A TYPE is a resemblance between two persons or facts not in words but in some act or object, which has a double meaning, one being literal, the other spiritual, the former only being seen by the natural eye, and the latter only by the eye of faith. For instance, Isaac being laid on the wood of the altar on Mount Moriah, given up by his father to God, and restored again to his father alive by the angel, was, to the natural eye, only a very wonderful escape from death, as the reward of Abraham's obedience; but to the eye of faith it was a type of Jesus being sacrificed on the wood of the cross, given up for that purpose by His Father, and restored to life again, when the angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone from the tomb. So, too, Joseph seemed to his brothers only to have been got out of their way by being sold as a slave to the Midianites: but he was a type of Christ in many ways: for he was sold by his brethren for a sum of money, he was imprisoned unjustly by heathens, he was believed by his brethren to be dead, he was exalted to the right hand of power, and all this to save his family from death (Gen. xlv. 8).

QUESTIONS.

What is a parable? How many are there in the Old Testament? What three others are like parables? Why do we not call them parables? What is a fable? How does it differ from a parable? What is a type? Quote one not named in this lesson. Explain how Joseph was a type.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

PARABLES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

1. THE PARABLE OF THE EWE LAMB

Was spoken by Nathan the prophet to King David, to shew him the wrong he had done to Uriah the Hittite, by having him killed in order that he might marry Uriah's wife. It was not to tell David of the sin he had committed, because he was well aware of that, and he

had confessed the sin to God in the fifty-first Psalm, which he wrote before Nathan came to him. The parable was God's answer to David's prayer; and it was to make David his own judge to fix his own punishment, such as he would have ordered to one of his own subjects who had done such an unjust act to one of his fellowcitizens. David was angry when he heard Nathan's story, and said the man deserved to be put to death for being so cruel and selfish: so he condemned himself to be worthy of death, and God shewed himself to be more forgiving and more merciful than even David was.

"The Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

"The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: "But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

"And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for

the man that was come to him.

"And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die :

"And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

"And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

"And I gave thee thy master's house, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

"Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to

be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

"Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife."

It is a very common thing in Jerusalem to see poor people keeping each a little ewe lamb. You cannot walk along the streets without seeing a boy or girl, sitting at a cottage door, fondling a little pet lamb, which is very often ornamented by little patches of coloured dye spotted about upon its wool, and a coloured ribbon round its neck. It seems to be the children's pet companion, like a favourite dog or cat with us : it lives in the house, is loved or prized by all the family, and seems to be "like a daughter."

QUESTIONS.

Who spoke the parable of the ewe lamb? To whom? For what? How had David confessed his sin? What did he fix as his punishment? Relate the parable. How are lambs treated at Jerusalem? Who was meant by the "lamb" in the parable? Who by the " 'poor man?" How was God more merciful than David? What punishment did He give him? How did David bear it?

CHAPTER LXXXVIII.

PARABLES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (continued).

2. THE TWO BROTHERS STRIVING TOGETHER

Was a story made up by Joab, who sent a woman from Tekoah (which was a town not far from Hebron), who complained to King David that she was a poor widow who had lost her husband, and had only two sons left for her support. These two sons, she said, had quarrelled, and one had killed the other: so being a murderer he had forfeited his life, and would be condemned by the law to be put to death: so she, a poor widow, would be left alone in the world with no one to keep her. She pleaded to the king for a royal pardon for her son, the murderer; and

the king was so sorry for her that he gave her the pardon.

But this was only a parable, to get from the king a pardon for another murderer, his own son Absalom. He was too just a man to pardon his own son, who had broken the law of his country by murdering his brother Amnon. It would have looked as if he had done it out of favour, or fatherly love: so people would have said he had one law for the rich and another for the poor. But when he had judged the case of a poor woman, whom he knew nothing about, and had given a free pardon to her son out of compassion, it shewed that it was not from favour, but from mercy. So the woman took off her widow's dress and claimed the pardon, which the king had given her, for Absalom, and he allowed it.

Now Absalom had run away to avoid being tried for murder; but when the pardon was got for him, he came back, and David let him come; but he would not see him, nor have him at the palace, so that he still had to bear disgrace for his crime, and that made him so angry, that he returned his father's kindness by going about amongst the people and "stealing away their hearts" from the king. He used to tell them how much better they would be if he were king, because he was young, and could look better after things than so old a man as David, so that they did not get their rights. Then the people got very fond of Absalom, and they joined him in a rebellion to drive his father from the throne, that he might be king instead.

But when the time came, the army of Absalom was beaten by the king's army; and as Absalom fled on his mule through a wood, his long hair, streaming in the wind, caught in the bough of a tree, while his mule galloped on, and he was left hanging there by the hair of his head, till Joab came up and ran an arrow through his heart and killed him.

"Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that tho king's heart was toward Absalom.

"And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to

be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

"And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.

"And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

and

"And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, mine husband is dead.

"And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.

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And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his