01. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

He that is older than you by a day is wiser than you by a year.
Respect for Age — Syrian Proverb.

1. The Subject. Bible Illustration by means of present-day Manners and Customs in Bible Lands — such is the subject of this text-book. In modern Palestine and Syria there are a great many things in the climate and landscape, in plant and animal life, in the habits and occupations of the people, in their modes of dress and forms of speech, that are exactly the same as those alluded to in the Bible. This wonderful continuance of unchanged custom, during so long a period, is chiefly due to the following causes: (1) the Oriental kinship of the present inhabitants with the ancient Israelites; (2) the close resemblance between the Hebrew language and the Arabic which is now spoken; (3) the suitableness of the customs to the climate and industries of the land; (4) the reluctance to admit changes under what is called the patriarchal form of government, where the sheikhs or heads of chief families, from father to son, rule over their several districts. So great is this resemblance with regard to natural surroundings, dress, and occupations, with reference also to common opinion and sentiment about life, work, home, and religion, that if the same events were to happen again in Palestine, and the truths of Scripture were now to be told for the first time, the description and statement of them would inevitably take the mould and form with which we are already familiar in the Bible.

2. Its Importance. — There are three principal advantages connected with this study of Bible Manners and Customs.

(1) It helps us to understand better the life and character of the men, and women of the Bible. — In the scientific study of plants and animals it is a recognized principle that while ultimately ministering to our needs, they, in the first instance, exist for their own. Thus, the color and scent of flowers, the honey of the bee, the iridescence on the bird’s wing, the tusk of the elephant, the “recognition marks “ of the dove and deer, can only be accounted for on the principle that they are first of all useful to those they belong to; after that they are prized in the great human market, and serve us for food and clothing.

Similarly, we should not grudge to those of whom we read in the Bible the first right to their own lives. They have served as encouragements and warnings to other generations, but they had actual personal lives that were lived in their own day, and were affected by the opportunities and difficulties that belonged to it. We want to speak of them, not merely as book-names, but as living people. They would not have lived for us if they had not first lived in their own generation, and for it. The more we know about their human life and its conditions, the better we shall understand what the word of God did for them and through them. One of the advantages, therefore, of this study is to impart to our reading of the Bible that sense of reality which Shakespeare coveted when he said, appealing to the sympathy of his audience: — Think when we talk of horses that you see them, Printing their proud hoofs i’ the receiving earth.

(2) It explains and emphasises the figurative language of Scripture. — Thus when Christ said (John 15:5) “ I am the vine, ye are the branches,” and “Apart from me, ye can do nothing,” He expressed in both cases the same fact of dependence; but in the first instance a figure is used, that of the vine and its branches. Whoever would lift up this simile to see and show to others its rich clusters of spiritual truth, would do well to visit the vineyard and watch what the husbandman does in the time of ploughing, pruning, staking, picking, etc. In this way he would come nearest to the meaning that passed from the Speaker to the hearers when the words were first used.

Such figurative language is much used and appreciated by Orientals. They can employ technical and abstract terms where exactness is required, but they turn to figure when they wish to arouse thought, create interest, and carry conviction. Thus when we say ’”Necessity has no law,” they say “Hunger is an. infidel,” that is, has no moral scruples. Instead of saying of any man that he has influence with his master, they say that his hand is strong. The most persuasive form of argument in the East is to show that something in conduct or character corresponds with something in nature. Both in Hebrew and in Arabic a proverb means a resemblance, and this fact of resemblance lies at the root of all Oriental wise sayings. The quotation of an appropriate proverb of this kind in a missionary address always wins for the preacher attention and confidence with regard to what he infers from it. It was this charm of resemblance, and the authority of proverbial form that Christ made use of, when He taught and influenced the people by His wonderful parables. He pointed to the objects in nature, the customs and occupations with which His hearers were familiar; and those who had eyes and ears found with submission and delight that something within was like something else in the world without. Apart from the power of His own holiness and love, it was an intellectual act that produced an intellectual illuminating result. While their attention and sympathy were given to some tale of human life and labour there rose before them the vision of Salvation, Sainthood, and Service. Somehow, one was like the other. As the Bible abounds in such figurative language, it is important that in our reading of it we should know the objects, occasions, and customs from which it was originally drawn. This study of Bible Antiquities will constantly show a modern face. While we study the Oriental life in which the Lord Jesus found the resemblances He needed, we must seek to imitate Him by finding them in our own. Such illustrations will only flash upon a heart full of love to Him and surrendered to His service. Then things before unnoticed at our feet will rise up and walk in parable; many of the common details of our own daily life will be touched with new spiritual light, and begin to speak with other tongues.

