Christ drank the cup, and endured the wrath perfectly. He put himself, judicially, under the full weight of all his people"s liabilities, and gloriously discharged them. The belief of this gives settled peace to the soul. If the Lord Jesus has met all that could be against us, if he has removed out of the way every hindrance, if he has put away sin, if he has exhausted the cup of wrath and judgment on our behalf, if he has cleared the prospect of every cloud, should we not enjoy settled peace?
Unquestionably. Peace is our unalienable portion. To us belong the deep and untold blessedness and holy security which redeeming love can bestow on the righteous ground of Christ"s absolutely accomplished work.
Had Noah any anxiety about the billows of divine judgment? None whatever. How could he? He knew that "_all_" had been poured forth, while he himself was raised by those very outpoured billows into a region of cloudless peace. He floated in peace on that very water by which "all flesh" was judged. He was put beyond the reach of judgment; and put there, too, by G.o.d himself. He might have said, in the triumphant language of Romans viii., "If G.o.d be for us, who can be against us?" He had been invited in by Jehovah himself, as we read in Chapter vii. 1, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark;" and when he had taken his place there, we read, "_the Lord shut him in_." Here, a.s.suredly, was full and perfect security for all within. Jehovah kept the door, and no one could go in or out without him. There was both a window and a door to the ark. The Lord secured, with his own omnipotent hand, the door, and left Noah the window, from which he might look upward to the place from whence all the judgment had emanated, and see that no judgment remained for him. The saved family could only look _upward_, because the window was "above." (Chap. vi. 16.) They could not see the waters of judgment, nor the death and desolation which those waters had caused. G.o.d"s salvation--the "gopher wood," stood between them and all these things. They had only to gaze upward into a cloudless heaven,--the eternal dwelling-place of the One who had condemned the world, and saved them.
Nothing can more fully express the believer"s perfect security in Christ than those words, "the Lord shut him in." Who could open what G.o.d had shut? None. The family of Noah were as safe as G.o.d could make them. There was no power, angelic, human or diabolical, which could possibly burst open the door of the ark, and let the waters in. That door was shut by the self-same hand that had opened the windows of heaven, and broken up the fountains of the great deep. Thus Christ is spoken of as the One "that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth." (Rev. iii. 7.) He also holds in his hand "the keys of h.e.l.l and of death." (Rev. i. 18.) None can enter the portals of the grave, nor go forth therefrom without him. He has "all power in heaven and on earth." He is "head over all things to the Church," and in him the believer is perfectly secure.
(Matt. xxviii. 18; Eph. i. 22.) Who could touch Noah? What wave could penetrate that ark which was "pitched within and without with pitch?"
Just so now, who can touch those who have, by faith, retreated into the shadow of the cross? Every enemy has been met and silenced,--yes, silenced for ever. The death of Christ has triumphantly answered every demur; while, at the same time, his resurrection is the satisfactory declaration of G.o.d"s infinite complacency in that work which is, at once, the basis of his righteousness in receiving us, and of our confidence in drawing nigh unto him.
Hence, therefore, the door of our ark being secured, by the hand of G.o.d himself, nothing remains for us but to enjoy the window; or, in other words, to walk in happy and holy communion with him who has saved us from coming wrath, and made us heirs and expectants of coming glory.
Peter speaks of those, who "are blind, and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins." (2 Peter i.
9.) This is a lamentable condition for any one to be in, and it is the sure result of not cultivating diligent, prayerful communion with him who has eternally shut us in in Christ.
Let us, now, ere we proceed further with Noah"s history, glance for a little at the condition of those to whom he had so long preached righteousness. We have been looking at the _saved_,--let us now look at the _lost_: we have been thinking of those _within_ the ark,--let us now think of those _without_. No doubt, many an anxious look would be cast after the vessel of mercy, as it rose with the water; but, alas!
"the door was shut," the day of grace was over, the time of testimony closed, and that forever, so far as they were concerned. The same hand which had shut Noah _in_, had shut them _out_; and it was as impossible for those without to get in as it was for those within to get out. The former were irrecoverably lost; the latter, effectually saved. The long-suffering of G.o.d, and the testimony of his servant, had both been slighted. Present things had engrossed them. "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, and were given in marriage, _until_ the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."
