The Interpretation of the Scriptures. (1)

by Charles H. Welch

No.1. Governing Principles for Correct Interpretation. 


One of the most important subjects within the orbit of Christianity is the science and art of Biblical interpretation or hermeneutics. The word “hermeneutics” is ultimately derived from Hermes, the Greek god who was supposed to bring the messages of the gods to mortals, and was the god of science, speech, writing and art. It has a connection with the Greek word hermeneia, interpretation, and its verbal forms: diermeneuo to interpret, or explain; methermeneuomai to interpret, to translate; dusermeneutos difficult to interpret; diermeneutes interpreter.

God has spoken to men through the Holy Scriptures, but what has He said? What is the meaning of His Words? If we cannot be sure of His meaning, of what practical use are the Scriptures to us? How can we receive Divine understanding unless the meaning of theWord of God is clear to us? It is the aim of hermeneutics to ascertain what God has said in His Word and to determine its meaning. This is a high and holy task and needs to be approached in deep humility. Upon the correct interpretation of the Bible rests our doctrine of salvation, sanctification, Christian living and future hope, and it is our solemn responsibility to get to know what God has said with reference to each of these, and in fact all His Truth as far as we are able to receive it. Not only this, but if we do not know the correct method of Biblical interpretation, we shall confuse the voice of God with the voice of man. In every placewhere our interpretation is at fault, we have substituted the voice of man for the voice of God, and are getting error instead of truth. Most of the doctrinal variations and disagreements in Christendom are due to differences in interpretation. Thus it is practically impossible to over-estimate the importance of correct hermeneutics, for from this flows correct understanding.

After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and in Luke xxiv. 27 we read:

“. . . . . beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded (interpreted, diermeneuo) unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

And later on, to the eleven He said:

“. . . . . all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures” (Luke xxiv. 44, 45).

It is helpful to see the important place that understanding has in the parables of the kingdom of heaven. Israel’s unbelief and failure inevitably led to a non-understanding heart (Matt. xiii. 15), and in such a condition the human mind is especially open to the devil’s activity (verse 19). He that received seed into the good ground is he that heard the word and understood it (verse 23).

At the end of His discourse, the Lord asks: “Have ye understood all these things?” and the favoured disciples were able to answer: “Yea Lord” (verse 51). In the Acts of the Apostles we find Philip asking the Ethiopian eunuch:

 “Understandest thou what thou readest?”

and his reply was: “How can I, except some man should guide me?” (Acts viii. 30, 31). There is no doubt that Divine understanding is the need of us all, but we are not in a position to receive this if our method of Biblical interpretation is at fault. We are prompted to ask the question, “Is there some way of interpreting the Word of God so that human opinion is ruled out and Divine understanding given?” We believe there is, hence the supreme importance of this study.

Someone may object and say that anything can be proved from the Bible. We have to face the fact that the most extraordinary ideas and fantastic notions are backed up by quotations from the Scriptures. Edward White writes:

“There is no folly, no iniquity, no God-dishonouring theology for which chapter and verse may not be cited by an enslaved intelligence. Under these circumstance, it is impossible to express in adequate terms the importance of a correct estimate and exposition of the Bible” (Inspiration, p. 153).

There is no need to list the many vagaries that the Bible has been used to bolster up, but in each case these have been due to a distorted exposition and understanding of the passages concerned. No apology then need be given for a consideration of the science of correct interpretation of the Scriptures. To begin with we shall need to give attention to the following points:

(1) There is a need to bridge the gap between our minds today and the minds of the Biblical writers of over 1900 years ago. People of the same culture, age and location, understand one another easily, but we are separated culturally, historically and geographically from Bible times. Language is different; Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek are far removed from modern language. Habits and manner of living areentirely different. Abraham’ s treatment of Hagar may seem rather shabby unless we know the customs and laws of his time. The background of the Scriptures is therefore important. Every part ofScripture had a reason for its being written. Some human need called it into being through the power of God. It is for us to try to ascertain what this was, and it will greatly assist us in the correct understanding of the portion under consideration.

(2) No one is in a position to interpret the Word of God (no matter how educated or scholarly they may be) until they are saved and regenerate. The Lord Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John iii. 3). In other words he is spiritually blind and is not in a position to understand or interpret the holy Scriptures whose context is spiritual. One reason why Christ continually gave physical sight to the blind was because this condition is illustrative of man spiritually, and what the Lord cando for men in the natural sphere, He can surely do in the spiritual.

The apostle Paul wrote:

“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. ii. 14).

A regenerate mind then is an absolute essential to understand the Bible.

(3) There must be a passion to know God’s Word. A lukewarm heart will never discover Scriptural truth. The searcher must be in dead earnest; the search for Truth must be priority number one. 

(4) There must be a reverence for God and His Word and an unquestioned faith in both. The Scriptures are called holy, and must be treated as such (II Tim. iii. 15). 

