Robert W. Woodruff
Library
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
Copyrighted 1*99
By BENJAMIN TUCKER TANiNfcR,
Kansas City, MO.
THE DISPENSATIONS
IN THE
History of The Church
AND
THE INTERREGNUMS.
BY
BENJ. TUCKER TANNER.
"The Covenant of grace hath subsisted under
various forms of external administration ever
since the Fall, and shall continue in full force to
the consumation of all things." Dr Owen.
"To trace the gradual openings of the Christ¬
ian scheme through the various Dispensations of
God to the Church, may be an important part to
Celestial happiness." Dr. Doddridge.
THE DISPENSATIONS
in the
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
and
THE INTERREGNUMS.
By
BENJ. TUCKER TANNER, LL. D.
One of the
BISHOPS OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH
and riember of the
NEGRO=AMERICAN ACADEMY.
1898.
Books by the same Author.
Apology for African Methodism. 1867.
Is the Negro Cursed?. 1869.
Outlines of History (A. M. E. Church). 1882,
Tuskegee Lectures, 1895.
The Color of Solomon : What? 1896.
The Negro in Holy Writ. 1898.
DEDICATION.
To the Afro= American Clergy of Every
Name and Creed.
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HISTORY OF THE DISPENSATIONS.
VOLUME 1.
CONTENTS.
OPENING EXCURSUS.
Prelude First—The Significance of a Dispensation
" Second—Chronology of the Bible.
" Third—The Origin of Man.
" Fourth—Descent of the Negro.
" Fifth—Ordination of Women.
" Sixth—The Flood.
" Seventh—Division of the Land.
" Eighth—Prophecy and Prophets.
" Ninth—Baptism.
Chapter 1.—First Dispensation (Adamic)
VOLUME II. CONTENTS.
Chapter II.—First Interregnum.
" III. —Second Dispensation (Noachic).
" IV.—Second Interregnum.
" V.—Third Dispensation (Abramic.)
" VI.—Third Interregnum.
" VII.—Fourth Dispensation (Mosaic).
" VIII.—Fourth Interregnum.
" IX—Fifth Dispensation (Christian).
" X.—Sixth Dispensation, or The Dispensa¬
tion of Glory.
PREFACE.
0
PREFACE.
The author of a book is much like a mechanic.
What each does bears close resemblance. In its con¬
struction a book is all the world like a house. The
facts employed in this are the materials used in that.
Facts versus Materials. Precisely. No carpenter
ever made freer use of timber in the erection of the
structure upon which he was engaged than do auth¬
ors in the use of facts—than did we in the prepar¬
ation of these volumes. Of [Solomon's workmen it
is said: * * * "they brought great stones, cost¬
ly stones, and hewed stones. * * * they pre¬
pared timber * * * to build the house." Even
so every one who writes a book. The great stones,
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS. . .
and the stones that are costly and hewn, together
with the prepared timber, these are as the facts
which the author gathers. As it is impossible to
build a house without timber, even so is it impossi¬
ble to write a book without facts. Nor is the class
of books made up of the opinions of their authors
any exception ; for the opinions of those who have
won the right to hold them are but facts of a higher
and subtler order.
In the construction of our "Dispensations in
the History of the Church," we have, of course,
been dependent upon facts. "We have aimed to get
them—eedar for things of cedar, fir for things of fir,
gold for things of gold, and silver for things of sil¬
ver; "onyx stones and stones to be set, stones for in¬
laid work, and of divers colours, and all manner of
precious stones, and marble stones in abundance."
—(Chron. 20; 1-2). How well we have succeeded, if
indeed we may be said to have succeeded at all, it
remains for others to tell. The only award we claim
is what Bengel gave the woman who brake the box
of the ointment of spikenard upon the head of the
Master. "\\ ]iafc g}je AVilg a^]e done."
Dispensations" hits the mark or misses it,
PREFACE.
11
what we were able to do we have clone. Nor will we
"weak excuses" make.
We have aimed in a connected form to put be¬
fore our readers, chiefly of the unschooled class,
God's purpose to save the race. God's purpose, we
say; for from the moment of man's fall, never for
once did it enter the Divine mind to let man go.
Wrestling Jacob
The day's most breaking;
Wrestling Jacob
I wi}l not let thee go,
is what our fathers sang in the days of their bond¬
age. But they little dreamed of the fact that it was
as true of God as of man :
"I will not let thee go."
Y^ars ago when we gave the church our "Apol¬
ogy for African Methodism" (1867), in presenting
a portraiture of Bishop A. W. VVayman we said:
T'This sketch of the bishop, so extremely mod¬
est and yet so well written, we hesitate not to reveal
ia from his own pen. We read it over and over
again, and finally concluded that it would be un¬
wise to pull down the unassuming structure, so well
proportioned, and, withal so pleasing, and run the
risk of putting it up again, and as well." The same
principle has guided us in much of what is here pre-
12
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
sented. If not, why not? Why should the carpen¬
ter who finds a piece of timber already prepared for
use, insist on casting it aside only to make another,
possibly not so good. In all that we have ever writ¬
ten if we could find what we desired to say already
said, we have rarely failed to quote—giving due
credit, of course. As will be discovered, we have
done this in the present work; especially in the por¬
tions referring to the Tabernacle, and the vestments
of the priests. We write for the profit of our read¬
ers ; and what matters it whether we or another say a
thing, so it is said.
We commend the "Dispensations" to the chari¬
table consideration of all who could do better, and to
the careful study of those who could not do as well.
In both cases our ends will be subserved—the stir-
ing up of the one class, the strengthening of the
other.
In so far as we Afro-Americans are concerned
the demand of the hour is Negros cholarship; espec¬
ially on the line of Biblical ethnology. Why not
say ethnology in general? No; our want is for the
knowledge of the ethnology of the Bible, and for the
reason that by 110 other book does the white man
PREFACE.
18
swear—if, indeed, he swear by this. Biblical eth¬
ology concerns itself not only as it relates to then
Hebrews and their descent from Shem through Abra¬
ham; but in it is found the source of all the races
that have sprung from Adam, through Noah, through
Shem, or Ham or Japheth. It is this knowledge, as
given by the unerring light of Scripture, that
we need. A chief reason is the attempt now being
ma^e by Japhetic scholarship to deny our Hamitic
genesis. With the great Methodist Episcopal church
leading off in the cry, "The Negro is not of Ham,"
the days will be few and the years fewer, till all the
white Protestant churches will be heard to take up
the cry, "The Negro is not of Adam." Our duty is to
rally around the statements of the Bible, particular¬
ly those of Genesis, tenth Chapter. Make it the
citadel of our contention for a share in the common
heritage. Nor can insistance be too strongly made,
that in all that pertains to ethnology the very words
of the inspired pens men be preserved. When they
say, Mitzraim, Mitzraim and not Egypt, let it be.
When they say, Cush, Cush and not Ethiopia, let
it be. Moses knew nothing about Egypt; as did not
Jeremiah know of Ethiopia.
14 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
-
Our scholars then—the few that are, the host
that will be—must listen to Longfellow:
•'Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate."
INTRODUCTION.
15
INTRODUCTION
BY
RT. RE?. We BENJAMIN DERRICK, D. D.
BISHOP OF THE EIGHTH DISTRICT.
African Hethodist Episcopal Church.
16
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
INTRODUCTION.
The introduction to a book into the literary
world is generally of a two-fold nature : First, the
writer, who essays to be a citizen of the Republic of
Letters; and Second, his writings—that by which he
will be known and remembered, generally the result
of years of successful study. The wider the range
and the more extensive the research, the more suc¬
cessful in extracting, as it were, the nectar from
every flower, laying under contribution every branch
of the great tree of knowledge, the more surely will
he b9 accepted as an unerring guide and an unmis¬
takable landmark to all weary travelers who essay
to plod the same path.
The writer whom we now introduce is,
BISHOP BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER,
the gentleman, the ripe scholar and divine, success¬
ful editor of the Christian Recorder for sixteen
INTRODUCTION.
17
years; editor of the A. M. E. Church Review four
years; and lastly the happy recipient of the highest
gift of the church in his election to the Bishopric,
May 1888, at the General Conference convened at
Indianapolis, Ind.
This brief sketch would be incomplete without
mentioning the fact that not only has this eminent
man, the scholar, author, journalist and Bishop
contributed extensively to the Republic of Letters,
but he has given to the world of Art the most con¬
spicuous painter at the close of the 19th Century, in
the person of his distinguished s'on, H. O.. Tanner,
who has won a place for himself in the very first
ranks of the profession. So masterly are the pro¬
ductions of this young artist that the French gov¬
ernment has recently purchased his painting, ''The
Raising of Lazarus," which now adorns the walls of
the Luxemburg gallery, as well as awarded him the
gold medal. The success of young Mr. Tanner has
won for American art as well as the whole American
jieople, world wide fame.
In what we have been pleased to say of the
writer of the "Dispensations," it is to be remem¬
bered that we are not influenced by the ties of a
18
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
long and unbroken friendship, or by our relation as
colleagues in the House of Bishops ; neither of these,
we say, moves us; but we speak the words of truth
and soberness—for have not the days for empty
eulogy passed? A great man's deeds speak louder
than words, however glowing.
Having thus briefly introduced the writer, we
call attention to his writings, both as Editor of
the Recorder and Review, and as the author of
such books as "Apology for African Methodism,"
"Outline History of the A. M. E. Church;" the
"Origin -of the Negro;" the "Color of Solomon;11
"Biblical Lectures," delivered to students at Tus-
kegee, Ala., and Wilberforce, Ohio, together with
miscellaneous contributions to periodical journals
in prose and poetry, in all of which he has shown
himself to be an able defender, not only of the
church of his choice, but of the faith once delivered
unto the saints. Patient, plodding, industrious;
soaring above the sordid; always alert, and with
keen eye, he has kept abreast of the times, leaving
the world decidedly wiser, and better informed upon
many subjects than he found it.
In the scanty leisure midst hiE varied official
INTRODUCTION.
19
duties, he has given the world another work, which
it is our pleasure to introduce to the general public
"The Dispensations in the History of the Church,"
which we regard as the crowning act of his literary life.
In Vol. i, we find a G meral Excursus of the
whole matter, together with preludes to the num¬
ber of nine, in which full discussion is given to sub¬
jects germane to that of the work.
It is in these preludes, possibly more than any
where else that the student, we might say the
scholar, appears. While each has its importance,
especial attention can well be called to the one on
the "Origin of Man"—man, the religious, the divine,
whose pedigree has been traced unerringly and as
by the hand of a master, to the direct creation of
God, and to our federal head—"Adam, who was the
son of God." (Luke 8:23-88).
We feel to thank God for this prelude, which in
a modest way has struck at the root of the tree of
evil, the theory of "Evolution" and the "Develop¬
ment" from the lower animals. The prelude, also, on
the "Descent of the Negro," so ably argued in the
author's work on the subject, a work that stands un¬
challenged, and which has been here retouched, is
20
history of dispensations.
also worthy of special reading, and to it "especially
do Ave invite the attention of that class of divines
who say the Negro is not of Ham.
Chronology, in a sense the backbone of history,
and without which history is invertebrate, also re¬
ceives attention; and while the author accepts that
of Usher, intimation is plainly given that in the
near future this whole matter will doubtless be
recast.
The flood or deluge of Noah comes in for ex¬
tended treatment. To the modern student of the
Bible, the flood is the great dividing line in human
history, and in God's program of the progress of
the world.
This part of Scripture history has been the bat¬
tle-ground where scientific men and theologians, be¬
lievers and unbelievers have met in every age, and
in the bated edge of controversy have well nigh
overlooked the fact that the record is divinely in¬
spired. The following may assist the reader to fol¬
low the Bishop intelligently in his arguments:—
1. The actual narative as given in Genesis vn
and viii, reasserted by later Biblical writers, and en¬
dorsed by the God-Man himself.
INTRODUCTION.
'21
2. The statements or descriptions of secular
history, and the traditions of a deluge among the
ancient civilized nations of Europe, Asia, Africa
and later, America, with the isles of the sea.
"Prophecy and the Prophets," or G-od revealing
Himself to man through human and not angelic
agency, from Enoch to Malachi, when the voice of
prophecy was hushed for 400 years, is extensively
and interestingly treated.
Baptism—that outward sign of an inward spirit¬
ual grace, is a prelude that should be sent to the
Church as leaves in Autumn; baptism, that initial
act of God upon the soul, whereby it is transformed
from a natural condition to a state of grace. Chris¬
tian baptism, its nature, obligations, design and
effect; its subjects, viz.; Adults and Infants.
Mode—Sprinkling, pouring or immersing—which is
scriptural? The whole subject is treated as with
the pen of a master.
The ordination of women and consequently their
admission into the rank and file of the Christian
Ministry, comes in for broad treatment. Has it
Scriptual authority? What said the Fathers in the
early Christian Church on the subject? Is the ordi-
22
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
nation of women unnecessary or is it necessary in
the development of the Christian Church? Are men
the exclusively privileged characters divinely ap¬
pointed to exercise all the functions of the Christian
Ministry as under the Mosaic dispensation? There
were prophets and prophetesses, but no priests and
priestesses. The effect on the Church by the ordi¬
nation of women as Deacons, Presbyters and Bishops.
In Vol. II, there is. properly a direct dealing
with the "Dispensations and Interregnums" in the
history of the church, beginning with that of Adam
to the dawn of that of Christ, extending over a period
of about 4,000 years. At every stage of this history
the student may read, written as with the sunbeam
of Heaven, "God in History." It is the study of a
lifetime, exquisitely condensed and made ready for
the scientist, historian and theologian.
The conclusion of the work is what the writer
calls the "Sixth Dispensation" or the "Dispensa¬
tion of Glory;" all the others being "Dispensations
of Grace." This great work will, in all probability,
be the writer's last literary production, and God has
graciously prolonged his life that he may give to the
Church and race a monumemt of sanctified genius
INTRODUCTION.
28
and unfeigned devotion to his cause.
The work is unique, covering a period of 6,000
years, from Eden to Calvaiy and from Calvary
to the present time, anticipating the struggles
between truth and error, light and darkness, to
that turning point of the warfare when the
great Captain of our salvation, standing on the
heights of everlasting joy shall exclaim, "The
battle is won!" and simultaneously comes the
shout of angels and the redeemed in glory, "Halle¬
lujah ! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth ! The
kingdoms of this world are, become .the kingdom of
our Lord and his Christ; and he shall reign for¬
ever and ever." "Then cometh the end, when He
shall have delivered up the Kingdom of God; and
God shall be all in all" (i Cor. 15:24, 28). The
Mediatorial Throne and Dispensation of Grace will
then be succeeded by glory everlasting.
The Reformers and Puritan divines have im¬
mortalized themselves as heroes of the Cross, , de¬
fenders of the faith and champions of civil and relig¬
ious liberty; and the tide of their mighty influence is
rolling around the world to affect generations yet
unborn; they will never die, but will live in the
24
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
shrine of the church militant. Bishop Benjamin
Tucker Tanner, too, will live in his "Dispensations
in the History of the Church." Illustrious in the
modern galaxy of stars of the first magnitude, the
unanimous verdict of an impartial Press will be but
an echo of the present, "There were masters in Is¬
rael and intellectual giants in those days."
Critics may differ and take issue with the
learned author in the treatment of the momentous
subjects in these volumes, presented as his last lega¬
cy to the A. M. E. Church, but we venture to pre¬
dict that their difference of opinion will be only to
agree with him, that the Church of God has her
special mission to this fallen world as seen in the
Dispensations from Grace to Glory ; and that here
fulfilled will be extended to angels in unfolding
the great mysteries in the plan of human redemp¬
tion (Epli 2:6,7).
Closing our introduction to these Volumes, the
labors of a "Master in Israel," while recommending
the work, we would draw the reader's special, atten¬
tion to the three points on the "Significance of the
Dispensations" discussed:
1. The particular ground of agreement in this
introduction
25
department, is the mutual connection and dependence
binding together as one united whole, the Old and the
"New.
2. The perfect consistency of all the parts of the
Bible history with each other, as ail evidence of the
divinity of its origin.
3. The consistency of the Administration of the
moral government of God, as revealed, in the Scrip¬
tures, with what we learn from his works of creation-.
4. There is a close anology between Revelation
and some remarkable dispensations of Divine Provi¬
dence. Calm reflection on these four points has led
us to exclaim with the venerable Apostle Paul, "Oh,
the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowl¬
edge of God; how unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out!" (Romans, 11:38).
That the Almighty may crown this literary la¬
bor of his honored servant and co-worker in the
gospel for the spread of evangelical truth, and the
diffusion of sanctified knowledge in the conquest of
the world for the dear Redeemer, is the earnest
prayer of his friend and colleague,
[Signed] William Benjamin Derrick,
Bishop of Arkansas and Mississippi.
Feb. 23d, 1898. Bishop's Court, Flushing, L. I.
26
history of dispensations.
OPENING EXCURSUS.
"Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of
God?" asked the Teacher when on the earth ; and in
answer, made use of an illustration in every way
common place and easily to be understood. So we
ask: Whereunto shall we liken this same kingdom
in its progress through the ages? Having the
Master for our example, we too give an illustration
that is common place and quite as easily under¬
stood now as His was then. The kingdom of God
is. as one of those "Through Limited Expresses" that-
compass *our country and our continent. Take for
instance, the train for the South. We leave New
York and sweep on and on until we reach our spring¬
like destination, b© it Jacksonville, in Florida, or
New Orleans, in Louisiana. But the conductor that
first called for our ticket soon after we pulled out of
New York is not the same to whom we surrender
what remains of it as we approach either of the two
named cities. The fact is, since we first started we
have had a number of conductors; one making waj7
for another, until our destination was reached The
train itself kept steadily on and on and on. Con¬
ductors changed, sights changed, manners and cur-
EXCURSUS.
27
toms, environments in general—only the train kept
steadily on.
And so with a similar train bound for the West:
for Denver, Los Angeles or San Franeisco. It leaves
New York, merely halts at Philadelphia, sweep? on
to Chicago, and on until the golden sunset of the
Pacific coast is reached. The same train but not
the same conductor. The statement of Oehler is
most apt: "What is unfolded in the Scriptures i«
one great economy of salvation—unutn continuum sys-
tema, as Bengel puts it—an organism of divine acts
and testimonies, which, beginning in Genesis with
creation, advance progressively to its completion, in
the person and work of Christ, and is to find its
close in the new heaven and earth predicted in the
Apocalypse; and it is only, in connection with this
whole that the details can be prpperly, estimated."
Such an illustration as is given above faintly
shows the onward progress of the Church. The
Church sweeps on and on -'as fair as the moon, as
clear as the sun and as terrible as an army with
banners" (Cant. 6:10); and will sweep on until the
shimmering Other land is reached. Not so those
28
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
who construct it. The workmen die, but the work
goes on. f
And yet, our illustration will warrant a fuller
and stronger application. In the progress of the
Church there have been Dispensations; and it is to
these that we especially refer—these that may be
said to be faintly represented by a change of con¬
ductors. Dispensations come and go; but the Church
of God sweeps on and on and on ; and will until that
that John saw in vision will be seen in reality by all
who love his appearing: "The holy city, new Jer¬
usalem coming down out of heaven from God, made
ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev.
21:2.).
"Jerusalem the golden,
With milk and honey blessed,
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice oppressed.
I know not, O I know not,
What social joys are there;
What radiance of glory
What light beyond compare."
—Neale's Bernard of Cluny.
t " When was there a time when the Gospel of Christ did not exist? Can you
point your fmgerto a period when the religion of Jesus was an unheard of thing?
'Yes,' one replies, 'before the days of Christ and his apostles.' But we answer,
'Nay, Bethlehem was not the birthplace of the gospel. Though Jesus was born
there; there was a gospel long before the birth of Jesus, and a preached one, too.
There was a gospel in the wilderness of Sinai, although it might be confused with
the smoke of incense, and only to be seen through slaughtered victims; yet there
was a gospel then. Yea, more; we take them back to the fair days of Eden, and we
THE CHURCH ITS PROGRESS.
29
That there have been Dispensations in the his¬
tory of the Church is known by all; for nothing is
more plainly discernible on the pages of history
and those of Holy Scripture; so plainly indeed that
he who runs may read (Hub. 2:2.).
It is Isaiah especially who dwells on the fact of
a change of Dispensations; and declares the same in
110 unmistakable way. Designated as he justly has
been, the "Evangelical Prophet," he would seem to
have really lived in the time of the last Dispensa¬
tion.
But our allusion to him, is not to what he has
said generally. On the contrary, it is to what he
says particularly as to the fact of Dispensations and
to the estimate God puts upon them.
In chapter sixty-first, we read : "To proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord, etc." That he refers
to the times of the gospel, we know beyond ques¬
tion ; for the Lord Jesus himself, in the synagogue
let them hear the voice of God as he spoke to the recreant man and said; the seed
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. Such was the beginning of the
of gospel." SPURGEON.
"Pious persons in every age have not only possessed, but professed, the
same tr e religion and have been members of the same church of the living God.
Righteous Abel belonged to the same church with Abraham, and Abraham to the
same with Moses, and Moses to the same with Peter, John and Paul, and they to
the same with Christians now. The Dispensations have changed, but the Church
has remained the same." DR. E. POND.
30
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
at Nazareth, "where hn had been brought up," hav¬
ing read these words, said: "Today hath this scrip¬
ture been fulfilled in your ears."f (Luke 4:21).
And this is recognized by all th>j commentators,
whether they be of what we might call the Old
School, or the School of to-day. Differing these in
their interpretation of many statements of Scrip¬
ture, especially the Messianic portions or it, they
are as one in regard to this.
Joseph Benson (1748-1821) commenting upon
these words of Isaiah, says:
"This is the gospel proclamation, and it is like
tjie blowing of the jubilee trumpet, which proclaimed
the great year of release (Lev. xxv, 9:40), in allu¬
sion to which it is here called the acceptable year of
the Lord; the time in which men should find accept¬
ance with God which is the origin of their liberties :
or, it is called the year of the Lord because it pub¬
lishes His free grace to His own glory; and an-ac-
ceptable year because it brings glad tidings to us;
t "All the arguments brought forward to detract from the genuineness of Chap¬
ters XL-LXVI, of Isaiah, have been very fully and ably reviewed by Prof. Hengs-
tenberg, in his Christology, and their feebleness demonstrated. He has also sub¬
joined many strong arguments in favor of the genuineness of the whole book That
part of his work which relates to this subject has been translated and published
in the Biblical Repository."—Robinson, (Ed.).
commentators: what they bay. 81
and fvliat cannot hut he very acceptable to those
who know the capacities and necessities of their
own souls."
Thomas Sc'ott (1747-1821) says:
l'He (Messiah) was also commissioned effectual¬
ly to bind up and heal the broken-hearted; to pro¬
claim liberty to the slaves and captives of Satan and
sin, and effectually to free them from the bondage
of their lusts, evil habits, and strong temptations.
Thus he would announce the year of jubilee, the ac¬
ceptable year of the Lord, the time of his especial
grace, when he would restore forfeited inheritances,
receive offenders to full favor, and grant all re¬
quests and petitions "
Others of the older commentators could be
given; but let v these suffice. As representing the
critics of to-day, we present the following:
Says the Rev. George Rawlinson:
"An acceptable year,' or 'year of acceptance,' is
a space of time during which God would be pleased
to accept such as repented and turned to Him. It
is, of course, not intended to limit the space to a
'year.' " Also the same writer, says : "Christ pro¬
claimed a'time of acceptance'in various ways. To
82
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
the Jews generally the three years of his ministry
formed 'the acceptable time,' during which if they
had received Him they would have maintained their
position as a nation, and have held pre-eminence in
the Church of Christ. To individuals who heard Him
the 'time of acceptance' was that between such hear¬
ing and a hardening of the heart consequent upon
the rejection of his gracious message.. To mankind
at large the 'time of acceptance' is the time of their
sojourn here below, during which it is always possi¬
ble for them to repent and turn to Him, unless, per¬
chance, they have been guilty of the 'sin against the
Holy Ghost.' "
Says the Rev. R. Tuck:
"Acceptance follows forgiveness. Man, * * *
every man needs to be forgiven. No man can be ac¬
cepted until he is forgiven. This may lead to a full
consideration of that work of Messiah which bears on
the insuring of forgiveness. It is a mediatorial work
which has relations of propitiation towards God and
relations of conviction towards man. The accept¬
ance-time is proclaimed to guilty rebels who lay
dowrn their arms and ask for mercy."
THE "ACCEPTABLE YEAR."
83
What the wise and learned men just quoted say,
all the commentators say. It is a case in which the
old proverb can he used without needless show: Ab
uno disce omnes.
But what is the fact—at least, as we see it? All
these commentators tell the truth; but not the whole
truth—certainly not every phase of it. And not of
course, because they did not know it. But the phase
we have in mind was not pertinent to their trend of
thought and therefore was not in place to be used.
No writer of sense ever pretends to tell all that
could be said of any truth; only that that is perti¬
nent to the subject in hand. This all these learned
fathers have done, and wisely too.
But the phase of truth in our mind—what is it?
We quote again, the words of the prophet: "To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." These
words are Messianic, as we have seen ; but they are
particularly Messianic, in that they are thoroughly
imbued with the Dispensational idea. What is it
we are really told? "To proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord." Were we to translate these
words : -'To proclaim the acceptable Dispensation of
the Lord," where would be the objection? Is it not
84
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
as Rawlinson says, that the prophet's words refer to
"a space of time during which God would be pleased
to accept such as repented and turned to Him,"
and not by any means limited "to a year?" And is
not this precisely the idea cf a Dispensation, the
Biblical idea of it? ' Paul, the theologian of the
Apostles, says (Eph. 1:10; 3-2): * * * unto a
Dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up
all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and
the things upon the earth ; in him I say."
And again: "If so be that ye have heard of
the dispensation of that grace of God which was
given me to you-ward." And lastly in his epistle
to the Colossians (1:25), he says:
"Whereof I was made a minister, according to
the dispensation of God which was given me to you-
ward, to fulfil the word of God."
Manifestly one and the same idea was it that
filled the mind of both the prophet and the Apostle.
Isaiah's "year" is Paul's "dispensation." A refer¬
ence to the original fully discloses this. Isaiah's
"year" is the translation of a word, the root of
which signifies do again; that is, speak or strike
again; alter, double, that is, be given to double;
THE "ACCEPTABLE YEAR."
35
change; disguise; diverse, pervert; prefer; repeat; return;
do the second time. Here are many significations;
but the thread of gold in them all is the idea ex¬
pressed in the primal signification, that of doing
again or repeating. As though the prophet had said:
The same word had been spoken before; or, this is
only a slight alteration, a slight change; or, it is a
disguise, as it were; a repetition, a return. And as
with Isaiah's Hebrew, so with Paul's Grreek. His
"dispensation" is from a word, which broken up sig¬
nifies an institution, rite, custom or usage of a
house. That is—as pertinent to the argument we
make—it is as though the prophet had said: "What
I do is in keeping with the custom or usage of the
house." And this is still more clear, when the word
Dispensation itself is defined.
Says Richard Watson: "We read in the works
of theological writers of the various dispensations of
religion; that of the Patriarchs, that of Moses and
that of Christ, called the dispensation of grace, the
perfection and ultimate object of every other. All
these were adapted to the conditions of the human race at
these several periods; all in regular succession, were mu¬
tually connected, and rendered preparatory one to the
86
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
other; and all were subservient to the design of saving the
world, and promoting the perfection aud happiness of its
rational and moral inhabitants." f
Says William Dwight Whitney (The Cent.
Diet.): (a) "The method or scheme by which God
has at different times developed his purpose, and re¬
vealed himself to man ; or the body of privileges be¬
stowed, and duties and responsibilities enjoined, in connec¬
tion with that scheme or method of revelation; as the old
Jewish dispensation; the new or Gospel dispemation. (b <
A period marked by a particular developme?it of the di¬
vine purpose and revelation: as the patriarchal dispen¬
sation (lasting from Adam to Moses); the Mosaic
dispensation (from Moses to Christ); the Christian
dispensation." We have presumed to order italics
to those portions of the definition which bear direct¬
ly upon the argument it is our purpose to make,
and to which reference will be made at the proper
ti me.
Two things, we take it, the prophet Isaiah pro¬
claims : The first, the dawn of a new Dispensation :
The second, a Dispensation that would be acceptable
to God. No exception can possibly be taken to this,
t Watson's Thes. Dictionary Art. Dispensation.
THE "ACCEPTABLE YEAR."
87
unless we conclude that there never before had been
a Dispensation. This, however, is out of the ques¬
tion ; for every one knows the contrary; and upon
authority of the Bible itself. See especially the ar
gument of the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews ; f
as well also, the Epistle to the Galatians.
It is conceeded then that in the words of the
prophet, other Dispensations are acknowledged;
whether of the past or future in no way affects the
fact; though the one he had in mind was clearly in
the future. What it is claimed, secondly, that he
said, to wit, that the Dispensation alluded to was one
that would be acceptable to God, is but corrobor¬
ative in a general way, of the first. In short, Isaiah
affirms the existence of Dispensations—how many he
does not intimate, much less say; also he affirms,
that the one declared would be in some peculiar
sense, a Dispensation that would be acceptable to
f Albert Barnes in his "Notes on the New Testament," speaks as follows of
this Epistle: " The ancient system is there explained by one who had been
brought up in the midst of it, and who understood it thoroughly; by one who had a
clear insight into the relation which it bore to the Christian economy; by one who
was under the influence of divine inspiration, and \vho could not err. The Bible
would have been incomplete without his book; and when I think of the relation
between the Jewish and the Christian systems; when I look on the splendid rites
of the ancient economy and ask their meaning; when I wish a full guide to heaven,
and ask for that which gives completeness to the whole I turn instinctively to the
Epistle to the Hebrews."
88
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
God. Other Dispensations had been, but for some
reason or reasons they were not acceptable to Him;
here is one that would be.
At this point of our argument we are made to
face the question: How many Dispensations have
there been in the history of the Church? "Personal
religion," as John Henry Newmanf f has argued, "is
the same at all times; and as the Canticles says re¬
ferring to the Church: 'My dove, my undefiled, is
but one; she is the only one of her mother;' " y<jt
the Dispensations of this "one" have been many. A
chorus of all the great voices in the great Church,
calls for three Dispensations;! and to differ, is pos¬
sibly to exhibit undue temerity. And yet, there can
no harm come to him who simply compares facts to
definitions and is willing to abide the result A
proper deference to the learned and great forbid, of
course, that he should do more than humbly make
the showing and allow it to decide. Here wn are led
to ask: What do we mean by a Dispensation? Pre-
tfParochial Sermons, 1:247..
t Matthew Henry seems to differ from the majority for in the words introduc¬
tory to his Exposition of the book of the Genesis, referring to the Penteteuch, he
says "It is also a history of generations—the generations of Adam, Noah.
Abraham, etc., not endless, but useful genealogies." The genealogies, here ate
really Dispensations; and precisely as we see i+, and as the facts seem to warrant.
dispensations: what characterizes them. 89
cisely what such definers as Watson and Whitney
sny. According to the first, by a Dispensation is
meant such provisions of divine grace as "were
adapted to the conditions of the human race" at the sev¬
eral periods when they were revealed; provisions
that "in regular succession were mutually connected
an 1 rendered preparatory one to the other." Whit¬
ney, whom we conceive to be more to the point, and
we take the liberty to italicise it, declares a Dispen¬
sation to be "a body of privileges bestowed and du¬
ties and responsibilities enjoined in connection with
a scheme or method of revelation." With such def¬
initions before us wr conclude that a Dispensation
is to be Known, in two ways:
(a) What were the privileges bestowed?
(b) What were the duties and responsibilities
enjoined?
As these ar^ shown to have been and are, the
question as to the number of Dispensations must be
decided. Applying them we have no difficulty in
concluding that the Christian is distinct from the
Mosaic; and this too, despite what Jonathan Ed¬
wards has said: "There is, perhaps, no part of di¬
vinity attended with so much intricacy, and wherein
40
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
orthodox divines so much differ, as the stating the
precise agreement and difference between the two
dispensations of Moses and of Christ." Recurring
to the definitions already given, we fail to see the in¬
tricacy mentioned above. The touchstone is simply
to inquire as to the privileges enjoyed by God's peo¬
ple in each; as well as the duties and responsibili¬
ties enjoined.
If also, we apply these definitions, we shall have
little or no trouble in seeing that th« Mosaic is dif¬
ferent from that known as the Patriarchal.
As it relates, however, to this last, the Patriar¬
chal, it will be seen that we must do one of two
things; either change our definition of a Dispensa¬
tion, or divide up the centuries of this Patriarchal
age into more than one Dispensation ; for manifest¬
ly the privileges of the people of God, together with
the duties and responsibilities enjoined were not one
and the same. This being so, of necessity, differ¬
ent assignment to each must be made.
The conclusion of the matter is, we have a num¬
ber of Dispensations. How many we prefer not to
decide; but simply to give the facts, and to them ap¬
ply the definition; or to repeat the oft quoted
words: "To the law and to the testimony (Isaiah,
8:20).
PRELUDE.
41
PRELUDE FIRST.
The Significance of a Dispensation.
In the Excursus, we dwelt at length upon the
question of Dispensations; what characterizes them
and their number. It seems to us proper before en¬
tering directly upon these, to give a passing notice
aa to their import: What is the significance of a
Dispensation? and why the need of such schemes
or methods? Why, in short, this mighty concern,
continued and varied, on the part of God?
Solomon, of all sacred writers, gives the most
direct answer to such queries, as we have just pro¬
pounded. He says (Eccl. 7:29) : "Behold this only
have I found, that God made man upright; but they
have sought out many inventions."
Dispensations of grace on the part of God, be¬
came neccessary on account of these "inventions"
which men had "sought out;" or as the original
warrants us in saying: these interpenetrationi, these
weavings, these fabrication; and all in a malicious
sense. "Universal corruption," says the Rector of
Ashen,f "was that which met Solomon's wide inves-
fThe P. C. Eccl. 7:29.
42
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
tigations, but of one thing he was sure, which he
proceeds to specify—he has learned to trace the deg¬
radation to its source, not in God's agency, hut in,
man's perverse will."
Man's degeneracy! How it has puzzled man
himself: Plumptre has the pagan Sophoclesf to
write:
"Many the thing's that strange and wondrous are
None stranger and more wonderful than man.
And lo, with all this skill,
Wise and inventive still,
Beyond hope's dream
He now to good inclines,
And now to ill."
W. J. Deane has iEschylus in the same spirit to
write:
Many fearful plagues
Earth nourishes
Bnt man's audacious spirit
Who can tell?
In contradistinction to all this, we are led to
ask: What was the life God would have man live
upon the globe? What his sphere of action? Upon
this point Scripture is explicit. It records God as
saying:
f Sophocles: A tragic Poet to whom Cicero gives the epithet divine. He
was contemporary with Pericles, and his colleague in the government, about B.
C., 495
t Aeschylus A famous Greek tragedian. He wrote ninety plays, whereof
only six remain. He is said to have been killed by the fall of a tortoise which an
eagle dashed against his bald pate, mistaking it for a stone, about 525 B. C.
MAN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
48
"Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and W, them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creep¬
ing thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen.
1:26).
And again, upon their creation, He is recorded
as saying to them: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dom¬
inion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth'' (Gen. 1:28). In the first of these, the divine
intention is disclosed; in the second, we have a rec¬
ord of the intention carried out. And what shall
we say of the life thus declared The god-like qual-
ies! the god-like sovereignty! As it bears upon the
thought in mind, we can well say: Apt indeed is
the work of our modern Revisers of the Author¬
ized Translation of the Bible, for David is no longer
heard to say to the chief musician upon Gittith: f
"For Thou hast made him a little lower than the
angels;" but, on the contrary, he is heard to say:
t Psl. 8-5.
44
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him but little lower than God,
And crownest him with glory and honor."
Nor let any be startled at this re-casting of
what was in the old king's mind. On the contrary,
let him turn and read over what God himself de¬
clared in relation to the being he intended to make
—let him rather turn and read how gloriously He
carried out that intention. Let us briefly analyze
this being made a little lower than God—hid nature
and his work: In his nature he bears the image of
God. Upon this permit another to comment :f
"The resplendent universe, with its suns and systems,
its aerial canopy, and green-mantled ground, its
Alps and Himalays, its oceans, rivers, streams, was
only as plastic clay in the hands of a skillful potter.
Even the innumerable tribes of living creatures that
had been let loose to swarm the deep, to cleave the
sky, to roam the earth, were animated by a princi¬
ple of being that had. no closer connection with the
Deity than that which effect has with cause; but the
life which inspired man was a veritable outcome
from the personality of God. Hence man was some-
t Rev. Thomas Whitelaw, Gen. 1-27.
MAN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
45
thing higher than a creature. As Imago Dei he was
God's son."
And as it relates to His work, let the same
writer also be heard: "Man was designed to be
God's image in respect of royalty and lordship; and
as no one can play the monarch without a kingdom
and without subjects, God gave him both an empire
and a people, i. An Empire. (1) Of wide extent.
In the regal charter reaching to the utmost bound*
of this terrestrial sphere. (2) Of available charac¬
ter. Not a region that was practically unconquer¬
able, but every square inch of it capable of subjuga¬
tion and occupation. (3) Of vast resources. Every¬
thing in heaven, earth, and sea was placed at his
command. (4) Of incalculable value. Nothing
was absolutely useless, and many things were prec¬
ious beyond compare. (5) Of perfect security.
God had given it to him. The grant was absolute,
the gift was sure. ii. A people. (1) Numerous.
'Every living thing' was subject to his sway. (2)
Varied. The fishes, fowls, and beasts were his ser¬
vants. (8) Submission. As yet they had not
broken loope against their master. (4) Given.
They were not acquired by the sword, but donated
by their Maker."
46
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
We have seen God carry out the purpose de¬
clared in the council of the Deity: "Let us make
man," etc. "So God created man," Could we sup¬
pose any obstacles, they were destroyed as with the
"besom of destruction" (Isa. 14:23). Creation end¬
ed and career begun, is God to be thwarted? Is the
creature honored with His own likeness, to turn ren¬
egade and join himself to the rebels, of whom Scrip¬
ture here and there speaks? but of whom the genius
of Milton tells? Was the glory and honor with
which he was crowned, all to go for naught? Every
thing says, "No!"—and in trumpet tones. Wh%,t if
the universal Deluge must come? What if Egypt be
destroyed? What if great kings must be smitten
and famous kings slain? Sihon and Og? What if the
kingdoms of Canaan must give up their lands and
their fenced cities? What if mothers and children
even, are to be dashed to pieces? Still may we sing:
"His mercy endureth forever."
No better evidence of this mercy than the Dispen¬
sations, of which we write. Without them the crea¬
tion of rr.an would have proved a gruesome failure.
With them, even as we are permitted to see, his
creation is a glorious success. The divine intention
and purpose is being carried out before our eyes;
god's grief
47
and all because His mercy bad staying qualities, de¬
spite the record: "And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him
at his heart." Anthropomorphic language, to be
sure; but wonderfully suggestive of what must have
been the mercy that made the Dispensations, one
after another, possible. Without it, the failure of
the first attempt to save, might have wound up the
whole; but with it, attempt.after attempt, was con¬
tinued until the one "acceptable" had come; and
now with Zechariah (4:6), his people can say:
"Who art thou, 0 great mountain? before Zerub-
babel thou shalt become a plain : and he shall bring
forth the headstone with shoutings of Grace, grace
unto it."
48
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
PRELUDE SECOND.
The Chronology of the Bible.
That there may be no misapprehension in regard
to the figures and dates, necessarily employed, in the
treatment of such a subject as the Dispensations of
the Church, we deem it well"to say a word in regard
to what is known as the Chronology of the Bible.
We may be pardoned for making the following
quotation from our "Tuskegee Lectures:" "Aword
in regard to the man (the "Father of Chronology")
who is declared to be the first to wake up the people
of the earth to a rational consideration of the events
of the past as these were related to its times and
seasons. Singularly enough and pertinent to the
present occasion and to the people most likely to read,
Eratosthenes was, if not of pure African or Hamitic
blood, certainly he was of Hamitic extraction. In
common parlance, he was a colored man—not of the
Cushite branch, however, of the Hamitic family; as
said branch in our day has been mingled with Japheth
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY.
40
but of the branch of Mizraim, as these were mingled
with this same son of Noah. He was a man in whose
veins the blood of Ham certainly—and of Japheth,
possibly, flowed." Born at Cyrene B. C. 276, he
Jived in Alexandria.
But let us come to the promised word on the
Chronology of the Bible. Is there such a Chronology?
That altogether depends upon the definition given,
and the phase of it determined upon. Undoubtedly
Moses gives us the rule by means of which, all true
Chronology must stand ; and not so much a rule, as
a statement that, is both a discovery and a revela¬
tion: "And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the
night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and
for days and years" (Gen. 1:14). ' Herein is man
pointed to the only sure foundation of all Chronol¬
ogy; for "without the help of the sun, moon, and
stars, Chronology would be impossible."! If, how¬
ever, is meant what we might call applied Chronology,
after the fashion of those who speak of applied Chem¬
istry, etc. then for roasons both special and general,
we can agree with those—and among them Dean
t Rev. Thomas Whitelaw M. A. (P.C.)
50
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Milman, who declares that there is no such thing as
Biblical Chronology. "As to what is called the Bible
Chronology of the early period," he says in the body
of his history of the Jews (Preface, p. 85), "every well
read man knows that there is no such thing. So
common a book as Dr. Hales's 'Chronology' will show
that there are nearly two hundred schemes, profess¬
edly fouuded on the Scriptures, differing in the
dates of the great events to the amount of a thousand
years; f that there are at least four conflicting state¬
ments in the different copies and versions of the Old
Testament. I confess my conclusion is that there i$
neither present ground nor future hope for any pre¬
cise or trustworthy chronology; and I am content to
acquiesce in ignorance, where knowledge seems unat¬
tainable."
In a later and revised edition of his History, in
foot note the same author, spiritedly says: "It is
certainly a curious fact that it is impossible to ascer¬
tain when and by what authority, what is usually
called the Bible Chronology found its way into the
t "DeVignoles, in the preface to his Chronology of Sacred History asserts
that he collected upwards of two hundred different calculations the shortest, of
which reckons only 3483 years between the creation of the world and the com¬
mencement of the vulgar era, and the longest 6984, a difference of 3501." W. L. R.
