■ B I O L A broadcaster Monthly Publication of the BIOLA FELLOWSHIP Voi. 2 No. 8 AUGU ST , 1962 C O N T E N T S W ALK ING W ITH GOD ............. 3 SIMEON: THE SAPPHIRE ........ 6 BIBLE W OM AN HONORED ...... 9 PARABLES OF LIFE ...................10 GAD: THE D IAMOND ............. 11 EPHRAIM: THE JACINTH ........ 14 MANASSEH: THE AGATE ........ 17 PARABLES AN D PEARLS ..........20 BENJAMIN: THE AM ETHYST ....22 BIOLA STEWARDSHIP REPRESENTATIVES ............. 25 BIBLE SfU D Y OUTLINES ..........30 W OM EN 'S CLUB VISITS CAMPUS 32 THE BIOLA FELLOWSHIP PLAN 33 COVER: Courtesy, Union Pacific Rail road. 9:00 P.M. Monday through Friday 50,000 watts KG0 810 kc S T A F F President .....S. H. Sutherland Editor ................Ruth D. Gill Supervision ..Thomas E. Steele Production .......... A l Sanders P rin t in g .....................ChurchPress Published monthly by the Radio Dept. BIBLE INSTITUTE OF LOS ANGELES 558 S. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Cal. Controlled circulation postage paid at Los Angeles, California.
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thou art my firstborn, my
E ditor ’ s N ote : In this issue of the Biola Fellowship , we continue the unique series of studies on the twelve stone in the breast plate of the High Priest of Israel. Readers will want to study the Ju ly issue for fur ther background material.
might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as (continued on next page)
dignity was his natural birthright. The second thing, to which another writer calls our attention, is that this position of pre-eminency by Reuben had been forfeited through his sin and that the tribe which is to descend from him shall not excel in anything. Then in the third place Jacob predicted that the tribe of Reuben would be as unstable as water. The term used here is a figur ative expression taken from the drying up of water as a summer spring. Several passages in the Old Testa ment reveal how the fortunes of this particular tribe verify the words of Jacob in his closing hours. I Chroni cles 5:1, 2 tells us that because of Reuben’s sin his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Is rael. The birthright refers, of course, to the position of excellency which was taken from Reuben and given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. Now the birthright was Joseph’s but Judah became the royal tribe from which Christ sprang. Thus we see that in nothing did the tribe of Reuben excel, as was predicted. After this particular tribe there came no judge, there came no king, and there came no prophet. This tribe, to gether with the fribe of Gad, settled down on the jvildemess side of the river Jordan. These two tribes had a multitude of cattle and they went be fore Moses and the high priest, Eleazer, and asked that if they had found grace in their sight, that the land, which was good for cattle, might be given to them as their possession -— Reuben and Gad did not want to go over Jordan, but rather preferred to remain on the south east side of the river. The Book of Numbers, chapter 32, verses 1 to 5, in- SAN BERNARDINO RIVERSIDE "The Bible Institute Hour” is now on the air daily 9 A.M.— KCKC— 1350 on the dial (Also Sun., 7:30 A.M., KAFY, 550 on the dial) 4
Reuben (continued) water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch” (Genesis 49:3, 4). We would do well to focus our think ing upon the fact that we are in the closing scene in the life of Jacob. Fre quently we have beheld the light of heaven shining through the life of this great patriarch, but all too often the clouds of earth have obscured it. The struggle between the flesh and the Spirit in Jacob was very fierce and protractive, but as the end drew near the triumphs of God’s grace, and the faith which overcomes the world, were more and more manifested in this old servant’s life. The triumphs are most evident in the scene presented to us in this 49th chapter of Genesis. God had promised to give the land of Palestine to Abraham and his de scendants. This promise had been con firmed to Isaac and was renewed, in turn, to Jacob. However, up to this time there had been no visible signs that the promise was about to be made good. Abraham and Isaac had been but strangers and pilgrims in the Holy Land — owning none of it save a burial ground for their dead, and this they had to purchase. Jacob, too, had dwelt in tents with Abraham and Isaac; and now on his deathbed, is not in the promised land, but in a strange country — the land of Egypt. Our patriarch, Jacob, prepares to leave this earthly scene and calls his sons, one by one, to his bedside. In his physical feebleness, but vigor of faith, this father gives to these twelve men most striking predictions which run to striking fulfillment. Not only did these predictions point up the individual son and the tribe of which he was the head, but they looked forward to the fortunes of the twelve tribes in the last days. Now there are three things in Gene-. sis 49:2-4 that are given concerning the son Reuben. First, as the firstborn son of Jacob, the place of excellency and
