Chapter CCXXXII: Part I (35)

Third, In that she is said to yield not only fruit, but all manner of fruit; and that not only one manner of fruit now, and another then, but all manner of fruit, and that every month; it argueth also that at this day Jerusalem shall have abundance of heavenly and spiritual provision, and of variety of dainties for her solace and refreshment; always new, I say, and immediately from the tree. The fruits of the vine shall at that day be upon the mountains of Samaria, and shall be eaten 'as common things,' saith the prophet (Jer 31:5). 'Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring; for the tree beareth her fruit; the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad, then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he hath given you the former' and the latter 'rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month; and the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm' hath eaten. 'And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord' (Joel 2:21-25). And then shall every one not only sit under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree, but from thence they shall call each to other, to give to each other their dainties, and none shall make them afraid (Zech 3:10).

[The virtue of the leaves.] 'And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.' By leaves here, we may understand the blessed and precious promises, consolations, and encouragements, that by virtue of Christ's undertaking for us, we have everywhere growing upon the new covenant; which promises and encouragements they are and will be most freely handed to the wounded conscience that will be tossed upon the restless waves of doubt and unbelief, as was the olive leaf by the dove brought home to Noah, when he was tossed upon the waves of that outrageous flood that then did drown the world (Gen 8).

But again, by this word, the leaves, you may conceive that still he hath his eye to the paradise in which at first God placed Adam and his companion, for it was to leaves they fled for covering after they had transgressed against their Maker (Gen 3:7). Now then, in his saying the leaves are for healing; it is as if he had said, the paradise that will be towards the latter end of the world will far outstrip the paradise that first was planted in the beginning thereof; for as the tree of life, which is the Christ and Saviour, shall stand where did the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is the old covenant and law of works: so the leaves of this tree shall be for healing, and for covering the nakedness of poor transgressors, though the leaves that Adam found in the first paradise, do what he could, did leave him naked.

Christ's leaves are better than Adam's aprons. Ezekiel saith that these leaves are for medicine (47:12), that is, they are for healing, saith John; the which may most fitly be applied to the blessed promise of grace. For as a leaf for medicine, when applied to a sore in the body, doth supple, mollify, and heal the wound; so the word of promise, when rightly applied to the soul, it doth supple, mollify, and heal the wounded conscience. 'He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!' (Psa 107:20,21).

'And the leaves,' &c. There is yet another mystery lieth in these words.

He doth not say, and the fruits thereof are for the healing of the nations, but the leaves, by which he would have us to understand that all the benefits and privileges that we do receive from Christ, they are as inferior to the glory we shall have from him when we come to heaven, as inferior, I say, as the leaves are to the fruit. Again, the comfort and sweetness that at any time we receive from the Lord, it is not before but after a promise is suitably applied, even as the fruit of the tree with which the body is comforted is not before but after the leaves have put forth themselves. Wherefore Christ might well say to Nathaniel, and that after he had received some refreshments from a leaf, 'Thou shalt see greater things than these' (John 1:50); and Paul, that yet 'a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory' is laid up for all believers (2 Cor 4:17). For indeed, indeed, the glory that God hath prepared for us against the day of God, it doth and will more outstrip the most high enjoyment of the highest saint in New Jerusalem, notwithstanding their enjoyment will be so eminent, than doth the sweetest fruit outstrip the leaf that hangeth on that tree. 'And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.' If the leaves be so good, O Lord, let us enjoy the fruit; and not a little, or earnest, but the whole harvest thereof in thy kingdom. Thus much touching this water and tree of life.

[The ease, peace, and tranquility of the city.]

Ver. 3. 'And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God--shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.' This is the conclusion of the whole discourse, and it showeth unto us the blessed effect of the blessed recovering of this city to her first and primitive state. These words, therefore, they are only applicable to this state of the church. For there hath no state of the church been yet in the world but that state hath been liable to a curse; but this state, to wit, the state she will be in at her building again, will be a state without parallel, a state properly her own.