Cates, Ency. Brit , edition Vol, V. 713. Art. Chron.
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY.
51
margin of our English Bibles. Being Archbishop
Usher's, or Scaliger's modified by Usher, it cannot,
of course, be earlier than the Restoration; no doubt
it appeared in its present place very much later. The
authorized printers of the Bible, the Stationer's Com¬
pany, the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and
Edinburgh, have no record of the innovation." And
so set is the Dean in his position that he asks "Is it
right to continue to give, apparently, the authority
of the Church of England to that which has no such
authority?—to make that part of the English Bible
which is no part of it?"
Manifestly the Dean's mind is on applied or
practical chronology and with this fact in mind, he
is to be believed. But the theory of Chronology is
certainly there; even in the words of Moses to which
attention has already been called. Living in these
days we see the fact of electricity applied—but the
world has known of electricity, the power "that binds
the monarch man within its mystic chains" from the
days of the Greeks, to say nothing of Franklin. It
was reserved for Edison, however, to generally "ap¬
ply" it. And so of Chronology. Both the fact and
the principle of it are in the Bible; but it was re-
52
HISTORY OF DISPENSATION.
served for Scaliger, Usher, and others to "apply"
these.f The foot note given below, as it bears upon
this whole question is most interesting.
That there is a, phase even of practical or applied
Chronology in the Bible, is possible of thought, if
not of proof. As to the period or time, and as bear¬
ing upon the question at issue, what is to be inferred
from thefollowing(Gen. 10:25):"AnduntoEberwere
born two sons : the name of the one was Peleg; for in
his days was the earth divided." Here is Chronology
all must'admit. Not as definite as could be wished ;
but it is nevertheless Chronology: "a particular
statement of the supposed proper order, of certain
+ "The Chronology adopted by the English translators and placed in the mar¬
gin of the larger Bibles, is that of the Masoretic, or common Hebrew text; but of
the authenticity of this, strong doubts are entertained by the best biblical critics-
Corr pared with the more extended chronology of the SeptUagint it is of modern a-
doption; the venerable Bede, who flourished in the eighth century, having been the
first christian writer who manifested a predeliction for it. It has been observed
however, that prior to the reformation, the views of the celebrated monk of Dur¬
ham had made but little progress among the clergy and that when Luther aroused
the attention of Europe to the errors of the ancient communion, the authority of the
Greek version and the unanimous consent of the primitive writers were still found
to regulate all the calculations concerning the age of the world. In the warmth of
the controversy which ensued, the more rigid Protestants were induced to rank
among the corruptions of the western church, the chronology of the Samaritan,
Pentateuch, of the Seventy, and of Jostphus; and without taking time or pains to
examine the grounds of their opinion, they resolutely pronounced that the members
of the original text were to be preferred to those of any version; and forthwith be¬
stowed the weight of their authority upon the Jewish side of the question, and op¬
posed that which the Christians had maintained from the days of the Apostles."
Robinson (Edw.)
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGYS.
58
past events." What is the past event? The division
of the earth. When or the order of it? In the days
of Peleg the son of Eber.
Here as elsewhere Biblical Chronology would
seem to have for its basis the lives of its chief men.
Nor is such a method to be despised. On the contrary
when the age of the race is considered it would be
difficult not to show a better way, but any other. In
every age great men make its history, especially in
times most ancient, when the lives of such covered
centuries, f Go back to Adam if you will,
whose life spanned nine centuries. What better
chronology could be had than that that made his
life its basis? We are told that Adam iived one
hundred and thirty years and begat Seth. Seth then,
was born A. M. 180. Indeed the fifth chapter of
Genesis is altogether as chronological as was possible
at the time. It is even difficult to imagine any other
way. Upon this subject, Greenf can be studied to
advantage. The following is a specimen of his ar-
+ The biography of Genesis includes the lives of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob
and Joseph; all men of strong-character and occupying grand places in this early
history. Their lives are grand mountain peaks, serving as land-marks' In settling
the chronology and historic march of that rude age. Genesis Re-read Int. P. 5
Steward.
t See Int. to the revised Chronological Summary of the Bible History S. G.
Green D. D.
54
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
gument: (1) 'kFrom the Creation to the Deluge. The
dates of this era as ascertained by easy calculation
from Gen. v.—'the book of the generations of
Adam' where the age of each antedeluvian patriarch
at the birth of his eldest son is given. The total of
1656 years is thus readily reached ; this being the
date accepted by Usher and specified in the 'com¬
mon chronology'as that of the Deluge. * * * *
(2) From the Deluge to the migration of Ajbram, out of
Haran into Canaan. The dates here are supplied in
Gene-sis xi. 10-26, 'the generations of Shem the cal¬
culation being exactly similar to the preceeding, and
giving, according to the Hebrew text, 292 years up
to the birth of Terah's sons. (8) From Abram's mi¬
gration to the death of Joseph. Here some computa¬
tion in detail is necessary. Abram being 100 years
old at the birth of Isaac (Gen. xxi. 5), had at that
time been in Canaan 25 years, Isaac was 60 at the
birth of Jacob (Gen. xxv. 26), and Jacob was 130
when he stood before Pharoah. * * * (4) From
the death of Joseph to the Exodus. This period is most
difficult of all to determine accurately from the
Scripture data.
Supposing, however, such argument to be faulty
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY.
55
as to the point at issue and the words of Dean Mil-
man to be true, the Hebrews who gave us the Bible,
would not be a whit behind any of the contempor¬
aneous nations; for the same and more can be said of
them. Rawlinson's estimate of the chronology of
the most ancient of his "Seven Great Monarchies,"
is expressed as follows: "The parade of exact dates
with reference to very early times is generally falla¬
cious, unless it be understood as adopted simply for
the sake of convenience."
In this, our treatise as will be seen, we simply
accept the dates as they have long been given. We
have no doubt that in the near future, what is known
as Biblical Chronology—in connection with other
things pertaining to the Sacred Volume, will be re¬
stated. Vast discoveries have been made in all
realms of knowledge especially that that pertains to
man and his advent upon the globe.f
t Says a recent publication, "Recent excavations in Babylonia, under Dr. J.
H. Haynes, brought to light authentic records which, as made clear Prof. Dr. H. V.
Hilprecht, carry back the history of the race to an earlier date than was k' own be¬
fore. Their archeological value is even yet little known and faintly appreciated.
The latest excavations disclose historic data transcending in importance the most
sanguine expectations at their start. A record of the explorat ons which secured
these results is now to be published, under the auspiciesand by the authority of the
Department of Archeology and Paleontology of the University of Pennsylvania un¬
der which the Babylonian Exploration Fund carries on its work."
56
HIBTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
The electric light has been turned on. Men can
be said to no more walk in darkness; no more be¬
hold men as trees. The prerogatives first bestowed,
are being claimed and acted upon: Multiply, re¬
plenish and subdue the earth.
THE ()EI«IN OF MAN.
57
PRELUDE THIRD.
The Origin of Man.
The earnest desire of the thoughtful portion of
the human race to know somewhat of its origin, is
but evidence of its lofty nature and character, and
in a way, highly significant of its destiny; especial¬
ly when it is remembered that man is the one re¬
ligious creaturef of the globe, and the only happy
combination of spirit and matter we know.f That
he is not eternal is altogether as susceptible of proof
as that he had a beginning. Both these postulates are
equally self evident, and therefore do not in the least
concern him. He knows that he was not always. He
knows that he had a beginning. The enigma that
most troubles him is : How? Was he created—directly
created, we mean, as one class of writers seem to
t "It is well said in every sense, that a man's religion is the chief fact with
regard to him. * * * * and I say if you tell me what that is you tell me to a very
great extent what man is, what the kind of things he will do is "
Carlyle's Heroes, p. 7.
+ "Quite probably astronomy will reveal many other and greater wonders to us
with the improved instruments and with the new sciences which will be atthe ser¬
vice of man. But if it be shown that we are a race unique in the universe, as far as
our observation and reason can judge, then the place of the race becomes, in the
divine plan, of immensely larger importance."—Zion's^Herald. Dec. IS. '97.
58
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
say? or was he evolved, as-another class seem to say?
Is he to find his beginning in one single act per¬
formed by the Almighty? or is he to find it at the
end of a long and measurably endless progress?
from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous? from
the simple to the complex? The books known as
the Scriptures seem to favor creation; and do, as the
writer of this Prelude reads them. The books which
the class of men known as scientists write, favor
evolution. Mr. Huxley, gives the following sum¬
mation of their creed: "Those who hold to the
theory of evolution, and I am one of them, conceive
that there are grounds for believing that the world,
with all that is in it, did not come into existence in
the condition in which we now see it, nor in any¬
thing approaching that condition. On the con¬
trary, they hold that the present conformation and
composition of the earth's crust, the distribution of
land and water, and the infinitely diversified forms
of animals and plants which constitute its present
population, are merely the final terms in an im¬
mense series of changes which have been brought
about, in the course of immeasurable time, by the
operation of causes more or less similar to those
which aie at work at the present time."
EVOLUTION t WHAT?
59
All of this, doubtless, is to the point. But con¬
cerning it, it is in place to ask: What is it that Mr..
Huxley has here said? In a word, the' statement of
the great scientist is, that all organic forms, includ¬
ing man, have been evolved or developed from living
microscopic particles. Is this a fact?. We deem it
pertinent just here to notice that in the quotation
given above, Mr. Huxley, speaking for his class,
does not present evolution in the light of a fixed
fact.f ' It is not with them, as yet, a "conquered
standpoint," notwithstanding the claims Mr. Darwin
is said to put forth. Evolutionists simply "conceive
that there are grounds for believing their theory'1
of the origin of man to be the right one. What
these grounds are, in full, our readers may learn by
consulting either the "Americana" or the "Britan-
nica."
It is to be confessed that such facts as are there
given carry with them a force that scarcely justifies a
writer in the British Quarterly, ("Darwin on Expres¬
sion" '78) in characterizing evolution as "a crude,
t "The great question as to man's origin cannot yet be answered with absolute
certainty, but the brilliant science of anthropology has done much to fathom the
mystery and to show us the truth, and the truth alone, as to man's genesis and his
life in the childhood days ofthe race."
H. B. Bashore, Lippincott's Magazine, Apr. '98.
00
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
metaphysical conception." And yet, we are free to
confess, he knows far better than we the real strength
of the grounds upon which the projected system rests.
We, however, are perfectly willing to respect the
conception based on ihem at its full value. To re-
quote Mr. Huxley, he simply says, evolutionists con¬
ceive that there are grounds for believing their system
to be true. No one can in reason object to ihis.
They could scarcely claim less; as they could not in
truth claim more. In this, we are free to say, they
exhibit a spirit quite in keeping with the high pro¬
fession they pursue and the still higher subject un¬
der consideration. Having, however said this much,
we feel perfectly free to express the belief that the
grounds upon which they propose to erect so vast a
superstructure will in the end prove to be so much
quicksand. We have no idea that their present
seeming solidity will be maintained all the way
through. On the contrary, we have no doubt that
the day will come when science itself will openly
confess that this structure now so reassuring will be¬
come a mere seam or stratum altogether too thin
and uncertain to stand upon, much less to build.
Wherefore this confidence of ours? The answer we
EVOLUTION : WHAT?
61
make is: Wherefore this doubt of the world—the
Bible-reading world we mean? Can evolution be ac¬
cepted as true and the character of the Bible be
maintained? We frankly answrer: We think not.
We cannot be unmindful of the fact that the char¬
acter of this singular book for truthfulness has ever
been maintained; and that, too, in the face of ob¬
stacles, quite as insurmountable as those which evo¬
lution presents, or ever may present. Take, for in¬
stance, the question of the.age of the world. The
time was when men were perfectly well satisfied that
the Bible and Archbishop Usher were at one. But
we know better now; and without in the least affect¬
ing the faith we had in the character of the Bible.
So also was it with the creative days. The men are
yet living who in their youth would have deemed it
gravest heresy to think other than that six literal
days of twenty-four hours each, alone, were occu¬
pied in the work of creating the universe. But we
know better now, nor is our faith in the character of
the Bible disturbed. So also in regard to the earth
being a great, flat plain, with a concave heaven filled
with stars above it. So in regard to the sun "rising
and setting." So in regard to infant damnation.
(52
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
The Bible was thought to teach all these, as it was
thought to teach the other. But in the light of to¬
day all is changed ; nor is the character of the Bible
for truthfulness in the least affected. More closely
and more critically read than before, it is seen not to teach
what it was once supposed to, on all these subjects. Nor
should there be the least surprise. Should not the
man whose room is illuminated with the electric jet
be expected to see more clearly and correctly than tlie
4
one whose room is illuminated with common gas?
And should not this man of the gas be expected to
see more than the one whose only light is from the
lamp of coal oil? And in turn, should not this last
be expected to see more than the man who uses the
old-time candle of tallow, to say nothing of the pri¬
meval pine knot? The fact is, we are living in the
electric era. Light everywhere shimmers forth ; and
especially in the world of letters, both sacred and
profane.
"More light and light it grows "
—Shak., R. and J
It is in this new light that men have found it neces¬
sary to accept new and far more harmonious read¬
ings of the Word, in regard to the questions alluded
to above. And will not this be precisely the case in
MOSAIC TESTIMONV.
m
regard to man's origin? we hear a dozen voices in¬
stantly ask—voices with difficulty restrained from
speaking while reading the above sentences. We
think not; nay, we know not; and for the reason,
that the more closely and the more critically the Bible is
read, the more closely and the more critically man
himself is studied—studied in his entirety—body,
soul and spirit, the more conclusively does the fact
appear that he is not any''final term in an immense
series of changes," as the evolutionists say, but 011
the contrary, the result of a direct creative act on
the part of God, as the Scriptures affirm. And this
truth, the new light rather confirms than invali¬
dates or destroys.
The doctrine of the direct creation of man—
what witnesses have we to substantiate it? Our wit¬
nesses are Moses, Job, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah
and Zechariali. Moses' first testimony is as follows :
"And God said: Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness."
Upon this, the first testimony of Moses, it is to
be said that there is little of the defmiteness we de¬
sire. And yet as it relates to the question at issue,
while we could wish, for the sake of discussion,
64
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONB.
greater details were given, the great factstated is not
to be overlooked, that man was made directly by
Grod. And first, it is noticeable that his making is
alluded to in a way peculiar to itself. Of the crea¬
tion of light God said: "Let there be light." Of
the creation of the firmament He said: "Let there
be a firmament." Of the seas and the earth : "Let
the waters under the heaven be gathered together
into one place, and let the dry land appear." Of the
great vegetable world: "Let the earth put forth
grass." Of the heavenly worlds: "Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven." Of all ma¬
rine creatures: "Let the waters bring forth abund¬
antly." Of all terrene animals: "Let the earth
bring forth the living creature after its kind." It
was simply: Let—the things be done. But when
He came to the making of man, an entirely different
form of speech is employed. It is no longer: Let
—the thing be done—done by a long process of de¬
velopment, if you please, but the set phrase is
pushed aside and an entirely new one employed:
"Let us make man." Why this difference? Mani¬
festly for one of two reasons: Either to settle upon
the wisdom of such creation itself: or the use of a
MOSAIC TESTIMONY.
65
different method. That it could not have been the
first is certain, and for the renson that the general
creation had altogether advanced too far. Every¬
thing for the use and accommodation of just such a
creature had already been perfected; and not to
have made man would have been much after the
way, to use a homely illustration, of a landlord
erecting a magnificent domicile, richly furnishing
and abundantly provisioning the same; and then, at
the last moment, conclude that no person should
ever cross the threshold of its door. No such
course of procedure can, of course, be attributed to
God. Plainly the reason is that a different method
was to be employed. Man was not to be made as
the light was made; nor as the firmament; nor as
the seas and the earth ; nor as the vegetation ; nor as
the lights of heaven; nor as the creatures of the
sea and the air; nor as the beasts of the field. Of
all these, as has been seen, God simply said: Let
them be, and they were; but of man He said—not
as he did in speaking of them: Let man be, but:
Let us make man; and let us make him, too, in our
own image, after our own likeness. "Let us make
man." The original verb here translated, make, is
66
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
'asa/i? the signification of which, according to the
grammarians, is : 1. To work, to labor, to do. The phase
of this statement, most important, as it bears upon
the subject under discussiou, is, the directness of the
method suggested. It is contrary to what we would
have reason to expect were man the "final term" of
some unending progression. Let us make man. The
form of the verb here employed is what is known to
Hebraists as the Niphal. The signification of this
tense, says Gesenius, is "primarily reflexive of Kal,"
and he gives numerous examples, f According to
this, the Divine statement could be safely rendered:
Let us ourselves make man. With such a fact in view,
it is hard to believe that God intended to relegate
the making of man to the secondary agency of law.
In the verse immediately following, the 27th of
the first chapter we have the second testimony of
Moses. He says: "And God created man' in His
own image, in the image of God created He him."
We are not to suppose that this second testimony is
in every way a rehearsal of the first. On the con¬
trary, it is in a sense entirely independent of it, in
that a perfectly distinct verb is employed. The first
t Rodiger, p. 110, sec. 50, Niphal.
MOSAIC TESTIMONY.
67
verb, translated make, we saw was ' a s a /» ; here, how¬
ever, we have the verb £ara, the all-controlling
signification of which is, to create. Concerning it, it
is in place to say that it is the same that is used i-n
the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis : * *
* * "God created the heaven and the earth." As
employed in this first verse, it is scarcely to be
doubted that reference is made to the direct crea¬
tion of what the evolutionists call "microscopic
particles;" that is, if we are to allow Moses any
word in the story of creation, especially have him
come in harmony with science. This much being
granted, what logically follows is, that man is the
direct creation of God, even as were "the heaven
and the earth."
But let us listen to Moses' third statement upon
the origin of man; for, if we are not mistaken, it
throws such a flood of light upon the matter, in that
it gives us details, as ought, we think, to settle the
question at once. Having previously said that God
made'as aA man, that he created barm him, as
though unwilling to leave a shadow of ignorance as
to the how, he graciously says (Gen. 2 :6): "And the
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." The
08
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
verb here employed is neither' a s a h nor bar a but
yatsar, which signifies to form, to fashion, to make.
Are we asked to account for the employment of these
three distinct verbs? and all, in the space of what
is, to us, thirteen verses? With but a single ex¬
ception only one verb is employed in the recital of
the origin of all other forms of life, whether of the
air, the land or the sea. Twice the number of
verses and one verb; one-half the number of versefe
and three verbs. Such a fact as this utterly, de¬
stroys the argument that Moses uses these verbs
synonymously. Were this so, why did he not so use
them in regard to the birds, the beasts and the
fishes? We confess that the use of these three verbs
in the manner noticed is little less than singular.
The critical world sees in it, as in other features of
this early writing, evidence of the dual authorship
of the book, the Jehovistic and the Elohistic. Con¬
cerning thip, we do not feel called upon to say any¬
thing. And yet even we fancy we can see here and
there in these early records beginnings that seem to
be perfectly independent of each other; the which
granting would in no way affect the argument we
make. Accepting, however, the single authorship of
MOSAIC TESTIMONY.
69
the work, and in doing so we have well nigh the
world with us, the use of these three verbs can be
accounted for upon grounds which appear to us far
more rational than the one the rationalists suggest.
Beyond question, the creation of man was the
mightiest of all the Divine works, whether these
were wrought through the fiat of His will or the
protracted agency of His law. Take man off the
globe, or creatures similar to him off the theatre of
the universe, and what would it all amount to? Yea,
what would heaven—the abode of God—amount to
with no beings like unto men, who are like unto God
Himself? Verily then would all be vanity. Is it,
we ask, too much to suppose that the wisdom in the
men that could write reasonably and intelligently of
the origin of man could also write of his future?
Does it require greater prescience to write concern¬
ing such a future than it would of such a past? We
think rot, and therefore conclude that the Mosaic
wisdom, together with the wisdom of those whom
we shall after introduce, was altogether equal to
the task of anticipating at least the uncommon
desire of the race to know somewhat of its begin¬
nings. And to the end that it might have the full-
70
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
est possible opportunity, instead of one ray of light
Hooding the question, three are let in upon it. Three
verbs. Has each an independent bearing upon the
subject? is a question that will at once he appreciat¬
ed by the thoughtful; especially when the singular
coincidence is remembered that man himself is not
blank unity, but on the contrary, is a genuine trin¬
ity, having a body, a soul, a spirit.f
Is it possibly that the three verbs of Moses re¬
fer to this triple nature? It is generally conceded
that his Elohim (plural), and his: "Let US" ; refer
to the trinity existing in the unity of the Godhead.
May it not be that his use of three verbs, as really
refers to the trinity existing in the unity of man?
That we might if possible settle this question by the
discovery of some peculiar shades of meaning, let us
inquire more fully concerning their use by other of
the Hebrew writers. The first is ' a s a h • Concerning
it, the Hebraists tell us that the primary idea lies in
forming, shaping and cutting. How correct they are
may be seen from the use Moses makes of it in other
places. We take, for instance, what he says (Gen.
t "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, and
soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ."—1 Thess. 5:23.
MOSAIC TESTIMONY.
71
3:7) of Adam and Eve, upon the discovery of their
nakedness * * * "and made themselves aprons." Also,
in the same chapter, verse 21 * * * "the Lord God
made coats of skins." In Exodus, where he refers to the
construction of the ark of the covenant, and indeed in
the construction of the tabernacle generally, He says :
"And thou shalt make staves of acacia wood." But
the use of this word by Moses is in no sense charac¬
teristic, as of the scriptural writers generally; it may
be said that it everywhere has the common significa¬
tion, of making, of doing. And with this all the great
translations of the Bible agree. Of these there may
be said to be five: The Greek Septuagint, The Latin
Vulgate, The Catholic English, known as the Douay,
the English King James and the recently Revised
King James. For the Hebrew original, the Septua¬
gint uses the equally common verb p o i eo , to do, to
make. In the Vulgate we have facio, of precisely
similar signification. The Douay, with the King
James' Authorized and Revised, all use the verb
made, as it may appear in its several tenses. There is
this, however, to be said; that in the original Hebrew
it seems to refer especially to the making of that part
of man which bears likeness to the Deity, to wit, the
72
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
soul'part. As evidence of this, we refer to what is
said in Genesis (5:1) : "In the day that God created
Jars man, in the likeness of God made ' a s a h
He him." Man's likeness to God, it is scarcely
necessary to say, is not corporeal. On the contrary
it is a likeness of soul; that that counts for "right¬
eousness and holiness of truth."f
We come now to the second word used by Moses
in his effort to "throw light upon the perplexing ques¬
tion of man's origin: "God created man."
The signification of this word which dominates
all others, whether used bv Moses or the writers of
the Bible generally, is that of creation. Indeed, in so
far as our limited research has gone, with an excep¬
tion here and there, it is the one only interpretation
of the word. Of the great translations already re¬
ferred to, the Septuagint alone fails to grasp this
point. Its translation of this verb is the translation
it gives of the first, poieo- A reason for this may,
however, be found in the fact, that the Greek mind
had no thought harmonizing with that of creation ;
and therefore it is exceedingly questionable if their
language, despite its proverbial richness, possessed a
t Eph. 4:24.
MOSAIC TESTIMONY.
78
word that would be synonymous with it. The word
kti yo comes nearest, yet, asi ght be expected, it
falls short. Jerome, in his Vulgate, gives the word
itself, creavit. It may-be in place, however, to say
that the pagan Latin had no more light on the ques¬
tion of creation than the pagan Greek; but in conse¬
quence of the fact that their language was adopted
by the Church, it received a new baptism of meaning.
In perfect accord, then, with the Hebrew and the
Latin, the English translations, whether Protestant
or Catholic, scarcely give any other meaning to this
second verb of Moses than, to create,
In view of the fact that this verb is employed
where the origin of the "great sea monsters" is de¬
clared, we are inclined to the thought that when man
is in question it may consistently be made to bear
upon the physical part of his being, his body. We
are not supposed to be unmindful of what we are-told
in verse 27 of Genesis first chapter, to wit; "And
God created * * * in his own image." That
this statement is general may be seen at once ; it is
summative, and refers to the whole man as being the
creation of God; and therefore does not necessarily
break in upon the thought we had just suggested.
74
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
We come to the last of the three verbs employed,
y a t s a r, the standing signification of which is. to form.
and so given by the translators. Hebraists generally
are inclined to regard it as synonymous with the two
already given; deeming the words of Isaiah (43:7,
45:7), of Jeremiah (83:2), and of Amos (4:13), suf¬
ficient authority for the same And yet to our mind,
it is perfectly clear that Moses did not intend so to
use them in the account under consideration ; but on
the contrary, by their separate and distinct use, in a
way not yet entirely clear, had reference to man's
trinal nature.
Through with our first witness we readily grant
the crumb of comfort any evolutionist may gather
from his testimony. It seems to us that he teaches
the creative theory quite as clearly as could be ex¬
pected; quite as clearly as the language of his day
would permit.
But let us call to the witness stand another of
the same school as Moses. We allude to Job. We
were at first puzzled to know which of the two wit¬
nesses to call first, for as firmly as it seems to be
ftxed in the average mind that precedence should be
given to Moses, it is very well known that the ques-
job's testimony.
75
tion is by no moans settled. Substantial authori¬
ties who give precedence to Job could be produced.f
Origen, the most learned of the ancient fathers, de¬
clares that Job was "more ancient than even Moses
himself." And with him Eusebius agrees, who says,
"He was before Moses two whole generations." Dr.
Hales, on the strength of an astronomical argument
founded on what is said by Job (9 :9):
''Which maketh the Bear, Orion and
the Pleiades
also by the Lord in his answer to Job (88:81-82),
"Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loosa the bands of Orion?
Canstthou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season?
Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?"
places the era of Job at B. C. 2180. The general
t "The manners, customs, institutions, and general mode of life described in
the book are such as belong especially to the times which are commonly called
'patriarchal.' The pastoral descriptions have the genuine air of the wild, free,
vigor us life of the desert. The city life (ch. XXIX.) is exactly that of the earliest
settled communities, with councils of gray bearded elders, judges in the gate (ch.
XXIX. 7), the chieftain at once j jdge and warrior (ch. XXIX. 25), yet with written
indictments (ch. XXXI. and settled forms of legal procedure (ch. IX. 33; XVII.
3; XXI. 28), The civilization, if such it may be called, is of the primitive type,
with rock,inscriptions (ch. IX. 24), mining such as was practiced by the Egyptians
in the Sinaitic peninsula from B C. 2(1)0, great buildings, ruined sepulchres, tombs
watched over by sculptured figures of the dead (ch. XXI. 32). The historic allu¬
sions touch nothing of recent date, but only such ancient things as Pyramids >ch.
III. 14), the apostasy of Nimrod (ch. IX. 9), the Flood (ch. XXII. 16), the destruc¬
tion of the "cities of the plain" (ch. XVIII. 15), and the like; they include no men¬
tion—not the faintest hint—of any of the great events of Israelite history, not even
of the Exodus, the passage of the Red Sea, or the giving of the Law on Sinai,
much less of the conquest of Canaan, or of the stirring times of the judges and of
first great kings of Israel."—Introduction to the book of Job. Pulpit Commentary.
76
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
thought is that Job lived in the days of Isaac or
Jacob.
Says this most ancient writer, Job, nor can the
question of authorship of the book disturb it (ch.
88:4):
"The spirit of God hath made me.
And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life.''
There is not the least reason to believe that Job ever
saw the Mosaic record; but much to conclude other¬
wise ; and vice versa, Moses never saw the book of
Job—supposing him not to have written it. Suppos¬
ing then Job to have never seen the Pentateuch, the
testimony he gives is of increased value, in that it is
perfectly independent. Could it be shown, or even
surmised, that he had read Moses, the conclusion
would be at once reached that he simply re-echoed
what he read. But this cannot be done. Indeed, the
weight of the testimony, as we have shown, is oil the
other side. Therefore what he says is marvelously
signifiant: "The spirit of God hath made me." The
verb here employed is the one that Moses first em¬
ployed, 'a sabi^owork, to do. Indeed, the idea of
these two men is one and the same as it relates to
man's origin, even to the choice of words and man¬
ner of illustration. And this is all the more signifi-
job's testimony.
77
cant when the fact of their difference in age and
country and civilization is remembered. Job, a man
of the flocks, somehow or other not only shares the
opinion of Moses, a man of the schools and learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians upon the most
abstruse question of the race, but in giving expres¬
sion to it employs precisely the same words and the
same figure of speech. A feature of this testimony
also worthy of notice is, that it somewhat strength¬
ens the conjecture that the reference to the origin of
man by Moses in the employment of the verb
bara , is to the soul part:
"The spirit of God hath made me,
And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life "t
When it is remembered that in keeping with
Scriptural poetry the last couplet is but expressive
of the meaning of the first, the reference to life, of
which the soul is the seat, the Divine act here al¬
luded to is the act of creating the soul.
It is only necessary to say that the Septuagint,
t But the most striking peculiarity of Hebrew poetry is what Lowth entitles
parallelism; that is, there is a certain correspondence either as to thought or lan¬
guage, or both, between the members of this period. Sometimes the secondary ex¬
pression is little more than an echo of the first: sometimes it adds to it a new idea;
and often greatly excels it in force and beauty; sometimes, to heighten the impres¬
sion, the main idea is expressed in contrast with some other.
—Angus' Hand-Book, P. 388.
78
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
as in the case of Moses, uses the verb p o i e s a a- The
Vulgate, always more verbally literal, renders it:
Spiritus Dei fecit me, et spiraculum Omnipotentis vivifi-
cavit me. The English translation, Roman and Pro¬
testant, the same as in the case of Moses, renders
the original Hebrew, "made."
Solofnon is the next witness whom we intro¬
duce. His testimony is given in his Proverbs
(20:12) :
"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
The Lord hath made even both of .them"
The original, that is here translated made, is
the precise word employed by the two witnesses pre¬
viously given. Solomon, aside from the spirit of
inspiration that rested upon him, doubtless received
his information from both Moses and Job, living as
he did five hundred years after the former and at
least as many after the later. That he read the books
of the Law we may be assured. There is one phase in
the character of this witness that is at least worthy of
mention. He was, perhaps, the greatest naturalist
of his day. The author of the First Kings (4:83)
says of him: "And he spake of trees, from the
cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that
springeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts
terry: evolution.
79
and of fowl, and of creeping things and of fishes."
And yet this great naturalist, in speaking of the or¬
igin of man uses the word given him by the unso¬
phisticated Moses and Job—unsophisticated we
mean, in the technicalities of the science. What
Moses and Job meant when they used that word is
what Solomon, the greatest scientist of his age,
meant, and vice'versa.
Isaiah, whom we may next be supposed to call,
says (45:12) : "I have made ' a s a h , the earth and
created bar a man upon it." Also, Jeremiah
speaking generally (27:05): "Thus shall ye say un¬
to your masters; I have made the earth, the man
and the beast that, are upon the face of the earth, by
My great power and by My outstretched arm."
Also, Zechariah (12:1 : * * * "and formeth
y at s a r the spirit of man within him." Concerning
all these, it is only necessary to say they are corrob¬
oratory of what the others have said.
We scarcely need tell our reader that we accept
the ancient Hebraic teaching in preference to the
modern English thought; and that, too, despite the
fact that it consists chiefly in statements, while the
other is a presentation of facts—at least so called. Are
80
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
we asked the reason? It is not far-fetched. As it
relates to these facts, it is enough to say that science
is eminently progressive. Take the theories ad¬
vanced a hundred years ago, to go no further back—
theories upon which the scientific men of that day
were altogether as dogmatic as they are to-day upon
the theory of evolution—and it will be discovered
that the scene has altogether changed. The this- has
become that, and the that has become this. We have
not a doubt but this will be the out-come, a hundred
years or more hence, in regard to evolution as it re¬
lates to man. The all-necessary "missing link" will
never come to light; and for the reason, like the
stone of the alchemists it has no existence.f
f "Evolution needs to fill up many wide gaps before it can be accepted as ac¬
counting for the origin of man. The distance between man and the most highly
developed ape yet discovered is immensely great 'Zoologically,' says Dawson,
'apes are not varieties of the same species with man; they are not species of the
same genus, nor do they belong to genera of the same family, or even to families
of the same order. Nor should we forget that the regions most favorable for apes
are least favorable for human life. A great gulf is that between the low animal na¬
ture of the ape, or any other beast, and the self-conscious, reasoning, moral nature
of man. Another gap, which Darwin has not been able to fill, is that between
any two species of animals. Great varieties of species appear, but no real trans¬
mutation of species has been shown. Another gap back of these is that which sep¬
arates vegetable and animal life; and if even this were bridged there would be an¬
other, still broader, between any living organism and inert matter. And if we had
all clearly traced to that lifeless matter, we must still inquire whence came that or¬
iginal material. Evolution fails on all these points. There are, according to Profes¬
sor C. H. Hitchcock, fully thirty thousand species of fossil plants and animals, but
such links as are required by the developement theory to connect any two different
THE DICTATION OF GOD.
81
Not so with the teaching of the Hebraists. It is
as certain to stand the "wreck of matter and crash
of worlds," as it is certain that the Bible is an in¬
spired book. But. what is an inspired book? We
answer.1 The book concerning which the writers of
it say
' The Spirit of the Lord spake by me
And His word was upon my tongue."
—(2 Sam. 23:2)
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
For He hath visited and wrought redemption for
His people. * * *
As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets,
which have been since the world began" (Luke 1:
68-70).
"Brethren, it was needful that the scriptures
should be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spake be¬
fore by the mouth of David" (Acts 1:16).
"But the things which God foreshewed by the
mouth of all the prophets" * * * (Acts 3:18).
"Every Scripture inspired of God is also profit¬
able" * * * (2'Tim. 8:16).
classes have never yet been discovered. There are seventeen classes in the ani¬
mal kingdom, but no two of them have been brought into the chain by the discov¬
ery of these thirty thousand forms. Therefore, there are thirty thousand chances
to one that the missing link will never be found."
—Terry's Man's Antiquity and Language.
82
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
"For 110 prophecy ever came by the will of man :
but men spake from God being moved by the Holy
Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:21).
The book, we say, whose writers make for it
such claims as the above, is an inspired book. But
what do we mean by an inspired book? A common
answer and in every way suitable, is: A book in¬
spired by or written at the dictation of another.
Such writings are common among men, that is, one
man often writes at the dictation of another. In
the case before us it is not man writing at the dicta¬
tion of man, but at the dictation of God. In every
instance, whether human or Divine the dictator is
supposed to know. In the majority of cases this is
both cause and occasion of the dictating. The dic¬
tator knows; the other does not. This is pre-emi¬
nently the case in the matter under consideration.
What could man be expected to know of his origin?
Absolutely nothing; not half so much as the babe
could be expected to know of its own birth. And
3^et man has written of this origin. Whence came
the knowledge? Clearly from without. God dic¬
tated it to him, even as he says. Nor is anything
more rational. Granting the Divine existence, and
THE DICTATION OF GOD.
83
nothing becomes more clearly possible; nay, more
clearly probable. God tells man of his origin. Why
marvel at such an act of condescension? Shall the
earthly father be thought more considerate than the
Heavenly?—considerate on the line of having his
child intelligent?—especially as to its ancestry.
Some may think so We do not. But did God
really dictate this book? That the writers of it say
so, we have seen in the quotations given above.
Who are these writers? The first was a king, David.
He wrote most voluminously; aud what he says is:
God spake by me; that is, dictated to me. The next
was an humble priest, Zacharias. Upon the occa¬
sion of the birth of a son, and when filled with the
Holy Ghost, that is when he was under the dicta¬
tion of the Holy Ghost, referring to certain things
done, declared them to be in perfect Keeping with
what God had dictated to His holy prophets, which
had been since the world began. We refer next to
Peter, by occupation a fisherman, but chosen by the
Lord Jesus to the apostleship. He declares the
Scripture to be what the Holy Ghost spake. And
further on he says: "But the things which God
foreshowed"—how? "By the mouth of all the
prophets." And yet further on just before his cru-
&4 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
cifixion, for he died thus, as did his Master, this same
Peter says what we have already quoted: "For no
prophecy ever came- by the will of mail; but men
spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost."
Lastly, we come to Paul, the scholar and orator. A
very master in Israel, he makes the broad statement
—and we quote from the margin: "Every Scrip¬
ture is inspired of God."
It is quite apparent, then, that these men claim
to have written at the direct dictation of God. The
one question that now presents itself is : Were they
mistaken in what they claimed? If this can be shown
their words will then go for naught. But can it?
By no means, for it partakes too largely of the na¬
ture of proving a negative. But we are far from
resting our case upon such ground as this. On the
contrary, we propose to show that they were not
only not mistaken, but that God bears witness to the
truthfulness of what they affirm. Christ summoned
God, as it were 011 the witness stand. We speak
reverently, yet none the less truly. "If we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater "
God bears witness to the moral character of these
men, in that He put at their disposal His own omnis-
HUMAN TESTIMONY.
85
cience and omnipotence. They both foretold events
and wrought miracles. Can God be supposed to lend
Himself—His all-seeing eye, His almighty arm—to
immoral men, men guilty of lying? Can Christ be
supposed to indorse such—to lend the mightiness of
His name to such? To think so, is to impugn Di¬
vinity; to make it,particeps criminis.
But those who deny are no slower to see the pre¬
dicament in which they are placed, than we are our¬
selves. 1 herefore they deny the power that these
men are said to exert; they deny that they foretold
events, they deny that they wrought miracles. But
does not the Bible say so? you ask. Yes : but they
deny the Bible, its genuineness, its credibility, its
authenticity; but these have come out of battles as
came the Hebrew children out the fiery furnace, as
came Daniel out the lion's den, unhurt and without
the sm^ll of fire. If human testimony be ever admia-
sible, it must be in the case of the Bible. To refuse
to receive it, is to undermine any and all belief in
the past.
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
PRELUDE FOURTH.
The Descent of the Negro.
l'It is not certain whether or not the Negro race
descended from Ham." !^o say the scholarly tri-
amvirs who edit the Sunday School Journal for Teach¬
ers and Young People, the Rev. Drs. JohnH Vincent,
J. M. Freeman, J. L. Hurlbut; and through and by
these so says the great Methodist Episcopal
Church, for they are her mouth piece to the millions
of young people who attend her Sunday Schools;
and the greater millions who attend her church ser¬
vices.
Let ns not be misunderstood. The Methodist
Episcopal Church, in a publication the most doctri¬
nal of any issued from her press, says authoritavely,
"It is not certain whether or not the Negro race de¬
scended from Ham." And she expects, nay in a
sense demands, her millions of young people to ac¬
cept this doubt; for if this be not the case, why her
THE DESCENT OF THE NEGRO.
87
Berean comments on the International Bible read¬
ings? Is it not the common understanding that
each denomination will take these readings, and
give the interpretation thought to be consistent with
its standard of belief? Precisely so. The Sunday
School Journal, wherein these triumvirs are heard to
speak, is but the Methodist Episcopal church speak¬
ing through her own chosen channels. Therefore
does she say to her children, black and white, and
to the world at large: "It is not certain whether or
not the Negro race descended from Ham." Nor
does it seem to have occurred to these masters in
this Christian Israel that there are two hundred
thousand or more of these same Negroes in organic
union with themselves, any one of whom, the votes
requisite being had, in the nigh future might be ele¬
vated to the lofty rank of a Bishop in the same
Church. And what a sight! A Bishop in whose
veins no Noachic, if indeed Adamic, blood flows !
*
But to our proposed answer. It is in place to
say that no study is more legitimate, profitable or
interesting than of the origin of the races. Whence
came they? is a question at which the greatest dul¬
lard starts up. Whence came the white mar. with
88
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
his long goat-like hair? The yellow man with his
b?ack jetty locks? The black man with his hair of
wool-like texture? Themes, these, so entrancing in
interest as ever to have commanded the attention of
minds the most magnanimous. Whence, then,
the origin or descent of the Negro? We concede the
pertinency of this question in common with the
rest, and only demand that the discussion attending
it shall be conducted in a spirit altogether in keep¬
ing with the-general loftiness of the theme ; for, of
the Negro we have to say that in all the possibilities
of human greatness he is not a whit behind any.
Scattered and peeled now, we confess, yet has he in
him all those elements of character that everywhere
rank high in the scale of human development.
Physically, the most enduring; morally the most
susceptible; and spiritually, of the keenest vision,
he is destined yet to share largely in the future gov¬
ernment of the world ; and if the visions of Sweden-
borg be true, to reach the highest exhaltation in the
world to come.f
t Speakingof Israel, George Rawlinson says:-(Isa. 40:2), we using the term
Negro instead of his Israel,—"The Negro's warfare; his long term of hard service,
will assuredly come to an end; he will thoroughly turn to God, and then his iniquity
will be pardoned, he will be considered to have suffered enough"—even double.
WHENCE CAME THE RACE.
89
Fairness of discussion is all, then, that "we de¬
mand of these Methodists triumvirs—these, who
seem to be treading so hard in the footsteps of him
who wrote "The Pre-Adamite." But is fairness
evinced in the work from which we quote—the fair¬
ness, we mean, that is shown in hunting up the ori¬
gin of the white man of Europe and the yellow man
of Asia? We do not hesitate to say that such is
not the case; but on the contrary, a bias, that ut¬
terly unfits them for the impartial performance of
the work in hand. But let us make good this grave
charge. We quote from Lesson iv, Sunday School
Journal, January 28d: "Noah begat three sons."
How do these Doctors know that such was the case?
Manifestly they were not there to see, for according
to accepted chronology Noah lived more than four
thousand years ago. How do they know the num¬
ber of his sonsr with their names? The answer is,
as we all know, the Bible declares it. It is the
Bible that says Noah had three sons and that their
names were, Shem, Ham and Japheth. And these
gentlemen believe what the Bible says ; at least what
it says in full of Shem and Japheth, but only in part
of what it says of Ham. But we continue to quote
90
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
from the same Journal: "Shem: He was the son
o£ Noah, through whom the covenant succession was
maintained to Christ, and was a hundred years
old at the time of the flood. He was the ancestor
of most of the Oriental nations, as the Israelites,
Syrians, Arabians, and many others. His descend¬
ants are known as Semitic races, and their most
powerful branches have been the ancient Assyrians,
and the modern Saracens and Turks." A deal of
information is here given, it must be confessed.
