12;
for when speaking of the pernicious tendency of the society of fools
--that is, of the unwise, who know not Christ, the Wisdom of God,
Solomon says,--" Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather
than a fool in his folly.
for when speaking of the pernicious tendency of the society of fools
--that is, of the unwise, who know not Christ, the Wisdom of God,
Solomon says,--" Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather
than a fool in his folly.
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THE CREATION.
All heaven gazed on that wondrous birth. But not only were the
angels spectators of the mighty scene, but in a measure were made
partakers of the joy of God and man. One of them, doubtless, high
among the ranks of those principalities and powers that the Lord had
created, was sent with the glorious tidings. And this was his message,
--" Fear not, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the city of
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. . . And, suddenly, there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God,
and saying, Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace, good-
will toward men. " (Luke ii. 10--14. )
The Gospels relate the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of this
blessed Saviour; and the book of the Acts opens with the promise,
that in like manner as he ascended, so shall he descend. And this has
been his people's hope ever since his absence,--looking for, and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God.
And thus, my dear children, are we brought up to the history of
man at the present moment. The Lord Jesus is now at the right
hand of Power; and his people are looking for him; and, in all sim-
plicity of faith, resting alone in his precious blood and righteousness,
are seeking to adorn the doctrine of God, their Saviour, in all things;
and with their talents, to occupy until he comes. The sorrows of 6000
years are well nigh over; and a blessed sabbath is at hand. " Sweet
is the harp of prophecy" that celebrates this time. You remember
those most beautiful lines of Cowper:--
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? LETTER XI.
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" The groans of nature in this nether world,
Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end :
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung--
The time of rest, the promised sabbath comes.
Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh
Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things,
Is merely as the working of a sea
Before a calm that rocks itself to rest
For He whose car the winds are, and the clouds
The dust that wait upon his sultry march,
When sin has moved him, and his wrath is hot,
Shall visit earth in mercy; shall descend
Propitious in his chariot paved with love;
And what his storms have blasted and defaced
For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair. "
That you, my beloved children, may, when that day appeareth, be
enabled to look up with confidence, and say, " It is my God, and
I have waited for him; it is the Lord, I will rejoice in his salvation,"
is the sincere prayer of
Your affectionate Father.
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THE CREATION.
LETTER XII.
" WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER, AND RICHES, AND
WISDOM, AND STRENGTH, AND HONOUR, AND GLORY, AND BLESSING. AND EVERY
CREATURE WHICH IS IN HEAVEN, AND ON THE EARTH, AND UNDER THE EARTH,
AND SUCH AS ARE IN THE SEA, AND ALL THAT ARE IN THEM, HEARD I SAYING,
BLESSING, AND HONOUR, AND GLORY, AND POWER, BE UNTO HIM THAT SITTETH
UPON THE THRONE, AND UNTO THE LAMB FOR EVER AND EVER. "--Revelation
v. 12, 13.
My dear Children,
Do you remember, when living in Ireland, the circumstance of a dear
little boy at D. , who, having received a present of Noah's Ark, was
observed by his father very busy arranging the ferocious beasts of
prey with the gentler ones; and when the question was put to him,
as to what he was engaged in, he innocently replied, " Papa, I am
placing the animals as they will be in the happy time, when the leopard
shall lie down with the lamb, and the lion shall eat straw like the
ox. " (Isa. xi. 6--9. )
It interested us all at the time; it was a little child taking the word
in simplicity, which, indeed, is the only true way to profit by it. Yes,
dear children, that day is rapidly hastening; every thing around us
indicates its near approach; and then, in truth, shall " the groaning
creation be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
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? LETTER XII.
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liberty of the sons of God. " (Rom. viii. 19--23. ) But, as in that
beautiful quotation from Cowper, in the end of my last letter, though
the chariot of the Lord shall be paved with love to his children; not
so to his enemies--to the open blasphemer--the careless, or the self-
righteous, (Matt. xxii. 7--19. ) He comes in flaming fire, taking ven-
geance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes " to be glorified in his saints, and
to be admired in all them that believe. " (2 Thess. i. 8--10. )
The emblems of this day are very numerous; some of which are
continually before us--as the domestic animals. Of others we know
but little.
The Lion is the king of the forest; and the Wise man says in the
Book of Proverbs, that it is the strongest among beasts (Prov. xxviii.
1), and its whole appearance gives it at once pre-eminence; and thus,
through the Scriptures, it is continually alluded to.
In Ezek. i. 10 you will find the heads of the Cherubim to be the
man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle,--the emblems of intelligence,
power, stability, and swiftness.
