And surely the
sweetest
sight on earth is
to see the young early brought to Christ.
to see the young early brought to Christ.
Childrens - The Creation
" (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.
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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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? 368
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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? 370
THE CREATION.
in their own tongues the wonderful works of God, (Acts ii. 5,) with
the vision of the sheet knit at the four corners, that the Lord gave to
Peter, to show him that God had granted to the Gentiles repentance
unto life, (Acts x. 11;) and last of all, with Eph. ii. 14, 22, where
both are said to be one, and the middle wall of partition broken down
that before existed; then, I think, you will understand scripturally
the Lord's promise concerning the other sheep, and the one fold under
the one shepherd.
You will find many children who can repeat the twenty-third
Psalm,--" The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;" and happy
the child that can from the heart repeat it. Many other passages
I might refer to, such as Ezekiel xxxiv. , where the characters of the
true and false shepherds are described. Psalm lxxx. 1, where the
Lord, sitting between the cherubim, is styled the Shepherd of Israel;
and I Pet. v. 4, where he is called the chief Shepherd; and finally, in
Heb. xiii. 20, where he is called the Great Shepherd. But let these
suffice. The shepherd's character is one of the greatest interest;
and sweet is it to know the Good Shepherd's voice, and to follow it.
The Goat. This animal is not so often alluded to as the sheep;
though, on the great day of atonement, it was two kids of the
goats that, as the sin offering, were presented before the Lord, and
the one on whom the Lord's lot fell, died; and the other, with all the
transgressions of Israel, in all their sins confessed over its head by the
high priest, was led away by the hand of a fit man into the wilder-
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? LETTER XII.
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ness. (Lev. xvi. 9. ) The burnt offering also was taken either from
the sheep or the goats. (Lev. i. 10. )
The parable of the sheep and the goats, at the day of the Lord's
appearing, is very striking and awful. (Matt. xxv. 31, 32. ) It is
not sheep and swine, but sheep and goats. The one, that is, the sheep,
were really Christ's fold; the other had only a name. The one showed
the truth of their love; the other were barren. The one he welcomed
to his Father's presence; the other heard, and heard it once for ever,
" Depart from me. " But that day is not yet come. This is the day of
grace; and whoever comes to the Good Shepherd now, shall in no
wise be cast out; for he hath said,--" By me if any man enter in, he
shall be saved; and shall go in and out and find pasture. " (John x. 9. )
The Camel is sometimes, though not frequently, alluded to. In the
60th of Isaiah, the glory of Israel, in the last days, is set forth under
a great variety of emblems; indeed, if you read the chapter atten-
tively, you will find that there is not one day of the seven that has
not lent its imagery to show forth the unutterable happiness of that
time. Thus, when considering the emblems of the fifth day, we saw
Israel hastening to their long desolate and forgotten Jerusalem, with
the rapidity and fondness of the dove flying to its home; and now, on
the sixth, what can be more blessed than the following verses,--" The
multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and
Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and
incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the
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THE CREATION.
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of
Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance
on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. " (Isa. Lx. 6, 7. )
The meaning of our Lord's reproach to the Pharisees, that they
strained at a gnat, and swallowed a camel, is very obvious. They
payed the tithes of anise, mint, and cummin most rigorously; but they
neglected the weightier matters of the law--judgment, mercy, and
faith. (Matt. xxiii. 23, 24. ) So is it now. A person is sometimes
most scrupulous in a number of little things, right in themselves,
but is altogether neglectful of the great things of God's law; and the
fruits of the Spirit are unseen in him,--such as love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
(Gal. v. 22, 23. )
The exceeding danger attendant on great possessions, is also illus-
trated by a proverb that was well known to Israel,--" It is easier,"
said our Lord, " for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. " (Matt. xix. 24. )
But, the things impossible with men, are possible with God. Rich
men are stewards; they must give an account of the talent entrusted
to them. Some rich men love to lay out their riches for the glory
of God; some to lay them out on themselves; and some to hoard
and look at them;--the former is the true use of riches, which the Lord
will not forget; no, nor will he forget the cup of cold water given in the
name of a disciple. The Christian should be noble, full-hearted, and
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? LETTER XII.
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generous, a follower of Him who maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good; and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. "
His motto is, " Do good unto all men, especially unto those who are
of the household of faith. "
The Horse. You have read that wonderful description in Job xxxix.