(Luke xvii. 26, 27.) There was nothing wrong in any of these things, abstractedly looked at. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers of them. Every one of them might be done in the fear of the Lord, and to the glory of his holy name, were they only done in faith.
But, alas! they were not so done. The word of G.o.d was rejected. He told of judgment; but they did not believe. He spoke of sin and ruin; but they were not convinced. He spoke of a remedy; but they would not give heed. They went on with their own plans and speculations, and had no room for G.o.d. They acted as if the earth belonged to them, by a lease, forever. They forgot that there was a clause of surrender. They thought not of that solemn "_until_." G.o.d was shut out. "Every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually;" and hence, they could do nothing right. They thought, spake, and acted for themselves.
They did their own pleasure, and forgot G.o.d.
And, my reader, remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he said, "_as it was_ in the days of Noah, _so shall it be_ in the days of the Son of man." Some would have us to believe that ere the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, this earth shall be covered, from pole to pole, with a fair mantle of righteousness. They would teach us to look for a reign of righteousness and peace, as the result of agencies now in operation; but the brief pa.s.sage just quoted cuts up by the roots, in a moment, all such vain and delusive expectations. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea? Was G.o.d"s truth dominant? Was the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord? Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "All flesh had corrupted his way on the earth."
"The earth also was corrupt before G.o.d." Well, then, "_so_ shall it be in the days of the Son of man." This is plain enough. "Righteousness"
and "violence" are not very like each other. Neither is there any similarity between universal wickedness and universal peace. It only needs a heart subject to the Word, and freed from the influence of preconceived opinions, in order to understand the true character of the days immediately preceding "the coming of the Son of man." Let not my reader be led astray. Let him reverently bow to Scripture. Let him look at the condition of the world, "in the days before the flood;" and let him bear in mind, that "_as_" it was then, "_so_" shall it be at the close of this present period. This is most simple,--most conclusive.
There was nothing like a state of universal righteousness and peace then, neither shall there be any thing like it by-and-by.
No doubt, man displayed abundant energy in making the world a comfortable and an agreeable place for himself; but that was a very different thing from making it a suitable place for G.o.d. So also at this present time; man is as busy as he can be, in clearing the stones off the pathway of human life, and making it as smooth as possible; but this is not "making straight in the desert a highway for our G.o.d;" nor is it making "the rough places smooth," that all flesh may see the salvation of Jehovah. Civilization prevails; but civilization is not righteousness. The sweeping and garnishing are going forward; but it is not in order to fit the house for Christ, but for Antichrist. The wisdom of man is put forth in order to cover, with the folds of his own drapery, the blots and blemishes of humanity; but, though covered, they are not removed! They are underneath, and will, ere long, break out in more hideous deformity than ever. The painting of vermilion will soon be obliterated, and the carved cedar wood destroyed. The dams by which man sedulously seeks to stem the torrent of human wretchedness, must soon give way before the overwhelming force thereof. All the efforts to confine the physical, the mental, and the moral degradation of Adam"s posterity within those enclosures, which human benevolence, if you please, has devised, must, in the sequel, prove abortive. The testimony has gone forth. "The end of _all_ flesh has come before me." It has not come before man; but it has come before G.o.d: and, albeit, the voice of the scoffers may be heard, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?
for, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation;" yet the moment is rapidly hastening on when those scoffers will get their answer. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pa.s.s away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up." (2 Peter iii. 4-10.) This, my reader, is the answer to the intellectual scoffs of the children of this world, but not to the spiritual affections and expectations of the children of G.o.d. These latter, thank G.o.d, have a totally different prospect, even to meet the Bridegroom in the air, before evil shall have reached its culminating point, and, therefore, before the divine judgment shall be poured forth thereon.
The Church of G.o.d looks not for the burning up of the world, but for the arising of "the bright and morning Star."
