01. "I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES."
I also illustrated the subject by a reference to Heb. vi. 4--6; and x. 26--30. But, as these and other passages are all dealt with at length in the following pages I need not do more now than refer my readers to them.
Our conversation continued (as I have said) till noon; and, as it proceeded, my friends could hardly contain themselves for joy. As for myself I began to see in what form I should respond to my friends' desire to "enjoy the Bible." On my journey home to England I thought much, and long, and often, of my pleasant intercourse with my new friends: and I was impressed by the thought that what they needed, thousands needed; and that the vast majority of Bible readers who were filled with the same deep desire to "enjoy the Bible" were beset by the same difficulties in attaining that desire. Shortly after my return to England my thoughts began to take shape, and finally resolved themselves into what now appears in the "Table of Contents," and which x in the following September I had the great joy of going over with my new friends.
I visited them again in their home this September (1907), and had the pleasure of reading over with them the proof of this "Preface," so that it might faithfully record all that had so happily taken place.
This explanation of the origin of this work will show that no better title could be chosen, or would so well describe its object, and explain its end. My prayer is that, the same Spirit who inspired the words in the Scriptures of Truth, may also inspire them in the hearts of my readers and may cause each to say (with David), "I rejoice in Thy words as one that findeth great spoils" (Ps. cxix. 162): and to exclaim (with Jeremiah), "Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (Jer. xv. 16.) It was this combination of the "WORD" and the "WORDS," both here and in John xvii. 8, 17, that suggested the sub-title: "The Word and the words; how to study them."
Part I. deals with the "Word" as a whole. Part II. deals with the "words"; and, under twelve Canons, gives the important methods which must be observed and followed if we would understand, and enjoy them. A varying number of illustrations is given under each division; these are by no means exhaustive; and are intended only as a guide to further study. This work should be gone carefully through, with Bible in hand, in order to verify the statements put forward, and to enter on the margins of the Bible notes for future use.
This may be done individually; but, better still, in small classes meeting for the purpose, when each point could be made clearer and more profitable by mutual study and conversation.
xi
With the hope that this course will be adopted by its many readers in many countries and climes, this work is at length sent forth.
My thanks are due to all those who, on hearing of its projection, volunteered their financial help to ensure its publication: and, above all, to "the God of all grace," and "the spirit of wisdom and understanding" for bringing it to a happy issue. ETHELBERT W. BULLINGER
LONDON,
September, 1907.
xii
INTRODUCTION
"Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live."—Deut. viii. 3.
THUS is it asserted that the WORD and the WORDS of Jehovah constitute the food of the New nature.
As in the natural sphere so in the spiritual, the desire (or appetite) for the food which is the proper support of each respectively, is the sign of natural and spiritual health.
Attention to diet is becoming more and more recognized as essential to nutrition and growth.
A low condition of bodily health is produced by inattention to the laws of nature as to suitable diet. As this leads to the "drug habit," or to the immoderate use of stimulants in the natural sphere, so it is in the spiritual sphere. A low condition of spiritual health is produced by improper feeding or the neglect of necessary food, which is the Word of God; and the end is a resort to all the many modern fashions and novel methods and widely advertised nostrums in the Religious world in the attempt to remedy the inevitable results. The Root of all the evils which abound in the spiritual sphere at the present day lies in the fact that the Word and the words of God are not fed upon, digested, and assimilated, as they ought to be.
If we ask the question, Why is this the case? the answer is, The Bible is not enjoyed because the Bible is not understood. The methods and rules by which alone such an understanding may be gained are not known or followed; hence the Bible is a neglected book. xiii
INTRODUCTION
The question Philip addressed to the Eunuch (Acts viii. 30, 31) is still greatly needed:
*Understandest thou what thou readest?*
And the Eunuch's answer is only too true to-day:
*How can I, except some man should guide me?*
The following pages are written with the object of furnishing this "guide." Certain canons or principles are laid down, and each is illustrated by applying them to certain passages by way of examples. These are intended to be taken only as examples; and the principles involved are intended to be used for the elucidation of other passages in the course of Bible study. The Word of God is inexhaustible. It is, therefore, neither useful, nor indeed practicable to extend these examples beyond certain limits.
By the aid of these twelve simple canons or rules, other passages and subjects may be taken up and pursued both with pleasure and profit—subjects which are even yet matters of controversy and of conflict.
We have to remember that the Bible is not a book of pure Science on the one hand, nor is it a book of Theology on the other. Yet all its science is not only true, but its statements are the foundation of all true science. And, it is Theology itself; for it contains all that we can ever know about God.
The cloud that now rests over its intelligent study arises from the fact that it is with us to-day as with the Jews of old—"The Word of God has been made of none effect by the traditions of men" (Matt. xv. 1—9).
