the same stage and display a greater faith. As Job, Joseph, Rahab and Esther played their breathless parts in the Divine Drama, their every thought lay open to the entranced eyes of Him who loved them. If Heaven was plunged into gloom as David betrayed in one stroke his faithful soldier and his loving God, yet also it knew the ecstasy of appreciation as Micaiah strode back to his prison fare, the only 'man' amongst them all; or Daniel opened his deadly window 'as he did aforetime'. With what joy has the Lord turned and said to the angels those words which one day He will address in person to some of the actors in the human spectacle 'Bravo, Bravo! Well done'.

So close had been His interest in human affairs that at times He had participated personally in them. He had experienced the horror of Sodom, shared a meal with Abraham and Sarah, walked in the Fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. At other times, though not visible Himself, He had acted visibly: had written upon Belshazzar's wall, and upon Moses' tables; had withstood Balaam's ass, muzzled Daniel's lions, and prepared Jonah's whale; had poured down fire from Heaven, and sent a chariot for Elijah. The Old Testament is a record of His Doings: His sorrows, joys, anxieties, long-sufferings, deliverances are all depicted there, that they who read may know their God and understand His ways. The record closes with a clear promise that the spectator at a distance was about to become an actor on the stage. This tremendous announcement was followed by silence from Heaven, a silence which lasted four hundred years, as if all creation awaited this stupendous act in breathless anticipation; and God Himself was amazed at this supreme condescension.