“Time of Jacob’s Trouble”
“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”[300]
“Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.”[301]
“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,Even the Most High, thy habitation;There shall no evil befall thee,Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”[302]“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.”|“Our God Shall Come”|“He shall call to the heavens above,And to the earth, that He may judge His people; ...And the heavens shall declare His righteousness;For God is judge Himself.”[303]
“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,Even the Most High, thy habitation;There shall no evil befall thee,Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”[302]“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.”|“Our God Shall Come”|“He shall call to the heavens above,And to the earth, that He may judge His people; ...And the heavens shall declare His righteousness;For God is judge Himself.”[303]
“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,Even the Most High, thy habitation;There shall no evil befall thee,Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”[302]
“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,
Even the Most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”[302]
“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.”|“Our God Shall Come”|“He shall call to the heavens above,And to the earth, that He may judge His people; ...And the heavens shall declare His righteousness;For God is judge Himself.”[303]
“The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.”|“Our God Shall Come”|
“He shall call to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people; ...
And the heavens shall declare His righteousness;
For God is judge Himself.”[303]
“O daughter of Zion, ... the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neitherunderstand they His counsel.” “Because they call thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after,” “I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.” “I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places.”[304]
“He Will Save”
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;We have waited for Him, and He will save us:This is the Lord; we have waited for Him,We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;We have waited for Him, and He will save us:This is the Lord; we have waited for Him,We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;We have waited for Him, and He will save us:This is the Lord; we have waited for Him,We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us:
This is the Lord; we have waited for Him,
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“He will swallow up death in victory; ... and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it.”[305]
“Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down.... For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king.”[306]
“With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.”[307]
The Reign of Peace
Then will the purpose of God be fulfilled; the principles of His kingdom will be honored by all beneath the sun.
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,And thy gates Praise.”“In righteousness shalt thou be established:Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:And from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”[308]
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,And thy gates Praise.”“In righteousness shalt thou be established:Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:And from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”[308]
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,And thy gates Praise.”
“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
Wasting nor destruction within thy borders;
But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation,
And thy gates Praise.”
“In righteousness shalt thou be established:Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:And from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”[308]
“In righteousness shalt thou be established:
Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear:
And from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”[308]
Study of Prophecy
The prophets to whom these great scenes were revealed longed to understand their import. They “inquired and searched diligently; ... searchingwhat, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify.... Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you; ... which things the angels desire to look into.”[309]
To us who are standing on the very verge of their fulfilment, of what deep moment, what living interest, are these delineations of the things to come,—events for which, since our first parents turned their steps from Eden, God’s children have watched and waited, longed and prayed!
At this time, before the great final crisis, as before the world’s first destruction, men are absorbed in the pleasures and the pursuits of sense. Engrossed with the seen and transitory, they have lost sight of the unseen and eternal. For the things that perish with the using, they are sacrificing imperishable riches. Their minds need to be uplifted, their views of life to be broadened. They need to be aroused from the lethargy of worldly dreaming.
A Lesson for To-Day
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the pages of Holy Writ, they need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and its magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld,—power and magnificence which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring,—how completely has it passed away! As “the flower of the grass,” it has perished. So perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only that which is bound up with His purpose, and expresses His character, can endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows.
It is these great truths that old and young need to learn. We need to study the working out of God’s purpose in the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come, that we may estimate at their true value things seen and things unseen; that we may learn what is the true aim of life; that, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity, we may put them to their truest and noblest use. Thus, learning here the principles of His kingdom and becoming its subjects and citizens, we may be prepared at His coming to enter with Him into its possession.
The End Is at Hand
The day is at hand. For the lessons to be learned, the work to be done, the transformation of character to be effected, the time remaining is but too brief a span.
“Behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.”[310]
Bible Teaching and Study
“INCLINE THINE EAR UNTOWISDOM; SEARCH FOR HERAS FOR HID TREASURES”
“INCLINE THINE EAR UNTOWISDOM; SEARCH FOR HERAS FOR HID TREASURES”
“INCLINE THINE EAR UNTOWISDOM; SEARCH FOR HERAS FOR HID TREASURES”
“INCLINE THINE EAR UNTO
WISDOM; SEARCH FOR HER
AS FOR HID TREASURES”
A Bible Student
In childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus studied the Scriptures. As a little child, He was daily, at His mother’s knee, taught from the scrolls of the prophets. In His youth the early morning and the evening twilight often found Him alone on the mountainside or among the trees of the forest, spending a quiet hour in prayer and the study of God’s word. During His ministry His intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures testifies to His diligence in their study. And since He gained knowledge as we may gain it, His wonderful power, both mental and spiritual, is a testimony to the value of the Bible as a means of education.