'And there shall be no more curse.' By curse in this place we are chiefly to understand, not the taking away of the curse, the eternal curse which separates between God and the soul for ever-for so the curse in this sense hath always been taken away by virtue of the terms, the general terms of the new covenant, and that in common for every saint in all ages (Gal 3:13)-but by curse here we are to understand that, or those curses that do, and have frequently befallen the church for her sin and apostasy; as namely, the giving up his people to their own darkness and ignorance; his suffering them to swerve from his true worship and ordinances: his giving them up into the hand of those that hate them, to become among them a hissing, a taunt, a reproach, and a by-word, as it is at this day (Zeph 1:12-17; Psa 43:28; Jer 29:18; 44:8,12). His taking away from them the means, to wit, the outward word of the gospel, and suffering them to be even at the point to famish for the want thereof (Amos 8:9-13). These and other things are the curses that he here saith shall be no more among his people; for indeed they shall not, because the gospel-pattern shall never be removed more, nor their light to see, nor their love to practise, never be diminished more. Their defence, also, 'shall be the munition of rocks; bread shall be given them, and their waters shall be sure' (Isa 33:16). As here, you find the tree and river of the water of life are fixed now in the midst of this city. Wherefore now the church, as I have all along showed you, shall have her sun at the height, her light as the light of seven days, and shall go no more down for ever. Also she shall never be pulled down. She shall be a tabernacle that shall never be pulled down, neither shall one of the cords thereof be loosed, or one of her stakes again removed (Isa 33:20).

'There shall be no more curse: but the throne of God shall be in it.' Indeed, here lieth the reason of all blessedness to any people, even the presence of God. Now the presence of God is with his people, either at times or seasons, or all together. He will not be to this city a God of times and seasons, even like a way-faring man that tarries but for a night, as he used to be to his people of old, but here he will abide, rest, and dwell (Zeph 3:17; Jer 14:8,9; Zech 2:10,11). I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord. And, again, 'I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem for ever' (Eze 43:9). Wherefore John considering this, he saith, there shall be here no more any curse, but the throne of God. God will now, when he returneth to Jerusalem, bring his seat with him to signify his sitting down in the midst of his people, to be their company-keeper for ever.

[Import of the word THRONE.] 'But the throne of God--shall be in it.' By this word 'throne,' we are to understand yet further these particular things-

First. How blessed a state this city will be in at all times for the answer of prayer! The throne of God will be in the midst of them; the throne of grace, the mercy-seat, they will be open now to all the inhabitants of this city; yea, the fame thereof shall so spread that it shall be rumoured among all the nations that in Jerusalem God will be found speedily; that in Jerusalem the God of heaven and eternal mercy is found at all times by them that seek his face. 'Mine house,' said he, 'shall be called a house of prayer for all people' (Isa 56:7). Yea, many people, and strong nations, shall at that day come to seek the Lord at Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. And at that day the very fasts of the house of God 'shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore, love the truth and peace' (Zech 8:19-22).

Second. The throne of God being now established in this city, what a government, what rule, what a life of holiness and godliness, what dread and majesty will now be in the hearts of all the sons of this city! How to a hair's-breadth will he command and guide them with his eye at all times, when they should either turn to the right hand or to the left. What wisdom, I say, what holiness, what grace and life will be found in all their words and actions? (Isa 48:17). The throne of God is among them, from which there will come continual influence, light, and splendour, into all their hearts. 'Hear ye the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd doth his sheep. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd, and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all' (Jer 31:10-12).

Third. The throne of God being in this city, there is also thereby discovered what sway and commanding an authority this city will have at this day, as I have already showed you, over all the earth (Isa 2:9,10). 'The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel' (Joel 3:16). This was figured forth by the throne of Solomon, in the days when that city was in its prosperity; which throne, to show the majesty and commanding awe that then that city had over all, both far and near, it had, for the bearers of the steps, twelve lions, six on this side, and six on that side of the throne (1 Kings 10:18-20). This city shall then be the head and chief, but the tail and reproach no more. 'Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God' (Psa 87:3).

'And his servants shall serve him.' That is, HIM ONLY. Indeed his servants serve him always, but yet withal they do too too often serve with the wills and lusts of men, even in their service and worshipping God; that is, they serve him in much affliction, temptation, fear, and persecution; but then they shall serve him without any of these. Yea, 'they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day [O city] that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow,--and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve' (Isa 14:2,3), and thou shalt serve the Lord thy God 'without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of thy life' (Luke 1:74,75).

'And they shall see his face.' This also argueth a very great dispensation of grace and mercy to this Jerusalem. When God did deliver up his people into the hand of the king of Babylon, he said it should be done in fury and in anger, and that for their wickedness he would hide his face from his city (Deu 31:17; Jer 33:5). Wherefore, by the sight of his face here, we are to understand that glorious visible appearance of God that then will be for this city and people in the face of all the world (1 Peter 3:12). For by the face of God we are to understand the discovery of his severity, providences, and wonderful outgoings among the sons of men (Job 6:8-13). As also the glorious breaking forth of grace, mercy, and forgiveness through Christ Jesus, all which the people of God shall then most marvellously see and behold (Heb 1:1-3; 2 Cor 4:6).