19--24, of the war horse; now see how the Lord uses this figure
in Prov. xxi. 31,--"The horse is prepared against the day of battle:
but safety is of the Lord. " If you look at the former description of
the horse, victory seems certain. Not so, says God:--safety is of me.
How forcible the instruction to the Christian! He is never, in his
conflicts with the great adversary, to consider himself independent; he
is to fight on his knees. The watchman wakes in vain, the builder
builds in vain, if the Lord be not acknowledged. (Psalm cxxvii. 1. )
In Zechariah, under the vision of horses, red, speckled, and white,
is represented the Lord's minute observance of what is passing on the
earth. In Rev. vi. as the first four seals of the seven-sealed book are
opened, horses are the emblems:--the white horse, of victory; the
black horse, of famine; the pale horse, of death: and in the nineteenth
of Revelation the innumerable host of the redeemed are seen on
white horses. I do not, my beloved children, attempt to explain
these figures to you; but I am anxious to put before you the scrip-
tures, and would earnestly seek of God, that by his Holy Spirit he
would enlighten your minds on them; for we must ever remember
that " all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
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THE CREATION.
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works. " (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. )
The Ass knoweth his master's crib, Isa. i. 3. He knows where to
go for food. With this fact the Lord reproves his people, as I have
before remarked; therefore, even the sight of this lowly animal should
bring the question, Do I look to my God for food, for my daily bread,
yea, for every thing--aa this poor dumb animal looks to its owner ?
Other thoughts, also, should arise on seeing the ass. I should re-
member Him who was meek and lowly in heart--Zion's King,--who
rode into Jerusalem on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.
(Zech. ix. 9; Matt. xxi. 5. )
The Coney, exceeding wise, builds his house in the rock. I will
speak to you of this emblem when coming to the ant.
The Dog and Swine are awfully introduced in illustration, in
2 Pet. ii. 22. In each case they represent a man who for a time
ran well, but went back afterwards to the world; and whose last
state was worse than his first.
Having thus briefly looked at the scriptural illustrations drawn
from the quadruped family, we will now consider those derived
from the reptile and serpent tribes.
As the lion is used as an emblem of Satan's power, so the serpent
is of his subtlety and deceit; and, excepting the passage where the
Lord exhorts his disciples to be wise as serpents and harmless as
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? LETTER XII.
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doves, I am not aware that this illustration is ever used other-
wise than to set forth cruelty, cunning, and deceit.
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.
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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.
in their own tongues the wonderful works of God, (Acts ii. 5,) with
the vision of the sheet knit at the four corners, that the Lord gave to
Peter, to show him that God had granted to the Gentiles repentance
unto life, (Acts x. 11;) and last of all, with Eph. ii. 14, 22, where
both are said to be one, and the middle wall of partition broken down
that before existed; then, I think, you will understand scripturally
the Lord's promise concerning the other sheep, and the one fold under
the one shepherd.
You will find many children who can repeat the twenty-third
Psalm,--" The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;" and happy
the child that can from the heart repeat it. Many other passages
I might refer to, such as Ezekiel xxxiv. , where the characters of the
true and false shepherds are described. Psalm lxxx. 1, where the
Lord, sitting between the cherubim, is styled the Shepherd of Israel;
and I Pet. v. 4, where he is called the chief Shepherd; and finally, in
Heb. xiii. 20, where he is called the Great Shepherd. But let these
suffice. The shepherd's character is one of the greatest interest;
and sweet is it to know the Good Shepherd's voice, and to follow it.
The Goat. This animal is not so often alluded to as the sheep;
though, on the great day of atonement, it was two kids of the
goats that, as the sin offering, were presented before the Lord, and
the one on whom the Lord's lot fell, died; and the other, with all the
transgressions of Israel, in all their sins confessed over its head by the
high priest, was led away by the hand of a fit man into the wilder-
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? LETTER XII.
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ness. (Lev. xvi. 9. ) The burnt offering also was taken either from
the sheep or the goats. (Lev. i. 10. )
The parable of the sheep and the goats, at the day of the Lord's
appearing, is very striking and awful. (Matt. xxv. 31, 32. ) It is
not sheep and swine, but sheep and goats. The one, that is, the sheep,
were really Christ's fold; the other had only a name. The one showed
the truth of their love; the other were barren. The one he welcomed
to his Father's presence; the other heard, and heard it once for ever,
" Depart from me. " But that day is not yet come. This is the day of
grace; and whoever comes to the Good Shepherd now, shall in no
wise be cast out; for he hath said,--" By me if any man enter in, he
shall be saved; and shall go in and out and find pasture. " (John x. 9. )
The Camel is sometimes, though not frequently, alluded to. In the
60th of Isaiah, the glory of Israel, in the last days, is set forth under
a great variety of emblems; indeed, if you read the chapter atten-
tively, you will find that there is not one day of the seven that has
not lent its imagery to show forth the unutterable happiness of that
time. Thus, when considering the emblems of the fifth day, we saw
Israel hastening to their long desolate and forgotten Jerusalem, with
the rapidity and fondness of the dove flying to its home; and now, on
the sixth, what can be more blessed than the following verses,--" The
multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and
Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and
incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the
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THE CREATION.
