) The mate and brood all gone,
and the lone bird solitary and in grief.
and the lone bird solitary and in grief.
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Something similar is the account in St. Matthew, (chap. iv. ver. 19;)
"henceforth," saith the Lord, " I will make you fishers of men. "
And truly this is a faithful picture of the gospel ministry: night after
night does the fisherman toil and labour, and sometimes with but little
success: he does not, however, give up his calling, but perseveres
through many a storm and tempest; and come when you will, he is
either mending his nets, or casting them; and times there are when
he returns home richly laden with spoil. So in the Christian ministry
--the net is cast by all waters; and in due season the labour is not in
vain iq the Lord. (1 Cor. xv. 58. ) Here or there an effectual door
is opened. (1 Cor. xvi. 9. ) " Launch out into the deep," is the
word. The net is cast in faith, and encloses a great multitude of fishes.
But while on this subject, suppose you turn to the prophecy of
Ezekiel, chap. xlvii. , and read from the first verse to the eleventh.
That these healing waters, flowing out from the temple of God--the
great multitude of fishes--and the fisherman sitting onEngedi and. E<<-
eglaim--all had a spiritual application, none will deny; and in all pro-
bability our blessed Lord alluded to this scripture, when he called the
Apostles " fishers of men;" for though the prophecy, doubtless, refers
to Israel in the last days, who shall, indeed, be sent forth in the power of
the Holy Ghost, and be the Lord's instruments in carrying out
the good tidings to those who have not heard his name, nor seen his
glory, (Isa. lxvi. 19,) and thus, in the fullest sense, be " fishers of men,"
whose spoil shall be "as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many;"
M
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? 242
THE CREATION.
yet, also, it no doubt, in spirit, refers to the gospel ministry, which,
from the Apostles' times to the present, has been the means of
abundant blessing to nations far and wide.
Having thus briefly looked at this passage in Ezekiel, we will turn
now to the 13th of Matthew. The subject is there quite of a different
character, although the illustration is drawn from the same source.
" Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into
the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew
to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast
the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall
come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just; and shall
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. " (Matt. xiii. 47--50. )
We watched the fishermen some evenings since. It was with great
quietness they encircled their prey; and when all things were ready,
they began silently to draw in their nets; at last the fish felt some
strange movement in the waters, and the dread reality burst upon
them: but it was too late to escape--they were all dragged to the
land. And so this scripture tells us it will be at the end,--multitudes
will go on sporting in the stream of life--at last the time of casting
the net will come, and then the dread reality will also burst on them.
The net will encircle all; not one will escape. *
" The parables generally convey some one great truth,--in this one, the certainty
of all appearing before God seems to be pointed out.
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The allusions to this part of creation are not very frequent in the
scriptures; but when introduced, it is with great force. There
are five incidents, or facts, which are of great interest:--1st. It was a
Great Fish that the Lord had prepared to swallow up Jonah, which
thus became, for three days and three nights, the prophet's miraculous
resting place; affording thereby that most wonderful illustration of
our blessed Lord's lying three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. (Jonah i. 17; Matt. xii. 40. ) 2nd. It was a fish that was
caught by Peter, that supplied the Lord with the exact sum of the
tribute-money, for himself and his servant. (Matt. xvii. 27. ) 3rd. It
was fish and bread that he provided for his disciples at the sea of
Galilee. (John xxi . 9. ) 4th. It was five barley loaves and two fishes
that he multiplied into a repast sufficient for the five thousand; and
there was left of the fragments, twelve baskets full. (Matt. xiv. 15--
21. ) 5 th. It was of the broiled fish and honeycomb that the Lord
ate after his resurrection. (Luke xxiv. 42, 43. )
The passage which I have selected from Deuteronomy xxxii. 11, as
the motto of this letter, is replete with beauty. The eagle is, as it
were, the king of birds, and manifests great tenderness and solicitude
for its young. When the time of their flight has arrived, the parent
bird stirs up her nest, and flutters over them; and the eaglets, encour-
aged by her call, leave their eyrie, or nest, and essay to fly; she
watches, with intense fondness, their every movement; and if they
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? 244
THE CREATION.
