their bondage behind them, washed away by the returning
waters of the deep. First, then, believing in Moses and in the Lord, they were
baptized into Moses, and so "saved that day out of the hands of the
Egyptians", who were washed up "dead upon the sea-shore" (Exod.
14:26-31).
In celebration of this great deliverance, they
sang the song of Moses. What a thrilling incident was this! Six hundred
thousand men, besides women, children, and a mixed multitude, encamped upon the
shore, and singing the song of the Lord's victory over their enemies! After
magnifying the gloriousness of His power, and the great salvation with which He
had delivered them, they rejoiced in the future that awaited their return, when
it should realize the possession of the land of Canaan under the sceptre of
Shiloh "for ever and ever". "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant
them in the mountain of thine inheritance; in the place, O Lord, which thou
hast made for thee to dwell in; in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have
established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever" (Exod. 15:17,18).
Let the reader peruse the song of Moses, and bear
in mind that it is not only a magnification of the past, but also prophetic of
as great, or greater, a deliverance of the nation under Shiloh. Under Moses,
they were saved by the angel of God (Exod. 14:19); but when the time of the
second exodus from Egypt arrives, they will be saved by the Lamb of God, whose
prowess will be applauded by God's harpists of the crystal sea, who will sing
the new song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and
true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and
glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and
worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest" (Rev.
14:1-5; 15:2-4). The song of Moses, we have seen, celebrated the overthrow of
the Egyptians; the song of the Lamb, "the prophet like unto Moses,"
will celebrate his future triumph over all the nations in his deliverance of
the twelve tribes from their tyranny; a redemption which will result in the
submission of all nations to his sovereignty, as predicted in the song. And it
is to be observed that the Lamb's victory being the accomplishment of the
prophecy in Moses' song, and a victory gained on a similar occasion, and in
connection with the same nation, the Lamb's song is styled, in the Apocalypse,
"the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb".
The generations of Israel's nation are reckoned
from Abraham. Between seven of them there is a remarkable relationship in the
way of type and antitype. These are the fourth, the fifth, and fourteenth, the
fifteenth, the thirty-second, the forty-second, and, possibly, the rising
generation of the present time. The events of the fourth occurred under Moses;
of the fifth, under Joshua; of the fourteenth, under David; of the fifteenth,
under Solomon; of the thirty-second, under Zorobabel; of the forty-second,
under Christ; and of the last, the substance of all that have preceded it, and
as yet in the undeveloped, but not unrevealed, future. The six generations
present so many pictures, as it were, of what will be transacted in the
seventh. But want of space forbids more than allusion to the fact. Referring to
the remarkable incidents of Jewish history, the apostle says, "All these
things happened unto them for types (representative things): and they
are written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
Having been baptized into Moses, they looked to
him for meat and drink. The angel had brought them out by his hand into a waste
and howling wilderness, under a promise to give them a land flowing with milk
and honey. But after three days the nation found itself without water; and
though soon after they found some, it was so bitter they could not drink it.
And they murmured against Moses. The Lord heard them, and healed the waters. A
month after their departure from Egypt their provision failed them. Again they
murmured against Moses and his prophet; and turned back in their hearts to the
land of their affliction. But God heard them, and gave them bread and meat to
the full, and continued to them this sustenance for forty years, until they
came to the borders of the land of Canaan.
One would have supposed that having been given
bread from heaven all their murmurings would have ceased. But when they came to
Rephidim and found no water, they murmured again, and were ready to stone
Moses, and tempted God, saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?"
Though the manna still fell, the rebellious-hearted Israelites questioned the
presence of the Lord among them! Though tempted, He still bore with them. He
commanded Moses to go to the rock in Horeb, on the top of which He would take
his stand. He was then to smite it before their eyes that it might give
forth water. And Moses did so; and the place was called Massali, and Meribah
(Temptation, and Strife) -- Exod. 17. On a later occasion, at Kadesh (Num. 20),
God commanded Moses to speak to the rock. But, having convened the assembly, he
addressed them, saying, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water
out of this rock? And he smote the rock twice; and the water came
out abundantly, and they drank" (Exod. 17:6; Num. 20:10,12,24). In this
Moses exceeded his commission; therefore the Lord said, "Because ye
believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them".
