students will readily appreciate. It is instructive and suggestive to
compare the Scriptures on such subjects with other books both ancient
and modern. Take, for example, a passage from the comment of Benjamin
Keach, which gives both the conceit of the ancients and the endorsement
of it at a comparatively recent era. "Pearls," naturalists tell us,
"have a strange birth and original. Pliny saith, Shell fish is the
wonderful geniture of a pearl congealed into a diaphanous stone, and the
shell is called the mother of pearl. Now at a certain time of the year
this shell fish opens itself, and takes in a certain moist dew, after
which they grow big until they bring forth the pearl. By which it seems
they have their birth from heaven in a marvellous manner." Planting his
foot upon this story, the worthy expositor gravely and devoutly
prosecutes the parallel; but already, although it is only a century and
a half old, his speculation serves only to provoke a smile. The comment,
written in England a hundred and sixty years ago, is antiquated and set
aside by the light of the present day; but the parable, spoken in
Galilee eighteen hundred years ago, stands in the middle of the
nineteenth century, enduring in safety the scrutiny of adversaries, and
ministering to the delight of friends, as fair and fresh as on the day
of its birth. "Whence hath this man this wisdom?"[22]
[22] For the sake of its bearing on the divine authority of the
Scriptures, and the questions that are agitated at the present time,
I subjoin a similar example, extracted from a lecture which I
contributed to the Exeter Hall series of 1860-61:--
"A very remarkable expression occurs in the Apocalypse (xvi. 18)
bearing on the work of preparing the earth for man, before man was
made: 'And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men
were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great.' There
the advent of man, as an inhabitant of the earth, is formally given
as an epoch after which great earthquakes did not occur. It is well
known now that earthquakes must have rent this globe before the
birth of man, which make all that have occurred since sink into
insignificance; but how was John, the fisherman of Galilee, led to
employ, eighteen hundred years ago, a phraseology which the
researches of our own day have now for the first time shown to be
philosophically exact? Speaking of this verse, and quoting it
freely, John Bunyan ("Reign of Antichrist,") says, 'For the
earthquake, it is said to be _such as never was_, so mighty an
earthquake and so great.' He thought the phrase, 'since men were
upon the earth,' was equivalent to 'never:' so he wrote and fell
into the blunder. Who led John the Apostle safely past the mistake
into which John Bunyan fell?"
Pearls are the product of certain species of shell-fish, both marine and
fluvial. The cause and manner of their formation have not even yet been
completely ascertained. They do not constitute any part or organ of the
creature that contains them. They are not found in every shell, nor of
the same size and shape in any two. They are eccentric and accidental,
probably also morbid excrescences, thrown out by some individuals of the
species in irregular forms and at uncertain times. They probably owe
their origin to the presence of some minute foreign substance within the
shell, which is distasteful to its occupant. Not being able to cast out
the intruder, the feeble but diligent inhabitant covers it with a sort
of saliva, which hardens over it into a substance similar in consistency
and sheen to the interior surface of its own shell. The act of covering
a base substance of any shape with gold or silver by the process of
electrotype is in human art an analogous operation. When the material,
distilled in imperceptibly minute portions from the living mollusc, has
chemically agglomerated round the original kernel, the pearl is made.
The creature having covered the irritant atom with a coating at once
hard and smooth, can now endure with equanimity its presence within the
shell. Thus unconsciously it manufactures those indestructible and much
coveted jewels, for the sake of which its own life is sought and taken
by man.
In modern times pearl fishing has become a business, and is prosecuted
on a great scale in several far separated regions. Perhaps the increase
of production, through superior methods and instruments, may, here as
elsewhere, have contributed to depreciate the value of the article.[23]
[23] I have been informed by a British merchant who, under license
from the government of India, conducts the pearl fishing in the Bay
of Kuratchee, that the method pursued is to bring the shells to
shore as they are brought up from the bottom of the sea until a
considerable quantity has been accumulated, disposed in a series of
small contiguous heaps, and that then the men stand round the heaps,
open the shells, and search for the pearls. So much loss accrues
from the dishonesty of the men and the facility of secreting a
treasure that lies in such a small bulk, that the proprietor of the
fishing has had under consideration a suggestion to sell the heaps
of shells by auction to the natives, and permit them then to make
the best of their bargain. Whether this method of preventing
peculation has been actually adopted, I have not learned.
