Old Testament messages of the Christ, ...

Preface

|T^7C||J/jHEN the first pages of this little voli^/S^/ii ume were prepared, it was not for the purpose or putting into book rorm. But as explorations were made in these fertile fields, the author made what to him appeared such happy discoveries, that his own heart was caused to overflow with joy, and was also made to feel that his joy would be increased, if he might share it with his friends.

Consequently, this volume has been prepared, and is sent forth amidst mingled feelings of gratitude and humility, with an earnest prayer and sincere hope that it may as truly prove a blessing to him who reads as to him who wrote.

It would be impossible for the author to acknowledge in the fullest sense, his indebtedness. Too many factors have entered into his volume to enumerate. In every case, credit is given, when a quotation is made. Among the many authors to whom the author feels a special indebtedness,

Preface

are W. G. Moorehead, C. H. Mcintosh, Joseph A. Seiss, Philip Schaff, William Smith, A. A. Hodge, Adam Clarke, Edwin Rice, Patrick Fairbairn, and James Orr in their respective works.

Also a few words about Scripture quotations are befitting. Throughout this volume, the Authorized Version is given the preference. In some instances however, the American Version is much clearer and distinct and is quoted; but such quotations are indicated by the abbreviation A. V.

When for the sake of clearness and force, independent translations are made by the author from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, he has sought absolute fairness to the original, and in each case, indicates the translation as being independent.

The illustrations used are from The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopoedia, and are used by the courtesy of The Howard Severance Company.

Should the contents of this little volume prove a blessing to you, dear reader ; will you please help to speed it on its mission of love?

Yours until His Appearing,

The Author.

Dayton, Ohio, June 16, 09.

Table Of Contents

Chapters Pagb

I. The Christ of Eden, . - 9

II. Christ in the Sacrifice, - - - 23

CHAPTER I The Christ of Eden

HE earliest page of human history, with the events which cluster about man as the highest and most exalted of earthly creatures, is introduced by the sublime statement, "in the beginning God." The declaration is that, in the beginning, a time or condition prior to which there could be nothing predicated, God created the heavens and the earth. Inspiration also sings by the mouth of the Psalmist: "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth : and the heavens are the work of thy hands." Psa. 102:25. Again, the voice of Jehovah silences Job's miserable comforters and accusers, and exposes the ignorance of Job himself by propounding to him the question: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Job 38:4.

Creation not Arrangement. — The question of how God created the heavens and the earth, is not so important to men as the fact that he did it. It is not processes which men need to know, so much as results.

Evidently God did not simply arrange preexisting materials into a system, but brought into existence the material itself, as is suggested from the Hebrew verb, n *} 3 (bara) which we translate "create." It is worthy of note that this highly expressive Hebrew verb is used in connection with the history of creation, when there is a distinct bringing into existence, such as when matter, animal life and man appear. The more common word is n frv (asah) which means "to make."

Here the mind may stagger and man in unaided shortsightedness may declare this to be impossible, but faith soars to the lofty summit, where it beholds the omnipotence of God and understands the mystery. Such was the conclusion of the author of the book of Hebrews when he wrote: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Heb. 11:3.

Such being true, Inspiration introduces man, in the very beginning of the sacred records, into altitudes to which the finite alone cannot go; and the sacred word from its beginning to its close, is a chain of mountain peaks with its intervening valleys of truth on the lower level. This Is what stamps not only the work, but the word as well, with Divinity and makes it the Book of Books.

If man could stand where Jehovah stands, and see things as he sees them, all would be as clear as day. But for us in this age, it is only given to know in part: beyond revelation little is known. For these centuries man has been figuring upon God's acts and providences, and like the hieroglyphics of Egypt, occasionally one is read in its intelligence, but the bulk is as yet among the unknown. However the word of revelation is marvelous and contains all that man needs to know. .

