Works of John Bunyan Volume III Part 98

Third. If you add to these the different makes of the houses, it will sufficiently appear that they were not one. The house of the forest of Lebanon was built upon four rows of cedar pillars; but we read of no such pillars upon which the temple stood. The windows of the house of the forest of Lebanon stood in three rows, light against light; but we read of no such thing in the temple. The temple had two pillars before the door of its porch, but we read not of them before the door of the porch of the house of the forest of Lebanon. In the sixth and seventh chapters of the first book of Kings, these two houses, as to their make, are exactly set forth; so that he that listeth may search and see, if as to this I have not said the truth.

CHAPTER II.

OF WHAT THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON WAS A TYPE.

That the house of the forest of Lebanon was a house significant, I think is clear; also, if it had not, we should not have had so particular an account thereof in the holy Word of G.o.d: I read but of four buildings wherein, in a particular manner, the houses or fabrics are, as to their manner of building, distinctly handled.

The tabernacle is one, the temple another; the porch which he built for his throne, his throne for judgment; and this house of the forest of Lebanon is the fourth. Now the three first, to wit, the tabernacle, the temple, the porch and throne, wise men will say are typical; and therefore so is this.

[First.] I will therefore take it for granted that the house of the forest of Lebanon is a significative thing, yea, a figure of the church, as the temple at Jerusalem was, though not under the same consideration. The temple was a figure of the church under the gospel, as she relateth to worship; but the house of the forest of Lebanon was a figure of that church as she is a.s.saulted for her worship, as she is persecuted for the same. Or take it more expressly thus: I take this house of the forest of Lebanon to be a type of the church in the wilderness, or as she is in her sackcloth state.

We read, before this house was built, that there was a church in the wilderness; and also, after this house was demolished, that there would be a church in the wilderness (Acts 7:38; Rev 12:14).

But we now respect that wilderness state that the church of the New Testament is in, and conclude that this house of the forest of Lebanon was a type and figure of that; that is, of her wilderness state. And, methinks, the very place where this house was built does intimate such a thing; for this house was not built in a town, a city, &c., as was that called the temple of the Lord, but was built in a kind of a wood, a wilderness; it was built in the forest of Lebanon, unto which that saying seems directly to answer.

'And to the woman,' the church, 'were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into her place' (Rev 12:14). A wilderness state is a desolate, a tempted, an afflicted, a persecuted state (Jer 2:6). All which is more than intimated by the witnesses wearing of, and prophesying in sackcloth, and also expressed of by that Revelation 12.

Answerable to this is that of the prophet concerning this house of the forest of Lebanon, where he says, 'Open thy doors, O Lebanon!

that the fire may devour thy cedars.' And again, 'Howl, fir-tree; for the cedar is fallen' (Zech 11:1,2). What can be more express?

The prophet here knocks at the very door of the house of the forest of Lebanon, and tells her that her cedars are designed for fire; unto which also most plainly answer the flames to which so many of the cedars of Lebanon,[3] G.o.d's saints, I mean, for many hundred years, have been delivered for their profession; and by which, as another prophet has it, for many days they have fallen (Dan 11:33). Also when the king of a.s.syria came up with his army against Jerusalem, this was his vaunting, 'I am come--to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof' (Isa 37:24).

What was this king of a.s.syria but a type of the beast made mention of in the New Testament? Now, saith he, I will cut down the cedars of Lebanon; who are, in our gospel times, the tall ones of the church of G.o.d. And I say again, in that he particularly mentions Lebanon, he intends that house which Solomon built there, the which was built as a fortification to defend the religion of the temple, as the saints now in the wilderness of the people are set for the defence of the gospel. But more of this anon.