for a moment falter, darts beneath them, and spreading her broad
expansive wings, bears them on high, free from every danger. " I have
borne thee, saith the Lord, as on eagles' wings," (Exodus xix. 4;) for
thus the Lord, the King of his people, led Israel, and kept them all
the wilderness through. And so in like manner he sustains his people
now; for whatever happened to Israel then was for our example upon
whom the ends of the world are come. (1 Cor. x. 11. )
There is also a peculiarly beautiful passage in Isaiah, where the
eagle's flight is used in the way of illustration, to show the blessed-
ness of waiting upon God. --" Hast thou not known ? hast thou not
heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? There is no searching
of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them
that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. xl. 28--31. )
Here the contrast is evidently drawn between human and Divine
strength--Saul's armour and David's sling. (1 Sam. xvii. 38--40. )
Have you, my dear children, ever watched, when at Lugnaquilla,
the eagle in its flight? have you seen it soar on high, gazing as it
were on the sun ? This is the figure of the child of the Lord that
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24. r>
waits on him--he shall soar on high, with a hope full of immortality
--he shall run in the Divine life, and not be weary; and walk amid
the trials of the wilderness, and not faint.
There is also another most striking use of this bird as a similitude
in the 17th of Luke, 20--37. The Lord had been conversing with
his disciples, relative to " the days of the Son of manand when
he had reached that part, " then shall two be in the field, one shall be
taken and the other left"--unable any longer to restrain their anxious
desires, they burst forth with the cry, "Where, Lord? " and he
replied, " Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. " This answer was evidently a direct appeal to their con-
sciences. See * that you are ready to meet the Lord; so that when
he appears, you may mount up as on eagles' wings, to his presence.
There is a passage, my dear children, in Isaiah xxxi. 5, that has
often struck me with great force. --"As birds flying, so will the Lord
of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, also he will deliver it; and
passing over, he will preserve it. " This must allude to the exceeding
rapidity of the flight of birds. And thus the Lord will hasten for
his people's deliverance ; Sennacherib, with his forces, may cover the
valleys, and come up like the Lion from the swelling of Jordan; and
Rabshakeh, his general, may insult the Lord's children on the very
? This figure seems evidently to denote the concentrating, or gathering together
at a given point. An Eastern traveller, Dr. Clarke, says, that the eagle and
vulture will scent or see a carcase in the wilderness at an incredible distance,
and hasten their flight to it.
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? 246
THE CREATION.
walls of Zion; but the Lord will dart down as the lightning for
their deliverance; he will come riding on the wings of the cherub;
yea, he will fly on the wings of the wind (Ps. xviii. 10); pass-
ing over, he will protect them, not a spear shall fall on his Israel,
nor an arrow light on his favoured Jerusalem. (Isaiah xxxvii. 21, 87. )
But, my beloved children, if the eagle sets forth the watchful care
of the Lord over his people, and the swiftness of his mercy to help;
other emblems bring out other parts of his gracious character.
The lamentation of our blessed Lord over Jerusalem can never be
forgotten,--" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets,
and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings; and ye would not," (Matt . xxiii. 37. ) Perhaps
amid the rural scenes of life, nothing is more full of interest than
the mother bird gathering her brood beneath the covert of her wings
whilst the hawk is hovering nigh. Safety and warmth are combined
in that protection; and when the enemy is gone, the little family
again sally forth; but safety is in keeping close to those wings that
alone can shelter. The emblem needs no application. The Lord is
all this, and infinitely more to his people. It was a beautiful saying
of the old Jews, when a Gentile was converted, and brought to eat
of the Paschal Lamb, " This Gentile is now come to dwell beneath
the wings of the shadow of the Majesty of God. " The allusion was
in all probability to the wings of the cherubim, in the Most Holy
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247
Place; and I have no doubt, that all the references in the Psalms to
the shadowing wings of the Almighty, had a direct reference to
those cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. (Heb. ix. 1, 5. )
In Jeremiah viii. 7, the Lord introduces the birds of passage, and
thus remonstrates with his people: " Yea, the Stork in the heaven
knoweth her appointed times, and the Turtle and the Swallow observe
the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of
the Lord. "
Thus, ever, the gathering of the swallows on our autumnal
morning comes to God's children with instruction; and is a call to
them for watchfulness of the times and seasons to fulfil his will.
