And the

Word of the Lord

 Was Rare in Those Days

“Then the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.  And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.”  (1 Sam 3:1)

In the above verse, the First Book of Samuel described the condition of the Israelites at the end of the Judges’ era. After the Israelites rested from their enemies, settled in the Promised Land, and became busy away from the Lord, their spiritual life became dry.  Whenever the souls internally dry up from God’s word, regardless of the active and hard work image of the external life, the souls feel that every activity is just a commotion, and that every deed is worthless, fruitless and does not satisfy hunger nor quenches thirst.  All of these feelings are due to the fact that God’s word became rare.

The word fills the books, but it becomes rare whenever the souls dry up from it.  God’s word is an ointment poured forth and oil with good fragrance.  Not only does the soul need the oil for nutrition and for lighting, but it also needs it for lubrication that calms down the commotion of the soul, renders its functionality, and comforts its relationships with others. In the absence of the word of God and its comforting task, the tone of legality gets higher in our relations and talks. All of us become accused; and while we are in the place of accusation, we accuse and condemn all others. Everyone is speaking by the law; for the word of love is absent. Everyone has the knowledge, but no one sees the truth or its way, because there is no revelation or vision.  Everyone is speaking, and no one is listening to the meek word of God. Therefore, the word gets more rare every day.  We are in great need to the oil of God’s word today, not to the oil that drips out of pictures on the wall that amazes us, but to the oil that is poured in the hearts. This oil changes the souls to the beautiful image of Christ,out of which springs the oil of the knowledge of God, which fills all of us, together.

When an individual lacks God’s word, the community supports him.  But when the whole community deserts the word of God, who is it that gives the support?  There is no one to support him in the time of weakness. And as the Book says, “there was no widespread revelation”.  How can there be a revelation or vision, when the God’s word is veiled from souls? “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (Jn 9: 4). We must work in the daytime before the night of sin comes.

Truly, we are in need of the “Word of life,” and of the knowledge of Christ so that we may not proceed in the darkness of the world without a vision. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12). This is why we must read the word of God, and keep it in our hearts.

This is an invitation to meet with “Word of Life”. Let us move forward together, in the light of God’s word to pave a roadway to the heavenly life and prepare a place for Him to rest in our hearts.

In this Issue, the first English article by Fr. Matta Al-Miskinis entitled “Christ of the Old and New Testament.”When the Son of God penetrated the mortal time it became vivid history sanctified for the welfare of humanity. This history was recorded in the books to reveal the Word of God in diverse ways to men in all of the ages so that they will live by this Word. The Word of God is revealed in the O.T. in a temporal and indirect way. But, in the N.T., the incarnate Word of God who has eternal life in Him is directly revealed.

The second article, “The Character of the Bible”, by Mr. Adly Hanna explains to the reader of the Bible how to discover its treasure, in a living experience of the Word of God, to learn its mysteries.

The third article, by Dr. Rodolph Yanney, “The Brethren of the Lord”, shows the different views explaining who are they that were called the brethren of the Lord in the New Testament.

The Arabic section starts with a study in the Gospel according to St. Matthew: Theological Background. This study will continue in the forthcoming issues.  The next article, “You are Peter”, discusses the discourse of our Lord with His disciples in Caesarea Philippi, in which He revealed for the first time the mystery of the Church.

In the section, “Between the Magazine and the Readers”, we respond to the readers’ letters that asked for response.  We thank all the readers who sent expressing their support, asking for their continued prayers for the success of this magazine.  We also thank every person that offered help in translation and transcription, asking the Lord to reward them with His heavenly blessings.