WHENEVER engaged in prayer, we should try and bear in mind, that for aught we know to the contrary, the prayer upon which we are engaged may be our last.
Many godly people have interested themselves to discover the history of this event; but to my mind, we should take the matter simply as a sure and certain token that our Lord notes everything regarding His people―calamity and good fortune―(and that too with the utmost minutiae) though He may not at the time indicate as much. There was a very short space between the temple and the altar, yet the Lord marked down the spot from the distance of heaven!
When reading the Old Testament, one cannot help being struck with the secondary position “the nations” held in the Divine counsels, as contrasted with that occupied by Israel. It would seem as if the affairs of the Gentiles only interested our Lord so far as they affected His chosen people; for it is only when they come in contact with these latter, that the former appear upon the field of Scripture at all. I cannot help thinking the case to be the same, even now, in this present dispensation, namely, that our Lord only concerns himself with the affairs of the world at large, to the extent that they concern us; that He does not so much rule (John 14:3030Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30); Hebrews 10:1313From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (Hebrews 10:13); and Revelation 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)) as over-rule; and this with respect to the plans and intentions He has designed on our behalf.
Jeremiah 21:99He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. (Jeremiah 21:9), and various other places. “ ... ...his life shall be unto him for a prey.” This is a bad choice of synonyms made by the translators. “Boon” would have been a better word. “ ... ... his life shall be unto him as a boon.” That is, “he shall be very fortunate to escape with his bare life,” or similarly, as the context may be.
(The Hebrew word is the same as the Arabic, from which latter the Hindustani term is derived, and this idiom is very common in India.)
The apparent difficulty in both these verses will vanish, if we mentally interpolate the word “now” before “in prison” in the former, and “dead” in the latter. In the same way as when speaking of any particular person in prison, or dead, we mean (unless distinctly stated otherwise) at the time we are talking of him.
And another thing, it does not say, “He goes and preaches unto the spirits now in prison,” nor is the gospel preached also to them “that are dead,” but “went and preached,” and “was the gospel preached;” so that in no way can a Papist establish his doctrine of “Purgatory” from these two texts, as I have known it to be attempted. Ιχθυς.