Judges 5:31 So let all your enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might… Cf. Proverbs 4:18. A beautiful simile. Many points of resemblance between the course and nature of the sun and the character and life of the Christian. I. PROGRESS. Steady. By gradual, regularly increasing advance. The hours and days and years can be measured by it. We can calculate upon it. Continual. Not by fits and starts. Ever forward, even when not seen. Culminating. Noon is splendour and strength; sunset is fulfilment. II. ILLUMINATION. In the Christian life nothing need be concealed. We are "children of the light, and of the day." Openness, honesty, actions of simplicity and good report. Knowledge is light, and it is by knowing the Eternal that we live. The spiritual are the light of the world. Christ is so par excellence; but all Christians shine with his brightness, and exhibit his character. We are so to live as that others can take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus, and that they may follow us as we follow him. The figure also suggests that Christians may become clear, and bright, and free from darkness as light itself is. Spiritual illumination is not ever a borrowing from without. We may have light and life in ourselves. The sun is independent of circumstances, and shines on even when half the world is dark. It is also a figure for vindication and triumph. The day shall declare how much! The glory and beauty of the spiritual man shall then be revealed. - M. Parallel Verses KJV: So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. |
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