The growing miracle

PART TWO. Hebrew Prophecy

CHAPTER J. Classification in Hebrew Canon . . . CHAPTER II. Periods Outlined . . 2... 2...

PERIOD ONE. Patriarchal Period, 54. PERIOD TWO. From Moses to Samuel, 64.

CHAPTER I. Childhood and Education of Moses. . . . CHAPTER II. Moses as Liberator. . . ...... CHAPTER III. Moses as Lawgiver . ........ CHAPTER IV. Moses as Leader ......... CHAPTER V. Moses asa Writer. ........

PERIOD THREE. An Era of Transition, 105. CHAPTER I. The School of the Prophets. . . . . CHAPTER II. Prophets of the Transitional Period . . .

PERIOD FOUR. The Northern Prophets, | 12.

CHAPTER I. Preparatory Suggestions. . . . . . . CHAPTER II. Introductory to Jonah and Amos. . . . CHAPTER III. Introductory to Hosea. . . ... .

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PERIOD FIVE. The Contemporaneous Southern Prophets, 120.

CHAPTER I. Introductory to Joel and Micah. . . . . 120 CHAPTER II. Introductory to Isaiah . .. ..... 124 PERIOD SIX. Prophets about the Fall of Assyria, 134. CHAPTER I. The Downfall of Assyria . . ..... 134 CHAPTER II. Introduction to Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah: Noon ke eee ee 135 PERIOD SEVEN. Fall of Judah and Babylonian Captivity, 140.

CHAPTER I. Introduction to Period. . . ...... 140 CHAPTER II. Introductory to Jeremiah . . . . . . 141 CHAPTER III. Introductory to Ezekiel and Obadiah . . 145 CHAPTER IV. Daniel the Statesman Prophet . . . . 149 PERIOD EIGHT. Building the Waste Places, 156. CHAPTER I. Return from Exile. . 2... ..... 156

CHAPTER II. Introduction to Post-Captivity Prophets . 160

PART THREE. Messianic Fulfillment

CHAPTER I. Present Use and Application of Prophecy . 169 CHAPTER II. Prophecy as Christian Evidence . . . . 174 CHAPTER Ill. Prophecy verified in New Testament . . 182 CHAPTER IV. Typical Element of Messianic Prophecy . 188 CHAPTER V. Specific Messianic Prophecies. . . . . 197 CHAPTER VI. The Book Sealed. ........ 215

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Preface

This book is designed as a practical introduction to the study of the Hebrew prophets and prophecies. It is an outgrowth of the work of a teacher and the greater part of the matter has been used in some form in lectures and instructions in the classroom.

In yielding to the requests of former students to place some of the work done with them in permanent form, I am aware that the close friendship existing between teacher and pupil may have prejudiced their judgment.

I am not without hope, however, that this effort to simplify and systematize this important Biblical subject may be helpful to students in Sacred Literature, Sunday School workers, and readers of the Bible in general.

No study of the prophets is complete which does not involve a close and sympathetic knowledge of the Scriptures themselves. The laboratory in scientific investigation opens the way for immediate knowledge. The same method should be used in the study of the Bible.

No attempt has been made to discuss critical questions except where they are directly in the line of practical treatment. It is possible to dissect a flower until its beauty and fragrance are destroyed and only scattered fragments remain. Perhaps the lack of reverence and devout sympathy with the Bible today, is in part due to an excess of speculative criticism. Vivisection has its scientific use but it does not tend to a sympathetic knowledge of life.

In his recent book on “Biblical Criticism and Modern Thought,” Dr. W. G. Jordan frankly says, “We must remember that criticism is still in process and whatever the final conclusions it is too early to expect them yet.” Until something more definite and practical is produced the presumption must remain with the face value of the Scriptures. Doubtless we are indebted to reverent scholarship for adjusting the Bible to history and human life. What the trend of criticism may be in the future it is impossible to definitely forecast, but the present tendency of Christian scholarship appears to be toward rather than away from that which has come down through the ages with the sanction of both Hebrew and Christian scholarship and which was used as authority by prophets, by apostles and by Christ Himself.

