Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiasts

Chapter 1 - Introduction to Proverbs

Solomon was a very voluminous writer. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and a thousand and five songs. He spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall.

From all his writings, however, we have preserved to us only the present book of Proverbs, containing about four hundred, one song of which seems to have been the chiefest of all, (Song 1:1) and the short book of Ecclesiastes. It seems that from all the three thousand proverbs these were selected as being the best, "excluding all that were local, personal, or simply humorous,"--Barnes' Notes, "Introduction to Proverbs," 1832. and retaining those only which fell in with the great moral and religious purpose of God in handing down His will to men.

Here the child is taken, and, as it were, introduced to Wisdom herself in all her beauty, who, if he will allow her, takes him by the hand and leads him through the treacherous paths of youth to manhood, and to an old age which is itself a crown of glory because found in the way of righteousness. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." (Proverbs 16:31)

Here is instruction not only for the child and the youth, but for husband and wife, for father and mother, for the farmer, the merchant, the rich, the poor, the high, and the low. It is Wisdom's grand summary of instruction to the children of men.

The purpose of the Proverbs is stated: "To know [give] wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion." (Proverbs 1:2-4)

"To give subtilty"--acuteness, nicety of distinction, i.e., the ability to distinguish the true from the false, to know the good, and to detect the bad; to see the right, and to discover any lurking tendency toward wrong.

"To the simple."--On this we give the following from Dr. Clarke:

The word simple, from simplex, compounded of sine, without, and plica, a fold, signifies properly, plain and honest, one who has no bye-ends in view; who is what he appears to be; ... but because honesty and plain dealing are so rare in the world, and none but the truly religious man will practice them, farther than the fear of the law obliges him, hence simple has sunk into a state of progressive deterioration.

First it signified, as above, without fold, unmixed, uncompounded; this was its radical meaning.

Secondly, as applied to men, it signified innocent, harmless, without disguise.

Thirdly, such persons were rather an unfashionable sort of people, it sunk in its meaning to homely, homespun, mean, ordinary.

And fourthly, as worldly men, ... supposed that wisdom, wit, and understanding, were given to men that they might make the best of them in reference to the things of this life, the word sunk still lower in its meaning, and signified silly, foolish; and there, to the dishonor of our language and morals, it stands. ... And simplicity, that meant at first openness, plain dealing, downright honesty, is now degraded to weakness, silliness, foolishness. And they will continue thus degraded till downright honesty and plain dealing get again into vogue.

"To give subtlety to the simple" therefore signifies, to give, acuteness, tact, and nicety of distinction to the honest-hearted, the upright, the sincere. "A wise man will hear and will increase learning." (Proverbs 1:5)

Solomon has himself given us the meaning of wise as here used: "The tongue of the wise uses knowledge aright." (Proverbs 15:2)

The right use of that which we have already learned not only creates a desire to learn more, but it imparts the ability to properly acquire and appreciate more. Such a man will indeed "increase learning;" he cannot help it; and every increase of such learning is an increase and strengthening of his wisdom.

Wisdom therefore is not shown in the amount that we know, but in the right use of that which we know, however little it may be. "There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city ... Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength ... Wisdom is better than weapons of war." (Ecclesiastes 9:14-18) "And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels." (Proverbs 1:5)

Literally, shall make himself a pilot. The cognate word is used thus in Ezekiel 27:8. That is, he may gain "the power to steer his course rightly on the dangerous sea of life." The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7)

"The fear of the Lord." Not the slavish fear arising from dread of punishment. But that filial "fear" which springs from respectful reverence, and a fear to offend lest we cause pain to the one whom we have in view; that fears to do contrary to the wish of the one whom we serve, lest we disappoint his expectations of us and forfeit his confidence.

"Is the beginning of knowledge." The man who fears the Lord has entered upon a course of knowledge and wisdom, which is limited only by eternity. However little he may have acquired of knowledge, as the world goes, if he have the fear of the Lord, he has eternity before him, in which to increase knowledge. And though he have all the knowledge of all men of all the world, and have not the fear of the Lord, his little life is soon "rounded by a sleep," and all has ceased, all his knowledge is ended. For when he arises from the dead, it is to woeful destruction, and all that he was is brought to naught. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. "My son, if sinners entice you, consent not." (Proverbs 1:10)