In the blessing of Judah the figure also occurs,--" Judah is a lion's
whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down,
he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be. " (Gen. xlix. 9, 10. ) From this, and from the concurrent
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THE CREATION.
testimony of Jewish history, it seems that the standard that floated
over the royal tribe of Judah, and which was always planted before
the door of the tabernacle towards the rising of the sun, when the
camp was at rest, and which led the van of the tribes in the march,
was a lion. Hence the Lord, who sprang out of Judah, being the
Son of David by descent, was thus announced in the Book of Revela-
tion, to John: "Behold the lion of the tribe of Juda; the Boot of
David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof. " And John, looking for the Lion, " beheld there a Lamb as
it had been slain," (Kev. v. 1--6. ) But, as I before said, power is
the characteristic of the lion, and therefore the emblem is continually
used in this sense.
The righteous are bold as a lion--strong in the Lord, in the
power of his might; they need not fear anything--neither life, nor
death, nor principalities, nor powers; but, covered with the panoply
of God, they are more than conquerors through him that loved them.
(Rom. viii. 37--39. ) And thus they are spoken of in God's word,
not only as clothed with robes of white, but palms of victory in their
hands. (Bev. vii. 9. )
At times when the Lord is revealing himself as coming to punish
Israel, then the fierceness and power of the lion are awfully intro-
duced,--" For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion
to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear, and go away; I will take
away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place,
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? LETTER XII.
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till they shall acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their
affliction they will seek me early. " (Hosea v. 14. )
But the lion is more frequently used to denote the tremendous
power and vigilance of the great enemy of souls. He is represented
as going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet.
v. 8;) continually watching mankind as his prey! It is a fearful
figure. Oftentimes, in a moment unlooked for, he springs on his
victim, and too fatally succeeds. But the eye of God's children must
be to the Lord; and so shall they with Paul be enabled to say, " I
was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord shall deli-
ver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly
kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " (2 Tim. iv.
17, 18. ) And thus, in Isaiah, when that kingdom is revealed, it is
beautifully said, "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast
shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed
shall walk there: and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,"
(Isa. xxxv. 9, 10. )
Satan, in the twofold character of the cunning serpent and terrific
lion, is set forth also in the ninety-first Psalm as subjugated under
the Messiah's power,--" Thou shalt tread upon the lion; and the
adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy
feet," (v. 13. )
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THE CREATION.
In the last days, when Israel shall rise into power, and shall be
(though a blessing to the world at large) as God's avengers on the
nations that have despised his Gospel, they are thus spoken of:--"The
Remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many
people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young Hon
among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goes through, both treadeth
down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall
be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut
off. " (Mic . v. 8, 9. )
The Wolf, also, is an animal very frequently chosen in the book of
God by way of illustration; but, (excepting in the blessing of Jacob
on Benjamin,) it always sets forth cruelty, and an insatiate appetite
for blood. Remember, in Livonia, its fearful power of destruction,
and the force of the illustration will be strongly before you.
The wolf is said to be the most rapacious in the evening; and thus
the figure is used in Jeremiah, when the prophet is mourning over
the rebellion of his people, and speaks of the desolation coming upon
them:--" Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a
wolf of the evenings shall spoil them; a leopard shall watch over their
cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces:
because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are
increased. " (Jer. v. 6. )
So, also, the prophet Habakkuk, under this emblem, describes the
terrible army of the Chaldees, about to come down on Israel:--" Their
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? LETTER XII.
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horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the
evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their
horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth
to eat. " (Hab. i. 8. )
When the prophet Zephaniah would set forth the debased state of
his people, how striking the imagery ! " Her princes within her are
as roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the
bones till the morrow. " The power of royalty, so good when exercised
for the welfare of the people, was turned to cruelty. The uprightness
and justness of the judge--a nation's blessing--was changed for rapa-
cious violence. (Zeph. iii. 3. )
In the New Testament, also, our blessed Lord frequently alludes
to this image. The great enemy of souls is the wolf, ever prowling
about the sheepfold of God. False teachers are wolves in sheep's
clothing; and Paul calls them grievous wolves entering in among them,
not sparing the flock. (Acts xx. ) Satan, as in the case of the young
woman whom he possessed at Philippi, will even at times enter in as
an angel, seeming to favour the Gospel; for he could say, when Paul
and Silas crossed over from Asia to Europe, at the call of the man of
Macedonia, " These men are the servants of the Most High God,
which show unto us the way of salvation. " But the Lord did not need
such aid; the evil spirit was rebuked by Paul; and then it was he
changed his character to that of a ravening wolf. But the Lord was
above all; for He sitteth above the water-floods. He had created the
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THE CREATION.
smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an
instrument for destruction, and He had created the waster to destroy,
(Isa. liv. 16, 17;) and when he had done his work, then the Lord
stayed his hand; and the earthquake shook the prison-house of his
children, and the jailer and his house were added to the church at
Philippi. (Acts xvi. 9--10. )
The Wolf also, as well as the lion, is most blessedly introduced in
the 11th of Isaiah, as feeding with the gentler animals, during the
reign of the Messiah--David's Son and David's Lord.