I am aware that the distinction between the human and the divine, the natural and the supernatural, has been questioned. That the works of God should not be arbitrarily separated appears reasonable. So long, however, as the commonly accepted definition of the natural is confined to the idea of fixed laws and tends to rule out the transcendence of God in the world, it seems necessary to keep up the distinction to avoid misunderstanding. That God is a person is inferred x from human personality. This involves freedom of will. God isa father. The relation of parent and child is not always uniform and fixed. Each child requires a careful adjustment of culture and control to his individuality. Again, the presence of sin in the world calls for specific treatment. Life must not be judged from the standpoint of perfect moral health. That miracles should be wrought and direct revelations made, within the limits of divine wisdom and economy, is not only reasonable but to be assumed.

In preparing these pages the writer is indebted to a wide range of literature impossible to acknowledge in detail. In most cases, where direct use has been made, acknowledgment has been given in foot notes or in the body of the work.

In giving this unpretentious volume to the public it is with regret that time and strength, in the midst of the active duties of ateacher, have not permitted a more careful preparation of the work presented. It can hardly be hoped that mistakes have been avoided. There is at least a sense of satisfaction that it has been a labor of love and that much personal benefit has resulted from a careful review of this supremely important Biblical study.

Asking his readers to temper their criticism with the kindly consideration and charity which he has tried to show others, and with a prayer that these pages may be of some real benefit in awakening interest in Bible study and invigorating faith in its spiritgiven message, they are most earnestly submitted by

THE AUTHOR.

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Chapter I. Introductory Thoughts

1. The Old Testament Prophecies have been aptly called the Growing Miracle. ‘Their clear but gradual development of the truths of the Kingdom of God is one of the marvels of revelation. ‘Their consistency and definiteness of purpose are unmistakable evidences of their divine origin. Whoever approaches the study of them diligently and reverently will have his faith strengthened and enriched.

Such a study is of more than ordinary value in a time when rationalistic thought, stimulated by science and philosophy, is dominant. While wholly legitimate in its own realm, it threatens to deaden spiritual ideals and paralize faith. The twin truths, the immanence and the transcendence of God, must both be emphasized and kept in proper balance. A rejection of the supernatural, if it includes a denial of God's power and purpose to reveal Himself to men, is fatal to a vital Christian faith. That God is immanent in the world, is true. But He is also “before all things” and “by Him all things consist.”

Doubtless He rules the world by law. He sets in action forces which operate by gradual process. But these “resident forces” must not exclude His transcendent power to act upon the world from without. God is greater than His creation. To deny this is to open the way for Pantheism or Atheism.

2. The remedy for modern skepticism is not in falling out with the claims of science or its methods so far as they are legitimate. It is true much that passes for complete demonstration is still unproved, and a distinction must be drawn between fact and hypothesis. But a fact discovered in the natural world is revelation of the thought of God.

Nor may we always make the same use of miracles as a proof of God’s direct dealing with men. In former times the testimony of miraculous deeds was the most convincing of evidence. To him whose faith is already grounded they are still full of assurance. But the rationalistic spirit of the times often makes this evidence less available for one whose faith is weak or wholly wanting.

3. To what then may we look to awaken and stimulate faith in the midst of a faithless generation ? So far as pertains to a demonstration of God's presence in the world, the Bible contains its own proofs. The study of prophecy and its marvelous fulfillment is a powerful specific for doubt. Its facts challenge investigation. These facts do not relate wholly to the past. ‘They constitute a living and abiding evidence. The same reason that compels us to recognize material

Introductory Thoughts facts and accept logical conclusions concerning them holds in the world of moral and spiritual phenomena as well. The spiritual is just as real as the material. God, in human life and society, is just as real as in matter. Its data must be reckoned with and the conclusions drawn must be accepted.

