p. 118 | LESSON FOR THE FIRST SABBATH IN MARCH by C. C. L.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, February 24, 1885

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 62, No. 8

LESSON FOR THE FIRST SABBATH IN MARCH.

By C. C. L.

(See Instructor of Feb. 25, 1885.)

THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS CONTINUED.

CRITICAL NOTES.

INTRODUCTION: In our last lesson we learned that one of the most prominent characteristics of our Saviour was his meekness. As it is recorded in 1 Pet. 2:23, “when he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.” We also learned from 1 John 2:6 that he who professes to have an abiding faith in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Hence, if his profession is sincere, meekness will be one of the prominent characteristics of the Christian. Now of this class a precious promise is recorded, that they shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5); and the promise is given in another form in Jas. 2:5, where the poor of this world who are rich in faith are declared to be heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him, the poor here meaning probably those who are literally poor, but not unless they are also (in harmony with Matt. 5:3) poor, humble, or meek in spirit. But the fulfillment of this promise is not reached until the wicked are cut off, and they are destroyed so utterly that the most diligent search does not reveal a trace of their existence. Then it is that “the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:11. Thus we are brought to the beginning of the advance lesson.

PSALMS 24:1: The earth is the Lord’s.—It is his by creation. Just as that is ours which we construct with our own hands while not paid for our labor by another, so in a similar though an infinite sense is the earth Jehovah’s, which he by his omnipotent power created out of nothing. He has a right to dispose of it as he pleases,—to drown it with a flood, or to burn it with fire. So also his right is unquestioned to restore it to its Edenic beauty, and give it to his saints for an everlasting inheritance. And the fullness thereof.—“All which it contains; everything which goes to fill up the world,—animals, minerals, vegetables, men. All belong to God, and he has a right to claim them for his service, and to dispose of them as he pleases.”—Barnes. The world, etc.—This expression is parallel to the former, and means nearly the same. It is not quite so extensive, however, “earth” in the former part of the passage referring to the entire globe, habitable and uninhabitable, while the original word translated “world” denotes the habitable globe. Also, the expression “the fullness thereof” means everything,—animals, minerals, vegetables, men,—which fills up the earth, while “they that dwell therein” can mean no more than animals and men. The right to dispose of his created works as seems to him good is claimed by Jehovah in Jer. 27:5, where he says: “I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.”

GENESIS 1:26-31: We have seen that God has the right to dispose of the earth as he sees fit; and from the passage at the head of this paragraph we learn that at the beginning he gave it to man, granting him dominion over all its parts as well as over the entire animal and vegetable kingdoms. Image—likeness.—Image is from the Hebrew tselem, the definitions of which are given by Gesenius as follows: “Shade, shadow; image, likeness; image, idol.” The original meaning, it will be seen, is “shadow.” The word occurs thirty-one times; five times it refers to man’s being made in the image of God; once it seems to be used figuratively, in Ps. 39:6; and twenty-five times it can refer to nothing but that which has a literal, tangible form. Likeness is from d’muth, defined to be “a likeness, image; model, pattern; appearance, form, shape.” The distinction in meaning between these words is scarcely perceptible. D’muth occurs twenty-five times. It is used twice to denote the form in which man was made; twice it seems to be used figuratively (Ps. 58:4 and Isa. 13:4); and twenty-one times it is used literally, referring to outward form. Many say that “the image of God” must be taken solely in an intellectual or moral sense; for God, being infinite, can have no outward form. But if God is infinite, can he not assume an outward form and parts? and in the image of this form literally, as well as morally or intellectually, was man created. This is further proved from the fact that Christ was “in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6), in “the express image of his person.” Heb. 1:3.

C. C. L.