(5) There must also be absolute dependence upon the Holy Spirit to enlighten. He is the Author of the Word and the only One Who can give opened eyes and an understanding mind. We should be careful not to confuse inspiration and illumination or enlightenment. We talk about works of art and beauty being inspired, but this is not the way the Bible uses the term. In the Biblical sense, inspiration finished when the canon ofScripture closed and the New Testament was complete. No other writings since this time are “God-breathed” or inspired in this way. What we need now is not inspiration but illumination, and this is what the Holy Spirit is prepared to give to those of the redeemed who honestly and painstakingly search the Word. This is something that education and cleverness, by themselves, cannot command. The profound scholar has no monopoly of enlightenment. In fact his scholarship and education may be a bar to the discovery of truth if he is not a humble believer in Christ, and willing to give his education second place to the revealing power of the Spirit of God. There is one further thing that must be stressed here and that is that Divine illumination goes as far as Scripture reveals, not beyond it. Angus and Green write: 

“The Spirit of God does not communicate to the human mind any doctrine or meaning of Scripture which is not contained already in Scripture itself. He makes men wise up to what is written, not beyond it.” 

(6) To be a sound interpreter of the Scriptures a knowledge of the original languages God used is invaluable. Basic doctrine cannot be settled from translations, however good they are, if only for the reason that no translation can fully represent all that the original contains. We should be surprised if one who claimed to be a specialist in the interpretation of Greek tragedy could not read Greek. This may stimulate some who readthese words to commence the study of Greek and Hebrew, which would be a good thing. Such however should bear in mind that it takes more than a few months study to be in a position to lay down the law in the translation and interpretation of the Greek or Hebrew Scriptures. No one can be proficient in a language until they can write it as well as read it, and that is why composition plays such an important part in learning a language. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and we have seen bad slips in doctrine made by amateur Greek students. 

(7) If there is one statement that is fundamental to the understanding of the Bible it is this: God means what He says and has a meaning for everything He says in His Word. If this is not so, then all search is useless and we can never be sure of what He wishes to convey to us. To put it another way, we must approach the Bible from the literal stand-point. This word “literal” can be ambiguous. What do we mean by it? We can define it in this way: the customary, socially-acknowledged designation of a word is the literal meaning of that word. If we were to put our own special meaning on words, no one could understand us. This is surely obvious. But it does not mean that figures of speech, symbols, allegory and type are to be ignored or taken literally. These are a study in themselves and will be considered later on. But let it be said here that behind all figures of speech is literality, otherwise they could convey no certain meaning to us at all. The literal meaning of a word is the basic, customary meaning of that word, and therefore to interpret literally is nothing more or less than interpreting words in their normal customary and proper designation, and only in this way can divergences of opinion be eliminated, and the authority of Scripture honoured. 

When we read a book, we presume the sense is literal, for this is the only conceivable method ofcommunication. If we had to weigh over every word of a book to find some other meaning than the literal, we should soon be forced to give it up in despair. If God wishes to communicate with man, He will do it in words whose meaning men can understand and accept, otherwise His message would never reach the human mind. Therefore we must ever keep before us this great guiding principle: that we approach the Scriptures literally, using that Word in the sense already explained. This cannot be overstressed and failure to do this is largely the cause of so much division that we see all around us in Christendom. 

A large part of the Bible makes significant sense when literally interpreted. All the great basic doctrines of God’s Word rest clearly on literal exposition. The historical books make sense only when so interpreted, and geographical terms likewise. The opposite of this is spiritualizing or the allegorical treatment of Scripture. This is not the same as making a spiritual application of a passage of Scripture or recognizing real allegories therein. This is legitimate. Rather is it treating the majority or the whole of the Bible in this way which is quite another matter. We shall have more to say about this later on. Meanwhile, let us thank the Lord that He has been pleased to stoop down to reveal His Truth to us in human words that we can receive and understand under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in consequence rejoice in the eternal riches contained therein. 

----------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 43, page 93).

----------------

Time and Place. (3)

The Scriptural association of  chronology and topography with doctrine and purpose.

by Charles H. Welch

#3. Before the overthrow, and 
Since the ages times. Gen. i. 2. 

Although there is no statement as to time in Gen. i. 2, upon examining other parts of Scripture we shall learn that a most important time period is associated with it: 

“And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Gen. i. 2). 

“And”, the translation of the Hebrew vav, is also translated by the adversative “but” (Gen. ii. 6). 