Whence did they get it? From whom learn it? As
in the case of the information above, they are
obliged to fall back on the Bible as the source of all
this information. We continue to quote: "Ham:
His name means 'heat' and perhaps refers to the
climate of the land of his posterity. The earliest
empires of history, those of Babylonia and Egypt,
were both Hamitic, as were the Canaanites, Pheni-
cians and Carthagenians. The descendants of Ham
built the pyramids and the Tower of Babel, and
were the earliest navigators and traders. It is
not certain whether or not the Negro race descended
from Ham." Again we ask: Whence did they learn
all that is here affirmed? From the Bible—save the
last gratuitous statement.
THE BIBLE AUTHORITATIVE.
91
Lastly we quote from this same lesson: "Ja-
pheth: The oldest of Noah's sons (Gen. 10:12), yet
later than the other families in his history. While
the Hamites and Shemites were founding empires,
Japheth's descendents were wandering tribes of
shepherds. Yet they became the conquerors of all
the other races, through the Brahmins in India, the
Medes and Persians in Western Asia, the Greeks, the
Romans and the Anglo-Saxons in Europe and Amer¬
ica." We are indeed astonied, to use an old Eng¬
lish word, at the wealth of the information here giv¬
en; so full, indeed, that we are compelled to say
they think they get it from the Bible, and so think¬
ing, credit it with the same.f But every unbiased
reader knows that it is nothing more nor less than
Japheth interpreting in his own interest. In defer¬
ring, however, to the extent they have to the Bible,
they deserve praise; for no better authority can be
given than this same Bible, upon the matter about
t In the powerful quaintness of his utterances, Bishop Henry McNeat Turner
says: "Weare reaching the place when we are almost becoming to despise the
white-man's history and two thirds of his philosophy. Everything is colored, tinc¬
tured, doctored and painted to suit his whims, wishes and would-be's."
Letter from Grand Canary Island, March 1,1898.
In this, Bishop Turner but gives expression to the thoughts of all fairly educa¬
ted Afro-Americans. Not even the sanctity of the Bible escapes the determination
of the white-man to make his race, as much the representative race of all ages,
as it undoubtedly is of the present age.
92
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
which we write. Nor is it exactly correct to say,
"No better authority than the Bible can be given,'1
and. for the reason that other authorities than it are
implied in such a statement. The fact is the Bible
is the best authority, not because it is the best at¬
tested of any, but the best because it is the only authority
the race possesses upon the questions under discussion.
It alone throws light upon man's creation and the
early dawn of the races. Herein the literature of
the Hebrews transcends in value the literature of
all others. It is in vain that we seek for light upon
this matter in the old Egyptian "Book of the Dead,"
with what Manetho, their great historian has writ¬
ten. Berosus, best representative of the old Assy¬
rian literature, has nothing to say upon the subject
of the rise of the races. Equally silent is the Yedic
and Sanskrit literature of India. China, speaking
through Confucius and the writers of the school of
Taou, are dumb; while the Kojiki and Nibouji of
Japan are equally so. As with these, even so is it
with the early Greek lore. All is fable. It is, then,
to the Hebrew Bible that we are doomed to turn for
aught that is authentic and credible pertaining to
the origin of the races. More is told us in the sin-
THE BIBLE AUTHORITATIVE. 93
gle 10th Chapter of Genesis than either Egypt or As-
syria, Greece or India, China or Japan ever dreamed
of or ever knew. • It is then to the Bible that these
gentlemen must turn for information in regard to
the rise of the races. And, as we have said, it is
well they do. What the Scriptures say of the white
or Japhetic race they accept—with a large per cent
of the imaginary; also what they say of the yellow or
Shemitic race. Shall not the same fealty be shown
to what these same writings say of the Hamitic or
black race? If not, why not? Where is the scholar
that professes to accept the doctrine of Biblical in¬
spiration that is prepared to take so temerous a step
as accepting a part of the Holy Writ and rejecting a
part? Is the Bible in error in what it says of Ham,
why should we believe it right in what it says of
Shern and Japheth? If wrong in regard to Shem
and Japheth, why should we believe it right in re¬
gard tu Noah? And if in error in regard to Noah,
why should, we believe it right in regard to the Del¬
uge and the antediluvian events generally? And if
in error in regard to these, why should we believe it
right in regard to Adam and the Creation? And if
in error in regard to Adam, why should we believe
94
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
it right in regard to God and Christ and the great
matters of faith in general? And, finally, if the
Bible is in error in regard to these, why should we
deem it right in the claims it makes upon us for un¬
conditional acceptance, regardless of the fact that
here, as elsewhere, the saj'ing of the old Latin holds
good: ilAb uno disce omnesf for if manifest error
be admitted in statements here and there made,
henceforth must the Bible lose its place in the af¬
fections of man. But is this so? Does this much
vaunted Word of God prevaricate? We are unwil¬
ling to believe it. The Bible is still the book of
God, and therefore the Book of books—it is still the
"Rock of Ages," for the faith of the world. There¬
fore do we stand ready to resist to the uttermost of
our power the infidel remark which concludes the
statement in regard to us and those for whom we
stand: "It is not certain whether or not the
Negro race descended from Ham." Why is it not
certain? Has Moses and the Bible spoken any lees
truly of this class than of their white or yellow
cousins? No unbiased Bible reader will' or can
truthfully say so.
And now having appealed to this literary Caesar,
THE NEGRO OF AFKICA.
95
let us approach his august throne. That the Negro
is of African patrimony the world knows. The dull¬
est block-head of the most out-of-the-way country
school knows, that the father of the black fellow
whom he is all the time meeting, came from Africa.
Nor could the most persistent pedagogue get him to
believe otherwise. The Negro, then, is of Africa.
But who settled Africa—which of the sons of Noah,
we mean? The one authoritative voice in the settle¬
ment of this question is the Bible, for it alone, as
we have said, throws light upon ages declared to be
prehistoric by the secular analysts. Is Europe, Ja¬
phetic? Is Asia, Shemitic? Then Africa is Hamitic
by one and the same testimony; re-enforced, how¬
ever, we maybe allowed to say, by the facts of phil¬
ology; for, while Europe and Asia depend altogether
upon the statements of history, Africa can call to
her help philology. Why should Holy Writ be
thought to speak infallibly of two and fallibly of
one? Was the writer biased, or were the facts more
difficult to remember? Neither supposition is to be
entertained. These triumvirs believe what is writ¬
ten of two, even to excess. Why incredulous of
what is said of one? They believe that Europe, sub-
96
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
stantially, is of Japheth, and Asia, substantially, of
Shem. Why disbelieve that Africa is substantially of
Ham? The response made is : They do, save of the
Negro. But if we subtract the Negroid race from the
population of Africa, subtract the Hebrew, Cushim
and the Greek, Ethiopian, but little of moment re¬
mains. Our argument is that Ham is the father of
all Africa, and the Negro being of Africa, is neces¬
sarily of Ham. The Scriptural proof we offer di¬
vides itself into two heads: First, that which re¬
lates to Ham; secondly, that which relates to his
sons. That Africa is Hamitic we read:
"And smote all the first born in Egypt,
The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.'1
—(Psl. 78:51).
Also: "Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham."
—(Psl. 105:23).
And : "They set among them his signs,
Aud wonders in the land of Ham."
—(Psl. 105:27).
Also: "They forgat God their Saviour,
Which had done great things in Egypt;
Wondrous works in the land of Ham."
— (Psl. 106:21-22).
What is the testimony here given by the poet
THE SdNS OF HAM.
97
king? and in perfect agreement, too, with what Holy
Scripture everywhere save? It is that in the popu¬
lar mind the fact that Africa was the home of Ham
was so well fixed, that in keeping with the spirit of
true poesy, he makes use of it in writing his inimi¬
table verses. And the editors of the "Journal can
safely be challenged to produce anything like as
conclusive testimony to the fact, so readily assumed
by them, that Europe, with a large portion of Asia,
is the land of Japheth. They might, indeed, produce
si^ch testimony in regard to Asia as the land of
Shem; but they will utterly fail in regard to Ja¬
pheth. Before leaving this Scriptural evidence in
regard to Ham, were we allowed to refer to secular
history, we might mention the fact that just as the
going of Ham into Africa, either in person or by
proxy, was in the Jewish mind, even so was it in the
mind of the great outside world, as is attested by
Plutarch and Herodotus and Josephus. But fight¬
ing this battle within purely Scriptural grounds we
refrain.
And now, as to the fact of Ham's sons going
into Africa. He had four sons: Cush, Mizraim,
Phut, and Canaan. It is the testimony of Scrip-
98
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
ture that all these migrated to Africa, save him
upon whom the curse rested, Canaan. Concerning
tliis last well-attested fact, we are led to quote from
our phamphlet of twenty years ago: "Is the Negro
cursed?" We there say: "The question is, why
did not Canaan and his posterity accompany the
tribes of Ham into Africa? Why this younger one
remain? In after years the twelve tribes of Jacob
marched up from Egypt, nor was one left behind.
Why should not the four tribes of Ham march
down? The youngest child is most generally the p%t,
the best beloved. Jacob loved Joseph the best of all
his boys, because "he was the son of his old age."
Human nature is one. Wherefore, then, should
Ham leave this son of his old age behind? The
whole affair is inexplicable, without the assumption
that some sad transaction made it necessary for him
thus to act. This we find in the curse pronounced.
With this understanding, how natural does the
course of these sons become? How justifiable, in
forsaking a brother, aye, in compelling him to remaiu
behind. These brethren had just experienced the
wrath of the curse of God—had seen the floods de¬
scend—had heard the fountains of the deep break
THE SONS OF HAM.
99
up, and felt the mighty throes of thneartli beneath
the feet of their angered God; and from the great
depths of their souls they sighed to be spared an¬
other such visitation. They could not doubt the
prophetic dignity of their father. They knew his
voice made known the will and mind of God, and
when in prophetic ecstacy they saw the roll of his
eye and heard the muttering words, "Cursed be
Canaan," they felt the breaking asunder of every tie
of brotherhood and destiny. With one voice the
brothers said, "Arise, let us go hence." Where did
they go? Straight into Africa. So says Holy Scrip¬
ture. Let us refer to these ^ons in the order of their
mentioning. And first: Cush. Whenever in the
original Hebrew, Cush is mentioned—with but a sin¬
gle exception, and where it refers to a person, the
translation is, Ethiopia. That this may be accepted
as a correct translation appears from the following
considerations:
(a) The Cushim descended from Ham, as is
well known, and inhabited a hot south country.
Ham was in Africa, and his seed, doubtless, spread
into the hot country of Ethiopia.
(b) The Cushim were black. "Can the Ethi¬
opian or Cushite change his skin?" (Jer. 18:28)
100
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
(c) The Cushim were in close proximity to the
Mizraimites, or Egytians, for the two are uniformly
coupled together. See Isaiah 20:3,4, 5; 48:3;
Nahum 3:9; Psalms 08:31, etc.
(d) Isaiah (18:2) describes the Cushim as •
sending ambassadors in "vessels of bulrushes." Bul¬
rushes are purely an African or Nilotic production.
With such an array of testimony as this, who can
doubt the going of Cush into Africa.
(e) In regard to the advent of the son, Miz-
raim, into Africa, the Scriptures speak most defi¬
nitely. It is enough to say that Egypt as a country,
is only known in the Bible by the name of Mizraim
Egypt itself being a Greek word, and, consequently,
nowhere found in the original Scriptures. Against
such a fact as this it is useless to protest and argue.
(f) As to the posterity of Phut settling in Af¬
rica, the evidence in Scripture is that he is invari¬
ably joined with his brethren, the Cushites. Jere¬
miah 46:9, says: "Cush and Phut that handle the
shield." Ezekiel 38:5, says: "Cush and Phut with
them." So, also, speaks the prophet Nahum (3:9).
What is the burden of this accumulated testimony?
It is that Africa is unknown to the writers of the
HEBREW, NOT GREEK.
101
Bible, only as it appears under Hamitic names. Re¬
fuse to recognize and accept these Hamitic names
find you have no allusion to it. It is the land of
Ham. To the writers of the Bible Egypt is Mizraim.
To them, Ethiopia is Cush. And to them the land
of Phut is always allied to the land of Cush. But
cannot Ham he the father of Africa and yet not be
I
the father of the Negro? Not if the Japhetic father¬
hood of Europe takes in all the races of Europe.
Not if the Shemitic fatherhood of Asia takes in all
the tribes of Asia. Not if the great doctrine of
Scripture be true that God made of one blood all
nations of men. Not if Adam be the first father
and Noah the second father of the race. Not, in
short, if the Bible itself be true; that is, be what it
is represented to be, the word of God. And lastly,
not if harmony of interpretation be insisted upon.
To attempt assigning the Negro another than Ham¬
itic origin, is nothing less than an attempt to read
the Bible with other than the old-time Christian
eyes. In the light of those eyes the Bible is an in¬
spired book; if not verbally inspired, certainly
plenarily inspired. According to this light the race
was a unit, with Noah for its head as one, and Shem,
102
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Ham and Japheth as its heads in parts. But in the
light of these new eyes all this is seen to be errone¬
ous. Adam and Noah are simply the father of the
white race. Negroes are somebody else.f They are
possibly Pre-Adamites. Crowned with age if not
with honor, they were before the white man was.
And all this the Sunday School authorities cf the
great Methodist Episcopal Church wink at, if they
do not boldly teach. In this, however, we are sure
they do not truthfully represent their time-honored
body.
As we have shown, however, Ham is of Africa,
and because this is so, the Negro being of Africa is
t In a letter received from one of the first Christian scholars of the age, he
says:
"Those who question whether the Negro race is Hamitic, I suppose do not
feel bound to go to the Bible for their ethnology. They do not regard the Bibli¬
cal genealogies as historical but rather as ethnological and, in part, mythical. I
do not suppose they believe that the Flood if there was any, destroyed the human
race entirely; and they use the word Hamitic just as we use the word Shemitic, not
to denote a lineage which comes from a historical character named Ham or Shem
but to indicate a fami.y of race or language. That is, they would hold that the Bib¬
lical account makes no mention of Negroes any more than it does of Chinese, and
that they are outside of the account given in the Bible. If they believe in a local
flood they would believe that Negroes and Chinese represent people that were not
affected by the flood; and if they regarded the story of the creation of Adam as
historical, and that Adam was the father of the human race, they would hold that
they were descended equally from Adam, but from not any historical Noah It is
not in their mind at all to deny the equal humanity of all the races, but to discuss
simply the ethnological relations. They seem to have reason to believe that cer¬
tain Hamitic races were white, settled in North Africa; and they would believe that
the compilers of ethnology of Genesis X did not know the Negro race> south of
Ncrth Africa any more than they knew the races of India or China east of Elam."
HEBREW, NOT GREEK.
103
necessarily of Ham. Three continents, Europe,
Asia, Africa; three patriirchs, Shem, Ham and Ja-
pheth. Each continent for a patriarch ; each patri¬
arch for a continent. Nor were there any squatters in
those primeval days. To say the Negro is.not of
Ham is to make him a squatter. But even then the
pertinent question remains: Whence came he?
Found in Africa when (he Hamitic hordes first
crossed from Shinar, what was his genesis?
There is but one door of escape for these gen¬
tlemen, and it is to them what Scylla is to Chary b-
dis. Do they mean' to intimate, if not to say, that
while the Negro is Adamic, he is not Noachic? This
is tantamount to saying that the Negro escaped the
waters of the Flood. Do they mean this? If so, why
not have the courage of their conviction. But if the
Negro escaped the Flood why may not other races
have escaped also? And if so, what become "of the
words of Peter, (8:20): " * * * when the long
suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while
the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight
souls, were saved through water." It is well enough
to know that when we once deny the universality of
the destruction wrought by the Flood, there is no
104 ' HISTOTtY OF r>IFPEXPATIOKS.
possible way of telling where to stop. Did the Ne¬
gro escape, why may not other of the African tribes?
—the "white" Hamites for instance. And if these
why not some of the tribes of Asia—the Chinese for
instance? We confess here to intricacy ; but• why
should the Negro be selected to settle it; why exper¬
iment upon him—an expejiment that may well be
said to bring in such an understanding of the Bible
as to make it essential 1}T a new book? Of the Flood,
Moses says: "And the watji's prevailed exceedingly
upon the earth; and all the high mountains that
were-under the whole'heaven were covered. Fifteen
cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the moun¬
tains were covered. And all flesh died that moved
upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast,
and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the
breath of the spirit of life, of all that was in the dry
land, died. And every living thing was destroyed
which was upon the face of the ground, both man,
and cattle, and creeping thing, and fowl of the
heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth:
and Noah only was left, and they that were with
him in the ark" (Gen. 7:19-23).f
t See the Prelude: The Flood.
WHAT MOSES SAYS.
105
In the face of euch a record as this, it seems to
us to be all folly to question the universality of the
Flood, both in extent and in consequences We
have no quarrel with science. We care little about
its teachings as they may be thought to bear upon
the discussion in hand. Our to do is with Moses.
To us the one important question is: Does he or
does he not teach that the Flood was universal? and
by universal we mean wherever man or beast or bird
or creeping thing had gone. That he does, or at
least intended so to do, is self-evident.. Whether he
tells the truth or not is another question. Our pres¬
ent task is to find out what he* says, and for one we
believe he is abundantly able to make answer for
himself. If the words we have quoted above do not
tell us that the Flood was of world-wide extent, then
our language—aye, or any other—is inadequate to
the task of telling it; and if any doubt this let him
try to form a paragraph in which universality shall
be told. As intimated, we do not presume to settle
this question, especially after what the scientists
have said, and after what the "conquered stand¬
points" of science seem to teach. That Moses, how¬
ever, intended to say that the Flood was universal,
106
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
is beyond question. But to say that the Negro did
not spring from Ham is to settle the question in the
interest of science, so-called, and against Moses—
is to say that the Flood was not universal; that all
flesh did not die; that every man save Noah and
those with him in the Ark did not perish. Nay,
more, to say that the Negro is not of Hamitic birth
is to impugn the word of Him in whom dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Did not Christ
accept the popular idea that the Flood was universal?
Did He not teach as much? Says He: "And as
were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the
Son of Man. For as in those days which were before
the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah en¬
tered into the Ark, and they knew not until the
Flood came, and took them all away; so shall be
the coming of the Son of Man' (Matt. 24:87-39).
The one teaching of this is, that if the Flood
was not universal, the coming of the Son of Man will
not be; and that if some escaped the Flood, why
may not some escape the judgment?
But let us conclude this reply: As was Asia
when the second peopling of the earth by the sons of
THE NEGRO OF HAM.
107
Noah began, desolate, but hospitable, for primeval
nature is always thus: As was Europe when the
sons of Japheth and their descendants, Gomer and
Magog, and Madai and Javan, and Tubal and Me-
shech, and Tiras entered it; even so was Africa when
Cush and Mizraim and Phut crossed at Suez, or
waded at Babelmandeb. And from these, the
mighty millions of the great peninsula have sprung,
be they brown or black; be they of the regions bor¬
dering the Red Sea and the Nile, or the regions close
to the setting sun.
These triumvirs to the contrary, the statement
Paul made on Mars Hill to the men at Athens is yet
true: " * * * and he made of one every na¬
tion of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
having determined their appointed seasons, and the
bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17 :26).
The Negro is a man. He is of Adam. He is of
Noah. Heisof Ham. The Negro is a brother, and will
be until science can demonstrate the Bible to be no
more than a fable—that Moses made mistakes and the
divine Son of God, with men hitherto supposed to be
inspired, endorsed them.
108
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
PRELUDE FIFTH.
The Ordination of Women.
In his comment on Romans, sixteenth chapter
and first verse, referring to Phebeand to the deacon¬
esses of the early church in general, Adam Clarke
says:
"It is evident they were ordained to their office
by the imposition of the hands of the bishop." It
would seem Dr. Clarke's authority for so catagorical
a statement is what Thomas Broughton says in his
Dictionary, article, Deaconess: in connection with
the form of prayer for such ordination, found in the
Apostolic Constitutions. As it relates to this last au¬
thority, however, it is to be confessed that the charac¬
ter of them is not such as to command ready assent
to their teachings. Originating beyond question
long after the death of the Apostlesf and subjected
t "Thefirst six books were written at the end of the third century; the remain¬
ing two at the beginning of the fourth; at all events, before the Council of Nicaea,
A. D. 325. —Mc. C. & S.
THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN.
109
to the most questionable treatment by parties of
doubtful orthodoxy, they have long since ceased to
have any special worth upon any question of mo¬
ment. Therefore it is that the subject of women's
ordination even in the Primitive days, may be re¬
garded as open as though these so-called Constitu¬
tions of the Apostles had made no reference to it;
even going the length, as may be seen, of giving the
prayer the bishop must use.
The following is the prayer referred to: "Eter¬
nal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of
man and of woman; Thou who didst fill with Thy"
Spirit, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah;
Thou who didst vouchsafe to a woman the birth of
Thy only begotten Son; Thou who didst in the taber¬
nacle and in the Temple, place female keepers of Thy
Holy gates—look down now also upon this Thy hand¬
maid, and bestow on her the Holy Ghost, that she
may worthily perform the work committed to her,
to Thy honor, and the glory of Christ." f
In anything like a full discussion of this subject,
it is clearly manifest that that which calls, first,
for settlement is: Were women really ordained at
t Art. Deaconesses Mc. C. & S.
110
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
all; that is, ordained by the imposition of Episcopal
hands? Upon a question like this, however, where
even the great doctors of the Roman Catholic Church
are not at one, for while Cardinal Barcniusf of the
sixteenth century says: No; the universally hon¬
ored Cardinal McCloskey of the nineteenth century,
says: Yes—to say nothing of the difference of opin¬
ions existing among the equally great doctors of
evangelical Christendom—-upon a question like this,
we say, we personally may not be supposed to have
an intelligent opinion; and we draw back from giv¬
ing an unintelligent one. But supposing Dr. Adam
Clarke to be right in his categorical statement, the
question of real moment is: To were women
ordained? The Greek for the word "ordained" as it
appears in Acts 14:28 —"And when they had or¬
dained them elders in every church," is chciroto ne-
santas cheiro t o), signifying primarily, if indeed,
it can be made to signify anything else, to stretch out
the hand; to constitute by voting; to appoint, constitute.
In the Revised Version the verse reads: "And when
they had appointed for them elders in every city,"
etc. Where the word "ordained" occurs in Titus, i.
+ See article Deaconesses, Dobson's Encyclopoasdia. See "Catholic Dic¬
tionary," with the Cardinal's Imprimatur.
ORDINATION : APPOINTMENT.
Ill
5,—"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou
shouldest set in order the things that are wanting
and ordain elders in every city," the Greek word is
katastetcs (kathlsteml) which signifies to
place, set, constitute, appoint. The reading of the Revised
Version is: "For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the things that were
wanting, and appoint elders in eveiy city," etc. In
one more place the word "ordained" as it is supposed
to bear upon that form of induction into the regu¬
lar Christian ministry, occurs, to-wit: (i Tim. 2:
7,)—"Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an
Apostle," etc. The Greek word here employed is
etethea (t i the mi), meaning, to place, set, lay, etc.
Revised Version: "Whereunto I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle," etc. We may be here al¬
lowed to diverge from the question immediately in
hand, to the extent of noticing two things: . First,
the entire absence of what may be called a technical
phrase for the ceremony, if ordination had yet arisen
to the height of a ceremony as is the case now; and
Second, the fact just intimated that "ordination"
in Apostolic days does not seem really to have been
much of a ceremony. In so far as the written word
112 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
goes to show, it was simply an appointment to a re¬
sponsible position; even as the scholars of the Je¬
rusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey, have decreed
in the Version Revised.
The ordination or appointment of women grant¬
ed, we revert to the question : To what? Happily
there is but one opinion in regard to this, if in keep¬
ing with the Greek originals an appointment only is
understood. Nor will it be more if the real episco¬
pal laying on of hands be granted, even to receiving
the stole and chalice as Catholic authorities grant.
So clearly are the lines drawn, and so clearly are
they perceived, that it may be truly said, we know
more surely what Phebe, of the Church of Cenchrea
and her sister deaconesses, Prisca, Mary, Tryphsena,
Tryphosa and Persis of the early church did not do,
than what they did. Whatever else they may not
have done, we know they did not preach, as the
word "preach" is technically understood; we know
they did not consecrate the elements, nor assist the
elders in the administration of the same; we know
they did not baptize in the ordinary ministration of
that rite; and we know they did not perform the
marriage ceremony. Upon these points all author-
deaconess' ordination.
113
ities agree, Roman and Greek, Anglican and Luth¬
eran, Calvinist and Arminian—agree, without a sin¬
gle dissent. Dr. Clarke's full comment upon Ro¬
mans, sixteenth and one—and he but echoes the
sentiments of all, is: ''There were deaconesses in
the primitive church, whose business it was to at¬
tend the female converts at baptism ; to instruct the
catechumens, or persons who were candidates for bap¬
tism ; to visit the sick or those who were in prison ;
and in short perform those religious offices for the
female part of the church which could not with pro¬
priety be performed by men. They were chosen in
general from among the most experienced of the
church, and were ordinarily widows who had borne
children* By some ancient regulations, they were
required to be forty, others fifty, and others sixty
years of age. * * * In the tenth or eleventh
century, the order became extinct in the Latin
Church; but continued in the Greek Church till the
end of the twelfth century." It might be in place
here to say, that it is being revived by more than
one of the Protestant churches.
The unanimity of all classes of Christian think¬
ers and writers, theologians and historians upon the
114
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
duties of the deaconesses is scarcely less than sur¬
prising. In fact, what may be termed the opposite
of it, or, the ordination of women to ministerial
functions, pure and simple, never seems to enter the
mind& of any.
But it may be thought, that if this fact of one¬
ness prove anything it proves too much; for it may
be rationally argued that unless there be another
side to the question, the men, and we use the term
in the generic, who would disregard the united testi¬
mony of the Church of all ages and branches, are
scarcely less than lunatics. But the number in¬
clined so to do, whether as to literary or social
standing, is altogether too respectable. As there¬
fore it might be rationally expected, there is an¬
other side to this question. What is it? What, the
authority or argument of those who believe in the
right of women, not only to exhort, and do works of
mercy, but to be ordained to the full work of the
ordinary ministry?
And first, this class of persons think they see
the thing in a tentative way in Old Testament facts,
in Old Testament statements, and in Old Testament
prophecies. Let us recur to these in order. Do we ask:
deaconess' ordination.
115
What are the Old Testament facts which seem to
point to the lawful performance of all ministerial du¬
ties by women? We are told to read: "Miriam, the
prophetess (a e b i y> ah)> and" the sister of Aaron,
took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went
out after her with timbrels and with dances" (Exodus
15:20). Also: "Now Deborah, a prophetess, the
wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time"
(Judges 4:4). And lastly we are told to read:
"So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor,
and Shapham, and Asiah, went unto Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah,
the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she
dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and
they communed with her" (2 Kings, 22:14). Nor
do they refrain from calling attention to "the
prophetess Noadiah" mentioned byNehemiah (6:14);
making the point that just as there were false
prophets, male; so, also, female. As also do they
call attention to Isaiah (8:3): "And I went unto
the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son.
Then said the Lord unto me, Call his name Maher-
shalal-hash-baz."
As to the famed song of Hannah (1 Saml.
116
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
2:1-10) which at once gives her a place in the front
ranks of God's poets and seers, they never weary in
repeating it:
My heart exulteth in the Lord,
Mine horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;
Because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is none holy as the Lord;
For there is none beside Thee:
Neither is there any rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly;
Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth :
For the Lord is a God of knowledge,
And by Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves s
for bread;
And they that were hungry have ceased:
Yea, the barren hath borne seven;
And she that hath many children languisheth
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive:
He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich :
He bringeth low, He also lifteth up.
hannah's bong.
117
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
He lifteth up the needy from tlie dunghill,
To make them sit with princes,
And inherit the throne of glory:
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
And he hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of His holy ones,
But the wicked shall be put to silence in
darkness;
For by strength shall no man prevail.
They that strive with the Lord shall be broken
to pieces;
Against them shall He thunder in heaven :
The Lord shall- judge the ends of the earth ;
And He shall give strength unto His King,
And exalt the horn of his anointed.
Following up the same line of inquiry, do we
ask, concerning the Old Testament statements? We
are told to read: "Look unto Abraham your father,
and unto Sarah that bare you" (Isaiah 51:2): Also:
"Thus saith the Lord : A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachael weeping
for her children" (Jeremiah 31:15): And again:
' 'For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt; and
118
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
redeemed thee out of the house of bondage ; and I sent
before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam" (Micah. 6:4).
As to the bearing of Old Testament prophecy
upon the question at issue, we are told to* read the
following, where save in the last, and then women
are directly mentioned, not the slightest intimation
is given that the promised gifts in the Dispensation
of the Spirit are to be confined to men: * * * *
"I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and my bless¬
ing upon thir.e offspring: and they shall spring up
among the grass, as willows by the water courses"
(Isaiah 44:3-4). Also: "And tliey shall know
that I am the Lord their God, in that I cause them
to go into captivity among the nations, and have
gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave
none of them any more there; neither will I hide
My face any more from them; for I have poured out
My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord
God" (Ezek. 39:28—29). Also: "And it shall
come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy
all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of
supplication" * * * [(Zech. 12:9-10). The
Judith's plea.
119
prophet Joel (2:28), may be thought to settle the
matter. "And it shall come to pass afterward, that
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophecy," etc.
Approaching the era of the Interregnum of four
hundred years when no prophets of either sex were
vouchsafed the chosen race, our female ordination-
ists, invite us to read: "Then she (Judith) sent her
waiting women, that had the government of all things
that she had, tocallOzias and Chabris and Charmis,
the ancients of the city. And they came unto her, and
she said unto them, Hear me now, 0 ye gov¬
ernors of the inhabitants of Bethulia; for your
words that ye have spoken before the people this
day are not right, touching this oath which ye made
and pronounced between God and you, and have
promised to deliver the city to your enemies, unless
within these days the Lord turn to help you. And
now who are ye that have tempted God this day,
and stand instead of God among the children of
men? * * * Do not bind the counsels of the
Lord our God: * * * * Now therefore, 0
brethren, let us show an example to our brethren,
because their hearts depend upon us, and the sane-
120
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
tuary, and the house, and the altar, rest upon us. *
* * * Then said Ozias to her, * * * this is
not the first day wherein thy wisdom is manifested ;
but from the beginning of thy days all the people
have known thy understanding. * * *' There¬
fore now pray you for us, * * * and the Lord
will send us rain to fill our cisterns, and we shall
faint no more. Then said Judith unto them * *
* * within the days that ye have promised to de¬
liver the city to our enemies, the Lord will visit Is¬
rael by my hand" (Apocrypha, Judith 8:10-33).
Nor is it with the class of constructionists whose
argument we are now presenting, as might be ex¬
pected, in their approach to the New Testament.
With the unanimity of all branches of the Church
in mind, one is only surprised that they should
make any appeal to the Christian records. But they
do, and make, perhaps, a better showing than the
casual reader would think.
First of all, they exultingly say: Read the
Magnificat of Mary;f and then tell us if women have
not the right to be ordained!
"My soul doth magnify the Lord,
+ Luke 1:47-55:
NEW TESTAMENT PROPHETESSES.
121
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For He hath looked upon the low estate of His
handmaiden:
For behold, from henceforth a'll generations
shall call me blessed.
For He that is mighty hath done to me great
things;
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is unto generations and genera¬
tions
On them that fear him.
He hath shewed strength with His arm;
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination
of their heart.
He hath put down princes from their thrones,
And hath exalted them of low degree.
The hungry He hath filled with good things;
And the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen Israel His servant,
That he might remember mercy
(As He spake unto our fathers)
Toward Abraham and His seed forever."
Read, say they also: "And there was one Anna, a
prophetess (p ro ph etis), the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher * * * which departed not
122
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
from the temple, worshiping with fastings and sup¬
inations night and day" (Luke 2:36). Are they
told she was not a prophetess in the strict sense of
the word; that is, one who could foretell future
events. Their apt reply is: So mueh the better,
for just as soon as she ceases to be the extraordinary,
she partakes of the ordinary; and in this matter,
the ordinary is more than the extraordinary. Ceas¬
ing to be a prophetess she becomes as has been well
said, "a holy woman, who from her extensive knowl¬
edge and deep experience in divine things, was cap¬
able of instructing others." They also call atten¬
tion to the twenty first chapter of Act, ninth verse—
"Now this man (Philip the Evangelist) had four
daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." Concern¬
ing them the same argument is made as with Anna.
Taking their cue from Clarke, they ask : "If Philip's
daughters might be prophetesses (as Matthew Henry
and others admit) why might they not teach?" And
again, taking their cue from Whedon they say with
a broader sweep and an infinitely broader signifi¬
cance: "No great and noble act which she has power
to do, is out of woman's sphere."
Beyond question the New Testament stronghold
of the ordinationists, is Peter's interpretation of
NEW TESTAMENT PROPHETESSES.
128
Joel's prophecy already given. By common con¬
sent Joel in keeping with the other prophets given,
refers to the Christian Dispensation. Were it nec¬
essary, writers of every branch of the Church could
he quoted to this effect. But none is needed, in
the face of what Peter himself says—"Yemen of
Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this
known unto you, and give ear unto my words. For
these are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but
the third hour of the day; but this is that which
hath been spoken by the prophet Joel:
And it shall be in the last days, saith God,
I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh :
And your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams:
Yea, and on my servants and on my handmaid¬
ens in those days
Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy" (Act. 2 :14-18).
The Dispensation settled, in any critical survey
of this far-reaching prophecy, the one point of all to
be settled, is the scope of the vnrb (propheteusousin),
they shall prophesy. Does it mean to foretell the future?
124
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Or has it here the meaning usually accorded to it in
1 Corinthians 14:8 — "But he that prophesieth
speaketh unto men edification, and comfort, and
consolation." Says Henry upon this verse, and he
speaks for all: * * * "he that prophesies,
speaks to the advantage of his hearers; they may
profit by his gift. Interpretation of Scripture
will be for their edification ; they may be exhorted
and comforted by it." Referring the matter to the
grammarians, both classical and ecclesiastical, we
find the signification of the verb to be chiefly two¬
fold—(1) to foretell what is to come, (2) to inter¬
pret prophecies and other sayings of the Holy Spirit.
In so far forth as the subject under discussion is
concerned, the difference between the two gifts is
scarce worth noting. Both call for a special gift
from God and a special endowment of the Spirit.
And this, saith the prophet, is to be as equally true
of women as of men, during the Christian Dispen¬
sation; for it will not do to limit the fulfillment to
the day of Pentecost, lest the sons fare as badly as
the daughters. The fact of woman's full and equal
participancy in this prophecy with man conceded,
what may be the ordinationists' claim with a show
of reason? Nothing less than the perfect legitimacy
PROPHECY BY WOMEN.
125
of woman's demand to share in the operations of the
Spirit in the ministration of the Word, as did the
four daughters of Philip; to mnke 110 mention of
others. The point made and-maintained is, that
just as women in the first age of the Church enjoyed
the gift of prophecy, and by prophecy is meant not
simply the foretelling of future events, but the in¬
terpreting of Scriptures, even as in keeping with
what Joel and Peter say, it is their privilege to en¬
joy during the .continuance of the "last days," or
during the continuance of the Christian Dispensa¬
tion; and therefore is as true to-day as it was at
Pentecost. This much we say the ordinationists can
legitimately and logicaUy claim, any Pauline state¬
ment which may seem to contradict it, to the con¬
trary, for here, as elsewhere, the special must give
way to the general, the particular to the universal.
Of women the general or universal declaration has
been made, that in the last days she shall receive
the gift of prophecy. Any interpretation of any
other portion of Scripture which annuls this declar¬
ation, must itself be annulled. How then shall we
interpret,—"But I permit not a woman to teach"
(i Tim. 2 :12) ? Any way; only do not have it contra¬
dict other portions of the Scripture; as it certainly was
126
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
never intended to do. for who can suppose the Holy
Spirit to contradict Himself?
One argument more, we may suppose the class
of persons for whom we speak, to logically make.
They may say, and logically too, that if woman is
called to prophesy, as well as to interpret, prophecy,
that is interpret Scripture, all things necessary to
the performance of the work must be granted her;
for God requires not his people to make bricks with¬
out straw. In keeping therefore with this idea, we
find women, as has been universally conceded, or¬
dained deaconesses; and in the quotation below, it
it may be said that Mahan intimates they were or¬
dained elders. In his "Church History of the First
Three Centuries," he says: "The proper sphere of
woman as a helpmeet for man, in the higher as well
as the lower cares of life, was acknowledged in the
assignment of certain charitable offices to Deacon¬
esses and Widows, the same perhaps that are some¬
times called elder women, Presbyteresses." Schaff
and Herzog may also be said to look on the same
line. In their Encyclopjedia they say : "The refer¬
ence (i Tim. 8:1) is rather an admission to that
which was subsequently known as the order of Wid-
TWO CLASSES.
127
ows Tagma c he ro n. They held among their sex a
relation something like that of presbyters (See Titus
2:8). Such an order as this is attested by Chrys-
ostom, Epiphanius, Tertullian, etc. The eleventh
canon of the synod of Laodicea, which abolished
the office, calls them Elder Widows (vidua seniores)
in distinction from the deaconesses, who also soon
received the name of widows."
And now, we come to ask: What answer have
those who oppose woman's ordination to the func¬
tions of the regular ministry to make to this long
array of Scripture facts, Scripture statements, and
Scripture prophecies? Such beg to make reply after
the following order: They call attention first, to
what has been shown. What is it? In a general
way (a) that women have exerted no little influence
in the Church of God, both Mosaic and Christian.
That God recognized them. That his people greatly
honored them, (b) That in the Old Testament
they were officially recognized as prophetesses; in
the New Testament, as deaconesses. They call at¬
tention, secondly, to the nature of these offices. Who
were these who prophesied? Who were the Deacons?
Manifestly those who may be said to have operated
128
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
in a sphere other than that of the regular ministry.
That this point may be made the more clear, it is to
be said that those who minister between Grod and
man are of two classes, the ordinary and the extra¬
ordinary. Of the first or ordinary class, are all
those who carry on the ordinary or regular service of
the Most High,as the priests in the Old Dispensation
and the ministry in the New. Of the second or extraor¬
dinary class, are all those who prophesy, whether in
the Old or New religion, as well as those who in any
way serve the Church outside the regular ministry
of the Word, as did both the deaconsf and deacon¬
esses of the early Church; and as do men like Moody
and women like Amanda Smith of to-day. In the
first class, women are never to be found. From
Genesis to Revelation the Scriptures may be searched
and not the least scintillation of anything to the
contrary will be hit upon. But let us put in order¬
ly form this all-dominating fact, dominating, for
the reason, that only those of the first class ever re¬
ceive the ordination that conferred the power to
perform the full functions of the ministry. The
question we discuss is: Ought women to be or¬
dained to the regular work of the ministry?
t See Schaff's History of the Christian Church, vol. 1, p 449.
TWO CLASSES. 129
Our first reply is: No! if God is asked to sanc¬
tion it, or set the example. In the origination of the
old ministry the line of sex wng tightly drawn. The
command given to Moses wus, "And bring thou
near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with
him, from among the children of Israel, that he may
minister unto me in the priests' office, even Aaron,
Nadab and Abihu, Eleaz.ir and Ithamar, Aaron's
sons," (Exodus 28:1). The probabilities are de¬
cidedly in favor of the assumption that Aaron was
the father of daughters as well as of sons. Be this,
however, as it may. by direct command of Grod the
regular ministry of the old covenant was confined to
the male line of Aaron's descent; and this, too, de¬
spite the fact that Aaron's sister, Miriam, was a pro¬
phetess. And this continued to be the case, without
a single exception, during the entire fifteen hundred
years of its continuance. Never for once was a fe¬
male priest so much as mentioned. And even unto
this day among the millions of Hebrews scattered
over the earth, the very thought of a woman officiat¬
ing at the altar is deemed little less than sacrilegious.
Our second reply to the interrogation—Ought
women to be ordained to the regular work of the min-
180
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
is try?—is ''No! if Christ be asked to sanction it or set
the exampleIn the origination of the New minis¬
try the line of sex is as tightly drawn as it was in
the Old. God chose five, Aaron and his four sons.
If there were any daughters sis has already been said,
they were left out. Christ chose not five, but twelve,
and all were men. Women abounded; women, too,
whom the Master esteemed for their work's sake;but
when He would lay a foundation for His Church, it
must be of Apostles; not an Apostless being found
among them. And so a similar spirit moved Him in
the appointment of the Seventy. If there were any
women among them the world has yet to learn it.
Seventy men appointed at one time! It will be im¬
possible to interpret this wholesale overlooking of wo¬
men in any other light than that which says: The
Master did not want them
And, as with God and Christ, Father, Son, even
so with the Holy Spirit, who, speaking to Barnabas
and Symeon and Lucius and Manaen and Saul —all
men—said: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul"—
separate me MEN "for the work whereunto I called
them." (Acts 18:2.)
It is clearly apparent, then, that in so far as
THE MIND OF GOD.
181
God, as the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost,
has spoken or acted, not the least countenance is
given to those who would have women enter the reg¬
ular or ordinary ministry of the Church. Nor has
this aught to do with their selection as prophetesses
and helpers. All concede that God has and does
and doubtless will, during the continuance of these
"last days" of grace, call women to labor in other
than the regular work of the ministry just as He can
call any creature whom He hath made. But if we
interpret His mind by His recorded acts, then noth¬
ing is hazarded in paying that he does not wish
women to be ordained to the regular ministry of His
Church.