Stories for the Little Ones
Our heavenly Father, in giving His word, did not overlook the children. In all that men have written, where can be found anything that has such a hold upon the heart, anything so well adapted to awaken the interest of the little ones, as the stories of the Bible?
In these simple stories may be made plain the great principles of the law of God. Thus by illustrations best suited to the child’s comprehension, parents and teachers may begin very early to fulfil the Lord’s injunction concerning His precepts: “Thou shalt teachthem diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”[311]
Object Lessons
The use of object-lessons, blackboards, maps, and pictures, will be an aid in explaining these lessons, and fixing them in the memory. Parents and teachers should constantly seek for improved methods. The teaching of the Bible should have our freshest thought, our best methods, and our most earnest effort.
Family Study
In arousing and strengthening a love for Bible study, much depends on the use of the hour of worship. The hours of morning and evening worship should be the sweetest and most helpful of the day. Let it be understood that into these hours no troubled, unkind thoughts are to intrude; that parents and children assemble to meet with Jesus, and to invite into the home the presence of holy angels. Let the services be brief and full of life, adapted to the occasion, and varied from time to time. Let all join in the Bible reading, and learn and often repeat God’s law. It will add to the interest of the children if they are sometimes permitted to select the reading. Question them upon it, and let them ask questions. Mention anything that will serve to illustrate its meaning. When the service is not thus made too lengthy, let the little ones take part in prayer, and let them join in song, if it be but a single verse.
To make such a service what it should be, thought should be given to preparation. And parents should take time daily for Bible study with their children. No doubt it will require effort and planning and some sacrifice to accomplish this; but the effort will be richly repaid.
Personal Influence and Example
As a preparation for teaching His precepts, God commands that they be hidden in the hearts of the parents. “These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart,” He says; “and thou shalt teach them diligently.”[312]In order to interest our children in the Bible, we ourselves must be interested in it. To awaken in them a love for its study, we must love it. Our instruction to them will have only the weight of influence given it by our own example and spirit.
Abraham an Illustration
God called Abraham to be a teacher of His word, He chose him to be the father of a great nation, because He saw that Abraham would instruct his children and his household in the principles of God’s law. And that which gave power to Abraham’s teaching was the influence of his own life. His great household consisted of more than a thousand souls, many of them heads of families, and not a few but newly converted from heathenism. Such a household required a firm hand at the helm. No weak, vacillating methods would suffice. Of Abraham God said, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him.”[313]Yet his authority was exercised with such wisdom and tenderness that hearts were won. The testimony of the divine Watcher is, “They shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.”[313]And Abraham’s influence extended beyond his own household. Wherever he pitched his tent, he set up beside it the altar for sacrifice and worship. When the tent was removed, the altar remained; and many a roving Canaanite, whose knowledge of God had been gained from the life of Abraham His servant, tarried at that altar to offer sacrifice to Jehovah.
No less effective to-day will be the teaching ofGod’s word when it finds as faithful a reflection in the teacher’s life.
Original Study
It is not enough to know what others have thought or learned about the Bible. Every one must in the judgment give account of himself to God, and each should now learn for himself what is truth. But in order to effective study, the interest of the pupil must be enlisted. Especially by the one who has to deal with children and youth differing widely in disposition, training, and habits of thought, this is a matter not to be lost sight of. In teaching children the Bible, we may gain much by observing the bent of their minds, the things in which they are interested, and arousing their interest to see what the Bible says about these things. He who created us, with our various aptitudes, has in His word given something for every one. As the pupils see that the lessons of the Bible apply to their own lives, teach them to look to it as a counselor.
Beauty of Thought and Expression
Help them also to appreciate its wonderful beauty. Many books of no real value, books that are exciting and unhealthful, are recommended, or at least permitted to be used, because of their supposed literary value. Why should we direct our children to drink of these polluted streams, when they may have free access to the pure fountains of the word of God? The Bible has a fulness, a strength, a depth of meaning, that is inexhaustible. Encourage the children and youth to seek out its treasures, both of thought and of expression.
As the beauty of these precious things attracts their minds, a softening, subduing power will touch their hearts. They will be drawn to Him who has thus revealed Himself to them. And there are few who will not desire to know more of His works and ways.
Purpose in Study
The student of the Bible should be taught to approach it in the spirit of a learner. We are to search its pages, not for proof to sustain our opinions, but in order to know what God says.
