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Curiosities of the Bible: Remove
Remove a letter, and behold!
A shepherd issue from his fold, With blood devoutly draws he nigh, Himself, alas! how soon to die.
Remove a letter still, and now Before an idol-god they bow; To wood and stone is worship paid, And men adore what men have made.
Remove a letter yet once more, We see an altar stained with gore ; And he who built it named it thus, 'To teach a precious truth to us.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 30.
1. A word which signifies "peace."
2. A child who was born on the day of a great national calamity.
3. A city which was popularly supposed to produce nothing good.
4. A son of Saul who reigned over Israel for two years.
5.
The father of Boaz. 6. An orator who accused St. Paul before Felix. 7. A king of Syria who was anointed by a prophet of Israel 8. David's eldest brother. 9. The queen of Egypt in Solomon's time.
10. The town in which Samuel's house was.
11. The people who erected an altar "to the unknown God
12. The only leper who was cleansed during the reign of Jehoram, King of Israel.
13. A conqueror whose death was more disastrous to hi enemies than his life had been.
14. The country whence Elijah originally came.
15. A Moabitess who married into the tribe of Judah.
16. 'The Ethiopian eunuch who interceded for Jeremiah.
17. The mountain given to Esau for a possession.
18. The church to whom it was said, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
19. Leah's fifth son.
20. The conqueror of Chushan-rishathaim.
21. A servant whose master granted him leave of absence for twelve years.
22. A runaway slave who was sent back to his master by St. Paul.
23. The age of Moses when he visited his brethren.
24. Absalom's daughter.
25. An Egyptian slave who became the mother of a great nation.
26.
The father of Bathsheba.
27. The well near which Isaac dwelt.
28. The tribe to whom it was said, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
29. A charge which was given to the disciples and to all Christians.
The initials of the above names (or words) give us a definition of sin.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 31. 1. Whose army fell beneath an angel's wing? 2. Lol hence the captive ark they homeward bring. 3. Before this ruler, Paul his case explained. 4. A prophet, as deserter, who detained ? 5. Victor in death, heaven opened to his view. 6. Here tyrant fell by stone a woman threw. 7. An ancient river, famed in Deborah's song, That swept the vanquished in its course along. 8. Great city which, by prophet warned, repented. 9. A captured town to Solomon presented. 10. To whom was first earth's future all displayed? 11. A slave escaped, whom Paul a convert made. 12 Chemosh was worshipped on this nation's ground. 13. This governor left Paul unjustly bound. 14. A champion felled by stone a shepherd hurled. 15. Goddess revered by "Asia and the world."
Two of 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12 and 14, take Initials; three of 6; of others one, and make A text, which sets before the Christian life's chief end, First of all aims to which his hope should tend. "Make thou His service thy delight, Thy wants shall be His care."
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 32. 1. An emblem of the Lord of life and grace, Whose death has wrought salvation for our race? 2. What typifies our Heavenly Father's care And shows the love He to his children bare ? 3. And in sad contrast, name a type of those Who 'gainst God's Word have dared their ears to close! 4. Who first brought sorrow to this world below, And was the source of all its sin and woe ? 5. A type of Him, of whom it is foretold That He shall draw all nations to his fold? 6. A type of Jesus' kind and gentle sway, By which He leads us in the heavenly way?
To what choice jewel, beautiful and rare, Did John the founders of the Church compare? 8. A tree that symbolized the Jews of old, And in a figure their sad fate foretold? 9. An emblem that our Lord doth typify?
How safe are those who on His aid rely! 10. A symbol brought to show God's wrath did cease, Which hence became the well-known type of peace? 11. What is of coming day a herald bright, And typifies the God of love and light? 12. A type of Him who did from heaven descend, And feeds all those that on His grace depend? 13. A type of that which makes all sorrows light, And throws a beam across the darkest night? 14. An emblem of a city placed on high Which dared Almighty power to defy?
In the initials of these types we read Not to depend on man in time of need; But put our trust in God's Almighty power, Who help will give for every trying hour.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 33.
1. The prophet who was sent to tell David of the punishment he had incurred by numbering the people.
2. A man who "feared the Lord greatly."
3. The country where the gospel was preached by a man who had once been the terror of the inhabitants.
4. A man who plotted to destroy a whole nation for the offence of one man.
5. The only man who escaped the slaughter of the priests by Saul.
6. The mountain in whose neighborhood Sisera was de feated.
7. The prophet who reproved Asa for trusting to the King of Syria.
8. The name which Jacob gave to the place where the angels of God met him. 9. "A prince and a great man."
10. The king by whose decree the building of the second temple was finished.
11. The wife of Aaron.
12.
The man to whom David showed kindness for Jonathan's sake.