Nor has the mind of the Church ever wavered in
regard to this matter—the Church orthodox or Cath¬
olic we mean. What has been the mind of one age
(See the a idac he) has beeii the mind of every other;
and, of one country and of one creed. As, during
the continuance of the Old Dispensation the world
never saw a female priest; so, during the continu¬
ance of the New, the world has not yet seen a full-
fledged female minister. Understanding Tertullian
to refer to such ordinary work, the whole Church
182
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
sanctions what he says—*"Non permittur mulieri in
ecclesia loqui sed nec docere, nec tingere; nec offere, nec
ullius virilis muneris nedum sacredotalis officii sortem
sibi vindicate."—"It is not allowed to women to speak
in the Church, neither to teach, nor to baptize;
neither to be forward, nor engage in any manly work,
much less to claim for herself thg priestly office."
What is to be said, then, of the Company Shops'!
N. C. ordination? To what was it? This can best be
seen by quoting the formula used by the officiating
bishop; the candidate in question, however, being a
woman, and coming forward for the office, we may
suppose, of a deaconess. Says the formula em¬
ployed: "It appertaineth to the office of a deacon
to assist the elder in Divine service. And especially
when he administereth the holy communion, to help
him in the distribution thereof, and to read and ex¬
pound the Holy Scriptures; to instruct the youth,
and, in the absence of the elder, to baptize. And^
furthermore, it is his office to search for the sick,
poor and impotent, that they may be visited and re¬
lieved."
t At the North Carolina A. M. E. Church Conference of 1885, Bishop H. M
Turner, ordained a female evangelist to the oiiice of Deacon using the regular
Disciplinary form, for the ordination of men to that holy office.
COMPANY SHOPS' ORDINATION.
133
We are at once reminded that this forrr.ula is
for deacons and not for deaconesses." The Church,
neither ours nor the Church universal, has any
regular formula for the prdination of deaconesses.
The use, then, of the formula provided for deacons
only, therefore, lends additional complications to
the unscriptural and unecclesiastical episode. But
what is to be said of it? It is to questioned,
first, whether any person was really ordained. One
*
thing is certain; the formula only refers to males.
It is altogether masculine, both in its wording and
in its provisions. It becomes, then, a question in
casuistry: Can it by any probability be made to
apply to a woman? Can a ^<?be made to mean a she?
Can a she be made to mean "the husband of one wife?"
But, freeing ourselves from these difficulties
and supposing the Company Shops' ordination to be
valid, what have we to say?
We have to say first: It is one that God did
not order, if we are to take His course in the begin¬
ning of His Church as expressive of His mind now.
We have to say secondly: It is one that Christ
did not order, if we are to take His course in His se¬
lection of the Twelve and of the Seventy as expres-
134
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
sive of His mind now.
We have to say, thirdly: It is one the Holy
Spirit did not order if we are to take His word to the
men at Antioch as expressive of His mind now.
We have to say fourthly: It is one that we have
no reason to believe any branch of the Christian
Church throughout the world would order.
We have to say lastly: It is one that is direct¬
ly in the face of both the letter and the spirit of the
General Conference legislation of May, 1884.
THE FLOOD.
185
PRELUDE SIXTH.
The Flood.
Everybody believes there has been a Flood;
Christian and Jew, Mohammedan and pagan: al¬
though, to each, the Flood is not one and the tame
thing,.but the difference is altogether personal. All
Christians do not believe one and the same thing
of the Flood; nor do all who are Jews,or Moham¬
medans, or pagans. As we have said the belief is
personal; or at most according to certain schools of
thought or interpretation. The difference relates
chiefly to the extent of the Flood; some believing and
contending that it was literally universal in its
sweep; others that it was only local.f But of this,
however, more will be said further on.
t "The Biblical tradition of the Deluge is concerned only with a general des¬
truction; and the point of comparision is therefore, only with that element "of the
Babylonian s+ory which is based upon the annual flooding of the Euphrates Valley.
This phenomenon, which is also involved in the biblical conception of a pri¬
meval chaos, pictured as a time when the waters covered every thing, naturally
impressed itself deeply on the minds of all who once dwelt in the Euphrates region;
and Southern Mesopotania being at one time the home of the Hebrew clans, or at
all events of some of these clans, the obvious conclusion is that the Hebrews, when
they abandoned their Euphratean settlements and started on a long series of wan-
186
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
As it relates to the Flood, we may well believe,
one of two things: The first is that had such a ca¬
tastrophe as the universal destruction of the race
never happened it is scarcely possible that people of
every clime would have conjured up such a thought
The second is that such a catastrophe having hap¬
pened the race would never forget it. f Of these two
we have the second or last. Turn where we will,
among the men of any race or-nation or community,
ancient or modern, refined or bnrbarous, in the
frigid north or the burning south, we are met bv a
recollection of a Flood ; not personal, this recollec¬
tion, nor generational, of course, but purely racial.
derings, carried stories with them of the havoc wrought by the storms that annually
visit Babylonia." Prof Morris Jastrow, Jr. Ph D. Independent. Feb. 10,1898.
"An area of land sufficiently large for the purposes of the Flood may have
been inundated by the sinking of some small portions which had b;en serving as
a dike or breakwater keeping back the sea, thus allowing the fountains of the great
deep to be broken up. Join to this a fall of rain similar to that which fell at
Cayenne, French Guiana, Feb. 1820, in which there fell in twenty-four days, twelve
and one half feet of water, and all the conditions of the Flood would be fulfilled."
Genesis Re-read. T. G. Steward.
t '"In Genesis (10:25) we read ("And unto Eber were born two sons, the name
of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided.' Commentators have
not been wanting to conclude that reference is here made to some mighty physical
catastrophe, such as the sundering of continents. (See Jacobus' Notes on passage
above). It is to be said, however, that had such an event really happened, it must
ever have been remembered by the race (as have been the Fall and the Flood).
But no such remembrance exists. Therefore the division of the earth declared
cannot have been physical; at least to the extent suggested;" (but on the contrary,
as is uniformally believed, must have been social or political, such for instance
as happened at the confusion of tongues). See A. M. E Ch. Review. Oct.'86,
REMEMBRANCE OP THE FLOOD.
187
As already said, this is altogether as we should ex¬
pect. The drowning of the whole race, save one sol¬
itary family of eight souls, is surely an event that
not one of these eight, down to his latest generation
could ever be expected to forget; especially in the
face of its multiplied experiences and long continued
*
evidences. The members of this family, those we
mean who had personally passed through the fear¬
ful ordeal, lived for hundreds of years after. Noah
himself sojourned among the people of his loins
three hundred years after the Flood. Shem lived
five hundred and two years after. And Ham and
Japheth we may believe relatively as long. During
all these centuries, the generations of men were in¬
creasing in numbers, and so rapidly too, that when
we call to mind the longevity of the people, we
no longer wonder in how short a time the
measurable re-peopling of tne earth was accom¬
plished. For more than five hundred years these
living witnesses told the story to the awe stricken
thousands whose ears were ever open. Shem was
co-temporary with Abraham one hundred and forty-
eight years: as also was he co-temporary with Isaac,
for the year of his death was the ninth of Isaac's
188
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
marriage to Rebecca. In so far then as chronology
is concerned, there is no reason why all these indi¬
viduals may not have met
The fireside talk of all these patriarchs to their
children, their grandchildren, and their posterity
for generations too numerous to mention—the fire-^
side talk of these we may well know, was the Flood.
During the three hundred years of Noah's pust-dilu-
vian life, supposing him to have told it only on the
Sabbaths as they came to worship, would constitute
more than fifteen thousand recitals of the terrible
event. Of Shem, supposing the same, we would
have more than twenty-six thousand recitals. To
these forty thousand recitals, add those of Ham who
seems to have been especially loquacious, judging
from the remains his descendents have left, and
those of Japheth—to say nothing of the story which
the four women who had been * * *
"Loyal to the Highest"f
would tell, to say nothing of the mute testimony of
the Ark itself as it gradually went to decay—and
then let us cease to wonder at the universality of the
information concerning it.
Three currents of knowledge flow down to us:
t A Story of Doom. Jean Ingelow
tradition of flood.
189
First: Tradition.
Second', Secular Record.
Third: Inspired Record.
Tfadttion: •
We speak first of the Tradition—not we person¬
ally, only as to the power of choice from among the
first intellects of the Bible world, who have given
thought and expression to this fact. And first is
•Tayler Lewis.
"We have as an outward ground," says he,
"the world-wide tradition of such an event far great¬
er than any inundation of waters, or change in na¬
ture, recorded in any later or more partial history.
The classical story of the Indian, the Persian, etc ,
are well known ; but it is found everywhere. ,In the
remotest and most isolated region to which the tra¬
veller penetrates, there meets him this tradition of
a great catastrophe by water and of a righteous man
who was saved in an ark. It is told with the same
general features, and after with a surprising similar¬
ity of detail, whether it be in the wilds of Siberia,
by the rivers of Southern Africa, or in the Isles of
the Pacific. No other event ever made such an im¬
pression on the ethnological memory; and hence it
140
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
has survived through wastes of historical silence in
which other facts, however great their local or tribal
interest, have utterly perished."f
To the same effect speaks McClintock, who says:
"The truth of the Mosaic history of the deluge is con¬
firmed by the tradition of it which universally ob¬
tained. A tradition of the deluge, in many respects
accurately coinciding with the Mosaic account has
been preserved almost universally among theancient
nations. It is a very remarkable fact concerning
the deluge that the memory of almost all nations
begins with the history of it, even of those nations
which were unknown until they were discovered by
enterprising voyagers and travellers ; and that tra¬
ditions of the deluge were kept up in all the rites and
ceremonies of the Gentile world ; and it is observable
that the farther we go back the more vivid the tra¬
ces appear, especially in those countries which were
nearest to the scene of action. Such narratives have
formed part of the rude belief of the Egyptians, Chal¬
deans, Greeks, Scythians, and Celtic tribes. They
have also been discovered among the Peruvians and
Mexicans, the aborigines of Cuba, North America
and the South Sea Islanders." f
t Lange. Vol. 1. P. 15. + McClintock & Strong, Art. Deluge.
berosus' account.
141
It is scarcely necessary to say that the number
of such quotations as these, could be indefinitly in¬
creased. But to what purpose, since the testimony of
one is the testimony of all?
Secular Record:
We come then to the accounts of the Flood,
which the ancients of the pagan world have written.
As it relates to some of these written records, Geike
(Vol. 1, p. 193) expresses the belief that some of
them may be "carried back to an age which may
well be believed contemporary with the survivors of
the Flood itself." As in the case of Tradition, of these
documents we give also two; that of Berosusf being
the first. Says this historian : "The great Deluge
took place under Xisuthros. The god Ea appeared
to him in a dream, and announced that on the fif¬
teenth of the month of Daisios (a little before the
summer solstice), all men should perish by a flood.
He was therefore to collect all that was consigned to
writing and bury it at Sippara—the city of the Sun.
There, he was to build a vessel and to enter into it
t Berosus was an educated priest of Babylon, who had a knowledge of the
Greek language, and probably lived260 B. C. according to some; to others, at the
time of Alexander the Great. He wrote in Greek three books of Babylonian—Chal¬
dean history in which he made use of the oldest temple archives in Babylon. This
work which was highly esteemed by the ancients was still extant at the time of Jo-
sephus. Unfortunately only afew fragments remain.
142
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
The above terra-cotta tablet is in the British Museum, and is marked No. li
3375. The language is Cuneiform, and the account is the one given by Berosus
of the Food. We are indebted to the National Publishing Company, Philadelphia,
Penn., for the electrotype of the same.
BEROSUS' ACCOUNT.
148
with his family and dearest friends; and he was to
cause animals, birds and quadrupeds, to enter with
him taking sufficient provision. He was, moreover, to
prepare everything for navigation. And when Xis-
uthros asked in what direction he should steer, he
was told—toward the gods—and enjoined to pray
that good might come of it for men.
Xisuthros, on this, obeyed, and constructed a
vessel five stadia long, (3,088 ft. 9 inches) and two
broad (1,213 ft. 6 inches); and having brought to¬
gether all that had been ordered, went into it with
his wife, his children, and his intimate friends.
The Deluge having come, and soon going down,
Xisuthros loosed some of the birds; but these, find¬
ing no food, nor place to alight, returned to the
ship. A few days later he again set them free, but
they returned, their feet stained with mud. Sent off
the third time, they never came back. Xisuthros
from this, understood that the earth was bare, and
having made an opening in the roof of the ship, saw
that it had grounded on the top of a mountain. He
then descended with his wife, his daughter, and his
pilot, and having worshipped the earth raised an
altar and sacrificed to the gods. At the same mo-
144
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
ment he vanished, with those who accompanied him.
Meanwhile, those in the vessel, finding he did
not return, descended and began to seek him, call¬
ing him by name.
But they saw Xisuthros no more. A voice from
heaven, however, was heard, commanding that they
should be pious towards the gods, and telling them
that he had received the reward of his piety, by be¬
ing carried away to dwell henceforth in the midst of
the gods, and that his wife, his daughter, and the
pilot of the ship, shared the same honor. The voice
further said that they wTere to return to Babylon,
and dig up the writing buried at Sippara; to trans¬
mit them to after generations. The country in
which they found themselves was Armenia. They,
then, having heard the voice, sacrificed to the gods
and returned on foot to Babylon. Of the vessel of
Xisuthros, a portion of it is still to be found in the
Gordyan Mountains in Armenia, and pilgrims bring
thence asphalte which they have scraped from its
fragments. It is used to keep off the influence of
witchcraft."
After Berosus we give what is written in the
eleventh tablet of Whitelaw's Izdhubar series, the
izdhubar's account
145
Izdhubar whom George Smith t-lie Assyriologist
identifies with Nimrod, son of Ham. The Lanor-
mant translation of the same is as follows:
'"I will reveal to thee, O Izdhuber, the history of
my preservation, and tell thee the decision of the
god p. The town of Shurrippak, which thou knowest
is on the Euphrates It was ancient and in it (men
did not honor) the gods. I alone was the servant of
th« great gods. (The gods took council on the ap¬
peal of) Anu: (a deluge was proposed by) Bel (and
approved by Nabon, Nergal, and) Adair.
And the god (Ea) the immutable, lord, repeat¬
ing this command in a dream. * * * 'Man of
Shurrippak, build a vessel and finish it (quickly).
I will destroy life and substance (by a deluge).
Cause thou to go up into the vessel the substance
and all that has life. The vessel thou shalt build
—600 cubits shall be the measure of its length, and
CO the measure of the breadth and of its heighth.
(Launch it) thus on the ocean, and cover it with a
roof.' I understood, and said to Ea, 'My lord, (the
vessel) that thou commandest me to build thus,
when I shall build it, young and old (shall laugh at
me). (Ea opened his mouth and) spoke: • ('If they
146
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
laugh at thee) thou shalt say to them, he who has
insulted me (shall be punished), (for the protection
of the gods) is over me.' 'I will exercise my judg¬
ment on that which is on high and that which is be¬
low. * * * Close the vessel. * * * Enter
into it and draw the door of the ship toward thee
Within it, thy grain, thy furniture, thy provision,
thy riches, thy menservants, thy maidservants, and
thy young people, the cattle of the field, and the
wild beast of the plains, which I will assemble and
send thee, shall be kept behind thy door.' * * *
On the fifth day (the two sides of the bark) were
raised, The rafters in its covering were, in all, four¬
teen. I placed its roof and I covered it. I em¬
barked in it on the sixth day; I divided its floors on
the seventh, I divided the interior compartments on
the eighth.
"I stopped up the chinks through which the
water entered in. I poured on the outside three
times 3,600 measures of asphalte; and three times
8,600 measures of asphalte within. Three times 3,
600 men, porters, brought on their heads the chests
of provisions. I kept 3,600 chests for the nourish¬
ment of my family, and the mariners divided among
izdhubar's account.
147
them twice 3,600 chests. For (provisioning) I had
oxen slain; I appointed rations for each day. In
(anticipation of the need of) drinks, of barrels and
of wine, (I collected'in quantity) like to the waters
of a river; (of provisions) in quantity like to the
dust of the earth. * * *
"All that I possessed I gathered together—of
silver, of gold; of the substance of life of every
kind. I made my servants, male and female, the cat¬
tle of the fields, the wild beast of the plains, and the
sons of the people, all ascend (into the ship).
Shamas (the sun) fixed the moment, and he an¬
nounced it in these terms: 'In the evening I will
cause it to rain abundantly from heaven, enter into
the vessel and close the door'. * * *
When the evening of the day arrived I was
afraid—I entered into my vessel and shut my door,
and then confided to the pilot this dwelling, and all
that it contained.
Mu-sheri-ina-namarif (1) rose from the founda¬
tions of heaven in a black cloud; Ram man thun¬
dered (2) in the midst of the cloud—Nabonans and
Shurru marched before—they marched devastating
t 1. A Personification of rain. 2. The god of thunder.
148
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
the mountain and the plain. Nergal, (B) the powerful
dragged chastisements afterhim. Adar (4) advanced,
overthrowing before him. The archangles of the
abyss brought destruction. By their terrors they
agitated the earth. The flood of Ramman swelled
up to the sk<y, and (the earth), grown dark, became
like a desert.
"They destroyed the living beings on the surface
of the earth. The terrible Deluge swelled up to¬
wards heaven. The brother no longer saw his bro¬
ther: men no longer knew each other. In heaven
the gods became afraid of the water spouts, and
'sought a refuge—they mounted up to the heaven of
Anu.f The gods were stretched out motionless,
pressing out one against another, like dogs. Ishtar
wailed like a child: The great goddess pronounced
this discourse: 'Here is mankind returned into
earth: and theirs is the misfortune I have an¬
nounced in the presence of the gods'. * * * 'I
am the mother who gave birth to men, and there
they are, filling the sea like the race of fishes; and
the gods on their seats, by reason of that which the
archangels of the abyss of darkness are doing, weep
t The upper heaven of the fixed stars.
3. The god of war and of death. 4. The Chaldean and Assyrian Hercules.
izdhubar's account.
149
with me.' The gods on their seats were in tears, and
held their lips clused (revolving) things t > come,
"Six days and as many nights: the wind, and
the water spout and the deluge—rain were in all
their strength. At the approach of the seventh day
the deluge-rain grew weaker—the terrible water¬
spout, which had been awful as -an earthquake, grew
calm, the sea began to dry up, and the wind and
the waterspout came to an end. I looked at the sea,
attentively observing, and the whole race of man had
returned to the earth; the corpses floated like sea¬
weed. I opened the window and the light smote on
my face, I was seized with sadness; I sat down and
wept, and the tears came over my face.
"I looked at the region bounding the sea,
towards the twelve points of the horizon, but there
was no land. The vessel was borne above the land
of Nizir—the mountains of Nizir arrested the vessel,
and did not permit it to pass over. For six days
they thus stopped it At the approach of the
seventh day I sent out and loosed a dove. The dove
went, turned, and found no place to light on, and
came back. I sent out and loosed a swallow ; and it
went, turned,and finding no place to light on, came
150
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
back. I sent out and loosed a raven: the raven
went, and saw the corpses on the waters; it ate,
rested, turned, and came not back.
"I then sent out (the creatures in the vessel)
towards the four winds, and offered a sacrifice. I
raised the pile of my burnt-offering on the peek of
the mountain. Seven by seven I laid the measured
vesselsf and, beneath I spread rushes, cedar-wood,
and juniper. The gods were seized with the desire of
it—with a benevolent desire of it:—they assembled
like flies above the master of the sacrifice. From
afar, in approaching, the great gooddess raised the
great zones that Anu made for the glory of the
gods.f These gods, luminous as crystal, I will neyer
leave—I prayed, in that day, that I might never
leave them. 'Let the gods come to my sacrificial
pile! But never may Bel come to it, for he did not
master himself, but he made the waterspout for the
Deluge, and he has numbered men for the pit.'
"From far, in drawing near, Bel saw the vessel
and stopped. He was filled with anger against the
gods and against the heavenly archangels.
"No one shall come out alive! No man shall
t Vessels or vases with measured contents, for the offering,
t This is a metaphorical expression for the rainbow.
izdhubar's account.
151
be preserved from the abyss." Adar opened his
mouth and said—he said to the warrior Bel, 'Who
other than Ea should have formed this resolution ;
for Ea possesses knowledge and, he (preserves) all.'
Ea opened his mouth and spake: He said to the
warrior Bel, 0 thou, herald of the gods, warrior—as
thou didst not master thyself, thou hast made the
waterspout of the Deluge. Let the sinner carry the
weight of his sins; the blasphemer the weight of his
blasphemey. Please thyself with this good pleasure,
and it shall never be infringed; faith in it (shall)
never (be violated). Instead of thy making a new
Deluge, let lions and hyaenas appear and reduce the
number of men; let there be famine, and let the
earth be (devastated): Let Dibarraf appear, and
let men be mown down. I have not revealed the
decision to the great gods; it is Khasisatra who in¬
terpreted a dream and comprehended what the gods
had decided.'
"Then, when his resolve (to destroy the rem¬
nant of men) was arrested, Bel enterred into the
vessel, and took my hand, and made me rise. He
made my wife rise and place herself at my side. He
walked around us and stopped short He approached
+ The god of epidemics.
152
THE HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
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izdhubar's account.
158
our group. 'Until now Khasisatra has been mortal,
but now, he and his wife are going to be carried
away to live like the gods, and he will live afar, at
the mouth of the rivers.' They carried me away
and established me in a remote place, at the mouth
of the stream."
In addition to the above and since writing the
Prelude, Pere Y. Scheil's discovery f of another sec¬
ular record of the Flood, has been given the public.
Dr. Wm. Hayes Ward says of it:
"To be sure the record on the tablet does not
amount to much, it is such a fragmentary bit; but
it ia large enough to make it sure that the tablet
contained the story of the Deluge; and most for¬
tunately, the most important part of it is preserved,
the colophon, with the date. It is dated in the
reign of Ammi-zaduga, King of Babylon; and we
know that he reigned about 2140 B. C. That is, we
have here a precious bit of clay on which was writ¬
ten a poetical story of the Deluge, seven centuries
before Moses, and about the time of Isaac or Jacob.
+ The cut on page 152, is the one discovered by Pere V. Scheil; and is not the
Izdhubar account as it might ba taken to be owing to its place. We are indebt¬
ed to the courtesy or the Independent for this cut.
154
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
That is enough to make the discovery memorable.
We learn positivly that the story of the Deluge was
familiar to the common people of Babylonia, and
therefore of all the East from Syria to Persia."
The following is the translation of the record
with what the good Pere says concerning certain por¬
tions of it: "The first column is in a bad condition,
corroded by the salts, and it is difficult to recover the
connection of thought. A certain aetion is being per¬
formed ; there is some question about the human race,
of its complaints, of Ramman, the god of the tem¬
pests, who is about to punish man. This is all very in¬
teresting ; but the most remarkable expression that
appears is that of "hibis" "effaced" which shows us
that our tablet is only a copy of a more ancient or¬
iginal, which had suffered injury. This expression,
in fact, is a perfectly familiar one regularly used by
the scribes whenever the text which they were tran¬
scribing was mutilated. In the second column we
read the maledictions of a deity uttered against the
human race:
COL. II.—
That..
That he has
scheil'b discovery.
155
That he should kill, that he should destroy
In the morning that he should rain down the
extermination
That during the night he should prolong
That he should rain down the inundation
The plain he shall make its ruin great;
the city
That which Ramman shall have accomplished
in the city
He says he will overturn (?) the land
He raises a cry
(The gods) will not fear
If, owing to the mutilated condition of these lines,
there remains some doubt as to the nature
of the chastisement which threatens man, the
following column entirely dissipates it. The Del¬
uge is there named under its specific name, abu&u.
A friendly god also there makes his appearance "who
will stretch out a helping hand to man." Safety
will be secured, without any possible question, by
means of a ship; the oar or tarkullu, of which is
particularly mentioned. It is put into the hands of
the hero of the Deluge, half of whose name appears
in a mutilated passage: Pi-ir-(napistitn), meaning
156 history of dispensations.
"The Seed of Life," which is the predestined name,
the true name of the Babylonian Noah.
Col vii.—
Ea spake the word
And said to me
Why wilt thou make men to die
I will reach out my hand to men
The Deluge of which thou spakest
Whatever it may be, I
I, shall I have produced (in vain?)
He shall be informed of it
To the end that he build
And he shall beget
That they may enter (into the ship)
That Pir—(napistim take) the oar
That he may come
That he may take
That he
Finally, the last column of the second chapter
of this story alludes to a god, a benefactor of the
human race, and closes with the formula
Adram-hasis utters his word
And speaks to his lord.
There follow the formulas which classify and date
TABLES OF DELUGE.
157
the document, and which I have described above.
I will simply add that there are two points as to this
discovery that suffice to. render it of importance not¬
withstanding the brevity of the text and the bad
condition of the tablet:
I. We have here a fragment of the Sippara ver¬
sion of the Deluge story.
II. This account, poetic in its construction,
dated in the time of King Ammizaduga (about 2140
B. C.) is only a copy; and no one can say how many
centuries one must go back before reaching the his¬
toric fact which lies at the base of this cycle of le¬
gends and the first narration made of it."
Through with these secular documents, let us
give to the reader, the Flood literature vouchsafed
to us in the inspired record of the Bible. We pre¬
face the same by two tables of chronology! relating
to the one disaster of the world.
Table by Thomas Whitelaw, reckoning from the
first day of the year:
t The Jewish narrative, like the Babylonian, has bean thought to consist of
two documents, an Elohistic and a Yahvistic, which have been connected by an
editor. They appear to differ in various details;—e. g., in the duration of the
Flood (the Elohists extends it to a whole solar year), and in the description of the
introduction of the animals into the ark, (the Elohist's alludes to the legal distinc¬
tion between clean and unclean). But they have certainly the same origin, for they
entirely coincide in the main outlines. Britannica, Art. Deluge.
158 hi8t0ry of dispensations.
Months. days. Days.
x Beginning of the Flood 1 17 47
Continuance of Rain 40
Preva'ence of Waters HO
ix. The Ark touches Ai'arat 6 17 197
hi. The Mountains seen 9 270
Raven sent after 40 days 310
Dove sent 7 days 317
Dove sent 7 days 324
Dove sent 7 days 331
iv. The waters dried up 12 360
v. The earth dry 13 27 417
The following table is by McClintock & Strong :f
Month. Day. Interval. Events. Genesis,
ii. (Nov.) 11 Command to enter
Ark. vii . 1-4
(Nov.) 17 6 days The rain begins vii ,5-16-17
hi. (Dec.) 27 89 days The rain ceases—the
waters prevail. vii . 18-24
vii. (Apr.) 17 108 days The Ark grounds on
Ararat vm , 1-4
x. (July) 1 73 days Tops of mountains
visible. vm., 5
ii. (Aug ) 11 39 days Raven and dove
sent out vm 6-9
(Aug) 17 6 days Dove again sent out vm , 10 11
(Aug) 23 6 days Dove sent out the
third time. viii . 12
i. (Oct) 1 37 days The ground becomes
dry viii 13
it. (Nov ) 27 56 days Noah leaves the Ark viii., 14-19
370 days
Inspired Record :
For the facts of the Flood as these are presented
+ According to a careful adjustment of the chronology of the Hebrew Bible,
the Noachian deluge appears to have occurred (begun) in. the year from the crea¬
tion 1657 and before Christ 2516. It continued twelve lunar months and ten days,
®r exactly one solar year." —Mc. Glintock & Strong Art Deluge.
JOB AND THIS FLOOD.
159
by penmen directed of God we have only to refer to
the Bible:
Genesis 6:1-8
" 6:15-22
" 7:6-24
la the above mentioned portions of the Bible
which any may see, we have all that is fundamental
and all that is safely to be relied on ; and yet, as
might be expected, such a cataclysm would almost
of necessity call for renewed mention by others whom
God would move to speak to the race, especially to
his portion of it; for it should never be forgotton,
that the Flood, as Oehlerf says, is "The first judg¬
ment on the world executed by the holy God," and
as such would very naturally be referred to by others
of "the holy men of old."
We would not hesitate to claim Job (22:15-16)
as the first of these : "Hast thou marked the old
way which wicked men have trodden? Which were
cut down out of time, whose foundations were over¬
flown with a flood"—not hesitate, we say, but the
Revisers have seen proper to generalize the reference,
and have it say :
"Wilt thou keep the old way
t O. T. Theology P. 51)
160
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Which wicked men have trodden?
Who were snatched away before their time
Whose foundation wras poured out as a stream."
And yet with all deference to their learning we
are of the same mind still. Job lived in days whose
peoples were joined to those of the Flood. It is as
likely as not that he talked with Shem,f and while
it is true he employs a word different from that of
Moses, and one that primarily signifies a stream or
river with an eye to the Nile or the Euphrates, or
even the Mediterranean itself, yet figuratively and
poetically it signifies Flood. Unwittingly, in all
that we have here said, we have the endorsement of
t "The manner, customs, institutions, and general mode of life described in
the book of Job are such as belong especially to the times which are commonly
called petriarchal! The pastoral descriptions have the genuine air of the wild,
free, vigorous life of the desert. The city life (ch. 29) is exactly that of the ear¬
liest settled communities, with councils of grey bearded elders, judges in the gate
(ch. 29:7), the chieftan, at once judge and warrior (ch. 29:25), yet with written in¬
dictments (ch. 31:35), and settled forms of legal procedure(chapts. 9:33. 17:3.31:28)
The civilization, if such it may be called, is of the primitive type, with rock-in¬
scriptions (ch. 9:24), mining, such as was practiced by the Egyptians in the Si-
niatic peninsular from B. C. 2000, great buildings, ruined sepulchers, tombs
watched over by sculptured figures of the dead (ch. 21:32). The historical allu¬
sions touch nothing of a recent dat«, but only such ancient things as the Pyramids
(ch. 3:14,) the Apostasy of Nimrod (ch. 9 9), the Flood (ch. 22:16), the destruction of
Sodom (ch. 18:15), etc. * * * Job's term of life (two hundred to two hundred
and fifty years) would seem to place him in the period between Eber and Abraham
or at any rate in that between Eber and Jacob, who lived only a hundred and forty
seven years, and after whom the term of human life seems to have rapidly short¬
ened (Deut. 31:2; Psl. 90 10)".
Farrair Intro, to Job. P. C.
JOB AND THE FLOOD.
161
our old preceptor, Melancthon W. Jacobus,f than
whom Presbyterian scholarship has produced scarce¬
ly an equal. In his Notes on the text above, he says:
"Prof. Lee supposes that the allusion here is to some
overflowing of the Euphrates, but the reference
seems to be decidedly to the Deluge in the time of
Noah. The language is such as would be used in re¬
ferring to that, and the fact is just such an one as
would be pertinent to the argument of Eliphaz.
The fact (of the Flood) was undoubtedly well known
to all, so that a bare allusion to it would be enough."
Be this all, however as it may, the allusion to this
world-wide disaster, by another of the Scripture
writers, David, is unquestioned ; and is so recognized
and presented by the Revisers:
"The Lord sat as King at the Flood;
Yea, the Lord sitteth as King forever."f
Following this, hundreds of years after, of course,
which, by the way, only shows how deeply the Flood-
t That no little stress should be placed upon the opinion of Dr. Jacobus may
be seen in the fact that while the translators of the Authorized version doubtless
would have the Flood to be in the mind of Job 30:14. "They came upon me as a
wide breaking of waters: ip the desolations they rolled themselves upon me," the
doctor in his Notes really anticipated the work of the Revisors in rendering the
original
"As through a wide breach they came
In the midst of the ruin they rolled themselves upon me."
t Psalm. 29:10.
162
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
fact had taken hold the thoughts of men, we hear
Isaiah (54:9) say: "For this is as the waters of Noali
unto me: for as I have sworn that the ualerof
Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor re¬
buke thee."
Coming to the other half of the Inspired Record,
the New Testament, we find the fact of the Flood
fully recognized, with here and there intimations of
correlative truths. And first is the unequivocal rec¬
ognition by the Master himself, noticed by two of
the evangelists, Matthew (24:37-39) and Luke (17:
26-27) : "And as were the days of Noah, so shall be
the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days
which were before the Flood they were eating arid
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered into the Ark, and they knew
not until the Flood came, and took them all away;
so shall be the coming of the Son of Man." And
Luke speaks similarly
The reference by the epistlers are two, the auth¬
or of that to the Hebrews (11:7)* say, Paul; and
Peter. The first of these says: "By faith Noah,
being warned of God concerning things not seen as
THE FLOOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 168
yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an Ark to the.
saving of his house; through which he condemned
the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is according to faith." What Peter says, is :
"Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the
righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring
us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened in the Spirit; in which also he went and
preached unto the spirits in prison, which aforetime
were disobedient, when the long suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was a pre¬
paring, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved
through water."f In his second Epistle,Peter (2:5)
also says: * •* * "and spared not the ancient
world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a
preacher of righteousness, when he brought a Flood
upon the world of the ungodly."
With this quotation, ends all that Holy Writ
has to say of the Flood ; and with it also ends the
information given us by all three the sources alluded
to, to-wit, Tradition, Secular Record, Inspired Rec¬
ord. With all this mass of testimony before us, we
are absolutely certain that at some «arly stage of
t 1 Peter 3;18-19.
164
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
human history a mighty deluge was experienced.
Less than this is not to be conceived ; for in no way
possible could such a dismal echo be accounted for.
:'We may lay it down," says a writer in the Britan-
nica, "as a canon at the outset, that the various
deluge stories must be viewed in combination, and
explained on a common principle."
Whether Jew, then, or Christian, Mohammedan
or pagan, scientist or religionists, all believe.as
much as this.
But who are the authors of the records above
presented, whether sacred, whether profane? What
the races whence they sprang? Find they their ori¬
gin in what the first of the post-diluvian peoples
heard from the lips of Shem? or Ham? or Japheth?
If we are to believe what the critic of to-day has to
say, this last, Japheth, can scarcely be said to have
opened his lips in regard to the terrible event; for
sure it is, the people usually thought to have sprung
from his loins, they of Europe especially, have said
but little that is original in regard to it. Original,
we say, for the tradition Greece gave us, by common
consent finds its source among the peoples of Asia, and
manifestly of Shemitic or Hamitic blood." It is suffi-
the flood in the new testament.
165
cien t,'' says Whitelaw(Thos.). "to refer to the Grecian
story Deucalion and Pyrrha, first given in Pindar, and
afterwards related by Apollodorus, Plutarch, Lucian
and Ovid whose account bears so great resemblance
to the Biblical narrative as to suggest the probabil¬
ity of access to Hebrew (Shemitic) or Syrian (Ham-
itic) sources of information."
Not so the other sons of Noah. Judging from
the traditions and histories of the event yhich their
respective peoples possessed, each of these may be
snpposed to have ever been ready to talk of their
experiences; of the things their eyes saw, and their
ears heard:
"Rolling among the furrows of the unquiet
Unconsecrate, unfriendly, dreadful sea."f
As already intimated Ham would seem to have
been especially loquacious, for to the nations and
peoples which modern ethonology declares to have
sprung from him, both the Asiatic and African
branch,! have come all the account we have, save
t Jean Imgelow's "Story of Doom."
t "The grounds, then, upon which the supposed Semitic character of the an¬
cient Chaldaeans has been based, failed, one and all; and it remains to consider
whether we have data sufficient to justify us in determinately assigning them to any
other stock.
Now a large amount of tradition—classical and other—brings Ethiopians into
these parts, and connects, more or less distinctly, the early dwellers upon the Per-
166
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
the one inspired account of Sliem, together with
that of the Indian aud that of the original na¬
tions and tribes, of ihe American continent, all of
whom are of Shem.
To Hamitic peoples, then, belong both the writ¬
ten accounts the world possesses, the Berosean and
the Babylonian proper, for all belong to the Asiatic
branch of Ham's family—through Nimrod; that is,
if we are to believe what the learned Japhethite
scholarship of to-day teaches. What they uniform¬
ly say in the Bibles they send out is: "The Babyl¬
onians were a mixed race. Originally Hamites,f in
the course of time they became Seuiitised."
Frum the lips of Ham then, we may safely say,
his immediate descendants learned of the Flood, and
sian Gulf with the inhabitants of the Nile valley, especially-with those upon its
upper course (The Soudanese of the present day). Homer, speaking of the Ethio¬
pians, says that they were 'divided,' and dwelt at the ends of the earth, towards the
setting and rising sun (From of old, negroes have inhabited the portion of Africa here
described). This passage has been variously apprehended. It has been supposed
to mean the mere division of the Ethiopian south of Egypt by the river Nile, whereby
some inhabited its eastern and western bank. Again it has been explained as re¬
ferring to the east and west coast of Africa, both found by voyagers to be in
possession of Ethiopians, who were 'divided' by the vast extent of continent that
lay between them But the most satisfactory explanation is that which Strabo from
Ephorus that the Egyptians were considered as occupying all the south coast both
or Asia and Africa, and as'divided'by the Arabian Gulf (which separated the two
continents) into eastern and western—Asiatic and African."
Seven Great Monarchies. Vol. 1. P. 51.
f Gen. 10:8.
THE FLOOD IN EGYPT.
167
the account we have is what he told them, distorted
and discolored by the paganism that afterward crept
in upon them And not the Asiatic branch of the
family only as already intimated, but the African as
well. "Though commonly alleged," says authority,
"to be entirely unknown in the Nile valley it is cer¬
tain that the germs of the Deluge story are to be dis¬
covered even there. According to the Egyptian his¬
torian Manetho, quoted by Eusebius, Thoth, the
first Hermes, erected certain pillars with inscrip¬
tions, which after the Deluge were transcribed into
books. Plato also states in the Timaeus, that a cer¬
tain Egyptian priest informed Solon that the gods,
when wishing to purify the earth, were accustomed
to overwhelm it by a deluge, from which the herds¬
men and shepherds saved themselves on the tops of
the mountains. Josephus certifies that Hiercnymus
the Egyptian refers to the Flood. A conception al¬
together analogous to that of Genesis is likewise to
be found in a myth belonging to the archaic period
Seti ]1., which represents Ra, the Creator as being
disgusted with the insolence of mankind, and resolv¬
ing to exterminate them. In short the Egyptians
believed not that there was no deluge, but that there
had been several. The absence of any indications
168
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
of this belief in the recovered literature of ancient
Egypt is not sufficient to set aside the above concur¬
rent testimonies to its existence."! P. C. Vol. x.
p. 134.
Was this universally recognized Flood universal?
is the question we are now called upon to face. Yes:
No: are the answers given.
We could not be supposed to enter this discus¬
sion—especially not supposed to give answer to as¬
tronomy, to geology, and to zoology, as these bear
down upon those or at least, seem to bear down up¬
on those who stand ready to answer, Yes. Suffi¬
cient is it that we give an Oliver for each Roland
t We clip the following from the Church Review, April, 1888, when we were
its editor:
The article contributed to the January Scribner, by our townsman, Edward L-
Wilson, the Chestnut St. Photographer, is chiefly to be prized for the exquisite
cuts it gives of the photos taken by him during an extended visit to the land of the
Pharoahs. Of course, nothing original in the paper could be expected, as he
makes no pretentions to special scholarship in the lines upon which he writes.
There is one statement, however, that attracted our attention. As will at once be
seen it has no direct bearing upon the subject discussed, "The Great Pyramid,"
and was only used by the writer in his prefatory remarks. It is the following:
"The traveler of to-day may yet find, within a few hundred feet of the great pyra¬
mid, mumulites and pebbles in abundance, with an occasional shark's tooth, all
proving that once upon a time the sea rolled over the desert of Gizeh." In dis¬
cussing the question of the universality of the flood, the "wise men" of to-day are
flippant in their statement that Egypt nowhere presents the least trace of the great
catastrophe; greedily making the statement of Renouf their own: *** "The flood
did not reach Egypt, their being no evidence of it either in the geology of the land
or in the history of the people." More than once we have noted this during the
lasttwelve months, especially in the columns ot the staidly wise journal Zion's
Herald
OBJECTIONS TO ITS UNIVERSALITY.
169
which these may present; and to this task we now
turn our attention.
The astronomical difficulties are insuperable,
say they; difficulties on account of "the vast body of
water, the effect of which would be to increase the
equatorial diameter of the earth by some ten or
twelve miles. The orbit round the sun wouM conse¬
quently be altered. The influence of its attraction
on the planets would be increased, and thus the ele¬
ment of disorder would reach to the remotest region
of space." All this, reads very well; but God's om¬
nipotence granted, which, by the way, the writer of
these words does not seem to recognize, for he coolly
Boston, which seems of late to have given up to this school of non-belief. And that
which made such statements all the more noticeable was the cool assurance with
which they were uttered. They had all the air of an unquestioned and unquestion¬
able ipse dixit about them. Exactly how such statements can be made to harmonize
with the fact noticed by Mr. Wilson is for gentlemen, wiser by far in their own eyes
than Moses, to say. Surely when such debris of the sea is found, it cannot be
truthfully said that not the least trace of the deluge is to be found in Egypt. The
thing of the real moment is: Does Mr. Wilson state a fact? Is it true that in the
desert of Gizeh marine substance, such as he names, can be found ? If this be so,
then it is clearly evident that the statements published in Zion's Herald are alto¬
gether unwarranted. That his statement is true is beyond question, and known to
be for centuries, if not milleniums. As long ago as Herodotus, B. C. 484. the fact
was patent. Says this most ancient writer: "All therefore, that I heard from the
natives concerning Egypt was confirmed by my own observations. I remarked
also, that this country gains upon the region it joins; that shells are found
upon the mountains," etc. With this statement of Herodotus, writers of
reputation commonly agrte. Says Larcher: "The fossil shells which enter into the
lime-stone mountains on the eastern bank of the Nile, in upper Egypt, mani¬
festly owe their present situation, not to the Nile, nor to the routine of nature, but
to cause of an extraordinary kind, or to revolutions anterior, perhaps, to the exist-
170
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
speaks "of such a vast body of water from some un¬
known source," just as if man were expected to
know. With Job (38:2) we may well ask:
"Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?"
Our answer to his surmise is, that with omnipotence
nothing is big, nothing little; nothing hard, noth¬
ing easy.
He giveth snow like wool;
He scattereth the hoar frost like ashes
He casteth forth His ice like morsels:
Who can stand before His cold?
