Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." There are times when the kindest thing which even our nearest friend can do for us is to let us alone. Such a time had come to Maggie, and I knew it; therefore it was that I again took up my Bible, musing in silence on the chapter which I had read to poor old John, and looking out from time to time to mark his toilsome 'progress through the snow, with which the wind was now playing such mad pranks as made me shiver. As I thought of the old man making his way alone towards the valley in which his little cottage was the lowliest, and of the dreary months or years of solitude which lay between him and that other valley through which we shall all, sooner or later, have to pass, I felt more than ever how important it must be to rest with unshaken firmness on the promises of God. Hope fixed here," I thought, as, in turning over the pages of my Bible, one gracious assurance after another met my view, "is truly ‘as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil: whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.' Then I looked at Maggie, who at that moment raised her eyes, and I gave utterance to my thoughts. 999 Maggie shook her head. "It is all very well for those who have no reason to reproach themselves, for those who have done their duty by little Nancy, but in me pleasant thoughts can have no place to-day. I am so vexed, so angry with myself! All the procrastinations of my life, and their name is legion, seem to have led up to this last act of unkindness to a sick and, as it proved, a dying scholar. Always putting off till to-morrow-that's my character. People have told me so a thousand times, but I think I never believed it until now. Oh, if last Sunday might but come back again!" An idle wish! yet how natural it seemed to us both, as we thought of the wistful eyes of the little scholar, turned, on that Sunday afternoon, towards the door by which her teacher should have entered, until the shadows of the night, falling gently down into the valley, extinguished hope. There had been no thought of snow until the Monday morning broke upon a fair white landscape, out of which rose, here and there, an old church tower that refused to be covered up. Then the wind, blowing cold from the east, had compelled us to remain within doors, so that New Year's day found us willing prisoners, as the reader has already seen, at our fireside. I say willing prisoners, but that perhaps is hardly true of Maggie, who would gladly have taken long walks across the snow-covered meadows, if Dr. Madison had not prevented her. Once or twice she had talked of her sick scholar as the first person to be visited when the wind went down, but of her broken promise I knew nothing till the morning of the new year brought old John Mead with the sorrowful tidings of little Nancy's death. Lesson-Help for Teachers. BIBLICAL JOTTINGS. (These "Jottings," like the rest of our "Lesson-Help," are designed to supplement the information given in the monthly Notes on the Lessons, and in The Biblical Treasury.) Time rightly employed.-Luke xiii. Ver. 1, Pilate - Galilæans. - Pontius Pilate was appointed procurator of Judea A.D. 26 or 27. He was harsh and unpopular, and as the Galilæans were always hostile to the Roman power, occasions of collision were not wanting. It was no unusual thing for insurrections to be quenched in blood. Archelaus slew 3,000 Galilæans at a festival, and Pilate suppressed another outbreak in a similar manner. Ver. 7. The word cumber means more than we understand by an encumbrance. Trench expressively translates, "Why mischiefeth it the ground?" A living yet fruitless tree was injurious in the vineyard, not only occupying space, but appropriating the materials of growth to no useful end. Ver. 24, Strive, &c.-See Biblical Treasury, ii., 504; v., 1143. God the Creator of All.-Gen. i. Ver. 6, Firmament.-The word signifies something stretched or beaten out (see note on next page). It is not declared to be solid. Ver. 11, 20. "The food of animals is derived entirely from the vegetable world; by some directly, by others (the carnivora) indirectly, through the consumption of those who have fed upon the plants. The power, from the simpler substances, as carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, to build up the more complex organic bodies; the power to render latent in such compounds the heat-force derived from the sun; these alike appear to be peculiar properties of the plant. The animal can only break up and take down, more or less completely, that which the plant has put together; can only let out and use the force which the plant has stored up. In the order of creation, then, the plant must have come before the animal, since without it the animal could not exist."