Now, in whatever way we look at the future, from whatever point of view we contemplate it, whether the object, which presents itself to the soul"s vision be the Church in glory, or the world in flames, the coming of the Bridegroom, or the breaking in of the thief, the morning Star, or the scorching sun, the translation, or the deluge, we must feel the unspeakable importance of attending to G.o.d"s present testimony in grace, to lost sinners. "_Now_ is the accepted time; behold, _now_ is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. vi. 2.) "G.o.d was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespa.s.ses unto them." (2 Cor. v. 19.) He is reconciling now, he will be judging by-and-by; it is all grace now; it will be all wrath then; he is pardoning sin now, through the cross; he will punish it then, in h.e.l.l, and that forever. He is sending out a message of purest, richest, freest grace. He is telling sinners of an accomplished redemption through the precious sacrifice of Christ. He is declaring that all is done. He is waiting to be gracious. "The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation." "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter iii.) All this makes the present moment one of peculiar solemnity. Unmingled grace declared!--unmingled wrath impending! How solemn! How deeply solemn!
And, then, with what profound interest should we mark the unfolding of the divine purposes! Scripture sheds its light upon these things; and such a light, too, that we need not, as another has said, "vacantly stare on pa.s.sing events, as those who know not where they are, and whither they are going." We should accurately know our bearings. We should fully understand the direct tendency of all the principles now at work. We should be well aware of the vortex, toward which all the tributary streams are rapidly flowing on. Men dream of a golden age; they promise themselves a millennium of the arts and sciences; they feed upon the thought, that "to-morrow shall be as this day, and more abundant." But, oh! how utterly vain are all those thoughts, dreams, and promises. Faith can see the clouds gathering thickly around the world"s horizon. Judgment is coming. The day of wrath is at hand. The door will soon be shut. The "strong delusion" will soon set in with terrible intensity. How needful, then, it is to raise a warning voice,--to seek, by faithful testimony, to counteract man"s pitiable self-complacency. True, in so doing, we shall be exposed to the charge which Ahab brought against Micaiah, of always prophesying evil: but no matter for that. Let us prophesy what the word of G.o.d prophesies, and let us do this simply for the purpose of "persuading men." The word of G.o.d only removes from beneath our feet a hollow foundation, for the purpose of placing instead thereof a foundation which never can be moved. It only takes away from us a delusive hope, to give us, instead, "a hope which maketh not ashamed." It takes away "a broken reed," to give us the "Rock of ages." It sets aside "a broken cistern, which can hold no water," to set in its place "the Fountain of living waters."
This is true love. It is G.o.d"s love. He will not cry "peace, peace,"
when there is no peace; nor "daub with untempered mortar." He would have the sinner"s heart resting sweetly in his own eternal Ark of safety, enjoying present communion with himself, and fondly cherishing the hope, that, when all the ruin, the desolation, and the judgment have pa.s.sed away, it shall rest with him in a restored creation.
We shall now return to Noah, and contemplate him in a new position. We have seen him building the ark, we have seen him in the ark, and we shall now view him going forth of the ark, and taking his place in the new world.[13] "And G.o.d remembered Noah." The strange work of judgment being over, the saved family, and all in a.s.sociation with them, come into remembrance. "G.o.d made a wind to pa.s.s over the earth; and the waters a.s.suaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained." The beams of the sun now begin to act upon a world that had been baptized with a baptism of judgment. Judgment is G.o.d"s "strange work." He delights not in, though he is glorified by, it. Blessed be his name, he is ever ready to leave the place of judgment, and enter that of mercy, because he delights in mercy.
"And it came to pa.s.s, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth, to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth." The unclean bird made its escape, and found, no doubt, a resting-place upon some floating carcase. It sought not the ark again.
Not so the dove. "She found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark ... and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark: and the dove came in to him, in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive-leaf, pluckt off." Sweet emblem of the renewed mind, which, amid the surrounding desolation, seeks and finds its rest and portion in Christ; and not only so, but also lays hold of the earnest of the inheritance, and furnishes the blessed proof, that judgment has pa.s.sed away, and that a renewed earth is coming fully into view. The carnal mind, on the contrary, can rest in any thing and every thing but Christ. It can feed upon all uncleanness. "The olive-leaf"
has no attraction for it. It can find all it needs in a scene of death, and hence is not occupied with the thought of a new world and its glories; but the heart that is taught and exercised by the Spirit of G.o.d, can only rest and rejoice in that in which he rests and rejoices.