These incidents had a secondary import which is
found in the antitypes of the forty-second generation. Thousands of Israelites
and Gentiles believed the gospel of the Kingdom, and were baptized into Christ.
As a whole they constituted "a holy nation" -- a nation within the
nation -- which fed upon the true bread of heaven, and drank of the water of
life by faith in the things of Christ. But they were, and are, still strangers
and sojourners in the world, which to them is like the wilderness of Arabia to
Israel of the fourth generation. But there have been multitudes in Christ, as
there were in Moses, who did run well but were afterwards hindered. They turned
back in their hearts to Egypt, loving the present world, and not having faith
enough to get the mastery over it. Now, the apostle likens such to those of the
fourth generation who were murmurers, and faithless, and whose carcases fell in
the wilderness, from which they will never arise to enter the land of Israel
under Shiloh. "They did all eat the same spiritual meat", says he;
"and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was (or represented) Christ.
But with many of them God was not well-pleased; for they were overthrown in the
wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not
lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (1 Cor. 10:3-6). Their faith
was addressed through sensible objects; ours through written testimony. But for
the most part professors look not beyond "the things which are seen and
temporal". Whether in Moses, or professedly in Christ, they are
mere creatures of sensation, who walk by sight and not by faith. Let us,
reader, not be of this number; but let us rejoice in hope of the promise made
to the fathers, though at present it seemeth not to the eye of sense to
grow." If a man eat of this bread (the spiritual) he shall live for ever";
and, drinking of the blood of Christ, which is the spiritual drink represented
by Horeb's stream, the rock of Israel will raise him up at the last day to life
in the age to come. But if, after their example, we love the present world,
though we may have believed and obeyed the truth in the beginning, we shall
come under the sentence of exclusion from "the rest which remains for the
people of God".
THE LORD'S PASSOVER.
On the tenth day of Abib, the first month of the
year, being 430 from the confirmation of the covenant, the Israelites were
commanded to put up a lamb for each house, and to kill it upon the fourteenth
day in the evening. They were to take its blood and to sprinkle it upon the
door-posts of their houses, and to eat its flesh that same night, roast with
fire, with unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. Nothing of it was to be left
till morning. They were also to eat it in haste, as if about to hurry off upon
a journey. The meaning of this was, that God was about to destroy the
first-born of every family in Egypt, which would cause them to be thrust out of
Egypt with great haste; and that when the destroying angel should see the blood
on the door-posts, he would pass over that house, and not destroy the
first-born there. For this cause the lamb was termed the Lord's Passover (Exod.
12). Not a bone of it was to be broken. No stranger, foreigner, hired person,
or uncircumcised individual, was to eat of it; a servant, however, bought with
the money of an Israelite, provided he were circumcised, was permitted to
partake of it.
But this institution represented more than the
facts upon which it was founded. It pointed to events which would be connected
with later generations of Israel. The apostle styles Christ the believers'
passover, who was sacrificed for them (1 Cor. 5:7); and exhorts them to
"keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth".
Jesus was the Lamb of the feast whom God had provided. Not a bone of him was
broken. His blood was sprinkled, not upon the door-posts of houses, but upon
the doors of believers hearts by faith in the blood of sprinkling. None can eat
his flesh, if they would, but those who are circumcised in heart; for to eat
his flesh is to digest, and make a part of our mental selves, the truth
concerning the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. This is the spiritual food
upon which the believer's spiritual existence is sustained. As Jehovah's
first-born son was saved by the blood of the passover lamb in Egypt; so also is
the believer in the kingdom saved by the blood of Christ; so that when the day
of retribution comes, and the first-born of all the nations, "who know not
God, and obey not the gospel", are destroyed, the angel of death will pass
over him, and he shall not be harmed.
