Job 33:23

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"... an interpreter, one among a thousand" Job 33:23

Why should not all men be interpreters? As a matter of fact, they are not, and we are called upon to consider the moral import of that fact. Men are variously gifted. To be gifted at all is to receive honour from God. The judgment is not as between one man and another, but as between each man, as a trustee, and God who has put him in trust. The interpreter will always make his influence felt; there will be something about his manner, mode of thinking, tone of expression, which will identify him as one on whom the tongue of flame is resting. Society should honour its interpreters. To be one among a thousand is to be in a painful position. We envy the eminence, but forget the responsibility; we say how grand it must be to be so high up in society, forgetting that elevation means penalty, labour of many kinds, and vexations such as the great alone can feel. The Bible is an interpreter, and one among a thousand. This is the distinctive peculiarity of the Bible. It is not only a revelation, it is an interpretation; it interprets God, nature, truth, and it interprets man to himself. It is one among a thousand because there are many books which profess to have great answers to great questions, but they all break down at a given point, and are least eloquent where the heart yearns most for spiritual communication. Let us always dwell upon the distinctiveness of the Bible, and of the cross, and of the whole priesthood of Jesus Christ. In many points it may be like other sacred messages, but there are points at which it breaks away from them all, and stands up in noble singularity. We must not force interpretation too far. Sometimes it is enough to have a bint without having a whole revelation. If we walk according to the light we have, the light will soon increase. He is deceiving himself who supposes that he would travel fast toward the kingdom of heaven if he could start his journey at midday. Begin your journey as soon as there is the faintest streak of light in the east, and as you walk the sun will increase in splendour. The Christian should be one in a thousand: he should be seen from afar: he should be known by the quality of his character, by the music of his voice: he should in no case be so living the vulgar life as to be confounded with the common herd at the same time, he must distinguish between self-display, and the uniqueness which comes of long and happy communion with his Master. To be ostentatious is to be impious; to be a city set on a hill is to be a witness for God.