Earlier text: Shakespeare’s StratfordSIGNS OF THE COMING KING.
By Augusta W. Heald
THE Saviour's prophecy declares that the signs preceding His second advent are not limited to manifestations in the celestial world, but upon this terrestrial sphere a greatly disturbed condition of things will exist. These are His words, "Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:25, 26. Again: "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matt. 24:7. These three terrible scourges, war, famine, and pestilence, have appeared in all ages of the world, and have claimed vast numbers of victims, and yet it is apparent that these calamities are of more and more frequent occurrence. The earth has been shaken by earthquakes at intervals from the giving of the law on Sinai, when "the whole mount quaked greatly," even to latest years; and yet carefully prepared statistics show their number to be alarmingly on the increase. According to these tables, from A. D. 1 to the end of the ninth century the average number of recorded earthquakes is one in four years, while from 1850 to 1868 the average is 277 in one year, and in 1868 alone over 100,000 persons perished by earthquakes. And witness the appalling catastrophes in this year of grace. It is also true that during the last century, deadly diseases have greatly increased. Cholera, yellow fever, and plague claim their yearly victims, and the fatal diphtheria, scarcely known in this country thirty years ago, cuts off with relentless hand the darlings of tender years, till whole families are swept away, the hearthstone is desolate, and bereaved parents are left to finish life's journey in loneliness and grief. There is the strange epidemic "la grippe," which has so recently swept indiscriminately over the whole world, many a hapless one perishing from its baneful effects. And again, there are insidious diseases which prey in secret upon the human system until it is steathily undermined, and at last the fell destroyer claims his unsuspecting victims, and they drop suddenly out from the busy life around them, with scarcely a moment in which to breathe a dying prayer, and consign the departing spirit into the hands of the faithful Creator. There are also in the natural world many disturbances formerly unknown. For instance, the immense tidal waves, which have inundated many populous islands, sweeping away whole villages in an instant of time, and consigning to a watery grave thousands of human beings. There is the deadly cyclone, almost unknown till recent years. The daily papers contain frequent accounts of its devastating work, and so common have these ravages become that the cloudy pillar in the western horizon creates alarm; for it and the gentle summer breeze may become in a moment the occasion of destruction and death. Consider also the terrible devastations of famine in China, Russia, and other countries. Again and again have overwhelming floods submerged those countries, cutting off the usual crops, leaving thousands upon thousands to perish from starvation. Who shall say there is not "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring"? Luke 21:25. These marks of general derangement are not exhibited in the material world alone, but society also is greatly disturbed; the world is distracted with "rumors of wars;" monarchs tremble on their thrones, knowing well the growing insecurity of the whole social fabric. The wealthy indulge in unbounded extravagance, while in many situations the poor are grievously oppressed. "The rich grow richer, and the poor grow poorer;" thus the chasm between these two classes is constantly widening. An address by H. P. Holser contains the following in regard to the state of Europe, and may describe the position of other countries also:— The state of affairs to-day is just what we might expect from the study of the prophecies which describe the condition of the world in the last days. Never were there so many monopolies and trusts for increasing wealth; never were there so many rich men; never so many laborers crying for more hire, and never were men's hearts so literally failing them for fear of what is coming on the earth. Who, then, are the fearful?—Not only the oppressed, but the oppressors also; for well they know that this state of things can not always continue. The down-trodden will one day rise and assert their rights; the wealth of the rich will be snatched by starving men driven to desperation; anarchy will reign, and "society will be broken up in the great time of trouble that ushers in the day of the Lord." The apostle, looking forward to this day of vengeance, says:— "Ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." James 5:1-4. Riches in themselves are not always a curse; properly applied, they may prove a blessing to many souls. It is only the hoarded gold that is cankered, the treasured garment that becomes a prey to the consuming moths; and yet the compassionate Saviour said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." Luke 18:24. Having described the condition of the world ripening for the hour of God's vengeance, the apostle adds: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. . . . Behold, the Judge standeth before the door." James 5:7-9. Begin Each Day With Prayer
By David Paulson
BEGIN each day with prayer, and do not let a day pass without doing some active soul-saving work, whether you feel like it or not.—David Paulson. God Cannot Save Against Our Will
By David Paulson
GOD is in the saving business. He desires to carry every one of us through, but He can not save us against our wills.—David Paulson. HIS GOSPEL MUST BE PREACHED.