-G. Warington, F.C.S. Ver. 12. "The existence of welldetermined, fixed, and independent species," says Dr. Duns, "is distinctly shown by the words 'herb and tree after their kind.' One species differs from another because thus created. The oak is distinct from the elm because God willed that it should be so. The yellow pansy (Viola lutea) on the hill-side will never become the yellow buttercup in the low meadow." This is true, but the question raised by some modern naturalists is, how many so-called species are really so, and how many are only varieties? This question may be answered in many different ways, without in the least affecting the integrity of the declaration in ver. 12. Ver. 21, Whales.-The Hebrew word here means any large creature. In many places in the Bible it is translated dragon. It variously signifies (1) great sea-monsters-marine animals, (2) crocodiles, (3) serpents, (4) any bird or other animal frequenting desolate places. The larger inhabitants of the sea are here intended, -not only whales, but other creatures, the larger fishes,-sea-serpents, if such exist. The word may be said to represent our English "monster." God made known in His Works (see paper in present number). -Job xxxvii. Ver. 9, 17, 22. Fine cold weather was generally brought by the north wind, while the south wind, sweeping over the tropical desert, was hot, dry, and suffocating. (See Biblical Treasury for January.) Ver. 15. The particles of condensed vapour in the cloud act like innumerable mirrors in reflecting the sunlight. Ver. 18-22. The comparison in ver. 18 can only be fully understood by those who have seen an Arabian sky. The ancient mirrors (incorrectly rendered looking-glass) were of polished metal. Steel, as M. de Saussure observes, when deep blue, with a greyish cast, resembles the appearance of the atmosphere on a clear day; but as we rise higher on the mountain sides it becomes darker, and almost black in tint, even when cloudless. But a change passes over the heavens while Elihu speaks; 66 we see not the bright light that is in the clouds "- -we cannot look upon these brilliant lightningflashes. The wind drifts the clouds rapidly along, and "cleanseth them." As the heavens alter in their appearance, "fair weather cometh out of the north"-the storm has ceased; and with adoration Elihu bows before the "terrible majesty" of the Lord of heaven as well as of earth.-J, R. S. C. Job xxxviii. 16. Within the past few months the existence of a world of life in the abyss of ocean has been demonstrated-creatures living and seeing at depths far below the point at which it was considered life and light must terminate. Ver. 17, Gates of Death.-(See Sunday School Teacher for 1869, p. 358) God's Providence over All.Psa. civ. 4. The meaning appears clearly to be, "Who maketh His angels swift as winds; His ministers powerful as a flame of fire." To render the passage as some do-who maketh the winds His angels, &c.—is inconsistent with the apostle's statement (Heb. i. 7), and is, moreover, to substitute an anticlimax to ver. 3 (who rideth on the wings of the wind), utterly unworthy of the inspired Psalmist. Ver. 10, 12. The wadies or watercourses, through which the watertorrents from the hills descend into the valleys of Palestine, are shaded by oleanders and other shrubs and trees, where nightingales and other warblers "discourse sweet music." Ver. 16. "Of the great order of trees, one group is placed in prominence by the Psalmist here. The cedars seem to be called, in an especial sense, the 'trees of the Lord.' They belong to a peculiar division of plants, connecting the flowering with the flowerless families. They are allied to the first by their general structure and tree-like form, to the latter by the venation of their leaves and the simplicity of their tissues. They form the background of the oldest forests; the cedars were the earliest planting in the newly formed soil of the earth. They have apparently existed through all the earth's ages, proofs indisputable that the vegetable kingdom did not begin as vital points, but noble organisms. The cedars are the 'trees of the Lord,' too, on account of the majesty of their appearance. For untold years they have covered the rugged slopes of Lebanon with a forest of verdure, and formed its crowning 'glory.' Only one grove now remains-a magnificent relic of the past. Each huge trunk, scarred and hoary, still spreads out its great gnarled boughs laden with emerald foliage and elegant cones, 'full of sap,' in the freshness of undying youth, which even excites the reverence of the wild Arabs. In the interior of that grove the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages celebrate mass annually in June. A feeling of awe may well fill the soul as, at the elevation of six thousand feet, we behold these trees, with the snows of Lebanon gleaming white through their dusky foliage." Abridged from "Nature Pictures," &c., by Rev. Hugh Macmillan. Ver. 25, 26. The common whale, here called leviathan, was formerly not uncommon in the Mediterranean. The leviathan of Job is the