Or, as Dr. Clarke gives it, "will you not," that is have a "will not" for all forms of evil enticement. There is nothing that will strengthen and confirm us in our determination to do right, and at the same time weaken the seducer to wrong, like a firm, decided, "I will not." If one would entice you to take strong drink, meet it with, "I will not." If they would entice you to chew or smoke tobacco, or to run with them in "ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," give them a plain, "I will not." They may sneer at, and make fun of you, yet in their hearts they will respect and honor you. The Lord says: "Them that honor me I will honor." (1 Samuel 2:30) "If sinners entice you, will you not." (Proverbs 1:10)--Signs of the Times, November 6, 1884--Original title: Notes on the International Lesson. Proverbs 1:1-16--Notes on the International Lesson, November 23--Proverbs 1:2-4, 5, 7, 10; 15:2; 16:31

A.T. Jones

Chapter 2 - True Wisdom

The subject of this lesson is "True Wisdom." We have therefore thought it wise to allow Wisdom to tell her own story, and we have no hesitation in saying, and we are sure that all will agree, that it is the best set of Sunday-school notes that ever was written.
 "Does not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She stands in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She cries at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O you simple, understand wisdom: and, you fools, be of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understands, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is my, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." (Proverbs 8:1-17)
 
Wisdom Calls

"Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets: She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she utters her words, saying, How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?" (Proverbs 1:20-22)--Signs of the Times, November 13, 1884--Notes on the International Lesson, November 30--Proverbs 8:1-17

A.T. Jones

Chapter 3 - Christian Temperance

Who has woe?

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine enflame them! ... Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!" (Isaiah 5:11,22-23) "Woe unto him that gives his neighbor drink, that puts your bottle to him and makes him drunken also, that you may look on their nakedness!" (Habakkuk 2:15)

We see therefore that the woe of those who tarry long at the wine, is not confined to the trouble and sorrow that come in this life as the direct result of drunkenness, but that it reaches to the fearful punishment that destroys men for their and iniquity. Woe, woe, terrible, dreadful, and irremediable.

Now, God has opened a way of escape from it. Those who, through Christ, overcome, will be saved, but: "No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:10) "Look not upon the wine." (Proverbs 23:31)

Here Solomon gives the true and only safeguard, Look not upon the wine. This is the true principle of temperance, and although it is expressed here in regard to wine, and although the lesson today is touching strong drink, yet true temperance, Bible temperance, Christian temperance, does not consist in abstinence from strong drink alone. Therefore we shall treat the subject on the broad basis of Christian temperance.

Temperance is self control. Whenever, in any of his appetites or passions, a man loses control of himself, he is intemperate. Says Paul: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." (1 Corinthians 9:27)

In other words, I, myself, am determined to be master of myself. The truly Christian temperance man is master of himself, and the servant of Christ. And it is only as a faithful servant of Christ that a man can be master of himself. Thus he becomes his own free man, and Christ's servant; a real manly man; then he "dare do all that becomes a man;
Who dares do more is none."--Shakespeare, Macbeth.

In view of the actual meaning of the word, how few temperance people there are! How few who really and decidedly have control of themselves! Very few indeed there are who are not subject to some habit which must and will be satisfied at whatever cost.

Thousands are the slaves of strong drink. All that they have, all that they can get, goes to satisfy that which is insatiable. Every effort to appease it only increases its demands, and its power to exact them.

But where there are thousands thus the slaves of strong drink, there are hundreds of thousands who are the slaves of tobacco. Their children may be clothed in rags, and go barefoot in the cold, they may even lack bread, but they never lacked tobacco. If they have no money with which to buy it, they will go into debt for it, and if they cannot get credit, then they will even beg. Men who would think it a shame to beg for bread, are not ashamed to beg for tobacco. Such abject slaves are they. Have such persons control of themselves? No; tobacco controls them; this is their master and will be served.

Then there are thousands who are slaves to opium; thousands slaves to arsenic; thousands slaves to morphine; thousands slaves to absinthe; thousands slaves to hashish; and though not so great in degree, yet the same in kind, thousands are the slaves to beer, or the servants of tea, or of coffee. "What!" some may exclaim, "is the use of tea or coffee intemperance?"

It is. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, article on "Drunkenness," what do you suppose we find? The following: "In short, from tea to hashish, we have through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, a sort of a graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses, and narcotize in larger. The physiological action of all these agents gradually shades into each other, all producing, or being capable of producing, consecutive paralysis of the various parts of the nervous system. Even tea cannot be regarded as altogether free from the last named effects. Tea-sots are well known to be affected by palpitation, and irregularities of the heart, as well as with more or less sleeplessness, and mental irritability, and muscular tremors, which in some culminate in paralysis, while positive intoxication has been known to be the result of the excessive use of strong tea."