“Without form and void”, cannot refer to the original state of creation, first of all 

because, elsewhere, God Himself says that He did not create the world in that condition and, secondly, because the word bara, “create”, denotes “to cut” or “carve”. This meaning is reflected in the Greek word kosmos, “world”, which is once translated “adorning” (I Pet. iii. 3) and, with kosmeo, “adorn”, “garnish” and “trim”. The verb 

“was”, in the phrase “The earth was without form and void”, translates the preterite of 

hayah, “To be, exist, become, come to pass”. The word is translated “became” in 

Gen. ii. 7, “and man became a living soul”, and this translation is true, for it is 

self-evident that until he “breathed” man was not a living soul. Similarly we translated 

Gen. i. 2, “But the earth became without form and void”. The words translated “without 

form and void” are the Hebrew words tohu and bohu. Tohu occurs twenty times in the 

O.T., and is translated “without form”, “waste”, “vain”, “vanity”, “nothing”, “in a 

wilderness”, “the empty place”, “confusion” and “a thing of nought”. Bohu occurs but 

three times, and is translated either “void” or “emptiness”. While certain conclusions 

could be drawn from the words themselves and their roots, we have a safer and more convincing argument to hand in the usage of these words in the inspired Scriptures 

themselves. The only One Who can supply us with first-hand information about the 

process of creation is God Himself, therefore one word spoken by Him must outweigh all else that ever has been or can be said on the subject.

“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth
and made it; He hath established it, He created it NOT IN VAIN (tohu), He formed it to
be inhabited” (Isa. xlv. 18).

The two words tohu and bohu come together in Isa. xxxiv. Let us acquaint ourselves 

with the context. In verse 2 we have the words, “Indignation”, “fury”, “destroyed”, 

“slaughter”, and verse 4 takes us to the day of which Peter speaks in his second epistle (II Pet. iii. 10, 12): 

“And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled
together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For My sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment” (Isa. xxxiv. 4-6). 

This is not creation but dissolution. This is the result of curse and judgment, “For it is 

the day of the Lord’s vengeance” (verse 8). This land is to “lie waste” (Isa. xxxiv. 10) 

and be uninhabited or traversed by man until the age ends, and to describe this utter 

desolation the prophet has recourse to the words of Gen. i. 2, tohu and bohu: 

“He shall stretch out upon it the lines of confusion (tohu) and the stones of emptiness 

(bohu)” (Isa. xxxiv. 11). 

We have confirmation of this meaning in the writings of the prophet Jeremiah:

“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and 

they had no light” (just as darkness was on the face of the deep) . . . “there was no man 

. . . . . the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger” (Jer. iv. 23-26). 

Here, once again, we have anger and its result. If Isa. xxxiv. said the land was to 

“lie waste” Jer. iv. says “The whole land shall be desolate” (Jer. iv. 27). 

However interested he may have been in this study of tohu and bohu, the reader may 

be wondering where the “time” element comes in. To this we now address ourselves. In Eph. i. 4 we read: “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the 

world.” This word “foundation”, katabole, must not be confused with the “foundation” 

of Eph. ii. 20 which is themelion. Kata means “down” and ballo means “to throw”. 

“Katabolism” is used to this day in Biology to define the breaking up process of 

metabolism or the processes, in living beings, of assimilation and decomposition. The 

verb kataballo is used by Paul in a context that leaves no room for doubt: “Persecuted, 

but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (II Cor. iv. 9). This meaning is 

confirmed by John in the Revelation: “The accuser of our brethren is cast down” (Rev. xii. 10). This verb kataballo occurs many times in the LXX version. We find it 

used of the siege of a city: 

“Joab battered the wall, to throw it down” (II Sam. xx. 15). 

It is used of the overthrowing of Israel in the wilderness: 

“He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness; 

to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands” 

(Psa. cvi. 26, 27). 

Again it is written concerning the destruction of Tyre:

“And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus: and break down her towers” (Ezek. xxvi. 4). 

A correspondent recently sent us a paper in which he agreed that the verb kataballo 

means “To overthrow”, but by some process which he did not reveal nor support either 

by Scripture or the Lexicon, he maintained that the noun katabole meant “making a new 

start”. It is foreign to the genius of language, whether ancient or modern, thus to separate 

noun and verb. If I sing (verb) that which I sing must be a song (noun). I cannot “sing” a 

“speech” or anything outside the category of “song”. Similarly, if I overthrow (verb), 

that which is overthrown cannot be something freshly started or something constructed.

We therefore bring together the testimony of the Hebrew words tohu and bohu and the 

meaning and usage of kataballo and katabole, with the result that we are forced to 

translate Eph. i. 4, “before the overthrow of the world” and refer it to a period that 

comes between verses 1 and 2 of Gen. i. Further light upon this period is thrown by 

the time reference in II Tim. i., which deals with the same calling and company as those 

of Ephesians: 

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, 

but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before 

the world began” (II Tim. i. 9). 

The original reads pro chronon aionion, “before age-times”. 

We therefore now know two things of intense interest from the point of view of 

Biblical chronology. 

(1) The church of the mystery was chosen in Christ before the overthrow of the world. 

(2) And that with the reconstruction and making of the heavens and the earth in the six 

days, the age-times began. 