Man God's Highest Purpose. — While this beginning is no doubt hid in the depths of the ages, and its remoteness none can tell: yet it is evident that the Infinite had a purpose in view and that purpose was man.

From the moment that the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, and the chaotic condition of the earth gave place to order, every energy appears to have been directed to one end, and that end was man, God's great master-piece and crowning glory. His holiness, his happiness and his immortality were carefully provided by the Creator: His holiness was guaranteed by the impartation from Jehovah himself, of his own breath: His happiness was secured by his ideal

1 1 surroundings, and his immortality was arranged for in the tree of life.

Philosophy reasons from effect to cause, and frequently the belief in the personality of the Creator is reached from the personality of the creature, but here opportunity is given to reason from Creator to creature for God purposed to make man in his own image, hence personality is guaranteed to him, because God has already been found to possess every characteristic of personality. Hence man possessed a dignity and worth, in the scale of excellence, but a little lower than the angels. Heb. 2 : 7-9.

In the light of divine revelation, it is indeed lowering to the dignity of man, and dishonoring to his Creator, to sympathize in any measure whatever, with the abominable imposition of science, falsely so called, pretending to trace man, step by step, to a primitive condition, as a member of the ape family. Men of intelligence and sound judgment should leave it to others, who are bent on doing so, to formulate their own genealogy, tracing their ancestry to the lower species. They should disown any relationship to them, and waste no energy but to pity, and if possible, to save.

The Command and Prohibition. — Man being a creature, he was from the very nature of his relationship, a subject. His Creator, however, gave him none other restriction or commandment, but such as was essential to his highest good.

The Creator gave to man only one commandment. That was: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Gen. i : 28.

But man must have a prohibition as well as a command, a negative law as well as a positive one. There was only one negative command which man was asked to keep. There was growing in the midst of the garden a tree, called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of the fruit of this tree he was commanded not to eat. It is not probable that this tree was placed in the garden, simply to give opportunity for a prohibition or restriction, but was no doubt to fill a necessary place in the arrangement. Its purpose was that of a blessing, but by a misappropriation of its fruitage it became a curse.

The holiness, happiness and immortality of man, were conditioned upon a properly sustained relation between him and his Creator: for, man was dependent, and was evidently serving a probationary period. The proper relation was that of complete submission and perfect obedience.

Man a Self-determining Creature. — That man was a self determining creature, was necessary and evident from the image and stamp of the Divine person which he bore. Anything less than this would have denied him personality, and given him a place not more exalted than that of the animal kingdom.

Man's proper use of his free moral agency; choosing for his portion, complete submission and perfect obedience; would have sealed to him, a never ending heritage of the blessings bestowed upon him in his Eden birth. His probation would have, in all probability, ceased at sometime in his history, and the possibility of any calamity or sorrow forever barred.

Eden's Glories Eclipsed. — How long earth, with man as its lord, sustained its close and subservient relation to heaven, is not stated. But since long periods of time are passed over in sacred history by a short sentence or two, or in absolute silence; it may have been a longer period of time than is usually thought. To say the least, chronology is one of the most difficult things, in connection with early history; and all scholars are well aware of the fact that the best chronology which we have, being that of Ussher, is far from correct; and is simply used as a basis of uniformity, and that, for want of a more correct one.

Be that as it may, it is evident to all, that the glories of the Eden world have long ago gone into eclipse.

Man, at the suggestion of Satan, who appears upon the scene at this time for the first in the medium of the serpent, has disobeyed God, and his disobedience has reversed every enjoyment and prospect, broken his fellowship with his Creator, robbed him of his moral likeness to God and set to work in his body the process of mortality; for God has said: "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2: 17. It takes all the sufferings, sorrows, pain, wretchedness, poverty, heartaches, tears and mortality, which humanity has suffered or ever will suffer, to spell out the meaning of this single event, in the history of the progenitors of our race.

