| › Preface - Light and Truth
The Old Testament
By
Horatius Bonar, D.D.
Light and Truth:
Bible Thoughts and
Themes
Volume I.
The OLD TESTAMENT
1868
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| › Chapter 1 - The Old and New Creation - Genesis 1
FAITH only can read this chapter aright; for the record goes back beyond human history; and for its statements we have the authority neit ...read |
| › Chapter 2 - The Link Between Being and Non-Being - "God said." -- Genesis 1:3
THIS chapter, in many places, prefixes the name of God to what is said or done, that there may be no mistake as to the s ...read |
| › Chapter 3 - A Happy World - Genesis 2
WHAT a poem, what a picture was the first chapter!
Unrivalled in magnificence. The work done, and the words which describe it, are both ...read |
| › Chapter 4 - The Sin, the Sinner, and the Sentence - Genesis 3
THE first two chapters gave us creation's perfection. Like a newly finished statue, there it stands. The chisel has given its last touch. ...read |
| › Chapter 5 - Man's Fig-Leaves - "They sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons." -- Genesis 3:7
THEY are alone, yet they are ashamed. They are in Paradise, yet they a ...read |
| › Chapter 6 - Expulsion and Re-Entrance - "So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of th ...read |
| › Chapter 7 - The Blood of Sprinkling and the Blood of Abel - "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me front the ground." -- Genesis 4:10
"And to Jesus the mediator of ...read |
| › Chapter 8 - The Way of Cain - "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." -- Genesis 4:16
"Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore sle ...read |
| › Chapter 9 - The Man of Rest - "And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son; and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our wo ...read |
| › Chapter 10 - Going Out and Keeping Out - "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: ...read |
| › Chapter 11 - The Shield and the Recompense - "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." -- G ...read |
| › Chapter 12 - Liberty and Service - "Let my people go, that they may serve me." -- Exodus 8:1
THUS God spoke of Israel in Egypt, commanding deliverance for them. It was a word of pow ...read |
| › Chapter 13 - The Day of Despair - "Intreat for me." -- Exodus 8:28
PHARAOH is brought down from his haughtiness. He had but a little before scoffed both at Moses and his God; now h ...read |
| › Chapter 14 - The Blood of Deliverance - "It is Jehovah's passover." -- Exodus 12:11
WE first notice,
I. The name here given to the ordinance. The Lord's, or Jehovah's, passover. This ...read |
| › Chapter 15 - How God Deals with Sin and the Sinner - Leviticus 4:27-35
WE have here, (1.) the sinner. He is one of the common people; "any man;" "whosoever." (2.) The sin. It is one of ignorance; he i ...read |
| › Chapter 16 - The Fire Quenched - "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out." -- Leviticus 6:13
THIS was one of God's special commandments to Israel, and ...read |
| › Chapter 17 - The Vision from the Rocks - "From the top of the rocks I see him." -- Numbers 23:9
IT was of Israel and Israel's glory that the false seer of Pethor spake. He stood upon the ...read |
| › Chapter 18 - The Doom of the Double-Hearted - "Balaam also, the son of Bear, they slew with the sword." -- Numbers 31:8
BALAAM had taken the field against Israel,--against a people whom he had ...read |
| › Chapter 19 - Be Not Borderers - "Go in and possess the land." -- Deuteronomy 10:2
ISRAEL passed through many changes in their history; but here we have its termination,--the posse ...read |
| › Chapter 20 - The Outlines of a Saved Sinner's History - "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." -- De ...read |
| › Chapter 21 - Divine Longings Over the Foolish - "Oh that they were wise." -- Deuteronomy 32:29
THESE are the words, not of anger, but of love, of disappointed affection, of a sorrowful friend, o ...read |
| › Chapter 22 - What a Believing Man Can Do - Joshua 10:12-14
THERE are several miracles referred to in Scripture in connection with the sun. When the sun was darkened in Egypt (Exodus 10:21); ...read |
| › Chapter 23 - Song of the Putting Off of the Armour - "O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength." -- Judges 5:21
THIS is one note of the warrior's song; a note loud and glad. It is the exulting cry o ...read |
| › Chapter 24 - The Kiss of the Backslider - "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her." -- Ruth 1:14
IN this book we have the Gentile sheltering the Jew, and the Jew in return ...read |
| › Chapter 25 - The Priestly Word of Peace - 1 Samuel 1:12-18
HERE we have an earthly high priest dealing with a child of sorrow; and in his treatment of her we find both a contrast and a comp ...read |
| › Chapter 26 - Human Anodynes - 1 Samuel 16:14-23
OF Saul we may say, "Thou didst run well, who hath hindered you?" He began well, but ended ill. His first days and works were bet ...read |
| › Chapter 27 - Spiritual and Carnal Weapons - "And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth hi ...read |