Hence it is that on some of the most important questions, especially such as Biblical Psychology, we are, still, in what the great Lord Bacon calls "a desert." He alludes to those "deserts" in history, where discovery or research comes to a stand-still, and we get schoolmen instead of philosophers; and clerics instead of discoverers. xiv
INTRODUCTION
The Reformation came as an oasis after one of these deserts. Men were sent from the stagnant pools of tradition to the fountain-head of truth. But within two or three generations the Church entered the desert again; Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms took the place of the open Bible; the inductive method of Bible study was abandoned, and to day it is scarcely understood. One party abides by "Catholic consent" or the "Voice of the Church." Other parties in the same way abide by the dicta of some who had stronger minds. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Darby, and Newton would be surprised to-day to find that those who question what they believed are treated as guilty of presumption, and of a sin to be visited with excommunication! These good men little thought that the inferences which they drew from the Bible would be raised to a position of almost equality with the Bible itself.
The result of all this is too painfully evident. Controversies, bitterness, strifes have been engendered. These have taken the place of simple Bible study. If studied at all it has been too much with the view of finding support for one or other of the two sides of these controversies, instead of with the object of discovering what God has really revealed and written for our learning. Failing to understand the Scriptures we cease to feed on them; then as a natural consequence, and in inverse proportion, we lean on and submit to "the doctrines of men," and finally reach a theological desert.
Bishop Butler has pointed out the way back to the land of plenty and of delight. He has shown that the only way to study the Word of God is the way in which physical science is studied. He says:¹ "As it is owned, the whole scheme of Scripture is not yet understood, so, if it ever comes to be understood before the restitution ¹ Analogy, Part II., ch. 3.
xv
INTRODUCTION of all things, and without miraculous interpositions, it must be in the same way as natural knowledge is come at, by the continuance and progress of learning and liberty, and by particular persons attending to, comparing, and pursuing intimations scattered up and down it, and which are overlooked and disregarded by the generality of the world." On this another writer¹ has remarked, "Thus, the way of discovery still lies open to us in Divine things if we have only the moral courage to go to the fountain-head of truth, instead of filling our vessel out of this or that doctor's compendium of truth . . . Were Bishop Butler's method of inductive research into Scripture more common than it is we should not have stood still so long, as if spell-bound by the shadow of a few great names. 'It is not at all incredible,' Bishop Butler adds, 'that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as yet undiscovered.' Such a saying is worthy of Butler. It is only a philosopher who can allow for time and prescription. The majority of mankind think that they think; they acquiesce, and suppose that they argue; they flatter themselves that they are holding their own, when they have actually grown up to manhood, with scarcely a conviction that they can call their own. So it always was, and so it will ever be. The Divine things of the Word are no exception, but rather an instance. The more difficult the subject, and the more serious the consequences of error, the more averse the majority are to what is called 'unsettling men's minds'; as if truth could be held on any other tenure than the knight's fee of holding its own against all comers. Protestantism has brought us no relief against this torpid state of mind, for, as the error is as deep as the nature of man, we cannot expect any deliverance from it so long as the nature of man continues the same, ¹ Rev. J. B. Heard, M.A., Tripartite Nature of Man, p. 358.
xvi
INTRODUCTION and his natural love of truth almost as depraved as his natural love of holiness."
But the way of discovery, as Bishop Butler has pointed out, still lies open before us; and it is our object in this work to enter on that way, and study the Bible from within and not merely from without.
We believe that only thus we shall be furnishing just that help which Bible students need.
It may be the work of others to explore Geography, History, Natural History, Chronology; the antiquities of Assyria, Palestine, Egypt, and Babylon; all these are legitimate subjects of systematic research, which cannot but help us in understanding more of the Word of God. But our object is to "Open the book"; to let it speak; to hear its voice; to study it from within itself; and have regard to other objects and subjects, only from what it teaches about them.
The method of the "Higher" criticism is to discredit a Book, or a passage on internal evidence. Our method is to establish and accredit Holy Scripture on internal evidence also, and thus to derive and provide, from its own pharmacopœia, an antidote to that subtle and malignant poison. This method of study will reveal more convincing and "infallible proof" of inspiration than can be adduced from all the reasonings and arguments of men.
Like Ezra of old, our desire is to
"OPEN THE BOOK"
and let it speak for itself, with the full conviction that if this can be done it can speak more loudly, and more effectively for itself, than any man can speak on its behalf
May the Lord deign to use these pages, and make them to be that "guide" to a better understanding and a greater enjoyment of His own Word.