Seeing that the dissolution of II Pet. iii. stands at the end of the present creation, just 

as the chaos of Gen. i. 2 stands at the beginning, it is a sound inference to draw that just 

as the “ages” commence with the present creation, they come to their end with the new 

heaven and the new earth. Looking at Gen. i. 1 and 2 together, in this matter of time 

and purpose we perceive that as a beginning, looking constantly at the end in view, God 

created the heaven and the earth. This end, however, was not to be attained mechanically 

or by arbitrary force; moral beings were created, whether Satan, spirits or man, and the

possibility of fall and judgment was foreseen and provided for, so that the glorious end
shall be attained in Christ, by grace, with due recognition of the values of righteousness,
holiness and love.

------------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 171).

----------------

All my springs are in Thee. (Psa. lxxxvii. 7).-(5)

by Charles H. Welch

#5. “In Christ Jesus.”
“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden;
and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads” 
(Gen. ii. 10).


The Fountain of all being and all blessing is God, but in such overwhelming power that nothing but destruction would be the result of immediate contact with Him. In the person of Christ, infinite Power and Wisdom are mediated, and, thus, are found to be full of blessing. No man can look upon the face of GOD and live, yet to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is life. This therefore is our theme.

Over and over again in the epistles, we meet with such expressions as “in Christ”, “in the Lord”, “in Jesus Christ our Lord”, “in Christ Jesus” and other variations of the same blessed truth. These are the “heads” into which the river of life is “parted” for our sakes. Taking the epistles in the canonical order in which they are found in the N.T., the first occurrence of the phrase “in Christ Jesus” is in Rom. iii. 24, where we read “Redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. The phrase does not recur until we come to Rom. viii. There it occurs three times: “No condemnation in Christ Jesus”, “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” and the blessed fact that nothing can separate us “from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. viii. 1, 2 and 39).

The phrase “in Christ Jesus” is found in Ephesians (R.V.) seven times, and is associated with Paul’s apostleship (Eph. i. 1), and “the faithful” (Eph. i. 1). The peculiar privilege, granted alone to the church of the mystery, of being “seated together in heavenly places” is also “in Christ Jesus” (Eph. ii. 6). In the ages to come this favour is to be intensified, for “exceeding riches of grace in His kindness” are to be shown toward us “in Christ Jesus” (Eph. ii. 7), while we are declared to be “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” in Eph. ii. 10. Those who were the recipients of such overwhelming grace however, were, by nature, “far off” sinners of the Gentiles, but are “made nigh” in Christ Jesus (Eph. ii. 13). The title “Christ Jesus” is limited to the doctrinal section of Ephesians, the last occurrence being Eph. iii. 21, where the prayer ends in the doxology, “Unto Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of the ages. Amen”.

These aspects of truth “in Christ Jesus” lie at the root of the revelation of the mystery but no attempt can be made here to expand their teaching: at the moment all we insist upon is that they are ours only “in Christ Jesus”. Passing over the remainder of Paul’s epistles, we come to II Timothy, where the phrase “in Christ Jesus” occurs seven times. The teaching associated with these seven occurrences will be more appreciated if the passages are seen together. Accordingly we throw them into an alternate correspondence.

“In Christ Jesus” (II Timothy).
A | i. 1. The Promise of Life.
    B | i. 9. Purpose and Grace. Holy calling, not of works.
        C | i. 13. Form of sound words. Doctrine.
            D | ii. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
A | ii. 10. Salvation WITH glory.
    B | iii. 12. Persecution and godly living. Practice.
        C | iii. 15. Holy Scriptures. Salvation.

Turning to the briefer phrase “in Christ” we find it used in contrast to being “in Adam” and in other doctrinal and practical associations. It occurs seven times in II Corinthians where the passages may be taken to indicate the character of blessing that was found “in Christ” by the apostle.

The first sounds a note of triumph.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ” (II Cor. ii. 14, R.V.).

The second avers faithfulness.

“But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” (II Cor. ii. 17).

There follows the ministry of the new covenant and contrasts of liberty, life and glory, with the bondage, death and passing glory of the old covenant. Paul tells us that when Israel read the old covenant, a veil is upon their eyes and heart but that this veil “is done away in Christ” (II Cor. iii. 14). Pursuing the wondrous theme, he passes from the new covenant to the new creation, saying “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature” (II Cor. v. 17). From the new creation he proceeds to speak of the reconciliation, saying, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (II Cor. v. 19). To Paul, salvation was to be found “in Christ” and when referring to his conversion and commission, he says, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago” (II Cor. xii. 2). In his last use of this phrase in II Cor. xii. 19 he again refers to his ministry as “speaking before God in Christ”. In conclusion let us turn to Eph. i. 1-14, and, instead of limiting ourselves to one title, as “Christ” or “Christ Jesus”, let us observe how the word “in” is used.