First. They shall see his severity and judgments upon the whore.

Second. They shall see how God, by his strange judgments and works of wonder, hath brought this about. 'Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest' (Rev 15:4). 'They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his villages in Israel' (Judg 5:11).

Third. And as for his mercy, they shall see that their horn is exalted, and that they are near to him. 'Praise ye the Lord' (Psa 148:14).

'And his name shall be in their foreheads.' And 'his name.' That is, his fear and image, it shall appear in all their doings. Sometimes he saith he will write his fear and law in their hearts and minds. Which fear and law is all one with that which in this place he calleth his name in their foreheads. The forehead of a man is the place above all parts of the body that is most naked and plain to be beheld of all that pass by; wherefore, when he saith their Father's name shall be in their foreheads, it is as if he had said, the profession of my people shall now be open, and the beauty of it apparent to all beholders; 'I will make' them, saith God, 'a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes' (Zeph 3:20). Every face shall then shine with oil, as well as every heart be replenished with milk and wine. This was held forth by the memorial that the Israelites were to wear, at God's command, between their eyes; which memorial was the doctrine of unleavened bread and of the paschal lamb, the doctrine of faith and holiness (Exo 13:6-9; 1 Cor 5:8). Wherefore, by name here, he means the faith and holiness of the gospel, which in those days shall walk openly with honour, with reverence, and esteem before all men. At this day the world will, as I have said, be so far off from opposing and persecuting, that they shall wonder, and tremble, and fear before this people; yea, be taken, affected, and pleased with the welfare of this beloved. 'The mountains and the hills shall break forth before her into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands' (Isa 55:12). 'All nations shall call them blessed, for they shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts' (Mal 3:12). The waters of Noah shall now be no more, the tumultuous multitudes shall now be gone, and there will be no more sea (Isa 54:9; Psa 65:7; 89:9; Rev 21:1,2). Now therefore the doves may be gathering their olive-branches, and also find rest for the soles of their feet, while the ark shall rest upon the mountains of Ararat (Gen 8:4,5).

'The wolf also shall [now] dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.--The lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord' (Isa 11:6-9; 56:2-5).

Blessed is he whose lot it will be to see this holy city descending and lighting upon the place that shall be prepared for her situation and rest! Then will be a golden world; wickedness shall then be ashamed, especially that which persecutes the church. Holiness, goodness, and truth, shall then, with great boldness, countenance, and reverence, walk upon the face of all the earth. 'From the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts' (Mal 1:11). It will be then always summer, always sunshine, always pleasant, green, fruitful, and beautiful to the sons of God. 'And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.--And Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation' (Joel 3:18,20). 'And the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there' (Eze 48:35). O blessedness! 'And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things that must shortly be done' (Rev 22:6).

I conclude therefore with that earnest groan of Moses, the man of God, 'O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.--Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it' (Psa 90:14-17). Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

1. The note upon this passage in the Genevan or Puritan version, with which Bunyan was familiar, is, 'God will raise up in his church such as shall rule and govern for the defence of the same, and instruction of his enemies, under Messiah, whom the prophet calleth here the Lord and Head of this kingdom.'-Ed.

2. From the Genevan or Puritan version.

3. 'Set out' render prominent, plain, or conspicuous.-Ed.

4. In Bunyan's days, a few fanatics from among the Fifth Monarchy men conceived that the millennium had arrived, and that it was their duty to take possession of the kingdom for Jesus. They were mad enough, like the late Mr. Courtnay, to imagine that their bodies were invulnerable, and they marched out to seize London. A few of the trained bands soon encountered them, some were shot and the rest were punished, and this absurd attempt was at an end in a few hours. This gave the enemies of true religion a pretext, which they eagerly seized, of charging these absurd notions upon all who feared God, and a severe persecution followed. To deprecate and counteract these reports, Bunyan is very explicit in noting the difference between a spiritual and a temporal kingdom.-Ed.

5. 'Spices' is from the Genevan version; our authorized text has 'powders.'-Ed.

6. Referring to the attempts made in Bunyan's days to introduce Popery. It is admirably shown in the Pilgrim's Progress, p. 193-'This is the spring that Christian drank of; then it was clear and good, but now it is dirty with the feet of some that are not desirous that pilgrims here should quench their thirst.'-Ed.