E. W. B.
LONDON,
September, 1907.
xvii b 2
PART I
| | *Page* |
| --- | --- |
| THE WORD OF GOD AS A WHOLE | |
| INTRODUCTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1 |
| I. THE ONE GREAT OBJECT OF THE WORD . . . . . | 7 |
| i. The LIVING Word, making known the Father . . . . . | 7 |
| ii. The WRITTEN Word, revealing the Son. . . . . | 8 |
| iii. The LIVING and the WRITTEN Word . . . . . | 9 |
| II. THE ONE GREAT SUBJECT OF THE WORD . . . . . | 14 |
| i. CHRIST in the *Word* as a whole. | |
| The KING and the KINGDOM in Promise, in Proclamation, Rejection, Abeyance, and Mani- festation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 14 |
| ii. CHRIST in the SEPARATE BOOKS of the WORD . . . . . | 19 |
| III. THE ONE GREAT REQUIREMENT OF THE WORD | |
| —“RIGHTLY DIVIDING” IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 26 |
| i. As to its LITERARY FORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 29 |
| 1. The TWO TESTAMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 29 |
| 2. The SEPARATE BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 29 |
| 3. The Divisions of the Hebrew Text . . . . . . . . . . | 32 |
| (a) Into open and closed Sections . . . . . . . . . . | 32 |
| (b) Into *Sedarim* or Triennial Pericopes . . . . . . . | 32 |
| (c) Into *Parashioth* or Annual Pericopes . . . . . . . | 33 |
| 4. The DIVISIONS of the GREEK TEXT . . . . . . . . . | 33 | xix
5. The Divisions of the VERSIONS, AND THE ENGLISH BIBLE
(a) Into Chapters 33
(b) Into Verses 34
(c) The Chapter-Breaks 34
(d) The Headings of Chapters and Pages 37
(e) The Punctuation 37
(1) Changes in Edition of 1611 to be preferred to later Editions . . 40
(2) Changes in later Editions which are improvements on the 1611 . . 42
(3) Changes now proposed as most desirable . . . . . . . 43
(f) Parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 ii. As to its SUBJECT MATTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 1. The JEW, the GENTILES, and the CHURCH of God 65
2. The GENTILES 69
3. The EPISTLES to the DISPERSION . . . 73
(a) James 73
(b)Hebrows 76 iii. As to its TIMES and DISPENSATIONS . . . 78
1. The word "DISPENSATION" 78
2. The SEVEN Dispensations . . . . . . 83
(a) The Edenic (Innocence) 84
(b) The Patriarchal (Theocratic) 87
(c)Israelite (Past) 93
(d) The Ecclesia (Grace) 94
(e)Israelite (Judgment) 96
(f) Millennial (Theocratic) 97
(g) Eternal (Glory) 98
3. Their SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS . . . 98
(a) Man's condition in each 98
(b) The Crisis in each 99
4. The "TIMES OF THE GENTILES" 99
5. The PARENTHESIS of the PRESENT DISPEN-
SATION 100 iv. As to its DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH and TEACHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 1. One part of the PAST not necessarily to be read into another part of the PAST . . 106
(a) Matt. x. 5, 6; and xxviii. 19, 20 . . 106
(b) Luke ix. 3; and xxii. 35, 36 . . . 107 xx
2. The PAST not to be read into the PRESENT 108
(a) Law and Grace . . . . . 108
(b) The Imprecatory Psalms . . . 110
(c) The Sabbath . . . . . 111
(d) The Kingdom . . . . . 113
(e) The Gospels . . . . . 118
(f) The Sermon on the Mount . . . 121
(g) The Lord's Prayer . . . . . 125
(h) The Priesthood . . . . . 125
(i) Baptisms . . . . . 128
(k) The prophecy of Amos. Amos ix. 11, 12.
Acts xv. 14--18 . . . . 138
(l) The title "Son of Man" . . . 140
3. The PRESENT not to be read into the PAST 141
(a) The Mystery . . . . . 141
(b) "Sons of God" . . . . . 144
(c) The "Church" . . . . . 145
4. The FUTURE not to be read into the PRESENT 149
(a) The Great Tribulation . . . . 149
(b) The 144,000 . . . . . 154
(c) Sundry Prophecies . . . . . 155
Ps. ii. . . . . . 156
Isa. ii. . . . . . 156
Isa. ix. . . . . . 157
(d) The Day of the Lord . . . . 158
5. One part of the FUTURE not necessarily to be read into another part of the FUTURE . 159
(a) The Advents . . . . . 159
(b) The Resurrections . . . . . 164
(c) The Judgments . . . . . 166
2 Cor. v. 10 . . . . . 166
Matt. xxv. 31--36 . . . . 167
Rev. xx. 11--15 . . . . 168
6. The Truth and Teaching of the CANONICAL ORDER to be distinguished from the CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
ORDER . . . . . . . . 169
(a) The Tabernacle . . . . . 169
(b) The Great Offerings . . . . 170
(c) The Four Gospels . . . . . 170
(d) I Sam. xvi.—xviii. . . . . 170
(e) The Book of Jeremiah . . . . 172
(f) The Pauline Epistles . . . . 174 xxi
PART II