13. A man who was spared by a king, and slain by a prophet.
14. The city of the priests.
15. The prophet who was slain by Jehoiakim.
16. Herod's brother.
17. The place where the Israelites fought their first battle after leaving Egypt.
18. The murderer of Gedaliah.
19. The Hebrew name of the place where our Lord was condemned.
20.
The father of Lot.
21. The city to which Jehoshaphat attempted to send ships.
The initials of the above names (or words) form a statement which shows us that we are "very far gone from original righteousness."
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 34.
1. IHe who with Joshua only of the land Who quitted Egypt reached the promised land. 2. Name of a street, Saul's blindness here had end. 3. Man plants and tends; God only this can send. 4 A judge who cared not to take either side. 5. A pronoun oft in friendly speech supplied. 6. Who was it, to whom plainly Christ confessed,
The "Son of Man" was "Son, too, of the Blessed? 7. King of Damascus, when St. Paul thence fled. 8. The city where, in Egypt, Joseph wed. 9. Of Solomon the royal Tyrian friend. 10. Whom Peter smote, his Master to defend.
Initials two of 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, With four of 4 and 3 of 7 combine; One of the rest: a counsel thus is made Of comfort full, yet ill, alas ! obeyed.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 35. 1. Another name by ancient men To land of Edom given. 2. The first four letters of a fruit To Nazarites forbidden. 3. What man, for taking a stronghold, Obtained his cousin's hand? 4. The place where Lydia purple sold, The richest in the land. 5. A Grecian game to which St. Paul Compares the Christian's path. 6. A tree of which the Jews burnt much On their domestic hearth. 7. A very profitable use, for Scripture, Paul did name. 8. The first three letters of a man To whom death never came. 9. Name the third mount to whose high top King Balak, Balaam led. 10. Give for a parable a name In Bible pages read. 11. Reverse the name where gold was found-- A celebrated place; 12. And give the mighty ancestor Of Edom's hardy race.
When you the firsts and finals find, A sentence you may frame, A promise made by Christ on earth Which we in heaven may claim.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 36.
Curiously hinged and jointed To its fellow hangs my first; To preserve man's life appointed, When the ground, through sin, was cursed; Yet it never Fails to deal destruction round, To whatever May within its reach be found.
With substantial fabrication Is my unseen second blest; Made a wondrous habitation, For a still more wondrous guest :
Framed to cherish Force of arm-the warrior's trust; Doomed to perish- Earth to earth, and dust to dust!
From a feeble creature taken, Once my whole appeared in sight; And by strength vindictive shaken, Slew a thousand in the fight; 'Twas selected To rebuke the Gentiles' pride; Soon rejected, Like a weapon cast aside.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 37. (Showing a possession lost for us by the first Adam; regained for us by the second Adam.) 1. The name of one of the first seven deacons. 2. A man who, as a king, offered willingly land and goods to build an altar, and to offer sacrifice to God. 3. A family which earned the approbation and reward from God by their obedience to the command of their ancestor. 4. A maiden given to wife as a reward for capturing a city; and who sought and obtained, of her father, land with springs of water. (N.B.-The account of this is given twice over in the Bible; give reference to both passages.) 5. The omitted tribe in the account, in the Revelation, of the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand. 6. The father of that prophet of the Lord who dared speak unpalatable truth to the wicked king to whom the rest of the prophets had spoken palatable falsehood. 7. A convert called by St. Paul "the first fruits of Achaia," and whose household that apostle baptized. 8. That prophet whose visions, in the Old Testament, are often much akin to those of St. John the Divine in the New. The initials of the above will give the answer.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 38.
From the New Testament alone, Resolves these questions truly; The answers two acrostics make, When ranged in order duly. 1. The brook that Jesus had to cross, The traitor's band to meet? 2. The symbol of the prayers of saints, Acceptable and sweet? 8. When Mary saw the Master risen, Her cry of recognition? 4. The fourth of seven-the daily care Of widows was their mission? 5. He who, in recklessness profane, His birthright blessing sold? 6. And he who vexed his righteous soul With Sodom's crimes of old? 7. The band wherein a Roman served, With right devout behavior? 8. And he, at Rome, whom Paul salutes, "Our helper" in the Saviour ? 9. And lastly, he, progenitor Of Christ's reputed father, Whose name the sixth in upward rank, From Joseph's line we gather?
The initials and the finals take From every term selected, Except "the symbol of the prayers," And this must be bisected.
See the first Gentile Christian's name, Framed from the signs initial; And in the finals upward read, Behold his rank official.
May we, like him, by Peter taught, Renounce our Gentile pride, And by the Spirit from above Our hearts be purified!
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 39.