The Bear is an animal proverbially attached to her young; and
this is the image introduced with exceeding force in Prov. xvii.
12;
for when speaking of the pernicious tendency of the society of fools
--that is, of the unwise, who know not Christ, the Wisdom of God,
Solomon says,--" Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather
than a fool in his folly. " Yes, my dear children, far better to lose
one's life by the infuriated bear, than to fall into the hands of the
ungodly. Look at this figure again and again; for it is most striking.
The third of the four terrific beasts that rose up from the tem-
pestuous ocean, in the vision of Daniel, was like unto a bear;
setting forth the Medo-Persian empire. (Dan. vii. 3. ) And the
beast of Revelation xiii. 2, seems to be a compound of the four
beasts of Daniel, whose feet were as the feet of a bear.
It was a she bear that the Lord used in judgment on those de-
spising children that mocked his servant Elisha. (2 Kings ii. 24. ) A
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? LETTER XII.
363
mocker of God's messengers is a fearful character; for the Lord is
insulted through his servants.
The Fox. This creature is the emblem of deceit; and the facts
recorded of its cunning are wonderful:--sometimes it feigns itself
dead; and then, when the bird of the air lights on it, suddenly it
makes it its prey. In the Canticles, or Songs of Solomon (chap.
ii. 15), the little foxes, or perhaps the young ones, are represented
as spoiling the tender grapes. This has been thought to allude to
those cunning wiles of Satan, by which he checks the fruit in the
tender bud. And how true it is that many an act, excellent in
itself, has been spoiled by the deceiver coming in, who, with some
very trifling thing, too little at first to be noticed, has succeeded in
spoiling the tender grapes.
The Fox is also alluded to in that ever memorable passage, when
the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, said, " The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head. " " Every man went to his oxen home; and
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. " (Compare Matt. viii. 20;
John viii. 1. )
In allusion, most probably, to the cunning and fraud of Herod,
the Lord sent this message to him,--"Go ye, and tell that fox,
Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and to-morrow, and
the third day I shall be perfected. " (Luke xiii. 32. )
The Ox. When we see this animal grazing in the field, and led
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THE CREATION.
home so quietly in the evening, we should call to mind the Lord's
use of the figure in Isaiah i. 3,--"The ox knoweth his owner, and
the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider. '" How affecting is this remonstrance! What a happi-
ness to listen to the voice of the Lord--to be continually looking
for him, waiting his appearing !
The ox was not to be muzzled under the Mosaic law; but whilst
(as was the custom then) he trod out the corn, the same as our
thrashers now beat it out, he was to feed as he worked; it was the
reward of his labour. And so says the Apostle,--that the Lord
hath ordained, that they which preach the Gospel shall live of the
Gospel. (1 Cor. ix. 9--14. ) The prayer in the conclusion of the
144th Psalm is very beautiful, and probably the imagery refers to
Israel's blessedness in the last days,--though in anticipation, it should
be true of the Church of God now:--" That our sons may be as plants
grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-
stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: that our garners
may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring
forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen
may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going
out: that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that
people that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose God
is the Lord. "
And now we come to consider that emblem more frequently used
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? LETTER XII.
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in the Scriptures than any other--the lamb--nothing living so inno-
cent, so harmless, so gentle. There are two Scriptures, the one in the
1st Epistle of Peter, and the other in Revelation, of great interest,
when considering our blessed Lord under this figure. In the former,
the children of God are said to be "redeemed with the blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot, foreordained
before the foundation of the world. " (1 Pet. i. 19, 20. ) And in
Revelation xiii. 8, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as " the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. " And when we come with these
two scriptures to the first victim offered by man, and see it to be a
lamb, and that it was offered by faith, we cannot doubt but that
that faith rested on some promise of God connected with that Lamb,
the only-begotten of the Father. So also we may say of the burnt-
offering of Noah on coming out of the ark into the new world. In
short, the offerings of Abraham and the Patriarchs,--the Paschal
lamb, and the continual burnt-offering of the morning and evening
lamb, all had respect to God's promise, and looked forward to the
day when that promise should be fulfilled. Thus, when John the
Baptist first saw the Lord, he at once gathered the eye of the disciples
to all these offerings, and said, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. " (John i. 29. ) And our blessed Lord
himself unfolded the same truth (at least in part) to Nicodemus,
when he said, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten
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THE CREATION.