It rests in the Ark of his salvation "until the times of the rest.i.tution of all things." May it be thus with you and me, beloved reader! May Jesus be the abiding rest and portion of our hearts, that so we may not seek them in a world which is under the judgment of G.o.d!
The dove went back to Noah, and waited for his time of rest; and we should ever find our place with Christ, until the time of his exaltation, and glory, in the ages to come. "He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry." All we want, as to this, is a little patience. May G.o.d direct our hearts into his love, and into "the patience of Christ!"
"And G.o.d spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark." The same G.o.d that had said, "Make thee an ark" and "Come thou into the ark," now says, "Go forth of the ark." "And Noah went forth ... and builded an altar unto the Lord." All is simple obedience. There is the obedience of faith and the worship of faith: both go together. The altar is erected, where, just before; all had been a scene of death and judgment. The ark had borne Noah and his family safely over the waters of judgment. It had carried him from the old into the new world, where he now takes his place as a worshipper.[14] And, be it observed, it was "unto the Lord" he erected his altar. Superst.i.tion would have worshipped _the ark_, as being the means of salvation. It is ever the tendency of the heart to displace G.o.d by his ordinances. Now, the ark was a very marked and manifest ordinance; but Noah"s faith pa.s.sed beyond the ark to the G.o.d of the ark; and hence, when he stepped out of it, instead of casting back a lingering look at it, or regarding it as an object of worship or veneration, he built an altar unto the Lord, and worshipped him: and the ark is never heard of again.
This teaches us a very simple, but, at the same time, a very seasonable lesson. The moment the heart lets slip the reality of G.o.d himself, there is no placing a limit to its declension; it is on the highway to the grossest forms of idolatry. In the judgment of faith, an ordinance is only valuable as it conveys G.o.d, in living power, to the soul; that is to say, so long as faith can enjoy Christ therein, according to his own appointment. Beyond this, it is worth just nothing; and if it in the smallest degree comes between the heart and his precious work and his glorious person, it ceases to be an ordinance of G.o.d, and becomes an instrument of the devil. In the judgment of superst.i.tion, the ordinance is every thing, and G.o.d is shut out; and the name of G.o.d is only made use of to exalt the ordinance, and give it a deep hold of the human heart, and a mighty influence over the human mind. Thus it was that the children of Israel worshipped the brazen serpent. That, which had once been a channel of blessing to them, because used of G.o.d, became, when their hearts had departed from the Lord, an object of superst.i.tious veneration; and Hezekiah had to break it in pieces, and call it "a piece of bra.s.s." In itself it was only a "Nehushtan," but, when used of G.o.d, it was a means of rich blessing. Now, faith owned it to be what divine revelation said it was; but superst.i.tion, throwing, as it ever does, divine revelation overboard, lost the real purpose of G.o.d in the thing, and actually made a G.o.d of the thing itself. (See 2 Kings xviii. 4.)
And, my reader, is there not a deep lesson in all this for the present age? I am convinced there is. We live in an age of ordinances. The atmosphere which enwraps the professing church, is impregnated with the elements of a traditionary religion, which robs the soul of Christ, and his divinely full salvation. It is not that human traditions boldly deny that there is such a person as Christ, or such a thing as the cross of Christ: were they to do so, the eyes of many might be opened.