| › Chapter 28 - Divine Silence and Human Despair - "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Se ...read |
| › Chapter 29 - Jewish Unbelief and Gentile Blessing - "And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household." -- 2 S ...read |
| › Chapter 30 - The Restoration of the Banished - "For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he dev ...read |
| › Chapter 31 - The Farewell Gift - "And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Eli ...read |
| › Chapter 32 - God's Dealing with Sin and the Sinner - "Er, the first-born of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him." -- 1 Chronicles 2:3
HERE we have, in one brief sentence, a state ...read |
| › Chapter 33 - God Finding a Resting-Place - 1 Chronicles 21:1-30
THERE is something very peculiar about this fragment or episode of Israel's history. It is abrupt, and in a manner isolated, t ...read |
| › Chapter 34 - The Moriah Group - 1 Chronicles 21:1-30
WE have taken up some general aspects of this narrative, chiefly in connection with the temple and Moriah; let us look at it f ...read |
| › Chapter 35 - Diverse Kinds of Conscience - "So did not I, because of the fear of God." -- Nehemiah 5:15
WHEN Joseph was dealing with his brethren he said, "This do, and live; for I fear God" ...read |
| › Chapter 36 - The Soul Turning from Man to God - "Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give ...read |
| › Chapter 37 - Man's Dislike of a Present God - "They say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." -- Job 21:14
THE men who speak thus are not atheists. They do not ...read |
| › Chapter 38 - True and False Consolation - "How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?" -- Job 21:34
MAN needs consolation,--"man that is born to troub ...read |
| › Chapter 39 - Gain and Loss for Eternity - "For that is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul." -- Job 27:8
THE word "hypocrite" means properly the ...read |
| › Chapter 40 - Man's Misconstruction of the Works of God - "By them judgeth he the people." -- Job 36:31
THIS verse suggests Acts 14:17, "He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave u ...read |
| › Chapter 41 - The Two Cries and the Two Answers - "There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." -- Psalm 4:6
THERE are two cries here ...read |
| › Chapter 42 - The Knowledge of God's Name - "They that know thy name will put their trust in Thee." -- Psalm 9:10
THERE are three things here which sum up this passage,--the name; the knowled ...read |
| › Chapter 43 - Deliverance from Deep Waters - "He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters." -- Psalm 18:16
WE take these words as the expression, (1.) of David's experience; ...read |
| › Chapter 44 - The Excellency of the Divine Loving-Kindness - "How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings."-- Psalm 36:7
THERE are ...read |
| › Chapter 45 - The Sickness, the Healer, and the Healing - "I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." -- Psalm 41:4
THIS is the cry of the needy; of him who has no he ...read |
| › Chapter 46 - The Consecration of Earth's Gold and Silver - "And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour." -- Psalm 45:12
THIS is a latter-day ...read |
| › Chapter 47 - The Gifts of the Ascended One - "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might ...read |
| › Chapter 48 - The Speaker, the Listener, the Peace - "I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly." -- Psal ...read |
| › Chapter 49 - The Believing Man's Confident Appeal - "Preserve my soul, for I am holy." -- Psalm 86:2
SOME mountain-heights, whether of the Alps or Grampians, look very formidable and inaccessible, so ...read |
| › Chapter 50 - The Love and the Deliverance - "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.'' -- Psalm 91:14
THIS is one of the psalms of Messiah; and Satan's quotation o ...read |
| › Chapter 51 - The Sin and Folly of Being Unhappy - "Serve the Lord with gladness." -- Psalm 100:2
I once had the question put to me, "Do you think a sinner has any right to be happy here?" Without e ...read |
| › Chapter 52 - The Book of Books - Proverbs 2:1-5
THE words "my Son" are not spoken at random, or inserted without a meaning. In them God speaks to us as unto children (Hebrews 12). ...read |
| › Chapter 53 - The Secret of Deliverance from Evil - "By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." -- Proverbs 16:6
THERE is "evil" in the world. The world is now the opposite of what God made it, " ...read |
| › Chapter 54 - The Voice of the Heavenly Bridegroom - "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."-- Song of Solomon 2:10,13
THE speaker is the heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his v ...read |
| › Chapter 55 - The Love that Passeth Knowledge - "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the foods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be con ...read |
| › Chapter 56 - The Vision of the Glory - Isaiah 6:1-13
WHETHER this vision records Isaiah's first call to the prophetic ministry matters not. It is either the introduction to his whole min ...read |