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. " (John iii. 16, 18. )
But the part of Scripture that most frequently alludes to our Lord
under this emblem, is the Revelation of St. John, from the fifth chapter
to the end; I think there are twenty-six references. In the fourth chap-
ter, he is most blessedly introduced as opening the Seven-sealed Book, in
the virtue of his death: -- " For I saw," says St. John, " a lamb, as it
had been slain, come and take the book out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne;" on it followed the triumphant song of the
redeemed, giving the Lamb all the glory of their redemption. It is
the Lamb, also, that opens the seals of the book, (chap. vi. ;) and when
the innumerable multitude are beheld around the throne of God, with
robes of white, and palms of victory, John is told, that because they
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb, therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve
him day and night. (Chap. vii. ) Also, when the accuser is cast down,
who accused God's children before him day and night, this is the
note of triumph,--" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death. " (B<<v. xii. 11. ) Also, chapter xiv. : " John looked, and,
lo! a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty
and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their fore-
heads. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. " And so,
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? LETTER XII.
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in Rev. xix. , the Church is called the Lamb's wife. And at the last,
when speaking of the glory of the Holy City, it is said, " The glory of
God did lighten it; and the Lamb is the light thereof. " (Rev. xxi. 23. )
But there is one passage more, to which I must especially call your
attention; it occurs in the sixth chapter, at the opening of the sixth
seal, and represents the Lamb with his character changed; and the
wicked dreading that countenance, which, till then, had exhibited
nothing but mercy. Yes, dear children, the countenance of the Saviour
will then exhibit wrath,--the wicked will be overwhelmed by it:
" The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and
every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand ? " (Rev. vi. )
Having thus, my dear children, looked at the passages which refer
to our blessed Lord as the Lamb, there are a few others which use the
same similitude, as it regards his children: and then the character the
Lord sustains is the Shepherd. Thus, in Isaiah, " He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and
carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young. " (Isa. xl. 11. ) Often as I have read this passage, yet it seems
sweeter to me this day than ever. Yes, Jesus is indeed the "Good
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THE CREATION.
Shepherd. " The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. You
remember, also, that very beautiful chapter, the last of John:--
" Lovest thou me ? " said the Lord to Peter--" Lovest thou me more
than these ? " Peter answered for himself, " Lord, thou knowest all
things, thou knowest that I love thee. " "Feed my lambs. "--That
was to be his first care. And surely the sweetest sight on earth is
to see the young early brought to Christ. His service is more than
perfect freedom; for adoption into God's family gives no less a
name than of sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor.
vi. 18. )
I suppose you all remember the parable of the little ewe lamb, that
lay in the poor man's bosom, and was unto him as his own daughter,
and of the cruel hand which spared his own flock and robbed the poor
man of his little all. (2 Sam. xii. 1--3. ) May we all think of this
parable practically; and never, in any wise, oppress the poor, but seek,
as the word of God says, always to remember them. (Gal. ii . 10. )
The Sheep. The memorable passage of the fifty-third of Isaiah is
most striking:--" He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth;"
alluding evidently to that quiet state of soul which the Lord manifested
before the priests, and elders, and Roman governor; for it is said,
" He answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor
marvelled greatly. " (Matt. xxvii. 14. ) But the sheep is most fre-
quently alluded to as describing the flock of Christ,--himself
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? LETTER XII.
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the Good Shepherd. The Gospel of John is exceedingly full on this
figure. The Shepherd is there represented as going before the sheep;
leading them out, and providing thein pastures; calling them by
name; knowing them all; protecting them; standing before them
when the wolf comes, and dying rather than they should die, (chap. x.
1--16. ) The sheep are represented as hearing the Shepherd's voice,
--following him,--not listening to the hireling's voice, but fleeing
from it. This is the figure; and how forcibly the Lord himself
applies it:--" I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the
sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not
for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am
known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. "
(Ver. 11--16. )
If you compare this last passage about the other sheep with the
Lord's prayer, in John xvii. 20, with his command to his disciples,
when he manifested himself to them in the Mount of Galilee, (Matt.
xxviii. 19,) with the account of the Holy Spirit's descent at Pentecost,
when it is said that devout men out of every nation under heaven heard
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THE CREATION.