He sendeth out His word, and melteth them :
ence of the Nile." Combating the idea of the universality of the Noachic deluge,
Beloe, in his translations of Larcher's Herodotus, does not deny the existence of
marine shells in Egypt, but simply says: "As to the circumstances of shells being
frequently found on the summit of mountains, many naturalists are of the opinion
that this may have been produced by earthquakes." Kenrick, who is recognized
as authority, in referring to the statement of Herodotus given above, says: "Mod¬
ern science has added little to this simple statement." The existence of marine
remains in the desert of Gizeh, as stated by Mr. Wilson, being substantiated, it
only remains to account for the fact. How? To argue that their presence only
refers to the time when the sea covered all that region in no way settles the
matter.
On the contrary, it is nothing more or less than a species of what the logicians
call "begging the question " than which nothing is more inconclusive.
And the same may be said of the earthquake theory. And the same, for all of
that, of the deluge theory. All that can be incontrovertably said is, that marine
remains are to be found in the high land of Egypt. How they got there no mortal
ken knows. But the fact of their existence in that locality makes it impossible for
any truthfully to say: *** "The flood did not reach Egypt, their being no evidence
of it either in the geology of the land or in the history of the people."
THE FLOOD: OBJECTIONS
171
He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
Psl. Bk. v. 147:16-17-18
A Flood admitted, to our mind, it is, to use the lan¬
guage of the street, as broad as it is long, to believe
it universal or to believe it local. In both instances,
it is a miracle, and in the world of miracles there is
perfect oneness. As inferentially said above no
miracle is big; none is little. And especially is th'is
true of the matter in question; for manifestly it is
no more miraculous to have the waters of the Flood
flow out over the whole earth, seeking their equilib¬
rium, than to hold them up by main strength to un¬
told heights This last must have been the case,
for it is the one corollary to the idea of universality.
The waters must be allowed to flow out, or they,
Jordan-like, must be held in place. In this, it is
taken for granted that on all the earth, there is no
depression—no hole—if you please, where the waters
could thus be gathered together. If there be such a
depression it devolves upon writers like the above to
show it; or unable thus to do, admit the argument
we make—unless, indeed, they can show that the
surface of the earth has changed, and that the Big
Hole in which the earth was drowned has been filled
up. We put the question catagorically: If the
172
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
whole earth was not submerged, what portion of it
was? Where is the Flood-Hole? Not to be able to
show it is to accept the dilemma already given: God
must allow the waters to seek their equilibrium or
by a stupendous act of omnipotence hold them in
place, until the world's fate is accomplished.
"But," says the same writer, "perhaps the most
startling of all difficulties in the way of the belief in
the universal deluge are presented to us in there-
searches of the Zoologists." He then proceeds to
show that by reason of the known number of terres¬
trial animals - greatly increased since the time when
Raleigh made his f^med calculation, "that no vessel
ever fashioned by man could have accomodated a
tithe of these inmates." All this reads, well, as we
have said of the preceding statement and we do not
hesitate to admit that we do not see how it could be,
no more than we are able to see:
(1.) How all the peoples of the earth could be
collected together into one locality for the express
purpose of being drowned.
(2.) How they could all be kept there, in the
very face of approaching death; especially when it
is remembered what is written: "Skin for skin,
THE FLOOD : OBJECTIONS.
178
yea, all that a man hath will he give for hia life.f
(8.) How that not one could be able to escape
to regions where the Flood did not reachj supposing it
not to be universal. It is Josephus who says: * *
* * "The waters of the Flood became fifteen
cubits higher than the earth; which was the reason
why there was no greater number preserved, since
thev had no place to fly to."f And so, of the beasts
of the earth. We cannot see :
(1.) How all these could be gathered together.
(2.) How they could be kept there and patient¬
ly or impatiently wait their death.
And so of the fowls of the air. Let these Zoolog¬
ical opponents to the universality of the Flood, ex¬
plain all these things and then we will consider the
propriety of attempting to answer the things which
they present. According to the argument they make,
miracle can scarcely be evoked, unless indeed they
believe that there are grades of miracle, some big,
some little. This, however, we cannot imagine them
to do.
Lastly we come to the geological opponents to
the universality of the Flood. One of the Rolands
t Job 2:4.
t Josephus B'k. 1. 3:5.
174
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
of difficulty which they present is the following:
"In Auvergne, and other districts of Central France,
there occurs a, series of volcanoes which have not
been in action within the historical period. From
the association of the remains of long extinct ani¬
mals among the products of these volcanoes, it has
been inferred that the area of eruption must be as¬
signed to a time long anterior to the appearance of
man. Yet these volcanic cones are in many in¬
stances as perfect as when they were first thrown
up."
The Oliver to this Auvergne Roland which we
do not understand; and who does, for is it not with
nature, as says the author of Ecce Coeluml ' 'Terres¬
trial nature is one huge sphinx. * * * "From
surface to center, the earth is choked with mysteries
whose stony rind has never yet received a blow,
much less a fracture from the -mallet of investiga¬
tion "—and yet the Oliver—to this particular Ro¬
land we present is the ten thousand evidences of
water having washed the peaks of the highest moun¬
tain. This we offer in general. In particular we
present Rocky Canyon, Colorado, and demand that
these ov«rwise geologists shall tell us how came
THE FLOOD UNIVERSAL'
175
these foundations of the earth itself, to be so rude
and bare. Let them gaze upon Pike's Peak, and tell
us what hammers of God broke these debris of gran¬
ite and scattered them all about. We prefer to ac¬
cept the waters of the Flood as the agency; calling
to mind what is taught of the mighty force of hy¬
drostatic pressure.f
Are we asked, in conclusion the reason for our
faith in the universality of the Flood?
We answer:
First: God's mightiness is equal to the emer¬
gency. "Ah Lord God! behold, Thou hast made
the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and
by Thy stretched out arm; there is nothing too hard
for Thee."f
Second: Supposing the Flood to have been uni¬
versal, the fact could not be communicated to the
t "Many of the convulsions of nature, manifested by broken and scattered
rocks, have been caused by hydrostatic pressure. *** "Suppose in the bowels of
a mountain there should be an empty space of ten yards square, and only an inch
deep, on an average, in which a thin layer of water had lodged, so as to fill it en¬
tirely; and suppose that in the course of time, a small crack of no more than an
inch in diameter should be worn from the above, 200 feet down to the layer of
water, if the rain was to fill this crack, the mountain would be shaken, perhaps
rent in pieces, with the greatest violence being blown up with a force equal to pres¬
sure of above 5022 tons of water, though only 21 1-2 tons had been actually
applied."
See Treatise on Hydrostratics, Library of Useful Knowledge.
t Jer. 32:17.
176
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
world, if the record already given does not tell us
that fact.
Third: All the ages that have since passed un¬
derstood the patriarchs, inspired and uninspired, to
say that the Flood was universal.
Fourth: Nothing is gained by denying it, but
on the contrary, much lost in that it makes the
teachings of the Bible uncertain.
Supposing what these opponents to universality
say to be true, as it relates to the teachings of the
Bible, we may ask: When does fact end? When
does imagery begin?
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.
177
PRELUDE SEVENTH.
[The Division of the Land.
On his Comment on the promise of Satan to
Christ: "All these things—the kingdoms of the
world and the glory of them—all these things, will I
give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me,"f
Cafiin (B. C.) bluntly says: "All Satan's promises
are deceitful; he offers the kingdoms of the world,
and the glory of them ; it is not his to give; he is a
liar from the beginning." Dr. John Gill also says
of the same promise ; "Never was such monstrous
arrogance expressed as this; when the devil has not
the disposal of one single thing; no, not the least in
the whole universe. He could touch neither Job's
person, nor any of his substance, without divine
permission; nor enter into a herd of swine without
Christ's leave; and yet had the front to make an of¬
fer of the whole world."
Other commentators have made note of the fact
t Matt: 4:8-9.
178
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
that we would emphasise, to-wit: that the devil
promised what was not his own nor had he power to
make good.
How sublimely unlike this, is the promise of
God made to the fathers. As Satan would have
Christ to see all the kingdoms of the earth, even so
the Lord said to Abram, "Lift up now thine eyes,
and look from the place where thou art, northward
and southward and eastward and westward : for all
the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and
to thy seed forever. * * * Arise, walk through
the land in the length of it and in the breadth of
it; for unto thee will I give it."f And the promise
here made to Abram was substantially made to
both Isaac and Jacob.
The difference we note in these two promises is,
that while the devil made the bigger promise of the
two, he promised what was not his to give. Not so
the Lord ; for is it not as the psalmist says:
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof;
The world,and they that dwell therein." Bk. I. 26:1
t Gen. 13:14-17.
t Referring to what is said in Deut.(3'2:8 —"According to the number of the
children of Israel", Dr. John Gill says: "the sense is, that such a country was
measured out and bounded, as would be sufficient to hold the twelve tribes of Israel,
when numerous, and their time was come to inhabit it; and which in the meanwhile-
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND
179
Unlike the devil, the Lord promised that that
is his own—his own by creation—his own by preser¬
vation ; as subsequent history fully attests. He
promised the land of Canaan to his people, and the
land of Canaan he gave,; a land whereon they had
not labored, crowded with cities which they had not
built, and teeming with vineyards and olive yards
which they had not planted.
And yet it is to be confessed that the gift was
largely, if not wholly representative. Not to Abra¬
ham in person was it to come, but to Abraham as
the father of the faithful; as Steven says in his
lnemorable speech at Jerusalem: * * * "and
he gave him none inheritance in it, 110, not so much
as to set his foot 011 :"f * * * and also the writer
of the epislle to the Hebrews: (11:9) "By faith
he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in
a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and
was put into the hands of Canaan and his eleven sojis to possess; not as their
proper Inheritance, but as tenants at will, until the proper heirs existed, and were
at an age, and of a sufficient number to inherit; in which may be observed the wise
disposition of divine Providence, to put it into the hands of a people cursed by
God, so that to take it from them at any time could not have the appearance of any
injustice in it; and their enjoying it so long as they did was a mercy to them, for so
long they had a reprieve: now here was an early instance of the goodness of God
to Israel, that he should make such an early provision of the land flowing with milk
and honey for them even before their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, existed
as early as the days of Noah." Gill's Deut. 32:8. Vol. II.—p. 167.
t Acts 7:5.
180
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
Jacob." Nor did Abraham, the party of the first
part, ever seem to think that this was a "breach of
promise" on the part of God. On the contrary as
Clarkson argues, he had neither doubt nor misgiv¬
ing that Canaan would be the property of his seed,
when "as yet he had no child." According to ac¬
cepted chronology the promise was first made B.C.,
1920, and not until B. C. 1444 did they enter into
possession, a space of 476 years. Almost a half mil¬
lennium! And yet, why wonder at the seeming tard-
ness of Him, of whom it is said :
For a thousand years in thy sight
Are but as yesterday when it is past,
And as a watch in the night.(Psl. Bk. Iv:90:6).
Are we not seeing the fulfilment of a promise
made even centuries anterior to this? By the mouth
of Noah it is said:
"Grod enlarge Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem."f
This was spoken B.C. 2348 In the year A. D.
1898, or 4246 3Tears after, we behold Japheth in the
person of his European descendants, having already
been "enlarged" by two Americas and "dwelling"
t Gen 9:27.
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.
181
in them—for the Aboriginesef of the New World are
undoubtedly of the Asia that is of Shem, they are
proceeding now to dismember his most ancient pat¬
rimony, even China. -Germany has already occupied
Kiao Chau. Russia is to have Port Arthur. France
to take Hainan and England what pleases her of the
remaining part. "The consensus of public opinion
seems to be," says the Chautauquan (Feb. '98.) "that
the partition of the Chinese Empire among the Eu¬
ropean nations is about to take place;" while the
"Record," of Philadelphia, will have the oblitera¬
tion. of this most ancient power, "coincident with
the dawn of the new century." Such rapid spolia¬
tion as this, however, is scarcely to be expected.
But sooner or later it must come, unless, indeed,
China turn her face toward the God*of her father,
Shem—must come, not only in keeping with proph¬
ecy, but with the eternal principle of law and har¬
mony, upon which the universe rests—the principle
that says: "For that nation and kingdom that will
not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall
be utterly wasted" (Isaiah 60:12).
t "This latter prophecy," says Edersheim, "consists of three parts. It prom¬
ises from God, as the God of power, that enlargement to Japeth which is the char¬
acteristic of his descendants, the European nations."
—Edersheim's History of the Patriarchs, ch. 7; p 56.
182
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
As we scan the fulfilment of this Noachic
prophecy in the latter days, especially of the cruel
phase it here and there presents, we are reminded
of the hue and cry made against the manner in
which providence was pleased to order the fulfil¬
ment of the promise made to Abraham.
As confessed by Israel:
"Who smote the first born of Egypt,
Both of man and beast.
He sent signs and wonders into
the midst of thee, 0 Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
Who smote many nations,
And slew mighty kings;
Sihon king of the Amorites,
And Og king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan:
And gave their land for an heritage,
An heritage unto Israel His people? (Psl. Bk.
5. 138:4-12).
Pages could be written of what unbelievers and
agnostics have said in regard to the cruelty of the
Hebrews under Joshua in the seven years of war, for
the possession of the land. What words of denunci¬
ation for the conquerors! What sympathy for the
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.
188
defeated! Nor last, nor least, what unexpressed con¬
tempt for Him who could order or even permit such
atrocity We could wish that the eyes of all such wore
turned upon the similar acts of atrocity committed by
Japheth in the-person of the powers of Europe, upon
Shem in the person of the American aborigines and
the Chinese—upon the acts of Spain in her occupa¬
tion of Mexico and Peru; of the Anglo-Ameri¬
cans especially in their dispossession of the "Red
man." Nothing that any son of Jacob, nor any
soldier of Joshua did, excelled, if indeed equaled
thft acts of Cortez and Pizarro: Nothing that Israel,
as a people, did, excelled what the white Ameri¬
can people have done to the Indians. And as to
China, if like ancient Gibeon it acts wilily and sub¬
mits, all will be well in so far as ravages are con¬
cerned; but if like the Canaanitish kings of old, it
combines and essays to resist, the fury of the an¬
cient invasion will speedily be resorted to—for the
ways both of God and of man are one and the same;
the wrath of man, the justice of God.
But let us come directly to the Division of the
Land, which is the subject of this Prelude.
It was by lot, we are told : "And Joshua cast
lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord: and there
184
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Joshua divided the land unto the Children of Israel
according to their divisions."!
As it relates to what is necessarily preparatory
to this last and final division, we quote what Thomas
Scott says:
"Some survey indeed must have been made,
previous to the allotment of portions to the afore¬
mentioned tribes; but it had not been sufficiently
general and exact. Three persons, therefore, were
chosen out of every tribe concerned, that an impar¬
tial and amicable settlement might be made; and
perhaps they went in three companies, for expedi¬
tion. These surveyors, according to the instruc¬
tions given by Joshua, made as exact admeasure¬
ment and description of the country as they could,
both as to its extent and fertility; and divided the
remains of the land into seven parts, that the seven
remaining tribes might have their inheritances as¬
signed to them by lot: the situation being thus de¬
termined, and the quantity proportioned to their
numbers. Whilst employed in this perilous work,
they were, doubtless, peculiarly emboldened and
protected by the Lord; and the Canaanites were in¬
timidated, and restrained from assaulting them : so
t Joshua 18:10.
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.
185
that they all returned in safety to Shiloh, and Joshua
with religious solemnity casts lots for them before
the Lord."
As remarked by Kitto,f in his reference to this:
"It is not improbable that some kind of map
was constructed on this occasion; and altogether,
the circumstance is interesting as indicating the
earliest survey on record"—(at least on so extended
a scale).
The division of the land was made by lot; f
"And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the
Lord: and there Joshua divided the land unto the
children of Israel according to their division."!
The year of this final division was B. C. 1448.
The determining of cases by lot, was common
among the Hebrews ; as among the heathen also. In
the case of the former, however, it was always with
the strictest reference to the will of God, as with
Joshua,in the case under consideration it was "before
the Lord."f
t History of Palestine Bk. III. Ch. I. p 20.
t "Lot, literally means pebble, used anciently for balloting: *** strictly a smal
stone as used in casting lots. **** As to the precise manner of castijig- lots, we
have no certain information; probably several modes were practiced. In Proverbs
(16:33) we read that 'the lot,' that is, the pebble, 'is cast into the lap' properly into
the bosom of an urn or vase." McClintock & Strong.
t Joshua. 18:10.
t- Referring to this method of determination, having in his mind the selection
186
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
The decision of such a matter as the Division
of the Land, must have been by this, or some such
similar way, if indeed Joshua and his chief men,
are 1>o have ought to do with it. In fact it was
Divine condescension to have them in any way con¬
nected with it; and for the reason that both by the
mouth of Jacob and Moses, the line of tribal destiny
had been marked by an inspiration direct from
God. To have allowed individual or even tri¬
bal choice to have prevailed, would have been pos¬
sibly to circumvent what had been proclaimed—for
the destiny of man is largely brought about by the
environments Providence throws around them : there¬
fore, must each tribe be so circumstanced as to make
possible what had been proclaimed. Use, then, was
made of the lot, that God might carry out his own
word. It is indeed useless to argue that with or
of Matthias, the Rev. Prof. Johnson says: "It blends human intelligence with the
recognition of Divine determination. The call to any function proceeds from God,
and is contained in the gift or capacity. Yet God requires us toco-operate with
him through all the sphere of freedom. The use of means towards a decision does
not exclude the Divine wisdom, but reposes upon it. The junction of the Divine
and human will in such solemn acts is real, though impossible to explain. First,
then, there is an exercise of human judgment, and two distinguished brethren are
selected. Here the human choice already recognizes the Divine indication in the
existence of observed gifts and graces. Next there is prayer, sacramentally sealing
the union of Divine wifh human thought, and seeking a fruitful result. Lastly,
there is the casting of lots, in which the human intelligence confesses its inability
for the last decision, and surrenders itself utterly to the guidance of God." P. C.
Act-, p. 15
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.w
187
without such a procedure, God could have vindicated
his own word. It is -quite enough for us to know
that He did not chose to do other than what wisdom
would dictate—wisdom as we understand it.
By the mouth both of Jacob and Moses, it had
been said of Reuben, that he was of a bubbling or
excitable nature, and therefor, what great in¬
terest could be committed to his hands? His in¬
heritance in the commonwealth must be in keeping
with these facts, and consequently we find him provi¬
dentially allotted a position from which the least
could be expected: to wit, tlie south-oast corner of
the land, near to that of the Girgashites, whom tra¬
dition has to emigrate into Africa, at the first ap¬
proach of the hosts of Israel. As to Simeon and Le¬
vi, combined in their wickedness, what more fit, in
view of the unrelenting stubbornness of the first, and
the hearty repentance of the second, that they should
be separated—the unrepentant, a heritage that put
him as it were under the watchful care of Judah—
the repentant and zealous, a tribe of priests, possess¬
ing no inheritance and yet possessing the whole land.
As it relates to Judah what great things had not
been said about him. Indeed at his birth he
188
-HISTORY OB1 DISPENSATIONS.
was given a name that signifies, celebrated, by his
praiseful mother. In goodly notoriety, if we except
his half brother Joseph who rose to kingly honors,
Judah outranked all the rest, and as the writer of
First Chronicles (5:2) says : * * * "he prevailed
above his brethren, and of him came the prince."
As to the promises ralating to his future, the glory
of all the twelve sons was eclipsed. That Judah then
should come in possession of that portion of the land
in which was the capitol and the mighty stronghold
of the nation, is to be expected. But how assured,
other than by lot? God substantially, must order it,
and.see his own order executed—if, as we have said,
it were to be assured. His brethren might have vo¬
ted him his portion ; but then, again, they might not.
But'God's word never hangs upon any such contin¬
gency. With Him therefore, it is, "yea and with Him
Amen." Therefore, do we find the ancient Salem fall¬
ing within the bounds of Judah's allotment.
Asher and Naphtali, joined in . destiny by the
mouth of both Jacob and Moses, found their inheri¬
tance fitly joined by lot, in the far north, where
bread is as fat and where the heel of the hind can
well be let loose amidst the lofty and imposing
mountains there found.
THE DIVISION OF THE LAND.
189
And so we may reasonably conclude, with all
the tribes. For reasons apprehended, each of the
tribes we may well know received by lot, the inheri¬
tance best calculated to further the fulfillment of
what had already been decreed.
It is the argument of the wisest and most
learned of our commentators, that the words of
Paul to the Athenians have universal application
They have them refer not only to races and na¬
tions, but such extreme scholastics as Gill has them
apply even to individuals. He says: "All these
are appointed times, and determined by the Creator
and Governor of the world: and the bounds of their
habitations; where men shall dwell, and how long
they shall continue there; the age or distinct period
of time, in which every man was, or is, to come into
the world, is fixed and determined by God ; nor can
nor does anyone come into the world sooner or later
than that time; and also the particular country,
city, town, and spot of ground, where he shall
dwell; and the term of time how long he shall dwell
there, and then remove to another place, or be re¬
moved by death." f
And wherefore this absolutism on the part of
t Gill's Expo. Acts 17;26.
190
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
God? This, that makes a free agent an unconscious
automaton? The one answer and the only one is, that
man's happiness and orderly development into high¬
er and better conditions, to say nothing of God's
glory, must be put beyond all possible miscarriage.
And so we conclude our Prelude with the word:
As it pertains to the people of the several tribes, it
was altogether just, and such as the after ages
proved to be in their interest: As it pertains to
both Jacob and Moses, it is conclusive of their pro¬
phetic character: As it pertains to God, it hows
him to be one who keepeth covenant.f
"Thus," says Henry Hart Milman, "the pos¬
terity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were perma¬
nently established in the promised land; each man,
according to the picturesque language of the coun¬
try, dwelt under his own vine, or his own fig tree."
t Hist, of the Jews, Vol. I. p. 280.
PROPHECY AND PROPHETS.
191
PRELUDE EIGHTH.
Prophecy and Prophets.
(A) Propheey.
Singularly enough, the word,prophet orprophecy,
philologically considered, finds its origin or root in
a language and among a people where such a gift or
power was never known to exist, even the Greeks.
Two facts may be assigned as cause for this seeming
anomaly; and first, is the fact that the New Testa¬
ment was written in Greek ; and second, we have here
but another evidence of the complete capture Ja-
pheth has made of the common faith.f
+ Prophet, is a word taken from the vocabulary of ancient Greek religion,
which passed into the language of Christianity,and so into the modern tongues of
Europe, because it was adopted by the Hellenistic Jews as the rendering of Hebrew,
A A
n a b e y' (nabi Nabiim). The word, therefore, as we use it, is to convey an
idea which belongs to Hebrew and not to Hellenic belief; but when it first under¬
went this change of application the age of the Nabiim was long past, and the Jews
themselves had a very imperfect conception of what they had been and done.
Hence in actual usage the Idea conveyed by the word, prophet, has never quite
corresponded with its historical prototype; the prophets of early Christendom, for
example, are not by any means exact counterparts of the Old Testament prophets
and in general very various ideas have prevailed as to what a prophet is or should
be, etc. W. B. Smith, B. E. Vol. XIX, P. 814
192
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
By far the Hebrew word for prophets or pro¬
phecy, Nabiim, is the better—the one that should
have sway ; for it was only among this people that
such a gift was bestowed and such an order of men
raised up.
Japheth with the vanity of the common race for
which he stands, was never endued either with the
letter or spirit of prophecy. Ham may be said to
have been similarly limited. Only to Shem were
prophets and prophecy given ; and by universal con¬
sent, the world allows the father to name the child ;
therefore in the designation of this class of men, the
Hebrew, Nabi should take the place of the Greek
prophet; and this is all the more necessary when it
is remembered, that among the Greeks their poets
assumed to be prophets in the highest sense of the
word, and their assumption was so far recognized
that we even have Paul to quote from Aratus of Tar¬
sus, and to call Epimenides of Crete, a prophet. Of
course, Paul is understood as simply endorsing what
these poets had said—but if Aratus was thus quoted,
why may not Shakespeare or Milton?f And if
t James Freeman Clark in the chapters which lead directly to the history he
gives of the Ten Great Religions, has done this very thing. He says: "There is
no impropriety in placing in the same class all the works which are thus created
by an inward illuminat on. The architecture, music, and poetry, which last, which
POETS VS. PKOPHETS.
198
Epimenides was called a prophet, why may not
Longfellow? or Bryant? or Holmes?—why may not
our own Paul Lawrence Dunbar? or Alberry A. Whit¬
man? that Whitman especially who sings so musi¬
cally in opposition to our expatriation :
"In every land beneath the sun.
Where human rights are staked and won.
Brave hearts have loved their place of birth.
The dearest spot of all the earth
And shall the Negro turn away
And leave his native land for aye?
'No !' every home industry cries ;
'No!' every passing zephyr sighs ''
'"Our forests laugh the thought to scorn,
And lusty fields of growing corn.
With tall heads waving in the sun.
As light in ripplets o'er them run.
Whisper Ha Ha! Hold to your home
In spite of all the worlds to come."
Prophecy—What? The Century Dictionary gives
four definitions to the word;
1. Inspired discourse; specifically in Christian
theology; discourse flowing from the revelation and
impulse of the Holy Spirit.
2. A prediction ; declaration of something to come;
especially, a foretelling under divine inspiration.
have in them the element of immortality, came from souls inwardly open to some
heavenly influence * * * It is no degradation to the Bible to classify itthus
in a broad way with the Parthenon and the Zend—Avesta. Vol. II: ch. 9, Sec. 3-4
194
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
8. Interpretation of Scripture; religions ex¬
hortation or instruction.
4 In liturgies: (a) A lection from the Old
Testament, especially a eucharistic or missal lection ;
also, a lection in the Mozarabic daily office, and in
the Greek Church at Sabbath vespers on certain fes¬
tivals. (b) The Canticle Benedictus (Luke 1:68 79)
as sung in the Gallican liturgy, afterwards displaced
by the Gloria in Excelsis.
But the statement of Peter, in his Second Epistle
General (1:22) is exceedingly apropos, as definitive
of the word prophet or prophecy; especially when
given in connection with what Master Caffin has to
say as to the method: "For no prophecy," says
Peter, "ever came by the will of man: but men
spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost."
Exposing these words the Vicar-Master just alluded
to, says * * * "The verb is that, already used
in verses 17-18, 'was not borne or brought;' it refers
not to the utterance of prophecy, but to its origin—
it came from heaven * * * (that is) being borne
on by the Holy Ghost the holy men of God spake; or, if
we follow the Vatican manuscript, 'But being borne
on by the Holy-Ghost, men spake from God.' "We
PROPHECY: WHAT?
195
have again the same verb, 'being borne on;' compare
Acts 27:15-17 where it is used of a ship being borne
on by the wind. So the prophets were borne on in
their prophetic utterance by the Holy Spirit of
God." f
And yet for every day people, the definition of
Home the layman, with the conclusion he gives is
to the point:
"Prophecy is a miracle of knowledge, a declar¬
ation, or description, or representation,- of something
future, beyond thepowerof human sagacity to discern
or to calculate, and it is the highest evidence that can
be given of supernatural communion with the Deity,
and of the truth of a revelation from God."f
We have already said, that only among the He¬
brews was the rare gift here defined vouchsafed to
man.
"Prophecy itself" says Robertson Smith, "may
from one point of view be regarded simply as the
highest efflorescence of the lay element in the re¬
ligion of Israel, the same element which in subjective
form underlies many of the Psalms, and in a shape
less highly developed tinged the whole proverbial
+ Pulpit Commentary 2 Peter 1:21
t Home Vol.1. Ch. 4, Sec. 3.
196
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
and popular literature of the nation."
In limiting this gift to the race of Shemf—
through the Hebrews we have not forgotten the case
cf Job, fit to be ranked with Noah and Daniel by
the prophet Ezekiel (14:14); and to be praised by the
Apostle^ James (5:11), "Ye have heard of the pa¬
tience of Job"—Job, who, on the exhaustless wings
of the Spirit was moved to write, possibly, the
sweetest of all Messianic words (19:25-27):
"But I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And that He shall stand up at the last
upon the earth:
And after my skin hath been thus
destroyed,
Yet from my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself,
And mine eyes shall behold, and not
another."
But this Job was no Hebrew, we are told, and
t Commenting upon what is said in Gen. IX:26 Jacobus in his Notes says:
"The idea, which is afterwards more fully expressed, that the salvation of man is
to flow down the ages in the line of Shem, (Gen. 12:3) is here given for the first
time, and in the most general outline. The blessing implies that Jehovah's
gracious presence is to be with Shem—that Jehovah the Gcd of Salvation, who
decrees and executes the counsel of salvation, is the God of Shem. Shem is the
chosen one of Jehovah—the promised salvation is to come not from the race of
Japheth, nor from that of Ham, but from the tents of Shem."
—Jacobus Notes P. 19f>
JOB, A PROPHET.
197
yet he was a prophet. The real solution of this
seeming contradiction to what we have just said, is,
that Job was no Hebrew for the reason, that, in all
likelihood he nntedated the existence of'the Hebrew
nation as such, by hundreds of years, if we are to
believe the weight of testimony that makes him con¬
temporary with one of the patriarchs, say with
Abraham who was father of Isaac, who was father to
Jacob, who was father to the Twelve Patriarchs, of
the Twelve Tribes, who when organized constituted
the Israelitish nation; or as Joseph Cook puts it,
referring to Abraham, the first of these: "A chosen
man, called out of Ur of the Chaldees was to become
a chosen family, and that nation gave birth to a
chosen religious leader who was to found a chosen
Church to fill the earth."f
This being so, as the subject relates to Job, the
only conclusion reached is that when the prophetic
nation came into existence and the formation of the
canon was begun, of all the literature in the Shem-
itic world—itself in a sense inspired, and indeed, of
all the literature of the world at large, this book of
Job alone was recognized by the Holy Spirit, and
t Cong, of Religion, C. Sept. 23, '93, Indep 92 p. 88 The Book of Job, by
Robt. A watson, D. D A. C. Armstrong. N. Y.
198
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
accepted and fathered by the chosen people; and for
the'reason, as Schaff says : "The book discusses a
theme which has interest for the race without re¬
gard to nationality, and is the Melchizedek among
the books of the Old Testament." And who shall
say, to logically apply these words, that the existence
of Melchizedek breaks in upon the singleness and
unity of the Aaronic priesthood.
But supposing Job, on the contrary, to have
been of a later age, and really of the Israelitish peo¬
ple, then may we accept what is given and much in
the same spirit of Schaff—as the resume of Dr. Wat¬
son's work: "The book of Job is addressed to the
need of the moment which, by the way, is the per¬
manent need of humanity. Its author may have come
from the northern tribes, and been wholly free from
the temple bondage of the tribes around Jerusa¬
lem."
What is here said in relation to Job, applies
with equal force to Enoch, whose prophecy Jude
gives (Ver. 14): "Behold the Lord came with ten
thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment
upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their
works of ungodliness which they have ungodly
JUDE : BALAAM: PROPHETS 199
, , «
wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly
sinners have spoken against him:"—and nottosuch
as these only, but to Noah also and to all the holy
men who lived and spake as the Spirit moved them,
in the times.preceding the Abramic peoples.
But how about Balaam—he who sang as few of
the Israelitish prophets ever sang (Number 24:5-6)?
"How goodly are thy tents, 0
Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river side,
As lign aloes which the Lord hath
planted,
As cedar trees beside the waters."
And again (24:17):
"There shall come forth a star out
of Jacob,
And a scepter shall rise out of
Israel,
And shall smite through the corners
of Moab,
And break down all the sons of
tumult."
200 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
» *
While it is true that Balaam was not of Israel-
itish blood being a Midianite and lived after the
giving of the Law and consequently after the for¬
mation of the Jewish Commonwealth, yet it is to be
remembered that if he was not of Israelitish blood,
he certainly was of blood Abrahamic, being descend¬
ed from Midian, the patriarch's fourth son by Ke-
turah; and therefore not to be ranked entirely as ex¬
tra-Judean.
The Holy Scriptures warrant the statement,
that of many men it may be said, "the Lord hath need
of him." God wanted a man to lead his people from
out the house of bondage—one who could out-wit the
Egyptians themselves He made choice of Moses;
Israelitish in blood, Egyptian in training, and of
whom, to the eyes of the people recognizing the dif¬
ference culture makes between peoples of the same
blood, it could scarcely more be said, he is a Hebrew,
than could it be said of Balaam. So also, on this same
line, God wanted a man to lead the Gentiles into the
light and liberty of the Gospel. Such an one,- even
human diplomacy, would say, ought by all means to
enjoy the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship
and yet be a Hebrew. He made choice of Paul, an
god's want of men.
201
Hebrew of the Hebrews in blood ; but in appreciation
of the privileges and honors of Latin citizenship,
he was a thorough Roman. "I am standing before
C£esar's judgement-seat, where I ought to be judged :
to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou also very
well knowest If then I am a wrong-doer, and lia^e
committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to
die: but if none of those things is true, whereof
these accuse me, no man can give me up unto them.
I appeal unto Caesar" (Acts 25:10).
And precisely so, all this, in regard to Balaam.
God wanted a man in high favor with the Midianites^
and yet even in that early day, he must have, it
would seem, if no more, a tinge of the blood and
holy franchise of the chosen race. He must at least
be Shemitic if not Abrahamic; at least Abrahamic',
if not Israelitic. He therefore made choice of Ba¬
laam.
The proposition may therefore still be said to
hold good, that the order of prophets is peculiar to
Shem, through Abraham, through the Jewish people.
No other race, no other nation received the en¬
dowment, by which they were enabled to declare
things to come. No other nation or race whose
202
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
thoughts were borne onward to visions of God, and
to visions of man as well.
Men of this lineage alone, were enabled to see
through fog, even the fog of the centuries; and not
behold men as trees either, but in severest detail.
They alone were the world's pilots in divine things,
guiding them overseas unknown.
Prophecy of Shem. Ham his brother, denied
the prophetic gift, may yet lay claim to have made
contribution to the institution and development of
the true faith.
It was Ham that educated and trained Moses.
It was Ham that sheltered the Lord Jesus in in¬
fancy and helped Him bear the cross in His sad ap¬
proach to Calvary. He alone made bearable the
dolorosa via of the world. Love, Love, this is Ham's
contribution to the common faith, in the past, in
the present, and yet more signally to be in the ages
to come, if we are to believe the racial characteris¬
tics daily manifested in his descendants, whether
African, whether American. "Since the Africans
are such, therefore, there is at this day a revelation
made to them, which having commenced, goes into
regions around, but not yet to the seas. They de-
WHAT SWEDENBORG BAYS.
203
spise foreigners coming from Europe, who believe
that man is saved by faith alone, and this by only
thinking and speaking, and not at the same time by
willing and doing; saying that there is no man that
has any worship who does not live according to his
religion; and if not, he cannot but become stupid
and wicked, because then he does not receive any¬
thing from heaven. They also call our previous
wickedness stupidity, because there is not any life in
it but death." Thus wrote Emanuel Swedenborg.
"Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ"—more than a
century ago—and more to the same import concern¬
ing our variety of the common race.
While as a theologian, his writings may awaken
disputes, his estimate of the races and the nations, has
proved te be singularly exact; at least to the extent
that the retiring century has devoloped. Ham then
is to be credited, with love, traits of which it is par¬
donable to say, that are as undimmed and active
in his seed, as when unwittingly he came,
* * * to the help of the Lord,
"To the help of the Lord against the mighty."f
By the exercise of these traits, as has been inti-
t Judg. 5 23.
204
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
matnd, the Christ Avas preserved when in infancy.
It is not for us to philosophise upon the fate of
the world, had this life not been preserved. Rather
is it simply to recognize the fact that Ham was
chosen of God to give shelter. Nor may we philos¬
ophise upon tin possibility of his death from sheer
exhaustion on his way to the cross—and so have
prevented fulfillment of the prophetic word: "And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the son of man b© lifted up" (John 8:14),
—rather is it for us to recognize and rejoice in the
fact that a Hamite was chosen to help Him bear the
burden that otherwise might have robbed the world
of a Saviour—who died not on the way to the cross,
but on its "rugged heights" to speak after the manner
of men; and so left it in sin. Nor let us without
recurrence pass over the fact of Moses being trained
in all the wisdom of Mizraim ; and to such degreps
both of knowledge and wisdom, that the critics of
to-day are puzzled to decide the point, where Hamitic
genius and culture end and where Divine inspiration
begins. So greatly true is this, that Rabbi Kohut is
heard to cry out in seeming envy :f "Egypt is cred¬
ited with far too much distinction in knowledge."
t World's Cong. Sept. 17. Indp. Aug. 3, '93.
japheth's work.
205
But with a smile we say: It is credited, nevertheless.
Prophecy, to Shem: Love, to Ham: Japheth,
his contribution to the common faith, its institu¬
tions and development: What? We should say,
knowledge and strength, with the responsibility of
administering it to the world—the knowledge of the
Greek who formulated^ the language, the strength of
the Roman in bringing the world together largely
as one, the responsibility of the entire Japhetic or
European race in spreading the truth.
How admirably has each done the task allotted
without the least admixture of error! Shem gave
both Ham and Japheth the truth. He recognized
the fact that to him the pearl of great price had
been entrusted, and gloried that out of Zion must
the law go forth. So faithful was "he that neither
priest nor prophet was ever known to give an un¬
certain sound during all the centuries.
And quite as faithful as Shem were and are the
others.
As it relates to Japheth upon whom devolved the
task of producing the language in which Divine truth
in its last presentation to the world, was to be given,
how truly could he say : 'lI finished the work Thou
206
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
gavest me to do." Without pretending to give full
assent to all Prof. Wm. S. Taylor says, yet do we
sufficiently appreciate the glor}7- of Japheth's tongue
as to quote what he says: "And Greek is the fons
et origo of archaeology, of art, of language, as a study,
of literature, of history, of philosophy, of ethics, of
theology,—of all political, moral and religious
studies." And quite as complete was the work Japheth
accomplished through the Romanic branch; for how
admirably had Rome prepared the world for the
speedy transmission of the word—so admirably in¬
deed, that the world yet remembers the saying:
"All roads lead to Rome."
Nor let any think that Ham was a whit behind
his brothers. On the contrary, in the work of giv¬
ing the world a" revelation of the Gospel, even a rev¬
elation of Jove or humanity, Ham's fidelity was and
is altogether equal to the others in their sphere. Of
his work, granting it to be the work of love, can be
said that that cannot be said of theirs; as the great
apostle in one whole chapter shows. * * * "Love
never faileth : butwhethor there be prophecies(Shem),
they shall be done awy; whether there be tongues
(Japheth), they shall cease. * * * But now
bishop newman's estimate
207
abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the great¬
est of these is love"( 1 Cor. 18:8-13).
Says Bishop Newman (J. P.), of the Methodist
Episcopal Church:
"I have stood in the valley of the Euphrates and
and I have seen there three brothers, Shem, Ham
and Japheth separate. I turned to the East and saw
Shem passing down the Persian Gulf into India,
thence to China, Japan and the islands of the Paci¬
fic. Shem is the high priest of humanity: all the
great religions came from him. The West is great
in literature and war, but Shem today sways his re¬
ligious sceptre over all.
"Turning to the North, I saw Japheth, with his
family passing through Nineveh and Asia Minor,
saw him on the fields of Troy and saw him pass west¬
ward into Europe. He is the father of the Indo-
Germanic branch, and the genius of war, commerce
and government is with him. But he has no relig¬
ion, no priest. Again, I saw Ham turning his face
to the westward, passing thence through Arabia,
building Tyre and Sidon and then passing along the
coast of Egypt, where he erected the Pyramids and
built Thebes and Karnack. I am free to say, as a
208
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
student of the philosophy of history, that I would
select the ancestral glory of Ham rather than that
of Shem or Japheth."
At the World's Congress of Religion our own
Bishop Arnett said, and we in the same spirit, repeat
it: "Africa having contributed either by birth or
blood to the establishment of the religion of Christ
upon earth, certainly her sons and her daughters
ought to be permitted to enjoy the blessings pur¬
chased with so much sorrow, suffering and tears."
In concluding this portion of our Prelude, we
cannot do better than invite him who would be more
fully informed upon the subject of prophecy, its source
and its range, to read, nay more, as is said in Ezekiel
(3:1): "Eat that thou findest; eat this well and go,
speak unto the house of Israel"—Invite to read
Dr. Adam Clarke's Introduction to Isaiah. In a sense
most unusual, it is multum in parvo; giving as it does,
not only what might be termed the letter of the sub¬
ject, but the spirit of the same; and all in the com¬
pass of a few hours delightful reading.
THE PROPHETS.
209
(B) The Prophets.
It is well that we define the order of men allud¬
ed to. This is all the more necessary for the reason,
that the word prophecy has a wide diversity of mean¬
ing, as was shown in the preceding portion of this
Prelude.
In the first, and we may well nigh say in the
pre-historic ages of our Western or Japhetic lore, a
prophet was one who was credited with interpreting
the will of the gods; such as was Tiresias
terpreter of the great Zeus f (2). suposing him ever
to have existed; or was Orpheus f (3), interpreter of
Bacchus f (4),—that Orpheus of whom it was said
that when he swept the lyre, flowing rivers fetood still
t (I) A blind soothsayer at Thebes, fabled to be struck blind by Juno for
deciding a dispute between he and her husband in favor of Jupiter, who in re¬
quital gave him the gift of prophecy.
t (2) "The supreme god of the heathens, called Optimus, because of his bene¬
fits, and Maximus for his power; the son 3f Saturn and Opo, born at the same birth
with Juno in Crete, whom, wh?n of age, he took to wife."
t (3) "A Thracian; a most ancient, learned, and excellent poet. He was in
the Argon expedition, whereof he wrote the history; but whether that copy, which,
together with hymns, etc. is still extant, be genuine, is much doubted. The sad
story of his wife Eurydice'sdeath, and his descent inti hell, is pleasantly touched
by Virgil in the latter part of the Georgics."
+ (4) "The son of Jupiter by Semele, whence Ovid, to whom, and the other
writers of pagan mythology, we refer for his history, called him Semeleia Proles."
210
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
and mountains moved. But it is none such as these
that we have in mind.
