were indeed "divided! a nd scattered," f or God's word cannot fail, b ut Jehovah be- came " t h e ir p o r t i o n ," and they His min- isters. • The curse was changed to bless- ing. A second example is t h at of the, Messiahship. The Christ was to be a. blood descendant of David (Ac. 2 : 3 0) t h r o u gh Solomon (II Sam. 1 2 : 2 5; I Kgs. 9:4, 5 ) ; b ut Jesus came t h r o u gh Na t h an (Lk. 4 : 3 1) of whom nothing: was said concerning the Kingship; and t he line t h r o u gh Solomon was cut o u t of succession in Jehoiakin ( J e r. 2 2 : 3 0 ), so t h at Joseph, his descendant (Mt. 1 : 1 2 ), was excluded f r om the t h r o ne by the word of the prediction. P r e- dictively Joseph , as descended froin Jehoiakin, could not inherit, but legally; through Solomon, he held the title to t he throne. When Jehoiakin was cut off it looked as if the promise t h r o u gh David and Solomon had failed. But J e s us came, of David's blood, t h r o u gh Na t h an and Mary, a lineal descendant of David; and Joseph became His f a t h er in law by ma r r y i ng Mary, and t h us made Jesus, the legal \ heir to t h at succession f r om which by the prediction he himself was excluded. The most wo n d e r f ul exam- ple is t h at wh en the race, d o o m e d ' in Adam's f a ll to e t e r n al death, by t h e word which said " Th ou shalt surely die," was w i t h o ut h o p e , " G od found a way toi save rebellious m a n " and to: b e " j u st in justifying t h e ungodly;' 1 iieveii him- " t h at believeth in Jesus.": T h e glorious final restoration of ¡Israel is- an example t h at led P a ul to cry out. "OH THE DE P TH OF THE R I CHES BOTH OF THE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD! HiOW .UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGMENTS AND H IS WAYS PAST FINDING OUT !" —Da n i el as an Anointed ("Mes- s i a h ") Prince to be "cut off." . Dan> 9:25. .. • Ì. r C- : i—Mary as Son of Deity and David, and heir to an eternal earthly t h r o n e. Lk. 1:31-33. , : wr: —S h e p h e r ds as a Saviour thè Anoint- ed Jehovah ( "Ch r i st the L o r d " ). Lk: 2:11. —Gentiles ("wise me n ") as King of the Jews for Gentile worship. Mat. 2:2.. —P a u l as our Wisdom, Righteous- ness, Sanctification, iand Redemption. 1 Cor. 1:30.
abide. Accepting without abiding is " He t h at abideth n ot in Me is cast f o r th as a b r a n ch a nd is withered, a nd men g a t h er them, a nd they a r e cast into t he Are a n d they are b u r n e d" ( J n. 1 5 : 6 ). • Abiding is as necessary as accepting, for abiding, which is always of the heart, shows t h a t acceptance was not only with t he head and tongue. "He t h at continueth to the end, t he same shall be saved." If we confess t he f a i th we mu st con- tinue in the .faith (Col. 1 : 2 3 ). This abiding is in t he doctrine (2 Jno. 9) which we heard f r om the beginning (1 Jn. 2 : 2 4 ); it is doing the will of God (1 Jno. 2 : 1 7 ), walking as He Jesus walked (1 Jno. 2 : 6 ) ; not prac- ticing sin (1 Jno. 3 : 6 ), but loving t he b r e t h r en (1 Jn. 2 : 1 0 ). He who accepts and abides shall b e heard, shall be f r u i t f u l, shall • be joyful (Jn. 15:5, 7 , 1 1 ) . T HE WAYS "No t h i ng is impossible OF GOD. with God." Wo n d e r f ul is His Wisdopi! He can findaway t h r o u gh barriers impenetrable to the. imagination of man. He can accom- plish, in His: grace, a p p a r e n t. contradic- tions. There needs be no limit to our hope, no hesitancy in our petitions. The Wo rd of God affords many instances, a nd t h e se are strong corroborations: of its: inspiration as contrary to h uman € pectat ion. An example is. found in Levi ^•ho f o r his erime, (Gen, 34) was doom- e d - to be "divided a nd scattered in Is- r a e l" (Gen. 4 9 : 7) . For their loyal ze.al to the LORD .< Ex. 32:26-29) they, the Levite?, .obtained the priestly office, and not enough. The Christ of Christmas was of old announced t h r o u g h: —-Adam as Conqueror and Redeemer t h r o u gh suffering. Gen. 3:15. —A b r a h am as a Gift of God and Heir and Distributor of blessing. Gen. 17: 19; 22:18. -—Jacob as a Jew ( J u d a h) to Wh om the Gentiles ("peoples") should gather. Gen. 49:10. —B a l a am as a Star and Rod execut- ing j u d gme n t. Num. 24:17. —I s a i ah as a wo n d e r f ul Child (born) and son (given), a blend of finite and Infinite.
Bible Briefs J. H. S.
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