The preposition en, “in”, occurs nineteen times in Eph. i. 1-14 and is translated “at” (i. 1); “with” (i. 3); “wherein” (i. 6); and sixteen times is rendered by the word “in”. Let us set out these verses, omitting those references that use the word “in” before such terms as “heavenly places” and marking only those which speak of blessing “IN Him”.

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace [be] to you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace . . . . . having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in Him:
In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance . . . . . that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In Whom ye also [trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
In Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Here we see that the faithful in Christ Jesus find in Him Blessing, Choice, Acceptance, Redemption, Inheritance, and Hope; while at the same time and in association with these blessings, we find this great Purpose is in Him, and that in Him shall be gather together in one all things in heaven and on earth.

As he contemplates such riches of grace and glory, verily, every believer in the truth of the mystery, can exclaim,

“All my springs are in Thee.”

-----------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 31).

-----------------

Time and Place. (2)

The Scriptural association of chronology and topography
with doctrine and purpose.

by Charles H. Welch

 #2. The purpose of the ages implied in Gen. i. 1.


The majestic opening words of Holy Scripture describe the first action of all time. “In the beginning” (B’reshith). The word reshith is the feminine form of rosh, “head”, and while primarily rosh means “head”, only incidentally “beginning”, reshith on the other hand, primarily means “beginning”, and incidentally “chief”, but is never translated in the A.V. “head”. The LXX translated it by the Greek arche, and so is parallel with John i. 1. That it is utterly futile to speculate upon what was “before” the beginning, our very language testifies, for, where time is not, “before” is meaningless.

An examination of the usage of reshith, “beginning”, leaves the mind with the impression that something more than “time” is implied. First we observe that there is no article (“the”), so that the Hebrew reads “In beginning”, and opens the door for the thought, “With what motive and with what ending?” There are two other occurrences of reshith in Genesis: the first is,

“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel . . . . . in the land of Shinar, and he (Nimrod) went forth out of that land into Assyria (Asshur), and builded Nineveh, etc.” (Gen. x. 10, 11).

Here we have an illustration of the anticipatory character of reshith. Nimrod began with Babel, but he went on and added Erech, Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar, thereafter extending his conquest outside that land, including Nineveh and Calah.

The other reference to reshith is Gen. xlix. 3, 4:

“Reuben, thou art my firstborn, and the beginning of my strength . . . . . unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.”

Here again the “beginning of my strength” asks for its sequence, its correspondence, and the “end” is found to be failure and instability.

This word reshith is translated “firstfruits” eleven times (Lev. xxiii. 10, etc.), and it is the very essence of firstfruits that they anticipate a harvest to come. In Job viii. 7 and xlii. 12 the “beginning” is related to the “end”; as it is also in Isa. xlvi. 10.

By this time, most of our readers will have thought of the title given to Christ in the Revelation:

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Rev. i. 8).
“These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. iii. 14).
“It is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. xxi. 6).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. xxii. 13).

With these glorious truths must be included the testimony of the apostle Paul:

“He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence” (Col. i. 18).

Let us examine these references more carefully. Rev. i. 8 associates the title, “the beginning”, with the great age-abiding name Jehovah: “The Lord which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME.” Here, in this Name, all time is comprehended, past, present and future, and He is the “Almighty”, so that what He “began” to do at the creation of heaven and earth, He will “finish” in the day of God. The “beginning” implies an end, or goal. In Rev. xxi. 6 the goal is reached: He that sat upon the throne said, “It is done.” When we ponder Rev. iii. 14 with Gen. i. 1, to what other conclusion can we come than that Christ is there in Gen. i. 1, the “beginning of the creation of God”, and in Him, the “first”, creation will at length reach its goal, for He is also the “last”, and He is the “Amen”, the faithful witness to the onward movement of the ages.

In Col. i. 18 there is a limitation. He is there seen, not so much in His relationship to creation, as to the church. True, all creation is the work of His hands (Col. i. 16, 17), but it is there in the background, while the new creation, already seen in the church, which is the body, sets forth in miniature the creation to come. Christ is undoubtedly “The beginning” of that new creation, which has as its goal what is vividly expressed in Col. iii.

“The image of Him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew . . . . .; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. iii. 10, 11).

This, in its turn, exhibits the goal that is implied by the opening words of Gen. i. 1:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth . . . . . Then cometh the end . . . . . that God may be all in all” (Gen. i. 1 with I Cor. xv. 24-28).

Christ is “all and in all” to the church of the mystery: God shall be “all in all” when the complete new creation is laid at His feet. So, the words “It is done” of Rev. xxi. 6 refer to the works of Rev. xxi. 5: “Behold, I make all things new.” We observe also that in I Cor. xv. Christ is the “firstfruits”, a word which we have seen is implicit in Gen. i. 1.