The Psalmist, in the 84th Psalm, which I referred to in the fourth
day, has a beautiful allusion to the swallow and the sparrow. The
Psalm thus opens:--" How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of
hosts! my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord:
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Yea, the
sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,) thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my
King, and my God. " The Jews, in their version of this Psalm,
and in which they are followed by some eminent Christians, put the
clause concerning the sparrow and swallow in a parenthesis, as above,
and the sense then would be, that whilst these birds have both been
careful to provide a nest to lay their young, the Psalmist had also
his rest--his place of assured confidence and strength, even the
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? 248 THE CREATION.
altars of his God. And so the child of God now has his rest; for
gazing continually on the offering that rose up before God as a sweet
savor, he has rest with Jesus. Thus^ my dear children, so trifling a
thing as the nest of a swallow or sparrow, if the heart is right with
God, will bring to the remembrance of the child of God, that he
also has a rest; for his dwelling is in the secret place of the Most
High, and his abiding place under the shadow of the Almighty.
(Psalm xci. 1. )
Many a heart in trial has found an expression for its grief in that
mournful passage of the Psalmist, " I watch, and am as a sparrow
alone upon the house top. " (Ps. cii. 7.
) The mate and brood all gone,
and the lone bird solitary and in grief. But O, how sweet to turn
from that scene, and in hope to realize the time when God's purposes
shall be fulfilled, and he will again " set the solitary in families. " Yes,
brighter days await the child of light--spring shall assuredly come;
and God will compass the lone one about with songs of deliverance.
(Ps. xxxii. 7; cxlii. 7. )
No bird is so familiar to us as the sparrow, and this makes the
constant allusion to it so very precious. " Are not," said our gracious
Lord, " two sparrows sold for a farthing; and one of them shall not
fall on the ground without your Father; but the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows. " (Matt . x. 29, 32. ) How full of consolation is
this passage. I remember, in a long illness, when the sight of the
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249
sparrow, and the application of this passage, in the power of the Spirit,
to my heart, gave me a comfort I cannot describe. Truly we may
say, in the midst of every trial, " I will not let go my confidence; for
I am of more value than many sparrows. "
But perhaps the bird the most frequently alluded to in scripture is
the Dove. The first mention of it is full of interest. It bore the
olive-branch to Noah ; and was God's messenger to the Patriarch, to
tell him that the waters were abated. (Gen. viii. 11. ) And when the
Spirit of God descended on Him who came with the olive-branch
from the throne of God, proclaiming peace and good-will to man,
(Lukeii. 14,) it was in a bodily shape like a dove. (Luke iii. 22. )
And again, when our blessed Lord would choose the emblem, by
which he might call his children to harmlessness, the dove was the
figure:--" Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. "
(Matt. x. 16. )
The rapid flight of the dove, and its love for home, is also beauti-
fully used in Isaiah, where the Prophet, in the glory of the latter days,
sees the rapid return of Israel, to their long desolate, but not forgotten
Jerusalem; and exclaims, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as
doves to their windows! "* (Chap. lx. ver. 8. )
The dove is also continually used as the emblem of mourning.
? The word means "an aperture;" and here, evidently, the allusion is to the
dove-cot. --Lees Hebrew Lexicon.
M3
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? 250
THE CREATION.
The following are some of the passages with this allusion:--Isaiah
lix. 11; Ezekiel viL 16; Nahum ii. 7.
But there is one passage more, that in no wise must be omitted.
It occurs in Psalm lxviiL 13:--" Though ye have lain among the
pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and
her feathers with yellow gold. " The scene of the Psalm is Israel
inarching through the wilderness. The first verse was always uttered
by Moses when the camp moved. (Numb. x. 35. ) The first six
verses are introductory; and then the song takes a sublime and rapid
retrospect of the Lord's dealings with his people. It looks back on the
sorrows of Egypt, and forward to the glories of Canaan. But scenes
of brighter glory burst upon the vision of the Prophet;--he sees the
ascension of Israels great Deliverer, leading captivity captive. It is
no longer the many thousands of Israel; but the chariots of God,
even thousands of angels; and all is triumph. This being the order
of the Psalm, the deliverance of Egypt is but the type of the greater
deliverance: and in the verse above quoted, we see, under one of the
most beautiful figures that can be conceived, the glory of the resur-
rection of the Lord, the first-fruits; and of his church, the harvest.