Our own Scottish rivers are frequented by a large bivalve mollusc,
which produces true pearls, although their size and number have
never been sufficient to attract capitalists or sustain a steady
trade. I do not know how others operate in other localities, but
here is a method which I either invented for myself or borrowed from
a neighbour, and practised with considerable success on the river
Earn in Perthshire when I was a boy:--Provide a long straight rod,
thin and broad and rounded at the point after the manner of a
paper-cutter. Jump into a light fishing-boat, and bring it right
over the oyster bed when the sun shines brightly and no ripple
disturbs the surface of the water. Bring the boat into such a
position with respect to the sun that your own body, bending over
the gunwale, will throw a shadow on the immediately subjacent
surface. Through that shaded spot you see the bottom with great
distinctness, and can distinguish there the objects of your search
lying invitingly still, and open, and unconscious. The depth may be
from six to twelve feet. The molluscs lie bedded in the mud, with
one edge above the ground, and that edge slightly open. Push your
rod now gently down in a perpendicular direction,--for if you permit
an angle the different degrees of refraction in the air and water
will make your straight rod crooked, and you will egregiously miss
your object at every stroke,--until its point is within an inch or
two of the opening between the shells of the mollusc, and then
quickly plunge it in. Hold it still there for a few seconds until
the creature has time to close and bite the rod, you may then pull
it up at your leisure. Throw your capture into the bottom of the
boat, and proceed in the same manner with the next. When you have
collected a sufficient store, sit down and open them one by one with
a knife, feeling carefully with your thumbs for the little hard
round knots among the velvet folds. These knots, when extricated
from the fleshy lobes that cover them, turn out to be pearls, in
form more or less globular, and in sheen more or less bright. You
rejoice more or less, accordingly, in your capture. The day on which
a good pearl was found became a day to be remembered in the family
group. The price of the finest never rose above a shilling or two;
but as riches are relative, and must be estimated by comparison,
these were treasures to us, and the sight of a large bright pearl
suddenly shining out of the shell was enough to set a boy's heart
a-beating in those early days.
During a drought in the summer of 1863 the small river Doon, in Ayr
shire, fell so low that some pearl-beds in pools, that had not been
noticed in other seasons, were exposed to view, and placed within
reach: the consequence was that the people in the neighbourhood, old
and young, betook themselves to pearl fishing, and that with
considerable success. Among other facts circumstantially related in
the local papers at the time, it was stated that one poor woman,
during the sickness of her husband, gained as much by the sale of
her pearls as made good the loss of her husband's wages for a whole
month. In the course of this summer (1864), and since the preceding
notes were written, a considerable amount of pearl fishing has been
carried on in certain rivers in the northern districts of Scotland,
and efforts have been made to organize a regular trade.
I suppose diamonds occupy now the place that was held by pearls in
ancient times. While a vast number of goodly diamonds are in
circulation, affording occupation to many dealers, here and there one is
found which alone constitutes a fortune of almost fabulous amount for
its owner. One that was brought from India a few years ago, and is now
in the possession of the Queen, has a history extending upward several
generations. It passed, like provinces, from potentate to potentate by
natural inheritance or the fortunes of war. If it had fallen into the
hands of any private person, it would have made him an object of wonder
on account of his wealth, even in presence of modern accumulations. The
history and fame of the Kooh-i-noor supply the best illustration of this
parable that I know.