(3) It explains the relationship of the Divine and human elements in the Bible. — This is important on account of two mistakes. The fact that there is so much in the Bible that is Oriental has led some to declare that it is altogether and only human literature, and that its claim to be the word of God is like the clothing of the Gibeonites, professing to be far -travelled when it was really manufactured close at hand. Others again have regarded the human factor in the Bible as the Israelites regarded the Canaanite in the Land of Promise, as an element to be shunned and eliminated. This has tended to make the Bible unreal and uninviting, and a mystery in the hands of a special class. The truth is rather that the word of God has always been, as it was in the days of the wilderness -journey, a holy place and presence encircled by the comings and goings of men, and meant for them. There was indeed a centre that few could reach, but it was in the Tabernacle of the Congregation. It is with the Bible as it was with the Living Word, and as the Christian is commanded to be — in the world, but not of it. As the fitly- spoken word of man must have suitable conditions of time, place, and circumstance, so it is with the word of God addressed to man. The apples of gold are placed in a dish of wrought silver. This also is of noble metal, and to make it, many threads are bent and blended together into a design, and the design is repeated to form a vessel of usefulness and beauty, but is inferior to the fruit of gold, and its purpose that of service. So the word of revelation shines in a setting of human disposition, domestic incident, social customs, and amid special surroundings of climate, country, and race.

We may take another illustration and go a step farther. The relationship of the Divine and human in the Bible is like what happens when olives are put in a new earthenware jar. Some of the oil and of the preserving salt penetrates the material of the vessel, and in turn a slight taste of the earth is noticed in the fruit. After a few seasons of continuous use the inner pores are filled with the oil of the olive, and the jar ceases to tell what it is made of. Thus the Holy Spirit was with Peter at Joppa (Acts 10:28), and with the Church at Antioch when it met to hear the first missionary report (Acts 14:27), but the joy over the discovery of God’s purpose to save the Gentiles also was at first a shock to Jewish prejudice. The Bible shows how this taint of former associations was removed. When the human element is recognized within its own limits, it implies at the same time a clearer recognition of that spiritual power working in and with the Bible, whatever our names, definitions, and theories about it, which has already behind it a great cloud of witnesses, and still sustains and sanctifies the children of God. In this endeavour to know more about the people of the Bible, to understand its spiritual language more clearly, and to learn how God’s grace was entrusted to earthen vessels, and His power passed through human channels, it will be

JAR FOR OLIVES. both interesting and helpful to study the climate and conditions, the surviving habits, familiar folk-lore, and popular proverbs of the people now living in the land.

3. Arrangement. — In exploring this field of parable and Scripture illustration, the description will resemble the natural features of the country, which rises from boundary plains and valleys to central hills and mountains. That is to say, there will be something to learn from (1) the Scenery, Climate, and Seasons of Palestine; then the humble walks of (2) Pastoral and Agricultural life will {7} invite attention; these in turn will bring under our notice (3) the various Trades and Professions; we shall then pass to (4) the Home and Family relationships; and, finally, from the foregoing, we shall have a general view of (5) the Social, Political, and Religious life of Palestine.

4. There is one important requisite without which this excursion can neither be pleasant nor profitable. An interest in the holy life must go along with its illustration from the Holy Land. It is told of the great painter. Turner, that once, when visited by two friends who had come to see his pictures, he kept them in a closely-shuttered room for a short time before he told the servant to show them upstairs to his studio. He then apologized for the apparent discourtesy, by telling them that they had to get their eyes emptied of the common outside glare before they could see the colors of his pictures. Let us seek this preparation of the shaded room in prayer and meditation upon the life of holiness.