Haradah

“And they removed from Mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.”

This twentieth encampment is called Haradah, and lies, of all others, the nearest to Egypt. Its name has an evil signification, for it means terror. But how singular! The last encampment was on Mount Beautiful, and the very next is called “terror!” But are such things really experienced in the kingdom of God? Is there such a guidance as this? They are near Egypt. We find the Psalmist saying, “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I sufier thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me, thy terrors have cut me off;” and Job, “The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit; the terrors of God do set themselves in array ag;ainst me.” Dreadful expressions! Thus we see that the compass of the Christian’s vessel is sometimes directed towards the pit, even as that of the reprobate occasionally towards heaven.

Haradah is the outermost point of their retrograde movement. There the elect, holy, and beloved people present the most wretched appearance. They are like Christ at the lowest degree of his humiliation, full of sorrow, and ‘* without form or comeliness.”

We find an explanation of this encampment in the words of Christ, (Isaiah 1. 10.) ‘* Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light — let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.”

In these words, the Christian is presented to our view in his first estate. We here see a believer, whose mind has been irradiated by the rays of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and into whose heart God has shone. His joy at this was so great, that his heart separated itself from every thing of a perishable nature, and resolved in future to venture every thing, in order to seek his happiness solely in the light of the divine countenance, the purposely offending of which is as dreadful to him as hell itself; hence he seeks with all earnestness to obey the voice of the Lord’s servant. Judge yourselves, whether, with the exception of eternal damnation, any thing more severe can befall him, than when the crevice through which the light shone into him, is completely closed, the refreshing beams of the divine countenance withdrawn from him, the consciousness of the gifts of grace vouchsafed to him no longer felt, and every thing covered as with a gloomy cloud, so that he walks in darkness and has no light. Add to this, that his soul is assailed by the dreadful hosts of hell, and overtaken by the terrors of the Almighty, so that thus deprived of all light, he is tempted by the tormenting supposition, that God is not his covenant God, nor Jesus his Mediator, and will never be so. All that .he had hitherto possessed, experienced, enjoyed, believed, and hoped, was probably nothing but a mere illusion; his supposed state of grace, a dreadful self-deception; his prayer, sin; and his final portion, the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, since he feels that he is cast out from the presence of God.* Judge, therefore, what a dreadful station Haradah must be, where, though not all, but yet some, though not in the same degree, or for the same length of time, must encamp, and that too, after being on Mount Shapher, and beholding Canaan from its heights. Such is the meaning of the words, “walking in darkness.”

But what is there that may in any measure serve the individual in such a forlorn and desolate state, as a support and a stay? One thing alone, and this our Redeemer mentions in the passage we have quoted; “let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.” The name of God, which he himself proclaimed as merciful, gracious, long suffering, and of great goodness and truth; and the name of Christ, who is called “the Lord our righteousness,” both form a rod and staff to the devout Christian, thus walking in darkness, which he must grasp with the hand of naked faith, in order safely to stay himself upon them.

* This stage of christian experience is aptly represented by Bunyan, in the passage of his pilgrim through the valley of the shadow of death.

This is the only, but at the same time, the sufficient support in his trying situation; until at length the Lord causes his face again to shine, and dispels the darkness.

These words of the prophet indicate generally, that one who sincerely fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of his servant, may continue walking in darkness and without light for hours, days, or years; and that some really enter into such a state, but are at length happily delivered from it.

But what is the state in which the devout Christian feels himself placed, when thus walking in darkness, and being deprived of light? By means of light, every thing becomes obvious to the sense of sight. Light, sight, and faith, are distinguished from each other in Scripture; and faith is described as a not doubting of that which is not seen. “We walk by faith, and not by sight.” “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” When it is said of the believer that he has no light, the meaning is not that he does not know himself and his own wretchedness; for upon this very part of his inward world, the light has clearly arisen; but it means, he is, at the time, devoid of all sensible consciousness that God loves him, and is gracious to him for the sake of Christ.