All heaven gazed on that wondrous birth. But not only were the
angels spectators of the mighty scene, but in a measure were made
partakers of the joy of God and man. One of them, doubtless, high
among the ranks of those principalities and powers that the Lord had
created, was sent with the glorious tidings. And this was his message,
--" Fear not, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day, in the city of
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. . . And, suddenly, there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God,
and saying, Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace, good-
will toward men. " (Luke ii. 10--14. )
The Gospels relate the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of this
blessed Saviour; and the book of the Acts opens with the promise,
that in like manner as he ascended, so shall he descend. And this has
been his people's hope ever since his absence,--looking for, and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God.
And thus, my dear children, are we brought up to the history of
man at the present moment. The Lord Jesus is now at the right
hand of Power; and his people are looking for him; and, in all sim-
plicity of faith, resting alone in his precious blood and righteousness,
are seeking to adorn the doctrine of God, their Saviour, in all things;
and with their talents, to occupy until he comes. The sorrows of 6000
years are well nigh over; and a blessed sabbath is at hand. " Sweet
is the harp of prophecy" that celebrates this time. You remember
those most beautiful lines of Cowper:--
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? LETTER XI.
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" The groans of nature in this nether world,
Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end :
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung--
The time of rest, the promised sabbath comes.
Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh
Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things,
Is merely as the working of a sea
Before a calm that rocks itself to rest
For He whose car the winds are, and the clouds
The dust that wait upon his sultry march,
When sin has moved him, and his wrath is hot,
Shall visit earth in mercy; shall descend
Propitious in his chariot paved with love;
And what his storms have blasted and defaced
For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair. "
That you, my beloved children, may, when that day appeareth, be
enabled to look up with confidence, and say, " It is my God, and
I have waited for him; it is the Lord, I will rejoice in his salvation,"
is the sincere prayer of
Your affectionate Father.
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THE CREATION.
LETTER XII.
" WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER, AND RICHES, AND
WISDOM, AND STRENGTH, AND HONOUR, AND GLORY, AND BLESSING. AND EVERY
CREATURE WHICH IS IN HEAVEN, AND ON THE EARTH, AND UNDER THE EARTH,
AND SUCH AS ARE IN THE SEA, AND ALL THAT ARE IN THEM, HEARD I SAYING,
BLESSING, AND HONOUR, AND GLORY, AND POWER, BE UNTO HIM THAT SITTETH
UPON THE THRONE, AND UNTO THE LAMB FOR EVER AND EVER. "--Revelation
v. 12, 13.
My dear Children,
Do you remember, when living in Ireland, the circumstance of a dear
little boy at D. , who, having received a present of Noah's Ark, was
observed by his father very busy arranging the ferocious beasts of
prey with the gentler ones; and when the question was put to him,
as to what he was engaged in, he innocently replied, " Papa, I am
placing the animals as they will be in the happy time, when the leopard
shall lie down with the lamb, and the lion shall eat straw like the
ox. " (Isa. xi. 6--9. )
It interested us all at the time; it was a little child taking the word
in simplicity, which, indeed, is the only true way to profit by it. Yes,
dear children, that day is rapidly hastening; every thing around us
indicates its near approach; and then, in truth, shall " the groaning
creation be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
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? LETTER XII.
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liberty of the sons of God. " (Rom. viii. 19--23. ) But, as in that
beautiful quotation from Cowper, in the end of my last letter, though
the chariot of the Lord shall be paved with love to his children; not
so to his enemies--to the open blasphemer--the careless, or the self-
righteous, (Matt. xxii. 7--19. ) He comes in flaming fire, taking ven-
geance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes " to be glorified in his saints, and
to be admired in all them that believe. " (2 Thess. i. 8--10. )
The emblems of this day are very numerous; some of which are
continually before us--as the domestic animals. Of others we know
but little.
The Lion is the king of the forest; and the Wise man says in the
Book of Proverbs, that it is the strongest among beasts (Prov. xxviii.
1), and its whole appearance gives it at once pre-eminence; and thus,
through the Scriptures, it is continually alluded to.
In Ezek. i. 10 you will find the heads of the Cherubim to be the
man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle,--the emblems of intelligence,
power, stability, and swiftness.