But while the passover has this spiritual
signification, it also represents facts, or events, which will be made manifest
in connection with Israel at the appearing of their king in glory. This is
evident, from the saying of Christ while partaking of the Passover with his
apostles, the future sovereigns of the tribes. "With desire", said
he, "I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I
say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the
kingdom of God"; and "I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until
the kingdom of God shall come". And, of this kingdom, he said, "I
appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may
eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:15,16,18,29,30; Matt. 19:28). From this,
then, it is clear that the passover was prophetic of what is to be fulfilled in
the kingdom of God. Has that kingdom come? If it has, as some very erroneously
affirm, then Christ has eaten another passover, and has again drunk of wine
with his apostles; for he said he would do so when the kingdom had come. But no
man in his senses will affirm this. Another passover could not be celebrated
till a year after; so that Jesus could not eat it with his disciples before
that. Where is the testimony to his eating it with them then? There is none;
but much of a contrary nature every way. The gracious declaration of Jesus is, I
will eat of this passover, and drink of the fruit of the vine, with you in the
Kingdom of God when it shall be come. He did not say, when you shall go
to the kingdom beyond the skies, but when the kingdom shall come, which he
had taught them to pray for.
It is perfectly ridiculous to talk about the
kingdom having come, and of the apostles being on their thrones. To affirm this
proves that the professor is totally ignorant of the gospel. A pretty sitting
upon thrones it was, when they were all arraigned at the bar, condenmed,
imprisoned, and scourged, for preaching the gospel of the kingdom in the name
of Jesus! What havoc the apostasy has made with the truth! The gospel preached
no such stuff as this. It treats of a kingdom which the God of heaven shall set
up in Judea: which shall never be removed from thence; in which the whole
twelve tribes shall rejoice; which the saints of all ages shall possess; and
which shall rule over all. Its elements at present are all scattered. It is not
a matter of fact; but a thing of hope; in which only they rejoice who believe
the promises made of God to the fathers.
The passover must be restored before it can be
eaten of by Christ and his apostles in the kingdom of God. This is one of the
things to be re-established at "the restitution of all things"; and
the law of its restoration is in the following words: "In the first month,
in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of
seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall (Messiah)
the Prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for
a sin-offering" (Ezek. 45:21,22). This was spoken by the prophet to Israel
of the fourteenth generation, concerning the observance of the passover by
Israel of the generation contemporary with the "restoration of the kingdom
again to Israel", when it should be constituted under the Prince. Moses'
law said all about the observance of the passover before the Prince appeared;
but as Moses ceased to be the law-giver when he came, a New Code is revealed
through Ezekiel which will become the law of the kingdom under Shiloh. When
Ezekiel's passover is observed at Jerusalem, Christ will be there, the apostles
also, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, and many from the four
winds of heaven, -- all of them the first-born redeemed from the earth, saved
by the sprinkled blood of the true paschal Lamb of God, and who shall find
themselves in Canaan as inheritors of its attributes; celebrating their own
redemption, and the overthrow of all their enemies by the Lord Jesus at his
revelation in flaming fire, attended by the angels of his power.
The bread and wine of "the Lord's supper"
are the remains of the passover, which are to be shared by the circumcised of
heart and ears, until Christ comes in power and great glory. I am informed by a
Jew that when they eat the passover they eat no lamb, but have a dry bone of
One on a dish; and that all who celebrate take hold of the lip of the dish, and
unitedly offer a petition. This is remarkable. They have slain the true Lamb,
which believers of the gospel feed upon: while only a dry bone remains to them,
strikingly illustrative of themselves. Faith in the Lamb of God supplies the
absence of the lamb in the Lord's Supper. The broken bread and poured-out wine
memorialize his sacrifice for believers; and the testimony, "This do in
remembrance of me until I come", keeps alive the hope of his
appearing in the kingdom of God. When hope becomes a reality, the supper will
give place to the passover; for when Christ is come, the memorial of his
coming ceases to be prophetic of the event.
THE TWELVE TRIBES CONSTITUTED THE
KINGDOM OF GOD.