AVhat more descriptive of the grave, than the potsherd cast aside ? --.
what more sublime emblem of the resurrection, than the " wings of a
dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold ? " Like
the chrysalis,--to-day all silent in death--to-morrow, ascending in
the sunbeam with wings of inconceivable beauty.
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The pathetic cry of the Psalmist, in the fifty-fifth Psalm, which
seems indeed to be the utterance of our Lord in the garden, gets its
emblem in this bird of peace:--" O that I had wings like a dove! for
then would I fly away, and be at rest! Lo, then would I wander far
off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest. " (Ver. 6--8. )
In the Song of Solomon, (sometimes called the Canticles,) love and
truth, both in the Lord and his people, are beautifully set forth under
this figure. See, especially, chap. i. 15; ii. 14; iv. 1; v. 2; vi. 9.
But sometimes, beloved children, the birds of heaven are used as
the emblem of judgment: and though there is not the same pleasure
in referring to these passages, yet we must remember that both are
equally the word of God, and each most useful in its place.
No one thing is more strongly insisted on in the scriptures, next to
the fear and love of God, than the obedience of children to their
parents. It was embodied in the Ten Commandments, and written
by God himself on the tables of stone. " Honour thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee. " (Exod. xx. 12. ) This is called, when reiterated by
the apostle Paul, the first commandment with promise. (Ephes. vi. 2. )
Therefore, with this solemn declaration of the Lord's will, one is not
surprised that the stubborn and rebellious son, the glutton, and the
drunkard, should, at God's command, have been stoned to death with
out the camp. (Deut . xxi. 18, 21. ) And the figure taken from this
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? 252
THE CREATION.
day is equally strong. It occurs in Proverbs xxx. 17,--"The eye
that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the
ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, and the young eagles shall eat
it. " See also chap. xx. ver. 20. If these pages should meet the eye of
a disobedient child, may God in his infinite mercy, ere it be too late,
bring such a one back--the prodigal to his father's house. (Luke
xv. 21. )
Some children are very fond of money, and love to get little boxes,
and hoard it up; and many grown-up children have the same pro-
pensity: but the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim. vi. 10);
and covetousness is called idolatry (Eph. v. 5. ) How striking is the
word of Solomon, "Labour not to be rich; cease from thine own
wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? for riches
certainly make to themselves wings, they fly away, as an eagle towards
heaven. "--This moment in possession, the next gone. The rich man
is a steward; and if faithful to his trust, he feeds the hungry, clothes
the naked, and sends portions to them for whom nothing is prepared.
His riches are a blessing to himself and to others. Learn, then, my
beloved children, to compassionate the poor,--help them with the
little you have; and show mercy with cheerfulness: and never speak
unkindly to the poorest person. A penny given with cheerfulness
and compassion is more welcome to the heart, than a much larger sum
given with chilling coldness.
In the terrible judgments on Edom, in the last days, all the most
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? LETTER X.
2o3
forbidding of the birds of prey are introduced as building their nests
in its ruins:--"But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it;
the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out
upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall
call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all
her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her
palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be
a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the
desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find
for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest,
and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the
vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of
the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall
want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it
hath gathered them. " (Isaiah xxxiv. 11--16. )
How awful is this description; and one turns from it with delight
to the next chapter: for the same hour that brings judgment on Edom
is full of blessing to Israel. " The wilderness and the solitary place
shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom
as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy
and singing. " But read the chapter throughout: it is full of triumph,
full of blessing.
I might, my beloved children, enlarge yet more; but you can search
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? 254
THE CREATION.
out yourselves other passages, where the creatures of this day's crea-
tion are used in illustration. Indeed, to the mind seeking for instruc-
tion, everything around ministers to it . May you be found among
the Israel of God; and then, when the Lord shall come in his glory,
you shall be caught up to meet him in the air, and so be ever with the
Lord. (1 Thess. iv. 17. ) This is the earnest prayer of
Your affectionate Father.