Conceive a merchant with a moderate capital setting out on a journey
with the view of collecting diamonds for sale in the home market. In the
course of his travels, in the interior of India it may be, he discovers
a diamond such as the Kooh-i-noor in the hands of a countryman. The
possessor may know generally the value of diamonds, and know that this
one in particular is of greater value than any that had ever come into
his hands; yet, because it is unique, and he has nothing in his
experience wherewith to compare it, he may dispose of it for a tenth of
its value. If the best diamond that the seller had ever seen were worth
twenty thousand pounds, he might value this one at forty thousand; and
that price the buyer might cheerfully pay down, although it constituted
all his property, knowing that at home the prize will command four
hundred thousand. Thus, without supposing ignorance on the one side or
dishonesty on the other, you have a transaction which will enrich the
merchant at once and enable him to retire in affluence. This is the sort
of transaction that is supposed in the parable. It was a natural and
probable supposition at a time when information did not spread so
quickly as in our time, and when pearls held as to value the place which
diamonds occupy in modern merchandise.
It is true that the merchant went abroad expressly for the purpose of
seeking goodly pearls; yet this pearl was to him an unexpected and
surprising discovery. He had provided funds sufficient to purchase many
pearls; but when he met with this one, its value was such that he could
not make an offer for it until he had returned to his home and converted
all his property, including the pearls that he had previously purchased,
into money. In this parable as well as in that of the hidden treasure,
an object is discovered of a value hitherto unknown and unsuspected. But
the lesson here is in one important respect different from that of the
preceding parable, and the point of distinction is, that there a man
stumbled upon a treasure when he was in search of meaner things, while
here the merchant finds in kind the very object which he sought, but
finds it in measure far surpassing all his expectation or desire.
Well might the merchant return and convert all his estate into money
that he might purchase this jewel; for if it were once in his
possession, as there could be no rival, he might command his own price.
None but monarchs could aspire to the possession of such a treasure, and
these would compete with each other at his desk for a gem that could not
elsewhere be obtained.[24]
[24] Although their place is not the highest now, yet pearls even in
our own day are sometimes found of a value so great that the history
of an individual is recorded and its praises published through the
world. The following, for example, are the terms of a paragraph
taken from a British journal of last year:--"One of the finest
pearls in the world has been found in the bay of Panama. It is of a
perfect pear shape, and of the finest water."
* * * * *
The application of the parable is, intellectually at least, a short and
easy process. It is not precisely the case of a man who finds the
kingdom of God when he is seeking something else: neither is it the case
of a man who first thoroughly knows the worth of that kingdom and then
sets out in search of it. There is no such example: no man knows its
worth before he obtains it. The merchant knew the value of pearls and
set out in search of them, but such a pearl as that which he found he
had never seen before, and never expected to see. So, although a man has
some spiritual perceptions and spiritual desires; although by a
deliberate judgment he determines to seek the life-eternal in preference
to all the business and pleasures of the world, he does not at the
outset understand how exceeding rich the forgiving grace of God is. Nay,
he thinks, when he first begins his search for salvation, that it may
be accomplished by the union of many attainments, such as men may
possess. Precious pearls and a number of them indeed; but still such
pearls as he has often seen in the possession of other merchants, and
such as he has in former times had in his own store. He goes out with
cash in hand to buy pearls, but he leaves his house and land still his
own. He expects to acquire many excellent pearls and retain all his
property besides. He did not conceive of one that should be worth all he
had, until he saw it. It is thus that people under convictions set out
in search of something that will make them right before God. They want
to get righteousness and temperance, and a good case for the judgment to
come. In their search they come to the Gospel; they get a glimpse
beneath the surface; they see protruding from beneath the folds
something that surprises them. Can that be a pearl? No; that is larger
than any pearl ever was or can be, and brighter; surely that cannot be a
true pearl. What? Pardon of sin to sinners without stipulating for a
price in their own repentance and righteousness,--peace with God and
sonship given free to the chief of sinners before he has done anything
to deserve it,--all sin forgiven, and that now and that free, and no
condemnation thenceforth, but the place and the favour of God's sons!