IT is the desire of the Lord that His people should preach His Gospel, preach it indeed as well as in word, in life as well as in precept. He bestowed upon Israel all that He did—"the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises" (Rom. 9:4)—in order that they might "make known His doings among the peoples," that they might "show forth His salvation from day to day," and "declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples." 1 Chron. 16:8, 23, 24. And many other scriptures teach the same blessed duty and great privilege. The world needed the Gospel; God entrusted it to the people best fitted to give it to the world, and placed them in the great highway of nations for this very purpose. He chose the least of the nations, that man might see that it was God that wrought instead of the human. From this it will be seen that if His people failed to do this work, one of two things must inevitably take place: Either the Gospel must be lost to the world, or God must use other means, raise up other people, to carry it forward. And this He has always done. If His own people will not witness for His truth in prosperity, they must in adversity. If they turn from Him utterly, He will use even the heathen to spread abroad the glories of His name. The first seven verses of the first chapter of Daniel involve in their story all these principles before mentioned. Why was Jehoiakim taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar? Why was Jerusalem destroyed? Why were God's chosen people carried to a strange land? Here is the answer in brief: About one hundred years before our story opens, Hezekiah, one of Judah's great kings, was upon the throne. God had wrought mightily for him in overthrowing the enemies of the truth. He had healed the king from a sore sickness unto death, and prolonged his life fifteen years. The healing of the king offered a glorious opportunity to preach the Gospel. Mighty powers sent their ambassadors from afar to congratulate the king, among which was Babylon. It was Hezekiah's duty, as it was a blessed privilege, to "show forth His salvation from day to day," to "declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; . . . for all the gods of the peoples are things of naught. But Jehovah made the heavens." But did Hezekiah meet God's purpose? Let the following answer:— "At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not." Isa. 39:1, 2. But not one thing of all the riches of God's grace and goodness did the king tell. He aroused the cupidity of Babylon instead of satisfying its need. And because of this, as the narrative implies, that treasure-house at Jerusalem was coveted as a prize by Babylon till the day that Jerusalem fell, and the treasure was carried to Babylon, along with certain of the royal seed, among whom were Daniel and his three companions. Royalty would not witness for God in peace and prosperity on the throne; it must witness for God in strife, adversity, and captivity. The very captivity of the Jews in Babylon was a proof of the truth of God's Word, which predicted the result of transgression. All this had its effect upon the sincere and honest-hearted. They must learn in adversity what they might have learned under other circumstances. Nay, more, they must teach to Babylon, under the most humiliating and trying circumstances, that which they might have taught in the sunshine of prosperity. Why is the record given?—That we may learn the lesson; that we may learn that God gives every blessing to us that we may magnify His name, tell of His goodness, talk of His power, and minister His blessings to others' need. God wants the nations to know His truth; are we giving it to them? or are we hiding our light under the bushel of self? A PERPETUAL PURPOSE.
By Uriah Smith
OUR God, who is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," must have a purpose concerning His creation that is as unchangeable as He declares Himself to be. If His purpose were vacillating, He must be changeable; but He says of Himself, "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Mal. 3:6. Because God's purpose was not a changeable one, the sons of Jacob were not destroyed. In permitting that nation to continue to exist, tho it had ceased as a nation to do His will, God demonstrates to the world the unchangeableness of His purpose. He had promised a Redeemer who should come through that nation; and because that word had gone out of His mouth, the descendants of Abraham could not be destroyed or lose their identity among the nations of earth until He who was promised to and through that people had come as the recognized descendant of him to whom the promise was made. Now, as God showed His unchangeableness in preserving Israel from a fate which their course would naturally bring upon them, so He continues to show that same unchangeableness now, in bearing with a sinful world until every honest soul has been won from the clutches of the enemy. Our God is a righteous God. He can not look upon sin with any allowance. Were He changeable, we might expect Him to alter His purpose and wipe the wicked world out of His sight. But He does not do it. His character as an unchanging God makes necessary a fixity of purpose. We learn from Eph. 3:11 that God has an "eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus." If God were to change His purpose, then that purpose could not be an eternal one. The prophet, in speaking of God's purpose concerning Babylon, declares, "Every purpose of the Lord shall be performed." Jer. 51:29. And again: "I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." Isa. 46:11. That fixity of purpose is shown also in the declaration