The first man and woman, being the federal head of the entire human race; the whole of their posterity was involved in the fall and the glories of Eden had as truly and completely gone into eclipse, for the last one who should be born, as for the first one who had sinned. What is to be done? Man, God's highest creature and the crowning glory of creation, has allied himself with Satan against God, and the dark cloud of eternal vengeance is hanging over the head of every son and daughter of Adam's race. Does man return? He cannot. He has allied himself with Satan; is under Satan's authority; and is enslaved. Can he escape death? Not so. Divine justice must be executed. Can he be happy? By no means. No soul can be happy in such foreign and broken relations, whose only guarantee of happiness was complete and perfect obedience. Can he replace the stamp of divine nature? No, for Satan's stamp is already there. Man has fallen into wretchedness and despair, in which he lies totally helpless.

Who can imagine the billows of anguish, which rolled across the souls of the first pair, as they resorted to the flimsy device of a fig leaf apron, to cover their nakedness; and hid themselves among the trees of the garden, to conceal themselves from the eyes of an all searching Omniscience.

The Heavenly Council. — While these events are transpiring in the lower world, unchronicled events are occurring in the council chambers of heaven.

God, with the Son, together with the Holy Spirit, constituting the Trinity — the cabinet of heaven, who sat together in counsel, when the creation of man was contemplated, and to whom God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;" again sat in counsel as to the condition of man in his wretched, dying state.

The Decree. — If the reasonings of this divine counsel could be translated into language other than that which belongs to the celestial world, alone, this would probably be its burden: "My justice and righteousness must be preserved; my sentence must be executed. But my mercy demands, that, these creatures who have been created to reflect my glory and bear our image, and to enjoy my blessings, should not be allowed to remain helpless, in the grasp of the fallen arch angel, and with him be cast into the lake of burning, which I have prepared for him, and for those who have followed him in his apostasy." To this the Son replies : "Father, let it be agreed to give man one more probation — one more opportunity to choose for happiness. I volunteer to robe myself in the vesture of humanity, and become one of them. I will take a place as the second head of the human race, and meet Satan upon the open battlefield. I will take upon myself, all the sins and sorrows of humanity ; allow myself to suffer death, thus paying the penalty of their disobedience, and preserving divine justice; but, to the surprise of angels, Satan and men, I will break the powers of death, and bring the possibility of eternal life 2 I 7 and happiness within the reach of every fallen one who will accept."

With a smile of his approval, The Father declares: "My Son so let it be."

Mingled and Unmingled Justice. — Other details of the great plan to be set into ■ operation, being completed, God descends to call man and his enemy, Satan, to judgment. Every announcement to sin ruined man is readily seen to be a mingling of justice and mercy; but mercy predominating to an over-flowing extent. The ground must bring forth thorns and thistles to man. He must eat his bread by the sweat of his face ; his hands must know hard labor. To woman must be added multiplied conceptions and sorsows; child-bearing, the function assigned to her in sinless Eden, must be carried out with much distress and pain. These, all these, can be joyously borne in the light of the succeeding revelation. God having addressed himself to Satan, represented by the serpent, dealt to him a sentence of divine judgment, unmingled with mercy, saying: "Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle and above every beast of the field ; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life ; and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3: 14, 15.

Satan's Boundary Set. — This is the first announcement, of a Redeemer. In it, Satan has his boundary set for him by Omnipotence. He will be allowed to afflict humanity temporarily, bruising his heel, even the heel of the Redeemer; but his own head shall be crushed, thus permanently bruising and destroying his power and authority, over all who desire to be delivered from his kingdom.

A Circuitous Route for Immortality.- — Again, God displayed his mercy to man in driving him from the garden, and guarding the entrance with cherubim and a many edged flaming sword, thus guarding the way to the tree of life. The tree of life was, evidently, a provision made for man's immortality, and its fruits, if eaten even by fallen man, might have rendered him immortal.

