IN the heart of Abyssinia, that mountainous region lying to the south of Egypt, and which contains so many glaciers and snow-clad summits, there rises one of the chief tributaries of the great river Nile. As summer advances the exceptional heat causes much of the snow to melt, with the result that the water in the river is raised to a great, extent. As this goes on, the banks of the river further down, which are very high, begin to, be unable to contain this extraordinary supply, so that by the early autumn in each year the waters gain the, upper hand, swell over the ordinary confines, and flood the land on each side for many miles all along the course.
Not only is there a supply of water, but the water itself is laden with a fine mud which serves: to fertilize the land as well, so that when the waters, have passed off to the sea, this thin coating is an invigorating agent in addition.
This is an annual occurrence, the time of the rise and fall being well, known, so that any evil likely to follow the flood can be provided against. With what eager anticipation do the peasants regard the rise how delighted they are when its coming is. announced! A high Nile is to them the best of blessings, for a low Nile means a poor supply of water, and thousands of acres left for the sun to turn into a mere sandy stretch of waste. The flood means corn and cotton; it means the provision of the necessities of everyday life—it means life itself.
Imagine a stranger to this country standing by the river-side and looking down on it for the first time, ignorant of this remarkable phenomenon, and seeing day by day the increase in volume, in rapidity of flow, and in the height of the water. With what anxiety he would note its approach to the limits of the banks, and with what haste he would flee from it as it began to overflow and cover the land on every sides You say he should be instructed in the true condition of things, and assurance should be given that things were all happening for the prosperity and good of the land.
Indeed? You are, my reader, able to give advice in this case because you know the true significance of the rise of the Nile but do you know the significance of the rise of the waters of the judgment of God till they overwhelmed His Holy Son? He Who, when in their depths, cried out, “The waters are come into My soul: I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow Me!” He Who went so low that the weeds of death were wrapped about His head-mark of the primal curse.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” was not applicable to Him, as He had never sinned—nay, had always glorified and honored His God every moment of His life. He had not sinned, therefore He need not die. The only one who had a right to live was the One Who voluntarily died, and in dying felt its pangs the more deeply. Even coming near to sin and its consequences caused Him to weep; but bearing it, and being made sin, was to Him the cause of suffering beyond all human conception. The waters indeed went in unto His soul.
Now why was all this? Was such condescension really necessary? It was indeed! Nothing else could be devised by God Himself that would satisfy the claims of His nature and character, and it is certain that the sinner, shut up in righteous condemnation, could not satisfy them. Only One could do it—God’s own Son, His beloved Son alone could do it. And this only by going under the overflow of wrath and judgment, yea, down to death itself. But having done it, having died, having met those claims, He has been raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. The floods of judgment for every believer have passed in His death. A consequent golden harvest follows in His resurrection. Where sin once prevailed, blessings innumerable and immeasurable abound through grace, What an extraordinary change!
Are you unacquainted with the fact that on account of His going into the floods of God’s judgment death need have no terror for you, but rather that, believing on Him Who died, a rich resurrection-harvest may be yours?
Now look again! The stream of Death threatens to overflow its banks in a way that personally concerns YOU. Nearer and nearer they rise. Answer to yourself and to God whether, when they touch your feet—when they actually reach you—you will welcome them as the bearers of your soul to the heavenly rest, to the presence of Him “Who passed through Death’s dark raging flood to make your title sure.” Answer to yourself and to God. Oh, if those cold waters were to reach you this moment, would they overwhelm your soul in judgment, and bear you away to the sea of Eternity—away from God, away from blessing, to return again no more? Forever LOST!
Consider well. Death will either ENRICH your by giving you a knowledge of the love of God expressed in Christ, or OVERWHELM you forever as a proud neglecter of God’s so great salvation.
Egypt has no rains, no springs, no mines, no resources other than the river; all the crops depend upon the annual floods. And in the same way, those who have come in for blessing through the death of Christ, find that that alone which was the secret of their blessing at the beginning, is the alone secret of their refreshment and sustainment to the end. S. S.