and these not only to some who stand out from their fellows as great and
good, but these to me,--from God to me to-day as surely as if there
never had been a human being on the earth but myself, and the errand of
Christ had been only and all for me! These glimpses stagger the man at
first; he thinks they are too good to be true. It is as if some one
should tell a skilful pearl merchant that under yon covering lay a pearl
a thousand times more precious than any he had ever seen before: of
course the merchant is incredulous, and demands a sight of it. Then a
portion of the covering is removed, and a glittering disc is partially
revealed, so vast and so lustrous, that instantly and instinctively the
merchant feels, If that be a pearl it is more precious a thousand-fold
than any that I have ever seen: but at the same time he secretly fears
it is not a pearl, and that, not for want of the true pearly lustre,
which his eye has been well educated to detect, but because of its very
greatness and goodness. The process in his mind is not that it does not
seem a genuine pearl, but that if it were a pearl it would be so
inconceivably great and precious that he must conclude there is some
deception. But when it is more fully revealed and more thoroughly
inspected, he finds that it is indeed a true pearl. Instantly he
determines to part with all he has that he may obtain it: he parts with
all that he has, and makes it his own. He has not only made a successful
bargain, as other merchants may do, or as himself may have done at other
times: he has in one moment enriched himself beyond all conception that
he formerly entertained. His merchandise has been brought to an end.
There is no need now for more buying and selling in order to acquire
wealth; his fortune is made.
This is really very like the process that goes on in a human spirit when
an anxious inquiry about salvation terminates in finding and closing
with Christ the Saviour. The expectations with which the inquirer set
out were very low. If he could get his sense of guilt somewhat lightened
that he might begin anew and endeavour to please God; if he could get
the fear of wrath diminished, and some assurance that the Judge would
not visit him to the full extent for all his sins;--he does not venture
to expect more. Expressly he had no conception of all in one: he
thought of a multitude of good religious attainments, which, when added
together, would make him, if not rich enough, yet as good as any of his
neighbours. Some low and little thing he went out to seek, and, lo! he
came upon all the fulness of the Godhead bodily treasured up in Christ,
and all that fulness offered in return for simple surrender of himself.
Surprised by the greatness of the treasure, he suspects at first that
there must be some mistake; but when he becomes convinced of its
reality, his resolution is instantly taken, and the transaction
irrevocably closed. Like the merchant rejoicing in his fortune is a
believer who has found peace with God: henceforth he is rich. He does
not need now to huckster in small bargains between his conscience and
the divine law every day, and struggle to diminish the ever-increasing
amount of guilt by getting small entries of merit marked on the other
side of the page. All this is past. He is in Christ Jesus, and to him,
therefore, there is now no condemnation.
The treasurer of the Ethiopian Queen was precisely such a merchant.
Before he left home he evidently counted himself poor, and longed to
possess the true riches: before he left home he was aware that a man is
not profited although he gain the whole world, if he lose his own soul.
It was an oppressive sense of poverty that compelled him to travel. He
occupied the highest office in a kingdom; he stood on the steps of the
throne, and had charge of the royal treasury; but he counted himself
poor notwithstanding. He must go in search of more precious pearls than
these. Peace of conscience, righteousness, hope for eternity,--these are
goodlier pearls than any that can be found in Ethiopia; and the man
undertakes a journey to Jerusalem to try if he can find them there.
Disappointed there, he was on his way home, seeking still for the
pearls, and seeking near the very spot in the Scriptures where the one
priceless pearl lay, when Philip met him. By the Evangelist's skilful
help he found it then and there; but when he found it at last, it was
much more precious than he had ventured to expect. "He was led as a lamb
to the slaughter." "Of whom speaketh the prophet this?" inquired the
Ethiopian, "of himself, or of some other man?" Some subordinate benefit
he was contemplating,--the suffering of some good man, perhaps, as an
example to his brethren. Even that, as being something that might
contribute to the peace of his soul, he was glad to hear of, and would
gladly buy, that he might add it to his stock of goodly pearls. But when
Philip, beginning from that scripture, "preached to him Jesus," he found
that the lamb led to the slaughter is the "Lamb of God, who taketh away
the sin of the world." The worth of the pearl turned out to be
immeasurably greater than the merchant had previously been able to
conceive. He exchanged all for it on the spot, and went on his way
rejoicing. He did not require to go from country to country any more in
search of goodly pearls. He was rich,--rich toward God.[25]
[25] Das ist Philippus element,
Er übt sein Predigtamt,
Lebendig wird das Pergament,
Des Mohrenfürsten Herze brennt,
Sein dunkles Auge flammt.