In later ages of the same Japhetic lore, a pro¬
phet is represented as one who expounded the oracles,
especially such as were given out by the Pythoness
of Delphi. _ Of course our prophets are not of the
class who occupied the tripod nor of those related
thereto:
Magicians and Tregetours
And Pythonesses, Charmeresees,
Olde wyches, sorceresses,
as quaintly enumerated by Chaucer f
Other than these, and. of a class altogether more
rational, the word, prophet, came to indicate poets,
who were esteemed as those who discussed the will
and the ways of the Muses. He who will consult
the writers of this class, will at times be surprised
at the height to which these rare souls often soar, in
the realm of morals and religion. "These often wit¬
nessed," says Henry, "against the vices of the peo¬
ple: Aratus, Epimenides, and others among the
Greeks; Juvenal, and Persius; among the Romans.
The Epimenides mentioned and referred to by Paul
(Titus 1:12), if we are to credit the compliments
t House of Fame 1:1261.
HEATHEN POETS.
211
paid him, must have been most remarkable in the
gifts possessed. We have already heard him called
a prophet, by Paul,—with no purpose however of
enrolling him among those of whom we write, the
prophets of Israel, but rather complimentary to the
deeply religious spirit he possessed, as well possibly
his deep insight into nature. N-or was Paul alone
in complimenting this lofty genius., for referring to
him Plato characterizes him, as "god-like," Diodor-
us Siculus, callshima "theologian.," DiogenesLaer-
tius, "one who loves the gods," and as if to exalt
him to the company of the really chosen, Cicero
savs of him, he is "one that foretold things future
by exstacy."
On this score the story-of the Sibyllines is not
without interest These were women, supposed to
be inspired. They were ten in number and flourish¬
ed in different times and countries. The one known
as Cumaean, is the most ancient and best known of
all. Their rhapsodies were uniformly given in verse.
A sample from the Erythraean, is the following, as
given by Huidekoper : f
Hearken, People of vain, glorious Asia, and
also of Europe,
t Judaism in Rome, P. 407.
212
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
To all the verities which I am about
to prophesy
With my powerful many-toned
voice.
I, an oracle, not of false Phoebus, whom siUy
men call God, and make believe to be a prophet, but
of the great God, whom human hands have not
formed.
In likeness of speechless idols hewn
in stone.
*******
He has spurred my inmost mind
to tell
Accurately to mortals the present
and the future.
It is scarcely necessary to say, the prophet-poets,
whether those of the Sibyllines or whether of the
great world of the Muse in general—one and all,
have long since been relegated to the rear, unable to
stand the test of the ages, whose corfsensus in re¬
gard to them is: Nil.
Approaching still more nearly the truth, the
term, prophet, is applied to those who taught religion
in general. It was in this sense that B. B. Nargarkar
WORDS OF NARGARKAR.
213
spoke at' the recent Chicago Congress on Spiritual
Idea9 : "We believe," said he, speaking for the Brah-
mo-Somaj sect of India—"We believe that the proph¬
ets of the world—spiritual teachers such as Vyas and
Buddha, Moses and Mohammed, Jesus and Zoroaster,
all form a homogeneous whole. Each has to teach
mankind his own message. Every prophet was sent
from above with a distinct message, and it is the
duty of us who live iu these advanced times to put
these messages together and thereby harmonize and
unify the destinctive teachings of the prophets of
the world." We could almost wish for space to pre¬
sent in full the argument of this seemingly sweet-
tempered man, in defense of the position taken
above. But to what end? Have not we as christians
read (2 Cor. 6:14-18): "Be not unequally yoked
with unbelievers: for what fellowship have right¬
eousness and iniquity? or what communion hath
light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an
unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of
God with idols? for we are a temple of the living
God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and
walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they
214
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
shall be my people. Wherefore
"Come ye out from among them,
and be ye separate,
Saith the Lord.
And touch no unclean thing;
And I will receive you,
And be to you a father,
And ye shall be to me sons and
daughters,
Saith the Lord Almighty."
Our prophet then is. not of the kind described
by the men of Brahmo-Somaj. He will not have
any community of interest with any, however lofty
in morals or spiritual in religion.
Approaching still more nearly the light, in the
use of the word, prophet, to describe all teachers of
the true faith, it is to be confessed, that it is this
that the word and office originally and most gener¬
ally implied. "The word prophet" says Adam
Clark, * * * "means in its general accepta¬
tion, one who speaks of things before they happen ;
i. e., one who tells future events. But that this was
not the original notion of the word, its use * * *
sufficiently proves, * * * the proper ideal
MILMAN'8 NABI.
215
meaning of the original word is, to pray, entreat,
make supplication "
"Vaticination," says Milman,f "the foretelling
future events, is, according to the common notion,
the dominant attribute of the Hebrew prophets.
But the Hebrew word Nabi, and the Greek Prophetes,
convey a much more comprehensive and at the same
time distinct meaning. Nabi is the man who speaks
in the name and with the authority of God ; he is as
it were the voice of God, addressed to the religious
and moral sense of man, and recognized and dis¬
criminated from that of false prophets not so much
by outward signs as by religious and moral instinct
of the human hearts." "In a wider sense," says
Robinson,\ "NabV (Prophetes), is put for any
friend of God, to whom God makes known His
will." With all this accords what we read in var¬
ious places in both the Old and the New Testaments.
Says Peter on the day of Pentecost:—and in this
quotation he speaks for both the Testaments:
"For these are not drunken, as ye suppose; see¬
ing it is but the third hour of the day; but this is
that which hath been spoken by the prophet Joel;
t History of Jews, Vol. I p. 311.
t Greek and English.
216
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
"And it shall be in the last days,
saith God,
I will pour forth of my Spirit upon
all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy.
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream
dreams:
Yea, and on My servants and on My
handmaidens in those days
Will I pour forth my Spirit; and
they shall prophesy."!
Again and lastly, let it be said that the prophet
whom we have been seeking belongs not to a class
so general as all those above described. To speak
reverently, he is no plebeian; on the contrary, a pat¬
rician of the highest and most elect order—so elect
indeed, that none is allowed to share with him the
exstacies to which he is called : No raving Pythia,
no singing bard, no orient teacher, no Hebrew
priest, no Christian divine.
Single and alone our Prophet stands, the man
of all the race sufficiently endowed to speak uner-
t Acts 2 15-19.
VATICINATION.
217
ringly of things to come. Vaticination, Vaticina¬
tion, is his realm. A more than Defphic tripod is
his throne; and from it he surveys the unborn cen¬
time, as these bring grief or joy, victory or defeat,
to the people of God and to the nations of the earth
as well. Who are those prophets and what the bur¬
den of the message they bring? As it relates to the
last, their messages, it will require other chapters to
tell. In this Prelude, let the first query be anwered.
As to the race and nation of the prophets we have al¬
ready been told—of Shem, of Abraham; excepting
these choice spirits,of God, who spake before the
chosen or prophetic nation began. And yet to the
complete treatment of our subject, these must be
noticed. The prophets pre-Abramic, who? Singularly
enough they begin with the beginning. The first man,
Adam, has an undoubted right to stand at the head of
the prophets as he does at the head of the human race.
His declaration concerning marriag®, " 'For this
cause shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and cleave to his wife;' is so truly prophetic that no
doubt can be entertained on the subject. There was
then nothing in nature or experience to justify such
an assertion ; and he could have it only by divine in-
218
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
spiration."f
After Adam we have Enoch, the seventh from
Adam ; "A mar." as Irenaeus says, "raised to heaven
by pleasing God, while angels fall to earth by trans¬
gression." His prophecy, as preserved by Jude re¬
lates to the coming of Christ. "Behold the Lord
came with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute
judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of
all their works of ungodliness which they have un¬
godly wrought, and of all the hard things which un¬
godly sinners have spoken against him." As well,
also did Enoch evince the prophetic spirit in the
name, he gave his son, Methuselah, which signifies,
says Bochartus, "that when he is dead, shall ensue
an inundation of waters."
After Enoch—in whom "freedom from death
and a sacred number are confined, for every seventh
object is most highly valued," as says Bengel, we
have Lamech, who exclaimed at the birth of Noah :
"This shall comfort us
From our labour
And from the sorrowful toils of
our hand,
t Clark's Com. Int. to Isa.
NOAH S CURSE
219
From the ground which Jehovah
hath cursed."
uAn expectation," say Kitto, "grounded upon adi-
vine communication, we infer from the importance
attached to it, and the confidence of its expressions."
rl hn pre-Abrahamic prophet of all, however, is
this same Noah, who pointed out the pathway of the
races (Gen. 9:25), concerning which more will be
said.
Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of
Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
God enlarge Japhetb,
And let him dwell in the tents
of Shem.
Of the three great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, fathers in line to the prophetic
nations, each possessed the wondrous gift. The
first, Abraham, heads the list of those called,
Nabi—"'for he is a prophet," writes Moses of
him.
t Strong's Clyclo.
220
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
"Touch not mine anointed
ones,
And do my prophets no harm,"
is the Psalmist's record. Th^ prophecies of Isaac are
two, chiefly, those to his sons, Jacob and Esau. To
the former he spake :
See, the smell of my son
Is as the smell of a field which the
Lord hath blessed :
And God give thee of the dew of
heaven,
And of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of corn and wine:
Let peoples serve thee,
And nations bow down to thee:
Be lord over thy brethren,
And let thy mother's sons bow down
to thee:
Cursed be every one that curseth thee,
And blessed be every one that bless-
eth thee."f
From Isaac the fears of Esau may be said to have
wrung also the following prophecy :
Behold, of the fatness of the earth
t Gen. 27 27-29. " " 1
Isaac's prophecy.
221
shall be thy dwelling,
And of the dew of heaven from above;
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and
thou shalt serve thy brother;
And it shall come to pass when thou
shalt break loose,
That thou shalt shake his yoke from
off thy neck."f
As to the remaining patriarch, Jacob, so largely
was he endued with the prophetic spirit, that upon
his bed of death, he caused to pass before him his
twelve sons, to each of whom he told the things
which should befall them in the latter days:
"Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye
sons of Jacob;
And hearken unto Israel your father.
And beginning at Reuben, he poured forth a
strain of poetic prophecy, that has well been called
"the last full bloom of patriarchal prophecy and
theocratic promise, for it is to be questioned, whether
the world at any age or among any people ever heard
the like."
The one son of Jacob, that shared in the gift of
prophecy, was Joseph, who said concerning the re-
t (Gen. 27 S9-4U).
222
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
demption of Israel from the bondage of Mizraim :
"God will surely visit von, and ye shall carry up
my bones from hence" (Gen. 50:25).
As a matter of fact we could detain our readers
for yet awhile in giving account of others who really
uttered words of prophesy, for even the Jews reckon
forty-eight prophets and seven prophetesses. Says
Adam Clark; "Many prophets and seers are men-
tibned in the sacred writing; but fragments and in¬
sulated prophecies excepted, we have the works of
only sixteen; four of whom are termed the former
or larger prophets, and twelve the latter or minor
prophets." It is upon these sixteen, greater b}T far
than the Immortal Forty of France, that we have
had our mind during the commencement of this
Prelude. They have been the object continually be¬
fore us—the goal to which we aspired. Having
reached them, let us devote the remaining words.
The following division is the one universally ac¬
cepted, agreeing as it does with the facts in the
case: The major or larger prophets; the minor or
smaller prophets.
The Major prophets are four in number, and are
as follows:
THE PROPHETS.
228
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. Itmight
he in place to give a brief summary of each; but we
prefer for the present at least, to direct our readers
to what, is written in volume second, chapter seventh.
The Minor prophets are twelve in number, and
are as follows:
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,Na-
hum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,- Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi.
"The written prophecies have been classified ac¬
cording to the time of their composition, agreeably
to one system of grouping, as prior to, contempora¬
neous with, or subsequent to, Isaiah; or agreeably
to another and better, as prophecies of the northern
prophets, such as Amos and Hosea; those of the As¬
syrian period, such as Isaiah and Micah ; those of
Chaldean period, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel; and
those of the latest prophets, such as Haggai and
Malachi. But a review of the books as they stand
in our Bible gives us first the Greater Prophets, and
secondly the Minor Prophets. It should be under¬
stood that this arrangement is determined by the
length of the books, not by the comparative rank of
the writers. The minor prophets are not to be re-
224 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
garded as necessarily less • important persons than
the greater prophets. Amos may have been a grander
man than Ezekiel, yet Amos is classed with the mi¬
nor and Ezekiel with the greater prophets. This
simply means that we have less of the writings of
Amos preserved than of Ezekiel—and so of the other
minor prophets." f
ISAIAH.
A. M. 8244. B. C. 760.
Isaiah: (Salvation of Jehovah) is designated
the "Evangelical prophet." He was the son of Amoz
(not the same name as Amos) and prophesied about
"Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah," B. C. 760-695. He
resided in Jerusalem, and not far from The Temple.
(See Ch. 6). He wevs married, his wife being a
prophetess, and at least had two sons. As to his
tribe and family, little if anything is known. It is
believed, however, that he was of the seed royal
of Judah.
Unlike his predecessors, Hezekiah listened to
his voice, and made him his adviser. When an old
man, possibly an hundred, he is said to have been
sawn asunder at the very commencement of the
t Bagster's Com. Teach. Bible p. 35.
ISAIAH.
225
reign of Manasseh."
As to his writings, the point of discussion has
not been as to their signification, but the question of
authorship, many believing that the last twenty-
seven chapters were written by another. We could
scarcely be expected to have an opinion different
from the one universally received ; at least until the
German critic, Johann Benjamin Koppe raised his
voice against it. Be this, however, as it may, the
book as a whole has ever been recognized as an
integral portion of the Holy Scripture; and as such
it is received to-day. Nor could it well be other¬
wise in view of the fact that of "the sixty-six chapters,
forty-seven of them are quoted directly or indirect¬
ly by the writers of the New Testament; and in
twenty-one cases, Isaiah is named as the writer. The
principal subjects of his prophecies are the follow¬
ing:
1. The Captivity and Restoration of Judah
and Israel (89:6-7).
2. The Ruin and Desolation of Babylon, Tyre,
Damascus, Egypt, etc., and the destruction of Syria
and Israel (7:12 ; 47:7-15).
3. The Conquests and Conduct of Cyrus, who is
226
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
mentioned by name, with his liberation of the Jews,
nearly two hundred years before his birth (44:28;
46:1-5).
4. Prophecies respecting the Messiah:—
1. His Forerunner (40:8).
2. His Birth (7:14).
3. His Family (11:10).
4. His Name and Kingdom (9:6-7).
5. His Rejection by the Jews (7:14).
6. His Acceptance by the Gentiles (49:6).
7. 'His Miracles (25:5-6).
JEREMIAH
(A. M. 8875: B. C. 629).
Jeremiah: (Appointed by Jehovah) is desig¬
nated the "weeping prophet."* He was the son of
Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth (a small village close
to Jerusalem). He began to prophesy in the thir¬
teenth year of Josiah's reign, B. C. 629—about
seventy years after Isaiah's death, and continued to
do so all through the troubled times of the Babyl¬
onian invasion down to the destruction of Jerusa¬
lem 588 B. C., a period of more than forty years.
He seems to have dwelt first at Anathoth and then
at Jerusalem. His prophecies were regarded as of
JARAMIAH.
227
evil oin^a by the rulers of .Jerusalem, and he was
subjected to cruel persecution. He saw the city be¬
sieged and taken, his warnings neglected but fulfill¬
ed, his fellow-citizens carried captive, and Jerusalem
a heap of ruins; and in an adjoining cave he wrote
his Lamentations over it. His deliverance by Ebed-
melech, the Ethiopian Negro—whom some would
have to be an Egyptian f is worthy of note. It is this
prophet whose question: "Can the Ethiopian (Cush-
ite) change his skin?" fixes the race standing of the
mighty Ethiopian people. They were not pale-faced
Japhethites; nor yellow-faced Shemites. On the
contrary they were black-faced Hamites; or in
American parlance were negroes, if not Negroes. And
this is corroborated, if indeed corroboration is nec¬
essary, by the men of the Seventy, who gave
"Ethiopian," for "Cushim."f
We are told, however, that after the murder of
Gedaliah, and in defiance of the Divine command,
he was carried into Egypt (Ch. 43), where, according
to Jerome he was put to death, having prophesied
about forty years. His cotemporaries were Zephan-
iah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel and Daniel. He is the
author it is thought, of some of the Psalms, Gesenius
+ See International Eny. Art. Jeremiah. t See, Negro in Holy Writ.
228
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
says about thirty, and^ among them, he numbers:
Pal. 4, 5, 6, 14, 22, 41, 52, 59, 71.
As to his prophecies they are:
1. Warnings to the Jews.
2. Survey of all nations, with historical
. appendix
3. Prediction of brighter days to come,
with a similar appendix.
. 4. Prophecies regarding Egypt.
EZEKIEL.
[A. M. 8409. B. C. 595],
Ezekiel means, God will strengthen ; and he is in
a peculiar sense the prophet of the captivity. He
was the son of Buzi a priest and supposedly of the
house of Zadok, a family of aristocratic standing in
Jerusalem. In company with others he was carried
to Babylon in his 25th year, with King Jehoiakim,
about B. C. 597. His place of banishment was Tel-
Abib on the banks of the river Chebar, about two
hundred miles north of Babylon, where amidst the
cares of his family and his distressed country¬
men,—for his house, it would seem was a sort of ren¬
dezvous for all the desolate—in the fifth year
EZEKIEL,
229
of his exile, God called him to assume the prophetic
office and for quite twenty-two years he spoke for and
in behalf of the captivity; the latest date in his book
being B. C. 570. The date of his death is unknown.
His prophecies are the Revelations of the Old Testa¬
ment.
They are divided as follows:
1 (Chaps. 1-24), composed before the final
conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, an¬
nounce the complete overthrow of the kingdom of
Judah, on account of its increasing unfaithfulness
to God.
2. (Chaps. 25-82), threaten the surrounding
nations, which were exulting maliciously over the
ruin'of Judah, with divine punishment.
B. (Chaps. 83-48), prophesy the future de¬
liverance of the Hebrew nation, and the rebuilding
of Jerusalem.
DANIEL.
[A. M. 8397. B. C. 607.]
Daniel, whose name signifies, God is judge, may
well be termed the prophet of visions, for these
are found more in his prophecies than in any
of the whole sixteen. Like Isaiah, he is said to have
280
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
descended from the kings of Judah, and to have
been born, if not in Jerusalem, at Upper Bethoron
in the territory of Ephraim. About the year B. C.
607, or in the third year of Jehoiakim he was taken
captive with others of his class, with Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, and carried to Babylon where
he was selected for Court service, under the name of
Belshazzar. As was trained Moses in Egypt, so
was Daniel trained in Babylon; and like Moses too,
he rose to eminence and power; having been made
governor of the province of Babylon and head¬
master of the priestly rank, by Nebuchadnezzar,
and first ruler of the Medo-Persian Empire by
Darius—in all of which, great fidelity characterized
his doings. As a prophet he was contemporary with
Ezekiel. While critics, both ancient and modern
have assailed his writings, it is enough to know
that he has the broadest possible sanction of both
St. Paul and St. John who quote what he says, and
is explicitly referred to as "Daniel the prophet",
by our Lord. Referring to his writings, Richard
Watson says:
"The book of Daniel is a mixture of history and
prophecy: the first six chapters is recorded a variety
_____ DANIEL. 281
of events which occurred in the reigns of Nebuchad¬
nezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius; and, in particular,
the second chapter contains Nebuchadnezzar's
prophetic dream.concerning thp four great successive
monarchies, and the everlasting kingdom of Messiah,
which dream God enabled Daniel to interpret. In
the last six chapters we have a series of prophecies,
revealed at different times, extending from the days
of Daniel to the general resurrection.
As to the time and place and circumstance of
his death nothing definite is known. While
Epiphanius has him to die at Babylon, a widely ex¬
tended tr-ftdition is that he died at Susa or Shush an
in Persia, where, singularly enough, his reputed
tomb is the only standing building that is left of
that once great city.
THE MINOR PEOPHETS.
Of these, it has been said: "The Minor Proph¬
ets form in the Hebrew canon one whole, and go
collectively under the name of the Book of the
Twelve Prophets. They cover a period of four hun¬
dred years, from the ninth to the fifth century be¬
fore Christ, but they are not arranged in the order
282
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
of the time of their production, as will appear from
the following account of them separately:"
HOSEA.
[A. M. 8219. B. C. 785]
Hosea, has been designated as the prophet of
Divine love. His name signifies, Salvation, and he
is one of the two who are written as the "northern
prophetsthe other being Amos. He was cotem-
porary with Isaiah, Amos, Micah, and some think
with Joel and Jonah. His era extends from the
days of Jeroboam II down to Hoshea. No prophet
was better acquainted with Jewish history tbran he,
if we are to-judge of the constant allusion found in
his writings, which very naturally divide themselves
into two parts.
1. Israel is represented as an unfaithful wife
(Chaps. 1-3).
2. The announcement of the Divine judgment
(Chaps. 4-14).
JOEL.
[A. M. 3314. B. C. 690],
Joel: (Jehovah is God) The preacher of the "lo-
JOEL: AMOS.
288
cust judgment," was of the tribe of Reuben, and the
son of Pethuel, and lived not later than the time of
Uzziah, for he does not mention Assyria by name
among the foes of Judah. The Jews say that he
lived in the time of the draught (2 Kings 7:1) of
Elisha. His residence was most likely in Jerusalem,
and as he seems to have been familiar with the Tem¬
ple and its services, it has been conjectured that he
was a priest. "His book testifies, too, that he was a
man of tender feeling, warm enthusiasm, and glow¬
ing imagination, and that he preserved a gift, un¬
surpassed by any other Old Testament writer, of
clear vivid and eloquent expression. He is quoted
by both Peter (Acts 2 :16-21) and Paul (Rom. 10:18).
The book contains three main prophecies:
1. The Plague of locusts (Chap. 2 :2).
2. The gift of the Holy Ghost (Chap. 2 :28) .
8. The judgment in the valley of Jehosa-
phat (3:2).
AMOS.
JA. M. 3217 B. C. 787.]
Amos, has been designated as "the lay prophet
and unconventional preacher of righteousness." His
284
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS. _
name distinct from that of Amoz, signifies Burden,
an allusion it is thought to the grevious messages he
delivered. Taking it for granted it was the name his
parents gave him, it is altogether more rational to
conclude that it originated in some domestic inci¬
dent. His public career extended over twenty-five
and more years, or the years during which Uzziah
and Jeroboam II were cotemporary, and he is there¬
fore regarded as being cotemporary with Hosea and
Isaiah. He represents himself as originally a shep¬
herd or herdsman of Tekoa, in Judah ten miles south
of Jerusalem. "A road," says Dr. Thomson, f "leads
from Hebron, through a rough and most deserted
region, to Tekoa, the ancient Tekoah." Says Mr.
Porter f " Tekoa is now and has been for ages, an
uninhabited waste"; and it is in vain that one now
looks either for Amos' herds or the sycamore-fruit he
so assiduously cultivated. His style is clear and
vigorous and at times, exceedingly graphic. His
book is usually divided into two sections :
1. Contains denunciations of the Divine dis¬
pleasure against idol-worship, especially, in the
northern kingdom, the course of the judgment as
+ Land and the Book pp. 304—330.
f Friends in Palestine.
OBADIAH
236
described by the prophet being poetically likened
to a thunderstorm rolling over the surrounding
nations, touching Judah in its progress and finally
settling upon Israel (Chaps. 1-6).
2. Contains s)^mbolical visions of the over¬
throw of Israel, and the promise of a restoration
(Chaps. 7-9).
OBADIAH.
[A. M. 8417. B. C. 587].
This prophet is knows as "the preacher of
judgment against the hated Edomites." The one
chapter of his prophecy contains but twenty-one
verses, and in this as well as in the vigor of his
style, it greatly reminds one of the booklet of Jude.
His name, a common one among the Hebrews, sig¬
nifies "Servant or Worshipper of Jehovah." Of
Obadiah absolutely nothing is known ; even the age
in which he lived is in dispute. "While some re¬
gard him," says Deane,f "as the earliest of the
minor prophets; others place him after the destruc¬
tion of Jerusalem, in the time of the Captivity; and
Hitzig sets his date as late as B. C. 812." The gen-
t Pulpit Com. Obadiah. Intro. 7.
286 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
eral thought is, that he lived about the time desig¬
nated above. "His prophecy," says Dr. Peck "is a
a denunciation of Edom, the inhabitants of which
are addressed as deceived by their pride and fancied
security, from which they would be utterly cast
down; and as denounced for their violence against
Israel, their refusal to help him, their joy over his
calamities, and their profit from his fall. Their
doom is to be in the line of their sin and destruc¬
tion, the deliverance and holiness of Zion would be
conspicuous; Jacob and Joseph would be a fiery
flame, and Esau would be consumed as stubble. The
inhabitants of the south would possess Idumea, and
those of the plain, Philistia; Judah would extend to
Samaria, Benjamin to Gilead, and the captivity of
the Ten tribes, to the borders of Sidon; saviours
would dwell in Zion, and the Kingdom would be the
Lord's."
JONAH.
[A.M. 3142. B.C. 862].
The word "Yonah" (Heb.), signifies, Dove. Why
so named, it is impossible to tell; for nothing is
t Inter. Cyc. Obadiah.
JONAH.
287
more difficult in times post-patriarchal, than to ac¬
count for Hebrew names. Jonah, the "foreign
missionary," as he has been termed, was the
son of Amitai. By common consent he is regard¬
ed as the same Jonah mentioned in 2 Kings
14:25. By this means we learn the place of his
nativity and his age. He was of Gath-hepher,
which was in Zebulun, according to Joshua
(19:13).. It is three miles north-east of Nazareth.
It is identified with the modern village of Meshed,
where a monument to the prophet is still shown. As
to his age, it was during the reign of Jeroboam B.
C. 799-759, or as others will have it B. C. 790-749,
and still others as given above. That, that makes
the book of Jonah remarkable, is the personal
career of the writer—supposing Jonah to have
written it. We have neither time nor dispo¬
sition to discuss the mention of that that has
made the book the butt of ridicule by some and a
genuine surprise by others. Indeed we confess to our
inability to enter "the arena of such a discussion.
"By faith we understand that the worlds have been
framed by the word of God, so that what is seen
hath not been made out of things which do appear.
288
HfsTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
(Heb. 11:3). t
The book which by the way is not prophecy,
but history^ and as has been said, inserted among
the prophets partly because of its didactic and
symbolic purpose—the book is divided into three
parts:
1. The mission of Jonah. His disobedience
and punishment.
2. Jonah's prayer and deliverance.
3. Jonah's preaching in Nineveh ; the repent¬
ance of the Ninevites.
MIC AH.
[A. M. 3254. B. C. 750]
For reasons thought to be obvious, Micah has
been called, ''the rustic Isaiah and evangelical
prophet." His name is a contracted form of Mic-
aiah (I Kings 22:8) from whom he is to be dis-
+ To those who draw back from a belief in the story of Jonah on whatever
ground they may, we refer to what Archbishop Tillotson has written as to the Divine
adequacy: "How often might a man, after he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag,
fling them out upon the ground before they would fall, into an exact poem? How
long might one sprinkle colours upon canvas, with a careless hand, before they
would make the exact picture of a man? How long might twenty thousand blind
men, who should be sent out from the remote parts of England, wander up and down
before they would meet on Salisbury plain, and fall into rank and file, in the exact
order of an army? And yet this is much more easy to be imagined, than how the
innumerable blind parts of matter should rendezvous themselves into a world."
MIC AH.
289
tinguished; and signifies: IVho is like Jehovaht
Others, however, and among them, Hillerus, ha s it
to signify as we are informed by Gill, the contrition,
attrition,attenuation, and depauperation of the Lord, given
him it is supposed by his parents because of his low
and poverty stricken condition. Bishop Usher has
him live B. C. 718. He was of Moresheth a small
town in the south-west of Judaea near Gath. In
more ways than one he ranks as a very chief among
the Minor prophets, being referred to by Jeremiah
(26:18), quoted by Zephaniah (8:19) and Ezekiel
(22:27) and lastly by our Lord (Matt. 10:35-86).
When and where he died is not certainly known, for
little attention is paid to what the Pseudo-Epiphanius
says, who has him thrown from a precipice by order
of Joram whose interpreters he had rebuked.
According to Jerome, the tomb of Micah was at
Moresheth; and in his time, had been turned into
a church or temple.
His prophecies are divided into three sections,
each beginning with, "Hear ye."
1. Chaps. l-*2, addressed to all people, des¬
cribe the coming of the Lord in judgment on the
transgressions of Israel and Judah, the . doom of
240
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Samaria; and the march of the invaders of the land
from Samaria south to Jerusalem; denounce luxury
and covetousness as the sources of transgression,
and condemn the false prophets for leading the
people astray; foretell the banishment of the people
into captivity and promise their return under the
guidance of the Lord their king.
2. Chaps. 8-5, addressed to heads and princes
of the people, condemn their oppressive rapacity, and
declare that as they have been deaf to the cry of the
poor in their wrongs, they too shall call on the Lord
but will not be heard. The false prophets, also who
had deceived others should themselves be made
ashamed.
3. Chaps. 6-7. The Lord, calling on the people
the third time to hear, and on the mountains to be
witnesses of the controversy appeals to all his past
government over Israel as approving his right¬
eousness.
NAHUM.
[A. M. 8291: B. C. 713].
This prophet has been styled: "The preacher
of judgment upon Nineveh," in perfect keeping with
what he himself says: The burden of Nineveh.
NAHUM.
241
Nothing is known of him, save what he himself tells
us in his book. No where else in Scripture is the
name found. Its signification is Comforter. He was
a native of Elkosh, a small village in Galilee. It is
supposed to be represented by the modern village
El-Kauzeh. A late tradition, adopted by some
modern writers, maintains that Nahum was born in
Assyria of parents who had been carried thither
after the capture of Samaria, and that his sepulchre
was to be found at Alkush, ten miles north of Mosul,
on the left bank of the Tigris, in which spot also,
as the story goes, were Jonah, Obadiah, and Jephthah.
Referring to this place Layard in his "Nineveh"
says:
"It is a place, held in great reverence by Mo¬
hammedans and Christians, but especially by Jews,
who keep the building in repair, and flock here in
great numbers at certain seasons of the year. The
tomb is a simple plaster box, covered with green
cloth, and standing at the upper end of a large
chamber. The house containing the tomb is a modern
building. There is no inscription, nor fragments of
antiquity about the place."
The following is a brief summation of what
he wrote:
242
HISTORY OF DISPENSATION8.
1 Chap. 1 announces the Divine purpose to in¬
flict judgment on the Assyrian oppressor of his peo¬
ple.
2. Chap. 2 anticipates the glad tidings of the
conquest, sack, and destruction of Ninevah.
8. Chap. 8 represents the guilt of the city and
depicts its inevitable ruin.
HABAKKUK.
[A. M. 8404: B. C. 600].
"The preacher of judgment against Babylon"
is supposed to have been of the Levites and to have
had duties in connection with the liturgical service
of the temple (Chap.8:1). When he lived is not
definitely known, only it was before the arrival of the
Chaldeans in the land of Judahto execute judgment.
Tradition asserts that he was the son of theShunamite
woman whom Elisha restored to life. Some ancient
christian writers will have him to be of the tribe of
Simeon and born in Bath-Zachanas famous in the
Maccabean history (IMacc. 6:82). When or where
he died is not known. The Rabbins, however place
his tomb at Chukkok, of the tribe of Naphtali, now
known as Jakuk.
As to his prophecy it is divided into two parts :
habakkuk: zephaniah.
243
1. Chaps. 1-2 contain the two fold denun^
ciation ,of judgment.
2. Chap. 3. Containsthe prophet's prayer for
its fulfilment.
It is in this chapter that the famed soliloquy is
found:
For though the fig tree shall not
blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines ;
The labour of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat:
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the-Lord.
zephaniah.
[A. M. 3374. B. C. 630].
Zephaniah, whose name signifies, 11 Jehovah has
guarded," is characterized by an unusual display of
self; in that, like Josephus, he seems bent on
letting the world know who he is. "Zephaniah
the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah,
the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah."
But as Adam Clark says: * * * "little concern¬
ing Zephaniah is known because we know nothing
certain relative to the persons of the family whose
244
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
names are here introduced." The Hezekiah here men¬
tioned is thought by some to have been 110 less a
person than king Hezekiah. But this is most un¬
certain as Deane has plainly shown, f
As to the time when he flourished he himself says,
the word of the Lord came to him, "in the days of
Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah." Many
critics have agreed upon the years B. C. 642-611. It is
thought that he was cotemporary with Jeremiah and
the prophetess Huldah. Nothing further that is
authentic, is known of him. Tradition, however,
has it that he was of Sarabatha, and that he died and
was buried in his native place.
The three chapters of his book are as follows:
1. Contains a general denunciation of vengeance
against Judah and those who practiced idolatrous
rites; Baal, his black-robed priests(Chemarim), and
Malcam (Moloch), being all condemned; and de¬
clares "the great day of trouble and distress" to be
at hand (1:2-8).
2. Predicts the judgments about to fall on the
Philistines, those especially of the sea coasts (Chere-
thites), the Moabites, Ammonites, and Ethiopians;
t See Public Com Int.
HAGGAI.
245
and describes in terms wonderfully accurate the de¬
solation of Nineveh; prophecies which began to be
accomplished in the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar.
8. Arraigns Jerusalem, rebukes her sins, and
concludes with the most animating promises of her
future restoration, and happy state of the people of
God in the latter days.
HAGGAI.
[A. M. 8484 B. C. 520].
Haggai is the first of the prophets of Restoration,
Zechariah and Malachi being the others. The name
signifies, Festive. Nothing is known of his parent¬
age, save that they were priests. The general sup¬
position is that he was born in Babylon during the
captivity, and returned with Ezra (Ezra 5:1). For
reasons not entirely clear, Ewald has him to be of
those who saw the first Temple. In which case, as
has been said, he must have been a very old man
when he wrote his book. According to the Jews, the
three prophets mentioned above were the men re¬
ferred to by Daniel (10:7) : "And I, Daniel alone saw
the vision : for the men that were with me saw not
the vision ; but a great quaking fell upon them, and
they fled to hide themselves."
246 HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
As it relates to his prophecies Angus says: f
"This book contains four prophetic messages
all delivered in about four months. They are so,
that they are supposed to be only a summary of
the original prophecies.
In the first, Haggai reproves the Jews for neg¬
lecting the Temple, and promises that the Divine
favor shall attend its erection.
About four weeks afterwards, the zeal of the
the people appears to have cooled; and many doubts
arise in their minds. To remove these, Haggai de¬
clares that the Lord of Hosts is with them ; and that
the glory of the new Temple shall be greater than
that of the former (2:1-9).
Two months afterwards, Haggai addresses them
for the third time, rebuking their listlessness,
and promising them the Divine blessing from the
time the foundation of the Lord's house was laid
(2:10-19). And on the same day another prophecy
was delivered, addressed to Zerubbabel, the head and
representative of the family of David, and the indi¬
vidual with whom the genealogy of the Messiah be¬
gan after the captivity, promising the preservation
of the people of God, amidst the fall and ruin of the
t Angus'. Bible Hand Book, p. 511. '
ZECHARTAH.
247
kingdoms of the world (2:20-23).
ZECHARIAH.
[A. M. 8484. B. C. 520],
Zachariah, which name signifies, Whom Jehovah
Remembers, we are told was the* son of Baracbiah and
grandson of Iddo. The fact is the critics are far
from being at one in regard to his identity, as Gill
shows:
"The writer of this prophecy could not be, as
some have imagined, Zacharias, the father of John
the Baptist; since there must have been some hun¬
dreds of years difference between them; nor the
Zacharias, the son of Barachias, slain between the
Temple and the altar, our Lord speaks of in Mat¬
thew 28:35, for although their names agree, yet it
does not appear that this prophet was slain by the
Jews; indeed the Jewish Targumist, (Lam. 11:20,)
speaks of a Zechariah, the son of Iddo, a high
priest, slain in the Temple; but it could not be this
Zechariah, since he was no high priest; Joshua was
high priest in his time; nor could he be slain in such
a place, seeing the Temple and altar were not yet
248
HISTORY Or DISPENSATIONS.
built; nor was this prophet Zechariah the son of
Jehoida, slain in the court of the Lord's house (2
Chron. 24:20-21), for as their names do not agree,
so neither their office, he being a high priest, this a
prophet; nor the times in which they lived, Zechar¬
iah the son of Jehoida lived in the times of Joash,
king of Judah, two or three hundred years' before
this;" but this was one of the captivity of Bab¬
ylon."
That generally agreed upon is that he was born
in Babylon and like Haggai returned with the exiles,
at the completion of their seventy years captivity,
and as has been said is the second of the prophets
of Restoration. It would seem that he lived and
died in Jerusalem and according to tradition, was
buried next to Haggai in a cave in the declivity of the
Mount of Olives. "His prophecies which are fre¬
quently quoted in the New Testament abound in
allusion to the Advent of Messiah
They consist of three part:
1. The nine visions.
2. Colloquy between the prophet and exiles re¬
garding the feasts.
8. The future destiny of the Jewish Church and
people.
MALACHI.
249
MALACHI.
[A. M. 3607. B. C 397].
If nothing else were needed to make this pro¬
phet—whose name signifies Messenger of Jehovah—
notable, the fact that he was not only the last of
those of the Restoration, but the last prophet in
general, would be sufficient; for since his day, speak¬
ing ordinarily, God has vouchsafed no prophet to
Israel. Brushing aside the idea of his impersonal¬
ity, despite the fact that his name no where else oc¬
curs in Scripture, nor are his parents or place of
birth anywhere mentioned, yet, as says Deane, he is
"certainly a real person." The traditionists say
he was of the tribe of Zebulun, was born after the
captivity in Sopha, that he died young and was
buried in his own country.
His writingsare quoted by the New Testament;
and are divided into three parts :
1. Jehovah is represented as the loving father
and ruler of His people.
2. The prophet's reproof of mixed marriages
and divorces, portrayed by the deserted wives weep¬
ing at the altar.
3. The sudden appearance in the Temple of
the Lord as Judge, preceded by his forerunner.
250
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
PRELUDE NINTH.
Baptism.
The possession of five Senses can scarcely be
said to more certainly pertain to human nature,
than does the tendency to worship As no race has
ever yet been discovered, the individual members of
which did not possess what is known as the five
Senses, to wit: the sense of hearing, of smelling, of
tasting, touching and seeing, even so, no race has
ever been discovered destitute of the tendency to
worship; and, we might say, of some phase of wor¬
ship. The one is quite as universal as the other.
As it relates to what has just been said, the addition¬
al remark may be made, that the possession, both of
the Senses and the tendency to worship, are really
BAPTISM.
251
required to prove the full or complete unity of the
race; and one quite as much as the other. Physical
unity, of itself, would not suffice, for supposing such
unity to exist, while, as it relates to the spirit or
soul the most radical differences were found, the
great doctrine of man's unity and brotherhood could
scarcely be said to be more than half proved. But
when both soul and body unite, and as with one
voice speak the same word, and affirm the same
truth, belief is absolutely required; for, as saith the
Scripture: "* * * in the mouth of two wit¬
nesses, or three every word may be established"
(Matt. 18:16). Nor does this tendency to worship
ever remain dormant, as the fact of its cognition
argues; for, how were it otherwise to be known or
discovered? No Sense of the body, no faculty of the
soul, is more active than that which leads to the
worship of G-od or gods. Races may be sleepy in re¬
gard to the various phases of life's activities; they
may be only half awake to conquest and war; but as
it relates to religion, the high-noon of wakefulness
may be said ever to rest upon them.
It is only in the line of a plain statement that
we allude to the multitude of religious forms, found
252
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
to exist among the peoples of the earth, be they of
whatever race or grade of development. The fact of
religion calls for forms of some kind. A tendency
of the soul, a passion, a genuine force—it is only
when it manifests itself that its existence can be de¬
tected, as is the case with all that is spirit. That
that is spirit, can only be cognized when, from the
blackness of the darkness of "things not seen," its
voice is heard to say: "Here I am."
Chief among the religious forms, is Baptism, or
the application of water to the body.
So universal is the idea of religion with accom¬
panying forms, that the question of its origin be¬
comes one of moment. A word as to its universal¬
ity. It is Carlyle who says:
11A bewildering, inextricable jungle of delu¬
sions, confusions, falsehoods and absurdities, cover¬
ing the whole field of Life! A thing that fills us
with astonishment, almost, if it were possible, with
incredulity,—for truly it is not easy to under¬
stand that sane men would ever calmly, with
their eyes open, believe and live by such a
set of doctrines. That men should have
worshipped their poor fellow-man as a God,
RELIGION UNIVERSAL.
258
and not him only, but stocks and stones,, and
all manner of animals, and inanimate objects;
and fashioned for themselves such a distracted
chaos of hallucinations by way of Theory of
the Universe—all this looks like an incredible fable.
Nevertheless it is a clear fact that they did it. Such
hideous inextricable jungle of misworships, misbe¬
liefs, men, made as we are, did actually hold by,
and live at home in. This is strange. Yes, we may
pause in sorrow and silence over the depths of dark¬
ness that are in man, if we rejoice in the heights of
purer vision he has attained to. Such things were
and are in man ; in all men; in us, too."
Archbishop Redwood, of New Zealand says: f
"Man is an intelligent being, and therefore he
requires to know truth. He is also a moral being
that is bound to live up to that truth, and is bound
to use his will and liberty in accordance with truth.
He is bound to be a righteous being. We find in
all religions a number of truths that are the founda¬
tion, the bed-rock of all morality, and we see them
in the various religions throughout the world, and
we can surely, without sacrificing one point of Cath-
t Carlyle: "Heroes and Hero Worship.
254
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
olic morality or of truth, admire those truths re¬
vealed in some manner by God." f
In the Al-Koran we read: f
"Surely those who believe, and those who Juda-
ize, and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believeth
in God, and the last day, and doth that which is
right, they shall have their reward with their Lord;
there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they
be grieved."!
In the face of such facts, as has been said, the
question of the origin of Baptism as a religious rite
and one of its chief forms becomes one of mo¬
ment. Is it of man's device or of God's command?