| › Chapter 57 - Man's Extremity and Satan's Opportunity - Isaiah 8:19-22
"Man's extremity," says the good proverb, "is God's opportunity"; but we may coin another proverb, and say, "Man's extremity is the ...read |
| › Chapter 58 - The Day of Clear Vision to the Dim Eyes - "The eyes of them that see shall not be dim." -- Isaiah 32:3
THESE blessed words tell us four things, (1.) There are eyes that do not see; (2.) the ...read |
| › Chapter 59 - The Unfainting Creator and the Fainting Creature - Isaiah 40:28-31
THIS was God's answer to Israel of old in their day of trouble; it is still his answer to a desponding spirit which thinks its case ...read |
| › Chapter 60 - The Knowledge that Justifies - "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." Isaiah 53:11
OF whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man?" said ...read |
| › Chapter 61 - The Heritage and its Title-Deeds - "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord." -- Isaiah 54:17
IT is of "servants" that God is here speaking,--this is the name he gives them; ...read |
| › Chapter 62 - The Meeting Between the Sinner and God - "Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness; those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned; in thos ...read |
| › Chapter 63 - God's Love and God's Way of Blessing - "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon ...read |
| › Chapter 64 - Divine Jealousy for the Truth - "O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?" -- Jeremiah 5:3
THIS first clause of the third verse should be connected with the two previous verses, ...read |
| › Chapter 65 - Divine Love and Human Rejection of it - "I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, a ...read |
| › Chapter 66 - God's Desire to Bless the Sinner - "Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt than not be made clean ? when shall it once be ?" -- Jeremiah 13:27
WITHOUT dwelling on Jerusalem and her apostas ...read |
| › Chapter 67 - The Resting-Place Forgotten - "They have forgotten their resting-place." -- Jeremiah 50:6
IT was of Israel's apostasy that the prophet spoke. As Moses said, "Of the rock that be ...read |
| › Chapter 68 - The Day that Will Right all Wrongs - "Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called." -- Lamentations 1:21
THIS is the voice of faith; sorrowful faith, yet still faith,--faith anticipa ...read |
| › Chapter 69 - The Glory and the Love - "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord!" -- Ezekiel 1:28
THE Book of Ezekiel corresponds in many respects with the Apoca ...read |
| › Chapter 70 - False Religion and its Doom - "I will scatter your bones round about your altars." -- Ezekiel 6:5
IT is of Israel's idolatries that the prophet is speaking; her false gods, her ...read |
| › Chapter 71 - No Breath No Life - "And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them." -- Ezekiel 37: ...read |
| › Chapter 72 - Every Christian a Teacher - "They that understand among the people shall instruct many." -- Daniel 11:33
WE do not receive knowledge for ourselves alone. We must share it with ...read |
| › Chapter 73 - Work, Rest, and Recompence - "Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." -- Daniel 12:13
DANIEL reminds us of John. The ...read |
| › Chapter 74 - Human Heedlessness and Divine Remembrance - "They consider not in their hearts that I remember their wickedness.'' -- Hosea 7:2
LET me present this passage to you under these two heads: (1.) ...read |
| › Chapter 75 - Lies the Food of Man - "Ye have eaten the fruit of lies." -- Hosea 10:13
THE subject suggested by these words is, "lies, their fruit, and man's eating it;" or simply, "li ...read |
| › Chapter 76 - The Love and the Calling - "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." -- Hosea 11:1
GOD'S words to Israel by this prophet are hard and stern ...read |
| › Chapter 77 - The Anger and the Goodness - "Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown d ...read |
| › Chapter 78 - Darkness Pursuing the Sinner - "Darkness shall pursue his enemies." -- Nahum 1:8
IT is of Nineveh and Assyria that this prophet utters his fearful burden. That city and its inhab ...read |
| › Chapter 79 - Jerusalem the Centre of the World's Peace - "In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." -- Haggai 2:9
IT is to something still future that this whole passage refers. Thus Paul ...read |
| › Chapter 80 - Jerusalem and Her King - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and ...read |
| › Chapter 81 - Looking to the Pierced One - "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, ...read |
| › Chapter 82 - The Holiness of Common Things - "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the ...read |
| › Chapter 83 - Wearying Jehovah with our Words - "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words: yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doth evil is good in the sight of the ...read |
| › Chapter 84 - Dies Irae - Malachi 4:1-6
THIS is a notable specimen of a double prophecy. It contains several distinct predictions,--twice or oftener fulfilled; at first very ...read |