A true knowledge of the Bible can be gained only through the aid of that Spirit by whom the word was given. And in order to gain this knowledge we must live by it. All that God’s word commands, we are to obey. All that it promises, we may claim. The life which it enjoins is the life that, through its power, we are to live. Only as the Bible is thus held can it be studied effectively.
The study of the Bible demands our most diligent effort and persevering thought. As the miner digs for the golden treasure in the earth, so earnestly, persistently, must we seek for the treasure of God’s word.
Thoroughness and Concentration
In daily study the verse-by-verse method is often most helpful. Let the student take one verse, and concentrate the mind on ascertaining the thought that God has put into that verse for him, and then dwell upon the thought until it becomes his own. One passage thus studied until its significance is clear, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view, and no positive instruction gained.
Unwholesome Literature
One of the chief causes of mental inefficiency and moral weakness is the lack of concentration for worthy ends. We pride ourselves on the wide distribution of literature; but the multiplication of books, even books that in themselves are not harmful, may be a positive evil. With the immense tide of printed matter constantly pouring from the press, old and young form the habit of reading hastily and superficially, and the mind loses its power of connected and vigorous thought.Furthermore, a large share of the periodicals and books that, like the frogs of Egypt, are overspreading the land, are not merely commonplace, idle, and enervating, but unclean and degrading. Their effect is not merely to intoxicate and ruin the mind, but to corrupt and destroy the soul. The mind, the heart, that is indolent, aimless, falls an easy prey to evil. It is on diseased, lifeless organisms that fungus roots. It is the idle mind that is Satan’s workshop. Let the mind be directed to high and holy ideals, let the life have a noble aim, an absorbing purpose, and evil finds little foothold.
A Shield from Temptation
Let the youth, then, be taught to give close study to the word of God. Received into the soul, it will prove a mighty barricade against temptation. “Thy word,” the psalmist declares, “have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”[314]
Comprehensive Study
The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is to be compared with scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole, and to see the relation of its parts. He should gain a knowledge of its grand central theme, of God’s original purpose for the world, of the rise of the great controversy, and of the work of redemption. He should understand the nature of the two principles that are contending for supremacy, and should learn to trace their working through the records of history and prophecy, to the great consummation. He should see how this controversy enters into every phase of human experience; how in every act of life he himself reveals the one or the other of the two antagonistic motives; and how, whether he will or not, he is even now deciding upon which side of the controversy he will be found.
Every part of the Bible is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable. The Old Testament no less than the New should receive attention. As we study the Old Testament, we shall find living springs bubbling up where the careless reader discerns only a desert.
Daniel and the Revelation
The book of Revelation, in connection with the book of Daniel, especially demands study. Let every God-fearing teacher consider how most clearly to comprehend and to present the gospel that our Saviour came in person to make known to His servant John,—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”[315]None should become discouraged in the study of the Revelation because of its apparently mystical symbols. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not.”[316]
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.”[317]
Continuous Study
When a real love for the Bible is awakened, and the student begins to realize how vast is the field and how precious its treasure, he will desire to seize upon every opportunity for acquainting himself with God’s word. Its study will be restricted to no special time or place. And this continuous study is one of the best means of cultivating a love for the Scriptures. Let the student keep his Bible always with him. As you have opportunity, read a text and meditate upon it. While walking the streets, waiting at a railway station, waiting to meet an engagement, improve the opportunity to gain some precious thought from the treasure-house of truth.
Results of Study
The great motive powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love; and it is to these that Bible study, rightly pursued, appeals. The outward beauty of the Bible, the beauty of imagery and expression, is but the setting, as it were, for its real treasure,—the beauty of holiness. In its record of the men who walked with God, we may catch glimpses of His glory. In the One “altogether lovely” we behold Him, of whom all beauty of earth and heaven is but a dim reflection. “I, if I be lifted up,” He said, “will draw all men unto Me.”[318]As the student of the Bible beholds the Redeemer, there is awakened in the soul the mysterious power of faith, adoration, and love. Upon the vision of Christ the gaze is fixed, and the beholder grows into the likeness of that which he adores. The words of the apostle Paul become the language of the soul: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; ... that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.”[319]
Streams of Blessing
The springs of heavenly peace and joy unsealed in the soul by the words of Inspiration will become a mighty river of influence to bless all who come within its reach. Let the youth of to-day, the youth who are growing up with the Bible in their hands, become the recipients and the channels of its life-giving energy, and what streams of blessing would flow forth to the world!—influences of whose power to heal and comfort we can scarcely conceive,—rivers of living water fountains “springing up unto everlasting life.”