God frequently and commonly assists the believer with a three-fold light. First, the immediate light of his countenance, respecting which it is send, “Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” “They shall walk, 0 Lord! in the light of thy countenance.” This is the sealing of the Spirit, by which the soul is firmly assured of its being in a state of grace, and that it will abide in it for ever. If this pleasing light be withdrawn, the soul walks in darkness, because the Lord hides his face from her. This hiding of God’s countenance our Lord himself experienced on the cross, when he exclaimed, ‘* Why hast thou forsaken me!”

But can such a procedure consist with the love of God? Certainly it may; for in the passage we have quoted, he calls himself his God, who has no light. “In a little wrath,” it is said, in chap. liv. 8, ‘’ I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee.” God acts as a father, who though he severely chastises his son, and even forbids him to present himself before him, yet does not cease for a moment to be his father; and if others souojht to assist in ill treating his son, he would soon take his son’s part against them; and when our heavenly Father deprives his children of their spiritual comforts, yet his sanctifying, preserving, and invigorating influences continue, by which they are spurred on to the attainment of a godliness, which is so much llie purer the less it is accompanied by any consolation; even as Christ accomplished his most perfect obedience at a time when he was forsaken of God. A soul which, in a state of spiritual abandonment, still cleaves firmly to God, whom it neither seesnor feels, is more pleasing n his sight than one which does so in the enjoyment of great inward felicity.

God, secondly, supports faith by the consciousness of his gracious gifts in the soul. The individual feels that he sincerely hates sin, and loves holiness; that he: delights in the law of God after the inner man; that he loves Jesus and all his followers; he perceives an

R 3 ncrease of the fruits of the Spirit within him, and hence infers, that he is an heir of heaven. But the soul may be deprived of this light, so that the man’s looks are directed solely to his own heart, as divested of all that is good. Thus the church complains, ‘* Why dost thou harden our hearts from thy fear?”

The Lord commonly assists faith by the light of his word of promise. If the believer does not enjoy any direct comfort and consolation, he may nevertheless have such a believing insight into the divine promises, which in Christ Jesus are yea and amen, as willingly to bear the being deprived of those feelings, since the latter is of a more permanent nature.

But when the individual thus walks in darkness, he knows not whither he goeth, according to the words’ of our Lord, (John xii. 35,) “He stumbles at every step.” Hence Isaiah says, (chap. lix. 9, 10,) “We wait for the light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind. We stumble at noon-day as in the night.” Every thing we hear, and whatever befalls us then dispirits us. “Ah,” we think, “such a giory indeed exists; but not for us.” The man then stumbles at single and difficult passages of Scripture, and at the dealings of Providence, or even misinterprets the most consolatory parts of the Word of God to his prejudice, and refuses to be comforted.

Walking in darkness easily causes terror, and affords the imagination opportunity of creating a variety of terrific phantoms where nothing exists, and of magnifying what is real. Horror and great darkness are said to have fallen upon Abraham at the same tirpe (Gen.

XV. 12.); and Heman complains, that “whilst suffering the terrors of God, he was distracted.” (Psalm lxxxviii. 15.)

In such a mournful condition may the true children of God be placed, and continue in it for a time, nay, even for a lon£^ time, so that “their life draweth near to the pit,” according to David’s expression. The causes of this mournful state are three: the Spirit of God, the human heart and physical reasons, and the prince of darkness, all which operate certainly from very different motives.

The Christian, who has been accustomed to draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation, and to enjoy the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the true and only real comforter, taking of the things of Christ and showing them to the soul, enlightening the mind into the knowledge of the truth, applying the promises, and bearing witness with his Spirit, that he is a child of God; when all this is for a time taken from him, experiences its total reverse; tribulation instead of comfort; darkness instead of light; doubt and dismay intead of certainty and assurance. And yet this is one of his modes of teaching; it is, that a deeper foundation may be dug for the impartation of the divine virtues, and that after such severe lessons, the individual may listen the more attentively to his dictates, and yield himself up the more exclusively to his influences.