This house therefore was built to make a.s.saults, and to be a.s.saulted, as the church in the wilderness is; and hence the state of this house is compared to the condition of a woman in travail, struggling with her pains, as also we find the state of the church in the wilderness is--'O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!' (Jer 22:23). And again, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament,' and have sorrow, as a woman in travail (John 16:20-22). Much answering her case who, in her travails, and while 'pained to be delivered,' was said even in this case to stand before the dragon, who with open mouth sought to destroy her fruit, so 'soon as it was born' (Rev 12:1-6).

Hence, again, when Christ calls his spouse out to suffer, he calls or draws her out of his house in Lebanon, to look 'from the lions'

dens, from the mountains of the leopards,' to the things that are invisible; even as Paul said when he was in affliction, 'We look not at the things which are seen' (Cant 4:8; 2 Cor 4:18). He draws them out thence, I say, as sheep appointed for the slaughter; yea, he goeth before them, and they follow him thither.

Also, when the prophet foretells the affliction of the church, he expresses it by the fall of the cedars of Lebanon, saying, The Lord shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron; a little afore called the axe and saw. And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one (Isa 10:15,34). And again, 'The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down' (Isa 33:9).

Do we think that the prophet prophesieth here against trees, against the natural cedars of Lebanon? No, no, it is a prophecy touching the afflicted state of the church in the wilderness, of which Lebanon, I mean this house of the forest of Lebanon, was a figure.

When G.o.d also threateneth the enemies of his church in the wilderness with his judgments, for their cruel dealing with her in the day of her desertion, he calls those judgments the violence of Lebanon.

That is, by way of comparison, such as the violence done to Lebanon was. 'The violence of Lebanon shall cover thee; and the spoil of beasts which made them [Lebanon] afraid, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein' (Habb 2:17). This is like that, 'Reward her, even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works' (Rev 18:6). This the church doth by her prayers. 'The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say' (Jer 51:35). And then shall be fulfilled that which is written, Look what they did unto Lebanon shall be done unto them (Oba 15; Eze 35:14,15).

G.o.d has his time to return the evil that the enemies do to his church, and he will do it when his time is come upon their own head; and this return is called the covering of them with the violence of Lebanon, or that violence showed to her in the day of her distress. It is yet further evident that this house of the forest of Lebanon was a type of the church in the wilderness:--

1. For that she is called a tower, or place of fortification and defence; the same term that is given to the church in a captivated state (Can 7:4; Micah 4:8-10). For as the church in the wilderness is compared to a woman in travail, to show her fruitfulness to G.o.d-ward in her most afflicted condition; so she is called a tower, to show her fort.i.tude and courage, for G.o.d and his truth, against antichrist. I say therefore, unto both these is she compared in that scripture last cited, the which you may peruse if you please. A tower is a place of receipt for the afflicted, and so is the church under the rage of antichrist; yea, and though it is the only place designed by the enemy for ruin and destruction, yet it is the only place of safety in the world.[4]

2. This tower, this house of the forest of Lebanon, it seems to be so built as to confront Damascus, the chief city of the king of a.s.syria; and in so doing it was a most excellent type of the spirit and design of the church in the wilderness, who is raised up, and built to confront antichrist. Hence Christ calls some of the features of his church, and compares them to this. 'Thy neck,'

says he 'is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim; thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus' (Cant 7:4).

Thy nose, that great ornament of thy lovely countenance, is as a tower looking that way; so set, as Christ says of his, as a flint.

And this is a comely feature in the church, that her nose stands like a tower, or as he says in another place, like a fenced brazen wall against Damascus, the metropolitan of her enemy: 'for the head of Syria is Damascus' (Isa 7:8).

And as Christ thus compares his church, so she again returns, or compares the face of her Lord to the same, saying, 'His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars' (Can 5:15). Thus in Lebanon, in this brave house, is found the excellency of the church, and the beauty of Christ, for that they are both as a rock, with glory and majesty, bended against the enemies of the truth. 'The face of the Lord is against them that do evil.' Pillars his legs are here compared to, and pillars were they that upheld this house, this tower, which thus bravely was built with its face confronting the enemy's country.