And of coffee the same authority says: "It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration, comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxication."

So the only difference between tea or coffee and alcohol drinks, is the degree of its effects, and not at all in the nature of the effects. All have the intoxicating quality, and as quoted, from tea to hashish, it is only a graduated scale of intoxicants, through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, each one shading into the other. All are relatives in the family of drunkenness, and the use of any one of them is intemperance. Sir Isaac Newton, when asked why he did not learn to use tobacco, replied: "I will create to myself no necessities."

In this sentence there is much of that philosophical insight which could see, in the falling of an apple, a lot of the universe. In the economy of the human system there is no provision for either stimulants or narcotics. If ever there is a demand for these things, it has to be created. And more, such things as stimulants and narcotics (poisons) are the only ones for which the necessity can be created. It is impossible to form the habit of using any one particular kind of food. Through the agency of the digestive process, each organ will take up its portion of that which is food, and by assimilation will renew itself, and thus vitality is maintained; in fact this is vitality. If a person be hungry, any kind of food will satisfy, whether it be fruit or vegetables, meat or bread.

It is not so with narcotics and stimulants. The appetite for these has to be created. And when it is created for any one of them, it is for that particular one, and nothing but that will satisfy the demand. If the appetite be for tea, then nothing but tea will satisfy. If it be for alcohol, nothing else will do, and so on through the list.

Then look not upon the wine, touch not tobacco, taste not any of all the list of intoxicants; create to yourself no necessity; be temperate (self-controlling) in all things; keep under your body, and bring it into subjection; the master of yourself, and thus your own free man. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." (Matthew 16:24) "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne." (Revelation 3:21)--Signs of the Times, November 20, 1884--Notes on the International Lesson--Proverbs 23:29-35

A.T. Jones

Chapter 4 - Wisdom Better Than Great Works

"I made me great works." (Ecclesiastes 2:4) "[Solomon built] Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer." ... And Beth-horon the nether, And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion." (1 Kings 9:15,17-19)

"Millo" was a strong fortification, or tower, that protected the city of Jerusalem on the north. It was renewed by Herod, and by him named Hippicus in honor of one of his friends; and as it stood completed by Herod, it was about one hundred feet high. It was made of white marble, each stone about thirty feet long by fifteen feet wide and seven and one-half thick.

"The wall of Jerusalem" began at Millo, or Hippicus, and extended clear around the city; upon it were sixty towers. As the city grew and spread beyond this wall, a second one was built in after years, and still another, so that at the final destruction of the city by the Romans, there were three very strong walls about it, the outer one having ninety towers, the middle one, forty, and the "old wall," as before stated, having sixty, besides two other large towers corresponding to Hippicus, built also by Herod, and called respectively Phasaebes, and Mariamne.

"Hazor" was the principal city and stronghold of the whole of North Palestine. "Megiddo" was a fortified city which commanded one of the main passes from the north into the hill country. "Gezer" was also a fortified city that commanded the Mediterranean coast road of communication between Egypt and Jerusalem.

The two "Beth-horon's," "the upper," and "the nether," lay on the boundary line between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, and guarded a pass on the road from Gibeon to the Philistine plain. Through this pass was the main way of approach into the interior of the country Philistia on the west, and from Moab and Ammon on the East.

"Tadmor" (Palmyra) was built in an oasis in the desert of Hamath above Syria, "two days' journey from the Euphrates, and six long days journey from Babylon." This was built so that he might control the great caravan trade from the East. Even the ruins of Tadmor are a wonder and an astonishment, and what magnificence must have been displayed when it stood in its splendor. "I built me houses." (Ecclesiastes 2:4)

The chief one of these was one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet broad, and forty-five feet high, and was in three stories. It had a grand porch seventy-five feet long and forty-five broad, and all the pillars and beams and floors were of the finest cedar of Lebanon, and the pillars were so many and so costly, and those in the porch were so tall, that it was called: "The house of the forest of Lebanon." (1 Kings 7:2)

Close to this was "the tower of David built for an armory, [on the walls of which there hung] a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men." (Song of Solomon 4:4)

