1.05. Four Precious Titles of the Messiah
“Out of him” (Judah) “the Corner, out of him the Nail, out of him the Battle Bow, out of him shall come forth He that will rule all together” (the absolute Ruler1)—Zechariah 10:4.
1 On the rendering of the text see footnote
CHAPTER V.
FOUR PRECIOUS TITLES OF THE MESSIAH
Names in Scripture, especially those given by Divine authority, describe, as a rule, the character of the things or beings who bear them, and particularly is this the case with the names of God and the Messiah. Hence the Psalmist’s exclamation, “They that know Thy Name shall put their trust in Thee” (Psalms 9:10). Hence also when Moses prayed, “Show me Thy way, that I may know Thee!” God put him in the cleft of a rock and proclaimed to him the Name of the Lord—“Jehovah, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 33:16-19; Exodus 34:5; Exodus 34:7).
Why is He called יְהוָה֙ (Jehovah) but because He is “from everlasting to everlasting the same”—infinite, eternal unchangeable and faithful? Why is He called אֱלֹהִ֑ים (Elohim) but because He, the glorious Triune God, is alone to be worshipped and adored? He is called שַׁדַּי (Shaddai), because He is the Almighty and Omnipotent One; יִרְאֶ֑ה יְהוָ֣ה (Jehovah Jireh), because He hath Himself provided a ransom for the sin of the whole world; שָׁל֑וֹם יְהוָ֖ה (Jehovah Shalom), because He is the Peace-giver; and so in every one of His names there is contained for us some revelation of His relative perfections and attributes. And this is the case also with the Messiah. Why is He at all called by the title מׇשִׁ֖יהַ (Messiah: Daniel 9:26; Psalms 2:2) but because that in a special manner the Spirit of God was to be upon Him, anointing Him to “preach good tidings unto the meek,” and that He is the Sent One to accomplish a special, and a most glorious mission upon the earth, viz., “to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, and the day of vengeance of our God; . . . and to cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations”? (Isaiah 61:1-2; Isaiah 61:11).
Why, for instance, is He called שִׁילֹה (Shiloh), but because He is the Prince of peace? or אֵֽל עִמָּ֥נוּ (Immanuel) but because that with His advent God’s manifest presence was once more to return to man? or צִדְקֵֽנוּ יְהוָ֥ה (Jehovah Tsidkenu) but because He was to become our Righteousness? Who does not know that the most precious name יֵשׁ֨וּעַ (Jesus) describes the Messiah as the Saviour from all sin? and that ֠פֶּלֶא (Wonderful) is a just title of Him Who is His miraculous birth, in the matchless purity of His character, in the Divine utterances that fell from His lips, in His wonderful life, death, and resurrection, and in the immense influence of His Name and teaching unto the present day, is the wonder of all ages? or that He is called גִּבּ֔וֹר אֵ֣ל (Mighty God) because He is very God, in Whom (although He was man) dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9), or אֲבִיעַ֖ד (The Father of Eternity) because, though He was a Child born in Bethlehem Ephratah, yet His goings forth have been from of old even from the days of eternity? (Micah 5:2, Heb.) But here in our text (Zechariah 10:4) we have a glorious constellation of four of the most precious titles of Christ, only one less in number than, but shining quite as brilliantly and as full of meaning and comfort as that other and largest in Isaiah 9:6. We shall take each one of them separately in order to a better understanding of them, and may He, Who is “the Bright and Morning Star,” shine into our hearts and souls, so that “in His light we may see light”! THE CORNER That this is one of Messiah’s titles there can, I think, be no doubt, for in Isaiah 28:16, which is acknowledged to be a Messianic passage even by Jews, we read, “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste,” and in the New Testament it is applied to Christ both by Himself (Matthew 21:42), and His apostles (Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4-8); but the question is, What does this title signify?