4. In approaching any department of study the proper attitude is necessary. This is a recognized condition of all investigation. There must be openness of mind, a readiness to accept reasonable conclusions. We never see that upon which we have tumed our backs. We very rarely find what we are determined in advance not to find. The hidden treasure in the parable of our Lord was discovered by a man plowing in a field. He was diligently working. While the treasure was an unexpected piece of good fortune, it was the indirect result of his industry and faithfulness. Its discovery brought joy and a purpose to make it fully his own. The same attitude must be sustained toward all investigation whether it pertains to material or spiritual things.

5. But the study of the Bible requires not only a receptive attitude of the mind but also of the heart, It is a source of great moral truth. It is intensely personal and involves matters that pertain to our welfare both here and hereafter. It cannot be fairly treated as we treat a problem in Geometry or Chemistry whose solution has no moral bearing. Every realm of study has its own conditions and limitations. The mind is able to perceive what the physical vision cannot. Spiritual perception demands the right attitude of the heart. “The pure in heart shall see God.” “Without faith it is impossible to be pleasing unto Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that seek after Him.” (Heb. 11:6).

The most wonderful thing in God’s revelation is not creative power, or miracles, or intelligent design; or beauty. The greatest thing in the world is God's love. It is this fact which makes the revelation of Himself in the Bible, especially in the Gospel of Christ, such a marvelous moral and spiritual force. It is this that should make the study of the prophecies especially interesting and profitable. They deal with God's care for His people in their times of trouble, and while they advocate a righteousness as white as the snow on the mountain-top, they blend with justice a richness. of love and mercy which render to their messages an attractiveness and power all their own. Paul sheds light upon God’s attitude toward the Children of Israel in their wanderings when he speaks of Him as a “nursing Father” tenderly leading and caring for them in all the terrible experiences in the wilderness,

“There's a wideness of God's mercy Like the wideness of the sea,

There's a kindness in His justice Which is more than liberty.”

Introductory Thoughts

The strongest illustration of disinterested affection is that of a mother’s care for her children. How often we have seen a mother amid her daily tasks with her children about her. They are perhaps playing in some dark cellar below her. How carefully she keeps — open the door to the passage-way. When, frightened by some imaginary object or strange noise they cry to her for comfort and assurance, she quiets them. How tenderly she says, Yes, my children, I am here, nothing shall harm you.” Or it may be that she firmly reproves them in their childish differences. In just this spirit God has dealt with His children. The revelations which He has made are like the mother’s firm but tender words. He has spoken to them down the dark stairway of human life to reprove and comfort, to quiet their fears and quicken their trust in Him. Even the figure of a mother’s love breaks down under the story of God’s indescribable love. “Cana woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, these may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (Isa. 49:15). Such a conception of God opens the way for a new and a larger meaning in the inspired messages of the Bible. Critical difficulties and unexplained facts pass from the mind as clouds before the rising sun.

Such an attitude is especially helpful in the study of the Hebrew prophecies. They are messages of a just but loving Father to His children. His reproofs are often stern but they are always righteous and always blended with the purest love. They contain principles of truth which apply to all ages of the world. There is a sense in which every devout reader may claim them as a personal message.

6. Rising before us then, is this sublime subject of Hebrew Prophecy. Like a lofty mountain range it stands against the horizon of history. Its heights are crowned with the snows of righteousness and truth. The outlines of divine purpose are clear-cut and unmistakable. The experiences and vicissitudes of human life sometimes obscure our vision of their greatness and value. The bitter opposition of evil, which resents and seeks to repel its exposure, may threaten, and at times seem to thwart the purposes of Jehovah, but like the afternoon storms that beat about the mountain crests they are harmless to defeat the divine will. Age after age the opposition of sm and unbelief has dashed against this mountain range only to be rolled back and shattered by its immovable strength. Such storms have continually arisen and having spent their force are succeeded by some other form of opposition. Yet each new morning it may be seen in perfect outline, its strength unbroken, its beauty unmarred. Surely we may trust that “the Word of the Lord endureth forever.” We may say with the Psalmist “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills whence cometh my help. My help cometh from Jehovah, who hath made heaven and earth.” (Psa. 121:1-2.)

