IT is commonly said that history repeats itself. The treatment of the Word of God by Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his friends, with that accorded to it by some of the leaders of Christendom to-day is very similar.
Israel had “committed two evils; they had forsaken Jehovah — the fountain of living water — and had hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no water” (Jer. 2:12, 1312Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12‑13)). Through disobedience they had forfeited all blessing; they had broken their part of the covenant, and consequently all the curses of a broken law were theirs by right, as Moses had said (Deut. 30:15-1815See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. (Deuteronomy 30:15‑18)). The Lord is, however, “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,” and, therefore, even unto the end, “the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes and sending; because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling-place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His word, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of God arose against His people, and there was no remedy” (2 Chron. 36:15, 1615And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:15‑16)).
Wonderful forbearance and long-suffering did Jehovah show to Judah in the days of Jeremiah the prophet. “Take thee a roll of a book,” were His gracious words almost at the close, “and write... It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (Jer. 36:1-31And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. (Jeremiah 36:1‑3)).
Well might the “heavens be astonished, and horribly afraid and desolate,” in view of the way in which the king and those with him treated such grace, for, as it was read, “Jehudi cut it with his penknife, and cast it into the fire... until all the roll was consumed. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants, that heard all these words” (Jer. 36:23, 2423And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. (Jeremiah 36:23‑24)). Did, however, the burning of the word hinder the judgments? Not at all; it only added to their severity, and Judah, like Israel, was carried away captive (2 Chron. 36:14-2314Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. 15And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. 18And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. 22Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up. (2 Chronicles 36:14‑23)).
God’s Word at the present day speaks of the certainty and nearness of approaching judgments. It calls upon “all men everywhere to repent, for God hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30, 3130And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30‑31)).
God has thus in His Word unveiled the future to men, not to terrify them (because He wills not the death of any sinner, and judgment is His strange work), but that they may turn from their evil way, and that He may “forgive their iniquity and their sins.” He can do it too in perfect righteousness, for “that Man” — Christ Jesus, the Lord — has died, “the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” His precious blood, which cleanseth from all sin, has been shed, and in virtue of this, He is able to save from the coming wrath all who, in hearty confession of all their ruin and guilt, come to God through Him. And again we would press the deeply solemn truth —
There is no other way of salvation,
On all sides, however, at the present day, the Bible is assailed by men whose profession and calling cause others to look to them as leaders and guides. The only Book which reveals God’s wondrous grace, and the precious unfathomable love that led Jesus to die, is being cut to pieces like Jeremiah’s roll of old. To the simple believer the reason is plain, and causes no surprise. To use the words of one now with the Lord: ― “The grand object of the devil, in all the skeptical, rationalistic, and infidel theories that have ever been propounded in this world, is to shut out completely the Word of God, the Christ of God, and God Himself. We solemnly call upon our readers, especially our young friends, to ponder this. It is our thorough and deep conviction that the harboring of a single infidel suggestion is the first step on that inclined plane which leads straight down to the dark and terrible abyss of atheism, down to the blackness of darkness forever” (from “The Great Commission,” by the late C. H. M.).
Under the name of “higher critics” these men, having “a form of godliness,” yet denying the power thereof, have deliberately sat in judgment on the Word of God, and, so far as they are concerned, have left us little or none of that blessed Book to rely upon. They have cut out book after book of the Old Testament, and are now seeking to treat the New Testament in the same way. Educated, yet unregenerate, they make their own puny finite minds the standard of all good, and apparently there is neither God nor truth but what exists in their own imaginations. According to Job, “no doubt but they are the people, and wisdom shall die with them,” and far from being afraid, they make their boast in their “criticism” as they call it.
Consequently they love to bring in new and strange doctrines of their own, to fill their fine buildings with vast congregations who cannot endure the
Sound Doctrine of the Word,
Oh, reader, beware of men who set themselves up as ministers of Christ, and yet in direct opposition to the positive declaration of that blessed Person tell us that the light-giving revelations of the Bible are mere myths and superstitious traditions. Let the inspired Word of God be your only guide in these matters. Walk in its light, it will prove indeed a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path, amid the thick darkness of the night of this world, and utterly reject all teaching which dares to touch the integrity of the Bible.
If the wrath of God arose against His people in the days of old until there was no remedy, how will it fare with those who take His blessed name upon their unworthy lips, and profess to serve Him, and yet practically deny Him and make Him a liar. Strong words you may say, but, reader, they are solemnly true, for they are the words of Scripture — “He that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son” (1 John 5:10-1210He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:10‑12); see also John 5:46-4746For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:46‑47)).
May God, according to His infinite grace, long-suffering, and abundant mercy, open the eyes of these blind leaders of the blind, before the One whom they have slighted come forth in flaming fire, with the angels of His power, to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. There will then be no remedy, but judgment poured out to the full; an eternity of woe and unutterable anguish in the lake of fire, with the devil and his angels — deceiver and deceived all involved in one eternal doom. J. S.