The Israelites being born into national existence
under Moses as a ruler and a deliverer, he led them from the Red Sea to the
foot of Mount Sinai to meet with God. On their arrival there, the Lord commanded
Moses to say to them, "Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians; now,
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the
earth is mine: and ye shall be UNTO ME a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation" (Exod. 19:3-6). This was an offer on the part of God to become
their King, predicated upon what He had done for them. If they closed with the
proposal, they would henceforth be a kingdom. Hitherto they had been a crowd of
slaves subject to the will of the kings of Egypt. But He proposed to organize
them; to give them a constitution, religion, and laws; to appoint them a
government; to exalt them by His instructions, to the freedom, independence,
and moral excellence, which are attainable only by the influence of divine
truth; to make them the envy and admiration of surrounding nations; to make
them, in short, His kingdom, and His beloved nation. This was a proposal rich
with blessings. All God would require of them was obedience, and adhesion
to the covenant He had made with their fathers. The terms of the compact
were highly eligible. No nation had received such a liberal and honourable
proposal before, or since. Would they accept it, and abide by it? Moses was sent
to see.
Having arrived at the encampment, he convened the
elders of the people, and laid the proposition before them. Having consulted
the nation, they returned answer to Moses, saying, "All that the Lord hath
spoken we will do". Upon this, Moses returned the words of the people to
the Lord. In this transaction a formal agreement was entered into between
Israel and the Lord. In the word they sent back by Moses, they accepted the
Lord as their King, and became His subjects, or "the children of His kingdom".
The relation of God to the tribes as their king is undoubted; for when they
demanded a visible king like other nations, the Lord told Samuel that they had
not rejected him, but the Lord Himself, whose representative among them he was.
By this political compact, Abraham's natural seed
became "THE KINGDOM OF GOD". It was the first, and the only kingdom,
He has ever had among the sons of men. He will yet have other kingdoms. All the
kingdoms of the world will become His; and will yet acknowledge the King He has
provided to rule over them (Rev. 11:15). But even then, the kingdom founded at
the beginning of the ages, the kingdom of Israel, will be His "peculiar
treasure above them all". If, then, we would understand "the things
of the kingdom of God," we must never lose sight of Israel in connection
with the kingdom. Indeed, without them there is no kingdom of God; and to
affirm the contrary is to believe in a kingdom of which there is no nation to
rule. No misconduct of Israel can dissolve the covenant entered into between
them and God. The rebellion of a nation does not do away with the rights of the
king. If they set His laws and government at defiance it becomes a question of
might. If the rebellion triumph the king is dethroned; but if the rights of the
throne prevail, the rebel nation has no alternative but to submit to whatever
terms the conqueror may prescribe.
This is precisely the state of things between God
and Israel. The tribes have rebelled against Him. He has anointed Jesus of
Nazareth to be King of the Jews. But they say, No good thing ever came out of
Nazareth, and they will not have him for their king. They have no other king,
they say, but Caesar; hence they crucified Jesus, and have served Caesar ever
since. But has God surrendered His rights? Will He allow Himself to be
dethroned by rebels, and His Viceroy to be treated as a malefactor? All who
deny the restoration of Israel in effect say, "They have rebelled
successfully against God and His Christ". But this cannot be. God will restore
them "for His name's sake". He will plant them in Canaan; settle them
in the land according to their old estates and place Jesus upon David's throne
in triumph: for He has sworn that "at the name of Jesus every knee shall
bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father" (Phil. 2:9-11). The great rebellion will then be suppressed; God
will have recovered His rights; His kingdom will be re-established; and Israel
will thenceforth "obey His voice, and keep His covenant", as they
originally agreed to do.
The nation being adopted as the kingdom of God,
and having received its constitution three days afterwards, which was fifty
days from its redemption as Jehovah's first-born of nations; and also having
received its religion and civil laws, as related in Exodus and Leviticus -- all
things were prepared for transferring the tribes from the wilderness to the
land of Canaan. Moses had announced this consummation to them while groaning in
Egypt. But they hearkened not for anguish of spirit. When, however, they were
"baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea", they came to
believe on the Lord, and in him as His servant. But their probation in the
wilderness was too much for their faith. They were continually turning back in
their hearts to Egypt. The time, however, had now arrived to put this fourth
generation to a final test.
Twelve principal men, one for each tribe, were
sent from the wilderness in Paran to view the land of Canaan, and to bring back
a report to the people. After an absence of forty days they returned. They said
the land was all that could be desired, and flowing, indeed, with milk and
honey; but as to being able to take possession of the country, that was
impossible; for the inhabitants were gigantic and strong, living in
well-fortified cities, and could not be overcome by Israel, who were but as
grasshoppers when compared to them. But Caleb and Joshua, who believed on God,
testified to the contrary; and encouraged the people to go up at once, and
possess it; for they were well able to overcome it. "The land", said
they, "which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If
the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a
land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord,
neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their
defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not"
(Num. 14:7-10).