Chapter II The Human Element In Hebrew Prophecy

1. A clear and comprehensive view of the subject requires that we take note of the two essential elements that enter into prophecy. However much they may be merged, the human and the divine are to be reckoned with as joint factors in the result produced. This is not only apparent with the prophecies themselves, but it is clearly stated in the scriptures. (1 Peter, 1:21). To what extent each operates depends upon conditions not always the same. Nor are they to be measured and weighed as we estimate material quantities. Without discussion we may treat the question as one of fact rather than of philosophy.

That God has spoken through men is unquestioned. To admit it is not to compromise the claim of a divine message. It is rather to emphasize the truth that God has taken humanity into partnership with Himself in the grand affair of the world’s redemption. “Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ,” (1 John 1:3). “For we are God's fellow-workers,”” (1 Cor. 3:9). Yet we are helpless without His power, for “God giveth the increase.” We are still further assured of our exalted relation to the Heavenly Father in the fact that Jesus Christ came to earth in human form and tasted every human experience.

After many revelations through the prophets in times past, He spoke at last, not through, but by His Son. God's last and greatest message was an incarnation; not words, but life.

2. The prophets themselves furnish for our study some of the noblest and loftiest characters of history. They were men, intensely human, not without faults. When we read the story of Jonah we are comforted to know that moral greatness may exist side by side with human weakness and inconsistency.

But the ruling thought of their lives was to heed the call of duty. They had a passion for righteousness. We may not doubt that much of their power of vision was made possible by their singleness of purpose and purity of heart.

3. As a body of literature the books of prophecy are of rare beauty and value. If no other benefit resulted from their study than that which tends to literary culture the student would be amply repaid. They have furnished inspiration for the best authorship and for the most powerful oratory. Their forms of expression have been examples for the most impassioned speech of preachers of righteousness, of patriots and

The Human Element reformers. Their use of figures and their striking and realistic illustrations are models of their kind. There are no loftier flights of eloquence than those found in the Hebrew Prophets.

Those who are able to study the Hebrew literature in its original tongue are deeply impressed with its directness, simplicity and spiritual power. No translation is able to convey its full strength and beauty. Yet even with the limitations of translation into other languages it has exerted a marvelous influence over the literature of the civilized world. In his History of the English People, Green pays a high tribute to the English version of the Bible. In this, the three hundredth anniversary of the translation known as the Authorized Version, his words are read with unusual interest. He says: “As a mere literary monument, the English version of the Bible remains the noblest example of the English tongue, while its perpetual use made it from the instant of its appearance the standard of our language... .. The mass of picturesque allusion and illustration which we borrow from a thousand books, our fathers were forced to borrow from one; and the borrowing was the easier and more natural that the range of Hebrew literature fitted it for the expression of every phase of feeling. When Spencer poured forth his warmest love-notes in the ‘Epithalamion’ he adopted the very words of the Psalmist, as he bade the gates open for his bride.

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When Cromwell saw the mists break over the hills of Dunbar, he hailed the sunburst with the cry of David. ‘Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. Like as the smoke vanisheth so shalt thou drive them away!’ Even to common minds this familiarity with the grand poetic imagery in prophet and apocalypse gave a loftiness and ardour of expression. . . . Its effect, however dispassionately we examine it, was simply amazing.”

The efforts of Professor Moulton, in his “Literary Study of the Bible” to reduce its use to literary form in order that its meaning may be better understood has greatly enhanced its attractiveness.