Now, in the first instance, I believe that the Spirit of God, in presenting Christ to us as the Corner, wants us to understand that He is the “sure foundation” upon Whom rests the spiritual superstructure which is now in process of completion, and which is raised “for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” For the stability and safety of a building everything depends on the foundation. The plan and materials of it may be ever so perfect in themselves, but if the foundation be “sand,” the house will not abide the storm and flood; while, on the other hand, the plan and materials of a house may not be so good, but if its foundation be sound, the winds may blow and the tempests may beat upon it, it cannot fall, for it is founded on a rock. Even so the Divine Architect, in designing that glorious Temple for His own presence which in the ages to come is to make known to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places His manifold wisdom” (Ephesians 3:10), in order to ensure its safety against the attacks of the devil and his hosts, and to make it proof against storm and tempest and even time itself, laid as its foundation His own “Son, Who abideth ever” (John 8:35), and is as firm as a rock, against Whom even the gates of hell shall not prevail. Thus we are told that the living stones who are prepared by the Spirit of God to become parts in that Temple “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,2 Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in Whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:20-21).
2 “When it is said, ‘to be built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles’ (Ephesians 2:20), it only refers to their doctrine concerning Christ; and therefore it is added, that He, as being the subject of their doctrine, is the ‘chief corner-stone.’ The foundation then of the Church lies not in Rome, but in heaven, and therefore is out of the reach of all enemies, and above the power of the ‘gates of hell.’ Fear not then when you see the storms arise and winds blow against this spiritual building, for ‘it shall stand;’ ‘it is built upon an invisible, immovable Rock;’ and that great Babylon, Rome itself, which, under the false title and pretence of supporting this building, is working to overthrow it, ‘shall be utterly overthrown and laid equal with the ground and never be built again.’ ”—ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON on 1 Peter 2:4. This solves the problem of the continuance and immovableness of the Christian Church in spite of the many storms and tempests she has encountered from men and devils. Let the tempests rage, let infidelity assail, the foundation which God laid in Zion will still remain unshaken, for it is a “sure foundation,” and, as long as the foundation is safe, the building on it, if it be only properly secured to its foundation, is also safe; therefore they “that believe shall not make haste to flee” in alarm, but will still abide safe in the “Rock of ages” and eternal refuge.
But, in the second place, the פִנָּה֙ (corner-stone) is “that stone which unites the two walls of the corner,”3 and the Spirit of God, in presenting the Messiah to us by this figure, may have intended to foreshadow Him as the link between Jew and Gentile, who are both made one in Him: “For He is our peace, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”
3 Among the ancient Jews the foundation corner-stone of their sanctuary on Moriah was regarded as the emblem of moral and spiritual truths. It had two functions to perform: first, like the other foundation stones, it was a support for the masonry above, but it had also to face both ways, and was thus a bond of union between two walls.
* * * * * * *
“The engineers, in order to ascertain the dimensions of this foundation stone, worked round it, and report that it is three feet eight inches high and fourteen feet in length. At the angle it is let down into the rock to a depth of fourteen inches; but, as the rock rises towards the north, the depth of four feet north of the angle is increased to thirty-two inches, while the northern end seems entirely embedded in the rock. The block is further described as squared and polished, with a finely dressed face. It does not appear to have any marginal draft at the bottom, and indeed, this was not necessary, as the lower part, being sunk in the rock, would always be hidden from view; but the absence of the lower draft indicates that the block was dressed in the quarry in a somewhat peculiar style, with a view to its being the foundation corner-stone. The draft on the upper margin of the stone is four inches wide. Fixed in its abiding position three thousand years ago, it still stands sure and steadfast, a fitting emblem of the ‘Rock of ages,’ that cannot be removed, but abideth fast for ever.”—“Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill at Jerusalem,” by J. KING, M.A.