7. All authority in the church is strictly limited to the written Word. Throw away then to the owls and the bats all tradition, and the power of the church to decree rites and ceremonies. It is treason against God to suppose that he omitted anything from his Bible that his church ought to do, or commanded that which may be neglected, although human laws may authorize such deviation.-Ed.

8. The walls do not go from or leave the foundations, but, resting upon them, they gradually ascend to perfection.-Ed.

9. Anabaptist was the name given to those who submitted to be baptized upon a profession of faith, because, having been christened when infants, it was called re-baptizing.-Ed.

10. 'Hub'; an obstruction, a thick square sod, the mark or stop at the game of quoits.-Ed.

11. These observations apply to such churches as admit to the Lord's table unconverted persons, because they have passed through certain outward ceremonies; and to those who refused to admit the most godly sayings, because they had not submitted to an outward ceremony.-Ed.

12. See Isaiah 8:19. 'To peep and mutter,' as pretended sorcerers or magicians attempting their incantations against the truth.-Ed.

13. This is an allusion to the ancient English pastime of combat, called quarterstaff.-Ed.

14. Bunyan most accurately traces the pedigree of God's fearers, who, at the expense of life, maintained the spirituality of divine worship. He commences with our early Reformers, Wickliff and Huss, to the later ones who suffered under Mary; continues the line of descent through the Puritans to Bunyan's brethren, the Nonconformists. All these were bitterly persecuted by the two lions-Church and Sate. The carnal gospellers, that confused heap of rubbish that crawled up and down the nation like locusts and maggots, refers to the members of a hierarchy which were ready to go from Popery to Protestantism, and back again to Popery, or to any other system, at the bidding of an Act of Parliament.-Ed.

15. 'Virtue'; strength, efficacy, power.-Ed.

16. 'To travel and trade,' means to pursue or labour in an habitual course, exercise, or custom, as, 'Thy sin's not accidental but a trade.'-Shakespeare. Or, trade wind.-Ed.

17. The perfect unity of the Christian world is not likely to take place before the glorious meeting in the holy city, under the personal reign of Christ. The divisions among Christians arise, as Bunyan justly says, from antichristian rubbish, darkness, and trumpery; the great evil arising from difference of opinion, is that lust of domination over the faith of others which naturally leads to bitterness and persecution. In the earliest days one was of Paul, another of Apollos, and another of Cephas. The exercise of Christian forbearance was not an act of uniformity, but a declaration of the Holy Ghost. 'Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?' 'Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind' (Rom 14:4,5).-Ed.

18. As the leaven goes on imperceptibly until the whole is leavened, so the kingdom of our Lord must increase. How extraordinary has been the progress of Divine truth since Bunyan's days! and who can predict what it will be in another century?-Ed.

19. There being no night there but perpetual day.-Ed.

20. A 'gold angel' was an early English coin, valued at one-third of a pound, afterwards increased to ten shillings. The 'twenty-shilling piece' was the old sovereign. The comparison between them and the silver pence and halfpennies was made by Bunyan in respect to their rarity and not their purity.-Ed.

21. 'To stoop or lower the top-gallant' is a mode of salutation and respect shown by ships at sea to each other.-Ed.

22. This quotation is taken from that excellent translation of the Bible made by the reformers at Geneva, and which was much used in Bunyan's time. He preferred the word pour to that of sprinkle, used in the present version.-Ed.

23. How beautifully is the Christian's growth in grace here pictured by Bunyan from Ezekiel 47:3-12. So imperceptibly by Divine power, without the aid of man, that the partaker often doubts his own growth. The water rises higher and higher, until at length there is no standing for his feet-the earth and time recedes, and he is plunged into the ocean of eternal grace and glory.-Ed.

24. 'To the one, the savour of death unto death; and to the other, the savour of life unto life' (2 Cor 2:16).-Ed.

***

Solomon's Temple Spiritualized

or,

Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11

London: Printed for, and sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgate, 1688.

[ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR]

Of all the wonders of the world, the temple of Solomon was beyond comparison the greatest and the most magnificent. It was a type of that temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, of that city whose builder and maker is God, and which, at the consummation of all things, shall descend from heaven with gates of pearl and street of pure gold as shining glass, and into which none but the ransomed of the Lord shall enter. Jesus, the Lamb of God, shall be its light and glory and temple; within its walls the Israel of God, with the honour of the Gentiles, shall be brought in a state of infinite purity. No unclean thing will be able to exist in that dazzling and refulgent brightness which will arise from the perfection of holiness in the immediate presence of Jehovah; and of this, as well as of the whole Christian dispensation, the temple of Solomon was a type or figure. It would have been impossible for the united ingenuity of all mankind, or the utmost stretch of human pride, to have devised such a building, or to have conceived the possibility of its erection. The plan, the elevation, the whole arrangement of this gorgeous temple, proceeded from the Divine Architect. He who created the wondrous universe of nature condescended to furnish the plan, the detail, the ornaments, and even the fashion of the utensils of this stately building. 'David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had BY THE SPIRIT, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chamber round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things' (1 Chron 28:11,12). 'Now, behold I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; brass, and iron without weight, timber and stone also, and all manner of cunning workmen' (1 Chron 22). And lest his heart should fail before a work so vast, 'David said to Solomon, Be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord' (28:20). Thus furnished with wisdom from above, with materials and with cunning workmen, and, above all, with the approbation and protection of his God, Solomon commenced, and eventually finished, this amazing structure, and fitted it to receive the sacred implements, all of which, to the minutest particular, had been made by Moses, 'after their pattern, which was shewed him in the mount' (Exo 25:40).

Every part of the building, including the foundation, its altar, its courts, the holy of holies, all the utensils, and the ark, were types of that more glorious system which, in the fulness of time, appeared as the antitype, and perfected the Divine revelation. The temple becomes therefore an object of our special attention as a light to guide us while searching into gospel truths.

Under the peculiar aid of Divine guidance and protection, this sumptuous structure was finished, and most deeply impressive were the ceremonies on the day of its consecration. Solomon had made to himself an everlasting name, and it would be natural to expect that in such a scene of splendid triumph he would have felt exalted to the proudest height that human nature was capable of attaining. But Solomon had not only heard of God by the hearing of the ear, but by internal communion had seen and conversed with him. He could say with Job, when he had been restored from the deepest abasement to an elevated position, 'Mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' Thus, in Solomon's beautiful prayer on the dedication of this gorgeous temple, he humbly inquires, 'Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?' (2 Chron 6:18). Thus was completed the most perfect, splendid, and magnificent building that was ever erected by human hands. Still it was only a type of that infinitely more glorious antitype, the Christian dispensation. 'Most stately and magnificent is the fabric of God's house, yielding admirable delight to such whom free grace has vouchsafed to give spiritual eyes to discern it; far surpassing the splendour of its ancient type, the temple of Solomon, which was once the wonder of the world.'[1] 'A greater than Solomon is here.' 'The BRANCH he shall build the temple of the Lord'--the more glorious, spiritual, eternal temple (Zech 6:12).

In a few hundred years after the temple of Solomon was finished, this sumptuous structure was doomed to destruction, like all the fading handiwork of man. Sin enervated the nation which should have protected it; while the immensity of its riches excited the cupidity of a neighbouring royal robber. It was plundered, and then set on fire; the truth of the declaration made by Job upon the perishable works of man was eminently displayed--'For man to labour he is born, and the sons of the burning coal they mount up fluttering.'[2] In a few days the labour of years, aided by unbounded wealth and resources, was reduced to a heap of ashes. And now, after a lapse of about twenty-five centuries, accompanied by John Bunyan, 'a cunning workman,' as our guide, we are enabled to contemplate the account given us of this amazing edifice recorded in the volume of truth, and to compare that utmost perfection of human art, aided from heaven, with the infinitely superior temple in which every Christian is called to worship--to enter by the blood of the everlasting covenant into the holiest of all, the way consecrated by the cross and sufferings of Christ--without the intervention of priests or lordly prelate--without expensive victims to offer as a type of expiation--without limit of time, or space, or place, the poorest and most abject, with the wealthiest--the humbled beggar and the humbled monarch have equal access to the mercy seat, sacrificing those sinful propensities which are the cause of misery, and pleading the Saviour's merits before the eternal Jehovah. Christ has consecrated the way, and we enter into the holiest of all not only without fear, but with solemn joy. The cost of Solomon's temple has been estimated at eight hundred thousand millions of money: if this is true, still how infinitely inferior is that vast sum to the inconceivable cost of the eternal temple, with its myriads of worshippers, for which the Son of God paid the ransom, when he made the atonement for transgression, and built that imperishable temple which neither human nor satanic malevolence can ever destroy, and in which every spiritual worshipper will be crowned with an everlasting weight of glory.