4. Their bearing upon ethical and sociological questions is especially striking. We are almost startled by the freshness and vividness with which they expose the social evils of our own times. This aspect of their writings suggests the solidarity of the race. Livingston said that nothing convinced him of the unity of the human family more than the fact of the universal presence of sin. Even in darkest Africa its power to destroy, its shadows of fear and its agonies for deliverance, are but distorted and intensified forms of experience in the most enlightened Christian lands,

It is instructive to note, in the reforms of three thousand years ago, that almost the same forms of evil existed as are extant today. Their results are clearly marked out. Selfishness found expression then as now, in monopoly and greed. Men were eager

The Human Element “to add field to field.” They bought the needy “with a pair of shoes”, taking advantage of the necessity of the poor. We read of the “balances of deceit”, and of those who “do evil with both hands earnestly” and “who love to oppress.”

The evils of the drink habit and the far greater sin of taking advantage of the weakness of those subject to its power, are centre shots at modern conditions. We are mistaken if we think of the temperance reform as of today only. Listen to Habakkuk in the closing days of the Assyrian Empire, almost three milleniums ago; “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth the bottle to him, and maketh him drunken also, that thou mayest look on his nakedness” (Hab. 11:15). “Woe unto him that buildeth a town with blood and establisheth a city by iniquity” (Hab. 11:13). “How true, now as then, that Whoredom and wine take away the heart” (Hosea 4:11). What description of the brutality and loathsomeness of the drunkard is more real than the denunciation of the “drunkards of Ephraim” in Isaiah 28:1-8. To read these prophecies and note their terrible fulfillment in the ruin of the people who practised such sin is to verify every modern social problem. Not the least value of these writings, from the human side, is their application to modern reforms.

Even the subtle philosophies which we are accustomed to think wholly modem, and which give plaus-

4 13 ibility to evil are clearly indicated. Nothing is so dangerous as that moral stupor which seeks to rob sin of its sting of remorse. The most fatal sickness is often painless. ‘The most incurable moral malady is that which is complacent and satisfied. Often it is said, sin is but a “growing pain”, a harmless stage of growth. All evil is but “undeveloped good.” How appropriate is the denunciation by Isaiah of this sophistry, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa. 5:20). How everywhere as against pantheistic philosophy, which found expression in forms of idolatry, is the personality and transcendence of God asserted. Nor is He absent from this world. He is everywhere present. He is our dwelling place. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.”

5. But the climax of benefit is reached in the spiritual culture resulting from their study. Let us not forget that the spiritual is as truly a part of human development as the physical or intellectual. Spirituality is personality raised to its highest power. Scarcely in the New Testament writings are these ideals richer than in the Old Testament prophecies. Even the Sermon on the Mount might be gleaned from this marvelous literature. True, it was reserved for the Great Teacher to set their notes into a beautiful and harmonious chime whose music should ring in a new

The Human Element age. Their value at the bar of Christian Evidence we shall see later. It will be found that they have laid the foundations for an edifice whose moral grandeur has never been equaled in the world’s history. Beneath its walls have been piled rocks of law and prophecy which even from their human side, give it marvelous solidity and endurance.

Chapter III The Divine Element In Prophecy

1. An introduction to the study of prophecy would be incomplete without an inquiry into its claims of divine origin and authority. It must be admitted that the prophets assumed not only to teach but to command. Recognizing their authority whole communities were moved to repentance and obedience. Even kings trembled at their words. ‘The profound impression produced by their messages, the part which these messages played in social and religious life of the Hebrew people, is one of the most striking facts of history. Frederick the Great, when asked for a proof of divine inspiration, answered, “The Jews.” Certainly the phenomena of this unique people are to be reckoned with if the scientific method of investigation is to be used. The law of induction demands an impartial inquiry into the causes leading to such wonderful results.

