Article July 8, 1911 Issue

REFLECTING THE DIVINE LIKENESS

J. MORLEY WYARD.

THE writer of the letter to the Hebrews, sounding a stern admonition, declares God to be "a consuming fire." The apostle John, on the other hand, reiterates, as though he delighted to hold the thought ever in his consciousness, "God is love." Here we have two brief statements of Scripture that seem to be irreconcilably antagonistic, and yet upon nearer examination they prove to be inseparably harmonious.

The prophet Malachi, of whom we know so little, indeed nothing beyond the inspired message which with the assurance of the near coming of the Christ closes the Old Testament canon, says: "The Lord, whom ye seek . . . is like a refiner's fire, . . . And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver." The evangelist of the Old Testament, centuries before Malachi, with similar confident understanding of the truth, asks: "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? . . . with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; . . . and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil."

And again, the apostle of the new covenant assures us: "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and he in him." The imagery of Malachi is one of the most exquisite pictures of oriental symbolism, and though often quoted, loses nothing by the repetition. The fire of the refiner affects injuriously nothing but the dross that clings to the incorruptible metal. The more volatile constituents pass off in quick evaporation, and in the eliminating and perfecting ordeal the baser admixture is altogether consumed.

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