Then there was the great Judgment Hall, lined with cedar wood, where stood the ivory throne inlaid with gold, with its six steps, and two graven lions on each step, and also a lion at each arm; the seat a golden bull, and the back ending in a half-circle. Then there was the house for Pharaoh's daughter, and houses for all his wives and concubines. Then there were the cloisters, and reception rooms, and the magnificent banqueting hall. These all were made with walls and foundations of white stone, many of them twelve, and many fifteen feet in length. All were supported with pillars and beams of cedar and fir, decked with gold and silver, and the roofs and walls ornamented with beautiful stones set with gold and silver, after the style of the temple. Besides all these buildings in Jerusalem, he built a summer palace in Lebanon. "I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits." (Ecclesiastes 2:4-5)

Literally, "I made me paradises, beautiful parks for pleasure grounds."

There was one of these, probably the principal one, about six miles from Jerusalem, at Etham. There he would go in stately progress out of the city in the morning, dressed in snow-white raiment, riding in his chariot of state, which was made of the finest cedar, decked with gold and silver and purple, carpeted with the costliest tapestry, worked by the daughters of Jerusalem. A body-guard of sixty valiant men attended him, of the tallest and handsomest of the young men of Israel, arrayed in Tyrian purple, their long black hair, freshly sprinkled with gold-dust every day, glittering in the sun. "I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that brings forth trees." (Ecclesiastes 2:6)

These were necessary to keep his parks fresh and beautiful. There were three of them, all in the side of the valley of Etham. The upper pool was 380 feet long, 236 wide at the eastern end, and 229 at the western end, and 25 deep. Below this 160 feet was the middle pool, 423 feet long, 250 broad at the eastern end, and 160 at the western, and 39 feet deep. Below this 248 feet lay the lower pool, 582 feet long, 207 broad at the eastern end, and 148 at the western, and 50 feet deep. Each pool therefore covered somewhat more than two acres. They were partly hewn out of the solid rock, and partly built of masonry. All were lined with cement, all had flights of steps from top to bottom, and all three were connected together by conduits, and by an aqueduct connected with Jerusalem, so that not only his "paradise" at Etham was watered by them, but from them also his palaces and gardens at the city were supplied. "I gathered me also silver and gold." (Ecclesiastes 2:8) "And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. ... And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones." (1 Kings 10:21,27)

He "had at sea a navy" (1 Kings 10:22) that went to Ophir, and once in three years came the navy bringing gold, and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. The gold that came to Solomon in a year was about $17,752,640.--PP Editor's note: These money values must be multiplied x33 to get their equivalents in 2024. This with what David left to him, $2,904,000,000, amounted to $2,921,752,640, or enough to have given nearly $390 (About $12,870 in dollar value for 2024) to each man, woman, and child in the whole kingdom. And all this was "Besides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country." (1 Kings 10:15)

That is, all this was beside the regular customs duties and taxes from his own kingdom. His navy brought at one voyage from Ophir $13,068,000; (2 Chronicles 8:18) at another it brought $12,196,800; (1 Kings 9:28) the queen of Sheba gave him $3,484,800; (1 Kings 10:10) and Hiram also gave him $3,484,800. (1 Kings 9:14) Surely gold was plenty.

After enjoying everything to the full, withholding not his "heart from any joy," (Ecclesiastes 2:10) then he could only look on all the works that his hands had wrought and exclaim, "all was vanity and vexation of spirit!" (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

The word translated "vanity" means "breath" or "light wind," and its parallel is found in Isaiah 40:6 and James 1:10-11. All vanishes, all fades away, even life itself is but a vapor, appearing but "for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14)

From verse twelve it seems that after he had seen all this greatness, and glory, and folly, he turns to the contemplation of himself and the time when he walked in "wisdom," and compares it with the years of his "madness and folly," and as his firm decision he leaves us this apple of gold in a picture of silver: (Proverbs 25:11) "Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As Far As Light Excels Darkness." (Ecclesiastes 2:13)--Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884--Notes on the International Lesson, December--Ecclesiastes 2:1-13

A.T. Jones

Chapter 5 - A Fool's Sacrifice

This is a sacrifice of empty words. No defective sacrifice offered to God was acceptable, and vain words are wholly valueless. The Scripture admonishes us,
"Keep your foot when you go to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools... Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed." (Ecclesiastes 5:1-4)

A fool vows that which he does not pay; he promises what he is not able to perform, and with this he satisfies his conscience. But God can be satisfied with nothing but reality.--Present Truth, February 28, 1895--Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