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of
Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance
on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. " (Isa. Lx. 6, 7. )
The meaning of our Lord's reproach to the Pharisees, that they
strained at a gnat, and swallowed a camel, is very obvious. They
payed the tithes of anise, mint, and cummin most rigorously; but they
neglected the weightier matters of the law--judgment, mercy, and
faith. (Matt. xxiii. 23, 24. ) So is it now. A person is sometimes
most scrupulous in a number of little things, right in themselves,
but is altogether neglectful of the great things of God's law; and the
fruits of the Spirit are unseen in him,--such as love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
(Gal. v. 22, 23. )
The exceeding danger attendant on great possessions, is also illus-
trated by a proverb that was well known to Israel,--" It is easier,"
said our Lord, " for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. " (Matt. xix. 24. )
But, the things impossible with men, are possible with God. Rich
men are stewards; they must give an account of the talent entrusted
to them. Some rich men love to lay out their riches for the glory
of God; some to lay them out on themselves; and some to hoard
and look at them;--the former is the true use of riches, which the Lord
will not forget; no, nor will he forget the cup of cold water given in the
name of a disciple. The Christian should be noble, full-hearted, and
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? LETTER XII.
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generous, a follower of Him who maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good; and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. "
His motto is, " Do good unto all men, especially unto those who are
of the household of faith. "
The Horse. You have read that wonderful description in Job xxxix.
19--24, of the war horse; now see how the Lord uses this figure
in Prov. xxi. 31,--"The horse is prepared against the day of battle:
but safety is of the Lord. " If you look at the former description of
the horse, victory seems certain. Not so, says God:--safety is of me.
How forcible the instruction to the Christian! He is never, in his
conflicts with the great adversary, to consider himself independent; he
is to fight on his knees. The watchman wakes in vain, the builder
builds in vain, if the Lord be not acknowledged. (Psalm cxxvii. 1. )
In Zechariah, under the vision of horses, red, speckled, and white,
is represented the Lord's minute observance of what is passing on the
earth. In Rev. vi. as the first four seals of the seven-sealed book are
opened, horses are the emblems:--the white horse, of victory; the
black horse, of famine; the pale horse, of death: and in the nineteenth
of Revelation the innumerable host of the redeemed are seen on
white horses. I do not, my beloved children, attempt to explain
these figures to you; but I am anxious to put before you the scrip-
tures, and would earnestly seek of God, that by his Holy Spirit he
would enlighten your minds on them; for we must ever remember
that " all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
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THE CREATION.
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works. " (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. )
The Ass knoweth his master's crib, Isa. i. 3. He knows where to
go for food. With this fact the Lord reproves his people, as I have
before remarked; therefore, even the sight of this lowly animal should
bring the question, Do I look to my God for food, for my daily bread,
yea, for every thing--aa this poor dumb animal looks to its owner ?
Other thoughts, also, should arise on seeing the ass. I should re-
member Him who was meek and lowly in heart--Zion's King,--who
rode into Jerusalem on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.
(Zech. ix. 9; Matt. xxi. 5. )
The Coney, exceeding wise, builds his house in the rock. I will
speak to you of this emblem when coming to the ant.
The Dog and Swine are awfully introduced in illustration, in
2 Pet. ii. 22. In each case they represent a man who for a time
ran well, but went back afterwards to the world; and whose last
state was worse than his first.
Having thus briefly looked at the scriptural illustrations drawn
from the quadruped family, we will now consider those derived
from the reptile and serpent tribes.
As the lion is used as an emblem of Satan's power, so the serpent
is of his subtlety and deceit; and, excepting the passage where the
Lord exhorts his disciples to be wise as serpents and harmless as
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? LETTER XII.
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doves, I am not aware that this illustration is ever used other-
wise than to set forth cruelty, cunning, and deceit.
