HANNA H, whose glad smile and welcome met Mark on the threshold of his loved home, was of medium height, with the aquiline nose of her Jewish race.
She wore an expression of sadness; still, as the beholder gazed on that face, he could perceive from what race she sprang; also that there was an amount of intellect, not of an ordinary character Possessing great reasoning faculties, she was not one who would take as truth all that was propounded to her, but searched "the scriptures to see if these things were so;" and her pocket Testament was the companion of her way, unfolding to her the hidden meanings of her own scriptures that she knew so well.
Her maternal grandparents, who were strict Jews, had adopted her; and when her father knew of a Savior's love, he found he was powerless to cause the child to unlearn all that she had learned in that Jewish home; so to the All-powerful he went for help, and that same One who had so enlightened him, remembered his child. About one year before Mark became an inmate of H yam's home, she had confessed her Savior. She had learned much during that short year, so that now she was enabled to impart to her husband that which the Lord had taught her.
One evening they read together Leviticus 16, where the dead goat and the living one are set forth as types of the great Antitype. Hannah said the goat on which the Lord's lot fell was sacrificed, and then, and not till then, the sins of the people were confessed on the head of the living one, when the animal was sent into the wilderness-into the land of forgetfulness. The dead goat was one aspect of the death of Christ, as being the propitiation for the sin of the whole world, and the live goat prefigured the substitution of Christ for His people. Yes, blessed be God, many a child of Abraham knows this wondrous truth; and though now Jerusalem is in the hands of the Gentiles—all sacrifices done away—that Jesus is his Savior-God— the One who gave the sacrifice that He Himself demanded. God had been dishonored here on earth, where He should have been glorified; and Jesus came to glorify Him, to atone to Him for sin; and if no single soul had ever been saved, atonement must be made, and God be fully glorified.
This was the first object of the Savior, and now, dear reader, God is so fully glorified, and so fully satisfied, that He can come out and offer to man the forgiveness of sins; and not only this, but the sacrifice of Christ is so efficacious, that He can offer a home in heaven, in His very presence to the believer on that Savior. Man in innocence as a son of Adam could never have entered heaven; but as a child of God, through the blood of the Lamb he can now enter the celestial courts. O! the immeasurable heights and depths of the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Blessed be His name, His death is enough to save a thousand worlds, if necessary; its value is infinite.
“Ours is a pardon, bought with blood,
Amazing truth, the blood of One,
Who, without usurpation could,
Lay claim to heaven's eternal throne.”
Hannah, when professing the Jewish faith, had been most zealous in her belief; and now, as a Christian, her natural character shone out. She was earnest now, she loved reality.
Several happy years were spent in their Southern home, which was enlivened by the prattle of a sweet child named Rachel, who was now about eight years old, when the health of Mark gave way. At last he was compelled to give up his appointment and live on the savings of the past years, hoping against hope that health would be his again. But no, he was to be called to the Jerusalem above, and Hannah and Mark were to be separated.
The last evening came which these two were to spend together on earth. The sun was sinking behind the western horizon. The moon at her full was rising in all her loveliness. The blue calm waters were fringing the distant shores; the birds were singing and chirping; the reapers were returning from the golden grain; all things were going on in their natural course. The pretty French window opened on to the lawn, and the calm breath of evening was sending its delightful fragrance into the room where they were sitting. Mark was reclining on the couch, and rose to go to the table, where tea was so temptingly laid, with lovely flowers adding an air of freshness to the repast. This was the last meal of this loved husband. He partook of little, for a weakness crept over him, and he returned to the couch. Ere an hour had passed away, his spirit winged its flight to that celestial clime where sorrow is unknown.
Hannah was a widow.
“In the Christian's home in glory,
There remains a land of rest.”