Another source of darkness is our natural constitution. There are diseases of the body which at the same time oppress the mind, by producing in it dejection, apprehension, and painful feelings. A stoppage in the regular circulation of the juices may produce

r4^ dreadful depressions, which cease as soon as regularity is restored to the system, with which a long list of gloomy forebodings disappears. Such sufferers are generally looked upon and treated as only imaginary patients, especially since they are not themselves able to say what is the matter with them, and yet they are deserving of great and tender compassion. It is bad enough to be deprived of almost every joyful feeling, and that every thing envelopes itself in thick darkness to their view; so that they who were formerly so cheerful, are now the most sorrowful. How hard it is, therefore, when they are even reproached for their sufferings, and things authoritatively demanded of them which are out of their power to perform! These sufferings are met with not only in converted, but also in unconverted persons. We are not speaking here of the latter, but of those who ‘* fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servant.” If amongst them there are those who walk in darkness and have no light, a great part of their sufferings may arise from physical causes, and will cease with the latter. It is not without reason, therefore, that our clayey tenements are called “vile bodies,” in which we groan, being burdened. There are doubtless many believing individuals who lie upon this secret rack, and seldom enjoy a pleasant hour. Yet not a hair falls from their heads without the will of their Father in heaven. This secret suffering must also work together for good. Its endurance is difficult, but important.

But it is not to be wondered at that our own hearts increase the darkness and distress, when the Lord conceals his face, and when instead of hoping the best from him, they only expect the worst, because of the weakness of our natures. Yet not merely because we are weak, but also sinful creatures, does darkness naturally dwell in us; so that before regeneration, we are nothing but darkness. But even as God caused the light to shine out of the darkness, so has he also shone into our hearts. And we retain this clear light only as long as God permits it to shine. If he withdraws it from us, our natural darkness returns, from whence various torments arise, like a smoke which envelopes the surface of the inward world, and hence also the heart forms incorrect judgments, even of the very passages of Scripture which ought to be a consolation to it. Suspicion and mistrust succeed to confidence and faith, and there is no end to the surmisings of evil.

But believers have by no means to struggle here solely with flesh and blood, although this strife alone exceeds all their natural powers. They have also to wrestle against the wily assaults of the devil and spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan “goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” His element is darkness, and when he sees the soul thus deprived of divine light, he avails himself of it as the most suitable period completely to destroy the poor and comfortless soul, to extinguish the last sparks of hope, and to tread down itslife to the ground. He is ever ready with his evil insinuations, and tries as much as he dare, to shake the foundation of the divine word, and even the belief in the existence of God himself. He is continually seeking to do us all the injury in his power, and in Job we have an instance to what extent this may be carried, when by divine permission any one is suffered to fall into his hands.

Let us now make a few remarks upon the reasons vv’liy the Lord thus suffers some of those who fear him and obey the voice of his servant, to walk in darkness, and have no light. We must, however, premise, that God’s ways are unsearchable, and that he does as he pleases in heaven and on earth. But we have the assurance that he does not willingly grieve the children of men, “not for his pleasure, but for our profit, that we may become partakers of his holiness.” Tribulation, prayer, and meditation were Luther’s teachers, and he was wont to say, ‘* My afflictions have taught me this.” Painful trials also frequently follow distinguished consolations. Thus Paul, after having been caught up to the third heaven, was buffeted by Satan, and Christ himself was led from Jordan into the wilderness. Sometimes also they precede these consolations! Thus Paul says, “As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so ou.r consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”

But God does not lead all his people alike, nor make for himself any certain rule of guidance. Yet still this darkness is wont to overtake a child of God, after he has fallen into any gross sin; or after leading, on the whole, a slothful, worldly-minded, earthly, and frivolous course of life; and when he even thinks lightly of it, and will not suffer himself to be reproved for it; God then in the end acts the more severely with him, and treats him as described in Psalm 1.: “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.”

Darkness is wont to befall a child bf God also on account of trusting in. an arm of flesh, however spiritual the confidence may appear to be. If we fall upon the idea, that our comforts and the gifts of grace are so firmly established in us, and that we have received them of the Lord as a permanent possession, so that we can do with them as we please, and with regard to their preservation, increase, and exercise, do not consult with him; he then generally deprives us of this light, that we may learn to abide by the true source, and assume nothing as our own. Therefore never be proud, nor exalt thyself, but be humble, and think meanly of thyself, lest God should so deal with thee as to make thee regard thyself as “a worm and no man.”