of the Lord in Jer. 4:28. "Because I have spoken it, I have proposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it." True, the Lord has not carried into execution all the punishments pronounced upon individuals. When they have repented, He has turned away the punishment. But that did not change or affect His great purpose concerning man. Rather, it was in direct line with that purpose and with His character as "the Lord God, merciful and gracious." Because the Lord is unchanging and His purpose eternal, this earthly home will again be man's possession, and righteousness replace the rule of sin. To fulfill that mighty purpose, God found it necessary to "lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation." Isa. 28:16. We learn from Eph. 2:20 that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is that foundation-stone, upon which has been established and is now being completed that wonderful building of God's purpose concerning man. It was necessary that such a foundation-stone should be tried and proved. God's purpose must not fail. That Stone was put to test when rebellion raged in heaven. It was put to the test when the author of that rebellion attempted Christ's overthrow in the wilderness of this earth. That Stone was indeed a tried one; its worth was demonstrated; and now it has become the foundation Stone of God's triumphant building. Ritual-ridden religion refused to honor or accept that corner Stone, and as a result that system withered and shriveled and wasted into the bleakest kind of dead ceremonial, its house left desolate, its holy of holies flung open to the gaze of the multitude. To that system and to those who held it that Stone became a "stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Whereas those who believed and accepted Him became "lively stones," and were built into that "spiritual house," offering up "spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God." 1 Peter 2:5-9. Thus has God shown to us by a wondrous object-lesson the wisdom of harmony with His eternal purpose. That people was withered by its own unbelief and lifeless ceremonies, and the blasts of the ages have scattered them to the ends of the earth. It is never safe to battle against the purpose of the Almighty. It is better to accept His way, the way of a righteous, unchanging purpose, and then share in His everlasting triumph. It is better to do right than do the way our will may choose. It is better to think right than think the way we may choose to think. Our doing can not make wrong right; our thinking can not alter fact. God's way is right, is in harmony with His eternal purpose, and will triumph. The question for each one is: Would I rather have my own way? or share in God's everlasting triumph? We can not have both, only as we allow our own way to be swallowed up in God's way, and then the way is His own and not our own. Would I rather do as I wish? or have a part in the saints' inheritance in the earth made new? I can not have the one and do the other, unless "as I wish" means as God wishes. These are important questions; eternal consequences hang upon the answer. It is the part of wisdom to say, I will be in harmony with God's purpose, and triumph in His victory. CHRIST was the active agent in the creation of the world. He is the Word by whom all things were made. John 1:1-3, 14. This is corroborated by Paul, who is equally explicit: "By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him." He not only created, but He maintains, as the apostle adds that "He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." Col. 1:16, 17. We refer to the foregoing positive testimony because so much of modern theology, and especially of modern Sabbath theology, seems to reckon Christ as having first appeared on the stage of action when He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Therefore, Christ being the active agent in the creation, it was He who rested on the seventh day, and "blessed" and "sanctified" it. He made it "for man," and thus it was that He became "Lord also of the Sabbath day." Mark 2:27, 28. Christ was the angel that was in the pillar of cloud to guide in the work of delivering Israel from Egypt. Ex. 13:20-22; 14:19, 20. He continued with them through the wilderness. This is established by the fact that this Angel was one which had power to forgive sins (Ch. 23:20-23); to which Paul adds that "they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them [margin, "went with them"]; and that Rock was Christ." 1 Cor. 10:4. These testimonies show that it was Christ who spoke through Moses to the children of Israel, saying, "Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex. 31:13. It was Christ who spoke through the prophets (1 Peter 1:10, 11); therefore it was He who said to Israel: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 58:13, 14. When Christ took upon Him our human nature, that is, when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," He became a personal every-day example to all men. So we may safely follow His example and teaching in Sabbath observance. He, being Lord of the Sabbath day, would know the proper time and manner of its observance. Furthermore He came to do His Father's will, having the law in His heart (Ps. 40:7, 8), and His example would be the Father's will in the matter of Sabbath observance. He came to do His Father's will, and did do it. John 4:34; 15:10. Not only so, but He passed it on to His disciples. John 17:17. Christ inaugurated a Sabbath reform, showing that He deemed it an institution of importance. He reproved7 the Jews for disregarding the law, saying to them, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9. This