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? LETTER X.
241
Something similar is the account in St. Matthew, (chap. iv. ver. 19;)
"henceforth," saith the Lord, " I will make you fishers of men. "
And truly this is a faithful picture of the gospel ministry: night after
night does the fisherman toil and labour, and sometimes with but little
success: he does not, however, give up his calling, but perseveres
through many a storm and tempest; and come when you will, he is
either mending his nets, or casting them; and times there are when
he returns home richly laden with spoil. So in the Christian ministry
--the net is cast by all waters; and in due season the labour is not in
vain iq the Lord. (1 Cor. xv. 58. ) Here or there an effectual door
is opened. (1 Cor. xvi. 9. ) " Launch out into the deep," is the
word. The net is cast in faith, and encloses a great multitude of fishes.
But while on this subject, suppose you turn to the prophecy of
Ezekiel, chap. xlvii. , and read from the first verse to the eleventh.
That these healing waters, flowing out from the temple of God--the
great multitude of fishes--and the fisherman sitting onEngedi and. E<<-
eglaim--all had a spiritual application, none will deny; and in all pro-
bability our blessed Lord alluded to this scripture, when he called the
Apostles " fishers of men;" for though the prophecy, doubtless, refers
to Israel in the last days, who shall, indeed, be sent forth in the power of
the Holy Ghost, and be the Lord's instruments in carrying out
the good tidings to those who have not heard his name, nor seen his
glory, (Isa. lxvi. 19,) and thus, in the fullest sense, be " fishers of men,"
whose spoil shall be "as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many;"
M
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? 242
THE CREATION.
yet, also, it no doubt, in spirit, refers to the gospel ministry, which,
from the Apostles' times to the present, has been the means of
abundant blessing to nations far and wide.
Having thus briefly looked at this passage in Ezekiel, we will turn
now to the 13th of Matthew. The subject is there quite of a different
character, although the illustration is drawn from the same source.
" Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into
the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew
to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast
the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall
come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just; and shall
cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. " (Matt. xiii. 47--50. )
We watched the fishermen some evenings since. It was with great
quietness they encircled their prey; and when all things were ready,
they began silently to draw in their nets; at last the fish felt some
strange movement in the waters, and the dread reality burst upon
them: but it was too late to escape--they were all dragged to the
land. And so this scripture tells us it will be at the end,--multitudes
will go on sporting in the stream of life--at last the time of casting
the net will come, and then the dread reality will also burst on them.
The net will encircle all; not one will escape. *
" The parables generally convey some one great truth,--in this one, the certainty
of all appearing before God seems to be pointed out.
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243
The allusions to this part of creation are not very frequent in the
scriptures; but when introduced, it is with great force. There
are five incidents, or facts, which are of great interest:--1st. It was a
Great Fish that the Lord had prepared to swallow up Jonah, which
thus became, for three days and three nights, the prophet's miraculous
resting place; affording thereby that most wonderful illustration of
our blessed Lord's lying three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. (Jonah i. 17; Matt. xii. 40. ) 2nd. It was a fish that was
caught by Peter, that supplied the Lord with the exact sum of the
tribute-money, for himself and his servant. (Matt. xvii. 27. ) 3rd. It
was fish and bread that he provided for his disciples at the sea of
Galilee. (John xxi . 9. ) 4th. It was five barley loaves and two fishes
that he multiplied into a repast sufficient for the five thousand; and
there was left of the fragments, twelve baskets full. (Matt. xiv. 15--
21. ) 5 th. It was of the broiled fish and honeycomb that the Lord
ate after his resurrection. (Luke xxiv. 42, 43. )
The passage which I have selected from Deuteronomy xxxii. 11, as
the motto of this letter, is replete with beauty. The eagle is, as it
were, the king of birds, and manifests great tenderness and solicitude
for its young. When the time of their flight has arrived, the parent
bird stirs up her nest, and flutters over them; and the eaglets, encour-
aged by her call, leave their eyrie, or nest, and essay to fly; she
watches, with intense fondness, their every movement; and if they
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THE CREATION.