For man to blunder into an immortality of existence, in his wretched, miserable condition, would have been a second calamity, equal to the first. Consequently, the Lord in mercy, barred him from this possible calamity and started him out in a more circuitous route, for immortality, during which journey, he should be delivered by the promised Redeemer, from the things which would make immortality of existence undesirable, and have restored to him the blessings and excellences which were his in Eden. It is a most delightful and interesting thing to note that when man's circuitous pilgrimage is ended, cherubim and flaming swords will have disappeared from our future Eden's gate and the tree of life which is still growing by the river of life, ever yielding its fruits, will be accessible to redeemed men. Hence, as in the man of Eden, the Edenic glories had been eclipsed for every man; even so in the Christ of Eden, the blessings of complete redemption are brought within the reach of all.

A Progressive Unfolding of Divine Purposes. — It is not to be understood that either man, or Satan, understood in full, the decree of the heavenly counsel. Through these centuries God's purposes have been progressively unfolding, and his powers have been working wonders in the interests of mankind. In this knowledge, we are the "heirs of all the ages," and we may well rest assured, that in the fulness of time, in God's own order ; the purpose of Heaven's own planning will be fully realized.

The promise of the Redeemer, although not in detail understood, kindled a lively hope, in the saddened hearts of the first transgressors. It painted a picture of life, upon a background of death. In the face of imminent death and mortaiity, anticipation and expectation rose so high in the bosom of the first man, Adam, that he called his wife, Eve, for she was the mother of all living. This fact stands out in greater beauty, when it is understood that the Hebrew name for Eve, was rnn (hhav-vaw) which means life, or life-giver. This event, occurring at such a dark period in human history, is a remarkable testimony to the effect, the promise of the Christ made in Eden, had upon despairing hearts. Here life begins to spring up out of the very ruins of death like a more beautiful city out of its own ashes.

A Keen Disappointment. — We also have an intimation, that the woman expected an immediate fulfillment of the promise of a seed who should bruise the serpent's head; for when she gave birth to her first son, she called his name | ? p (kah-yin) Cain, meaning possession, saying: "I have gotten a man from the Lord." Gen. 4:1. So keen was her disappointment in not realizing the fulfillment of the promise, that upon the birth of her second son, she named him h 3 ft (heh-bel) Abel, which meant disappointment.

The Christ of Eden, the Savior of the World. — While the details of the plan of redemption were not known from the beginning, there was no uncertainty as to the facts. The Christ, promised in Eden, from that moment was the Savior of the world; making it possible that the first woman who yielded to the temptation of disobedience, might through a living faith in the promised Redeemer, become a subject of his redemptive grace.

CHAPTER II Christ in the Sacrifice

UST why, in the great plan of redemption, the expectation of early man was allowed to be disappointed, and the coming of Christ was placed so many years in the future, is a question which may be asked, but which infinite wisdom alone could answer. The interrogations, "how" and "why," are not always the language of a skeptic, but many times that of an honest, intelligent inquirer. But since the Lord has not deemed it necessary or expedient, to disclose the secrets of his plans, we must not demand, upon the threat of unbelief, a positive answer to every question which may arise in our minds ; but remember that his ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are above our thoughts. Isa. 55:9.

While the coming of the Redeemer, who should by his own death and sufferings bruise forever the head of the serpent, was placed many years in the future, a system was instituted which should in a measure substitute and, in every particular, point forward to the great redemptive work of Christ. It was the sacrificial system. Every drop of blood which flowed from the animal of sacrifice was a message to man, telling him of his own guilt, Divine justice, God's mercy, and of the work which should be accomplished when their real and effectual sacrifice should be made, which should be none other than the Lamb of God„

Origin of the Sacrifice

Concerning the origin of the sacrificial system, not a little has been written: some of value and worth, much of but little merit. There are some who would make religion a matter of evolution. They would teach that monotheism, or the belief in one God, which is set forth in the earliest pages of history, is an evolution of or advancement from earlier heathenism with its multiplicity of gods. This would have a tendency to stamp the sacrificial system as a refined continuance of a heathen practice, and not a divine institution. This is indeed a very unworthy doctrine and should find a place along side of the wretched doctrine of the evolution of man. It is plainly indicated that man's primitive belief was that of one God and Creator; and that heathenism with its various forms is a corruption and "wayward offspring" of primitive and pure religion, and is not its "ignorant parent."