elusive, will give that story. We must keep in our thinking that the basis upon which they were to be given possession of the land was that they prove themselves ready to do battle when alerted. It was Dr. Holt who stated that Reu ben was among those who stood on Mount Ebal to curse; not among those who stood on Mount Gerizim to bless. In the Book of I Chronicles, chapter 26, verses 31 and 32 we read, “ . . . In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of val our at Jazer of Gilead. And his breth ren, men of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred chief fathers, whom king David made rulers over the Reu- benites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, for every matter pertain ing to God, and affairs of the king.” This is a very significant Scripture. Then, it is deeply arresting to dis cover that when Jehovah commands to inflict His judgments upon Israel, the commands are followed out as set down as, for example, in II Kings 10:32 — “ In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; from Jor dan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Amon, even Gilead and Bashan.” Therefore, we are given to know that at no point did Reuben excel his dig nity — and that his glory completely dried up. It is important that we not leave the study of Reuben without seeing some thing of the significance of the stone — the emerald —■ which rested in its rank in the breastplate. Both the He brew and Greek words carry the mean ing of “flashing” for our English word, emerald — a jewel of velvety green col or. We are told that in olden times it was found in the land of Egypt and was doubtless among the spoil that Moses and his people took from that land when they fled. In the Encyclopaedia Britannica, we
came upon an article of good interest relative to the values attributed to this gem by ancient peoples. To them the emerald had power to refresh tired eyes, for one thing. No less a person than Pliny, the Roman scholar wrote that if the sight has been wearied and dimmed by attempts of pouring over things of reading, the beholding of the stone does refresh and restore the eyes. Such thoughts were theirs, but what can compare with Jesus in restoring your spiritual sight and my spiritual sight! This great phase of His ministry was in the forefront of His eternal pro gram. The Lord Jesus Christ raised the dead, unstopped the ears of the deaf and made the blind to see that they might glorify God, in whom they now believed. And today he makes men to see life with an entirely new value— they see their own lives as God meant them to be. In the World Encyclopaedia we find that folk of the 11th century believed that the emerald stone, powdered down and mixed with water was helpful in the treatment of leprosy. But we turn from such hopeless thinking to the pos itive fact that Christ laid down His life for soiled humanity that He might save them from the leprosy of sin. In the early Christian Church, the emerald spoke in a peculiar way of the resurrection and spiritual holiness in Christ. In II Corinthians 5:17, the Word of God declares that “ . . . if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We wish that we might list many of the attributes twined around the em erald as men have looked at it through those earlier ages. While interesting, these theories have been properly rele gated to the limbo of discarded think ing. Man, in his desperate effort to find something that is true, something to which he can cling, can now look up and see that from the Cross of Calvary is flashing that certain power which, if he will accept, will meet every need, destroy every fear, and he will become the happy possessor of a sure faith which is the gift of God! 5
JULY RADIO MESSAGES
The Twelve Stones in the Breastplate of the High Priest SIM EON : the sapphire stone by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson
W e arrive , now, at the magnificent truths of another stone which is presented to us on the pages of the Word of God and made so very clear by the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Genesis, chapter 29 and verse 33, we read these words, “And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath there fore given me this son also: and she called his name, Simeon.” Simeon, a son of Jacob and Leah is represented by the beautiful stone, the sapphire, as it was set in the breast plate among the gems representing the twelve tribes. But let us turn to Genesis 49:5-7. Here we find “ Simeon and Levi are brethren” — you see he links these two sons together — “instruments of cruel ty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Is rael.” Since God has dedicated another magnificent stone to one of the sons of Jacob, we realize that we should come to know something about that son, Simeon by name. When Reuben, the first-born son ar rived, Leah rejoiced in the hope that her boy would be the' means of draw ing her husband’s love to her — evi dently this did not happen. Now, with the birth of this second son, Simeon, her hopes began to arise once more.