reproof had special reference to the fifth commandment, but their action in this respect was a violation of the whole law (James 2:10); and they had more burdensome tradition connected with the Sabbath than with any other institution. Christ ignored in His own practise the yoke of bondage which they had attached to the Sabbath, but He honored the day, and gave no hint that they observed the wrong day. All the instances of controversy between Christ and the Jews regarding the Sabbath show that there was no conflict as to the day. Jesus and His disciples passed through a cornfield on the Sabbath day, and the disciples, being hungry, plucked some of the grain. The Pharisees complained that the act was unlawful; but Jesus referred them to an act of David, permitted by the priests, that was unlawful on any day, but was committed on the Sabbath day. Yet because of their hunger, David and his men ate the showbread from the sanctuary, and were not condemned. Luke 6:1-5. When the Pharisees thought to accuse Him if He should heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, He asked, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?" Having thus enunciated the true principle of Sabbath-keeping, He healed the afflicted man. Verses 6-11. His doctrine was, and therefore is, that "it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matt. 12:12. The inconsistency of His critics is shown in their willingness to relieve suffering animals on the Sabbath day while refusing a like kindness to their suffering fellow-men. By the healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5), and the man who was born blind (chapter 9), Jesus taught that works of necessity and mercy were of more importance than all the narrow traditions that selfish men, however good in their own estimation, could invent. While the Pharisees were seeking to kill Him for disregarding their mode of Sabbath-keeping, Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." John 5:17. But in all His words or deeds there is no intimation that He removed aught of the sanctity of the seventh day. He had not come to destroy "one jot or one tittle" of the law. The Definite Day of the Sabbath.
Men who try to overthrow the Sabbath of the Lord by inducing people to observe some other day than that which the Lord blessed and sanctified and commanded, are wont to advance various pretexts for disobedience. They tell us that the real time of the Sabbath of the commandment is not known now; that the computation of time has been changed, and in the confusion of various styles of reckoning, it is impossible to know what day represents the original seventh day. But Christ has guarded that point by personal recognition of the day at different periods. He has given three points of such certainty that no one need be at a loss to know the right day. All that is necessary is to heed the word and example of Christ. These three points are:- (1) The creation. There the day was set apart by divine example, by special blessing, and by formal sanctification. The seventh day of the first week of time as pertaining to the earth was chosen as the Lord's rest day, and as the seventh day should afterward recur it was to be observed in like manner by man. (2) The Sabbath day was again definitely located just after the deliverance from Egypt. Not only was the sanctity of the institution solemnly impressed upon the people, but the day was indicated in a miraculous manner every week for forty years. (3) During our Lord's sojourn on earth, another period of over twenty years after He is known to have realized His mission, He gave divine sanction to the day kept by the Jewish people. Thus it is clear that however they had perverted the Sabbath as to the manner of its observance, they had maintained the true day. Christ's example demonstrates that He recognized the day kept by the Jews of that period as the Sabbath, the day sanctified at creation and proclaimed at the exodus. Having the definite seventh day fixed by the practise of the Lord of the Sabbath at that time, we need make no mistake as to the day in our time. The Jew is a continuous landmark from that day to this, in all parts of the civilized world; and there never has been any confusion on their part. And at the advent of Christ, and for a long time previous, the heathen made a special holiday of the first day of the week in honor of the sun as their chief deity, which holiday in time became recognized in the church. So that from the time of Christ's earthly ministry to the present day there has been special first-day observance of some character, which has invariably followed the seventh day as observed by the Jews and by such Christians as have chosen to regard the precept and example of Christ rather than the tradition of men. Thus by blessing, by commandment, by example, and by landmark, Christ has guarded the day of His holy Sabbath beyond the possibility of reasonable doubt as to its identity. G. 1. "The law is spiritual." Rom. 7:14. It must be, for that is the nature of God. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit. John 4:24. To look at the law in a carnal sense is to miss its value. So the Jews observed it "after the flesh." If they met its outward, naked prohibition, it was sufficient, whatever the condition of the heart. But God would have us know that the true worshiper (and the highest worship is service, Matt. 4:10) must be a worshiper in heart before he is in deed. 2. The law is truth. So declares the psalmist, "Thy law is the truth." It sums up in itself all morality. The moral precepts of the Bible may be ten thousand in number, yet they all find their origin and root in God's law. See Hosea 8:12, R.V. Being itself truth, it can not be a lie; it is not subject to change of any kind. 3. God's law is eternal righteousness. "All Thy commandments are righteousness," declares the psalmist. Ps. 119:172. And this also must be the case, for it is given of God as the sum of all duty. