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By ROY TALMAGE BRUMBAUGH* Tacoma,. Washington "When the fulness o f the time was come, [then] God sent forth his Son’’ (Gal. 4 :4 ).
s we t h in k through the Scriptures, we feel the breath o f the Almighty. “ God” is written on every word of the Old arid New Testaments. Every letter of every word bears the impress of deity. Let us consider the words of the text. “ Fulness” means “ completion,” “ end,” “ filling full.” “ Time” is a definite, decreed period. Eternity cannot be filled full. Time has a beginning and an end, a day of birth and a day of consum mation. As time is limited and confined, it may be filled full. “ Was come,” or “ came,” means “ arrived.” It was as a man arrived at maturity, as a day come to meridian. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the sun. Great men appear when thè setting is right. The hour strikes, and the man of the hour stands forth fully equipped for the emergency. There are no acci dents in the history of the world. Behind all events there is the divine Manipulator of men and things. God had to get mankind ready for the coming of His Son and for His salvation. The appointed time which had to elapse between the fall of Adam and the -coming of Christ had now been filled to the full. The very lastyear and month and week and day and hour and second had come. The end of the definite, decreed period arrived at last ! P rophecy The period of time preceding Christ’s birth was filled full by prophecy. Prophecy undoubtedly began at Genesis 3 :15, where it is written that the Deliverer would not be an angel, nor a cherub, but a man. This, however, is quite general. There is not much here that is definite. Time goes on, and the revelation comes from the Father that the De liverer will be of that branch of the human race whose head was Shem, not Ham or Japheth. Years pass and the revelation becomes more definite. The Deliverer is to come of a particular nation of the particular branch of the hu man race, the Hebrew nation, not from the Gentile nation. Later it is prophesied that the Messiah will be, not an Arab, but of the seed of Isaac. Is He to be an Edomite, that is, a son of Esau? No! He is to be an Israelite. Jacob has twelve sons, but it is definitely foretold that the Christ is to come out of the tribe of Judah. As time goes on, the revela tion becomes clearer and more definite. There are thou sands of families in Judah. O f which one is the Deliverer to be born? Jesse ! But Jesse has many sons. Yes, but the youngest one is definitely selected : the Messiah is to be of the seed of David. Kingship is implied here. Centuries roll on. Prophets again speak. The Anointed One is to be born of a certain member of the particular family, that is, of the Virgin.. One of the last Old Testa-
ment prophets declares that the Deliverer is to be born in a certain town belonging to the family of David, namely, Bethlehem. In Daniel 9 :25, we are told that the Messiah will be born four hundred and eighty-three years after the edict goes forth from Babylon to restore and rebuild Jeru salem. Isaiah also declares that the Deliverer will be Immanuel, God with us. When the fullness of the time was come, the Deliverer was born as prophesied, in Bethlehem, of the Virgin Mary, who was of the family of David, who was of the tribe of Judah, who was an Israelite, of the Hebrew nation, which was Shemitic, which was of the human race. “ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” : “ Immanuel—God with us.” T he J ews The period of time preceding Christ’s birth was also filled full through three great nations. Above the cross there was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, “ This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” These were the languages of three great nations of that day. God separated the Hebrews from the nations of the world for a special purpose. He gave unto them the types, the law, the prophets, the psalms, and the ordinances. They were called to worship the one true God, when all other peoples'were worshiping many gods. The Jews were not great in navigation as were the Phoenicians; nor were they great in sculpture, architecture, philosophy, in the arts and sciences, as were the Greeks; nor were they great in government‘as were the Romans; but God gave unto the world through them the two greatest gifts, Christ and the Bibles Previous to the coming of Christ, the Jews had been scattered everywhere. Wherever people were found, there the Jews lived. They carried with them their religion. They -made many proselytes among the lordly and the low. The news of the prophecies concerning the coming Deliv erer were known among all peoples ( c f . the wise men). The foundation upon which Christianity was to be built was thus laid previous to the advent of the Child. The world was in expectation. T he G reeks The period before the coming of the Messiah was also filled full by the Greeks. This nation, limited to a sm all area, has influenced the world more than any other nation, save the Hebrews. In a short period of time known as the “ Golden Age,” it gave rise to the greatest intellectual giants o f all time. Greece gave to the world Aristotle, the inven tor of logic; Plato, the greatest of philosophers; Homer, the peer o f secular poetry; Aristophanes, the father, of comedy; Herodotus, the progenitor of profane history.
*Pastor, First Presbyterian Church.
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