Leah said, “ . . . Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath there fore given me this son also . . .” Now this little word hated that we find here in Genesis 29:33, is not a word in the negative with the meaning of hatred, in the sense as we use hatred. The word simply means that she un derstood, that as a wife, she was less loved than was the other wife of Jacob. So Leah named her second son Simeon, which means “hearing.” She felt that the Lord had heard her i*i her great distress and that the gift of this son was His answer to her prayers. So Leah brought two senses into op eration in the naming of the two sons: Verse 31 — • “And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated . . .” this had to do with the naming of Reuben. And verse 33 — “ . . . Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated . . .” This verse refers to the naming of Simeon. The two senses are, of course, those of see ing and hearing. Surely the human race, full of distress created by a vast vacuum of the absence of love, is called upon to look away to Jesus and see in Him the Son of God, and then to hear Him as the Word of God. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.” In attending to the Lord, there are many passages in the Scriptures which reveal that His eyes and ears are ever open toward you and me. Psalm 34:15 assures us that “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” Let us follow this thought a bit further to establish this blessed truth in our hearts by read ing Exodus 3:7 — “And the Lord said, I have surely seen (now there you have
and my house.” The testimony of the Word. Now the mercy of God prevented this near tragedy from falling upon the house of Jacob. This crime had been committed several years before the time of the study which we are now considering, but Jacob seemed not to have survived the shocks and now on his deathbed he seeks to assure all that he had never approved of the action of Simeon and Levi. He put the responsi bility for the death of those people where it belonged *— upon the should ers of the two sons Simeon and Levi, thereby vindicating his name and the names of the remaining members of his family. The expression “ is an instrument of cruelty” concerning Simeon who is represented by the stone called the sapphire, refers to the evil planning to trap or to deceive and destroy. Jacob said “O my soul come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united . . .” It is necessary sometimes for a man to be at variance against his father or a fa ther against a son because of the Gos pel of Jesus Christ. A servant of God must never condone sin because he is a member of the family that might have committed it. This is exactly what brought tragedy to Eli the High Priest of Israel. He failed to correct the sins of his own sons. And within the family of Jesus Christ, within the circle of the church is found, at times, the element of deceitful planning which needs to be suppressed and denounced, things in which the true soul can have neith er part nor parcel, and here Jacob is doing that very thing. It is interesting to note the force of words as we gather the Scripture be fore us. The Word of God says con cerning Simeon and Levi, “for in their anger they slew a man and in their self-will they dug down a wall. Cursed be their anger for it was fierce and their wrath because it was very, very cruel.” Now that’s a terrible thing for a father to say about his^son but it’s true. You see anger can be righteous, and indignation can be justifiable, but (continued on next page) 7
the eye) the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard (there you have the ears) their cry . . You have Reuben. You have Simeon! One means seeing, the other means hearing. Now leam that the Lord is always ready to hear us when we talk to Him, and He desires that we should ever be ready to listen when He speaks to your heart and to mine. It is interesting to realize that al though Simeon is being considered in this particular study and Levi in a later study — yet, here the two char acters cannot be separated because they were one; they were stubborn and self- willed and the reproof of their dying father fell from his lips upon them as one. Jacob said they were brethren, not only because of the same parentage, but because they were the same in spir it and in purpose. Concerning Simeon and Levi the Scripture says that they were instru ments of cruelty in their habitations — Genesis 49:5. The incident to which Jacob referred in this statement is re corded in the 34th chapter of Genesis and can be read for details. It will be sufficient to quote two short extracts to see why Jacob raised the matter at that time. The summary is gotten from the 25th and 26th verses of chapter 34—“And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword and he came upon the city boldly, and slew all of the males. And they slew Hamor and Sheehem his son with the edge of the sword, and they took Din ah, out of Shechem’s house and they went out.” Then we shall drop down to the 30th verse of the same chapter to find the reaction of Jacob to this cruelty of his sons: “And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me • to make me stink, (or not to be loved) among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gath er themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I
crime. So it was that on his deathbed, Jacob found it very necessary to remind these men of their wickedness. In telling them of their future he said, . . I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” And at the time of the first census of Israel they numbered 59,300, and at the second census they had reduced in number to 22,000 population, which means that just before the conquest of the Prom ised Land, Simeon’s tribe was the smallest tribe of the people of Israel. When the blessing of Moses came upon the twelve tribes of Israel, we are led to discover that Simeon is not even mentioned by Moses at all as re ceiving a blessing in Deuteronomy 33. And one thing must here be recorded, that although Jacob laid a curse upon them for their own sin, he did not curse the sinners. The men reaped what they sowed, and the mercy of the Lord brought them at last to the place of honor. The sapphire is the second hardest stone in the world — this is very in teresting because Simeon’s name was inscribed on the sapphire and thus it became the foundation of his name, “hard, highly polished” you see and this is exactly what you find. The char acter of Simeon and Levi was very hard, and in their action against the Shechemites, was one that might ren der Simeon to be called a merciless, scratching or tearing to pieces invader of the community, which is the mean ing of the Hebrew word from which the English word sapphire is derived. Yes, there are tremendous teachings in these studies •— may God bless them richly to our hearts.
