058. "A Lamp in Jerusalem"

"A Lamp in Jerusalem"

(1 Kings 15:4) A native in the Bible Lands will not sleep in a dark room. However poor he may be, he absolutely must have some light. To them it is the symbol of the supremacy of good over evil, the triumph of life over death. An Eastern home is never in darkness except for one of two reasons. Either the inmates of the home are dead, or the house is deserted. The many references to lamps are symbolic of the continuance of a family. Job says (Job 18:5-6), "the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him."

We see in Proverbs 13:9, "The light of the righteous re- joiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out."