Psalm 45:8 - "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad."
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*
The Greatest Journey
The Bible is a book that records the journeys of men. Within its pages, we are told of Abraham, to whom God spoke, commanding him to leave his country for one he had never seen. Later, God speaks to Abraham, giving him orders to take his son Isaac to a mountain called Moriah, and slay his son there for an offering to the Lord. It was a three-days' journey. It was a journey up a rugged mountain. With the Father Abraham walking alongside his son, this Father had plenty of time to change his mind about offering his son. But no such persuasion came to him. The only argument that persuaded him was this sublime truth - that the God who commanded him to slay his only begotten son was able to raise him up, even if he offered as a burnt offering. When Abraham and Isaac arrive to the place on Mount Moriah, Isaac is bound to the altar. It is not ropes, however, that hold him there; it is submission to his Father. Abraham's hand is drawn, and he prepares to slay his son. Suddenly, a hand stops him. Abraham learns that this was only a test. A ram is caught in the thicket, and the ram dies in Isaac's place. There are a few attributes of this story that are similar to that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walking up Calvary's mountain, and being crucified for the sins of the world. There are also striking differences. Christ walked up a mountain, as Abraham walked up a mountain. Christ, the Son of God, however, did not walk alongside His Father. Isaac walked beside his father; Christ cried out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Isaac was bound to the altar with ropes; Christ was bound to the cross with nails. In spite of those ropes, it was submission to his father that kept Isaac on the altar; and in spite of the nails, it was submission to the will of the Father that kept Christ on the cross. When Abraham is prepared to take his son's life, a hand stops him; but at the hour of death on Calvary, such a hand is absent. The Father does not stop death from taking His own Son. When Abraham's hand is held back, Isaac lives because a ram in the thicket dies in his place; at the cross where Jesus died, it should have been me on that cross, but Jesus took my place!
Abraham's journey up the rugged mountain of Moriah is an incredible journey, but not the greatest. The queen of Sheba's journey to Jerusalem is memorable, but not the greatest. The journey of the shepherds in the fields to the manger is remarkable, but there is a greater journey than this. The journey of the wise men from the east to worship the Christ child is history-making, but there is yet a greater journey than this.
The 45th Psalm starts this way - "My heart is inditing a good matter." It is a prophecy concerning the King of kings. He would be anointed with the oil of gladness. He would love righteousness and hate iniquity. And, in verse 8, He would leave the ivory palaces of heaven, and take the greatest journey ever taken, from the ivory palaces of heaven to this dark, dreary, wicked sinful world. He took that journey that He might take another - the journey up Calvary's rugged mountain. It is often preached that the road to heaven leads by the cross; but it is just as true that the road to hell leads by the cross. To go to hell, you must pass the scene of the cross, and trample of the blood of Jesus Christ under your feet.
When I speak concerning the journey our Lord took when He departed from heaven and arrived in Bethlehem that night, it is true that our finite minds cannot grasp it. But one thing is certain. When we get to heaven, and see what all the Saviour left to rescue our wicked souls from sin and hell, how our hearts will melt. How our love for Christ will swell and His praise will undoubtedly be in our mouth eternally. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift - the babe in the manger who left heaven's splendor to die for me!
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*
*Henry Barraclough
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*
The Greatest Journey
The Bible is a book that records the journeys of men. Within its pages, we are told of Abraham, to whom God spoke, commanding him to leave his country for one he had never seen. Later, God speaks to Abraham, giving him orders to take his son Isaac to a mountain called Moriah, and slay his son there for an offering to the Lord. It was a three-days' journey. It was a journey up a rugged mountain. With the Father Abraham walking alongside his son, this Father had plenty of time to change his mind about offering his son. But no such persuasion came to him. The only argument that persuaded him was this sublime truth - that the God who commanded him to slay his only begotten son was able to raise him up, even if he offered as a burnt offering. When Abraham and Isaac arrive to the place on Mount Moriah, Isaac is bound to the altar. It is not ropes, however, that hold him there; it is submission to his Father. Abraham's hand is drawn, and he prepares to slay his son. Suddenly, a hand stops him. Abraham learns that this was only a test. A ram is caught in the thicket, and the ram dies in Isaac's place. There are a few attributes of this story that are similar to that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walking up Calvary's mountain, and being crucified for the sins of the world. There are also striking differences. Christ walked up a mountain, as Abraham walked up a mountain. Christ, the Son of God, however, did not walk alongside His Father. Isaac walked beside his father; Christ cried out, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Isaac was bound to the altar with ropes; Christ was bound to the cross with nails. In spite of those ropes, it was submission to his father that kept Isaac on the altar; and in spite of the nails, it was submission to the will of the Father that kept Christ on the cross. When Abraham is prepared to take his son's life, a hand stops him; but at the hour of death on Calvary, such a hand is absent. The Father does not stop death from taking His own Son. When Abraham's hand is held back, Isaac lives because a ram in the thicket dies in his place; at the cross where Jesus died, it should have been me on that cross, but Jesus took my place!
Abraham's journey up the rugged mountain of Moriah is an incredible journey, but not the greatest. The queen of Sheba's journey to Jerusalem is memorable, but not the greatest. The journey of the shepherds in the fields to the manger is remarkable, but there is a greater journey than this. The journey of the wise men from the east to worship the Christ child is history-making, but there is yet a greater journey than this.
The 45th Psalm starts this way - "My heart is inditing a good matter." It is a prophecy concerning the King of kings. He would be anointed with the oil of gladness. He would love righteousness and hate iniquity. And, in verse 8, He would leave the ivory palaces of heaven, and take the greatest journey ever taken, from the ivory palaces of heaven to this dark, dreary, wicked sinful world. He took that journey that He might take another - the journey up Calvary's rugged mountain. It is often preached that the road to heaven leads by the cross; but it is just as true that the road to hell leads by the cross. To go to hell, you must pass the scene of the cross, and trample of the blood of Jesus Christ under your feet.
When I speak concerning the journey our Lord took when He departed from heaven and arrived in Bethlehem that night, it is true that our finite minds cannot grasp it. But one thing is certain. When we get to heaven, and see what all the Saviour left to rescue our wicked souls from sin and hell, how our hearts will melt. How our love for Christ will swell and His praise will undoubtedly be in our mouth eternally. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift - the babe in the manger who left heaven's splendor to die for me!
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Saviour go.*
*Henry Barraclough
