THE SILENCES OF SCRIPTURE. 



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Brancli of David whose Name is " the Lord our Righteousness. 

 Daniel is taught of the coming of the Anointed One, the Prince. 

 Malachi predicts the sudden coming of the Lord to His Temple, 

 even the Angel of the Covenant. 



This note of expectation of the Coming One rings through the 

 whole of the Old Testament, but though the Promise is there, 

 repeated again and again, and becoming ever clearer and more 

 defimte in the course of ages, yet up to the close of the Hebrew 

 Canon it is still a Promise unfulfilled. The New Testament 

 supphes what was missing by telhng us how in the fulness of 

 time He came in whom all the features of the various promises 

 unite. In a special sense He was the Seed of the woman ; He 

 was the Seed of Abraham, and in Him the blessing is extended 

 to all the nations ; He was acknowledged the Son of David, 

 heir to the throne, " born King of the Jews " ; He, the Eternal 

 Word, face to face with God (vrpo? t6v Seov, St. John i, 1) 

 was the Prophet, Teacher, and Lawgiver ; He was the Righteous 

 One, " wounded for our transgressions," the great High Priest 

 " of the good things to come." Moses, the Psalms, and the 

 Prophets had written concerning Him ; the Gospels are records 

 of Him ; the Acts and the Epistles proclaim Him ; the Revelation 

 shows Him as the Lamb once slain but now ahve for evermore, 

 and prepares us for His final manifestation as " King of Kings 

 and Lord of Lords." It is the Christ who binds all the Scriptures 

 together in one. The Jews have no name for their Scriptures 

 except a memorial word made up of the initials of the words 

 for " the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings." Christianity 

 brings together the Old and the New Covenants into one Holy 

 Bible, through which runs the one great Purpose and Plan. 

 That we are enabled to discern this Divine Purpose is largely due 

 to the silences of Scripture. 



So far we have been concerned with the silences of the history 

 due to the passing over of matters not essential to the purpose. 

 There are some other lands of silence mentioned in Holy Writ. 

 There is the silence of patience and restraint, as when the 

 Psalmist (xxxix, 2) says, " I was dumb with silence, I held my 

 peace " ; or when to Rabshakeh's arrogant blasphemy " the 

 people held their peace, and answered him not a word " (2 Kings 



xviii, 36) ; or when the Righteous One " opened not His 

 mouth," but ahke to false witnesses and unjust judges " held 

 His peace and answered nothing " (St. Mark xiv, 61 ; St. John 



xix, 9). There is also the silence of attention and expectation, 



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