Christian Friend vol. 19, 1892, p. 85.
Whenever used symbolically in Scripture, the term "shoulder" signifies strength. Isaiah thus, speaking of the birth of the Messiah, says, "The government shall be upon His shoulder" (Isa. 9:6); that is, the Messiah will maintain His righteous government in divine power according to all that He is as "The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Two or three illustrations of this significance of the divine shoulders in relation to the people of God will be both instructive and profitable.
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Take first the instance in Luke 15, where, if used in the parable of the lost sheep, the application can be to no other than the Good Shepherd. When the lost sheep is found, the Shepherd, who is also the Owner, "layeth it on His shoulders, rejoicing." It may be questioned whether the twofold joy in this parable, the joy of finding as well as the joy of reception, has been sufficiently prominent. But the point now to be noticed is, that the moment He, who came to seek and to save that which is lost, has succeeded in His quest, He, in the joy of His heart, lays it on "His own" shoulders, for He has found His lost sheep. This surely sets forth the fact that He, who in His unutterable love gave His life for the sheep, undertakes for them in all their pilgrim journey; that all that He is, is engaged to carry them through, every step of the way, until the home is reached; that they are borne up and along in all their journey by divine power. How blessed it is to remember it! There are seasons when we are oppressed with the sense of our feebleness, or deterred by the display of the enemy's power around and against us. In this parable the Lord supplies us with the antidote to all our fears. He reminds us that He has laid us on His own shoulders, and that He would have us repose there in the sense of perfect security.
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Of a similar nature is the comfort ministered by Jehovah Himself to His people, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: and even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." (Isa. 46:3-4.) It is the same precious truth, that from the infancy of Israel, when God called His son out of Egypt, He bore and He carried him. The additional thought of deliverance here given, moreover, greatly enhances the blessed instruction, inasmuch as it reminds us of the perils of the path and the opposition of the enemy. But what of this if we are borne and carried on the divine shoulders, and delivered by God's almighty strength? If at all in the enjoyment of this assurance, we can confidently say with the apostle, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" This then is the truth as to all our pathway, from the time we were first found until we stand within the portals of the Father's house - that we are carried on the shoulders of Omnipotence.
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Another striking exemplification of it may yet', be cited. In "the blessing, wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death," he said of Benjamin, "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders." (Deut. 33:12.) What a home for the feeble saint! There safety and protection may be continually enjoyed, and enjoyed by him as the object of divine affections, as the beloved of the Lord. Benjamin was the beloved of the Lord, and he dwelt in the place of eternal strength; John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, reposed on the breast of his Lord, in the place of everlasting love, and the One on whose bosom he leaned was He who upheld all things by the word of His power. Well might we be lost in adoring wonder as we contemplate this blessed place of rest, which God in His grace has provided for the feeblest of His own!
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So far the divine shoulders are rather for the wilderness journey; but turning now to the book of Exodus, another aspect will be discovered. In the directions given for the holy garments of glory and beauty for Aaron, it was commanded that the names of the children of Israel should be engraven on two onyx stones, and that these two stones were to be put upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel; "and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial." (Ex. 28:9-12.) It will be remembered that the names were also to be engraved upon the twelve precious stones of the breast-plate; but our attention may now be confined, in pursuance of our subject, to the teaching connected with their being placed on the shoulders of the high priest.
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The fundamental idea of the high priest is, that he acted as the representative of the people before God, but as their representative in virtue of propitiation. Thus Christ entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption; He entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. (Hebrews 9:12-24.) If then we interpret the typical fact mentioned, we learn that our blessed Lord, as the great high Priest, bears up His people - in virtue of His sacrifice - before God with divine strength, that He maintains them there according to His own claims in all the perfection and power of His own acceptability to God. This is easily comprehended, however wonderful it may seem, when it is borne in mind that Christ in this character is a representative Person, and that consequently His claim to be there is also our claim. What an unfailing encouragement is thus ministered to us in all our felt weakness! Let us then ever look up to Him who has condescended to take up this office on our behalf, and continually remind ourselves that He has also placed us on His own shoulders in heaven.
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It is most likely, when the bride in the Canticles says, "Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm" (Cant. 8:6), that reference is made to the twofold presentation of the people before God by the high priest; for there is the same combination of heart and shoulders, as is found so frequently in the Scripture. One or two examples may create a desire to enter more fully into the subject. What are the everlasting arms, which are underneath God's people (Deut. 33:27), but the union of almighty strength and infinite love for their sustainment and protection? When moreover the apostle cries, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ"? what does he mean but that there is not a single creature in the universe with sufficient strength to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord?
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We see, then, that all that God is, whether considered in the aspect of His might or His love, yea, in all His various attributes, is engaged on behalf of His people for their safety, for their protection and succour, while passing through the wilderness; that our blessed Lord undertakes for them all through their journey, Himself carrying us, even as Jehovah carried Israel of old; and that, in addition to bearing us up and onward until He has brought us home, He is unremittingly engaged in presenting us before God encompassed with the various beauties of the precious stones, emblems of His own perfections and excellencies, with all the strength of His own undying love. Whether therefore the wilderness path or our representative place in heaven is considered, the teaching of the divine shoulders is full of consolation and encouragement.
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No testimony, no preaching, no teaching, even if the matter of it be all right, is right teaching, when the soul is not first filled for itself from God.