While we cannot doubt but that the temple and its services contained many types highly illustrative of the Christian dispensation, incautious attempts to find them may lead to fanciful interpretations which tend to cloud, rather than to elucidate gospel truths. Bunyan very properly warns his readers against giving the reins to their imaginations and indulging in speculations like those fathers, who in every nail, pin, stone, stair, knife, pot, and in almost every feather of a sacrificed bird could discern strange, distinct, and peculiar mysteries.[3] The same remark applies to the Jewish rabbis, who in their Talmud are full of mysterious shadows. From these rabbinical flints some have thought to extract choice mystical oil to supple the wheels of their fancy--to use a homely expression. Such Jewish rabbis and Christian fathers limped and danced upon one learned leg, to the amazement of all beholders, but not to their edification; their lucubrations may amuse those who have patience to read them, but they afford no instruction. Even the learned Samuel Lee, whose work on the temple abounds with valuable information, has strongly tinctured it with pedantry. It is seldom that a more curious jumble is found than in the following paragraph:--'The waxen comb of the ancient figures and typical eels is fully matted and rolled up in shining tapers, to illuminate temple students in finding out the honey that couches in the carcass of the slain Lion of the tribe of Judah.' There is no fear of Bunyan's indulging his readers with the vagaries of the Jewish rabbis or Christian fathers--his converse was limited to the prophets and apostles. His object is to make us familiar with those types exhibited in the temple and alluded to by the inspired writers of the New Testament; to use a Puritan expression, he would enable us to plough with our spiritual Samson's heifer to expound the riddle, and thus discover the dark patterns of heavenly things (Heb 9:23,24). Among the many striking objects to which Bunyan directs our wondering eyes, a few should excite our deeper attention while we accompany him in viewing this marvellous temple.

1. All the materials that were used required preparation. The stones must be quarried, squared, and fitted for the building with many a hard knock and cutting of the chisel. So must you and I, my readers, pass through the new birth, and be prepared by the Holy Spirit to fit us for the spiritual building composed of living stones; and if not made meet for that building, we shall be eventually found lifting up our eyes in torment.

2. Very solemn is the consideration insisted on by our author--that all sons are servants to assist in building this spiritual edifice, but all servants are not sons to inherit a place in it; an awful thought, that there have been and now are servants employed in the conversion of sinners, and in building up the saints, who never did nor never will worship in that temple. Let us examine ourselves before we enter that dreary abode, to which we are hastening; 'for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest' (Eccl 9:10).

3. Are we zealously affected to forward the work, be careful then as to the materials we use, 'living stones' not wood, hay, or stubble. May all our persuasions be constantly used to bring poor thoughtless sinners to repentance but introduce them not as members of that house until you have a scriptural hope that they have passed from death unto life--that they are believers in Jesus, and have brought forth fruit meet for repentance.

4. All the foundation, the superstructure, the furniture, must be according to the written word of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. Reject all the inventions of man and all human authority in the worship of God.

5. The temple was so built that the worshippers looked to the west toward the holy of holies. All the superstitions and idolatrous notions of man lead him to turn to the east, to worship the rising sun. 'The heathen made the chief gates of their temples towards the west, that these stupid worshippers, drawing nigh to their blind, deaf, and dumb deities, might have their idols rising upon them out of the east.'[4] The temple as a type, and Christianity as the antitype run counter to such idolatrous absurdities and folly.

6. Christian, be content with whatever may be your lot, however humble your place in the church and world. Soon will it be changed for the better. In this world we are working men, and must be content to be clad and fed as such, that we may be fitted for our solemn and joyful change. Soon we shall put on our church-going holiday suit and partake all the dainties of the heavenly feast, the glories of the New Jerusalem. Reader, these are samples of the prominent truths which will occupy your attention, while accompanying Bunyan in your interesting visit to Solomon's temple. May you richly enjoy your survey of that astonishing building, under so trusty and experienced a guide.

GEO. OFFOR.

[TO THE CHRISTIAN READER]

COURTEOUS CHRISTIAN READER,

I have, as thou by this little book mayest see, adventured, at this time, to do my endeavour to show thee something of the gospel-glory of Solomon's temple: that is, of what it, with its utensils, was a type of; and, as such, how instructing it was to our fathers, and also is to us their children. The which, that I might do the more distinctly, I have handled particulars one by one, to the number of threescore and ten; namely, all that of them I could call to mind; because, as I believe, there was not one of them but had its signification, and so something profitable for us to know.