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man; for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14. That which is God's standard of character and the rule by which He will judge men, must be the reflection in words of His own character, for His purpose is that His children shall be like Himself. "Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy;" "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Lev. 19:2; Matt. 5:48. Therefore as God is eternal and unchangeable, His righteous law is also eternal and unchangeable. Hear His own words of assurance to His people who obey Him: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be forever, and My salvation unto all generations." Isa. 51:6-8. Now, it would be absurd and superfluous to say that the personal righteousness of God should not be abolished; for every believer in God knows that righteousness is an essential element in His Deity. But we can see the force of the statement when applied to His law. He would have the world know, and His people assured, that His righteousness, known only by those who have His law in their hearts, can not, and therefore "shall not be abolished." Our Lord's words in Matt. 5:17-20 are but an echo of the above which He spoke through Isaiah:— "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." And again: "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17. And all this was stated by the psalmist (111:7, 8) when he said:— "The works of His hands are verity and judgment;
All His commandments are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever,
And are done in truth and uprightness."
Blessed is the man who is eternally sealed by having them written within his life. 4. God's law is light; for "the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction [which always come by the law] are the way of life." Prov. 6:23. Light is searching. It reveals. So God's law reveals sin. "Nay, I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7:7. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. Its penetrating power lights up the darkest recesses of the heart, bringing the hidden sins to the seemingly dead conscience of the sinner, and bringing him face to face with God. Light is purifying; and so "the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;" "the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;" "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting ["restoring," R.V.] the soul." Ps. 19:7-9. Its light in Jesus Christ burns away the miasma, the bacteria, the poison of sin, and restores healthy tissue by the power of its life. 5. God's law is a living law, a life-giving law. "For the Word of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12. It was "ordained to life," sin only makes it death. Rom. 7:10. When the child of faith again receives it, it comes as the "law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:2. It is because of its inherent life and power, that the law becomes death to the sinner. The perverting of the force and life in God's law to selfish, carnal purposes transforms its life-giving power to a death-dealing poison. The electric current, rightly used in its ordained channel, gives light and propels cars; but turn it aside by a short circuit through the human body, and it causes death. To sum up, we can conceive of no attributes of God which may not properly be applied to His law. The holy law as spoken from Sinai comes to us in largely negative form, as prohibitions against sin. It is thus given to show the sinner his lost condition in himself, and his need of a Saviour. But if he accept it all, as it is indeed in Christ Jesus, as God's blessed law of love, he will find every command an enabling act, giving power to the receiver to do it. Then will God's commands read, as rendered by Young, "Thou hast no other gods before Me;" "Thou dost not murder;" "Thou dost not commit adultery," etc., etc. To such a man it will be a law of liberty, in which he will continually delight, every part of which will show forth God's wisdom, and power, and love. "THY COMMANDMENT IS EXCEEDING BROAD."
In our International Sunday-school lesson for July 20 (see page 15) the study is upon the commandments found on the second table of the law, enjoining duties to men. The last six of the commandments are included in this lesson, and a brief study here of the nature, scope, and object of this law will be intensely practical, and if improved aright, eternally profitable. In Matt. 23:35 Zacharias, who was slain "between the temple and the altar," is said to be the son of Barachias; in 2 Chron. 24:20, 21 he is said to be the son of Jehoiada the priest. According to Zech. 1:1 and also Ezra 5:1, Zachariah the son of Barachias was of the returned Jews of the captivity. Between these dates there is a difference of about 300 years. How can this be harmonized? Smith's Bible Dictionary suggests that "son of Barachias" crept into the original text of Matt. 23:35 from a marginal gloss, as it is not given in Luke 11:51. Schaff suggests that as the word son is used of distant as well as near ancestors, Barachias may have been the name of Jehoiada's father, and Zachariah's grandfather. So Zachariah the prophet is said to be "the son of Iddo" (Ezra 5:1) when Iddo was his grandfather (Zech. 1:1). The father of Jehoiada may have borne the name of Barachias.