Simeon (continued) they can quickly deteriorate into some thing very, very sinful if we’re not careful. We need to remind ourselves that when Jesus Christ was here in the world, sometimes He became angry and sometimes He was highly indignant, but it was a righteous anger and it was a holy indignation. True it was that Shechem had wronged their sister and natural it was that, as-'her own brothers, they should defend their sis ter and seek some retribution for the evil that was committed against her. But the judgment is meted because their anger was so fierce and their wrath was so cruel that Jacob, their own fa ther had to cry out against it. Surely nothing justifies the sadism and cruelty into which they fell. Now in this display of anger Jacob used the strange expression “they slew a man and they digged down a wall” and we might wonder what that means. Well, if we come to Genesis chapter 34 we will see that in their anger they slew a man. The word man here is a collective singular word which means men. Now one man had sinned against Dinah their sister, but instead of punishing that one man, or even extending it to that man’s family, these two brothers Simeon and Levi, the sons of Jacob, each took a sword and at a time when the men of the city were at great disadvantage, they went into the city of Shechem and slew every male inhabitant. Now what a cruel, tragic, and terrible thing to do. Moreover in their cruel and stub born self-will, Jacob, their father, said they digged down a wall. This is a very strange translation of that phrase but all of the Bible commentators are agreed that the literal rendering is that they hamstrung oxen. You know what that means. It means that they went up behind an ox an d . they cut the large tendons of his hind legs until his legs folded under him and he couldn’t use them at all. Cruelty to animals or to mankind is indeed almost an unpardonable
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Standing left to right: Dr. S. H. Sutherland, M rs. Lym an Stew art, M rs Hope, and Dr. Ray M yers. T o recount the full scope of the ministry of Mabel Merritt Hope
Through the years, Mrs. Hope’s warm and dedicated spirit has been a constant inspiration not only to those with whom she works, but also to everyone she meets. Whether teach ing adults or children, she honored Christ and enabled others to see Him. Mrs. Hope’s energy and enthusiasm are typified in her recent appearance before the State Department of Mo tor Vehicles. It was time for the re newal of driving licenses, with the usual eye examination and written and driving tests to undergo. A clerk informed her that if she could read the chart on the other side of the room, it wouldn’t be necessary for her to wait and use the machine now in use. Since she has never used glas ses, Mrs. Hope was able to read it better than was the clerk. When he looked at her written examination, he was surprised at her perfect score. “Who needs a driving test?” was his response, “when your record shows that you haven’t had any accidents in the past years.” Yes, for you, Mabel Merritt Hope, for forty-five tireless and selfless years in the service of Christ here at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc., the Board of Directors, administration, faculty, staff and student body, join in thanks and in wishing God’s rich est blessing. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, we are sure that in all things our Lord Jesus Christ will have the preeminence. 9
would be well-nigh impossible. Her life of service covers practically the same span in which the Bible Insti tute of Los Angeles itself has been in existence. While she has reached her 86th birthday, doubtless she will enjoy many more years, should the Lord tarry, as she came from a long-lived family, her mother living beyond the ninetieth year, as did also her sisters. Mrs. Hope came to the Bible Insti tute as a student just after the school moved from Third and Main Streets. While the new buildings were being constructed at Sixth and Hope, classes were held in the Temple Baptist Church building, with offices in the basement. Mrs. Hope’s class was one of the first to be graduated from the historic Biola buildings in downtown Los An geles. Her natural teaching abilities attracted the interest of Mrs. T. C. Horton, superintendent of the Bible women. Although still in school her self, she began teaching Bible classes. When Mrs. Lyman Stewart became superintendent of the work, following the homegoing of Mrs. Horton, Mrs. Hope was put in charge of the Euo- dia Clubs, ministering among the high school girls. God led in building the work, until frequently at the an nual week-end conferences in Pacific Palisades, more than 600 young wom en were in attendance.