Indeed, this is, I believe, the connection in which Paul introduces the Lord Jesus by the figure of the “chief corner-stone” in this passage (Ephesians 2:20). He speaks in this chapter to the Gentiles, who were once “afar off,” aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, and tells them that now, “in Christ Jesus,” they “are made nigh,” and, together with the Jews, “have access by one Spirit unto the Father,” and then goes on to say, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.” In spite of mutual prejudice and hatred and the otherwise impassable legal and ceremonial gulf that separated the Jew from the Gentile, Christ is the angle at which both meet and are united into one building, which is the habitation of God through the Spirit; for in Him “there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Then, thirdly, Christ is also styled פִּנָּֽה רֹ֣אשׁ (“the Head of the corner,” Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42; κεφαλὴν γωνίας, which is also the Septuagint translation of Psalms 118:22, an appellation which is distinguished from the “corner-stone,” ἀκρογωνιαῖος, in Isaiah 28:16, Ephesians 2:20, and 1 Peter 2:6), which implies, I believe, that just as He is the foundation of the spiritual Temple and the “projecting corner-stone” that unites in Himself the two walls or the two elements (Jewish and Gentile) of which it consists, so He is also the top stone or coping. The “head of the corner” was often also a costly or “precious” stone, placed, not at the top of the wall, but in the most important and conspicuous position, to give the building a finished and perfect look,—it was, as it were, the crown and glory of the building. Hence, as a secondary application, the word פִנָּה֙ (corner) is used to designate a governor, or the most conspicuous person in a community (1 Samuel 14:38; Isaiah 19:13).
Now, all these are relationships in which Christ stands to His Church. He is her immovable foundation; her bond of union between all her members; and also her top stone, or cover, and the crown of her glory.
I have spoken of the Church corporately, but all I have said is true also of every individual Christian. It is because I rest on the “sure foundation” which God has laid in Zion that “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 me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.” I am vitally united to Christ Jesus my foundation, and Christ is vitally united to God, and who can snatch me out of the hand of the Almighty? And besides, the stone which I take as my foundation is a “tried stone.” God tested Him before He finally made Him manifest as the only foundation for His people’s salvation and eternal happiness, and He has declared that in every respect He was “well pleased” with Him; and what better assurance can I have than the testimony of the living God, Who cannot mistake and cannot lie? Millions also who have accepted the testimony of God have put Him to the test, and they have not found Him wanting, but, in every respect, solid enough to bear the superstructure of their redemption.
Then again, Christ is my “head stone of the corner,” and He is a “precious corner-stone,” or, more literally, as in the Hebrew (Isaiah 28:16) and Greek (1 Peter 2:7), He is a “Corner of preciousness.” In me there is no spiritual beauty or comeliness, but my blessed Saviour is “altogether lovely,” and “fairer than the children of men,” and in God’s sight that which is most conspicuous is, not myself, as I am, but Christ, Who dwelleth in me. But the figure of the “corner-stone” teaches us, I believe, a special truth in connection with the past and future of Israel as a nation. It is supposed by many, and I think with sufficient reason, that the ode in Psalms 118:22-23., “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes,” beside its emblematical meaning, commemorates a real transaction and literal occurrence at the building of Solomon’s temple, when a certain stone, designed for the “head corner-stone,” was rejected by the builders and cast away as useless, but, as no other stone could supply its place, either from necessity or Divine warning, the once despised stone was sought out and exalted to the position for which it had been destined by the Divine Architect, Who was Himself superintending the building of His house. This event, to which there are many allusions in the Scriptures, is used by the prophets and apostles as typifying the treatment of the Messiah by the Jews at His first and second advents. On His first appearance in humiliation, to be “wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities,” and then to be “led as a lamb to the slaughter” and to pour out His soul unto death, He was, in the eyes of the Jews, as “a root out of a dry ground,” in whom “there was no form or comeliness,” so they “despised and rejected Him” as fit for the cross rather than to sit on the throne of David or to enjoy the glory and pomp which they, in their imagination, associated with the Messiah’s advent. But the time is not far distant when Israel, after vainly waiting long for another Messiah to appear, will again seek out the stone which they have once, in the blindness of their hearts, rejected, and when He reappears in the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64) will cry, “Hosannah! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Thus it will come to pass that “the stone which the builders rejected will become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” This is the application which the Lord Jesus Himself made of this figure in Matthew 21:42-44, where, speaking to the Jews, He said, “Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the Head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? . . . And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on Whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
Eighteen hundred years ago “Christ crucified” became a stumbling-block to the Jewish nation, and the stone which God intended as a sure foundation became, on account of their disobedience, a “stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel” (Isaiah 8:14; Romans 9:33). They fell on it, and were “broken,” and fragments of the dispersed nation are to be found to the present day in all parts of the world as a testimony to the justice and judgment of the righteous God. But the judgment which befell Israel will be as nothing compared with that which awaits professed Christendom. Israel fell on the stone when He was on the earth, in a state of humiliation and suffering, and they were broken, but there is hope in their end, for the broken fragments of the Jewish nation will, according to God’s own promise, be gathered together from the four corners of the earth and be made whole again; but as to hypocritical, professed Christendom, the stone will fall on them in all the weight of eternal might, and “it will grind them to powder.” When Jesus returns to the scene of His suffering and death, it will no longer be as the “meek and lowly,” to speak gracious words (except to the Church and to Israel, as we have seen elsewhere), but in “flaming fire” and in “vengeance,” and then there will be no more hope for those who spurn His love and reject His offers of salvation.