The sacrificial system is a divine institution, and dates back almost to Eden, and has in it volumes of messages concerning the sacrifice to be offered once and for all.

It is not our purpose to teach that, while participating in the sacrifices, men were always conscious of the full importance which Jehovah attached to them, and he may never have understood as it is possible to understand them to day, as the light of centuries is thrown back upon them, and the perfect sacrifice, of which they were but the imperfect foreshadowings, has become a matter of history; but Jehovah whose institution they were, fully understood them; and we have abundance of reason to believe that their significance was understood, in a distinct manner, by at least, some of those who participated in them.

The First Sacrifice-

The first cases of sacrifice, are related in connection with the early history of the first family. Cain and Abel brought their offerings unto the Lord; one was accepted and the other rejected. The questions might be asked: why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's rejected? Was it because of the kind of offering which he brought? Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the fourth verse teaches that it was "by faith" that Abel's offering was "more excellent," or acceptable, and that it was through this "more excellent" sacrifice that he obtained witness that he was righteous. Now Abel was evidently conscious of the fact of sin, and also of the fact of God's mercy; and the offering which he brought was of such a nature that Jehovah accepted it, and gave him witness of the same. Cain must have been in a position to have the same knowledge of sin and mercy; but the offering which he brought was rejected. In what did the two offerings differ? One offering, that of Abel, was of such a nature that it required the shedding of blood: the other was bloodless. Evidently, the principle of truth suggested in Hebrews 9: 22, "Without shedding of blood is no remission," was in force at this early date.

It will not only be interesting, but profitable, at this point, to note that when Jehovah later formally commanded the Israelites to keep the blood covenant or sacrifice, he favored them with an explanation of this demand, by saying: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." Lev. 17 : 11. The truth then is this, that life is in the blood. Through sin man has forfeited his life; conseqently, it is only through the shedding of blood, or giving of life, that atonement can be made for sin. This doubtless answers the question, as to the offerings of Cain and Abel. It was, indeed, an act of mercy upon the part of Divine justice, to accept as a substitute, the life of a beast for the life of a human transgressor.

These considerations would suggest that, even in this particular case, at such a very early date, sacrifice was of the nature of an atonement or expiation. Hence the shedding of blood was necessary. The atonement made however, by any animal sacrifice, was only temporary, and required frequent repetition. It was but little more than a message, oft repeated, of man's guilt, Divine justice and God's mercy.

Now, the faith possessed by Abel, that his sacrifice was in keeping with divine requirement, must have had a base upon which to rest. Either one or all, of three things may have constituted this assurance.

I. It may have been a positive command, from God, that the sacrifice must be that of blood.

2. It may have been, simply, an inward impulse, arising from his knowledge, of the nature of sin and of God's justice and mercy.

3. It may have been a result, of a precedent established, or example given, by God himself.

Either one of these three things, would have been sufficient to form a ground, for the faith of Abel ; and assure him that the sacrifice, such as he was making, was a divine institution, hence acceptable. He may however, have had all three of these as a ground of faith. It is quite evident, that we have an intimation, at least, in the sacred records, that the sacrifice in its earliest history, was instituted by God himself, either by example or immediate command.

