We sing Jehovah dwells alone, No equal can He see, The unchangeable and mighty God, from all eternity In realms of boundless space, His spirit works His will.
We really have no adequate conception of the meaning of the language we use We simply accept It as a fact Look at the heavens, the sun separate from us a distance of about 90 million miles, the moon and the stars’ We are told that the light from some stars takes four years to reach this earth Light travels at the rate of one hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second What an enormous distance for the mind to conceive Suppose we say that the time is exaggerated, and reduce it one fourth it still remains stupendous Look at the comets One comet is known to make its journey into space and back again every seventy years When it reaches its ordained limit into space it is 54 million miles from the sun, and yet it returns regularly in its appointed time. In realms of boundless space His spirit works His will That is the only answer God is the Creator of all Life, light, and everything else, not only in the heavens but upon earth And now, in relation to this great Being with whom we have to do, what is man? Dust organized dust, a thing of no consequence apart from Him Well might this Creator say to Job.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? who laid the corner stone thereof ? Who shut up the sea with doors when it brake forth? and said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? (a law in operation at this distant date) Hast thou commanded the morning. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee? (See Job, chapter 38 ).
What else could Job say but I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes! David also, who was familiar with the language of Job, was constrained to say, when he pondered over the greatness of the Almighty When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him ? (Psalms 8 3,4) What, indeed? He is like to vanity, days as a shadow that passeth away, as but a vapor Look at past history See the ruins of the columns of Karnack, the mighty pyramids Where are the princes of Karnak? Where is the builder of these stupendous monuments to the flesh? Pass over to Babylon where is the maker of the wonderful hanging gardens ? Journey to Asia, where the mighty temple of Ephesus held sway Where are the opulent priests that were the possessors of such wealth? Go to Rome and view the ruins of the coliseum and the forum Where are the architects of these Imposing places, the great men of that time? Gone, all gone, turned into dust and passed away They had no relation to the Author of Life, and so their greatness was numbered according to their existence.
And now, to turn from the transient to the lasting We look at Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever, the greatest Man of all time Yet He took upon Himself the form of a servant, found in fashion as a man, He became obedient even unto death, even to that of the cross Wherefore God also batch highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2 11) And, says the apostle, considering the salvation of Christ. My beloved brethren, work out your own salvation” (Philippians 2 12).
Christs salvation came through trial Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (Hebrews 5:7 ).
Christ was strong in prayer. He withdrew to a mountain and continued all night in prayer. And this brings us to a thought in regard to prayer. We pray to God, but God is in heaven, we know not the exact location. The distance is great from the earth. How do our prayers reach Him? In David’s time the question was considered. Because God did not immediately punish the evil and reward the good, the wicked were prompted to say: “. . . The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand ye foolish: he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?” (Psalms 94:7-9). What depth there is in this rebuke! The complex mechanism of the eye, adjusted so that we see the flower at our feet and the stars millions of miles away, the rays of different focus accommodating the eye to the varying distances! And the ear! In delicacy and refinement, we are told, this sense ranks next to sight. A writer speaking of these senses says: “It is a remarkable fact that the refinement or cultivation of these senses is always found associated. These nations which furnish the best artists or have the highest appreciation of painting and sculpture produce the most skillful musicians, those who reduce music to a science.” Shall we say that the Creator can furnish man with such wonders as the eye and ear and yet He Himself be deficient in these qualities? That He has power to give to man, but must be denied the power Himself? Only a fool would affirm this. “He that formed the eye, shall he not see?” Of course. “Shall he not hear?” We know that He does. The modus operandi we may not know, but we know He does hear, because He answers.
Consider Elisha’s servant on the mountain when he saw the great host and said: “Alas, my master! how shall we do?” “Fear not,” said Elisha, “for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” ( 2nd Kings 6:15,16). And he prayed he Lord to open the servant’s eyes. The Lord did so and the servant beheld the mountain full of chariots of fire. Then let us consider Daniel. “Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel . . . touched me . . . and said, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth . . . ” (Daniel 10:21-23). Hezekiah is yet another case. The prophet Isaiah was sent to him with the comforting assurance: “Thus saith the Lord God, that which thou hast prayed to me against the King of Assyria, I have heard.”
Yes, God bears prayer, but He does not always grant the request. He heard Paul, but the request was not granted. It may be there was something in Paul’s disposition that needed the “thorn.” At my rate he besought the Lord thrice; his supplication was denied, but with the grateful assurance: -My grace is sufficient for thee” (2nd Corinthians 12:9). But if we desire God to hear our prayer, we must walk in His way. “Pray NOT for this people” ( Jeremiah 7:16). It is ever on the righteous that the eyes of the Lord are, and to them His ears are open to their prayer. We are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6), not merely that tranquility may reign in .Jerusalem, whether it be in the hands of the Jews or infidel Turks, but because of the promise. “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, . . . then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar” (Psalms 51:18,19).