Oh that many more may now, while there is yet time, taste that the Lord is gracious, and in faith come to Christ “as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, that they also, as lively stones, may be built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”!
Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which are disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the Head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence” (1 Peter 2:3-9). But now we shall apply our telescope to the second star in this bright constellation and consider Christ as THE NAIL, and first I must explain that there is more implied in the word than we commonly understand by a nail. יָתֵ֔ד (yathed), rendered in the Septuagint πάσσαλος, is applied, first, to a tent pin which is driven into the earth, and to which the tent is tied (Exodus 27:19; Exodus 35:18; Judges 4:21-22), and, secondly, to a strong peg, or pin, built into the wall of the Eastern building (Ezekiel 15:3; Isaiah 22:22-23). In either case it denotes strength (see marginal reading of Ezra 9:8) and equal firmness with the building itself. That this is a Messianic title appears clear from Isaiah 22:21-25, which, though in the first instance addressed to Eliakim, doubtless refers in its fulness to none other than the Messiah, of Whom Isaiah uses the same language (Isaiah 9:6) as here in the former clause (Isaiah 22:23); and, in fact, the Lord Jesus actually applied it to Himself (compare Revelation 3:7 with Isaiah 22:22). Now in this passage we read, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon His shoulder; so He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten Him as a nail” (יָתֵ֔ד) “in a sure place; and He shall be for a glorious throne to His Father’s house. And they shall hang upon Him all the glory of His Father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all the vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.”
Here the figure is not that of a pin, or stake, to which the ropes of a tent are fastened, but of the strong peg which is built into the wall, and the same is, I believe, the meaning of this figure in our text. The peg or nail when thus fastened in a “sure place” served a double purpose: first, its use was to bear burdens4; and in this light we easily understand the signification and importance of this figure as a symbol of the Messiah. He is not only the foundation of the Christian Church, but, to those who are in it, He is the “Nail in a sure place,” upon Whom they can hang all their burdens and cares and anxieties. Ah! how many there are of God’s children who know Jesus as the foundation of their hopes for eternity, but little as their Burden-bearer, Who “bears their griefs and carries their sorrows”! “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee.” Cast it upon Him, for you are not able to bear it yourself, but He is “the Nail in a sure place”—almighty, and that which is more than enough to overwhelm you, even though you may be one of the mightiest of the Lord’s host, is as nothing to Him Who “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Cast thy burden upon Him, and leave it with Him. Take it not unto thyself again.
4 This seems clear from Isaiah 22:25, where, speaking of the overthrow of Shebna, who was supposed to be as firmly fixed as “a nail in a sure place,” he says, “And the burden on it shall be cut off.”