However, it is not thus. The evil is of a far more insidious and dangerous character. Ordinances are added to Christ, and the work of Christ. The sinner is not saved by Christ alone, but by Christ and ordinances. Thus he is robbed of Christ altogether; for it will, a.s.suredly, be found that _Christ and ordinances_ will prove, in the sequel, to be _ordinances, and not Christ_. This is a solemn consideration for all who stand up for a religion of ordinances. "If ye be circ.u.mcised Christ shall profit you nothing." It must be Christ wholly, or not at all. The devil persuades men, that they are honoring Christ when they make much of his ordinances; whereas, all the while he knows full well that they are, in reality, setting Christ entirely aside, and deifying the ordinance. I would only repeat here a remark which I have made elsewhere, namely, that superst.i.tion makes _every thing_ of the ordinance; infidelity, profanity, and mysticism, make _nothing_ of it; faith uses it according to divine appointment.
But I have already extended this section far beyond the limit which I had prescribed for it. I shall, therefore, close it with a hasty glance at the contents of Chapter ix. In it we have the new covenant, under which creation was set, after the Deluge, together with the token of that covenant. "And G.o.d blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Observe, G.o.d"s command to man, on his entrance into the restored earth, was to refill that earth; not parts of the earth, but the earth. He desired to have men dispersed abroad, over the face of the world, and not relying upon their own concentrated energies. We shall see, in Chap. xi., how man neglected all this.
The fear of man is now lodged in the heart of every other creature.
Henceforth the service, rendered by the inferior orders of creation to man, must be the constrained result of "fear and dread." In life, and in death, the lower animals were to be at the service of man. All creation is delivered, by G.o.d"s everlasting covenant, from the fear of a second deluge. Judgment is never again to take that shape. "The world that then was, being overflowed with _water_, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto _fire_ against the day of judgment and perdition of unG.o.dly men." The earth was once purged with water; and it will be again purged by fire; and in this second purgation none will escape, save those, who have fled for refuge to him who has pa.s.sed through the deep waters of death, and met the fire of divine judgment.
"And G.o.d said, This is the token of the covenant ... I do set my bow in the cloud ... and I will remember my covenant." The whole creation rests, as to its exemption from a second deluge, on the eternal stability of G.o.d"s covenant, of which the bow is the token; and it is happy to bear in mind, that when the bow appears, the eye of G.o.d rests upon it; and man is cast, not upon his own imperfect and most uncertain memory, but upon G.o.d"s. "I," says G.o.d, "will remember." How sweet to think of what G.o.d will, and what he will not, remember! He will remember his own covenant, but he will not remember his people"s sins.
The cross, which ratifies the former, puts away the latter. The belief of this gives peace to the troubled heart and uneasy conscience.
"And it shall come to pa.s.s, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that _the bow shall be seen in the cloud_." Beautiful and most expressive emblem! The beams of the sun, reflected from that which threatens judgment, tranquillize the heart, as telling of G.o.d"s covenant, G.o.d"s salvation, and G.o.d"s remembrance. Precious, most precious sunbeams, deriving additional beauty from the very cloud which reflects them! How forcibly does this bow in the cloud remind us of Calvary. There we see a cloud indeed,--a dark, thick, heavy cloud of judgment, discharging itself upon the sacred head of the Lamb of G.o.d,--a cloud so dark, that even at mid-day "there was darkness over all the earth." But, blessed be G.o.d, faith discerns, in that heaviest cloud that ever gathered, the most brilliant and beauteous bow that ever appeared; for it sees the bright beams of G.o.d"s eternal love darting through the awful gloom, and reflected in the cloud. It hears, too, the words, "It is finished,"
issuing from amid the darkness, and in those words it recognizes the perfect ratification of G.o.d"s everlasting covenant, not only with creation, but with the tribes of Israel and the Church of G.o.d.
The last paragraph of this chapter presents a humiliating spectacle.
The lord of creation fails to govern himself: "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent." What a condition for Noah, the only righteous man, the preacher of righteousness, to be found in! Alas! what is man? Look at him where you will, and you see only failure. In Eden, he fails; in the restored earth, he fails; in Canaan, he fails; in the Church, he fails; in the presence of millennial bliss and glory, he fails. He fails everywhere, and in all things: there is no good thing in him. Let his advantages be ever so great, his privileges ever so vast, his position ever so desirable, he can only exhibit failure and sin.
