The children of Issachar obtain honorable mention of the Lord, ‘in that they “had understanding of the times to know What Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:3232And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. (1 Chronicles 12:32)), and surely to “rightly divide the word of truth,” and thus understand “what the will of the Lord is,” is our happy privilege in the present day (2 Tim. 2:15,15Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) Eph. 5:1717Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:17)).
Let us refer for a moment to Luke 2:1-141And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:1‑14). The fullness of time had come and God had’ sent His Son into the world. And the eternal Son of the Father was manifested in the form of a little babe wrapped in swaddling ‘clothes and laid in a manger, because there was’ no room for Him in the inn. Was it a wonder that the angelic hosts should shout for joy; He had not taken on Him the cause of angels (Heb. 2:1616For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (Hebrews 2:16)), but still, for the first time beholding the Son of God—God manifest in the flesh-they could not withhold their suited acclamations, but with one joyous note of praise they say (for angels never sing) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
How suitable to the time this chorus, and how worthy of its object! He had come, the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, and yet the lowly carpenter’s son, to tell out the love of a heart whose depths He alone could fathom, (for who could disclose the secrets of the Father’s bosom but the Son who lay there from all eternity?) and the scene which He had selected wherein to display this boundless love was one in which everything that God the Father was in Himself had been for, centuries belied and misunderstood. When sin had entered and run its course unchecked and apparently (save by occasional judgments) unnoticed, and when Satan had obtained complete possession of the human mind. Thus grace had triumphed over sin, and thus God in Christ had risen above the ruin of an apostate world, and shown Himself superior to the evil of man’s heart and the only too successful devices of the Devil. Surely God was infinitely glorified in this, and most suitably did the angelic strain commence with “glory to God in the highest,” for what could bring more glory to God in all that He was in His own excellency than the presentation of His Son to a world Whose rejection of Him was only too plainly evidenced in that there was “no room for them in the inn.” presently a cross and a grave should still more distinctly manifest the world’s estimate of its Creator and its Saviour,
But not only did the advent of Jesus into the world unfold most fully the character of a God of love, but it was the proof that He was ready to establish peace upon the earth where at the time all was dim and confusion, Jerusalem had ceased to be the throne of the Lord, so long chosen to put name there, and a Gentile Emperor was in possession of “the glorious land,” and amongst his subjects numbered God’s ancient people Israel.
But the presentation of God’s Son to the world was the dawning of another day upon the earth, and He had come to establish peace and to usher in the time men should “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into plowshares” when nation should, not lift up sword against nation neither should war be learned any more (Isa. 2:44And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)), The Millennial glory of the King of Peace and King of Righteousness was about to replace Jewish, slavery And Gentile oppression, and the knowledge of Jehovah to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Well then might angels add; “on earth peace” to their need of praise in honor of the only begotten Son of God.
But not Only was the earth: the special object of. its Creator’s Mercy, at this time, but its inhabitants were before Him also as the express objects of His goodness and blessing. He had come to reveal Himself as one whose “delights were with the sons of men,” (Prov. 8:3131Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:31)). Well may we wonder at this, for man had fallen, and the human race had alike sinned and come short of His glory, but such is grace, He had come to rise above the evil of man’s heart, and to take His place as the head of the race whose cause He took in hand, and to reduce them with a:.firm yet loving sway to that obedience that they owed to Him as their Creator and their King-as “King of Nations.” The world will yet own Him though (Rev. 15:3, 4,3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. (Revelation 15:3‑4) for “saints” read nations), and He had come to take this place, and by the removal of Satan’s power to show His good pleasure in, mankind, and to claim, at all event, if not their affection, their homage as their rightful Lord and Sovereign.
Most suitably then did the angel host celebrate His approach as reflecting not merely the highest glory to God, and introducing peace into a scene of confusion and ruin, but as evidencing that the goodness of God was such that although the carnal mind was enmity against Him, He could, in the fullness of His love, still have His delights in the sons of men.
Such was the angel chorus on the occasion of the birth of the Son of God, the Saviour, Christ the Lord.
How sad that we cannot stay here a little longer, and close our eyes to all that happened subsequently. But we must not refuse to speak when the Holy Ghost has directed our attention to another scene.
Some two and thirty years had rolled away, the babe of Bethlehem had become the fully grown Man; He had encountered at the outset of His ministry the bitter enmity of those who should have owned Him as their Messiah (Chapter 4:29), and now utterly rejected of the Jewish people; can but tell the “band of men whose hearts God had touched;” the flock “ that followed Him, “ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather; division, for from henceforth there shall be five in One house three against two, and two against three” (Luke 12:5,1,525But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. (Luke 12:5)
1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1)
52For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. (Luke 12:52)).
What a solemn change is here. The sweet current of God’s love abruptly checked by the only too obdurate barrier of human unbelief, and the proffered “peace on earth” displaced by hopeless division, and that of a kind most calculated to try the best affections of the natural man. Oh! why was this? Why did not the world bend at once to the sway of her Creator and her King, and give Him that place that was His right and His due? Alas! for the world and the world’s inhabitants. Still God was infinitely glorified, but peace on earth was gone till the time When fearful judgments having been poured forth, “the wolf will dwell with thee lamb and the weaned child shall put his hand upon the cockatrice’ den,” (Isa. 11:6-96The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6‑9)); and God’s good pleasure in men can only be carried out in another and a better way, not to the world as at first proposed, but to an elect company, whom He not willing that any should perish, in grace puts forth His power to save.
“Peace on earth,” this measure of the angel’s chorus is indefinitely postponed, and now to the faithful there is naught but strife and that of the most trying kind of nature,
But is this all? Is variance on earth our only portion? Oh, no! our blessed God has put a new song into our mouth, has compassed us about with songs of deliverance.
We turn to the 19th chapter of Luke, and we find “when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (ch. 19: 37-38), What a change is this, and of what a blessed nature! It is the full unfolding of the believer’s portion now. Division on earth, but peace in heaven. It is not now the angelic chorus that we hear, it is the disciples strain of joy. Both are equally true, but the unbelief of man culminating in the entire rejection of the Son of God has made a change, and now heaven is the scene of God’s delight in men, and the only place where peace exists.
The manger of the inn at Bethlehem had led the way to the Cross of Calvary, and a. crown of thorns and a reed in the right hand was all that a world that lieth in wickedness would accord to Him whose right it was to wear the crown of kingdoms, and to wield, the scepter of the world’s supremacy.
But the crown of thorns has been exchanged for the crown of glory and honor (Heb. 2:99But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Hebrews 2:9)), and the blood poured out, on Calvary’s summit has been sprinkled on the throne of God; peace has been made through the blood of His cross (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)), and He who made it sits at His Father’s right hand, waiting till His friends are gathered and His enemies are made His footstool, and in the meantime “ peace in heaven” is the ever blessed portion of those who have “power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We can rise above the scene where a man’s foes are those of his own household, remembering the words of Him who said, “These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world” (John 16:3333These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)).
From “henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more” (2 Cor. 5:1616Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. (2 Corinthians 5:16)). We celebrate not His birth into the world, but His death out of the world, while we adore Him as our present object in glory, and wait and watch and long for Him to come again to receive us unto Himself to be with Him where He is and to behold His glory. D. T. G.
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