What a blessed relationship of Christ to His people is this as represented by the figure before us! What should we do in the dark and cloudy day, when our hearts are overwhelmed on account of the trials and burdens of life, if we had not Christ near us as a present help in time of trouble? But let us remember, that if we would know Christ as our יָתֵ֔ד (Nail), we must first know Him as the foundation on Whom we build our hopes for eternity, for His first title, according to the ordering of the Spirit of God, is, פִנָּה֙ (Corner-Stone). The nail or peg is only for the use of those who are inside the Eastern building, and so Christ is only known in this special relationship to those who are inside His fold and who trust Him and cast themselves upon Him with all their joys and sorrows. The second purpose for which the “nail is fastened in a sure place” is, that upon it may hang all the glory of the house, “all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of goblets, to all the vessels and flagons” (Isaiah 22:24). A great portion of the wealth of the ancients, especially those of the East, consisted in gold and silver vessels and in changes of raiment. These, as well as the shields, swords, and suits of armour taken in battle, of which they were very proud, and their other finest ornaments, they used, with Eastern ostentation and parade, to hang on the peg which was generally built into the wall in the most conspicuous position for display, and to the admiration of those who entered the building (1 Kings 10:10; 1 Kings 10:17; 1 Kings 10:21; Song of Solomon 4:4). Does not this teach us a precious lesson as to what we are to do with Jesus? God wants us to hang that in which consists our “glory” upon Christ—all our possessions; our talents; our affections and our love—all our best belong to our blessed Lord, Who has purchased us, and all we have, by His own precious blood, and must be consecrated to His service. Nor can any single Christian say that he has nothing to present to Christ. He may not have as much as others, but that he has nothing he cannot say, for has he not at least a loving heart and an adoring spirit to offer, which is most to be esteemed? There was a place on the nail for the “cup” as well as for the “flagon,” or large bottle, and perhaps in some cases “the vessel of small quantity” looked quite as beautiful when hung on the peg as “the vessel of large quantity.” And so what man calls it “small offerings” of either substance or service, from those who have little, is perhaps more acceptable to God, Who weighs, not the gift, but the motive, than what we call “large offerings” from those who have much. But whether it is the ten talents or the one talent, Christ is He to Whom it must be consecrated, and if it is applied to any other use, it is misspent, and when we shall be made manifest before His judgment throne we shall have to own it to our shame and confusion of face. Alas! how little are Christ’s claims recognised in this regard, even by His own redeemed people! And if this be a test, which I believe it to be, and a fair one, of our spiritual life and the extent of our consecration to God, we have much cause to humble ourselves in dust and ashes and earnestly to cry for mercy. Let us ask, for instance, as to what portion of their wealth Christians consecrate to their Lord, Who has given Himself for them.
“From what I have known of Christians during my extensive travels, my full conviction is,” says the veteran man of faith George Müller, “that if Christians were to enter into what is contained in that word” (giving), “at least twenty times more would be done by the Church of God for missions, for the circulation of the Holy Scriptures and tracts, for the spread of the truth throughout the world, for all kind of Christian work, and for the poor, than is now accomplished.”5 But this is not in accordance with the mind of God, Whose will is that we should glorify His Son by giving Him the first place in our hearts, and by consecrating to Him and His service our best. For this purpose God fastened Him “as a nail in a sure place,” that He may be for a glorious throne to His Father’s house, and that upon Him may hang “all the glory of His Father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all the vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, to all the vessels of flagons.”
5 “England stands before all other countries in the extent of her missionary efforts. She gives more money (nearly a million sterling), she has a larger number of agents (some 1,400 or 1,500), and half the converts from heathenism are baptised by English missionaries. And yet, though thus at the top of the tree, England, alas! is inconceivably below the mark in missionary zeal and consecration. What are 1,500 men for the evangelisation of a thousand millions? And what is a million of money to a nation that spends £136,000,000 a year in the purchase of that body-and-soul-destroying luxury alcohol? For every pound that Christian England gives to missionary undertakings for the salvation of the heathen, she spends £136 for the degradation and ruin of her own sons and daughters! Where is boasting, then? It is excluded! Would to God we could reverse the figures, and so set the world a worthy example! We may be, and are, the best in the matter of missions, but, oh! how bad is the best!” Regions Beyond, July, 1884. THE BATTLE BOW This title doubtless describes the character of Christ as given in Isaiah 63:1 &c., Psalms 110:5-6, Revelation 19:21., etc., when, at His second coming, He will be as a sharp sword in the hand of the Almighty, that with it He should smite the nations who have filled