For, though we are not now to worship God in these methods, or by such ordinances, as once the old church did: yet to know their methods, and to understand the nature and signification of their ordinances, when compared with the gospel, may, even now, when themselves, as to what they once enjoined on others, are dead, may minister light to us. And hence the New Testament ministers, as the apostles, made much use of Old Testament language, and ceremonial institutions, as to their signification, to help the faith of the godly in their preaching of the gospel of Christ.

I may say that God did in a manner tie up the church of the Jews to types, figures, and similitudes; I mean, to be butted and bounded[1] by them in all external parts of worship. Yea, not only the Levitical law and temple, but, as it seems to me, the whole land of Canaan, the place of their lot to dwell in, was to them as ceremonial, or a figure. Their land was a type of heaven, their passage over Jordan into it a similitude of our going to heaven by death (Heb 3:5-10). The fruit of their land was said to be uncircumcised (Lev 19:23). As being at their first entrance thither unclean (Exo 12:15). In which their land was also a figure of another thing, even as heaven was a type of sin and grace (Lev 6:17, 23:17).[2] Again, the very land itself was said to keep Sabbath, and so to rest a holy rest, even then when she lay desolate, and not possess of those to whom she was given for them to dwell in (Lev 26:34,35).

Yea, many of the features of the then church of God were set forth, as in figures and shadows, so by places and things, in that land. 1. In general, she is said to be beautiful as Tirzah, and to be comely as Jerusalem (Can 6:4). 2. In particular, her neck is compared to the tower of David, builded for an armoury (Cant 4:4). Her eyes to the fish-pools of Heshbon, by the gate of Bethrabbim. Her nose is compared to the tower of Lebanon, which looketh towards Damascus (Cant 7:4). Yea, the hair of her head is compared to a flock of goats, which come up from mount Gilead; and the smell of her garments to the smell of Lebanon (Cant 4:1,11).

Nor was this land altogether void of shadows, even of her Lord and Saviour. Hence he says of himself, 'I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys' (Cant 2:1). Also, she, his beloved, saith of him, 'His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars' (Cant 5:15). What shall I say? The two cities Sion and Jerusalem, were such as sometimes set forth the two churches, the true and the false, and their seed Isaac and Ishmael (Gal 4).

I might also here show you, that even the gifts and graces of the true church were set forth by the spices, nuts, grapes, and pomegranates, that the land of Canaan brought forth; yea, that hell itself was set forth by the valley of the sons of Hinnom and Tophet, places in this country. Indeed, the whole, in a manner, was a typical and a figurative thing.

But I have, in the ensuing discourse, confined myself to the temple, that immediate place of God's worship; of whose utensils, in particular, as I have said, I have spoken, though to each with what brevity I could, for that none of them are without a spiritual, and so a profitable signification to us. And here we may behold much of the richness of the wisdom and grace of God; namely, that he, even in the very place of worship of old, should ordain visible forms and representations for the worshippers to learn to worship him by; yea, the temple itself was, as to this, to them a good instruction.

But in my thus saying, I give no encouragement to any now, to fetch out of their own fancies figures or similitudes to worship God by. What God provided to be an help to the weakness of his people of old was one thing, and what they invented without his commandment was another. For though they had his blessing when they worshipped him with such types, shadows, and figures, which he had enjoined on them for that purpose, yet he sorely punished and plagued them when they would add to these inventions of their own (Exo 32:35; 2 Kings 17:16-18; Acts 7:38-43). Yea, he, in the very act of instituting their way of worshipping him, forbade their giving, in any thing, way to their own humours or fancies, and bound them strictly to the orders of heaven. 'Look,' said God to Moses, their first great legislator, 'that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount' (Exo 25:40; Heb 8:5). Nor doth our apostle but take the same measures, when he saith, 'If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord' (1 Cor 14:37).

When Solomon also, was to build this temple for the worship of God, though he was wiser than all men, yet God neither trusted to his wisdom nor memory, nor to any immediate dictates from heaven to him, as to how he would have him build it. No; he was to receive the whole platform thereof in writing, by the inspiration of God. Nor would God give this platform of the temple, and of its utensils, immediately to this wise man, lest perhaps by others his wisdom should be idolized, or that some should object, that the whole fashion thereof proceeded of his fancy, only he made pretensions of Divine revelation, as a cover for his doings

Therefore, I say, not to him, but to his father David, was the whole pattern of it given from heaven, and so by David to Solomon his son, in writing. 'Then David,' says the text, 'gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord' (1 Chron 28:11-13).