We must, however, look at Noah in two ways, namely, as _a type_, and as _a man_; and while the type is full of beauty and meaning, the man is full of sin and folly; yet the Holy Ghost has written these words, "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and Noah walked with G.o.d." Divine grace had covered all his sins, and clothed his person with a spotless robe of righteousness. Though Noah exposed his nakedness, G.o.d did not see it, for he looked not at him in the weakness of his own condition, but in the full power of divine and everlasting righteousness. Hence we may see how entirely astray--how totally alienated from G.o.d and his thoughts--Ham was in the course he adopted; he evidently knew nothing of the blessedness of the man whose iniquity is forgiven and his sin covered. On the contrary, Shem and j.a.pheth exhibit in their conduct a fine specimen of the divine method of dealing with human nakedness; wherefore they inherit a blessing, whereas Ham inherits a curse.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] We should ever bear in mind, that "the wisdom which is from above is _first pure_, then peaceable." (James iii. 17.) The wisdom which is from beneath would put "peaceable" first, and, therefore, it can never be pure.
[12] It is impossible to over-estimate the wisdom of the Holy Ghost, as seen in the way in which he treats the ordinance of baptism, in the above remarkable pa.s.sage. We know the evil use which has been made of baptism; we know the false place it has gotten in the thoughts of many; we know how that the efficacy, which belongs only to the blood of Christ, has been attributed to the water of baptism; we know how the regenerating grace of the Holy Ghost has been transferred to water baptism; and, with the knowledge of all this, we cannot but be struck with the way in which the Spirit of G.o.d guards the subject, by stating, that it is not the mere washing away of the filth of the flesh, as by water, "but the answer of a good conscience toward G.o.d," which "answer"
we get, not by baptism, how important soever it may be, as an ordinance of the kingdom, but "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ," "who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification."
Baptism, I need hardly say, as an ordinance of divine inst.i.tution, and in its divinely-appointed place, is most important and deeply significant; but when we find men, in one way or another, putting the figure in place of the substance, we are bound to expose the work of Satan by the light of the word of G.o.d.
[13] I would here mention, for my reader"s prayerful consideration, a thought very familiar to the minds of those who have specially given themselves to the study of what is called "dispensational truth." It has reference to Enoch and Noah. The former was taken away, as we have seen, before the judgment came; whereas the latter was carried through the judgment. Now, it is thought that Enoch is a figure of the Church, who shall be taken away before human evil reaches its climax, and before the divine judgment falls thereon. Noah, on the other hand, is a figure of the remnant of Israel, who shall be brought through the deep waters of affliction, and through the fire of judgment, and led into the full enjoyment of millennial bliss, in virtue of G.o.d"s everlasting covenant. I may add, that I quite receive this thought in reference to those two Old-Testament fathers. I consider that it has the full support of the general scope and a.n.a.logy of Holy Scripture.
[14] It is interesting to look at this entire subject of the ark and deluge, in connection with that most important and deeply significant ordinance of baptism. A truly baptized person, that is, one who, as the apostle says, "obeys from the heart that type of doctrine to which he is delivered," is one, who has pa.s.sed from the old world into the new, in spirit and principle, and by faith. The water rolls over his person, signifying that his old man is buried, that his place in nature is ignored, that his old nature is entirely set aside; in short, that he is a dead man. When he is plunged beneath the water, expression is given to the fact that his name, place, and existence, in nature, are put out of sight; that the flesh, with all that pertained thereto, its sins, its iniquities, its liabilities, is buried in the grave of Christ, and never can come into G.o.d"s sight again.
Again, when he rises up out of the water, expression is given to the truth, that he only comes up as the possessor of a new life, even the resurrection life of Christ. If Christ had not been raised from the dead, the believer could not come up out of the water, but should remain buried beneath its surface, as the simple expression of the place which righteously belongs to nature. But, inasmuch as Christ rose from the dead, in the power of a new life, having entirely put away our sins, we also come up out of the water; and, in so doing, set forth the fact, that we are put, by the grace of G.o.d, and through the death of Christ, in full possession of a new life, to which divine righteousness inseparably attaches. "We are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (See Rom. vi.
and Col. ii. _pa.s.sim_. Comp. also 1 Peter iii. 18-22.) All this makes the inst.i.tution of baptism one of immense importance, and pregnant with meaning.