up to the brim the cup of their iniquity, and rule them with the rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. This is an aspect of the character of Jesus on which our minds do not like to dwell. Neither does He Himself delight in judgment and vengeance, but it is absolutely necessary to vindicate the justice and power of God, Who is the moral Governor of the universe as well as Father and Refuge to all who have put their trust in Him. Anyhow, let us never forget that Isaiah not only describes the Messiah as One “Who was not to cause His voice to be heard in the streets nor to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax,” but also as One Who “treads the peoples in His anger and tramples them in His fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon His garments and stain all His raiment.” The apostle John, who loves to represent his glorious Master by the harmless and inoffensive lamb, tells us that he saw “heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war; His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself, and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, . . . and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” But perhaps under the figure of the battle bow we have described the ammunition, or weapons of war, rather than the agent; and, if so, we may look at this title in another light, which more directly concerns us as followers of Christ. We have many battles to fight with Satan, the world, and that dreadful enemy—self. What is the best and surest way to gain the victory? Only if we have the almighty Christ as our Battle Bow shall we come off “more than conquerors.” “He will be as a sharp arrow in the hearts of our enemies, whereby they will be made to fall under us.” To illustrate what I mean, I may be permitted to relate a piece of experience of one, who is now in the presence of his Divine Master, who when on earth was a faithful witness to the truth.6 I heard this servant of God relate that as he was walking along the streets of one of the northern towns one day, bemoaning in his heart his want of success in his struggles against sin and the devil, he suddenly came across a group of boys who were playing marbles, and while he was looking on for a few minutes, a quarrel ensued between two boys, one of whom was much bigger than the other. The bigger boy, sure of success, offered to fight; and, as a commencement, gave the smaller boy a blow. The little fellow hesitated for some moments and burst out crying, but at last he said, “You wait a little, and I will go and call my big brother, and he will show you,” and off he ran in haste to fetch his brother.
6 Henry Moorhouse The bigger boy, who was quite ready to fight with one who he knew was not so strong as himself, was not quite willing to encounter one of equal or superior strength, and so he took to his heels and fled. “Ah!” said the depressed Christian, who witnessed all that took place, “this is just what I have to do. When Satan comes to fight with me, instead of fighting with him in my own strength, as hitherto, I will henceforth tell him to wait till I fetch Christ, my Elder Brother, and I know he will not wait, for he has been already vanquished, and he dare not meet his Conqueror, Who has for ever banished him from His presence.” That day marked an epoch in his religious experience. Let us ever realise that Christ has already overcome the devil, and when he comes to us to tempt us, let us call on the Name of the Lord; that is the strongest resistance we can offer him, and he will flee from us. Christ has also overcome the world (John 16:33), and He can easily give us the victory over it too. And He will also give us the victory over our own selves if we only know Him as the “Battle Bow,” if we only open our hearts wide to Him, that He may come in, “conquering and to conquer.” THE ABSOLUTE RULER.7 In a preceding chapter we have spoken of Messiah as the Mowshel (מֹֽשְׁל), or as the One Who is, as it were, God’s Viceroy or deputy Ruler. Again, elsewhere, we have viewed Him as the מֶ֣לֶךְ (King) on the throne of David, but here we advance a step further, for the special word נוֹגֵ֖שׂ (Nowgaish), by which He is here called, literally signifies “exactor” or “absolute ruler,”8 and describes Him as what He will be on His second advent—the most absolute and autocratic Monarch the world has yet seen.
7 The construction of the last clause of our text is rather peculiar in the original, and has led to conflicting translations and interpretations. In rendering it as I have done, I have been guided more by the context and obvious sense, than by strict principles of Hebrew grammar, and I admit that it is capable also of the following rendering: “Out of him” (Judah) “shall come forth every ruler together,” or “every ruler united.” But even if this be the most correct reading, it would still apply to the Messiah, inasmuch as He embraces in Himself a variety of different functions. Thus, for instance, He is represented by the prophets as being “a Priest upon His throne” (Zechariah 6:1-15); and not only as Israel’s King, but as the Prince (Ezekiel 37:24-25). The Messiah was to be like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), who in himself united the different offices of prophet, priest, and king, so that the plural term is quite applicable to Him on that account. Just as His atoning death can be spoken of in the plural (see Hebrew of Isaiah 53:9), on account of the various sacrifices receiving their fulfilment in His own body, which He offered once and for all, so, in a sense, He is many also in His reign, because all authority will meet in Him as the centre.