In the blessing of Judah the figure also occurs,--" Judah is a lion's
whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down,
he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the
people be. " (Gen. xlix. 9, 10. ) From this, and from the concurrent
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THE CREATION.
testimony of Jewish history, it seems that the standard that floated
over the royal tribe of Judah, and which was always planted before
the door of the tabernacle towards the rising of the sun, when the
camp was at rest, and which led the van of the tribes in the march,
was a lion. Hence the Lord, who sprang out of Judah, being the
Son of David by descent, was thus announced in the Book of Revela-
tion, to John: "Behold the lion of the tribe of Juda; the Boot of
David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof. " And John, looking for the Lion, " beheld there a Lamb as
it had been slain," (Kev. v. 1--6. ) But, as I before said, power is
the characteristic of the lion, and therefore the emblem is continually
used in this sense.
The righteous are bold as a lion--strong in the Lord, in the
power of his might; they need not fear anything--neither life, nor
death, nor principalities, nor powers; but, covered with the panoply
of God, they are more than conquerors through him that loved them.
(Rom. viii. 37--39. ) And thus they are spoken of in God's word,
not only as clothed with robes of white, but palms of victory in their
hands. (Bev. vii. 9. )
At times when the Lord is revealing himself as coming to punish
Israel, then the fierceness and power of the lion are awfully intro-
duced,--" For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion
to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear, and go away; I will take
away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place,
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? LETTER XII.
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till they shall acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their
affliction they will seek me early. " (Hosea v. 14. )
But the lion is more frequently used to denote the tremendous
power and vigilance of the great enemy of souls. He is represented
as going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet.
v. 8;) continually watching mankind as his prey! It is a fearful
figure. Oftentimes, in a moment unlooked for, he springs on his
victim, and too fatally succeeds. But the eye of God's children must
be to the Lord; and so shall they with Paul be enabled to say, " I
was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord shall deli-
ver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly
kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " (2 Tim. iv.
17, 18. ) And thus, in Isaiah, when that kingdom is revealed, it is
beautifully said, "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast
shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed
shall walk there: and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,"
(Isa. xxxv. 9, 10. )
Satan, in the twofold character of the cunning serpent and terrific
lion, is set forth also in the ninety-first Psalm as subjugated under
the Messiah's power,--" Thou shalt tread upon the lion; and the
adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy
feet," (v. 13. )
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THE CREATION.
In the last days, when Israel shall rise into power, and shall be
(though a blessing to the world at large) as God's avengers on the
nations that have despised his Gospel, they are thus spoken of:--"The
Remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many
people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young Hon
among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goes through, both treadeth
down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall
be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut
off. " (Mic . v. 8, 9. )
The Wolf, also, is an animal very frequently chosen in the book of
God by way of illustration; but, (excepting in the blessing of Jacob
on Benjamin,) it always sets forth cruelty, and an insatiate appetite
for blood. Remember, in Livonia, its fearful power of destruction,
and the force of the illustration will be strongly before you.
The wolf is said to be the most rapacious in the evening; and thus
the figure is used in Jeremiah, when the prophet is mourning over
the rebellion of his people, and speaks of the desolation coming upon
them:--" Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a
wolf of the evenings shall spoil them; a leopard shall watch over their
cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces:
because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are
increased. " (Jer. v. 6. )
So, also, the prophet Habakkuk, under this emblem, describes the
terrible army of the Chaldees, about to come down on Israel:--" Their
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? LETTER XII.
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horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the
evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their
horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth
to eat. " (Hab. i. 8. )
When the prophet Zephaniah would set forth the debased state of
his people, how striking the imagery ! " Her princes within her are
as roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the
bones till the morrow. " The power of royalty, so good when exercised
for the welfare of the people, was turned to cruelty. The uprightness
and justness of the judge--a nation's blessing--was changed for rapa-
cious violence. (Zeph. iii. 3. )
In the New Testament, also, our blessed Lord frequently alludes
to this image. The great enemy of souls is the wolf, ever prowling
about the sheepfold of God. False teachers are wolves in sheep's
clothing; and Paul calls them grievous wolves entering in among them,
not sparing the flock. (Acts xx. ) Satan, as in the case of the young
woman whom he possessed at Philippi, will even at times enter in as
an angel, seeming to favour the Gospel; for he could say, when Paul
and Silas crossed over from Asia to Europe, at the call of the man of
Macedonia, " These men are the servants of the Most High God,
which show unto us the way of salvation. " But the Lord did not need
such aid; the evil spirit was rebuked by Paul; and then it was he
changed his character to that of a ravening wolf. But the Lord was
above all; for He sitteth above the water-floods. He had created the
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THE CREATION.
smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an
instrument for destruction, and He had created the waster to destroy,
(Isa. liv. 16, 17;) and when he had done his work, then the Lord
stayed his hand; and the earthquake shook the prison-house of his
children, and the jailer and his house were added to the church at
Philippi. (Acts xvi. 9--10. )
The Wolf also, as well as the lion, is most blessedly introduced in
the 11th of Isaiah, as feeding with the gentler animals, during the
reign of the Messiah--David's Son and David's Lord.