CHAPTER X.
This section of our book records the generations of Noah"s three sons, noticing, especially, Nimrod, the founder of the kingdom of Babel, or Babylon, a name which occupies a very prominent place on the page of inspiration. Babylon is a well-known name,--a well-known influence.
From the tenth chapter of Genesis, down to the eighteenth chapter of Revelation, Babylon, again and again, appears before us, and always as something decidedly hostile to those who occupy, for the time being, the position of public testimony for G.o.d. Not that we are to look upon the Babylon of Old Testament scripture as identical with the Babylon of the Apocalypse. By no means. I believe the former is a city; the latter, a system; but both the city and the system exert a powerful influence against G.o.d"s people. Hardly had Israel entered upon the wars of Canaan, when "a Babylonish garment" brought defilement and sorrow, defeat and confusion, into the host. This is the earliest record of Babylon"s pernicious influence upon the people of G.o.d; but every student of Scripture is aware of the place which Babylon gets throughout the entire history of Israel.
This would not be the place to notice in detail the various pa.s.sages in which this city is introduced. I would only remark here, that whenever G.o.d has a corporate witness on the earth, Satan has a Babylon to mar and corrupt that witness. When G.o.d connects his name with a city on the earth, then Babylon takes the form of a city; and when G.o.d connects his name with the Church, then Babylon takes the form of a corrupt religious system, called "the great wh.o.r.e," "the mother of abominations," &c. In a word, Satan"s Babylon is always seen as the instrument moulded and fashioned by his hand, for the purpose of counteracting the divine operations, whether in Israel of old, or the Church now. Throughout the Old Testament Israel and Babylon are seen, as it were, in opposite scales; when Israel is up, Babylon is down; and when Babylon is up, Israel is down. Thus, when Israel had utterly failed, as Jehovah"s witness, "the king of Babylon broke his bones,"
and swallowed him up. The vessels of the house of G.o.d, which ought to have remained in the _city_ of Jerusalem, were carried away to the _city_ of Babylon. But Isaiah, in his sublime prophecy, leads us onward to the opposite of all this. He presents, in most magnificent strains, a picture, in which Israel"s star is in the ascendant, and Babylon entirely sunk. "And it shall come to pa.s.s in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!... since _thou_ art laid down, no feller is come up against _us_." (Isa. xiv. 3-8.)
Thus much as to the Babylon of the Old Testament. Then, as to the Babylon of Revelation, my reader has only to turn to the 17th and 18th chapters of that book to see her character and end. She is presented in marked contrast with the bride, the Lamb"s wife; and as to her end, she is cast as a great millstone into the sea; after which we have the marriage of the Lamb, with all its accompanying bliss and glory.
However, I could not attempt to pursue this most interesting subject here: I have merely glanced at it in connection with the name of Nimrod. I feel a.s.sured that my reader will find himself amply repaid for any trouble he may take in the close examination of all those scriptures in which the name of Babylon is introduced. We shall now return to our chapter.
"And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a _mighty one in the earth_. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, _in the land of Shinar_." Here, then, we have the character of the founder of Babylon.
He was "a mighty one _in the earth_"--"a mighty hunter before the Lord." Such was the origin of Babylon; and its character, throughout the entire book of G.o.d, remarkably corresponds therewith. It is always seen as a mighty influence in the earth, acting in positive antagonism to every thing which owes its origin to heaven; and it is not until this Babylon has been totally abolished, that the cry is heard, amid the hosts above, "Alleluia; for the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth."
Then all Babylon"s mighty hunting will be over forever, whether it be its hunting of wild beasts, to subdue them; or its hunting of souls, to destroy them. All its might, and all its glory, all its pomp and pride, its wealth and luxury, its light and joy, its glitter and glare, its powerful attractions and wide-spread influence, shall have pa.s.sed away forever. She shall be swept with the besom of destruction, and plunged in the darkness, the horror and desolation, of an everlasting night.