It is sufficient, however, for us to know, that in so far
as this rite pertains to the religious associations of
Christendom, it finds its authority in the command
of Jesus, as given by two, if not three of the Evan¬
gelists, Matthew, Mark, and John, possibly.
As recorded by Matthew (28:19), Jesus says:
t The World's Congress of Religions,
t Chap. 2, p 9.
t ]n his note to the above quotation from the Koran, George Sale, Gent., says:
"From these words, which are repeated in the fifth chapter, several writers
have wrongfully concluded that the Mohammedans hold it to be the doctrine of
their prophet, that every man may be saved in his own religion, provided he be
sincere and lead a good life."
ORDAINED OF CHRIST.
255
"All authority hath been given unto me in heaven
and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."
As recorded by Mark (16:16), Jesus says : '' Go
ye into all the wor?d, and preach the gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved; but he that disbelieveth, shall be con¬
demned."
What John says"(3:5), is as follows: "Jesus
answered, Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a
man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God."
That the baptism here mentioned and required
was the religious rite then in vogue among the peo¬
ple, and was so understood by them, is clearly appa¬
rent from the fact that the Apostles so understood
Him, and in turn, ordained the same. What say
these? and what did these?
Luke, who, by the way, makes no mention of
Christ's command to baptize in his Gospel, in the
Acts of the Apostles (2:88), makes the following
record:—"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and
be baptized every one of name of Jesus
256
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Christ unto the remission of yonr sins'; and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Also: "They
then that received his word were baptized: and there
were added unto them, in that day, about three thou¬
sand souls." The account Luke gives us of the un¬
derstanding the Apostles received from the teaching
of Christ upon the subject, embraces the baptism of
many of the people of Samaria (8:12) ; of Simon (8
:IB) ; of the eunuch (8:88)'; of Saul (9:18); of Cor
nelius (10:48) ; of Lydia (16:15); of the jailer and his
household (16: 33) ; and of those of Ephesus (19:5).
Paul, who may be looked upon as, in a special
sense, the authorized exponent of Christ's teaching,
makes His purpose in the selection of this rite, as
well as the understanding His disciples had of it,
clear beyond all doubt. To the Roman (6:3), Paul
says: "Or are ye ignorant that all are who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death?" To the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:14): "I
thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus
and Gaius." To the Galatians (3:27): "For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ did
put on Christ." To the Ephesians (4:5): "One
Lord, one faith, orie baptism." And lastly, to the
understood by scripture writers. 257
Hebrews (6:2), the writer says: "Of tFie teaching of
baptisms, etc." As to the signification or meaning of
these statements, we shall see further on. The single
other Apostle, whose word may be accepted as defini¬
tive of Christ's command, is Peter (1 Pet. 3. 18:21):
"Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the right¬
eous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to
God ; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in
the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto
the spirits in prison,which aforetime were disobedient,
when the long suffering of Grod waited in the days of
Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,
that is, eight souls, were saved through water: which
also, after a true likeness, doth now save you, even
baptism, etc." * * * Of this statement, also,
a brief exposition will be ventured, a few pages fur¬
ther on. What we have been attempting to show in
the foregoing is that the ordinance, or, more properly,
the sacra^nent of Baptism was approved and or¬
dained by the Lord Jesus Himself, and that, on His
authority, it was accepted by the Apostles, and by
them taught and administered in the early Church.
On Christ's authority, then, the Church of to-day
accepts and practices the sacrament of Baptism—of
258
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Baptism, remember; not the rite of sprinkling; not
the rite of pouring; not the rite of immerson ; but the
sacrament of Baptism. Are we asked, by what meth¬
od He would 'have it adminstered? Our answer
is: By whatever method or methods that were
practiced when the command was giverr. Christ Him¬
self makes no mention of the method. He simply
selected a ceremony, and the selection of it carries
with it the method then practiced, where no word of
His to the contrary can be produced. As illustrative
of our argument, we say that prayer was in vogue
when Christ was on the earth. He confirmed the
practice, and taught that men ought always to pray
and not to faint (Luke 18:1). But how? Mani¬
festly in whatever attitude man were given to pray.
Christ concerned not Himself about methods, if the
inspired writers of the New Testament have re¬
ported Him fully; and, fully or not, they have re¬
ported Him to the extent that the HoJy Ghost
deemed sufficient. He commanded His followers to
baptize as he commanded them to pray ; and to do
each in the way generally practiced. With Him the
incidental had but little weight, anywhere. As it
relates then to Baptism, many facts warrant the Be-
BAPTISM.
259
lief, indeed the lately discovered pamphlet, "The
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," affirm it—that
as practiced in His day, and by His immediate fol¬
lowers, no one method, to the exclusion of every
other, was employed. On the contrary, Christendom
is agreed, Roman, Greek, Protestant, with the sin¬
gle exception of the Baptist sect, that, in ordaining
Baptism, Christ ordained a ceremony with which
the people were familiar in the method of perform¬
ing; and without intimating the least change in re¬
gard to this method. "As you understand it, per¬
form it," is the burden of His command. That
such libraries of literature could ever have been
written to becloud so plain a proposition, is one of
the marvels.
With Baptism settled as one of the sacraments
of the Christian Church, we are led to inquire as to
its office or signification. What was its signification?
among other peoples who practiced it? In brief, it
was to induct them into some kind of religious life.
* -* * * our concern is to learn the
signification of Baptism in the Christian system.
What is it? It occurs to us that there is but
one class of men—the class to whom the Spirit
260
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
revealed the signification of Baptism that can answer.
We are not ignorant of the fact that such a decis¬
ion must be close especially when it is remembered
that this class numbers scarcely more than one—two
at most. But has not the reader long since heard,
that one with God is a majority; and never was this
saying more true than in settling the significance of
Baptism in the Christian system. Verily one with
God is a majority; for with Him only, is the light.
Many torch bearers might confuse ; one never. Our
class of one—one with God—is Paul. If the facts
require its enlargement then the class to whom the
Spirit revealed the signification of Baptism will be
Paul and Peter. What say these as to the significa¬
tion of Baptism? What is the light they throw up¬
on it, for its more rational, to say nothing of its more
intelligent reception and practice by the Church? In
plain words, what does Baptism mean? At once we
hear a babble of voices, ready to answer—voices of
martyrs and confessors, of doctors and divines;
Greek voices and Latin voices; voices Japhetic,
Shemitic and Hamitic; voices issuing from the
hoary Past; the midnight Middle; the noonday
Present. The assurance of one is the assurance of
BAPTISM.
26,1
all: "I can tell you." Be silent, 0, ye voices! In
all the universe there is but one, possibly two, equal
tothetask of infallibly declaring the true significa¬
tion of Christian Baptism. That one, as we have
said, is Paul, the inspired theologian, with confirm¬
atory side lights thrown upon what he says, by the
inspired Peter—no theologian, to be sure, but in¬
spired to the extent of his mental capacity for so
lofty a science as theology. Cyprian was given to
speak of Paul as, "Magister mei," (My Master). Let
us turn to this recognized master, not only of Cyp¬
rian but of the world, with the hope of understanding
the interpretation he puts upon the sacrament under
review.
What we might call Paul's first approach to the
subject was his ready submission to it, at the hands
of Ananias, as recorded by Luk^ (Acts 9:18). At
this eventful moment, we are not to suppose that
either the philosophy or theology of the ceremony
occurred to him. An humble pleader for forgiveness,
he was ready to accept it without conditions. In the
throes of conviction, the intricacies of theology are
forgotten by the soul, if, indeed they were ever re¬
membered. The one cry only, however, uttered by
262
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS
Paul in substance is; "God be merciful to me, a
sinner." As we have said, Paul at once submitted
to the rite, and "straightway preached Christ in the
synagogues that He is the Son of God; * * * *
and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus,
proving that this is the very Christ." It is not,
however, in the addresses of Paul, which Luke was
moved to record in the Book of Acts, that we find
the interpretation of the sacrament of Baptism we
seek. This is given in his Epistles, and it is to these
that we now invite the attention of the reader.
What is Paul's view of the ordinance of Bap¬
tism, as given in his Epistle to the Romans? That
we might have the latest authority as to the matter
of translation, we use here, as elsewhere, the Re¬
vised version. What Paul says in this epistle is
found in chapter sixth: " * * * Or are ye ig¬
norant that all we who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death?" We were,
therefore, "buried with Him through baptism into
death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, so we also might
walk in newness of life." What is it that Paul here
says—rather, what is it that he means to say? for,
BAPTISM .
268
as has been wisely said by Cecil; "The Bible is the
meaning of the Bible."
To turn our attention to what the commentators
say would be but to listen to the babble of voices al¬
ready referred to. Nor would we be understood as
referring to these wise and holy men as babblers, in
an offensive sense. On the contrary, we "must
guard against being misunderstood," as Father Fa-
ber was heard upon a similar occasion to say. The
wise and holy men who have burnt the midnight oil
in giving the world their Comments upon Holy
Scripture, have rendered a service, which be it far
from the writer to underrate. Rather would he pre¬
fer to stand with uncovered head in their presence.
And yet, it is to be confessed that it is the case of
many torch-bearers. Each having lit his torch from
off the one true altar, has gone his way. In refusing
to light our torch from theirs, we simply exercise a
common right, and like them, go, if not to the
altar itself to those who present the altar itself, to
the world; simply obey a command: 11 * * * *
go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for your¬
selves."
Having thus spoken, we revert to the original
264
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
question : What is Paul's view of the ordinance of
Baptism, as given in his Epistle to the Romans?
The substance of what Paul says, and we beg the
reader at once to turn and read what he says in full
(Rom. 6), is, that we who have been baptized into
Jesus Christ have been baptized into His death;
that, in a sense, we have been buried with Him, to
the end that just as he arose from death and the
grave, by the glory of the Father, even so we
should be seen by our christian deportment to have
arisen from the death and grave of a past sinful life,
and so be seen to walk in the newness of a christian
career. That is, as we understand Paul to say, Bap¬
tism is the rite or sign by which we are brought
again to a life of love and good works, after that we
had been dead to God and all that is good. Of
course, we do not hold ourselves responsible for
the fact, that this seems to tread on what is
called "baptismal regeneration." On the con¬
trary, we quote: "Does not the truth of the
Gospel," we are taught to ask in our Disciplinary
Catechism, "lie very near both Calvinism and An-
tinomianism? Indeed it does; as it were within a
hair's,breadth," is the answer. So here, in regard to
BAPTISM.
265
that that is true of Baptism ; and that that is deem¬
ed erroneous.
Paul's next reference to Baptism is found in his
First Letter to the Corinthians, first chapter, and
verses thirteen and seventeen, inclusive: "* * * or
were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God
that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius;
lest any man should say that ye were baptized into
my own name. And I baptized, also, the household of
Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized
any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the Gospel * * What does Paul mean,
when he says: "Christ sent me not to baptize, but
to preach the Gospel," for it is this that gives point
to the present discussion?
Again, we must beg to decline listening to the
interpreters. We do this largely in the interest of
brevity; to say nothing of originality. In so far,
however, as this last is concerned, it is not out of
place to say, but little, if any, is claimed. As we
understand Paul, he simply means to say that he
was not sent to "harp on methods," but rather to
preach that which was substantial and living. Aside
from the fact that, in refusing to put a premium on
266
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
form, and therein imitate the spirit and example of
the Master, of whom we have already had occasion
to say: "Christ concerned not Himself about meth¬
ods," Paul's character itself points to the interpre¬
tation to be put upon the significant t words:
"Christ sent me not to baptise." His was a consis¬
tent, well-rounded character, as any will soon dis¬
cover who makes a study of it. He was the last
man in the world to stand on any red tape order-
save where a principle was at stake. Hear what he
himself says as to his manner of administering the
Gospel of God: "That, when I preach the gospel,
I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to
use to the full my right in the gospel.' For though
I was free from all men, I brought myself under
bondage to all, that I might gain the more. And
to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain
Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the
law, not being myself under the law, that I might
gain them that are under the law; to them that are
without law, as without law, not being without law
to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain
them that are without law. To the weak I became
weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all
BAPTISM.
267
things to all men, that I may by all means save
some." And he winds up this magnificent defense
for what might seem a flagrant disrespect, both to
custom and law, by saying: "And I do all things
for the Gospel's sake" ( 1 Cor. 9:18-28).
His whole life bears happy confirmation to the
course here outlined. Witness how he withstood
Peter to the face (Galatians 2:11). Witness his
ready withdrawal from Barnabas (Acts 15:38). A
case exactly in point is his circumcision of Timothy
(Acts 16:3). The idea of a man causing another to
be circumcised—a man, who only the day before, so
to speak, had written—"Behold,.-J Paul, say unto
you, that if ye receive circumcision, Christ will
profit you nothing" (Gal. 5:2). A ready explana¬
tion is found when we remember the man, his char¬
acter, and his method of propagating the Gospel.
He believed severely that the "letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life;" that "neither is circumcision
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
—(Gal. 6:15). It is then in the light of all this
that we are to. read the, declaration: "Christ sent
me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel." It is
the exact corollary of what he afterward told them,
268
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
in his second Epistle (2 Cor. 8:6). "* * * Who
also made us sufficient as ministers of a new
covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit."
According to this statement of Paul, the rela¬
tion, then, which Baptism sustains to the Gospel, is
to the "letter" of it. It is not a "sine qua non.'''' A
sacrament to be sure, but not absolutely necessary
to salvation. In this view, we have a complete off¬
set to what seems to be the teachings in Romans.
That this is to take precedence of that, is to be
assumed ; for that is given in a figure—this in plain
categorical statements. The'sunlight always takes
precedence of the shadow.
In the Epistle to the Galatians (3:27,) we have
another explanation by Paul as to the signification
of Baptism : "For as many of you as were baptised
into Christ did put on Christ." The meaning of
this statement is so akin to the meaning of the
statement made to the Romans, and to which refer¬
ence has already been made, that we can well afford
to invite the reader to the argument there presented.
The language employed in both is figurative; and
both present Baptism unto us as the sign or means
of a new life. The ground of much controversy is:
Which?
BAPTISM
269
The reference to Baptism in the Epistle to the
Ephesians (4:5)—"* * * one Lord, one faith,
one baptism," manifestly refers to the Baptism
which is of the spirit, and not of water, and there¬
fore conies not logically under purview.
Paul's last reference to the subject under dis¬
cussion is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews (6:2),
supposing him to have written that Epistle. The
words are: "Wherefore let us cease to speak of the
first principles of Christ, and press on unto perfec¬
tion; not laying again a foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the
teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands,
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judg¬
ment." By a word just uttered, the cloud as to the
authorship of this epistle was allowed to appear. It
is impossible, however, to read the above quotation
and cot recognize, if not the Pauline doctrine, at
least the Pauline spirit; for what is this but such a
protest against resolving religion into forms and
contests, both ritualistic and doctrinal, as a fiery,
positive and aggressive nature like his, would be
apt to make. Beyond all question, one and the same
hand wrote: "Press on unto perfection," (Heb 6:1),
270
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
and "And after I have been there, I must also see
Rome" (Acts 19:21). Of the reference here made
it is said to be that the view of Baptism presented is
quite similar to the view given in First Corinthians^
and already mentioned. It is, as it were, the non¬
essential view—the view which puts Baptism with
that that is the ''letter" of the Gospel, and not the
spirit. Of the four views of Baptism noticed, it is
a little singular that two of them permit what we
might call the High church, or ritualistic view of the
service, to-wit: Rom. 6:3-4and Eph. 4:5; and two
command the Low church or evangelical view, to-
wit: 1 Corinthians, 1:14, and Hebrew, 6:2. As in¬
timated, "however, the difference between these two
views as to the authority upon which they rest, is
marked; the one being simply permissive, the other
mandatory, at least as mandatory as categorical
statements can make them. The High church view
rests upon a conclusion reached, it is claimed, by
unexceptional logical methods; the" Low church view
upon direct statements or commands. In view of
this fact, the question still presents itself: What
is the meaning of Baptism? As presented to us by
the inspired theologian of the New Testament, it
BAPTISM.
271
may be safely said that, whatever eke it may mean,
it certainly means that its conference is to be upon
those only who claim and profess to walk in the
newness of Christian life. It is thoroughly Chris¬
tian, both in letter and spirit. What circumcision
was and is to the Jew, Baptism was and is to the
Christian. While those who submit to it, "In the
Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost,"
in theory, are, and can be, theoretical Christians—
Christian in name only—those who similarly sub¬
mit to it, confessing Jesus to be Lord with the
mouth, and believing with the heart that God raised
him from the dead, are Christians in truth.
And how, we come to Peter's one statement in
regard to Baptism. It is found in his First Epistle
(8:21); "* * * when the long suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-pre-
paring, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved
through water: which also after a true likeness doth
now save you, even Baptism." No surprise need be
exhibited when we are told that the Roman Church,
through its authorized version of the Scriptures,
ranks this reference of Peter to the ceremony, among
those of Which it says: "Baptismus salvaf (Baptism
272
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
saves); also " Bafitismus tollit omnia peccata"1"1 (Bap¬
tism takes away all sins). More than a score num¬
ber of such texts are given in the Vulgate before us.
To our mind, the strongest is this of Peter, and we
are free to confess that were not the strength of it
broken by other Scriptural statements, the doctrine
of Baptismal regeneration as believed by the Roman
Church, the Greek Church, and the ritualistic wing
of the Church of England, would be one of the ac¬
cepted beliefs of Christendom. The common version
was quite as strong as the evangelicals could well
afford ; but the Revised is even stronger, as a com-
parsion between the two translations wi]l show. The
only outlet is that the evangelical view of Baptism
may be made to harmonize with this of Peter, in
view of the fact that it is presented to us in a figure.
But the same cannot be said of the ritualistic view,
as it relates to the texts of Scripture presented by
the reformed churches, as constituting the ground of
their faith. This High church view can, in no sense,
be made to harmonize with these. Given in plain
language—so plain, indeed, that he may run that
readeth (Hab. 2:2), there is no such thing as har¬
mony, without doing violence to the text and to
BAPTISM
278
common sense as well. For instance, how harmon¬
ize Paul's view of Baptism, as presented in his Epis¬
tles to the Corinthians and to the Romans, especially
how harmonize his statement, "Christ sent me not
to baptize," with the doctrine of the absolute neces¬
sity of baptism to salvation? And the same may
be said of his remark : "I thank God I baptized none
of you." Supposing the doctrine of Baptismal re¬
generation to be true, the least that could be said of
Paul would be that he was a peevish old theologian.
With Paul and Peter then as interpreters of the
sacrament of) Baptism, the conclusion we reach is
the conclusion given in the seventeenth Article of
our blessed faith : "Baptism is not only a sign of
profession, and mark of difference, whereby Chris¬
tians are distinguished from others that are not
Baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration, or the
new birth. The Baptism of young children is to be
retained in the church."
A more wisely worded statement of the signifi¬
cation of Baptism, as presented by both Paul and
Peter, it would be impossible to give. It is as nar¬
row as Paul at his narrowest; it is as broad as Peter.
Were both living, we do not hesitate to express the
274
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
belief that both would heartily subscribe to it—quite
as heartily as we do ourselves, or the Evangelical
Church of today.
Having seen Baptism selected and ordained by
Jesus, together with glimpses as to its meaning and
intent by Paul and Peter, we are very naturally
brought to consider the question: Who are its
proper subjects? -According to Matthew (28:19), it
is the "nations,"—i. e., a multitude; a nation\ the
heathen. According to Mark, it is "every creature,"
p a se te x t i s e r, i. e., creation; the material universe;
a created thing; the human race. From these, it is quite
plain that the peoples of every race may be looked
upon as legitimate subjects for Christian Baptism.
Were there any doubt of this, the example of the
Apostles, in receiving and Baptizing peoples, whether
they be Jews or Gentiles, is conclusive. Nor let any
underrate the importance of this apostolic construc¬
tion of the words of Jesus; a construction, however,
that only obtained universal assent on the strength
of an additional revelation from Grod. Men care lit¬
tle for words, when they run counter to their preju¬
dices, as we, colored Americans, know to our hin¬
drance and our hurt. The Declaration of the coun-
BAPTISM.
275
try says: "All men are created equal." But this
was pronounced a "glittering generality," and the
construction put upon the statement was: "All
white men are created equal." It was precisely so
with the subjects of Baptism. Christ had spoken,
and as broadly as language will permit; and yet,
there were those among the Apostles ready to follow
Peter in giving it a construction that would have
confined the Christian Church to the Jews. Nor
could the idea and purpose be knocked out of Peter's
head until, in vision thrice repeated, it was said:
"What God hath cleansed, make not thou common."
(Acts 10:16) Then and only then, it occurred to him
that "there is no respect of persons with Him." Nor
was h§ confirmed in this belief until the vigorous
blows of Paul brought him to his senses
The blessings then consequent upon Baptism,
with the rite itself, are open to the human race.
Blood, intellect, the social standing, all go for
naught. "Whosoever will, let him come."
The incidental statement with which Article 17
concludes, happily presents to us a most important
phase of the matter under consideration, to-wit: the
Baptism of young children. The mere fact that it
276
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
was deemed necessary to make the statement that
the Baptism of children should be retained in the
Church, is worthy of notice. Whence came the
heresy that children are not proper subjects of Bap¬
tism? Did not Christ receive little children as
readily, and in precisely the same way, that he re¬
ceived adults? In precisely the same way, we say—
a fact too generally overlooked. And did he not
command the Apostles (Matt. 19:1-4) to do the same ;
that is, receive little childreu? "Suffer the little
children, and forbid them not to come unto me " Is
it asked: How receive them? Just as he received
them; just as they received others. If not so, that
is, if they were not to receive children as He re¬
ceived them, and just as they received others who
were adults, then we have another instance present¬
ed of the lack of fullness of the inspired record ; for
if any other than the common method of receiving
those who came to Christ were to be practiced in
after years, information of the fact would doubtless
have been given. But such information is not given;
therefore the burden of proof is with those who
deny it. Such proof, however, is impossible, inas¬
much as the canon of Scripture is closed. Again,
BAPTISM.
277
if children are not proper subjects of Baptism, the
most unwarrantable limitation is to be put upon the
command authorizing the ceremony. According to
Matthew, Christ's word was to evangelize and Bap¬
tize all nations. It is well known that children
constitute a majority in allnations; and as well say
these are not to be evangelized as say they are not to
be Baptized. Evangelizatoin and Baptism go hand
in hand. The two are joined of God; let no man
separate them. The sturdiest of our Baptist breth¬
ren have infant classes in their Sunday schools; and
yet they so shorten the arm of the Lord' as to make
it impossible for them to be enlightened, at least to
the extent of being fit candidates for Baptism. Con¬
sistency would require that they cease evangelizing
them, if they are not going to Baptise them. Less
than this, i? to put asunder rites and ceremonies
which God hath joined.
But Mark is broader than Matthew. With him
it is not "nations," who are to be Baptized; but a
word is employed so broad, so all-comprehensive,
that the idea of denying its application to infants is
simply preposterous. A reference to what Mark says
naturally brings on the argument that belief must
278
HISTORY OF DISPENSATION8.
always precede Baptism. To this standing argument
we reply that if it prove anything, it pToves too
much—decidedly more than anv sect or church of
today is willing to accept: not excepting even the
Baptist. Mark (16:15-16) records Christ as saying:
"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to
the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be
condemned." We say, again, that if this proves any¬
thing, it proves too much; for if not to believe, if
unbelief, or disbelief, as the Revised version has it,
»
is a bar to Baptism, it is equally a bar to heaven it¬
self, according to Christ's own words. To present,
therefore, this rule of scriptural interpretation and
stand by it, is not only to shut children out from
membership in the Church below, but also from
membership in the Church above. The inevitable
result is the doctrine of infant damnation, which no
body of Christians is now willing to accept and
teach.
As it further relates to the matter of the mem¬
bership of children in the Church, for, as Christ said ;
"Of such is the kingdom of God," that is, of such is
the Church, a position so rationally accorded them
BAPTISM.
279
from what either Matthew or Mark says—it is not to
be forgotten that their reception into the Church of
God antedated the organization of the Christian
phase of the same Church. The Church of God is one,
whether Adamic, Noachic, Patriarchal, Jewish or
Christian. Membership thereto has always been open
to children, and by the same door to which it was
open to adults. What that door was, other than that
of simply calling upon the Name of the Lord, in the
first epochs of the Church, the Adamic, the Noachic,
and Patriarchal, we may not be able to state, inas¬
much as it is not clearly revealed. As it relates,
however to the Church's fourth form, supposing it to
have had a form in the others, we can speak with
perfect authority as to the right of children to be re¬
ceived; and received, too, as others were received.
By the rite of circumcision, membership in the Jew¬
ish Church was reached or obtained; and it was en¬
forced on all alike, male children, adult Jews, per¬
sons of Gentile blood. All must enter by one and
the same door. Now, it is never to be forgotten,
that the object of Christianity is to broaden the
operations of the Church—not to limit them, as
would be the case were the rights previously enjoyed
280
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
by children taken from them, and they forced out
into the world. The denial of Baptism to children,
as might be expected, presents a number of serious
questions. We mention a few: Are children mem¬
bers of the Church? The Church is the body of Christ;
are children members of this body? If so, how?
The new birth, as signified by Baptism, is the door
to the Church, the process of union to Christ. But
they have been denied Baptism. If members, there¬
fore, at all, of the visible Church, the position has
been reached by some method nowhere mentioned in
Scripture. If existing at all, is it valid? Possibly
the most serious question of all, is the question of
their salvation. As we have had occasion to say, the
Church is the body of . Christ. Is connection with it
necessary to salvation? We may feel authorized to
say, No. Our very position, as Protestants, requires
such an answer. But who of us is willing to die outside
the Church; and yet, those 'who refuse Baptism to
their children compel them so to die; or to climb up
some other way. It is, however, not with the men
of this generation, howsoever learned or Christian, to
infallibly settle this matter, so closely akin is it to
the question, as to the nature and intent of Baptism
BAPTISM.
281
itself. What was the practice of the Apostles? If
it can be conclusively shown that these, Baptized
children, the matter surely is ended or ought to be.
But can it be so shown? Possibly not. What can
be done is, it can be reasonably shown that the
Apostles did Baptize children; and in all such cases,
a reasonable certainty takes the place of a conclusive
one. That the Apostles Baptized whole households
is more than once declared. The a priori assumption
is, that there were children among them. Take for
instance the case of the Roman, Cornelius (Acts 10,
2:4). Of this Centurion, "with all his house,"
Peter asked: "Can any man forbid the water, that
THESE should not be baptized, which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we?" And they were Bap¬
tized. Take the case ef Lydia. She was "baptized,
and her household," by Paul (Acts 16:15). In the
same chapter we have an account of the conversion
and Baptism of the Philippian jailor, "he and all
his" (ver 83). In Acts, also, we are told of the con¬
version of "Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue
* * * with all his house." While the fact of their
Baptism is not recorded as it is in the case of the
others, we may know that it immediately followed.
.282
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Here are four households mentioned, of whom it is
said "all" were Baptized. To say that there were no
children among them, is but to beg the question,
while to deny their Baptism, granting they were pres¬
ent, is to deny what Scripture plainly declares.
We cannot better conclude this lengthened ex¬
cursus, than by quoting Calvin.
"He gives the designation of Christ's Baptism
to that which He conferred by the hands of others,
in order to inform us that Baptism ought not to be
estimated by the person of the minister, but that its
power depends entirely on its Author, in whose
name, and by whose authority, it is conferred.
Hence we derive a remarkable consolation, when we
know that our batism has no less efficacy to wash
and renew us, than if it had been given by the hand
of the Son of God. Nor can it'be doubted that, so
long as He lived in the world, He abstained from the
outward administration of the sign, for the express
purpose of testifying to all ages, that Baptism loses
nothing of its value when it is administrated by a
mortal man.
DISPENSATIONS IN THE CHURCH
WITH NOTES
CRITICAL, EXPLANATORY AND HISTORICAL
284
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
CHAPTER 1.
First Dispensation (Adamie).
FROM THE CREATION OF ADAM TO HIS DEATH.
DATA.
BEGINNING OF DISPENSATION. END OF DISPENSATION.
A. M. B. C. A. M. B. C.
I. 4004. 980 . 8074.
DURATINN.
—980 YEARS,—
THE CALL TO DUTY.
Introductory Words.
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and
subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth'' (Genesis 1:28)-
"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalp not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17)-
"If like Adam I covered my transgressions" (Job 31:33).
"But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant"
(Hosea6:7) t
t "Our first parents were placed under arrangements involving in them the
essentials of a covenant. Through breach of this covenant came:
'Death into our world and all our woes.' "
—Rev. J. Orr (P. C.)
DISPENSATION DEFINED.
285
According to the best authority, the word, Dis¬
pensation, has no less than five meanings:
(1) The act of dispensing or dealing out.
(2) The particular distribution of blessing or
affliction dispensed by God to a person, family, com¬
munity or nation, in the course of His dealings with
His creatures.
(3). (a) The method or scheme by which God
has at different times developed His purposes and
revealed Himself to man or the body of privileges
bestowed, and duties and responsibilities enjoined,
in connection with that scheme or method of revela¬
tion. (b) A period marked by a particular develop¬
ment of the Divine purpose and revelation.
(4) Management; stewardship ; an act or ac¬
tion as manager or steward.
(5) A relaxation of the law in some particular
case.
The sense in which the word is used in this
treatise is that of the third; or more fully the third
in connection with the fifth.
The First or Adamic Dispensation, is, then, the
scheme or method by which God at that time devel¬
oped His purposes and revealed Himself; or it is the
286
HI8T0KY OF DISPENSATIONS.
body of = privileges He',.'at that time, bestowed ; .with
the Duties and Responsibilities enjoined at.the same
time. We could wish for more than usual success
in riveting this definition of a Dispensation upon
the mind. That that characterizes a Dispensation,
we say is the Joody of Privileges bestowed or allowed
His people; with the Duties and Responsibilities en¬
joined. With this in mind, let us approach the
First Dispensation ; and not the First only, but all
that follows, even to the last, for this one principle
is equally true of all. What says our own Discipline
in the chapter on the reception of members. Con¬
cerning Churchly fellowship, its words, in common
with those of the Methodist faith, are: "Its more
particular Duties are, to promote peace and unity;
to bear one another's burdens; to prevent each other
stumbling; to seek the intimacy of friendly society
among themselves; to continue steadfast in the
faith and worship of the gospel; and to pray and
sympathise with each other. Among its Privileges
are peculiar incitements to holiness from the hear¬
ing of God's Word, and sharing Christ's ordinances;
the being placed under the watchful care of Pastors,
and the enjoyment of the blessings which are prom-
DISPENSATION DEFINED.
287
ised only to those which axe of the household of
faith."
Duties and Privileges, characteristic of all the
Dispensations : the First no more than the last. As
these relate to the First Dispensation it may be asked:
(1) What were the Privileges given His people?
(2) What were the Duties and Responsibilities
enjoined?
Concerning the first of these questions, it is to
he said that the Privileges vouchsafed during this
Dispensation, may be learned from what God said to
the people; and from what He allowed them to do.
As expressive of the Privileges, given to Adam
and the people of the First Dispensation, what did
God say? As it relates to this phase of the matter,
our information is most scant; and yet it is suffi¬
cient to clearly indicate the trend of the life God
would have man lead. In the First Prelude we took
occasion to show the purpose of all the Dispensa¬
tions, to-wit, to bring man back to his original state,
and have him enjoy all the Privileges vouchsafed to
one whom God in His creation had made in His im¬
age and had crowned with glory and honor. Nor
must this fact ever be forgotten, whether we treat of
288
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
the First Dispensation .or the last. The purpose of
each and all was one and the same: The reparation
of the breach made in Eden; the restoration of the
image marred and effaced in the soul of man.
A due recognition of this, will largely help us
to ascertain the true significance of what God is
heard to say to Adam after the Fall on the score of
the Privileges he was allowed to retain, and expect¬
ed to exercise.
In the life of this first man two great epochs are
discovered: The epoch of holiness, consequent upon
his creation in the image of God—"And put on the
new man, which after God hath been created in right¬
eousness and holiness of truth" (Eph.4:24): And
the epoch of sin, consequent upon his Fall,—"There¬
fore, as through one man sin entered into the world"
(Rom. 5:12). As might be expected the Privileges
of these two epochs are as different as light is from
darkness, or as heaven is from earth. What were the
Privileges of the first epoch, which we might fitly
denominate as the Household Epoch? Nothing more
nor less than the Privileges of the best regulated
and most loving household ever imagined or seen
among men. "We may well suppose," says Henry,
PRIVILEGES : FIRST DISPENSATION. 289
'"Eden to have been the most accomplished place
for pleasure and delight that ever the sun saw."
For all that the word is worth God was father; for
all that the word is worth, man was child; for all
that the word is worth, earth was home. Father,
Child, Home. Pope may be thought to have had
such as this in mind, when he wrote:
'"Nor think in nature's state they blindly trod ;
The state of nature was the reign of God :
Self-love and social at her birth began,
Union the bond of all things, and of man.
Pride then was not; nor arts that pride to aid ;
Man walked with beast joint-tenant of the shade;
The same his table; and the same his bed.
No murder clothed him, and no murder fed.
In the same temple the resounding word
All vocal beings hymned their equal God:
The shrine with gore unstained, with gold undrest
Unbribed. unbloody, stood the blameless priest." t
Ah, the glory of that original! Cut the silken cord
of your imagination, if you will—hear what you
may of sweetest converse around the Divine hearth¬
stone—see what you can of loving intercourse—and
in imagination, feel and taste what you may.
Let the incense, more bewitching by far than
t Pope's Essay on Man. Ep. 3:4.
290
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
any that ever ascended from Jewish altar, permeate
your whole being; but know that as high as heaven
is above earth, so is the reality of the Household
Epoch, called by men the epoch of works, above
anything that can be imagined or conceived; for is
it n:t written :
'"Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not.
And which entered not into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God prepared for them
that love Him" (1 Cor. 2-9).
As to the Privileges f that remained after the Fall
and constituted the hope and joy of the First Dis¬
pensation, as might be expected, they were far be¬
neath those faintly depicted above; beneath them
for the reason that Adam and his seed had made it
impossible for them to accept and enjoy them as be¬
fore. f It is worthy of remark that the original
t "The breaking of a beautiful vase may afford some idea of Adam after his
sin. The integrity of his mind was violated; the first compliance with sin opened
the way to future compliances; grosser temptations might now expect success, and
thus spotless-purity becoming impure: perfect uprightness becoming warped, lost
that entirely which had been its glory. Hereby Adam relinquished that distinction
which had fitted him for immediate communion with supreme holiness, and was re¬
duced to the necessity of soliciting such communion, mediately, not immed¬
iately; by another, not by himself; in prospect, not instant, in hope, not in possession;
in time future, not in time present; in another world, not in this."
—Robinson (Edw.) Ency.
t "Man was created upright" says Fisher (Geo. Park) "The freedom of the
will belonged to his nature. In the exercise of it he sinned. But Adam is the
typical example of sin, rather than the foundation, whence it is spread through the
race. Freedom of choice remains, although the soul depends on the Spirit for its
renewal."
PRIVILEGES : FIRST DISPENSATION.
291
Privileges of the Household Epoch were neither sus¬
pended nor recalled on the part of God: for as we
are taught "the gifts and the calling of God are
without repentance" (Rom. 11:29); concerning
which Barmby (Vicar of Pittington) says: "This
denial of anthropopathy in God is asserted as a gen¬
eral truth." So here, God remains the same.
"Whatever other conception of God," cries out
•Moody, "either right or wrong, don't let this be for¬
gotten—He is love, love unchangeable, love ever¬
lasting, love unfailing." As toman, a mighty inca¬
pacity, however, had come upon him; a "derange¬
ment, an enfeeblement, 'a depravation from a de¬
privation,' " as Miner Raymond is credited with
saying f The fish of the great sea remained, over
which he might yet have the fullest dominion, but
he was weak to assert it; there was still fowl of the
air, cattle of the field, and creeping things. The
earth remained for him to subdue. All things, in¬
deed, remained as at first—only himself was
changed. There still was light, but he could not
see it. There still was music, but he could not hear
it. Sweety but he could not taste. "Beautiful is
the eternal youth of nature. Man only gets old and
t P 80 Syt. Theo.
292
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
wastes himself." f
God's first communication with man in the
epoch of the Fall, was chiefly recitative of his self-
imposed misery: Because Thou hast done this.
The Privileges then, of the First Dispensation
—what? Precisely those vouchsafed at the beginning;
or to the extent that man was capable of enjoying them.
The chief was: The Privilege of direct communion.
At the completion of inanimate naturo, it was
enough, on ths- part of God, to pronounce that it
was good. On the completion of animate nature,
God not only pronounced it good, but added the
blessing: "Be fruitful and multiply." On the
completion, however, of the nature that was both
animate and spiritual, God not only saw that it was
very good, not only blessed, but spake to the pair.
No word to the rocks; neither to the fishes nor to
the fowls; only to man. Nor has He ever ceased to
speak to His image, His child.
As characteristic of the Privileges of this First
Dispensation, taking it all in all, law may be said to
have taken the place of love. Where love is, all
ideas of law are unnecessary. A glorious common-
+ Bishop John F. Hurst. Chautauquan January, 1887.
PRIVILEGES : FIRST DISPENSATIONS
298
ality exists. Mine is thine. Thine is mine. A
cessation of the era of love, is the dawn of the era
of definition. Mine is no longer thine, only as de¬
clared; and so of thine.
* * * The celestial love, that spurns
All envying in its bounty, in itself
With such effulgence blazeth, as sends forth
All beauteous things eternal. What distils
Immediate thence, no end of being knows,
Bearing its seal immutably impressed."!
In some peculiar sense, the Sabbath was blessed
and sanctified during the few brief days or years
that the Household era existed. And so of the mon-
ogamic life; for nature was then religious f Both
these, however, in the presence of possible abuse
afterward took on the shadow of law; instead of
the promptings of love. The Privilege of the peo¬
ple of God in this Dispensation, in a word, may be
described as scarcely more than the dregs of what at
first was possible. The letter, indeed, remained;
but the spirit was weak and limpy.
t Cary's Dante: Cant. 7:55-60.
t "The Sabbath and marriage were two ordinances instituted in innocence, the
former for the preservation of the Church, the latter for the preservation of man¬
kind" —Benson's Comment on Gen., 2:24.
"We know of no law that could have been more humane or moral, or more
necessary for the human family, as it was to exist in this world, except that other
institutions ordained in Eden, that was to regulate the intercourse between the
sexes." —S. A. Hodgman's "Mosesand the Philosophers."
294
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
What of the Duties and Obligations? In some
special way, one day in seven must be kept. Mono¬
gamy must be magnified.
Offerings of the fruit of the field : and most sig¬
nificant of all, offerings of the firstlings of the flock,
with the fat thereof. Diivct evidence, this,f of Di¬
vine requirement and not of religious fervor. "By
faith," saith the author of the Epistle to the He¬
brews (2:4)—"By faith Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain." A sacrifice,
then, and being such, God alone could give the de¬
tails. What Jamieson (Robert) says, in his Notes,
is to the point: "Cain and Abel had been early in¬
structed in the knowledge of God and accustomed to
observe religious ordinances. The locality of this
worship was undoubtedly that spot before Eden
where was stationed the Shechinah between the
Cherubim, which exhibited in some peculiar manner
t "Is it certain," asks Dr. Enoch Pond, "that bloody sacrifices are not of hu¬
man invention ?"
"How could they be?" he answers. "How should man ever have thought of
propitiating the Deity, by slaying and burning an innocent lamb, and sprinkling
the altar with its blood, unless he had been so taught by God himself ? And why
should God have prescribed such a form of worship, except on ground of its typical
significance—except as it shadowed forth, and was designed to shadow forth—the
bloody sacrifice of the cross ? We have, therefore, as I said, in the primeval in¬
stitution of bloody sacrifices, a clear intimation that the way of salvation by
Christ was early opened to our first parents and their descendants, and that they
were invited to put their trust in him, and live forever."
worship: where?
295
the way of acceptable approach to Go<). That
seems to have been the appointed place of worship
after the Fall. Whatever was the occasion, it was a
private act of worship; for otherwise Adam, the
head of the family would like Job (1 :5), have of-
fe re/1 for his sons. But Cain and Abel came by
themselves severally; and the fact of two, so differ¬
ent in their tempers and principles, uniting in this
religious observance shows that the occasion was
some stated and recognized season of worship. A
rude and simple Altar of turf or stone was probably
erected under a tent, at the door or entrance of
which the victim was laid in prospect of the sacrifi¬
cial rite; just as at a later period the victim about
to be offered was laid down before the door of the
tabernacle (Lev. 1:3)."
A stiff formality, possibly, more than anything
else characterizes the worship of the First Dispensa¬
tion. No more the freedom of the house. Shyness.f
t "All the infractions of love and equity in our social relations are speedily
punished. They are punished by Fear. Whilst I stand in simple relation with my
fellowman, I have no displeasure in meeting him. We meet as water meets water
or as two currents of air mix, with perfect diffusion and interpenetration of nature.
But as soon as there is any departure from simplicity and attempt at halfness, or
good for me is not good for him, my neighbor feels the wrong; he shrinks from
me as I shrink from him; his eyes no longer seek mine; there is war between us;
there is hate in him and fear in me." —Emerson's Essay on Compensation.
296
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Fear. No music now in the voice of God. No
longing for His approach.
" * * * hide me from the face
Of God. whom to behold was my height
Of happiness " t
Earthly thoughts began to dominate; the care of
the body; the following of devise. As it related es¬
pecially to the men of the world; Jabal's tents and
cattle; Jubal's harps and organs; Tubal-cain's
brass and iron. The spirit of the polygamous La-
mech and his "savage sword song" filled the air:
"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice ;
Ye wives of Lamech give ear unto my speech.
For I have slain a man for wounding me,
And a young man for bruising me:
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold
Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
The one chain of hope that held together, not
only those who "began to call on the name of the
Lord,1' but mankind itself, from a common dissolu¬
tion was the promise of a Saviour, however faintly
it may have been discerned. Singularly enough
this promise was not made either to Adam or to
Eve, first; but to the serpent, as the representative,
Bk. 10, Paradise Lost.
t Gen. 4 '23
THE SERPENT'S CURSE.
