(Continued from page 63.)
FOURTH ADDRESS.
YE people of Otaheite, listen attentively to our voice while we declare to you the words of Jehovah, the living God. He is not far off from you, though your eyes cannot behold Him. He is present now in the midst of us. While you are before us we behold in you the living images of our God, and the visible monuments of His glory. And when you are struck with awe by hearing of His invisible majesty, your countenances become solemn; you look with your minds beyond the sun and the skies; you look to the other side of death, into the vast ocean and skies of eternity. You say, How shall we, poor creatures, meet Jehovah when we are dead? How shall we go forth to Him into the awful darkness of eternity? Then, your hands being clasped, you look upwards, and silent tears drop from your eyes. Then, O beloved brethren and sisters, we also weep, and we say within ourselves, Now Jehovah, our God, is coming near; now His light is just going to dawn on these immortal souls! For when men are cast down, and feel darkness in their minds, and are afraid and sorrowful, then our God hastens to speak to them and to cheer them with His light.
You are our friends, and we will tell you what was in our minds when we were going to leave our own country, and when we were wandering on the face of the ocean solitary. Sometimes we were exceedingly sorry; we sat down and groaned; and our sorrow was so great that we could hardly speak to each other, and we cared not to eat or to drink. For we thought within ourselves, What if the people of Otaheite prove wicked and refuse to hear us? What if they will laugh and make sport when we speak to them? What if they be angry, and begin to express rage against the holy words of Jehovah? Then He will be angry and will say to us, “Come away from the people of Otaheite. I will not speak to them any more: I will let them alone till they are dead. Then they shall come forth to meet me in eternity. Then I will punish them. Then I will say to the wicked spirits, Go drag these wicked men and women down to the pit of darkness and fire; they would not be instructed; they would not know me!” And we thought we would go down to our graves mourning, and saying, Alas! the poor people of Otaheite will certainly perish, and be miserable when they are dead!
Thus we were exceedingly sorrowful: but now we are not so sorrowful. Our God now makes us glad. He causes us to hope that He is coming to save you. Men and women of Otaheite, do you not begin to understand the words of Jehovah? You do begin to understand. Are you not willing to hear more of the words and wonders of Jehovah? You are willing.
We are now going to tell you very wonderful things, such as you never heard before. You shall know that there is no other God like to Jehovah, our God.
We said to you that when the first man and woman became wicked, and tried to run away from God among the trees, and were greatly afraid, He promised to send another Man who would save the children of men. The man and woman believed the promise of Jehovah, and trusted in the Man whom He promised to send into the world. Then Jehovah loved them again, and pardoned their disobedience. The man and woman again became good and happy, they lived a long time in this world, and saw many of their children and children’s children. They told their children the promise of Jehovah, that He would raise up another perfect Man who would save them, and they encouraged their children to wait for that Man and to trust in Him, and to tell their children still to look for Him, though He should not come for a long time. They died, and entered into the happiness of eternity; and all their children who believed in the promise of Jehovah also, when they died, entered into the happiness of eternity, trusting that the Man would come, and that Jehovah would not lie.
Still, however, the promised Man did not come. After a long time there arose three very holy men, the father, the son, and the grandson. To every one of them Jehovah spake many times, and said that their children would become a great nation, and that, after some ages, the Man whom He had promised would be born in that nation. He also promised to give that nation a particular country to dwell in, in which country the promised Man would be seen.
Jehovah did as He promised to the three holy men. Their children multiplied exceedingly, and rose to be a great nation, much more numerous than the people of Otaheite. But they lived then among another people. And there was between them and the country which Jehovah promised to their fathers, a narrow deep arm of the sea, and after that a wide, barren wilderness. But the king under whom they lived, and his people, wanted to make them slaves, and cruelly murdered many of their little children. Then Jehovah killed the first-born child of that cruel king and of every one of his subjects. They were then terrified, and gave the people of Jehovah leave to depart. But when they were going away, that wicked king and his people rose up in great fury and pursued after the people of Jehovah, and overtook them on the very shore of the narrow, deep arm of the sea. Then the people of Jehovah thought they must all be murdered, but they cried to Jehovah. Immediately Jehovah, who created the vast sea, opened the bowels of the great deep, and caused the waters to hang on each side as if it had been a lofty, strong wall, and there appeared a plain path through the bottom of the sea. He likewise kindled a pillar of fire, which gave light throughout that whole path. Then the people of Jehovah walked through on dry ground in the bottom of the sea. But the wicked king and his people would not give over their pursuit, and presumed to enter that deep path through the sea. But they had no light and could not get forward; and whenever the people of Jehovah got to the other side the high walls of water fell down at once and swallowed up that cruel, wicked king and his wicked people.
Then the people of Jehovah entered the wide, barren, dreary wilderness, on their way to their promised country. Here they were ready to die for thirst and hunger. But Jehovah sent down bread to them from the clouds, and made waters to burst out of the hard rocks and to accompany them through the dry wilderness like a river.
Many of that people, however, though they had seen all these wonders, continued proud, wicked, and disobedient. But before He would suffer them to go into the country which He had promised them, Jehovah came forth among them and showed them His power and awful majesty, so that they all trembled before Him.
Now hearken attentively, ye people of Otaheite. We will show you the way in which the glorious Jehovah appeared, to strike with awe that ungrateful, rebellious people.
But you are musing on the wonderful things we have now told you. We will not, therefore, declare to you any more of these wonders of our God till we meet you again. Then we will show you how Jehovah—the great, invisible King—struck His people with awe and made them afraid of His anger, that they might not be wicked any more, but might reverence His majesty, rejoice in His pity and condescension, His goodness, love, and bounty.
And you, O people of Otaheite, you must be struck with awe, you must be afraid for a little while of the terrible anger of Jehovah, because of the evils you have done. You must learn to be very humble and submissive, and to stoop down like little children before Him, the great King, that He may come down to you, that He may take you in His arms and embrace you, and show you in your minds the wonders of His love and the glories of the Man whom, according to His promise, He at length sent into the world. For Jehovah spake thus to one of the fathers of old—“Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” And the great Man whom Jehovah sent into the world, when standing amidst a vast multitude of sinful people, stretched out His hands towards them, and looking at them with eyes of love and compassion, said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(To be Continued.)