Denn was er im Juwelenschrein
Kandaces nimmer sah,
Die eine Perle, himmlischrein
Die köstlicher als Edelstein,
Er fand am Weg sie da.
_Kari Gerok._
I think all speculations about the whiteness and purity and lustre of
the pearl as an ornament should be set aside, as being an attempt to
bring a meaning out of the parable which its Author did not put into it.
Obviously the merchant did not buy it in order to wear it. If after
giving all that he had for the pearl, he had hung it on his neck, where
could the poor man have found food and clothing? No; the pearl is
presented here in one aspect only,--as being "of great price." It was
worth much--it was a fortune to a merchant; but when you speak of it as
an ornament on the wearer's brow, you turn aside from the line of the
parable, and miss its meaning.
The true lessons of the parable, as I understand them, are briefly
these:--
1. It represents the experience, not of a careless or a profane man, who
stumbles suddenly upon the Gospel when he was in search of other things,
but of one who is awakened, and has begun to seek the true religion,
endeavouring to add attainment to attainment sincerely, according to his
light. His conscience is uneasy. He has tried the old specific, "All
these have I kept from my youth up;" but it no longer avails to soothe
his spirit. "What lack I yet?" burst from his breast in broken sighs.
There is truth in the man, though not wisdom. He is honestly seeking the
way, and the Lord leads him. He is seeking; he shall find.
2. It represents the unparalleled, inconceivable richness of God's mercy
in Christ, taking away all a sinner's sin, and bestowing on him freely
the place and privileges of a dear child.
3. It represents that these riches lie, not in an accumulation of goodly
attainments, such as men are wont to traffic in, but in one undivided,
indivisible, hitherto unknown and unimagined treasure.
4. It represents that the inquirer, the instant he discovers that this
one incomparable, all-comprehending treasure exists and is offered to
him, cheerfully, eagerly, unhesitatingly gives away all that he
possesses, in order to acquire it. That is, he gives all for Christ, and
then enjoys all in Christ.
Let me suppose myself a merchant, travelling in a foreign country in
quest of pearls. I have found and secured several lots that I count
good. I have still capital remaining sufficient to purchase many more; I
therefore continue my search. One day I meet a man who shows me a pearl
more precious than any that I had ever seen before. At a glance I
perceive that it is worth all I possess twenty times told. I say to the
owner, and say it with a beating heart, fearing that he will despise my
offer, "I shall give you all I possess for this pearl." He accepts my
offer; he gives me the pearl into my own hands, and I consign over to
him all that I have in the world: first, all the pearls that I have
bought in my journey; next, all my remaining capital; then houses,
lands, books,--all. I sign the deed with a throbbing heart, not from
fear, but from abounding joy. My act does not intimate that I value
lightly my possessions and rights: it intimates that my new portion is,
in my esteem, so greatly good, that it will repay all my outlay, and
give me a fortune beside.
So when I abandon my repentance, and my prayers, and my services and
gifts--when I sign away all my expectations on account of all religious
attainments, and accept Christ alone as my soul's portion--my act does
not intimate that I count little on the various graces of the Spirit in
a disciple's life: it means that in Christ and with him I have all good
things in measure infinite, in duration eternal.
If our suggestion regarding the cause and manner of the pearl's growth
is correct, the kingdom of God in the Gospel of his Son was generated in
the same way: the pearl and the pearl of great price have the same
natural history.
Some foreign, hurtful thing falls on the creature's life. Forthwith the
irritation which that invader produces causes the creature to throw out
and over the disturber that which forms a covering round it--hiding,
smothering, annihilating the originating evil, and constituting over it
and in place of it a gem of the tenderest, gentlest beauty--impenetrable,
imperishable, glorious.