XIII.-THE STARS OF LIGHT. "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."-Gen. xv. 5.-See also Ps. cxlviii. 3; Dan. xii. 3; Heb. xi. 12. 1 As the sun is the scriptural emblem of Christ the Sun of righteousness, so all the other heavenly bodies, and the heavens also themselves, are spoken of in Holy Scripture in illustration of spiritual facts. In the vast space and the boundless height of heaven, the Psalmist saw an image of that infinite love which compasseth all things living, but especially such as fear God, and of that unwearied mercy which is ever ready to listen to the prayers of the penitent. "As the heaven is high above the I See Similitude XXVIII. First Series. M earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." The number and glory of the stars, their order and stedfastness in their courses, seem to suggest the countless multitude, and the godly order and stedfastness, as well as the future glory, of the children of God. Thus, when God made known to Abraham that he was to be the father of a countless progeny (the father of the spiritual Israel as well as of the Israel after the flesh), "He brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." Thus also we find that false teachers are called "wandering stars ;" and it is therefore implied, that the stars which are fixed and stedfast in their courses are the emblem3 of faithful pastors, who are "burning and shining lights." Thus also when St. Paul is setting forth the glorious resurrection of the bodies of the saints, he compares the difference between their present condition and the various degrees of glory in which they shall arise, to the difference between "celestial bodies" and "bodies terrestrial," and also to the different degrees of splendour and brightness among the heavenly bodies themselves. "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." Thus, "when I consider, O Lord, thy heavens, 1 Ps. ciii. 11, 12. 3 Rev. i. 20. 2 Jude 13. the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;" my first thought should indeed ever be, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? But I may go on to reflect, also, how Thou hast in Thy holy word made all those glorious bodies to be parables of Divine instruction, and emblems of heavenly hope. The countless multitude of the stars suggests to me the encouraging thought of that vast "multitude which no man can number " of those who, in various ages and distant countries, have been redeemed out of the world, and have washed their garments, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; and who shall hereafter rejoice for ever before Thy throne. When I observe their stedfastness, and wonderful order in their several courses, let me pray that I may myself be "stedfast and unmoveable" in that course of appointed duty to which Thou hast called me; and that Thy Church may ever be ordered by wise and faithful pastors, who shall see that all things be done in decency and order. And when I observe not only the glory and splendour of all the constellations, but also how " one star differeth from another star in glory," let me by faith look forward to the glory of the resurrection, when the vile body, that has been sown in dishonour, shall be raised in glory, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. May I be counted worthy, through the merits of my Lord and Saviour, of even the least degree of that heavenly brightness; and when I see some faithful servant walking on in his appointed course, as a burning and shining light, let me be moved to a holy zeal, that I may at least follow 1 Ps. viii. 3, 4. him on the way of faith and duty! At all times, and in all circumstances, let me endeavour so to live, that this vile body may hereafter be fashioned like unto my Saviour's glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself." XIV. THE TENT STRUCK. "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."-2 Cor. v. 1-4.-See also Gen. xviii. 1; Ps. xxxix. 12; Jer. xxxv. 7; John i. 14. 2 THE Soul is sometimes said in Holy Scripture to Phil. iii. 21. 2 Job iv. 19. dwell in a house of clay, the foundation of which is in the dust, and which is crushed before the moth. This comparison is most suitable to remind us of our frailness, and to check in us "the pride of life” and all high or vain imaginations. In other texts the soul is said to dwell in "a tent" or "tabernacle:" a habitation suited to one who is travelling through a desert and uninhabited land. We are therefore reminded by such expressions that we are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth."1 It was an act of faith in Abraham to dwell in tabernacles in the land of promise, as in a strange country. His practice in this respect was a perpetual confession that he regarded himself only as a stranger and traveller on the earth, and that "he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."" Again, the feast of tabernacles was appointed3 to remind the children of Israel of the wanderings of their forefathers in the wilderness (when they dwelt in tents), and thus to suggest to them continually the same thought, that this life is only a pilgrimage, and that our true home is elsewhere, that we have here no continuing city, but seek one to come.* By faith, a Christian continually regards his body as a tent or tabernacle, a frail and uncertain habitation, suited to the condition of one who is only a traveller to his true home, offering no effectual protection against the many dangers to which he is exposed, a dwelling-place which may be struck or taken down in a moment. Thus St. Paul calls the body the "earthly house of this tabernacle," which may soon be "dissolved;" and St. Peter says, "I think it meet, as long as I am 1 Heb. xi. 13. 3 Lev. xxiii. 34 2 Heb. xi. 9, 10. |