Waters of Shiloah.
The waters of Shiloah issued from the rock where God had set his Name and fixed the symbol of his presence. They were a copious supply, ever welling forth from an inscrutable source for the refreshment and delectation of Israel. Their overplus irrigated numerous gardens in the valley at the base of the temple bill, and made the desert "blossom like the rose." Shiloah is the same as "Shiloh" (Genesis 49:10), and "Shiloh" means "sent," or "he who is sent." Hence we may view as "waters of Shiloah"—
I. THE TEACHING OF THE TEMPLE AND ITS RITES, which God sent to Israel by the hard of his servant Moses for their refreshment and delight—a stream of living water to those who accepted the truths which the temple rites embodied or symbolized; a "river" which "made glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High (Psalms 46:4).
II. THE TEACHING OF THE PROPHETS, whom God continually sent, "rising up betimes and sending" (2 Chronicles 36:15), of which Isaiah said primarily, "Lo, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (Isaiah 55:1)—these waters representing the truth of God which he was commissioned to preach. This teaching welled forth from the true "Rock;" for it was "the Spirit of Christ" which inspired the prophets, and made them ever approximate more and more toward the standard of evangelical teaching which was to be set up later. The prophets' doctrine was for the refreshment and comfort of the Jews primarily; but its influence was felt beyond the limits of Judaism. In many a pagan wilderness the superfluous waters flowing, from this source created gardens, where blossoms bloomed, which, without the "living water" of revealed truth, could never have come into being.
III. THE TEACHING OF THE EVER-BLESSED SON, the true "Shiloh"—sent by the almighty and most merciful Father to redeem the world and reconcile it to him. He is "the Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1); "the Well-spring of wisdom" (Proverbs 18:4); the inexhaustible and inscrutable Source, to whom all may come freely and drink (John 7:37). His doctrine doth "drop as the rain," and his speech doth "distil as the dew" (Deuteronomy 32:2); he gives to all men to "take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). From depths unsearchable in the nature of him who is "the Rock of our salvation" flow forth rivers of living water, cleansing, purifying, refreshing, satisfying the soul. He washes us once, in a material way, in baptism; he washes us ten thousand times spiritually, as often as he cleanses us from sin; he gives us to drink of a water that is henceforth to us "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). True "waters of Shiloh" are these. All may "take of them freely." The fountain is absolutely inexhaustible. Nor are its benefits confined to those only for whose sake especially it was given—baptized members of the Church; they flow on to others also. Great are the uncovenanted mercies of God. The child Christ was proclaimed to be "a Light to lighten the Gentiles," no less than "the Glory of his people Israel" (Luke 2:32). And so it is. The stream of Christian teaching flows on from the Church into the world, if not with sufficient force to create a garden, at any rate so as to bring forth amid the arid wastes many a green plant, many a blooming flower. The washing of atonement is extended, we confidently believe, to thousands who are not formally within the covenant. And the flow of the water will never cease. Even in heaven there will be "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1), of which the saints of God will drink eternally (Revelation 22:17).
The fear of man and the fear of God contrasted.
These two fears may be compared
I. IN THEIR GROUNDS. Our fear of man rests upon our apprehension of the power of man to do us hurt. Men may injure us
A certain fear of the supreme civil power in the state under which we live is natural and proper; it is one of the elements which bind society together, and could not cease to exist without disadvantage. Malefactors are restrained by it (Romans 13:4); and even the mass of well-meaning men are strengthened in their good intentions by the knowledge that there is a human authority above them which notes their conduct and will punish any serious departure from the rules of right behavior. So far, then, the fear of man has a sound basis. We also naturally, and almost necessarily, fear our enemies, if they are powerful, whether public or private, our fear being proportional to our belief in their power and malignity. It is this ground of fear which is apt to be unduly influential upon us, from our exaggerated notions of what man is able to effect. We too often forget that man can do nothing but what God permits (John 19:11), that he is absolutely impotent against God, who can shatter his designs, or strike him with sudden death at any moment. Again, we do not always bear in mind the fact that man can only injure us in respect of temporal things, his utmost punishment being to "kill the body," whereas God's power extends beyond the grave. The fear of God has for its ground a double apprehension or conviction:
These grounds are unassailable, and admit of no exaggeration, so that we cannot fear God too much, though we may fear him in a wrong way. If God's character be misconceived, if he be viewed as malignant or even as revengeful, then our fear of him, being based upon a Wrong ground, may lead us astray. Such was the δεισιδαιμονία of too many in the ancient world, whose deities were objects of fear, but not of love.
II. IN THEIR RESULTS. The fear of man has no good effect except upon evil-doers, and upon those who but for such fear might become evil-doers. These it may in some degree restrain. But if, so far, it may have a good result, it is apt in other ways to have results that are anything but good.
1. Fear of man causes the morally weak to follow the bad example of the wicked, who would otherwise ridicule or even persecute them.
2. Fear of man makes feeble and oppressed classes servile, untruthful, cowardly.
3. Fear of man induces many to keep back their honest convictions, and even applaud the evil courses which in their heart they condemn and dislike.
4. Fear of man has in some cases led to an absolute denial of God and of Christ, making men renegades to their religion, and professors of a creed which they detest.
5. On the other hand, fear of man may sometimes cause men to be hypocrites, to pretend to a faith and a piety which they do not possess, if those who have power over them require it. Hence the fear of man is so often condemned in Scripture (Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 51:7; Jeremiah 1:8; Ezekiel 3:9; Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4; 1 Peter 3:14, etc.).
The fear of God, if it be of the kind called above δεισιδαιμονία, may harden men in sin, or lead them to despair of God's mercy; but if it be the true fear of God, that is to say, if it have an element of love in it, the results cannot but be excellent.
1. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalms 111:10); it restrains from evil in early life (Proverbs 16:6); it deepens into awe as time goes on; it produces hatred of sin (Proverbs 8:13); it becomes "a fountain of life" (Proverbs 14:27).
2. They who grow up in the fear of God acquire a solidity and strength of character that nothing else can give; they have a firm foundation on which to rest; they "do not fear what flesh can do unto them" (Psalms 56:4); they are truthful, manly, brave. And, further, they are reverent. The fear of God checks over-familiarity, begets reserve, produces silence. "Keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of God," etc. (Ecclesiastes 5:1, Ecclesiastes 5:2).
3. Though "perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18), yet "the fear of the Lord endureth forever" (Psalms 19:9). There is no age, however advanced, that can dispense with it; for no man in this life is ever "perfect in love." The beloved apostle even represents the fear of God as continuing in heaven. They that stood on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and sang the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, before God's throne, exclaimed, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name?" (Revelation 15:2-4); and again, when the "great voice of much people was heard in heaven, saying, Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God, and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Alleluia, a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye saints, and ye that fear him, both small and great" (Revelation 19:1-5).