Now, when all the people heard the evil report,
they cried and wept all night. They murmured against Moses, and wished they had
died in Egypt, or in the wilderness, before they had been brought into this
extremity. They proposed, at length, to make a captain, and march back into
Egypt. As for Caleb and Joshua, they bade stone them to death.
The reader's attention is particularly requested
to this passage of Jewish history. The apostle in commenting upon these
incidents, says that the gospel was preached to them on this occasion;
and that the land spied out was connected with God's rest. His words are these
-- "They could not enter into his rest because of unbelief": then
addressing his brethren, he says, "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise
being left of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of
it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them; but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it" (Heb. 3:18,19; 4:1,2). In the context of this passage the
apostle had been speaking of Moses and Christ, the former, as a faithful
servant in another's house; and the latter as a son over his house: whose house
the believers in the things spoken of the land are, "if they hold
fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end".
He then introduces the case of the fourth generation as a warning of the fatal
consequences of letting go the hope of the promise. He quotes from a
scripture written in the fourteenth generation, in which the Holy Spirit
repeats the sentence upon them, and upon all like them, who harden their
hearts, saying, "they shall not enter into my rest" (Psa.
95:7-11). What rest is here spoken of? The peaceable possession and
enjoyment of the land so highly commended by Caleb. They did not enter in, but
were turned back towards the Red Sea, and wandered in the wilderness for forty
years, until the carcases of all the rebels above twenty years old fell to
their lowest estate. But did not the fifth generation obtain the rest under
Joshua when they possessed the land? No, says the apostle, they did not;
"for if Joshua had given them rest, then would God not have spoken
afterward by David of another day". The rest which Joshua gave the nation
was only transitory. When he and his associates of the fifth generation died,
the nations which God had not driven out were as thorns in their sides, which
gave them but little rest in after years. "There remaineth
then", saith he, "a rest for the people of God"; even Canaan in
the age to come, under Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, whose "rest shall be
glorious" (Psa. 132:11-18), and undisturbed by war's alarms.
Now this rest under Shiloh was preached unto
them. The possession under Joshua was the first step to full accomplishment of
the covenant. Had the nation continued to obey the Lord's voice and to keep the
covenant, and, when Christ came, received him as king on the proclamation of
the gospel, they would doubtless have been in Canaan until now; and he might
have come ere this, and be now reigning in Jerusalem, King of the Jews and Lord
of the nations. But had this been the case we Gentiles would have had no part
in the kingdom. We might attain to eternal life at the end of the reign; but in
the glory of the kingdom, and in the administration of its affairs, as heirs of
the world with Abraham and his seed, we should have had no part; for it was the
unbelief of the forty-second generation of Israel that became the riches of the
Gentiles.
The fourth generation "could not enter in
because of unbelief". Neither can we unless we also believe what they
rejected; for the same gospel that was preached to them, was preached by
the apostles to the forty-second generation, but cannot be said to be preached
to us of this century. I am endeavouring, however, to set it before the people
in this book; although I feel it a difficult work, seeing that men's minds are
so mystified, and pre-occupied with the jargon of the schools. God's rest in
Canaan -- by which is not meant that all his saints will be living there,
though all that abide there will be a righteous people: the things which belong
to Canaan will overspread the world; and where there are nations to be
governed, there will there be saints to rule -- but this rest, I say, is the
great theme of the gospel, whether preached by Moses, by Jesus, or by the
apostles. The rest and the kingdom are but different terms, though
substantially the same. They will both be of Canaan, and are both the subject
of the promise made of God to Abraham and his seed for ever.
THE ROYAL HOUSE OF THE KINGDOM.