We return to Gen. i. 1, and with increasing wonder look at those opening words, “In beginning”, could be expressed idiomatically, “As a beginning”, demanding, some time and somewhere, a sequel, an end, a harvest. God created the heaven and the earth with an object, and His purpose may be expressed thus:

In beginning God was ALL. Heaven and earth sprang into being at His command. But God is not merely Almighty, He is essentially “Love”. Creation therefore moved forward to the “Image”, in Whose likeness Adam was created. Adam however did not obey mechanically, as do the sun, moon and stars, and so the long discipline of sorrow accompanies the advent of man, leading irrevocably down to the “unspeakable” Gift of Love, and, at long last, up to the willing submission of a new creation.

We therefore complete our exhibition of the implication of Gen. i. 1 as follows:

In the beginning God was ALL, but when the end comes, God will be ALL IN ALL.

two vastly different things. He is indeed One that “declares the end from the beginning”, and worketh all things according to the counsel of His Own will.

---------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 169).

------------------

All my springs are in Thee. (Psa. lxxxvii. 7).-(4)

by Charles H. Welch

#4. “Broken cisterns” (Jer. ii. 13).


“With Thee is the fountain of life”, said the Psalmist, and this blessed confession formed the basis of our last meditation together. This, sadly, was not the universal attitude of Israel; had it been, they would never have departed so wickedly from their God, nor would they have crucified the Lord of glory.

“My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer. ii. 13).

The chapter opens with a remembrance of “the love of thine espousals”, when “Israel was holiness unto the Lord” (Jer. ii. 1-3). The chapter ends with Israel as a “gad about” (Jer. ii. 36), a maid that has “forgotten her ornaments”, a “bride that has forgotten her attire”, “trimming” her way to seek illicit love (Jer. ii. 32, 33). Israel’s departure from the Lord is often likened to the sin of adultery and it is with such a figure that Jer. iii. opens.

“What iniquity”, said the Lord, “have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity and become vain?” (Jer. ii. 5).

Here are the “two evils” of verse 13. Israel went away from the Lord, the Fountains of living waters, “they followed after vanity”, likened to the hewing out for themselves cisterns; “they became vain”, for these cisterns could hold no water. So the charge is made throughout the chapter. We will not load the page with verse enumeration—the reader can follow better without—but here are the charges: “They are gone far from Me.” They did not say “Where is the Lord that brought us up out of Egypt?” “They walked after vanity”, “they walked after things that do not profit”, “Thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God when He led thee in the way”. Israel had not only hewn cisterns, instead of turning to the Lord as the Fountain of living waters, but, to change the figure without changing the fact, they had gone down to Egypt “to drink the waters of Sihor”. The Sihor, or Shihor, is a river of Egypt, probably on the southern boundary of Canaan, whose name means “turbid”, or “slimy”. It was to this that Israel turned rather than drink of the Fountain of life. Or, again, the prophet demands, “What hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?” Such is the sad context of this record to departure. Let us now come a little closer to the actual passage. Reduced to its barest simplicity the structure is:

A | ii. 1-3. Espousals.
    B | ii. 4-37. Remonstrance and Pleading.
A | iii. 1-11. Adultery.

Lifting out verses 11-18 from a great mass of detail we observe that it falls into the following disposition of subject-matter:--

Jeremiah ii. 11 - 18.
A | 11. | a | Changed gods.
                b | Yet no gods?
             a | Changed glory.
                b | For no profit?
    B | 12. Be astonished; horribly afraid; very desolate.
        C | 13. Two evils. | c | Forsaken Me, the Fountain.
                                        d | Hewed cisterns, no water.
A | 14. | a | Is Israel a servant?
                b | Is he a homeborn slave?
    B | 15, 16. Roar, yell, waste.
        C | 17, 18. Two evils. | c | The Lord. Forsaken.
                                              d | Water of Egypt in Assyria.

Until we acquaint ourselves with the statement of scripture on the subject, the question of “profit” appears to be somewhat remote as a spiritual motive, yet we observe that it finds a place in the Divine argument. Israel are said to have walked after Baal and those things that “do not profit” (Jer. ii. 8), and, in verse 11, “My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit”. So in chapter vii. verse 8 we read, “Behold ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit” and, again, in xxiii. 32, lying prophets “shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord”. It is right to ask, “What is the profit?” It is wrong to spend our money for that which is not bread and our strength for nought. The Saviour enforces the same question of profit in Matt. xvi. 26 and again and again Ecclesiastes asks, “What profit” is there in all the labour that man does “under the sun”? It could certainly not be deemed a profitable undertaking that forsook the Fountain of living waters, only to find that the cisterns hewn with such vast labour were useless.

“Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit” (Jer. ii. 11).