for a moment falter, darts beneath them, and spreading her broad
expansive wings, bears them on high, free from every danger. " I have
borne thee, saith the Lord, as on eagles' wings," (Exodus xix. 4;) for
thus the Lord, the King of his people, led Israel, and kept them all
the wilderness through. And so in like manner he sustains his people
now; for whatever happened to Israel then was for our example upon
whom the ends of the world are come. (1 Cor. x. 11. )
There is also a peculiarly beautiful passage in Isaiah, where the
eagle's flight is used in the way of illustration, to show the blessed-
ness of waiting upon God. --" Hast thou not known ? hast thou not
heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? There is no searching
of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them
that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. xl. 28--31. )
Here the contrast is evidently drawn between human and Divine
strength--Saul's armour and David's sling. (1 Sam. xvii. 38--40. )
Have you, my dear children, ever watched, when at Lugnaquilla,
the eagle in its flight? have you seen it soar on high, gazing as it
were on the sun ? This is the figure of the child of the Lord that
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24. r>
waits on him--he shall soar on high, with a hope full of immortality
--he shall run in the Divine life, and not be weary; and walk amid
the trials of the wilderness, and not faint.
There is also another most striking use of this bird as a similitude
in the 17th of Luke, 20--37. The Lord had been conversing with
his disciples, relative to " the days of the Son of manand when
he had reached that part, " then shall two be in the field, one shall be
taken and the other left"--unable any longer to restrain their anxious
desires, they burst forth with the cry, "Where, Lord? " and he
replied, " Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. " This answer was evidently a direct appeal to their con-
sciences. See * that you are ready to meet the Lord; so that when
he appears, you may mount up as on eagles' wings, to his presence.
There is a passage, my dear children, in Isaiah xxxi. 5, that has
often struck me with great force. --"As birds flying, so will the Lord
of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending, also he will deliver it; and
passing over, he will preserve it. " This must allude to the exceeding
rapidity of the flight of birds. And thus the Lord will hasten for
his people's deliverance ; Sennacherib, with his forces, may cover the
valleys, and come up like the Lion from the swelling of Jordan; and
Rabshakeh, his general, may insult the Lord's children on the very
? This figure seems evidently to denote the concentrating, or gathering together
at a given point. An Eastern traveller, Dr. Clarke, says, that the eagle and
vulture will scent or see a carcase in the wilderness at an incredible distance,
and hasten their flight to it.
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THE CREATION.
walls of Zion; but the Lord will dart down as the lightning for
their deliverance; he will come riding on the wings of the cherub;
yea, he will fly on the wings of the wind (Ps. xviii. 10); pass-
ing over, he will protect them, not a spear shall fall on his Israel,
nor an arrow light on his favoured Jerusalem. (Isaiah xxxvii. 21, 87. )
But, my beloved children, if the eagle sets forth the watchful care
of the Lord over his people, and the swiftness of his mercy to help;
other emblems bring out other parts of his gracious character.
The lamentation of our blessed Lord over Jerusalem can never be
forgotten,--" O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets,
and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings; and ye would not," (Matt . xxiii. 37. ) Perhaps
amid the rural scenes of life, nothing is more full of interest than
the mother bird gathering her brood beneath the covert of her wings
whilst the hawk is hovering nigh. Safety and warmth are combined
in that protection; and when the enemy is gone, the little family
again sally forth; but safety is in keeping close to those wings that
alone can shelter. The emblem needs no application. The Lord is
all this, and infinitely more to his people. It was a beautiful saying
of the old Jews, when a Gentile was converted, and brought to eat
of the Paschal Lamb, " This Gentile is now come to dwell beneath
the wings of the shadow of the Majesty of God. " The allusion was
in all probability to the wings of the cherubim, in the Most Holy
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247
Place; and I have no doubt, that all the references in the Psalms to
the shadowing wings of the Almighty, had a direct reference to
those cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. (Heb. ix. 1, 5. )
In Jeremiah viii. 7, the Lord introduces the birds of passage, and
thus remonstrates with his people: " Yea, the Stork in the heaven
knoweth her appointed times, and the Turtle and the Swallow observe
the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of
the Lord. "
Thus, ever, the gathering of the swallows on our autumnal
morning comes to God's children with instruction; and is a call to
them for watchfulness of the times and seasons to fulfil his will.