From the tangled thicket bounding, Roars my first; Through the wild his voice, resounding?
Hath dispersed All the tribes that prowl and prey In the night:
From his path they flee away With affright.
O'er the path my second gliding Bites the heels; In the treacherous wine-cup hiding, Stings and kills.
But the Christ, creation's Head, David's Root, Shall my first and second tread Under foot!
Look! my third has made its dwelling Underground; And its mimic mountains swelling, Rise around:
Image of the carnal mind, Child of earth, 'Tis by nature dark and blind From its birth.
So my fourth, with scanty vision Of the light, Flitting, finds its whole provision In the night.
To my third and fourth, 'tis told, Man shall cast All their gods of sordid gold, At the last.
Who the four initials borrows, Shall display One, who all our sins and sorrows Bore away:
Like this creature-though Divine- Ile became, And his name, in type and sign, Is the same.
SCRIPTURAL ENIGMA, No. 40.
What godly priest on Judah's throne his wife's young nephew placed?
What land unto Urijah gave a shelter, when disgraced? Who was the youngest son of him who ear a curse fore told?
What relation was Paul to one who told of plotters bold? Who mourned when one for Israel's good help from a king re ceived?
What was it last poured out on them for whom our Saviour grieved?
What prophet of the Lord most high did Syrian plots defeat? What brother in the Lord did Paul for one estranged entreat? What bishop of an eastern church had learned God's holy truth, While yet a child, and served the Lord e'en from his early youth?
If you have answered this aright, the initial letters prove Our blessed Saviour's sympathy, his tenderness and love; And then the final letters read, for these will let you know A place where Christ with tears of love His sympathy did show.
SCRIPTURAL ENIGMA, No. 41.
From the New Testament these questions solve, And thus these names evolve : 1. Who was it oft-times trembled while he heard A Roman prisoner's word? 2. What Jew from Egypt did at Corinth preach With strong, persuasive speech? 3. Who, by presentiment of faith possessed, Ilis twin-born children bless'd? 4. Who, with a life by earliest faith begun, Was call'd the apostle's son? 5. Who, by her daughter's "light fantastic" tread Obtained a prophet's head? 6. Whose name stands second in tu ascending tre Of Jesu's pedigree? 7. What slave was to his injured master sent By Paul, a penitent? 8. Who was that Jewess, whose experienced speech Did a great teacher teach ? 9. Who was his mother who, in early youth, Believed and preached the truth? 10. Who was the first of all the Gentile race To learn the Saviour's grace? 11. Who-though not first-all Asia led astray, And turned from Paul away? 12. Who, by one lie, called forth th' apostle's power And perished the same hour ? 13. Who heard the voice of Peter at the gate, And made the apostle wait ? 14 What epithet both marks a traitor's shame, And clears his namesake's fame ? 15. Who for St. Paul his longest letter penned, And kind salute did send? 16. What title, in three vowels, doth express The Saviour's faithfulness?
Now from each term evolved th' initial take, And an acrostic make.
Three sovereign graces that in Christians dwell, The several letters spell.
The first, without saving power, looks back to see The Saviour's agony.
The next, with steadfast eye, looks upward still To heavenly Zion's hill.
The last, the greatest, labors to be blest In heaven's eternal rest.
The first completed, and the next made sure, The third shall still endure.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 42. 1. The tribe to which Korah belonged? 2. The son of Ruth? 3. That by which the sheep know the shepherd? 4. David's eldest brother? 5. The man whom Philip brought to Christ? 6. The father of Ahab? 7. The birthplace of St. Paul? 8. The man who "boasted himself to be somebody?" 9. The city given by Joshua to Caleb? 10. The prophet who said " I am not better than my fathers"" 11. That which Pharaoh's daughter promised to Jochabed? 12. The man who was "blessed because of the Ark of God?" 13. The place where Elkanah lived? 14. That of which Jacob made pottage? 15. The man who was "greatly beloved?"
The initials form a precept much needed in this world. SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 43. 'Tis night-my first runs out, another comes, Another and another, ere the morn Wakes up a slumbering world And lights the toils of men. 'Tis day-my second runs his weary round, And groans in pain, or travails with his task, Or sits enthroned in pride, Or in the dungeon pines. 'Tis night again-my whole with lofty eye, Looks out beneath him on a slumbering wo The dim horizon scans.
And kens the coming foe.
Simile.
The Christian's life is like the first; and he Should like the second quit himself, be strong Be wise; and, like the whole, Look for his coming Lord.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 44.