The Bear is an animal proverbially attached to her young; and
this is the image introduced with exceeding force in Prov. xvii.
12;
for when speaking of the pernicious tendency of the society of fools
--that is, of the unwise, who know not Christ, the Wisdom of God,
Solomon says,--" Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather
than a fool in his folly. " Yes, my dear children, far better to lose
one's life by the infuriated bear, than to fall into the hands of the
ungodly. Look at this figure again and again; for it is most striking.
The third of the four terrific beasts that rose up from the tem-
pestuous ocean, in the vision of Daniel, was like unto a bear;
setting forth the Medo-Persian empire. (Dan. vii. 3. ) And the
beast of Revelation xiii. 2, seems to be a compound of the four
beasts of Daniel, whose feet were as the feet of a bear.
It was a she bear that the Lord used in judgment on those de-
spising children that mocked his servant Elisha. (2 Kings ii. 24. ) A
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? LETTER XII.
363
mocker of God's messengers is a fearful character; for the Lord is
insulted through his servants.
The Fox. This creature is the emblem of deceit; and the facts
recorded of its cunning are wonderful:--sometimes it feigns itself
dead; and then, when the bird of the air lights on it, suddenly it
makes it its prey. In the Canticles, or Songs of Solomon (chap.
ii. 15), the little foxes, or perhaps the young ones, are represented
as spoiling the tender grapes. This has been thought to allude to
those cunning wiles of Satan, by which he checks the fruit in the
tender bud. And how true it is that many an act, excellent in
itself, has been spoiled by the deceiver coming in, who, with some
very trifling thing, too little at first to be noticed, has succeeded in
spoiling the tender grapes.
The Fox is also alluded to in that ever memorable passage, when
the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, said, " The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head. " " Every man went to his oxen home; and
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. " (Compare Matt. viii. 20;
John viii. 1. )
In allusion, most probably, to the cunning and fraud of Herod,
the Lord sent this message to him,--"Go ye, and tell that fox,
Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and to-morrow, and
the third day I shall be perfected. " (Luke xiii. 32. )
The Ox. When we see this animal grazing in the field, and led
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THE CREATION.
home so quietly in the evening, we should call to mind the Lord's
use of the figure in Isaiah i. 3,--"The ox knoweth his owner, and
the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider. '" How affecting is this remonstrance! What a happi-
ness to listen to the voice of the Lord--to be continually looking
for him, waiting his appearing !
The ox was not to be muzzled under the Mosaic law; but whilst
(as was the custom then) he trod out the corn, the same as our
thrashers now beat it out, he was to feed as he worked; it was the
reward of his labour. And so says the Apostle,--that the Lord
hath ordained, that they which preach the Gospel shall live of the
Gospel. (1 Cor. ix. 9--14. ) The prayer in the conclusion of the
144th Psalm is very beautiful, and probably the imagery refers to
Israel's blessedness in the last days,--though in anticipation, it should
be true of the Church of God now:--" That our sons may be as plants
grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-
stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: that our garners
may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring
forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen
may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going
out: that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that
people that is in such a case ; yea, happy is that people whose God
is the Lord. "
And now we come to consider that emblem more frequently used
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? LETTER XII.
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in the Scriptures than any other--the lamb--nothing living so inno-
cent, so harmless, so gentle. There are two Scriptures, the one in the
1st Epistle of Peter, and the other in Revelation, of great interest,
when considering our blessed Lord under this figure. In the former,
the children of God are said to be "redeemed with the blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot, foreordained
before the foundation of the world. " (1 Pet. i. 19, 20. ) And in
Revelation xiii. 8, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as " the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. " And when we come with these
two scriptures to the first victim offered by man, and see it to be a
lamb, and that it was offered by faith, we cannot doubt but that
that faith rested on some promise of God connected with that Lamb,
the only-begotten of the Father. So also we may say of the burnt-
offering of Noah on coming out of the ark into the new world. In
short, the offerings of Abraham and the Patriarchs,--the Paschal
lamb, and the continual burnt-offering of the morning and evening
lamb, all had respect to God's promise, and looked forward to the
day when that promise should be fulfilled. Thus, when John the
Baptist first saw the Lord, he at once gathered the eye of the disciples
to all these offerings, and said, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. " (John i. 29. ) And our blessed Lord
himself unfolded the same truth (at least in part) to Nicodemus,
when he said, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten
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THE CREATION.