crocodile. That the same Hebrew word should be used for both these "monsters" is not more singular than that the whale should still be called a fish in common conversation. Ver. 32. Earthquakes and volcanoes seem to be referred to, though the allusion may be to Sinai. Both sacred and profane history record earthquakes in Palestine, and traces of volcanic action of comparatively recent date are remarkably conspicuous in the region of Trachonitis (Luke iii. 1),— not to speak of the sulphurous and other warm springs of the country. Gen. xlv. 2. This is exactly the character of the people of Asia; their sentiments of joy and grief are properly transports, and their transports are ungoverned, excessive, and truly outrageous. When any one dies, his family burst into cries which may be heard a street's length, and this is renewed at different times. But the house of Pharaoh may signify only Pharaoh's servants, or any of the members of his household, such as those whom Joseph had ordered to withdraw, and who might still be within hearing of his voice. The words may also mean that the report was brought to Pharaoh's house.Adam Clarke. or God the Ruler of All.-Exod. xi. 2. It is hardly necessary to observe that according not only to Josephus, but to the investigations of later philologists, the verb here rendered borrow has in the original the force of "ask" "demand," and is so used, among other places, in Psa. ii. 8, where it is translated "ask." And that such is its true meaning will evidently appear from the fact that the Egyptians, who were themselves expelling the Israelites, could scarcely expect any of their personal trinkets to be returned. Nor would there be any impropriety in the Jews' demand. The cultivated lands and fixed property necessarily left behind at the exodus was doubtless of more than equal value with the jewels obtained in exchange, and there was also a further reason why the Hebrews should leave Egypt with such gifts, as that circumstance proved their departure to be a voluntary one, and themselves a free people, an inference which sufficiently refutes the assertion of Manetho, that the exodus was an expulsion of leprous slaves under the leadership of an outlawed magician. (See "Josephus," Cont. Apion., i., 26.) -W. R. C. OUTLINE LESSONS. God the Creator of All.-Psa. xcv., xcvi. WITH AN INFANT CLASS, try to originate the idea of creating, and distinguish it from making, thus :-Question class on the origin of some of those things with which they are very familiar-their dress, the seats, the schoolroom. How came they to be? They were made. Mother, perhaps, made their clothes, carpenter made the seats, builder built the schoolroom. But each required the materials— something to make them with. They could not make them out of nothing. Bring the class to see this clearly, and then refer to sun, moon, stars, earth, animals, trees, flowers, &c. Were they made? By whom? How? "He spake, and it was done." Who made man ?-who made us? How? So, then, though man can make many things, he must have something to make them with; but God made everything-man and all-out of nothing, by a word. How great must God be! Learn and repeat Psa. xcv. 6. WITH SCRIPTURE CLASSES, lead them to see, 1. The light which the Bible throws on creation. Get, by questions, some account of the order of creation, the particular fact given concerning man (Gen. ii. 7), and compare this clear, trustworthy history with the theories of the heathen. 2. Whatever God has made He claims as His own (Psa. xcv. 4, 5; 1. 9— 12). "His are the mountains, and the valleys His, And the resplendent rivers." His claim is just. Whatever our scholars might make with their own materials they would claim as their own. So all things are God's-for He made them,―ourselves among the rest. We are God's by right of creation, and He will not give up His claim; we are His also by right of redemption (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20). Let us never lose sight of our true relation to God, but render Him body, soul, and spirit, which are His. 3. God, as our Creator, claims our worship (Psa. xcv. 6, 7; xcvi. 7—9). This is as it should be. "Honour to whom honour is due." We praise men for their great deeds-M. de Lesseps and Suez Canal, for instance, -and shall we neglect to praise God? Nay, let us rather neglect to praise man than God. Study His works (Psa. cxi. 2), and see how great He is (Eccles. v. 2); study His word, and see how condescending He is (Isa. lxvi. 1, 2); study yourself, and think what God must be (Psa. xciv. 7-11). If we do this in a proper spirit, we shall willingly respond to the Psalmist's invitation (Psa. xcv. 6). See Note-book, 114. 4. We are warned against refusing to yield to God's claim (Psa. xcv. 7—11). The Israelites of old hardened their hearts, and we have seen the result. Let us take warning (Heb. iv. 1, 2), and listen to the exhortation to-day (Eccles. xii. 1-7). B. P. P. |