Men of the Bible | Page 4

to the unseen, from the
temporal to the eternal, from sin and folly to God, and which
established itself firmly on His promise of unchangeable love.
Therefore Enoch "pleased God." Faith presupposes reverence, love,
obedience, and man never pays a higher tribute to another than to trust
him implicitly and for all in all. Such faith God accepts and delights in.
Such faith builds a noble character and a lofty life.

III.
"He was translated that he should not see death."
That was the crowning evidence and token of the Divine pleasure.
Death is the wages of sin, the harbinger of retribution, the seal of man's
humiliation and defeat. The fear of death is a bondage under which the
race of man lies, save only where Christian faith and hope alleviate the
terror and inspire a superhuman courage before which all fear is
banished. The extraordinary nature of Enoch's piety could not be
demonstrated by any fact so imperative as this, "He was translated."
There are three complete men in heaven. Man is threefold in his nature.
He is body, soul, and spirit. He is not complete without his bodily
organisation. The work of faith is not perfect, nor is the work of sin
undone until at the Resurrection trump man shall stand complete in his
threefold being. But of that completeness there are three specimens in
heaven; Enoch from the patriarchal epoch; Elijah from the Jewish
dispensation; and Christ from the Christian. The translation of Elijah
was a marvellously dramatic episode. It was witnessed by Elisha and
the sons of the prophets--and a heavenly equipage, lambent with
supernal glow, carried him in triumph out of sight. But as to Enoch
there was no such scenic display. "He was not found, for God took
him." It was a quiet but beautifully fitting end. Moonlight rising into
sunlight, the sweet calm light of a starlit sky becoming flushed with the
auroral tints of a brilliant morning.
Translation means promotion, and also expansion.
It is promotion in honour, in office, in privilege. The bishop is
translated from Rochester to Winchester and thence to Canterbury,
because he has pleased his party and his sovereign. It is a sign that he
has won promotion by devoted service. Christ says to his follower,
"Occupy till I come"; and after a due period of labour well discharged,
he says, "Come up higher." The rule of the Divine Kingdom is,
"faithful in that which is least," then, "ruler over that which is much."

Translation to Enoch meant the elevation to higher duties and
enjoyments without the wearing agonies of disease, the sharpness of
death, or the darkness of the grave.
It meant also expansion. In the passing from a lower to a higher
condition, we cannot now realise the quick change which would pass
over the material framework of the patriarch, but that it would be
etherialised so as to be "a heavenly body" marvellously endowed with
new powers of sense, of insight and locomotion, fit to be the instrument
of a soul fully redeemed from the consequences of sin, we cannot doubt;
and for thousands of generations has that soul sunned itself in the
brightest fellowships and employments of the highest heaven.

ELDAD AND MEDAD
BY REV. ALFRED ROWLAND, D.D., LL.B.
NUMBERS xi. 24-30.
Nothing is known of these two men beyond the incident recorded in the
Book of Numbers; but this is so remarkable and significant, that it well
repays careful study.
The Israelites had been once more displaying suspicion and ingratitude.
Turning with loathing from the manna, they whimpered, like spoilt
children, for the fish and flesh they had enjoyed in Egypt, and
murmured against God and against Moses. The patience of their leader,
under this new provocation, completely broke down, so that he went so
far as to accuse God Himself of being a hard taskmaster, who had laid
too much upon him. With infinite forbearance, allowance was made for
the manner in which Divine counsel and help had been asked for, and
the promise was graciously fulfilled, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and He shall sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be
moved." God dealt with his servant as a father at his best will deal with
his child who runs to him, hurt and bruised, in a passion of tears.
Instead of beginning with an angry rebuke, help and relief are first

given, and then in a few calm words the needed counsel is proffered. It
was in a spirit of patient love that God appointed elders from among
the people to help his over-wrought servant and share his heavy burden.
Moses was, no doubt, justified in saying, "I am not able to bear all this
people alone, because it is too heavy for me." Indeed it was well