than that which he already possesses. This discontented feeling indwell ing the heart is in direct conflict with the Spirit who has told us, “De light thyself also in the Lord . . .” We are to “ . . . seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous ness; and all these things shall be added unto y o ii’ (M att. 6:33). "W H O DEEPEST DRINKS OF SORROW, drinks deepest, too, of grace. He sends the storm, so He Himself can be our hiding place.” Someone has given us these words of understanding and blessing that they might accompany our needs of the heart. In the days of ancient Rome, farm ers used .a crude cart which had wheels comprised of large cutting rollers. This device was called a “ tribulum.” One man would stir up the sheaves while the other stood on the cart. Attached to the casters were sharp stones, rough bits of iron, and glass embedded in the surface so that by cutting, the straw was separated from the grain. We find the “trib ulum” cart a reality in our exper iences of daily living. We get our word “ tribulationt” from the “ tribulum” cart. The Lord Jesus Christ said, . . In th W H Y DO TODAY W H A T WE C AN DO TOMORROW ? To answer this let’s read this story of a dream. A man had a dream that took him to the very court of hell. Satan had called a special meeting of his de monic leaders to discuss the best means of getting sinners into hell. Suggestions began to form in their fiendish minds: One said, “Let's tell them there is no'God.” Satan shook his head and commented that “He could, only say NO to that for only a fool could think that way.” An other offered, “Tell them the Bible is a lie.” Again Satan shook his head — “No, there is too much evidence against that.” Still another volun teered, “Well then, tell them there is no future punishment.” But they all realized that conscience refutes that theory. Finally, one advanced this thought, “ Tell them the Bible is true, hell is a reality,- salvation is very desirable, but also tell them there is plenty of time; no need to hurry.” The evil resolution was unanimously adopted. Only a dream, perhaps — how ever, procrastination is the chief thief and murderer of souls . . Be hold, now is the accepted time; be hold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2). HOW TRAGIC that men never seem to learn that possessing an abun dance of things will never bring joy or peace to the human heart. Have you ever wondered when a person is rich enough? The fact of the matter is, due to human nature, no man ever considers himself tich enough until he has a little more 10 L et me say , as we open this section of the study of the breastplate, that it is our purpose to maintain the devotional rather than the historical treatment of this subject. Now we are following this procedure although we are fully aware that the historical vein would reveal an amazing fulfillment of prophecy in the case of the tribe of Gad. And who is Gad? In Genesis 30:9-11, we find the beginning of the thread of his story: “When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.” This son, bom of Zilpah, was taken away by Leah as her adopted son and she named him Gad. Leah had borne four sons and now this adopted lad brought the num ber to five sons by this time. Rachel had borne no children to Jacob and it was she, who being envious of her sis ter Leah in the bearing of four sons, first made use of her handmaiden and secured a son, Dan, by proxy. Then follows Genesis 30, verse 9. Again we return to the well used chapter 49 of Genesis, and reading verse 19, we leam that “Gad, a troop shall overcome him; but he shall over come at the last.” As we turn the pages of Scripture we come to a further study over in Deu teronomy 33:20, 21 where Moses said of Gad, “Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: He dwelleth as the lion, and tear- eth the arm with the crown of his head. And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel.” From the standpoint of recorded fact,, we find the Gadites to have been great warriors — fighting many, many bat tles and knowing both defeat and vic tory as valiant men. But we read that a troop shall overcome Gad; however, he shall overcome at the last. In looking at such a summary, as this of Gad, we note that three pictures of truth are illustrated for us in the glimpse that we catch of this son of Jacob. We feel that we need, first of all, to look at the view concerning the people of Israel. You see, God prom ised Abraham that his seed would be as numberless as the sands of the sea and as countless as the stars of heaven. Also, was the promise given that through Abraham’s seed would all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now this multiplication began in Jacob and his twelve sons and continued until the family became a mighty, overpowering nation. You see Israel, in reality, was a troop. Incidentally, if, in your read ing of the Scripture, you come across the words bands and troop, used inter changeably, do not become confused for they are the same word and mean ing. Now Israel was to be overcome and to rise. The children of Israel were op pressed by an Egyptian troop, yet came (continued on next page) 11 Gad we catch a view of the believer — and the Church is a great troop of be lievers. At this present moment we may be pressed down by the burdens of this life and it would appear as if Satan is having his way and the Church has been overcome. But the true Church will overcome at the last. We must come to know that every believer who would be an overcomer must first of all be overcome by Jesus Christ. Lives that have been conquered by the grace of God shall be conquerors through the grace of God. It is of interest to read that the tribe of Gad delighted to be in the front of battle in seeking to enlarge his ter ritory by conquest to greater borders. We read that Moses said, “Blessed be he that enlargeth the camp” — (Deu teronomy 33). We must remember that while we may enter into spiritual con flict and bring all that we haye to bear down upon our adversary — yet, suc- MOVING COSTS EVERYONE Gad (continued) forth victors out of terrible