Aaron Pick, formerly Hebrew Professor at the University of Prague, in his “Literal Translation of the Twelve Minor Prophets,” renders our text thus, “From him the Corner, from him the Nail, from him the Battle Bow, yea from him shall come forth He that conquereth all together.” That נוֹגֵ֖שׂ is here used in a good sense, I have not only the authority of Parkhurst, Gesenius, Lowth, and others, but also that of the Targum, Rashi, and Kimchi.
8 This is the meaning of the kindred Ethiopic term, and is doubtless the sense in which it is used in Isaiah 3:12; Isaiah 14:2; Isaiah 60:17, and in our text. See Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon on this word. Being infinite in wisdom, He will require no senate or councillors to assist Him in the administration of His kingdom, and being infinite in goodness and love, there will be no danger in His possession of absolute power. Could He, Who is the Righteous and Holy One, exercise His prerogatives in any other way but righteousness and holiness? Christ will represent on earth the sovereignty of God. Do our minds shrink from the thought of the almighty power wielded by the Being Who holds us in His hands, and Who works His own will in heaven and on earth? Listen! “There is a truth we should never disconnect from the fact of the sovereignty of God, a truth which presents it in an aspect which attracts us; we should never separate from the thought of the sovereignty of God the character of the Being to Whom this sovereignty belongs. I want you to realise a truth which has done good to my own soul many a time, and has sent relief to my heart, as I have thought about the sovereignty of God. It is this: that the sovereignty of God is the sovereignty of good. There is one God, and He is good. The rule of God is the rule of goodness; it is not merely power and wisdom, but the rule of goodness itself, and the government of God is the government of love; for God is love; from everlasting to everlasting, God is love.”9 Anyhow this title is applicable to Christ, for the reason that when He comes to reign He will exact from the nations, with the rod of iron, homage and an acknowledgment of His claims which they now refuse. “Be wise now therefore, oh ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.”
9 From an address at Mildmay Conference Hall by the Rev. H Grattan Guinness. But what lesson does this title of Christ teach Christians now? Does it not proclaim aloud that if we would know and follow Him, we must acknowledge Him, not only as Lord and Master in a general way, but as the One Who has all rule over us—as the autocratic Governor, Whose word is law in every detail of life? Bunyan tells us that when Prince Emmanuel came to take possession of the town of Mansoul, Diabolus called together a council of war, where it was resolved to send as special envoy to make terms with Emmanuel an old man, Mr. Loth-to-stoop by name, “a stiff man in his way and a great doer for Diabolus.” This man went, and on being granted an audience by Emmanuel he said, after a Diabolonian ceremony or two, “Great Sir, my master hath sent me to tell your Lordship that he is willing, rather than to go to war, to deliver up into your hands one half of the town of Mansoul. I am therefore, to know if your Mightiness will accept of this proposal.” Then Emmanuel answered, “The whole is mine by gift and purchase, wherefore I will never lose one half.” Then said Mr. Loth-to-stoop, “Sir, my master hath said that he will be content that you shall be the nominal and titular Lord of all if he may possess but a part.” But Emmanuel replied, “The whole is Mine really, not in name and word only, wherefore I will be the sole Lord and Possessor of all, or of none at all of Mansoul.” Again Mr. Loth-to-stoop ventured with a proposition. “Sir,” he said, “behold the condescension of my master! He says that he will be content if he may have but assigned to him some place in Mansoul as a place to live privately in, and you shall be Lord of all the rest.” But again Prince Emmanuel answered, “The Father hath given Me all, and I will lose nothing—not, not a hoof nor a hair. I will not therefore grant him, no, not the least corner in Mansoul to dwell in; I will have it all to Myself.”
No, there is no compromise between God and mammon, Christ and the devil.
Christ will have all rule in our hearts or none at all; and, as a test of our loyalty, He will have us put entirely under His control our will, our purses, and our time—yea, all that we are and have. And oh! the blessedness of thus entirely acquiescing in the will of Him Whose thoughts to us are thoughts of peace and not of evil! Only in proportion to the measure of rule that we allow Christ to exercise over us is the measure of the fulness of blessing and joy that we experience; and if He take absolute control over us, it is only in order to give us absolute rest unto our souls and to assure for us the greater amount of present and eternal good.