The covenant made with Abraham promised an
immortal inheritor of Canaan; and in Jacob's last prophecy it was plainly
revealed that he should be its King, and should descend from Judah. By this it
was understood that Judah would be the royal tribe: but it was not known what
family of Judah he would be born of. This was a matter which remained in
abeyance until the fourteenth generation. The nation had been long settled in
Canaan. For four hundred and fifty years the laws of the kingdom had been
administered by judges, until at length the people demanded a king who should
go in and out before them, as among the neighbour nations. This happened in the
days of Samuel the prophet, who laid their request before the Lord. Though He
was displeased at the demand, as it was in effect a rejection of Him, He
nevertheless granted their request, and gave them Saul, of the tribe of
Benjamin, until another man upon whom He had set His heart should have been
sufficiently trained in the school of adversity to take his place. This was
David, the son of Jesse, and of the tribe of Judah. God ordered Samuel to
anoint him king over Israel. By this act, David became the Lord's anointed, or
Christ; and when he ascended the throne, ruled the nation as Jehovah's king.
In the former part of his reign he was much engaged
in war, which was at length terminated by the Lord giving him rest from all his
enemies. At this crisis of his history, it came into his heart to build a
magnificent temple for the ark and cherubim of glory. Though the Lord highly
approved of the feeling which prompted the resolution, He forbade his carrying
it into effect. The work was too momentous to be undertaken by one in David's
case. Jehovah being the real king of Israel, did not permit a national temple
to be erected in His kingdom by a subordinate ruler without His primary
direction. David had shed much blood, which was urged as an objection to his
doing more than collecting the materials; which his son should put together
after his decease.
At this time the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
saying, "Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not
build me a house to dwell in. But the Lord telleth thee that he will make
thee a house". What follows is an explanation of what is meant by
this. "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I WILL BE
HIS FATHER, AND HE SHALL BE MY SON. Even in suffering for iniquity I will
chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes due to the children of
Adam. But my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took it from Saul, whom
I put away before thee. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established
for ever BEFORE THEE: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2
Sam. 7:11-16).
These promises are styled "an everlasting
covenant, even the sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55:3; Acts 13:34).
There can be no doubt to whom they refer, for the apostle has applied them to
Christ (Heb. 1:5). In his last words, David thus expresses himself concerning
them: "The God of Israel spake to me, saying, He that ruleth over men must
be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he (the Just One) shall be as the light
of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the
tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although
my house be not so with God: yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow" (2 Sam. 23:3-5).
This covenant of the throne and kingdom was
David's desire and salvation, because it promised him a resurrection to eternal
life, in the assurance that his house, kingdom, and throne, with God's son and
his son, one person, sitting upon it, should be established in his presence for
ever. "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my
servant, saying, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to
all generations. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock
of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of
the earth. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing which has gone out
of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall
he established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven"
(Psa. 89:3,4,19-28,34-37).
After these testimonies there requires no further
proof that David's family was constituted by a solemn covenant the Royal House
of God's kingdom; and that that one of David's posterity whom God should
acknowledge to be His son, should be its everlasting king. The claims of Jesus
to be David's seed and God's Son have been fully established by his
resurrection from the dead; which is an assurance to all men, both Jews and
Gentiles, that God hath appointed him as the Holy One of Israel their king; to
rule the world in righteousness, and to establish truth and equity among the
nations; as God sware to Moses, saying, "Truly as I live, all the earth
shall be filled with the glory of the Lord". Let us then proceed now
to some further inquiries about
THE KINGDOM AND THRONE OF DAVID.
There are, as we have seen, two everlasting
covenants of promise upon which the kingdom of God is based -- the one made
with Abraham, and the other with David. The former gives the land of Canaan to
their Seed for ever; the latter, the kingdom and throne established upon it, as
long as the moon endures. They are called David's because his family alone can
possess the kingdom. David's kingdom, however, is also "the kingdom of
God and of his Anointed", or Christ; for, whether David, or David's
Son of the twenty-eighth generation after him, sit upon the throne, they are
both the Lord's Anointed, and ruling as His representatives in His kingdom. The
great difference between the two in regard to the anointing is, that David the
First was anointed with holy material oil by the hand of Samuel; whereas Jesus
was anointed with the Holy Spirit, at his emergence from the Jordan, direct
from the excellent glory. Hence, Jesus, who is David the Second as well as the
second Adam, is Jehovah's Christ, or Anointed King, in a higher sense than
"his father David." The Lord Christ and king David are associated in
several prophecies, because the everlasting covenant of promise made with the
latter declares its mercies to them both, at one and the same time. David is to
witness the fulfilment of its promises; for the record is, "Thy house and
thy kingdom shall be established for ever". But when? "BEFORE
THEE." From this it is evident, the everlasting establishinent of his
kingdom cannot take place under the circumstances which have obtained since the
death of David until this present time; because, if it is to exist perpetually
"before", or in the presence of, David, David must be raised
to life for immortality; for, if mortal, he could not behold his throne
occupied by Christ for ever. But "David is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre", said Peter, "is with us until this day" -- "He
is not ascended into the heavens" (Acts 2:29,34). If, then, he "is
dead", and not "gone to heaven", as the phrase is, he is
alive in no sense; and consequently the covenant promises are not fullilled.
