(Continued from Vol. 25, page 332.)
Scientific investigation has lately shown that if there were no dust, or germs of disease, in the air, not a drop of rain or a snowflake would fall on the earth, and no clouds or fog would ever form. The moisture must have something small as a nucleus to start with before it can form into drops, and dust and germs fill this very important place in the economy of nature. This is claimed as modern discovery, within the last fifteen years, but it is stated in Nah. 1:3, " the clouds are the dust of His feet"; and that was written over 600 years B. C.
The dust and disease germs that we so deplore and try to get rid of, which lie in the streets and the fields, and which the wind blows in our eyes and into our houses, often carrying disease and death,-this same worthless dust, carried along and upward by the wind until it meets a cooler stratum of moist air, is seized upon by the waiting moisture, which builds upon it, as a nucleus, a drop of water or a snowflake, and sends it back in blessing to the earth, the place of the curse from whence it came.
Dust and moisture are thus fitted for each other, and the need is mutual, as it is imperative. But for the wind, the dust would lie in the street and on the ground forever; so the wind is an important factor. Moisture, or water, is a type of the Word. It was said to Adam, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Gen. 3:19; Ps. 103:14). Dust, then, is the type of worthless, helpless, insignificant, fallen man-in the streets and lanes of the city, and in the highways and hedges of the country, the places where men are found (Luke 14:16-24). The two- men and the word of God-are perfectly fitted for each other; and the need, as in the type, is mutual and imperative. The Word is specially fitted for fallen man, adapted to his needs and nature, and addressed to him (Prov. i:20, etc.; 8:i, etc.; 9:i; Isa. 55:i); but for the Spirit of God, we would remain forever in our fallen condition, satisfied with the street and the earth-this present evil world (John 3:19; Gal. i:4).
But God has a faithful and efficient servant for just such a work (Luke 14:17). Only one is equal
to it-the Holy Spirit; and with Him at work no other is needed; so we have but one, the number of supremacy and independence (John 3:5-8; 14:16, 17, 26). See also Abraham's servant (Gen. 24:2-4).
Hydrogen, as a chemical element of water, seems to set forth, as we have seen, the Holy Spirit's part in providing the Word for man; and here, the wind, His active part in behalf of men, bringing them within reach of the Word. As a result of the wind, we have clouds; and what can the antitype be but the people of God gathered up by the Holy Spirit ? Look on the day of Pentecost. There was the crowd of men-the dust ; a rushing, mighty wind-the Spirit; and the water-the word of God by the mouth of Peter. A heavenly cloud was formed, so full of rain that it could not but "empty itself upon the earth "; there was such a shower of blessing that 3000 were converted that day. That cloud of blessing has been hanging over this world ever since; and however few the showers, and however long the periods of drought have been, still, what would the world have been without it ? The only reason for the present spiritual drought must be that God's people are not filled with His Word (Eccl. 11:3).
Clouds belong to heaven. They are made up of very many drops of water, each having for a nucleus a tiny particle of dust, worse than worthless-a germ of disease and death. For example:one such germ, a deadly microbe, on his way to Damascus, breathing out threatenings and slaughter, was met by the word of God; he was taken up, filled, and sent back into the world for blessing (Acts 9; i Tim. i:2-16).
The particle of dust is so small as to be invisible to the naked eye in the drop, so blessing to the earth lies in the water, not in the dust; God makes much of His Word; the man who ministers it is used in the measure in which he is little (2 Cor. 12:9, 10). This is just the reverse of men's thoughts:they make little of the Word, and much of the man; but a little water and much dust make mud, and this accounts for much of the unhappy condition of Christendom. The remedy is also manifest. In keeping with this' thought, "Paul," which means "little," was the one, above all others, who ministered the Word for blessing, and the one who said he was less than the least of all saints (Eph. 3:3-8). T. M.
(To be continued, D. V.)