bondage in the land of Egypt. Then we learn that the Israelites were overcome by a Ba bylonian troop and were taken into captivity for 70 years duration. And in our day, Israel has been buried in the graveyard of the nations. Until 1948, the people of Israel had neither lead ership nor government; they had neith er army nor navy. In short, these sad folk had no home — they had no flag! The passing centuries poured a stream of persecution and appalling massacre upon them. But, says this prophetic Word, Gad shall overcome at the last. Now what is said of Gad is also true of the peo ple of Israel and they will come through, ultimately, as revealed in the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 37, 38, and 39. The Jews began to return to their own land prior to 1948 and have con tinued since that hour. The Word of God says that “ a nation shall be bom in a day” and then shall they be the leading power in the world again. But above all they shall see and recognize Christ whom they have pierced! We want now to fix our eyes upon the picture concerning Christ. What was said of Gad relative to the fact that he would become a great troop, is de clared concerning Jesus, that every knee shall bow before Him and that every tongue shall confess Him as Lord. In another passage we are told that around Him will gather a company that no man can number — surely a tremendously great troop! There was a time when it appeared that man had overcome Christ as He was led to the Cross in man’s seeming victory. Christ was laid in the tomb but on the third day He overcame at the last and arose triumphantly from the dead and as cended unto heaven there to sit at the right hand of the Father. And then shall Christ come again, He shall come forth with all the armies of heaven and with 'thousands upon tens of thousands of His saints to bring judgment upon the earth, as the Book of the Revelation, chapter 19 tells us. As we draw upon this summary of If you have just moved, or are planning to do so, you know all that is involved. But did you realize that your move can also cost the Lord's work? If you have moved and have not as yet informed us, from now on it will cost Biola 8 cents (rather than 4) in order to have the post office give us the in formation concerning your new address. If you use a post card, or the forms provided by the post office, this will mean a sub stantial savings for the work of the Lord. With a quarter of the population moving every year, according to statistics, you can well imagine what this will ulti mately mean for Biola. Thank you for your prayer ful help in this, as well as in our other ministries for the Lord Jesus Christ. salvation. Jesus Is our gem — our dia mond of power, binding us to God so that nothing can separate Him from you and me. In the Book of Romans 8:35-39, is a magnificent set of Biblical truths: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakednes, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any-other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” For still another truth we understand that while the diamond is difficult to break, it can be cleft in two. Cleaving, they say,' is one of the great arts in the diamond industry and in Amster dam, Holland — a great center of the diamond industry — they tell us that by means of cleaving, spots can be re moved from what, otherwise, might have been a perfect stone. Jesus, the Rock of Ages, was cleft that you and I might know what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote that Jesus came into the world to save sinners “of whom I am chief.” Legendarily, the diamond was re puted to have power to effect reconcili ation between two people who, as lov ers, had grown apart, therefore, it was called the gem of reconciliation. Of course, it had no such power. But we do find in Jesus “ the true gem of recon ciliation” says Dr. Barr. In II Corin thians 5:18-20, we have this word “And all things are of God, who hath recon ciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of rec onciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him self, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye rec onciled to God.” Now this, my friend, is the deepest need of the human heart — to be reconciled to God! cess will be missing unless the hand of the Lord is upon you and me in bless ing. Jeptha and Elijah, both of the tribe of Gad, were two fine examples of war riors under the blessing of God — in their case, God’s blessing through Mo ses upon them. As to the matter of Gad having pro vided the first part for himself — we have already seen in our study how that Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh asked for their possessions right away — they told Joshua that they preferred to remain on the east ern side of the River Jordan. Joshua asured them that they could have this portion provided they went forward over the Jordan with their brethren and fought with them until the whole land was subjected. So Reuben and Gad gave their immediate consent — thus having provided the first part for him self Gad went forward to help his other brother. There is no blessing or pos session which you and I might person ally enjoy that someone else has not helped us to attain. Therefore, we must not idle in ease and security while those around us need help. And here we are thinking about missions! As we have looked at the true and hardened warrior, Gad, it is easy to identify him with the diamond — the gem which represents his tribe on the breastplate. The word “ diamond” comes from two Greek words which mean “that which cannot be broken.” We understand that folk in ancient times believed that this precious stone could not be broken. Be cause of this attributed quality it was recognized as the symbol of invincible power and fearlessness. The writer of the Psalms cried out, “Twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God.” “All power is given unto me,” said the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18, “in heaven and in earth.” “He spoke,” states Matthew 7:29, “ as one who possessed great authority.” “Ye shall receive power . . .” said Jesus in Acts 1:8. In I Peter 1:5, the Apostle writes about those believers who are kept by the power of God through faith unto JULY RADIO MESSAGE/THE TWELVE STONES IN THE BREASTPLATE OF THE HIGH PRIEST by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson EPHRA IM : the jacinth giving the blessing of the firstborn son to the younger son, which was an amazing thing. Seeing this order, Jo seph tried to correct that which his fa ther was doing to his son, but Jacob assured him that his action was delib erate and that the older was going to serve the younger. From that point on, we never read of Manasseh and Ephraim — instead, we always read of Ephraim first and Manasseh in sec ond place. In this act of blessing, Jacob also said “And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee in Egypt, are mine; as Reu ben and Simeon, they shall be mine” (Genesis 48:5). And then in the same chapter and verse 16 — “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them . . .” Now, in the first reference, it is not only to be seen that Jacob adopted these two grandsons into his own fam ily to become his sons, but he also gave them equality with his own first born son, Reuben and with Simeon. Reuben was the beginning of his strength — he was his firstborn son. This account of Jacob’s blessing of the two sons causes you and me to re call times that are outstanding when the Lord has crossed purposes in our lives and brought the rejected and despised Ephraims to the forefront of the blessing. It might be some talent or gift upon which we have put no value that God raises up to become the one thing that stands out above all else. 14 T o th e child of God it is a choice privilege to go back to the early days of Jewry and observe God’s hand in their affairs — both as a body of people and as individuals. In this liberty of study we would like, at this juncture, to see something of the life of Joseph and its bearing upon the matter of the twelve tribes. While Joseph was in the land of Egypt he was given a Gentile bride, Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah, priest of On, and she bore him two sons. The first lad he named Manasseh, which means forgetfulness; “for God”, said Joseph, “hath made me forget all my toil in all my father’s house.” And the second son he called Ephraim, which means doubly fruitful, and Joseph said of his birth: “for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my afflic tion.” Now, just before the death of Ja cob, Joseph brought his two sons, Ma nasseh and Ephraim, to his own father Jacob that he might bless them. Jacob sat upon his bed and, very wittingly, he crossed his hands over, thus placing his right hand upon the younger and his left hand upon the older boy — Like Joseph, perhaps you were disap pointed at the time but oh, how we need to thank God for His wisdom, and the fact that He has applied it unto our lives when our finite minds have not been able to see its infinite value! As we read of these two men, Eph raim and Manasseh (sons of Joseph) who found themselves as two tribes of Israel while their father Joseph never found himself to have become a tribe in name — we leam that these two men each had a stone on the breast plate of the High Priest. Although Ephraim and Manasseh found a place upon the breastplate, they were never named on the shoulder stones as Ja cob’s sons by birth — they were really his grandsons. Joseph little realized all that was pertaining to the name Ephraim. As already stated, Ephraim means doubly fruitful and when Jacob set him above his own brother Manasseh and bestowed upon him the blessing of the firstborn, he became the inheritor of a double portion of the firstborn. As far as his tory records for us, Joseph had no oth er children apart from Ephraim and Manasseh who were born to him of a Gentile wife in Egypt. The increase of Joseph’s posterity was therefore in these two sons and especially in the son called Ephraim. The Book of Genesis closes by record ing that Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. When the tribes of Israel were numbered, Ephraim stood at 40,500 as over against Manasseh with only 32,000, Moses gives us exactly the same thought in the Book of Deuter onomy, chapter 33 — verses 16 and 17, in which the simple meaning lies, that the strength of the advance of Jo seph and the establishment of his fam ily was in his two boys — particularly in Ephraim, his second born son who received the blessing of the firstborn. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” II Cor. 4:17. Every believer should have this pas sage graven upon the depths of his heart as a foundation of action in faith. Certainly this did not appear to be true in the life of Joseph at the offset. He might easily have asked, why did my brothers hate me? Why did God allow this to happen to me for it was no fault of mine that my father favored me in a gift of the multi-colored coat. Why did they misunderstand my dreams — I never told the truth with any pride or conceit in my heart. When in Shechem, why did I return home instead of pursuing them to the land of Goshen? Why did that caravan of traders come along just at that particu lar time so that I should be sold down into the land of Egypt? Why did I receive evil for doing good — why, why, why? These are some of the ques tions that Joseph might have asked — even as you and I do in this day. But, should anyone of Joseph’s ex periences have been taken from his life, the sequence of events would have been broken down and he would never have found his way to the second throne of Egypt; neither would he have been given, by Pharaoh, the name of Zaph- nath-Paaneah, which means the saviour of the world. Yes, these things done to him were meant for evil, but God meant it all for good. A life which is lived in sub mission to the Lord is always overruled for the good of the believer and the glory of God! When it comes to the matter of the stone which was representative of Eph raim on the breastplate of the High Priest,, we find it to be the most puz zling of all the stones. We are told that the word is quite