Second. That this house of the forest of Lebanon was a type of the church in affliction, yet further appears, for that at the fall of Babylon her cedars are said to rejoice in special. 'The fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us' (Isa 14:8).

This is at the destruction of Babylon, the type of that called antichrist.

But why should Lebanon, the cedars in Lebanon, in an especial manner here, be said to rejoice at his downfall: doubtless to show that as the enemy made his inroad upon Jerusalem; so in a particular manner Lebanon, and the house there, were made to smoke for it (Isa 37:24; Jer 22:23; Zech 11:1). This answereth to that, 'Rejoice over her thou heaven; and ye holy apostles and prophets, for G.o.d hath avenged you of her.' Hence again, when he speaks of giving glory to his afflicted church, for all the sorrow which she hath sustained in her bearing witness for the truth against antichrist, he calls it the glory of Lebanon. That is, as I take it, the glory that belongs to her, for the afflictions which she underwent for his name. 'The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it' (Isa 35:2).

And again, 'The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee' (Isa 60:13).

These are promises to the church for her suffering of affliction, and they are made unto her as she bears the name of Lebanon, who or which was her type in those havocs made in it, when the enemy, as I said, a.s.saulted the church of old.

Thus by these few lines I have showed you that there was a similitude betwixt this house in the forest of Lebanon, and our gospel church in the wilderness. Nor need we stumble because this word house is not subjoined in every particular place, where this sorrow or joy of Lebanon is made mention of; for it is an usual thing with the Holy Ghost, when he directs his speech to a man, to speak as if he spake to a tree; and when he directs his voice to a king, to speak as if he intended the kingdom; so when he speaks of the house, to speak as to the forest of Lebanon. Instances many might be given.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE LARGENESS OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON.

The house of the forest of Lebanon was forty cubits longer than was the temple at Jerusalem, to show that the church in the wilderness would increase more, and be far larger than she that had peace and prosperity. And as it was forty cubits longer, so it was thirty cubits wider, still showing that every way she would abound.

Hence they that came out of great tribulation, when compared with others, are said to be a numberless number, or a mult.i.tude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. 'These,' saith one, 'are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore are they before the throne of G.o.d' (Rev 7:14,15).

The church, as it respected temple-worship, was confined to the land of Canaan; but our New Testament persecuted one is scattered among the nations, as a flock of sheep are scattered in a wood or wilderness. Hence they are said to be in 'the wilderness of the people,' fitly answering to this house of the forest of Lebanon (Eze 20:35-37).

But though the house exceeded in length and breadth the temple of Jerusalem, yet as to their height they were the same, to show that what acts that in the wilderness doth, above what they have been capable to do, that have not been in that condition; yet the nature of their grace is the same (Rom 15:27; 1 Peter 1:1).

But, I say, as for length and breadth, the church in the wilderness exceeds more than the house of the forest of Lebanon did that of the temple at Jerusalem, as it is written; 'More are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.' And again: 'Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited' (Isa 54:1-3). This is spoken of the church in the wilderness, that was made up chiefly of the Gentiles, of which the house of the forest of Lebanon was a figure; and how she at last shall recover herself from the yoke and tyranny of antichrist. And then she shall shoulder it with her adversary, saying, 'Give place to me, that I may dwell' (Isa 49:20).

And I will add, it was not only thus magnificent for length and breadth, but for terror; it was compacted after the manner of a castle, or stronghold, as was said before. It was a tower built for an armoury, for Solomon put there his two hundred targets and three hundred shields of gold (2 Chron 9:15,16). This place therefore was a terror to the heathen, on that side of the church especially, because she stood with her nose so formidable against Damascus: no marvel therefore if the implacable cried out against them, Help, 'men of Israel, help!' And, 'Will ye rebel against the king?' (Acts 21:28; Neh 2:19).