In conclusion, we have still to make a few remarks on the purposes of God towards his children, in bringing them into such painful situations. They are a powerful means of humbling them. We must not boast, either of natural or of spiritual gifts, but be like an empty vessel, into which every thing must be put, or even like a broken vessel, which cannot hold itself together. Self confidence then entirely departs, and help is alone sought for in the name of “the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” The individual feels compelled to renounce his own life, that Christ may be his life and his all. God alone is then regarded as wise, great, and holy, and becomes all in all; and is not this an important, nay, the final and supreme object of God?

Further, these inward sufferings are intended to produce a conformity between t)ie soul and Christ. If there is a suffering for Christ’s sake, there are also Christ’s own sufferings; and he not unfrequently makes the soul a partaker of both; ‘• fightings without, and fears within,” by which Christ’s soul was also assailed; on which account it is said of him, “He was heard in that he feared.” (Heb. v. 7.) His soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death. If Christ therefore

HARADAH,

suffered both inwardly and outwardly, some are also called to be baptized with the same baptism, and to drink of the same cup. The honour is great. We thus learn in a measure to understand what Christ has suffered for us; and we shall be raised to partake of his glory, if we suffer with him. The latter is a pledge of the former, and the glory will be so much the greater, the more profound the sufferings that preceded it.

Remember also the great difference between the present state and the next, between earth and heaven, and accommodate thyself to every thing. Although it be true, that the Lord is present with his people, even to the end of the world, yet it is not the case as respects enjoyment, but only to faith. Here is not the time to be satisfied with his likeness, and to see him face to face. Bear the intervening clouds; there shall be no more in yonder world to hide his face from thy view.

This befalls thee also to exercise thee in patient expectation. “For ye have need of patience that ye may do the will of God and receive the promise.” Though he tarry, wait for him; for “he will certainly come, and will not tarry.” “We count them happy that endure.” God himself is called the God of patience, and therefore account the long suffering of God as salvation.

Such a situation teaches us to place an uncommonly high value on God, his aid, grace, and consolation. Such is the case also in natural things. Privation first teaches the value of what we lightly esteemed, whilst possessing it. And O how precious are the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table to the souls that look upon themselves only as hungry dogs! A person may

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be so poor as to receive even a farthing with thankfulness, and so wretched, that a single gleam of hope refreshes him.

The paths of affliction are also a proper school for learning and exercising prayer. It is true that at such times the spirit of prayer seems to have departed from the poor soul, though it be not the case; although in its distress it is seldom able to give vent to its sorrows in a copious prayer, yet the unutterable groans are so much the more frequent.

How compassionate do they also become towards others in distress, who have themselves been bruised in this mortar, even as our Lord by his sufferings has become a compassionate High Priest, who can have compassion on our weakness. The reason why Job’s friends were so harsh with him, was because they had never suffered. Those that are in health, know not the feelings of the sick; nor he who has never been in want, the sufferings of the poor. But it is the will of God, that we put on bowels of compassion, and he teaches us to do so by our own experience.

Finally, the Lord by this binding, slaying, and causing his people to pass through the fire, prepares a more excellent and perfect thank-offering. If he regards the lowliness of such a servant, his soul magnifies the Lord in an especial manner. Incense must first feel the effect of the fire; it then yields its fragrant perfume. Thanks are never more fervently, reverentially, sacredly, and blissfully rendered than from an entirely broken and contrite heart, which the Lord again comforts. And those that come out of great tribulation, shall at length experience, that their light afflictions, which are comparatively but momentary, shall work out for them a far more abundant and exceeding- weight of glory.

Be patient therefore, brethren, till the full measure of tears is shed. In the midst of darkness stay yourselves upon your God. This is no easy matter, but something surpassing all the powers of nature. But the Lord dwells in this darkness, although he seem to be at a distance. However gloomy every thing appears around you, do not give yourselves up to unbelief. Say with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” The Lord, who has suffered darkness to surround you, will in due time shine into your hearts, and cause the light to arise upon them that dwell on the borders of the pit. ‘* Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” Amen.