David must be alive when they are accomplished. Christ, his divine son, has
been manifested and glorified, and God has recognized him as His Son; but in no
other particular has the covenant been fulfilled: for he has inherited neither
the land of Canaan, nor the kingdom and throne of David once upon it.
But where are the kingdom and throne of David?
"In heaven, beyond the skies, where Christ is at the right hand of God,
and where precious souls go when they die." Such is the answer given by
Gentile theology! Need we wonder at Jews having such a contempt for what is
called "Christianity", when they hear its professors gravely affirm
such absurd nonsense as this? Have Canaan, Jerusalem, and the twelve tribes
been translated beyond the skies? Oh no, say they, these things remain, but
then they are types of things which exist where Jesus is! Alas, what sorry
stuff, what shilly-shally twaddle is this, to come out of the mouths of
"great and good and pious men". It is admitted that David's and
Solomon's reigns were typical, or representative, of Christ's reign; not beyond
the skies, however; but upon their throne and in their kingdom upon the
veritable land promised to Abraham. But, inquires one, if not beyond the skies,
where are the kingdom and throne of David? In answer to this question, reader,
mark it well -- at present they exist nowhere. They once existed, and
while they had a being they were the kingdom and throne of God among men. He
has kingdoms and thrones in other orbs; but we have nothing to do with them,
and have no more right, had we the power, to go and take possession of them
either as "souls" or bodies, than the angels have to come and seize
upon all the thrones and kingdoms of earth, which belong to Christ and his
brethren by inheritance. But let us leave to the owls and bats the idols of the
schools, the worshipful phantasmata of the apostasy, and let us turn to the
enlightening testimony of God.
The scripture, foreseeing that God would
temporarily abolish the kingdom of David, saith in view of the covenant,
"But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine
anointed. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned
his crown by casting it to the ground. Thou hast broken down all his
hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin. All that pass by the way
spoil him; he is a reproach to his neighbours. Thou hast made his glory to
cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth
hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame" (Psa. 89:38-45).
This is descriptive of the state of the kingdom of God and of David for
twenty-five centuries past. The crown and throne are in the dust, and the
territory and people a by-word among the nations. Instead of the covenant being
fulfilled, if the present state of things were final, it would be "void",
and the promise of God have failed. In view, then, of the promises and things
as they are, the scripture inquires, "How long, Lord? Wilt thou
hide thyself for ever? Lord, where are thy former loving-kindnesses, which thou
swearest unto David in thy truth?" (vv. 46-49). Yes: where are they? In
promise still.
In the face of facts, what are we to say to the
testimony, that "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of
the House of Israel"? Thus saith the Lord, "If ye can break my
covenant of the day, that there should not be day in its season; then may also
my covenant be broken with David, my servant, that he should not have a son to
reign upon his throne" (Jer. 33:17,20,21). What shall we say to this?
There has been no son of David reigning upon his throne since the dethronement
of Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar five hundred and ninety-five years before the
birth of Christ. But it is not a question of uninterrupted succession;
but of the everlasting occupation of the throne according to the covenant. When
the time comes for this to be fulfilled, noted by David's resurrection, from
thenceforth shall his son fill the throne of Israel's kingdom for ever. But
what saith the scripture?
Just before the fall of
In reference to this good time which is near at
hand it is written, "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of
The reader, then, will perceive from this
exposition that the