The Psalmist, in the 84th Psalm, which I referred to in the fourth
day, has a beautiful allusion to the swallow and the sparrow. The
Psalm thus opens:--" How amiable are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of
hosts! my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord:
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Yea, the
sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,) thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my
King, and my God. " The Jews, in their version of this Psalm,
and in which they are followed by some eminent Christians, put the
clause concerning the sparrow and swallow in a parenthesis, as above,
and the sense then would be, that whilst these birds have both been
careful to provide a nest to lay their young, the Psalmist had also
his rest--his place of assured confidence and strength, even the
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? 248 THE CREATION.
altars of his God. And so the child of God now has his rest; for
gazing continually on the offering that rose up before God as a sweet
savor, he has rest with Jesus. Thus^ my dear children, so trifling a
thing as the nest of a swallow or sparrow, if the heart is right with
God, will bring to the remembrance of the child of God, that he
also has a rest; for his dwelling is in the secret place of the Most
High, and his abiding place under the shadow of the Almighty.
(Psalm xci. 1. )
Many a heart in trial has found an expression for its grief in that
mournful passage of the Psalmist, " I watch, and am as a sparrow
alone upon the house top. " (Ps. cii. 7.
) The mate and brood all gone,
and the lone bird solitary and in grief. But O, how sweet to turn
from that scene, and in hope to realize the time when God's purposes
shall be fulfilled, and he will again " set the solitary in families. " Yes,
brighter days await the child of light--spring shall assuredly come;
and God will compass the lone one about with songs of deliverance.
(Ps. xxxii. 7; cxlii. 7. )
No bird is so familiar to us as the sparrow, and this makes the
constant allusion to it so very precious. " Are not," said our gracious
Lord, " two sparrows sold for a farthing; and one of them shall not
fall on the ground without your Father; but the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows. " (Matt . x. 29, 32. ) How full of consolation is
this passage. I remember, in a long illness, when the sight of the
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? LETTER X.
249
sparrow, and the application of this passage, in the power of the Spirit,
to my heart, gave me a comfort I cannot describe. Truly we may
say, in the midst of every trial, " I will not let go my confidence; for
I am of more value than many sparrows. "
But perhaps the bird the most frequently alluded to in scripture is
the Dove. The first mention of it is full of interest. It bore the
olive-branch to Noah ; and was God's messenger to the Patriarch, to
tell him that the waters were abated. (Gen. viii. 11. ) And when the
Spirit of God descended on Him who came with the olive-branch
from the throne of God, proclaiming peace and good-will to man,
(Lukeii. 14,) it was in a bodily shape like a dove. (Luke iii. 22. )
And again, when our blessed Lord would choose the emblem, by
which he might call his children to harmlessness, the dove was the
figure:--" Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. "
(Matt. x. 16. )
The rapid flight of the dove, and its love for home, is also beauti-
fully used in Isaiah, where the Prophet, in the glory of the latter days,
sees the rapid return of Israel, to their long desolate, but not forgotten
Jerusalem; and exclaims, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as
doves to their windows! "* (Chap. lx. ver. 8. )
The dove is also continually used as the emblem of mourning.
? The word means "an aperture;" and here, evidently, the allusion is to the
dove-cot. --Lees Hebrew Lexicon.
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THE CREATION.
The following are some of the passages with this allusion:--Isaiah
lix. 11; Ezekiel viL 16; Nahum ii. 7.
But there is one passage more, that in no wise must be omitted.
It occurs in Psalm lxviiL 13:--" Though ye have lain among the
pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and
her feathers with yellow gold. " The scene of the Psalm is Israel
inarching through the wilderness. The first verse was always uttered
by Moses when the camp moved. (Numb. x. 35. ) The first six
verses are introductory; and then the song takes a sublime and rapid
retrospect of the Lord's dealings with his people. It looks back on the
sorrows of Egypt, and forward to the glories of Canaan. But scenes
of brighter glory burst upon the vision of the Prophet;--he sees the
ascension of Israels great Deliverer, leading captivity captive. It is
no longer the many thousands of Israel; but the chariots of God,
even thousands of angels; and all is triumph. This being the order
of the Psalm, the deliverance of Egypt is but the type of the greater
deliverance: and in the verse above quoted, we see, under one of the
most beautiful figures that can be conceived, the glory of the resur-
rection of the Lord, the first-fruits; and of his church, the harvest.