297
we may suppose, of the devil.f "And the Lord God
said unto the serpent, 'Becaus-e thou hast done this,
cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every
beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
dust shalt thou eat all the davs of thy life : And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and be¬
tween thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel' " (Gen. 8:14-15).
And is there not a peculiar fitness in this—a
kind of tit-for-tat, to be appreciated? It is as
though the Lord God had said: "Thou hast
wrought this mischief: Thou hast assailed not only
man's peace, but the integrity of Heaven it=elf, thou
shalt not only be cursed, but thy head shall be
bruised by the Seed of thy too confiding instrument.
Take this word then, 0 Serpent, instrument of death,
t "Serpents in general have a natural subtlety beyond other creatures. 'Be
wise as serpents.' But this one had an extraordinary measure of it, being actuated
by a fallen angel who had just apostatized from his holy and happy state. Rev.
20:2, 3, 8. 'The dragon, that old serpent, the devil and Satan goeth out to de¬
ceive the nations;'2 Cor. 11 3, 'The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety;'
Jno. 8:24, 'The devil was a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of
it;' 2 Cor. 2:11, 'We are not ignorant of his devices;' 11:14, 'Satan is transformed
into an angel of light.' " —Dr. J. L. Porter "Self-Interpreting Bible."
* * * "thus the orb he roamed
With narrow search; and with inspection deep.
Considered every creature, which of all
Most opportune might serve his wiles; and found
The serpent subtl st beast of all the field."
—Paradise Lost. Book IX.
298
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
and let it first echo through the realm of darkness:
'Thy head shall be bruised.' "
That the redemptive promise was revealed to
the unhappy Pair, we are not allowed to doubt.
When? The scant account of Moses does not tell. It
is quite possible that they heard the words as pro¬
nounced upon the serpent; and not altogether as
Milton has it come to them through Raphael, the
traditional guardian angel of humanity:
"This ponder, that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blessed : by that seed
Is meant the great Deliverer, who shall bruise
The serpent's head : wherof to thee anon
Plainlier shall be revealed." (Bk. 12).
This, however, is incidental to the fact itself. It is
quite enough that they knew the promise pro¬
nounced; and knowing, believed and hoped. Is a
child born—the male seed first given? "I have
gotten a man from the Lord, Cainis the word
of the joyful mother. Is another child born—
the seed secondly named? Let his name be Abel,
(vanity), says the disappointed mother. Why this
difference of feeling? f
+ "In patristic theology the striking contrast between the brothers was mys¬
tically explained and typically applied in various ways. Augustine, for example,
regards Abel as the representative of the regenerate or spiritual man, and Cain as
the representative of the natural or corrupt." —Brit. Ency. "Abel."
CAIN : ABEL.
299
The explanation given by Thomas Whitelaw is
to the point; and quite as good as any. As it re¬
lates to Cain, our author says: "In Cain's birth she
recognized the earnest and guarantee of the prom¬
ised seed, and in token of her faith gave her child a
name, which may also explain her use of the Divine
name yehov ih instead of Elohitn which she employed
when conversing with the serpent." Concerning
Abel he says: "Abel (vanity) supposed to hint
either that a mother's eager hopes had already be¬
gun to be disappointed in her elder son, or that, hav¬
ing in her first child's name given expression to her
faith, in this she desired to preserve a monument of
the miseries of human life, of which, perhaps, she
had been forcibly reminded by her own maternal
sorrows."
Through with our thoughts on the Privileges
and Duties of this Dispensation, we ask: What
shall we say of the holy men brought to the front—
not all of them, of* course, but those who then rose
to leadership in the Church of God? Whether in
Church or State, leaders are always few. A true
leader is God called and God sustained. Such as we
have already said, are few; nor is the reason far-
800
HISTORY OP DISPENSATIONS.
fetched. Many leaders result in cor.fusion. Each
equals the other, or thinks he does, and nothing can
be done. A pound on each side the scales has them
to remain stationary. G-od works not by many, but
by few, generally; as to the leader-ship, by one and
with such as agree with him. Not in union is
strength found, as we are given to say, but in unity.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church arose un¬
der one genius, Richard Allen. The Methodist
Episcopal under one, Francis Asbury. The entire
Wesleyan movement under one, John Wesley. The
Reformation the same, Martin Luther. Christianity
itself under one—the Captain of our salvation, the
Lord Jesus. Indeed there is but on© God.
Then Thou speakest in vision to Thy
saints,
And saidst, I have laid help upon one
that is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen out of the
people. (Pslm. 89:19.)
The principle here declared is illustrated in this
First Dispensation. It lasted as we have seen nine
hundred and thirty years, under the holy genius and
leadership of the unfortunate Adam ; of whom Jean
Ingelow so plaintively sings:
leaders: who?
801
Daughters of Eve ! it was for jour dear sake
The world's first hero died an uncrowned king
Nine centuries—and a new leader or helper as it
were, was vouchsafed for each new century. We
name them: Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
Enoch, Methustlah, Lamech—eight, with. Adam
nine in all. These, under the presidency of Adam
constituted the College of Patriarchs, in times ante¬
diluvian. Would that we knew more of them and
of the times in which they lived—more of their
"Fightings without and fears within "
Nor are we altogether without information cm these
scores. Living in times characterized as pre-his-
toric, yet by means of the names they bore—thanks
to philology f it is possible to slightlv lift the welT
nigh impenetrable veil of their times, and see,
what, under ordinary conditions would be hidden.
Says authority: "Some philosophers, including
Hobbes, consider names as appellations of our ideas
of things, rather than of the things themselves;
others and John Stuart Mill among the rest, con¬
sider names as appellations of things themselves.f
t See Crooks & Hurst Theol Ency., Vol. p. 68.
+ "It is evident that, in the earliest use .of language, the vocal sound em¬
ployed to designate the first perceived object, of any kind, would be an appellative,
and would be formed of something known or apprehended to be a characteristic of
that object." —Kitto's Cyclopedia of Biblical Knowledge.
+ Conkey's (W. B.) Amer. Ency. Diet.
802
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
Whether we accept one or the other of these theories,
does not effect the argument we make ; for it is as
Leland, (C. G.), has said: "The vigor and intelli
gence shown in our Scripture names were remarka¬
ble. They greatly influenced Hebrew literature,
and are the finest of antiquity." Not so much the
vigor but the intelligence of Hebrew names, is the
means by which glimmers of light are thrown upon
the times in which the first College of Patriarchs
lived. When Eve called her first born, Cain)
whether, as Hobbes would say, it was her idea of
things, or as Mill would say, the appellation of the
things themselves, in no way concerns us. The
thought to her mind was "a man gotten from the
Lord." It is such a fact as this, that makes us to
know somewhat of the times in question, of the
thought of God's people; which was plainly none
other than that of repairing the breach made by the
Fall, and of faith in the promised seed And so of
all the patriarchs in question, the first of whom was
Seth; if we are not to mention the slain Abel.
In keeping with the above, we ask: What is
the condition of things thought to be, as Hobbes
would say : real as Stuart Mill would have it—what
NAMES : THEIR SIGNIFICANCE
308
is the condition of things, that made pertinent the
name of this third mentioned son of the first pair?
Th*1 name Seth means, or carries the idea of compen¬
sation., appointed: Why? What better reason can be
required or given, than that clearly known. Abel
had been slain. Seth was appointed as a compensa¬
tion for the loss. The distressed mother says : "For
God hath appointed me another seed instead of
Abel; for Cain slew him" (Gen. 4:25). "Her other
children probably had gone in the way of Cain,
leaving none to carry on the holy line till this son
was born, whom in faith she expects to be another
Abel in respect to piety but unlike him the head of
a godly family" (Whitelaw on Gen. 4).
To Seth, Enosh was born: Enosh, signifying
substantially, a mortal. From the signification oi
the name of this son, savoring as it does of weakness
and death, as well as from the fact that he was not
born until Seth his father was one hundred and five
years old, it is pertinent to ask: Did Seth have any
children before he begat Enosh? We know he had
them after; for we are distinctly told that he lived
after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years,
and the word is he begat sons and daughters. In-
304
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
deed the inquiry we make here, might have been
made before, even in the case of Adamf who did not
beget Seth until his one hundred and thirtieth year.
Were any children other than Cain born to him be¬
fore? The conclusion we have reached in the matter,
is that it is more reasonable to look upon the sons
of the antediluvian patriarchs mentioned not so
much in the order of birth, if at all, but as those who
had sufficient strength of character to become rep¬
resentative men. Enoch the seventh from Adam as
Jude puts it, is not the seventh individual nor yet
the seventh generation, but the seventh in the line
of those who were called to head the religious ele¬
ment among men.f Supposing the character of hu-
t "Adam and Eve were created, not infants, but in the maturity of their powers
and became parents it is thought within a year of their creation. Abel was born,
perhaps, the next year. We hear nothing more of their children for the next hun¬
dred years, only that they begat sons and daughters. They may have had fifty
children older than Seth. Meanwhile by the twenty-fifth year from the creation
they may have had grand-children; and by the fiftieth year great-grandchildren;
and before the one hundred and thirtieth year, when Abel is supposed to have been
killed, they may have had many of the sixth or seventh generation. Anyone can
make estimate as to the probable number of their descendants In my own opinion
there could hardly have been less than a hundred thousand souls—enough surely
to impress Cain with some fear, as to his own personal safety; especially if it be
considered that some hundreds of these may have been the descendants of Abel
who would not forget the fate of their ancestor, and would be inclined to avenge
it. The whole account is natural and probable on the supposition that Adam and
Eve were the parents of all the living."
—Dr. Enoch Pond, D. D., Conversation on the Bible.
f "Whether Abel was married and had children we are not informed. He lived
long enough to have a numerous posterity, and the probability is that he had one
names: thetr significance.
805
manity to be essentially one and the same in all ages,
and we know it is in so far ns nature is concerned,
it is altogether likely that the children mentioned in
times ante-diluvian as in tim^s post-diluvian, are
pimply those that obtained renown—that exhibited
such extra qualities of head and heart as pushed
them to the front; tall men if you please, in whose
presence, the shorter are entirely forgotten, or not
to be seen. It is possible to maintain such a theory
as this even in the case of Cain, whose ungracious
nature, rugged and strong and bloody made the his¬
torian present him, as though none had ever before
been born. We are not to be understood as declar¬
ing that there were others—only that such a propo¬
sition could be maintained ; with what success re¬
mains to be seen. What we have said can with
greater show of reason be argued of Enosh. Indeed
his name seems to invite such a thought, if not such
Persons who lived to the age of a hundred years in our day sometimes leave as
many as five hundred descendants. Old Thomas Fuller tells of a woman in Eng¬
land, Lady Hester Temple of Buckinghamshire, who left seven hundred descen¬
dants at her death. Supposing Abel to have lived to the age of one hundred and
thirty, or nearly, he may have left more than this, by a whole generation
"That Cain had a wife and children, we do not knew, and if the question be
asked, Whom did he marry? I answer, a sister, a niece, or some near relative un¬
doubtedly. That Adam and Eve had sons and daughters besides those whose
names are mentioned in the Bible, is certain. How many they had we are not in¬
formed, though the probability is that they were pretty numerous. At the age of
twenty-five Cain may have married a sister; at the a^e of fifty, he may have mar¬
ry ed a niece." —Pond's Conversations on the Bible, p 97.
806
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
a conclusion. If we are to believe that only those
existed whose names are mentioned there can be no
significance in the name given him. To allow the
few mentioned to be reinforced only by the "sons
and daughters" declared to have been born to the
father preceding him, if it prove anything, proves
too much in view of the fact that it makes nature to
be fickle.
Nor is all this incidental to the fact in ques¬
tion. Otherwise there is no pertinency in the
name given. Looked at, however, m the light that
our common nature suggests and which the Biblical
account no where contradicts, it is possible to con¬
clude, that even then by reason of an increase of the
race more than geometrical, there were indeed al¬
ready multitudes of people on the earth.f
But what of the man himself or the generation,
holy Seth had in mind, when Enosh became the
t "Starting from a single pair in Eden, in the course of seven generations
the human family must have attained to very considerable dimensions. At the
birth of Seth, Adam was 130 years old, and in all probability had other sons and
daughters besides Cain and his wife. If Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the
line of Cain, was contemporaneous with Enoch, the seventh from Adam in the
line of Seth, at least six hundred years had passed away Mnce the race began to
multiply; and 'if Abram's stock in less than 400 years amounted to 600,000, Cain's
posterity in the like time might arise to the like multitude.' If to these the de¬
scendants of Seth be added, it would at once appear that the earth's population in
the time of Lamech was considerably over 1,000,000 of the inhabitants."
—Whitelaw, P. C.
NAMES : THEIR SIGNIFICANCE, 807
name of his child? It was none other than the men
of the faithful saw as never before, the utter helpless¬
ness of human nature, its sickly condition in so far
as God and religion were concerned, for it was in
the days of Enosh th'.it the Church of God had its
institution or first revival; for are we not told : " * *
*• * then began men to call upon. the name of the
Lord." The era of Enosh may then be ca?led, the
Revival Era.
Says Dr. Porter: "It is evident from this pas¬
sage—'then began men. to call upon the name of
the Lord,' that at the birth of Enosh some remark¬
able change took place in the manner in which the
people of God paid their homage to the Divine Be¬
ing. It would seem that hitherto the worship had
been chiefly ritualistic—by sacrifices and oblations;
and that this had largely degenerated into a cold
and heartless formalism. Now, however, the true na¬
ture of God, as expressed by the name Jehovah, began
to be fully apprehended; and the consequence was
that spiritual worship was given to him—'Then it was
t "Seth, his tather, declared Enash sovereign prince and high priest of man¬
kind, next after himself; that Enosh was the first who ordained public alms for the
poor, established public tribunals for the administration of justice and planted or
rather cultivated the palm tree."
—Robinson's (Edw.) Critical and Explan. Bible Ency,
308
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
begun to invoke the name of Jehovah'. The phrase
is impersonal. In the Hebrew there is no equivalent
to 'menThe mode of invocation was doubtless by
prayer, both private and social; and God was invoked
as Jehovah—the immutable, promising, and faith¬
ful God. The descendants of Cain devoted them¬
selves to the pursuit of the arts and sciences, but
the children of Seth (through Enosh) rose to a
true sense of man's dignity as an accountable and
immortal being. They saw that God was a spirit;
,and they worshipped him in .spirit and in truth."
After Enosh and from his loins came Kenan.
Enosh was then in his ninetieth year. What is the
information the conference of such a name brings?
It is the same as Cain and in a general way
signifies, acquisition or possession Manifestly the idea
is that he was an acquisition not to humanity in
general, as in the case of the first named, but to the
religious work which his father had begun—not the
only acquisition to be sure, but the one of promi¬
nence and leadership. Supposing this to be true we
are made to know that the Revival under his father
Enosh still held sway. That it did not lack for re¬
inforcement.
names: their significance.
809
Mahalalel was born to Kenan, not, however,
until the father had reached his seventieth }7ear.
From the signification of the name, Godshineth light,
or Praise of God, we may reasonably conclude that
religion still held sway. That the daughters of men
were not making complete subjects of all the sons of
God. That there were those upon.whom shined the
heavenly light.
In his sixty-fifth year, Mahalalel begat Jared,
(.Descent). This was in the fifth century of the
world. In the preceding century, as we have seen,
religion may be said to have flourished; at least
among tho religious. In this fifth century we may
conclude that what' proved the beginning of
the end appeared. Mahalalel called this son, Jared,
having an eye, it is possible to believe, to the moral
and religious descent which his prophetic eye had
seen, set in. That it was to this rather than to any
genealogical descent, is plainly discernible in the
primal or root signification of the word ;f for .herein
it is that the force of all words is to be discovered;
at least in so early an age, for then, especially it
t "Dr. James Strong in his fitly styled work, Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible, gives the following definition of the root: 'To descent (lit to go down¬
wards, or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy,
etc., or figuratively, to fall); causat. to bring down (in all the above applications).
810
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
could be said that (Jas. 3:11) a fountain (source)
doth not send forth at the same place sweet water
and bitter.
Jared, personally, was doubtless an exceedingly
holy man. The religious decay revealed to bim was
the daily grief of his heart. Penitence was the at¬
mosphere of his life; prayer, his daily pursuit.
From his loins and in the one hundred and sixty-
second year of his life, sprang Enoch a child of law
as well as of grace, for is it not the law here as else¬
where, "seed yielding fruit after his kind?" "The
name signifies, Dedicated. Manifestly he was a child
of prayer; and illustrated in his glorious life the
fidelity of God. "He walked with God and he was not,
for God took him." His life was comparatively brief
for-all his days were three hundred, sixty and five
years. It is Henry that asks: "Why did God take
him so soon?" The answer to this question a9 given
by the eminent divine, is: "Because the world which
had now grown corrupt, was not worthy of him, or be¬
cause he was so much above the world, and so weary
of it, as to desire a speedy removal out of it, or be¬
cause his work was done, and done the sooner for
minding it so closely."
names: their significance.
311
In the sixt}T-fifth year of the ]ife of this holy
man, he begat Methuselah. From the signification
of this name we are made to understand the real
heaviness of heart, that rested upon .the Church.
The downward tendency continued. Iniquity began
to abound. The love of many wax cold. What
Jude had said was in every heart: "Behold, the
Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones, to
execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the
ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they
have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things
which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him"
(Jude 14-15). All this we know in a way more gen¬
eral, than particular, as it relates to the signification
of his name, Gesenius has it to signify: "Man of a
dart." James Strong the same. Others: "Man
of the missile." Still others : "The arms or spoil
of his death." Uncertain all this we must acknowl¬
edge. But the one thing upon which we may de¬
pend is that it indicates a condition of things by no
means hopeful and inspiring. Such, we think, as
we have described. As is well known, Methuselah
has the rare distinction of living the longest of any
human being; nine hundred and sixty-nine years,
312
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
To Methuselah, Lamech was born . He repre¬
sents the Church of the ninth century A. M., as his
father may be thought to especially represent it in
the eighth, century. The same uncertainty rests
over the signification of his name, as over that of
his father. Gesenius has it to mean: "strong or
young man." Furst: "overthrower, wild man."
Strong, frankly says: "from an unused root, of un¬
certain meaning." It is quite certain that the con¬
dition of things which prompted the name, was not
wholesome to religion.
As indicative of what has been said above, La¬
mech named the son whom he begat in the one hun¬
dred and eighty-second year of his life, Noah, which
signifies, rest. As it relates to this name, it has been
said: "To say that Lamech anticipated nothing
more than that the youthful Noah would assist him in
the cultivation of the soil (Murphy) is to put too
little into it, and to allege that 'this prophecy his
father uttered of him as he that should be a figure
of Christ in his building of the ark, and offering of
Sacrifice, whereby God smelled a sweet savor of rest,
and said he would not curse the ground any more
for man's sake (Ainsworth), is to extract too much
names: their significance.
813
from his language. Possibly he had nothing but a
dim vague expectation of some good thing—the de¬
struction of sinners in the Flood (Chrysostem), the
use of the plow (Rabbi Solomon), the grant of ani¬
mal food (Kalisch), the inventions of the arts and
implements of husbandry (Sherlock, Bush)—that
God was about to bestow upon his weary heritage ;
or at most a hope that the promise would be fulfilled
in his son's day (Bonar), if not in his son, himself,
(Calovius)." In all this we cannot fail to see the
mind of the Church, in this, the last century of its
First Dispensation. It was the Waiting Era, when
the souls of the pious with one acclaim, could be
heard to say : "All the days of my warfare would
I wait" (Job 14:14).
As a summation of all,f what shall we say of
The following- summation of what was believed in this First Dispensation,
begining with Adam, will doubtless be of interest to the reader:
t "Dr. Beer, a German Rabbi of great learning, presents the following nine
Articles of Faith as those held by Adam; gleaned, he argued from the first ten
chapters of Genesis. Adam, he thinks, must have held: 1. That God alone cre¬
ated the universe; that he existed- ~A necessity, before creation, and must exist for¬
ever withont change, which would imply that He is Immaterial and Eternal. 1.
That harmony prevails throughout creation, each part fitting like the wheels of a
watch into the whole design and working with every other, to bring about the one
great end of universal perfection, happiness and peace. Hence, Adam must have
realized that the great Master of the Whole was one, only and Allwise 3. That
this Great Being made the world from nothing; that the existence of all creatures
depends absolutely on His will; that He interrupts the course of nature, that is.
314
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
the First Dispensation? Chiefly to be noticed is the
weakness of its leaders. Beyond question the fall¬
en nature they inherited, for it is significantly said :
"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and
begat a son in his own likeness, after his image"—had
much to do with it. Yet, make what allowence we
may for the potency of sin, still were the majority
of the m°n composing the College of Patriarchs in
times antediluvian, weak and largely spiritless. To
begin with they were a goodly company; and it was
as true then as in centuries after: "* * * five
of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of
you shall chase ten thousand" (Lev. 26:8). God,
once their Rock had indeed, so sold the children of
works miracles, when he thinks fit, and that He is, therefore Supreme and Almighty.
4. That all that has been oris owes its first source to Him, and has been and is
upheld directly by Him—that is He is Omnipresent. 5. That he created man, as to
His soul, in His own image; that is spiritual, free and immortal, Hence he must
love virtue and hate vice, or in other words, He must be a Holy God. 6. That the
lot of man is often felt to correspond with his conduct, thus showing the Righte¬
ousness of God. But, the fall that is not always realized here, is an absolute proof
that our conduct and our lot will be brought, hereafter to correspond Hence, Adam
must havi bel'eved in a future state. 7. That God watches with an all-embracing
Providence, overall things; especially over man at large, and each indiv dual in
particular, and thus must be All Good. 8. That man is weak and wrought upon
by impulses from within and temptations from without That when he sins God
pardons him, on his seeing and repenting of his fault. Thus Adam must have be¬
lieved in the Tender Pity and Mercy of the Heavenly Father. 9. That God de¬
mands, not on His own account, for He is high above all wants, but for the good
of man himself, our homage and obedience to His Sovereign will, not only in the
most secret thoughts but also outwardly; and that He has hence given us com¬
mands and Prohibitions—some of abiding force, others for particular circumstacnes
and times."
LACK OF FAITH.
315
Cain—so delivered them up, that in keeping with the
■above promise, one Sethite could have chased a
thousand, and two could have put ten thousand to
flight.f Why was it not done? Weakness: lack of
faith in the might of God. And then the ages to
which they lived: Not centenarians, as now, but
almost millenarians; for they all saw the revolu¬
tions of quite nine hundred years. What masters in
the service of G-od, these ages of experience should
have made them; and supposing them to have even
a measure of the spirit as was after possessed by
Phinehas of Eleazar:
"Then stood up Phinehas and executed
judgment" (Psl 103:30),
how would religion have flourished, even in this the
beginning of the Dispensation. Nor let us comfort
ourselves with the thought that all "has turned out
well. All did not turn out well. What of the
Flood and its attending horrors? What of the mis¬
eries of sin in general The most that can be said is:
' Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee:
The residue of wrath shalt thou gird upon Thee "
—(1M 76:10)
On the contrary to all this, imagine these Patriarchs
of the First Order to have had the faith that '-sub-
t Daut. 32:0) Josh. 23:10.
316 HIBTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the-
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out
of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens"—
imagine, this we say, and how different would
read the history of the world, both secular and relig¬
ious—if indeed there would have been any secular.
Nor let any conclude that such an imagining is vain.
Far from it. It is the human side that should ever
concern us; and not the side Divine. What God has
wrought, is with Him. The performance of duty is
always with us; to be praised when done, to be con¬
demned when undone. A lesson, all this, the world
is slow to learn; sadly illustrated even in our own
day. Had the fathers of the white American peo¬
ple done away with slavery when such was possible,
the blood and treasure of the war of the Rebellion
had been averted. .Had Spain administered justice
to her colonies, when it was easily possible for her
to do it, how different her plight would be. But in
all this, these men of the Adamic era, simply
showed themselves to be men of the common type;
such as we rub against every day. They simply
SONG IN THE CHURCH.
317
show that spiritual decadence is one and the s:ime
thing in every age.
Bat let us not dismiss these ancient ones under
such a cloud as this. On the contrary, let it be said,
that if they did uot retain everything, they did not
surrender everything. The fire of worship was re¬
kindled upon altars newly built. The Church in a
sense was kept together. Worship was no longer an
exercise of the closet and the family. Solemn as¬
semblies were called. Hymns of praise were sung.
If not this last, why not? Had not, Jubal said:f
"'This wonder which my soul hath found.
This heart of music in the might of sound,
Shall forthwith be the share of all our race
And like the morning gladden common space:
The song shall spread and swell as rivers do
And I will teach our youth with skill to woo
This living lyre, to know its secret will,
Its fine division of the good and ill."
And again as pertaining directly to the will of the
children of Seth the religious of the day:
''Here have I found my thirsty soul's desire
Eastward the hills touch heaven, and evening's fire
Flames thro deep water; I will take my rest
And feed anew from my great mother's breast.
t George Eliot's "Legend of Jubal."
818
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
The sky-clasped Earth whose voices nurture me
As the flowers' sweetness doth the honey-bee !
He lingered wandering for many an age,
And, sowing music, made high heritage
For generation far beyond the Flood "
Music in the worship before the Flood? Why
not? "It is neither justifiable nor necessary to trace
a difference of moral character in the different cal¬
lings which Cain and Abel selected, though probably
their choices were determined by their talents and
their tastes."f And the same may be said to hold
good of their descendents.
But the end of the Dispensation draws nigh.
The day of Adam's dissolution rapidly approaches.
Then as now, sooner or later, the longest lived,
must die. 11 He died,'" can be said of all the race,
save Enoch and Elijah. "And all the days that
Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years:f
and he died" (Gen. 5:5). But how? Unless the
religious and indeed we might say the whole nature
of man has radically changed we can fairly conclude
t Whitelaw Exposition.
t "Some natural causes may be assigned for their long- life in those first ages
of the world. It is very probable that the earth was more fruitful, that the pro¬
ductions of it were more strengthing, that the air was more healthful, and that the
influences of the heavenly bodies were more benign, before the flood than after¬
wards." —Henry's Comment.
adam's death
819
as to the incidents of his death hour. Personally
his mind rested upon the past: Eden, the Fall, the
Divine voice, the Expulsion, the Grief, the flaming
Cherubim—the centuries of sunshine and shadow
Was Eve alive, we cannot doubt her presence by the
side of the expiring couch. Of this last converse be¬
tween them—it was such as two wedded souls are
wont to have: their mutual woes and joys. And then
the children ! Cain, Abel, Seth, each was remem¬
bered. But how differently Silence the most om¬
inous at the mention of him who is rated the first¬
born. Mother heart then as now, was ready to ask:
"Where is my wandering boy?"
Poor Abel; Ah, the mention of his name brought
tears. As to Seth what would be more in keeping
with the promptings of our common nature, than to
have. him call Seth, with whom we cannot
doubt, the first parents made their home and linked
their destiny. Seth the religious. But be not too
curious to know the full transactions—the thoughts
and words of this last interview. We cannot
doubt that it turned upon God and the religious
destiny of the race. And so the day wore away.
The flow of sandled feet toward the fated domicile
320
HISTORY OF DISPENSATIONS.
gradually abated. The whispers of inquiry ceased.
The quiet of evening approached. The call upon the
name of the Lord had been made. The hills brought
the departing shadows of the sun, which, some¬
how had shown with singular brilliancy during each
fleeting hour. As it dropped like a ball of gold be-
neah the horizon the eye of the dying patriarch caught
the scene. Too feeble to rise, his great black eye sad¬
dened by the tears of centuries, rested upon it. He
saw God : "Under his feet as it were a paved work
of sapphire stone and as it were the very heaven for
clearness." And upon the nobles round him—who
shall say that it was not then as in the ages after
"upon the nobles he laid not his hand; and they be¬
held God arid did eat and drink."
"Suffice it if—his good and ill unreckoned.
And both forgiven through God's abounding grace—
He finds himself by hands familiar beckoned
Unto his fitting p'ace '' —Whittier on Death.
Off the heavenly scene, all eyes present, turned
again toward the common father of them all; but
he was not. The eyes were closed ; the arms folded;
the limbs straightened, as though ministering hands
had performed these offices of love. Adam was no
more. He was dead.
adam'h death.
821
"All was ended now, the hope, and the fear,
and the sorrow,
All the aching of heart, the restless,
unsatisfied longing,
All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish
of patience.
—Longfellow's Evangeline-
And with him in a way the First Dispensation,
officially, may be said to have closed; The "first
period of the world." f
t ' The ancient Arabians tell us that Adam was buried at Hebron, in the cave
of Machpelah, which Abraham, many years after bought for a burying place for
himself and family."
TNDEX.
INDEX TO VOL. I.
What a Key is to a lock, a door, a building, an Index is to a book. Without
a Key it is quite impossible to push back the forbidding- bolt of the lock, quite im¬
possible to open the door and enter the building. Of course an entrance could
be forced; but this is out of the ordinary and is not to be desired. Even so, in the
case of a book. All the goodly offices of a Key are performed by an Index By it
the book may be said to be as readily entered as is the building.
We feel to congratulate the readers of our "Dispensat ons in the Church,"
upon the following Index so intelligently and industriously made by Rev. J. Q.
Johnson, St. John's A. M. E. Church, Montgomery, Ala. As a Key that is golden
it enables one to enter, and behold at a glance, the beauties with which we essayed
to adorn our literary structure. It is scarcely necessary to say, he has ourthanks;
and we almost presume to offer him the thanks of all our readers. He who can
work so ably for others will doubtless one day work for himself.
THE AUTHOR.
Episcopal Residence,
kansas city, kan.
march 31, 1899.
Abram, God's promise to, 178
Absolutism of God, - - ISO
Acceptable Year, - - - - 29, 87
Adam as Prophet, - 217
Adar: Hercules, - 148
Aeschylus .... 42
Africa, Hamitic, - - - - 95
Africa, Plutarch, Herodotus and Josephus on, - 97
Africa, Settlement of by Cush, Mizraim,
Phut, Sons of Ham, - - 97
INDEX.
Africans, Swedenborg1s high opinion of
Age of Worlds -
Agnostics, unreasonable views of, on Cruelty
of Hebrews, -
Al-Koran,
Ammi-Zaduga, King,
Amos, prophet,
Angus, ....
Antinomianism, ...
Aratus, -
Asher, tribe of
Ashmore, H. B. -
Asia. Shemitic, ...
Bacchus - - + -
Balaam, prophet,
descent, Shemitic and Abrahamic, -
Baptism, ....
.4 religious form - • -
Origin of.
Scripture writers on,
Sacrament of,
Method of, -
Meaning of, -
Paul and Peter on,
Not essential to Salvation, -
Subjects of, -
of Young Children, -
Barnes, -
Bede. -
Bengel, -
Benson, -
Berosus. -
His account of Flood,
Bochartus, -
324 INDEX.
Book 'of the Dead, - - - -92
Bounds of Habitation, - 189
Brahmo-Somaj, - 213
''British Quarterly'1'1 - - - 59
Bryant, - - - - 193
Buddha, - - - - - 213
Caffin, B.C. - - - - - 177
Calvin, - 282
Calvinism, ..... 264
Canaan, posterity of, ... 98
Carlyle, - - 57, 252, 253
Cecil ..... 263
" Century Dictionary ,M - - - - 36
Chaucer, - - . - - 210
" L-hautauquan" .... 181
Children in the Church. ... 278
China, Partition of, - - - 181
Chronology of Bible, ■ - - 48
of Flood, - - - - 158
Cicero, - - - - - 211
Clarke, Adam, - 108, 222
Clark, James Freeman, ... 192
Confucius, - - - - - 92
Congress of Religions, - - - 197,254
Conquered Standpoint - - - - 59
Cook, Joseph, - 197
Council of Deity, - - - 46
'' Create,'' Hebrew meaning of, - - 66
Creation to Deluge. - - - - 54
Versus Evolution, - 58
Creative Days, - - - - 61
Critical Study of Bible, - 62, 63
Cross of Jesus born by a Hamite, - - 204
Cuneiform Tablet, - 142
INDEX
Cush, Hebrew for Ethiopia,
Cushim, The
Daniel, Prophet, his tunes,
Trained in Babylon,
Watson on his Prophecy,
Darwin,
Dawson,
Deaconess,
Deane, W. J. -
Degeneracy of Man,
Deluge, to Migration of Abram
Tables of,
Sippara Version of,
Derrick, Bishop IV. B.,
Descen' of Negro,
Bible best Authority on,
De Vignoles on Chronology,
Dictation of God,
Diodorus Siculus, -
Diogenes Laertius,
Dispensation, defined,
Significance of,
Divi'ie Adequacy, The
Division of the Land,
Survey of,
Lofs Cast for.
Apportioned to Tribes,
Joshua divides,
Dobson,
Doddridge.
Douay Version,
Dunbar,
Rbed-Melech Ethiopian,
'' Kcce CoelunC quoted,
826
INDEX.
Edersheim ... - - 181
Edwards, yonathan - - - - 89
Egypt, Greek for Mizraim - 101
Enlargement of yapheth - - - 180
Enoch, prophet - - - 198, 218
Epimenides ----- .192
Eratosthenes—Hamitic descent of
Father of Chronology - 48
Essay on man - 289
Ethnology, A plea for 12
Europe, yaphetic - - - - 95
Euselnus - - - - - 75
Evolution vs. Creation 58
Evolution, What? - - - - 59
Huxley on, - - - 58
"Final terms"1 58
" Conquered Standpoint'' 59
Against the Veracity of Bible, 61
Ezekiel, his Times; Son of Buzi Banished to 7'el-abib 228
His prophecies - 229
Faber - . 268
First Dispensation: - - - - 284
Fisher, Geo. P. • - - - 290
Flood, The - 185
General belief Concerning, - - 185
Remembrance of, - - 187
Tradition of\ - - - - 189
Secular record of \ - - - 141
Berosus' account of, - 141
Izdhubar"*s account of, - 145-158
Scheil's discovery, - - 158-155
Chronology of, 158
yob on, - - - - 159-101
N. T. Account, - 162
INDEX.
827
Traces of in Egypt, - - - - 167
Universality, - 168
Objections, 169, 178
Original accounts, Hamitic, - - - 166
Freeman, J, M., - - - - 86
Geikie, - 141
" Genesis Re-read- - - - 136
Genesis, Tenth, importance of. 18
Gesenius, - - - - - 227
£*'//, John, - - - 177,178, 179, 189
God's want of Men, - 201
Green, S. G., - - - - 58
Habakkuk, prophecies, - 242
Famous soliloquy, - 243
Hagqai, prophet, - - - 245, 246
Hales, Dr., - 75
Ham, the father of all Africa, 96
Psalms on, see Ps
r<8 :51; 105:23, 37; 106: 21-22
His four sons, . - - - 97
His contribution to true faith, - - 202
His equality with his brothers, - - 206
Bishop J. P. Newman on, - - 207
Hannah's song, - - - - 117
Haynes, J.H., - - - • 55
Hilprecht, H. V. - - - - 55
Henry, Matthew - - 38
Herodotus - 169
Hillerus
Hitchcock, C. H.,
239
80
Holmes, - - " "
Hor?ic.
195
Hosea, prophet, - 232
Huidekoper,
211
828
INDEX.
Hurlbut, J. L,
Huxley, - "
Hydrostatic pressure,
Image of God, its meaning, - ,
Infant damnation, - -
Ingelow, Jean -
Inspiration, what it is
Inspired Record, - -
Introduction -
Isaac's Prophecy
Isaiah and Paul, agreement of ,
His times; his father; his wife a
prophetess; his children;man-
ner of death
Writings authorship and analysis of
Messianic prophecies
Izdhubar's account of flood
Jacob's prophecy
Jacobus M. W.
Japheth, his enlargement
J amies on, Robt.
Jastrow, Prof Morris
Jeremiah, Prophet
Lamentations of; delivered by Ebed-
Melechan Ethiopian ; carried
into Egypt
Author of some Psalms
His prophecies
Jerome -
Job on creation -
Antiquity of Book of-
On the flood -
IVot a Hebreiv
Joel, prophet -
INDEX 329
Johnson, Rev. Prof - - . 186
yonah .... 287-238
Joseph - - - - 188
His prophecy - - - 222
Josephus - . . . 82-178
Judah - 137
Jude, prophet - - _ _ 199
Judith's plea - - •- _ Hg
Kenrick - - - _ - 170
Kit to - - - .. . 185
Koppe, J. B. - - - - 225
Lantech as prophet - - - 218
Lunge - - - . . 140
Larcher - 1(39
Levi - - - _ 187
Lewis, Tayier - 139
Likeness of man to God - - - 72
"Lippincotts Maga-zine'n 59
Longfellow - 14-193
Loquacity of Ham - - - 165
"Lot'''1 defined - 185
Lowth - 77
Luther - 52
Magnificat - 120
Mahan _____ 126
Malachi prophet, a real person - - 249
Man a religious creature 57
Manetho ----- 92
Afasoretic Text 52
Marine remains in Egypt - - - 1 < 0
McClintock - 140-158
Messianic prophecy - - 226
Methodist Episcopal church - - - 86
Biased investigations of 89
330
INDEX.
On Noah^s three sons - - - 89
Micah prophet - 238-239
Mightiness of God - - - - 175
Milman - - - - - - 190
Views on Chronolo gy 50
Milton - .... 46-192
Minor prophets - - - - 231
"Missing Link" 80
Mizraim, Hebrew for Egypt 13
Moses, trained by Ham - - - 204
Muses - - - - 209
Mysteries of earth - 174
"Nabi," Hebrew for prophet - 192
Nabiim, prophets - 240
Naphtali .... - 188
Their significance - 305
Nargarkar - - - "212
NeaWs Bernard of Cluny ■ - - 28
Negro, his descent - - - 86
M. E. church, on 87
Drs. J. H Vincent, J". M. Free¬
man, J. L. Hurlbut, on - - 86
Swedenborg, on; African patrimony of - 95
Not cursed - - - - 98
Nergal, God of war - ... 148
Newman yohn Henry 38
Nizir. land of - ... 149
Noah as prophet - - - - 219
His sons 89
Obidiah - . - - - 235-236
Oehler - 27, 159
Ordination of women - 108
Adam Clarke on 108
INDEX.
881
Br ought on on, - - - 108
Ordmition; appointment - - 111
Bishop Turner on, - - - 182
Origen - - - - - 75
Origin of man 57
Mosaic testimony - - 68-78
Job's testimony - 75-78
Solomon on, - - - 78
Isaiah on, - - 79
Orpheus - - 209
O ven --_-_--8
"Parochial sermons'' - 38
Phinehas - - - - - 215
Partition of China - 181
Paul and Isaiah agreement of, - - 36
Peck, Rev. Dr. - - • - . - 287
"Personal religion''' defined - - - 38
Phut, posterity of, - - - 100
Pope's Essay on Man - - - 289
Plato - - - - - - 211
Plumptre ... - - - 42
Plutarch - - ... - 97
Pond. Dr. E. 29
Porter . - - - 234
Prayer, method of - - - - 258
" Pre-adamite^ 89
Promise to Abram - - 178
Prophecy - - - " " !qJ
Century Dictionary on, - -
Apostle Peter on, - - - 194
Home
195
195
196
Classification of,
Robertson Smith - 195
Limited to Shemetic race - ~ 196
332 INDEX.
"Prophet," meaning of, - " 099^90
Prophets, Major and Minor - - * *
Number of, "
999
Prophetesses, - "
of O. T. - - ' ~ 115
ofN T. - - - - 121
Pseudo Epiphanius, - 239
"Pulpit Commentary" quoted, - 41,75,160,186
Rabbi Kohut, - 204
Raleigh, - - - - 172
Rawlinson, - 81,55,88,166
Raymond. Miner, - - - - 291
Record'' Phila , 181
Redwood Archbishop, - - - 253
Religion Universal, - 253
Religious form, . - - - - 252
Renouf, - 168
Reuben's Character, - 187
Review A. M. E. Ch., - - - 136
Robinson, Dr. Edw., - 52,290
Rodiger, .... 66
,SW^, J/r. - 254
Salvation of Shem, - 196
Samaritan Pentateuch, - - - 52
Satan s Promises, - - - - 177
Scaliger, - - - - - 51,52
Scheil,Discovery of - - - 153
■5Vw7, ZV. Thos. - - - 31
Secular Record, - 141
Septua^int, - 52,-71
"Se7>en Great Monarchies" - - 55
----- 126,198
Shakespeare, - 62,192
Sibylline s, - - - - - 211
INDEX.
Simeon, -
Smith, C. S.
Smith, Dr. Robertson
Smith, W. B.
Soloman's Workmen
On Creation,
A great Naturalist,
Song in the Church,
Sophocles, -
Sovereignty of God,
Spurge on,
Steward, T. G.
Survey of Land,
Swedenborg,
Tanner, Bishop B. T.
Tanner, H. O. Artist,
Taylor, Prof. IV. S.
Tendency to worship,
Terry on Man1 s Antiquity,
Theory of Chronology in Bible,
Thomson,
Tillotson Archbishop,
Timothy, Circumcision of,
Tire si is,
Tradition of Flood,
Trinity in Unity,
Turner, Bishop FT. M.
" Tuskegee Lectures
Unity of Race, Paul on,
Universality of Flood,
Usher,
Vaticination,
Veracity of Bible,
Vincent, Dr. J. H.
334 INDEX.
Volcanic Cones, - - - ^
Vulgate, - - - -it
Vvas, - 213
Ward. Dr. W. H. 158
Watson Dr. R. - - - 85,197
Way man, Bishop, - - - 11
Whedon. - 122
Whitelaw, - 44,49,157
Whitman, Dr. A. A.poet, - - 193
Whitney, - - - - 36
Wilson, Edward J, - - 168
Worship, Man1 s tendency to - - 250
Xisuthros - 143
Year, Acceptable, - - 29
Zechariah, Prophet, - ' 247
Zend Avesta, - - - - 193
Zephaniah, - - - 243
Zion',? Herald, - 57,168
Zoroaster, - - - - 213