foreign to the Heb rew 'language and it seems that it is all but impossible to trace its origin. However, it is quite widely accepted that the stone is the Jacinth. Ancient historical documents inform us that the Jacinth was a favorite stone with travelers who believed that it gave protection against the two things most dreaded by travelers in the ancient world: plagues and wounds. Traveling was a perilous business for pilgrims in those days and they were glad for any promised security. (continued on next page) 15 Ephraim (continued) Human life is often likened to a journey from the cradle to the grave. Despite all the changes that the cen turies have brought, David’s prayer re mains true in human experience — ‘‘For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding” — I Cor. 29:15. Life is a dangerous journey and we need companionship and protection which the Christian has in Christ — He is the stone, the Rock of Ages, for all who would make this journey vic toriously. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” — Proverbs 3:5, 6. From one of our leading encyclo paedias we understand that according to old days and legends, the wearing of this stone was said to insure a trav eler a welcome in any hostelry or inn. Dr. Pink has said we would like to know that at the end of life’s strange road there is a home of love and light and this is exactly what we find in Christ. You see, we who belong to Him are persuaded of this one thing; that “In my Father’s house are many man sions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” What a pre cious promise and what a tremendous hope lies resident in Jesus Christ! A S WE SEE A GROW ING NUM BER OF SCANDALS, both public and private, it seems that the personal integrity of the individual is sorely lacking in our country. A fire broke out in the business office of a large midwestern depart ment store. All of the charge slips for that day were destroyed. So the owner took a fu ll page ad in the newspaper, explaining the situation to the general public. Those who had made purchases (to be charged) the day of the fire, were requested to re port them to the store. Although the daily average of charge purchases in the store was around 3,000, only one person responded — a man who bought a pair of gloves. Many clerks remembered making large sales, but the store had no proof, therefore had to stand the loss. Our Country stands in great jeop ardy when such a thing as this can happen within our borders — “ . . . sin is a reproach to any people.” OBVIOUSLY, M A N Y OLDER FOLK lis ten to these programs and it is a privilege to share moments with, those who are in the sunset years of life. There was an elderly saint who had an unbelievably clear and smooth complexion. Many women would ask her how she accounted for such an excellent condition of her skin and she gave them her for mula: “I use, for my lips, truth; for my voice, prayer; for my eyes, pity; for my hands, charity; for my figure, uprightness, and for my heart — love.” 16 Meet our radio Bible T eacher Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson, Pastor, Bethany Baptist Church, West Covina, California. B u S y *" r a d io m e s s a g e s / t h e t w e l v e st o n e s in t h e b r e a s t p l a t e o f t h e 1 HIGH PRIEST _________ „ — ......... MANASSEH: the agate by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson an understanding of Jacob’s act in this thing. This is the sixth time that such an act has been performed by Jacob in the affairs of Joseph. It was a show ing of preference for him by his fa ther, that created the hatred of his own brethren for him. Jacob loved Jo seph and he made a point of letting the other sons know this. Now Jacob is doing it again in the blessing of Eph raim and Manasseh, over the protest of Joseph for he well knew that such things on the part of his father had brought him into very deep waters. The vital point in this is what Ja cob did. He departed from custom as he had the right to bestow the blessing upon whom he might choose. Perhaps Jacob detected something in the char acter of Ephraim that was more sted- fast or maybe it was the direct guid ance of God! Of one thing we must be assured — the Lord knows our lives from the beginning to the end and He will mete out His blessing accord ing to His divine wisdom. Let us think rather sharply as we consider this act of blessing: while this means blessing for the receiver, it does not necessarily mean judgment for the person who did not receive this particular favor. Among the many islands of our ocean and sea waters, we shall draw from among them the island of Sicily, which has, in many ways, played an important part in the affairs of men and of nations. In olden times the agate was found in Sicily, in the River Acha tes (French spelling of agate) from which it took its name. Now in the great Latin poem — Virgil’s AENEID, (continued on next page) 17 T h e study to which we give thought at this point, is of Manasseh a man who underwent rather severe dealing in the matter of the bestowal of blessing by his grandfather Jacob. The agate, the gem which represented him on the breastplate, has a singu lar origin and we want to entwine the study of the man and the history of the gem, rather than take them sep arately, as heretofore. The comments of three men are bas ic to our study of Manasseh and we give them to you here: Joseph — Genesis 41:51 — “And Jo seph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” Jacob — Genesis 48:16 — “And the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of file earth.” Moses — Deuteronomy 33:17 — “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his. horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” We would do well to keep in mind the fact that no reason, whatever, ap pears to be given as to why Jacob re versed the blessing and gave the bless ing of the firstborn to the second son Ephraim. Manasseh was blessed with the second blessing. There is no evi dence of sin, slackness, or unworthiness in his character that would lead us to
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