It is only apart from the things of the world that we find the things that are lasting. True. we are in the world and our years are numbered in the world, but while in the world we must not be of the world, we must number our days so that we may apply our hearts to wisdom, and we know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Whoso findeth this wisdom, findeth LIFE. And when we consider that, after all, we are but dust, we realize the mercy of God in calling us out of darkness into His marvelous light and offering us a place in His kingdom. That is the end, and it is the end we must keep in view, often attaining it through tribulation. But we are not alone in trials. Let us consider Ezekiel who was taken with the captives about 597 B.C. about eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. In chapter 24 we get a glimpse of what the wisdom of God required of him. “Son of man, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep . . . ” (verse 16). It is probable that Ezekiel lived happily with his wife. No doubt she was of the same mind as Ezekiel and a helpmate to him. And now: “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died, and I did in the morning as I was commanded” (verse 18).
What reason had God for this? To bring home to the people the terrible truth that they were straying out of the path of life and divine favor. And they said: ” . . . Tell us what these things are to us . . . ” (verse 19). ” . . . Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes . . .” (verse 21). As he had taken away the desire of Ezekiel’s eyes, so would he do to them. And what was that desire? Let us turn to David. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalms 27:4).
The temple was the desire of their eyes, with all that it represented. “But,” saith God, “I will profane it,” the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they had set their minds. And Ezekiel saw in vision the glory of the Lord going up, forsaking the city, and it stood upon the mountain on the east side of the city (Mount of Olives), and we read that Nebuchadnezzar came and burned the house of the Lord. “Ichabod,” the glory, had departed. In due time the temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel, but there was no ark therein, consequently no glory. Herod enlarged and embellished Zerubbabel’s temple, but there was no glory, for the reason there was no ark on which the glory could rest.
Will it always be that the glory shall be absent? No. Ezekiel tells us: “Afterward he brought me to the gate, that looketh toward the East: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory” (Ezekiel 43:1,2). “And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile . . . ” (verse 7). There is the returning of the glory, and through whom will it return? Zechariah informs us that the BRANCH will build the temple and bear the glory. We know who this BRANCH is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Alone? No, His promise is “Where I am, there shall ye be also,” Christ and His brethren together, bearing the glory. But the glory or Shechinah should rest on the ark. Is there an ark in Ezekiel’s temple? We must bear in mind that there is a literal temple, and a mystical temple composed of those of spirit nature, pillars in the house of God to go no more out in death —the temple of the living God.
In the literal temple or house of prayer for all peoples, there is no literal ark. It is not necessary. Why? Let us consider the ark. It was made of wood, hard wood that would endure; it contained the words of God, and was overlaid with pure gold, within and without, ornamented with a crown of gold. The lid was of pure gold, one piece with the cherubims. It was the throne of Yahweh on which rested the glory, and through which the decrees were issued. That is the type. What is the anti-type? Christ and the saints. Hard wood, durable, covered with gold, receiving that crown of life which had been promised, king-priests unto the Lord God Almighty, being “one” with Christ, of which He was the mercy-seat, or propitiatory for their sins, having diligently digested the words of Yahweh, having his law written in their Inward parts, and then bearing the glory of Yahweh when it returns to His house by way of the East, nevermore to depart Let us keep our eyes on the “glory,” looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame ” (Hebrews 12 2).
We look back upon the transient things of this order Let us also look forward to the time when Christ shall come in the glory of His Father with the angels, to reward every man as his works shall be Let us look forward to the time when the glory of Lebanon shall be gathered to Jerusalem, when the fir tree, the box and the pine shall beautify the place of Yahweh’s sanctuary, when Jerusalem shall be a rejoicing, when the wilderness shall be like an Eden, and the desert like the Garden of the Lord.
Past history furnishes us with examples of the “great” men of their time who have sowed to the flesh Let us take our stand on Mount Zion, and imagine that our hopes are realized and we are numbered with the 144,000 having the Father’s name in their foreheads, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth (Revelation 14 4), who are redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb, in whose mouth is found no guile, and who are without fault before the throne of God We converse with one who was contemporary with David “Where are the great men of your time that prospered so exceedingly and had all they could desire?” Then we address the same question to one contemporary with the world of 1896 and thereabout, and ask what became of those great men, statesmen, philosophers and others who flourished and were much “in demand” at that time Then we commune with some who had lived during 1914 and onward, and say “Where are the wise men who promised that the Great war should be the last war on earth, and who thought to bring in peace’ with un-righteousness through a League of Nations?”
What is the answer? Gone, passed away, vanished into dust, they sowed to the flesh, and of the flesh have reaped corruption They belonged to the world, and the world passeth away and the lust thereof, and now, here we are, immortal witnesses to the truth spoken by John ‘He that doeth the of God abideth forever” Creatures of dust no more, “an element of Yahweh’s happiness,” believing in the power of Him who works His will ‘through realms of boundless space,” and realizing the fruits of our faith Therefore, let us not be weary in well doing, for in due time we shall reap of the spirit life everlasting, if we faint not, when.
‘ We shall receive the blessing of Yahweh s saving grace, And, righteousness possessing, Shall see Him face to face Yes, wondrous things are spoken, Jerusalem of thee, The oath cannot be broken, And we its joys shall see “
And the name of the City in That day shall be
The Lord Is There
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One