E.J. Waggoner

Chapter 6 - Remember Now Your Creator

"Remember now your Creator." (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

Remember Him as Creator. "There are gods many and lords many," (1 Corinthians 8:5) but there is but one Creator, and He is the one living and true God. It is by this fact that in His own word He distinguishes himself from all other gods; as in: "To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare unto Him? The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he has no oblation chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. ... To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number; He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one fails." Isaiah 40:18-20,25-26)

And again in Isaiah, 37th chapter, the king of Assyria wrote a letter to king Hezekiah, in which he said: "Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ... Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? ... And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwells between the cherubim, You are the God, even You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which has sent to reproach the living God." (Isaiah 37:10,12,14-17)

And in answer to that prayer, "the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand." (Isaiah 37:36)

The fact that He is Creator is the primal reason given why all should worship Him; and why He should be worshiped. "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know you that the Lord He is God; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves." (Psalm 100:2-3) "Worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:7) "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for [because] You have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4:11) "In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10) "In Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

Therefore, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth," (Ecclesiastes 12:1) and all your days. The fact that He performed the wonderful works of creation does not stand separated from Him and us. He not only made these wonderful works, "He has made His wonderful works to be remembered." (Psalm 111:4)

The proper remembrance of Him as Creator can only be by remembering the creation. And He has not enjoined upon us the duty to remember Him without fully showing us how to do it. He has established an institution, the observance of which will ever keep in the mind the remembrance of the Creator--an institution by which, if properly observed, it is impossible to forget Him. That institution is the Sabbath of the Lord. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11) "And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God." (Ezekiel 20:20)

It is by hallowing the Sabbath that it becomes a sign by which we know that He is the Lord. And it is thus a sign that He is the Lord, because "in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested." (Exodus 31:17)

By hallowed observance of the seventh day we remember the "wonderful works" of the creation, and thus remember the Creator. This is God's own appointed way for us to remember Him. It is the truth that the hallowed observance of the seventh day, the works of creation, and the remembrance of the Creator are inseparably connected. "What, therefore, God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19:6)

Again, the Lord's appointed way of bringing things to remembrance is by memorials. "For it is ... an offering of memorial, bringing ... to remembrance." (Numbers 5:15)

Of the passover the Lord said: "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial." (Exodus 12:13-14) "The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar; ... and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. ... And they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: To be a memorial unto the children of Israel." (Numbers 16:38-40)

Therefore when we read in the Bible of the Sabbath as a sign, we may lawfully read it as a memorial; thus: "And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a memorial...that you may know that I am the Lord your God." (Ezekiel 20:20)

He desires that we shall ever have Him in remembrance; to that purpose He established a memorial; that memorial is the Sabbath, and: "The seventh day is the Sabbath." (Ezekiel 20:10) "Your name, O Lord, endures forever; and your memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations." (Psalm 135:13) "Remember now your Creator. ... The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd." (Ecclesiastes 12:1,10-11)

The Lord is that one shepherd. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1) "We are the sheep of his pasture." (Psalm 100:3)

These words are the words of the Lord, and are therefore words of truth. "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:12-13)

In all the millions upon millions of books that have been or shall be made, there has not been a single principle of ethics set forth that is not contained in the ten commandments. And although many books are valuable, and worthy of deep study, yet the sum of all that is said in the books, and the most worthy subject of all study, is the law of God. Study it, therefore, ever and always with the prayer of him of old, "open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Psalm 119:18) "For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

The law of God being the rule of life, it must be the rule of judgment. "As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ... In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Romans 2:12,16)

They who shall stand in the Judgment are those whose "delight is in the law of the Lord; and who meditate in His law day and night." (Psalm 1:2)

Oh, how carefully we must meditate herein, for it is a discerner of the very "thoughts and intents of the heart," (Hebrews 4:12) and in that day the Lord "will make manifest the counsels of the heart," (1 Corinthians 4:5) "with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

Oh, that we might realize how fearfully searching the Judgment will be! Then, too, we could realize the blessedness of that salvation, and the riches of that precious blood which blots out all our transgression, so that it is remembered no more forever. (Hebrews 10:17) But realizing, faintly as we do, the awful importance of that event, we may pray with David: "Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me. ... Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:12-14)--Signs of the Times, December 4, 1884--Notes on the International Lesson, December 21--Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

A.T. Jones