The Expositor's Bible: The Song of Solomon and the Lamentations of JeremiahAdeney, Walter F. (Walter Frederic)
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Song of Solomon and the Lamentations of Jeremiah
Adeney, Walter F. (Walter Frederic)
Bible. Lamentations -- Commentaries; Bible. Song of Solomon -- Commentaries
death, interact, are inextricably blended together, and mutually
transformable--what we call disease and death in one place being
necessary for life and health in another. The more clearly we
understand the processes of nature the more evident is the fact of
her unity, and therefore the more impossible is it for us to think of
her objectionable characteristics as foreign to her being--alien
immigrants from another sphere. Physical evil itself looks less
dreadful when it is seen to take its place as an integral part of the
complicated movement of the whole system of the universe.
But the chief reason for regarding the prospect with more than
satisfaction has yet to be stated. It is derived from the character of
Him to whom both the evil and the good are attributed. We can go
beyond the assertion that these contrarieties spring from one common
origin to the great truth that this origin is to be found in God. All
that we know of our Father in heaven comes to our aid in reflecting
upon the character of the actions thus attributed to Him. The account
of God's goodness that immediately precedes this ascription of the two
extreme experiences of life to Him would be in the mind of the writer,
and it should be in the mind of the reader also. The poet has just
been dwelling very emphatically on the indubitable justice of God.
When, therefore, he reminds us that both evil and good come from the
Divine Being, it is as though he said that they both originated in
justice. A little earlier he was expressing the most fervent
appreciation of the mercy and compassion of God. Then these gracious
attributes should be in our thoughts while we hear that the mixed
experiences of life are to be traced back to Him of whom so cheering a
view can be taken.
We know the love of God much more fully since it has been revealed to
us in Jesus Christ. Therefore we have a much better reason for
building our faith and hope on the fact of the universal Divine origin
of events. In itself the evil exists all the same whether we can
trace its cause or not, and the discovery of the cause in no way
aggravates it. But this discovery may lead us to take a new view of
its issues. If it comes from One who is as just and merciful as He is
mighty we may certainly conclude that it will lead to the most blessed
results. Considered in the light of the assured character of its
purpose, the evil itself must assume a totally different character.
The child who receives a distasteful draught from the hand of the
kindest of parents knows that it cannot be a cup of poison, and has
good reason for believing it to be a necessary medicine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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