The reader is urged by the prophet to go over to the isles of Chittim, (probably Cyprus and the north coast line of the Mediterranean), or travel to Kedar, in Arabia: in other words, whether he goes West or East he will not discover such a senseless thing as Israel had done. Israel had followed in the way of the darkened heathen, “changed their glory”, (see Rom. i. 23), and corrupted themselves. Apart from the great labour involved in hewing cisterns out of the rock, the profitlessness of such labour is exposed by the fact that, when hewn, they were found to be “broken” and could “hold no water”. The spiritual teaching behind these figures may be seen when we find the same word, “to hold”, translated “comprehend” in Isa. xl. 12, and “abide” in Joel ii. 11 and Mal. iii. 2. The power of the living God cannot be contained by any man-made medium. The ONE Mediator is Christ; He alone is the Channel through which infinite power and Divine life can pass to man, without harm or fear. In view of the two evils here brought to light let us the more take to ourselves the language of faith:

“Lord, to Whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

----------------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 29).

-----------------------

Time and Place. (1)

The Scriptural association of chronology and topography
with doctrine and purpose.

by Charles H. Welch

#1. A definition and a vocabulary.


No experience is so fundamental to the human consciousness as the necessary relation of time, space and event. The human mind is so constructed that “an event” that took place at no time and in no place is inconceivable. Philosophy may entertain the idea that Absolute Being is unrelated to time and space, and the Scriptural title I AM suggests an eternal present, but the pursuit of this theme is forbidden by Scripture, for we read:

“He hath set the olam (age) in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end” (Eccles. iii. 11).

If this is man’s limitation regarding the “work” of God, how much more must he be limited when the subject is the Person of God Himself.

The various attempts to define the fundamental conceptions of time and space have filled volumes. Time has been defined as “the measure of movement”, and this is certainly true, if not the whole truth. We cannot speak of a speed of “20 miles”; we must say “20 miles per minute, per hour, per day, etc.”. Time, therefore, in this definition, is indissolubly linked with space, which is implied by “movement”, for one can only move from one place to another. However, while recognizing this aspect of our subject, we have no intention of pursuing it. Our theme is by no means a philosophical inquiry.

Time and place, being two of the fundamental conceptions of human thought, must necessarily find their place in a book that purports to speak to the understanding, and we are sure that an acquaintance with the time “when” and the place “where” its events took place, will be a contribution to our understanding of its glorious doctrines. We shall also be obliged to take cognizance of Scriptural chronology, for the O.T. is vitally associated with a chronology that links Adam with Christ. We shall seek to demonstrate the accuracy of that chronology, and deal with some of the problems it raises. We make no pretence, however, to any special qualifications in this science, and shall be content to use the studies of others in so far as they are in harmony with the Scriptures. Where authorities differ and Scriptural harmony is not attainable, we shall be content to leave the matter.

The place where any event took place is also constantly noted in the Scriptures, and this will involve a knowledge of Ancient and Modern Geography. Like chronology, this, too, is a subject for the specialist, and where authorities differ, we must be content to wait. We believe, for example, most surely that a garden was planted in Eden, even though we may be bewildered by the variety of suggestions made by scholars as to the exact place on the map that should be assigned to it.

Before we begin our study of time and place and their relation to doctrine, let us first acquaint ourselves with the different words used by the inspired writers in connection with time. We will take the Hebrew first.

Zeman . . . Translated in the A.V. “season”, “time” and as a verb, “to prepare”.
Zaman . . . Translated in the A.V. “time”, “appointed time”, “season”; and as a verb, “consider”, “think”, “purpose”, “devise”, “imagine”, “plot”.
It is evident that the underlying meaning of this word is “time, with special reference to its fitness”; hence an “appointed time” or “season”.
Yom . . . Translated in the A.V. 116 times “day” and 65 times “time”, together with a great variety of other words, ranging from “weather” to “yearly”. “Day” may be accepted as the fundamental meaning of the word, with the understanding that it is not always limited to a period of twenty-four hours.
Moed . . . Translated in the A.V. “congregation” 149 times, and then “appointed time”, “appointed season”, “time”, “feast”, and allied ideas. This word is derived from yaad, “to appoint, as a place or time”, and so “to meet with others at an appointed place”.
Iddan . . . Translated in the A.V. “time” 13 times. The word is derived from adah, “to go or to pass”. From this comes ad, variously translated “for ever”, “perpetually”, etc. Its basic meaning may be seen in the adverb ad, “till”, “yet”, etc. From adah is also derived:
Eth . . . Translated in the A.V. “time” 257 times, “season”, etc.
Olam . . . Translated in the A.V. “ever” and many other words. The primary meaning of the word is “age”, and carries with it the idea of something hidden, from alam, “secret”—the length of the age being something beyond human knowledge.
Rosh . . . Translated in the A.V. “head” 349 times, and when used of time, “beginning” and “first”.
Dor . . . Translated in the A.V. mostly by “generation”.
Teledoth . . . Translated in the A.V. “generation”, “family”, “origin”, “family history”.