In the initials placed aright, Appears that spot of memory sweet, Where He who dwelt as man on earth Loved with his followers to meet. 1. My wicked wiles could not avail God's servant to dismay. 2. In bitterness of soul I knelt, Before the Lord to pray. 3. Beside a river's bank I stood, And viewed a wondrous sight. 4. To me a crown of gold was given, And robes of blue and white. 5. In time of danger I concealed God's prophets in a cave. 6. In vain to Egypt did I fly, My threatened life to save. 7. With saddened heart I left the land Where those I loved were laid. 8. In Pekah King of Israel's days, I did his land invade. 9. A city I must first besiege, Ere I my wife could win. 10. I trembled at my prisoner's words, Yet would not leave my si 11. My giant strength became as nought Opposed to God's great might. 12. My tribe was chosen by the Lord, To serve Him day and night. 13. As musing in the field I walked, I saw my bride draw near. 14. I would not, at my lord's command, Before his court appear. 15 My harsh reproofs but served to add Unto my friend's great woe. 16. I perished on the battle-field, But not by sword or foe, My own right hand the weapon held, Which made my life-blood flow.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 45.
The prophet who "loved the wages of unrighteousness." The native land of Ishmael's wife.
The man who would not part with the inheritance of his fathers.
The tenth part of an ephah.
The city to which Barnabas went to seek Saul.
The number of years that Moses sojourned in Midian.
The saint who, "being dead, yet speaketh."
The medium of communication between Joseph and his biethren.
St. Paul's "own son in the faith."
The father of King Manasseh.
Isaac's brother-in-law.
The prophet visited on his death-bed by King Joash.
The city where Omri was buried.
The Benjamite who cursed David.
These initials make a charge of our Saviour to His disciples. SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 46.
Whose faith and courage saved her people's life?
Who won a battle trusting in the Lord?
Who gained a sharp rebuke for jealous strife?
Who perished by a traitor's cruel sword?
Who checked his rage to prove a prophet's word?
The initial letters take they form his name Who did his foe's unwilling praise proclaim; Then take the finals, and they give the same.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA. No. 47. 1. A type of our Lord; one who entered the land of Egypt, and the house of bondage, and there saved his people. 2. One who preferred a present and temporal benefit, to that which was future and eternal, and repented, when too late. 3. The name of a King of Israel; also of one who, from a persecutor, became an apostle. 4. One who put out a rash hand, unauthorized by God, to steady the ark, which he thought to be in danger, and received not praise, but punishment from God. 5. The name of that church of whose angel (or bishop) was said, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." The first letters of these make up the sweetest human name ir the world. "It makes the wounded spirit whole It calms the troubled breast; 'Tis manna to the hungry soul, And to the weary rest.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 48.
What is Christian worship?- You shall quickly know, When you solve the queries Following here below :- Name the fifth disciple, Of Bethsaida he, Jesus found, and called him, Saying, "Follow me!"
How shall we take warning?
Learning from Lot's wife, Who, though saved from Sodom; Turned, and lost her life!
With the traitor's silver, When this field was bought, There the doom he suffered, Of the deeds he wrought.
Paul once found at Corinth, Lately come from-whence?
Two good souls, when Cæsar Drove all Jews from thence.
Early in the morning, With the Marys came One, to look for Jesus ; Mark recites her name.
Jacob's father's father- Tell his worthy name:
In the line of David You shall find the same.
First th' initial letters, Next the finols take; Then, with holy incense These sweet offerings make:
This to tell God's mercies, That to seek his face, Through the blood of sprinkling, At the throne of grace.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 49.
A faithful martyr's honored name, A prophet-judge's dwelling-place, A warrior who to David came, A priest who perished in disgrace, A prophet's home, a mountain land :
The initial letters spell, Reverse their order as they stand, A mournful name they tell, Which one, oppressed with deepest woes, In bitterness of spirit chose.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 50.
My first is known in every Christian clime, The fatal instrument of deadly crime.
Abhorred, beloved, accursed, and yet most blest, A path of trouble to a land of rest.
For the initial letter substitute The next in alphabetic order found, And all most valued, held in best repute, In this vain world most worshipped or renowned, Weighed with my first, so painful, yet so dear To each true heart, my second will appear.
The two first letters of this word remove, And place instead the initial of her name Who cheered God's saints with words and deeds of love. Embraced my first, and gloried in the shame.
The word thus formed is used by one most blest, That great apostle whom she made her guest, To tell what all the world's wealth, learning, fame, When he beheld my first, to him became.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 51.
In many a bosom fondly nursed, A fiery serpent is my first; When Jesus came for us to die, Ile crushed this deadly enemy.
My second is a city's name, Where Israel's host was put to shame, Because my first still unrevealed, Was lurking in their camp concealed.
Upon my whole, pronounced by heaven, The knowledge of my first was given.
The chosen people gathered round, And trembled at the dreadful sound.
SCRIPTURE ENIGMA, No. 52.