2. It is a popular theory of the day that all distinction between the human and divine should be effaced. The natural and supernatural are no longer to be regarded as different manifestations. Akin to this, and perhaps in part, an outgrowth of it, is the

The Divine Element idea that authority is wholly from within our own consciousness. Truth is such to each of us as it appeals to us and compels our intellectual and moral recognition. Such a standard was announced by Coleridge when he asserted that he accepted the authority of the Bible only as it “found him deeper” than other writings. Such a view seems to open a way of escape from certain difficulties in fixing the source of authority. But it is only a half truth and the fatal result of its application is its best refutation. The principle if true in one case, holds in all. It must be the measure of the social and civil government as well as of the religious. If all men were morally healthy, if the avenues of the appeal of truth were always equally open, if we were intellectually and morally constituted alike, such a standard of authority might be effective. But facts are against such conclusions. It is doubtless true that the highest law in the home should be love and respect of the child for parents. But if children were to do only the things which appeal to their undeveloped tastes and judgements their education would be sadly defective. The lesson of obedience and respect for authority, is at the foundation of domestic crder. Without it love degenerates into indulgence, law into license.

The application of this conception is well illustrated by certain socialistic theories of Civil Government. They would at least reduce the authority of the State to the minimun, if not abolish laws and rulers altogether. With such a standard of authority, anarchy would ensue. Until human nature has been redeemed and purified, behind the appeal of truth and righteousness, will be the eternal MUST, which demands obedience to law. Behind all government is God Himself. ‘The powers that be are ordained of Him. The truth of this view of authority is nowhere more clearly set forth than in the mission of the prophets. From any angle of observation of their mission, the transcendence of God is unmistakable in their consciousness. They were moved to speak what they did from a power operating through their own intelligence but higher than themselves.

3. The etymology of the original word for prophe clearly conveys the idea of the divine source of their power. The Hebrew word for prophet —nabi— is derived from naba, whose root idea is that of a fountain. Like a spring of water it comes from an unseen source and while it holds in solution something of the surrounding soil it is largely of foreign origin. The Saxon word ghost, from which comes our household word yeast, conveys a similar idea. Its force is hidden. Even more to the point is the word geiser, derived from the same Saxon word and exemplifying the same idea. How wonderful the phenomena of boiling water, shooting upward many feet, surrounded by ice and snow, and with the sharp contrast of temperature filling

The Divine Element the atmosphere with clouds of steam. David made reference to a source of inspiration higher than himself when in Psalm 45 he says, with a more literal translation, “My heart bursts and bubbles over with a good matter, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Like the river Jordan whose head waters pour forth in great springs at the foot of Mt. Herman, but come from the melting snows upon its lofty heights, cool and clear as their sources, so the messages of the prophets came from God Himself. Something of their nature was taken up in solution but their environment failed to account for the purity of their messages, their higher than human source.

Two other words in the Hebrew, roeh and hozeh, signify one who sees, or a seer. ‘They exactly express the nature of his power, that his vision penetrates beyond that of other teachers, whether as relates to things present or future. As a commander, who scans his field of action with his magnifying glass, notes all parts of the battlefield which the soldier in the confusion and smoke of conflict cannot see, so the prophet sees and guides in the spiritual conflicts over which his vision extends. He is sometimes called a watchman (Isa. 21:11). Exactly this thought is expressed where a watchman in Mt. Sier is looking across the desolation of Israel to the captives in Babylon. It is that mental and spiritual quickening which lifts human powers above natural vision unaided by the Spirit of God. 19

‘The Greek word prophetes means in classical use, one who speaks for another and more especially for a God. Later, in medieval times, the idea of foretelling events became the dominant idea and is now its popular meaning almost exclusively. Yet it should be carefully noted that in the Scriptural use the idea of teaching and expounding, even more than foretelling events, enters into the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments. But in every case must be recognized the guiding and elevating presence of God through the Holy Spirit.

4. What seems so clearly indicated by the meanings of the original words for prophet is fully expressed in the limits of the office of prophet, defined in the Scriptures themselves. When Jehovah appeared unto Moses and commissioned him to stand before Pharaoh he plead slowness of speech and Aaron was appointed to be his spokesman. “See”, said Jehovah, “I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet’(Ex. 7:1). Again, “And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of a God” (Ex. 4:16). This comparison presents the idea of a prophet's relation to God and to the people with unmistakable clearness. The source of authority was not in the speaker but in Jehovah who inspired the message. The further study of their lives and words will impress