These are the most important words used in the O.T. to denote the conception of “time”. In the N.T. the most important corresponding Greek words are as follows:

Genea, “generation”; hemera, “day”; kairos, “season”; chronos, “time”;
hora, “hour”; aion, “age”; and arche, “beginning”.

With this introduction and list of words we must be satisfied for the present. In our next article we hope to take up the question of Time and Place in relation to Scriptural doctrine.

--------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 170).

----------------------

All my springs are in Thee. (Psa. lxxxvii. 7).-(3)

by Charles H. Welch

#3. “With Thee is the Fountain of Life” (Psa. xxvi. 9).


To the believer and the diligent student of Scripture, the statement that God Himself is and must be the Spring and Fountain of all blessing is so obvious a truth as to amount to a truism. This truth is taught by nature and by creation, but it awaits the revelation of Scripture to retranslate these facts into evangelical experiences, and to teach that even though the Ultimate Source of all being and blessing is God, these blessings are mediated to their unworthy recipients through the Person and Work of the Son of His love. Gospel grace does not come to man straight from God, as God; it comes to man as a sinner seeking salvation through God manifest in the flesh. As we read the words of John i. 16 we are reading a N.T. version of the acknowledgment, “All my springs are in Thee”. The passage reads: “And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

To appreciate the rich grace here indicated we must go back to the opening of the chapter in which the words occur. Even there, “in the beginning”, when the purpose of the ages was planned and when the redeeming Lamb was foreordained (I Pet. i. 19, 20) we are not taken into the presence of God in the absolute sense, but into the presence of the Mediator, “The Word”, “The Image of the invisible God”, “The express Image of His substance”, of Whom it is written, in the contexts of these several statements:

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John i. 3).
“By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible” (Col. i. 16).
“By Whom also He made the worlds (ages)” (Heb. i. 2).

The fabric of creation is the work of His hands, and the ages, during which the Divine purpose shall be attained, are all vested in Him.

Immediately following the statement of John i. that all things were made by Him, come the words of so great import to us, “In Him was life”. Of no creature can it be said that such has “life in itself”; inherent life is the prerogative of Deity. John goes on to say that this life “was the light of men”, revealing that in the beginning, even before man was created, it was Christ (in Whose “image” he was later formed), Who was the Fount and Source of Life, even as, in fullness of time, Christ was revealed to be the Spring of all the graces of redeeming love. But not until the Deity took another step in corresponding love could the Fountain flow in all its fullness to the sons of men; and so we read:

“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” (John i. 14).

Here is the “fullness” out of which we all have received; here is the “grace for grace” that describes its nature.

However, before we further pursue this aspect, let us fortify our understanding by reading what is written concerning this One Who became “flesh”. Was such a descent accompanied by the loss of inherent life? Could it be said of Him Who was found in fashion as a man and Who had actually come to die for sin, that He still had “life in Himself”? Yes, blessed be God, it is so written; we are not left to inference, however sound may be our reasoning.

Because the Saviour had cured a man on the sabbath day, the Jews sought to slay Him, and, instead of placating, He added to their wrath by saying, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work”. “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John v. 16-18).

Then follows a series of stupendous claims, any one of which is a wonder, and any one a proof of His Deity. He saw what the Father did, and did “likewise”. He quickened the dead, even as the Father raised up the dead and quickened them. He was the appointed Judge of all men, the Father judging no man. All men were required to give equal honour to the Son as to the Father.

“For, as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John v. 26).

When He made Himself of no reputation and became man, He necessarily laid aside the insignia and the associations of Deity and, unless it had been revealed, we might have felt that although as “The Word” it could be written “In Him was life”, yet, when He became flesh, this mark of Deity would be absent. For our peace it is not so. As the “Son” and the “Word became flesh”, He possesses “life in Himself” and so is the Author and Fountain of life to all who believe. When therefore we read: “Of His fullness have all we received”, we know that once again we are at the Source of all life and blessing.

The confessed purpose of John in writing his Gospel is “life” (John xx. 31), and this last reference is the last link in a chain of thirty-six occurrences of zoe, “life”, in his Gospel. If to these we add the thirteen occurrences of the word in the first epistle, we have a total of 49, or 7*7, for perfection is indeed found here.

As we trace the use of zoe throughout John’s Gospel we find that the goal of the gospel there preached is everlasting life (iii. 15, 16), and that this life is ours only by virtue of the sacrifice of “His flesh, which” said He, “I will give for the life of the world” (John vi. 51). Further, this life is essentially “resurrection life”. Those who receive it “pass from death unto life” (John v. 24), and hear the voice of Him Who said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John xi. 25).

As we become conscious of our sin and consequent death, and as we perceive the fullness that dwells in Him, can we not, with a full heart, look up to Him Who is Himself “The Way, the Truth and the Life” and say, “All my springs are in Thee”.

------------------

(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 27).

-------------------