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. " (John iii. 16, 18. )
But the part of Scripture that most frequently alludes to our Lord
under this emblem, is the Revelation of St. John, from the fifth chapter
to the end; I think there are twenty-six references. In the fourth chap-
ter, he is most blessedly introduced as opening the Seven-sealed Book, in
the virtue of his death: -- " For I saw," says St. John, " a lamb, as it
had been slain, come and take the book out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne;" on it followed the triumphant song of the
redeemed, giving the Lamb all the glory of their redemption. It is
the Lamb, also, that opens the seals of the book, (chap. vi. ;) and when
the innumerable multitude are beheld around the throne of God, with
robes of white, and palms of victory, John is told, that because they
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb, therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve
him day and night. (Chap. vii. ) Also, when the accuser is cast down,
who accused God's children before him day and night, this is the
note of triumph,--" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death. " (B<<v. xii. 11. ) Also, chapter xiv. : " John looked, and,
lo! a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty
and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their fore-
heads. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. " And so,
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? LETTER XII.
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in Rev. xix. , the Church is called the Lamb's wife. And at the last,
when speaking of the glory of the Holy City, it is said, " The glory of
God did lighten it; and the Lamb is the light thereof. " (Rev. xxi. 23. )
But there is one passage more, to which I must especially call your
attention; it occurs in the sixth chapter, at the opening of the sixth
seal, and represents the Lamb with his character changed; and the
wicked dreading that countenance, which, till then, had exhibited
nothing but mercy. Yes, dear children, the countenance of the Saviour
will then exhibit wrath,--the wicked will be overwhelmed by it:
" The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and
every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide
us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand ? " (Rev. vi. )
Having thus, my dear children, looked at the passages which refer
to our blessed Lord as the Lamb, there are a few others which use the
same similitude, as it regards his children: and then the character the
Lord sustains is the Shepherd. Thus, in Isaiah, " He shall feed his
flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and
carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young. " (Isa. xl. 11. ) Often as I have read this passage, yet it seems
sweeter to me this day than ever. Yes, Jesus is indeed the "Good
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THE CREATION.
Shepherd. " The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. You
remember, also, that very beautiful chapter, the last of John:--
" Lovest thou me ? " said the Lord to Peter--" Lovest thou me more
than these ? " Peter answered for himself, " Lord, thou knowest all
things, thou knowest that I love thee. " "Feed my lambs. "--That
was to be his first care. And surely the sweetest sight on earth is
to see the young early brought to Christ. His service is more than
perfect freedom; for adoption into God's family gives no less a
name than of sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor.
vi. 18. )
I suppose you all remember the parable of the little ewe lamb, that
lay in the poor man's bosom, and was unto him as his own daughter,
and of the cruel hand which spared his own flock and robbed the poor
man of his little all. (2 Sam. xii. 1--3. ) May we all think of this
parable practically; and never, in any wise, oppress the poor, but seek,
as the word of God says, always to remember them. (Gal. ii . 10. )
The Sheep. The memorable passage of the fifty-third of Isaiah is
most striking:--" He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth;"
alluding evidently to that quiet state of soul which the Lord manifested
before the priests, and elders, and Roman governor; for it is said,
" He answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor
marvelled greatly. " (Matt. xxvii. 14. ) But the sheep is most fre-
quently alluded to as describing the flock of Christ,--himself
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? LETTER XII.
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the Good Shepherd. The Gospel of John is exceedingly full on this
figure. The Shepherd is there represented as going before the sheep;
leading them out, and providing thein pastures; calling them by
name; knowing them all; protecting them; standing before them
when the wolf comes, and dying rather than they should die, (chap. x.
1--16. ) The sheep are represented as hearing the Shepherd's voice,
--following him,--not listening to the hireling's voice, but fleeing
from it. This is the figure; and how forcibly the Lord himself
applies it:--" I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the
sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not
for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am
known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. "
(Ver. 11--16. )
If you compare this last passage about the other sheep with the
Lord's prayer, in John xvii. 20, with his command to his disciples,
when he manifested himself to them in the Mount of Galilee, (Matt.
xxviii. 19,) with the account of the Holy Spirit's descent at Pentecost,
when it is said that devout men out of every nation under heaven heard
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