For it is the terror, or majesty and fort.i.tude, which G.o.d has put upon the church in the wilderness, that makes the Gentiles so bestir them to have her under foot. Besides, they misapprehend concerning her, as if she was for destroying kings, for subverting kingdoms, and for bringing all to desolation, and so they set themselves against her, 'crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus' (Acts 17:5-7). Indeed, the very name of Jesus is the very tower of the Christian church, and that by which she frights the world, but not designedly, but through their misunderstanding; for neither she, nor her Jesus, is for doing them any hurt; however, this is that which renders her yet in their eye 'terrible as an army with banners' (Cant 6:10). How then could she escape persecution for a time, for it was the policy of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:26-28). And it is yet the policy of the nations to secure themselves against this their imagined danger, and therefore to use all means, as Pharaoh did, to keep this people low enough, saying, 'Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pa.s.s that when there falleth out any war, they join also to our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land' (Exo 1:10).

But could the house of Lebanon, though a fortified place, a.s.sault Damascus? Could it remove from the place on which G.o.d had set it? It only was a place of defence for Judah, or for the worship of the temple. And had the adversary let the temple-worship and worshippers alone, the shields and targets in the house of the forest of Lebanon had not been uncovered, had not been made bare against them. The same may now be said of the church in the wilderness, she moveth no sedition, she abideth in her place; let her temple-worshippers but alone, and she will be as if she were not in the world; but if you afflict her, 'Fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed' (Rev 11:5). And so die by the sword of the Spirit. But because the weapons of the church, though none of them are carnal, be so talked of in the world, the blind are yet more afraid of her than they in this manner are like to be hurt by her, and therefore they of old have peeled,[5] and polled, and endeavoured to spoil her all along, sending their servants, and saying to their bailiffs and sheriffs, 'Go--to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning,--a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!' (Isa 18:2). But this people shall prevail, though not by worldly force; her G.o.d will deliver her. And then, or at 'that time, shall the present be brought to the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion' (Isa 18:7).

Now thus did the house of the forest of Lebanon provoke; it was built defensively, it had a tower, it had armour; its tower confronted the enemy's land. No marvel then, if the king of a.s.syria so threatened to lay his army on the sides of Lebanon and to cut down the tall cedars thereof (Isa 37:24).

The largeness, therefore, and prowess of the church, by reason of her inherent fort.i.tude and the valorous acts that she hath done by suffering, by prayer, by faith, and a constant enduring of hardship for the truth, doth force into the world a belief, through their own guilt and clamours of conscience against them for their debaucheries, that this house of the forest of Lebanon will destroy them all when she shall be delivered from her servitude.

'Come now, therefore,' saith Balak to Balaam, and 'curse me this people,' if peradventure I may overcome them: when he might have let them pa.s.s peaceably by, and they would not have lifted up a finger against him. Wherefore, from all these things it appears that the house of the forest of Lebanon was a type of the church in the wilderness.

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE MATERIALS OF WHICH THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON WAS MADE.

The foundation of the house of the forest of Lebanon was of the same great stones which were laid in the foundation of the temple of the Lord (1 Kings 7:2-11). And this shows that the church in the wilderness has the same foundation and support as had the temple that was at Jerusalem, though in a state of sackcloth, tears, and affliction, the lot of the church in the wilderness; for she, while there, is to howl (Zech 11:2). Now since the foundation is the same, what is it but to show also that she, though in an afflicted condition, shall certainly stand; 'The gates of h.e.l.l shall not prevail against it' (Matt 16:18). Her confronting idolatrous nations is therefore a sign of her troubles, not any prediction of a fall. Her rock is steadfast, not like the rock of her adversaries, the enemy being judges (Deut 32:31).

But that which in special I take notice of is, that I find, in a manner, in this house of the forest of Lebanon, nothing but pillars, and beams, great timber, and thick beams, and of those was the house builded; pillars to hold up, and thick beams to couple together, and thus was the house finished. I read not here of any garnishing, either of the pillars, beams, doors, posts, walls, or any part of the house; all was plain, without garnish, fitly representing the state of the church in the wilderness, which was clothed with sackcloth, covered with ashes, wearing her mourning weeds, with her tears upon her cheeks, and a yoke or band about her neck (Isa 52:1,2, 61:3).