Yea, moreover, he had from heaven, or by Divine revelation, what the candlesticks must be made of, and also how much was to go to each; the same order and commandment he also gave for the making of the tables, flesh-hooks, cups, basins, altar of incense, with the pattern for the chariot of the cherubims, &c. (vv 14-19). 'All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the work of this pattern' (v 19). So, I say, he gave David the pattern of the temple, so David gave Solomon the pattern of the temple; and according to that pattern did Solomon build the temple, and no otherwise.

True, all these were but figures, patterns, and shadows of things in the heavens, and not the very image of the things; but, as was said afore, if God was so circumspect and exact in these, as not to leave any thing to the dictates of the godly and wisest of men, what! can we suppose he will now admit of the wit and contrivance of men in those things that are, in comparison to them, the heavenly things themselves? (Heb 8:5, 9:8-10,23, 10:1).

It is also to be concluded, that since those shadows of things in the heavens are already committed by God to sacred story; and since that sacred story is said to be able to make the man of God perfect in all things--2 Timothy 3:15-17--it is duty to us to leave off to lean to common understandings, and to inquire and search out by that very holy writ, and nought else, by what and how we should worship God. David was for inquiring in his temple (Psa 27:4).

And, although the old church-way of worship is laid aside as to us in New Testament times, yet since those very ordinances were figures of things and methods of worship now; we may, yea, we ought to search out the spiritual meaning of them, because they serve to confirm and illustrate matters to our understandings. Yea, they show us the more exactly how the New and Old Testament, as to the spiritualness of the worship, was as one and the same; only the old was clouded with shadows, but ours is with more open face.

Features to the life, as we say, set out by a picture, do excellently show the skill of the artist. The Old Testament had the shadow, nor have we but the very image; both then are but emblems of what is yet behind. We may find our gospel clouded in their ceremonies, and our spiritual worship set out somewhat by their carnal ordinances.

Now, because, as I said, there lies, as wrapt up in a mantle, much of the glory of our gospel matters in this temple which Solomon builded; therefore I have made, as well as I could, by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, this book upon this subject.

I dare not presume to say that I know I have hit right in every thing; but this I can say, I have endeavoured so to do. True, I have not for these things fished in other men's waters; my Bible and Concordance are my only library in my writings. Wherefore, courteous reader, if thou findest any thing, either in word or matter, that thou shalt judge doth vary from God's truth, let it be counted no man's else but mine. Pray God, also, to pardon my fault. Do thou, also, lovingly pass it by, and receive what thou findest will do thee good.

Thy servant in the gospel,

JOHN BUNYAN.

Solomon's Temple Spiritualized

'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11

I. Where the Temple was built.

The temple was built at Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, in the threshing-floor of Arnon the Jebusite; whereabout Abraham offered up Isaac; there where David met the angel of the Lord, when he came with his drawn sword in his hand, to cut off the people at Jerusalem, for the sin which David committed in his disorderly numbering the people (Gen 22:3-5; 1 Chron 21:15, 21:12; 2 Chron 3:1).

There Abraham received his Isaac from the dead; there the Lord was entreated by David to take away the plague, and to return to Israel again in mercy; from whence, also, David gathered that there God's temple must be built. This, saith he, is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel (1 Chron 21:28, 22:1, 3:1).

This Mount Moriah, therefore, was a type of the Son of God, the mountain of the Lord's house, the rock against which the gates of hell cannot prevail.

II. Who built the Temple.

The temple was builded by Solomon, a man peaceable and quiet; and that in name, by nature, and in governing. For so God had before told David, namely, that such a one the builder of the temple should be. 'Behold,' saith he, 'a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build an house for my name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father' (1 Chron 22:9,10; Psa 72:1-4).

As, therefore, Mount Moriah was a type of Christ, as the foundation, so Solomon was a type of him, as the builder of his church. The mount was signal,[1] for that thereon the Lord God, before Abraham and David, did display his mercy. And as Solomon built this temple, so Christ doth build his house; yea, he shall build the everlasting temple, 'and he shall bear the glory' (Zech 6:12,13; Heb 3:3,4). And in that Solomon was called peaceable, it was to show with what peaceable doctrine and ways Christ's house and church should be built (Isa 9:6; Micah 4:2-4).

III. How the Temple was built.

The temple was built, not merely by the dictates of Solomon, though he was wiser than Ethen, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, and all men (1 Kings 4:31). But it was built by rules prescribed by, or in a written word, and as so delivered to him by his father David.