The Fig Leaf Aprons and Their Better Substitute

When our foreparents, in Eden, found themselves sinful and naked, immediately they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Sin has always sought a covering. This one was insufficient. We are then told by the sacred historian, that, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." Gen. 3:21. By this we are informed, that, the price of the covering for man's nakedness and sin, was the life of the animal. It is hardly necessary for us to understand that the animal was slain by the hand of God, himself; but, rather, that it was in direct execution of his command. Sacred history often speaks of God as doing a thing; not taking note of the instrument or person, used in its accomplishment. ~~ Concerning these aprons, the Hebrew literally translated, reads: "And God caused them to put on tunics of skins." Thus it would appear, that the Lord permitted those who had been victims of the fall, and upon whom death had been pronounced, as a sign or pledge of their deliverance, to take the first life, and shed the first blood, as a type of him who was himself the seed of the woman; but who should conquer Satan, destroy his power over man, deliver from the curse, and prepare man for eternal blessedness and a youthful immortality. What a wonderful message of salvation in this early shedding of blood.

This earliest shedding of blood with its significance is so fundamental to a proper conception of the origin of sacrifice and its later practice that, it must not be passed lightly by. Fairbairn in his "Typology of Scripture" gives a delightful paragraph to these earliest incidents of sacrificing, saying: "The conclusion seems inevitable, that the institution of sacrifice must have been essentially of divine origin; for though we cannot appeal to any record of its direct appointment by God, yet there are notices concerning sacrificial worship which cannot be satisfactorily explained on the supposition, in any form, of its merely human origin. There is a recorded fact, however, which touches the very borders of the subject, and which, we may readily perceive, furnished a divine foundation on which a sacrificial worship, such as is mentioned in Scripture, might be built. It is the fact noticed at the close of God's interview with our first parents after the fall: 'And unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.' The painful sense of nakedness that oppressed them after their transgression, was the natural offspring of a consciousness of sin — an instinctive fear lest the unveiled body should give indication of the evil thoughts and dispositions which now lodged within. Hence, to get relief to this uneasy feeling, they made coverings for themselves of such things as seemed best adapted to the purpose, out of that vegetable world which had been freely granted for their use.

They girded themselves about with fig-leaves. But they soon found that this covering proved of little avail to hide their shame, where most of all they needed to have it hidden; it left them miserably exposed to the just condemnation of their offended God. If a real and valid covering should be obtained, sufficient to relieve them of all uneasiness, God himself must provide it. And so he actually did. As soon as the promise of mercy had been disclosed to the offenders, and the constitution of mingled goodness and severity brought in, he made coats to clothe them with, and these coats of skin. But clothing so obtained argued the sacrifice of life in the animal that furnished them; and thus, through the death of an inferior yet innocent living creature, was the needed relief brought to their disquieted and fearful bosoms. The outward and corporeal here manifestly had respect to the inward and spiritual. The covering of their nakedness was a gracious token from the hand of God, that the sin which had alienated them from him, and made them conscious of uneasiness, was henceforth to be in his sight as if it were not; so that in covering their flesh, he at the same time covered their consciences. If viewed apart from this higher symbolical aim, the outward act will naturally appear small and unworthy of God; but so to view it were to dissever it from the very reason of its performance. It was done purposely to denote the covering of guilt from the eye of Heaven — an act which God alone could have done. But he did it, as we have seen, by a medium of death, by a sacrifice of life in those creatures which men were not yet permitted to kill for purposes of food, and in connection with a constitution of grace which laid open the prospect of recovered life and blessing to the fallen. Surely it is not attributing to the venerable heads of the human family, persons who had so recently walked with God in paradise, an incredible power of spiritual discernment, or supposing them to stretch unduly the spiritual import of this particular action of God, if we should conceive them turning the divine act into a ground of obligation and privilege for themselves, and saying : 'Here is Heaven's own finger pointing out the way for obtaining relief to our guilty consciences : the covering of our shame is to be found by means of the skins of irrational creatures, slain in our behalf; their life for our lives, their clothing of innocence for our shame ; and we cannot err, we shall but show our faith in the mercy and forgiveness we have experienced, if, as often as the sense of shame and guilt returns upon our consciences, we follow the footsteps of the Lord, and, by a renewed sacrifice of life, clothe ourselves anew with his own appointed badge of acquittal and acceptance.' '