By this kind of description we may also note with what kind of members this house, this church is furnished. Here, as I said, that is, in the house of the forest of Lebanon, you find pillars, pillars, so in the church in the wilderness. O the mighty ones of which this church was compacted! they were all pillars, strong, bearing up the house against wind and weather; nothing but fire and sword could dissolve them. As therefore this house was made up of great timber, so this church in the wilderness was made up of giants in grace. These men had the faces of lions; no prince, no king, no threat, no terror, no torment, could make them yield; they loved not their lives unto the death. They have laughed their enemies in the face, they have triumphed in the flames.

They were pillars, they were pillars of cedar: the cedar is the highest tree in the world;[6] wherefore in that this house was made of cedar, it may be to denote that in the church in the wilderness, however contemned by men, was the highest perfection of goodness, as of faith, love, prayer, holy conversation, and affection for G.o.d and his truth. For indeed none ever showed the like, none ever showed higher cedars than those that were in Lebanon. None ever showed higher saints than were they in the church in the wilderness. Others talked, these have suffered; others have said, these have done; these have voluntarily taken their lives in their hands, for they loved them not to the death; and have fairly, and in cool blood, laid them down before the world, G.o.d, angels, and men, for the confirming of the truth which they have professed (Acts 15:26; Rev 12:11). These are pillars, these are strong ones indeed. It is meet, therefore, that the church in the wilderness, since she was to resemble the house of the forest of Lebanon, should be furnished with these mighty ones.

Cedars! the same that the holiest of all in the temple was covered within, and that house was a figure of heaven, to show that the church of G.o.d in the wilderness, how base and low soever in the judgment of the world, is yet the only heaven that G.o.d hath among the children of men. Here are many nations, many kingdoms, many countries, and many cities, but the church in the wilderness was but one, and she was the heaven that G.o.d has here; hence she is called, 'Thou heaven. Rejoice over her thou heaven' (Rev 18:20).

And again, when the combustion for religion is in the church in the wilderness it is said to be in heaven--'And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels' (Rev 12:7).

The church therefore loseth not all her t.i.tles of honour, no, not when at the lowest, she is G.o.d's heaven still; though she may not be called now a crown of glory, yet she is still G.o.d's lily amongst thorns; though she may not be called the church of Jerusalem, yet she may the church in the wilderness; and though she may not be called Solomon's temple, yet she may the house of the forest of Lebanon. Cedars! cedars are tall and sweet, and so are the members of the church in the wilderness. O their smell, their scent, it hath been 'as the wine of Lebanon' (Hosea 14:5-7). They that have gone before have left this smell still in the nostrils of their survivors, as that both fragrant and precious.

This house of the forest of Lebanon was builded 'upon four rows of cedar pillars' (1 Kings 7:2). These four rows were the bottom pillars, those upon which the whole weight of the house did bear.

The Holy Ghost saith here four rows, but says not how many were in a row. But we will suppose them to allude to the twelve apostles, or to the apostles and prophets, upon whose foundation the church in the wilderness is said to be built (Eph 2:20). And if so, then it shows that as the house of the forest of Lebanon stood upon these four rows of pillars, as the names of the twelve tribes stood in four rows of precious stones upon Aaron's breastplate when he went into the holiest, so this house, or church in the wilderness, stands upon the doctrine of the apostles and prophets (Exo 28:17, 29:10). But because it only saith it stood upon four rows, not specifying any number, therefore as to this we may say nothing certain, yet I think such a conjecture hath some show of truth in it, however, I will leave it to wiser judgments.

'And it was covered with cedar above, upon the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row' (1 Kings 7:3). These pillars, as the others, are such upon which the house did also bear; this is clear, because the beams that lay upon the four rows of pillars afore-mentioned lay also upon these forty-five.