The Nations and their Religion

A MODERN German writer has well said: "The birth of heathenism may be dated from the moment when the

presumptuous statement was uttered, 'Go to, let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach unto

heaven, and let us make us a name.'" Even Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, regards Nimrod as the

father of heathenism, the characteristic of which is to find strength and happiness in sin, and not in God. Its

essential principle is to reject all that is not seen, and to cling to that which is temporal. Thus we also may be

heathens in heart, even though we are not such in mind, and do not worship stocks or stone. Indeed, it is

very remarkable, that neither nation nor tribe has ever been discovered which did not acknowledge and

worship some superior Being; and yet from the most savage barbarians to the most refined philosopher,

they have all been destitute of the knowledge of the one living and true God. The only exception in the

world has been that of Israel, to whom God specially revealed Himself; and even Israel required constant

teaching, guidance, and discipline from on high to keep them from falling back into idolatry. Idolatry is the

religion of sight in opposition to t hat of faith. Instead of the unseen Creator, man regarded that which was

visible - the sun, the moon, the stars - as the cause and the ruler of all; or he assigned to everything its

deity, and thus had gods many and lords many; or else he converted his heroes, real or imaginary, into

gods. The worship of the heavens, the worship of nature, or the worship of man - such is heathenism and

idolatry. And yet all the while man felt the insufficiency of his worship, for behind these gods he placed a

dark, immovable, unsearchable Fate, which ruled supreme, and controlled alike gods and men. It was indeed

a terrible exchange to make - to leave our heavenly Father and His love for such delusions and

disappointments. The worst of it was, that man gradually became conformed to his religion. He first imputed

his own vices to his gods, and next imitated the vices of his gods. Assuredly, the heathen nations were the

younger son in the parable (Luke 15:12), who had left his father's house with the portion of goods that

belonged to him - heathen science, art, literature, and power - to find himself at the last driven to eat the

husks on which the swine do feed, and yet not able to satisfy the cravings of his hunger! Blessed be God

for that revelation of Himself in Christ Jesus, which has brought the prodigal back to the Father's home and

But even so, God did not leave Himself without a witness. The inward searching of man after a God, the

accusing voice of his conscience, the attempt to offer sacrifices, and the remnants of ancient traditions of

the truth among men - all seemed to point upward. And then, as all were not Israel who were of Israel, so

God also had at all times His own, even among the Gentile nations. Job, Melchizedek, Rahab, Ruth, Naaman,

may be mentioned as instances of this. It will be readily understood that the number of those "born out of

season," as it were, from among the Gentiles, must have been largest the higher we ascend the stream of

time, and the nearer we approach the period when early traditions were still preserved in their purity in the

earth. The fullest example of this is set before us in the book of Job, which also gives a most interesting

picture of those early times.

Two things may be regarded as quite settled about the book of Job. Its scene and actors are laid in

patriarchal times, and outside the family or immediate ancestry of Abraham. It is a story of Gentile life in the

time of the earliest patriarchs. And yet anything more noble, grand, devout, or spiritual than what the book

of Job contains is not found, "no, not in Israel." This is not the place to give either the history of Job, or to

point out the depth of thought, the vividness of imagery, and the beauty and grandeur of language with

which it is written. It must suffice to take the most rapid survey of the religious and social life which it sets

before us. Without here referring to the sayings of Elihu, Job had evidently perfect knowledge of the true

God; and he was a humble, earnest worshipper of Jehovah. Without any acquaintance with "Moses and the

prophets," he knew that of which Moses and the prophets spoke. Reverent, believing acknowledgment of

God, submission, and spiritual repentance formed part of his experience, which had the approval of God