AVhat more descriptive of the grave, than the potsherd cast aside ? --.
what more sublime emblem of the resurrection, than the " wings of a
dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold ? " Like
the chrysalis,--to-day all silent in death--to-morrow, ascending in
the sunbeam with wings of inconceivable beauty.
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The pathetic cry of the Psalmist, in the fifty-fifth Psalm, which
seems indeed to be the utterance of our Lord in the garden, gets its
emblem in this bird of peace:--" O that I had wings like a dove! for
then would I fly away, and be at rest! Lo, then would I wander far
off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest. " (Ver. 6--8. )
In the Song of Solomon, (sometimes called the Canticles,) love and
truth, both in the Lord and his people, are beautifully set forth under
this figure. See, especially, chap. i. 15; ii. 14; iv. 1; v. 2; vi. 9.
But sometimes, beloved children, the birds of heaven are used as
the emblem of judgment: and though there is not the same pleasure
in referring to these passages, yet we must remember that both are
equally the word of God, and each most useful in its place.
No one thing is more strongly insisted on in the scriptures, next to
the fear and love of God, than the obedience of children to their
parents. It was embodied in the Ten Commandments, and written
by God himself on the tables of stone. " Honour thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee. " (Exod. xx. 12. ) This is called, when reiterated by
the apostle Paul, the first commandment with promise. (Ephes. vi. 2. )
Therefore, with this solemn declaration of the Lord's will, one is not
surprised that the stubborn and rebellious son, the glutton, and the
drunkard, should, at God's command, have been stoned to death with
out the camp. (Deut . xxi. 18, 21. ) And the figure taken from this
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THE CREATION.
day is equally strong. It occurs in Proverbs xxx. 17,--"The eye
that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the
ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, and the young eagles shall eat
it. " See also chap. xx. ver. 20. If these pages should meet the eye of
a disobedient child, may God in his infinite mercy, ere it be too late,
bring such a one back--the prodigal to his father's house. (Luke
xv. 21. )
Some children are very fond of money, and love to get little boxes,
and hoard it up; and many grown-up children have the same pro-
pensity: but the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tim. vi. 10);
and covetousness is called idolatry (Eph. v. 5. ) How striking is the
word of Solomon, "Labour not to be rich; cease from thine own
wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? for riches
certainly make to themselves wings, they fly away, as an eagle towards
heaven. "--This moment in possession, the next gone. The rich man
is a steward; and if faithful to his trust, he feeds the hungry, clothes
the naked, and sends portions to them for whom nothing is prepared.
His riches are a blessing to himself and to others. Learn, then, my
beloved children, to compassionate the poor,--help them with the
little you have; and show mercy with cheerfulness: and never speak
unkindly to the poorest person. A penny given with cheerfulness
and compassion is more welcome to the heart, than a much larger sum
given with chilling coldness.
In the terrible judgments on Edom, in the last days, all the most
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2o3
forbidding of the birds of prey are introduced as building their nests
in its ruins:--"But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it;
the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out
upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall
call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all
her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her
palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be
a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the
desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr
shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find
for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest,
and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the
vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of
the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall
want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it
hath gathered them. " (Isaiah xxxiv. 11--16. )
How awful is this description; and one turns from it with delight
to the next chapter: for the same hour that brings judgment on Edom
is full of blessing to Israel. " The wilderness and the solitary place
shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom
as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy
and singing. " But read the chapter throughout: it is full of triumph,
full of blessing.
I might, my beloved children, enlarge yet more; but you can search
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THE CREATION.
out yourselves other passages, where the creatures of this day's crea-
tion are used in illustration. Indeed, to the mind seeking for instruc-
tion, everything around ministers to it . May you be found among
the Israel of God; and then, when the Lord shall come in his glory,
you shall be caught up to meet him in the air, and so be ever with the
Lord. (1 Thess. iv. 17. ) This is the earnest prayer of
Your affectionate Father.
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? BAY.
