Turning to the pages of the old Testament, we find many striking examples.
Ben-hadad sends word to the king of Israel, threatening to destroy his
army. The king of Israel replies, "Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on
his harness, boast himself as he that putteth it off."
Amaziah desired war with Jehoash. He sends to him saying, "Come, let us
look one another in the face." Jehoash simply responds to the presumptuous
challenge, "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in
Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And there passed by
a wild beast that was in Lebanon and trod down the thistle."
Job retorts upon Zophar, after a wearisome recital of dreary commonplaces
intended for comfort, "No doubt but ye are _the_ people, and wisdom will
die with you. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior
to you; yea, who knoweth not such things as these?" To the speech
introduced by these words, Eliphaz sharply replies, "Art thou the first
man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Hast thou heard the
secret of God, and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? What knowest thou
that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us? With us are
both the gray-headed and very aged men, much elder than thy father." Upon
this latter sentiment Elihu expresses himself when he finds opportunity to
put in a word; "Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged
understand judgment."
Indeed the Book of Job abounds in sharp speeches and replies as cutting as
the speeches they answer. The sufferer obstinately refuses to accept
their theory of his affliction or to adopt the remedies his friends
propose. "Ye are forgers of lies," he exclaims, "ye are physicians of no
value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace, and it should be your
wisdom." In response to this appeal, Eliphaz becoming piqued proceeds to
administer consolation with the lash: "Shall a wise man utter vain
knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he reason with
unprofitable talk or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?" "I have
heard many such things," cries the wretched Job, "miserable comforters are
ye all. If your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words
against you, and shake mine head at you; but I would strengthen you with
my mouth, and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief."
There were some word-battles between Sanballat and Nehemiah while the
latter was trying to build the walls of Jerusalem, and the former was
doing his best to hinder the enterprise. "Come," says Sanballat, "let us
meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono,"--let us be
friendly, let us have a pleasant visit together,--"but he thought to do me
mischief." The crafty Sanballat did not take the builder of Jerusalem
napping. Nehemiah replies, "I am doing a great work so that I can not come
down; why should the work cease whilst I leave it to come down to you?"
Are your wishes of such mighty importance, O Sanballat that I should leave
the Lord's work? Must the building cease that I may gratify your whim? Go
to, Sanballat, go to; I can not come down. My work is great and noble;
thou art a trifler and hypocrite! In precisely this vein was Spurgeon's
reply to the pious bore who sent up word, "Tell him a servant of the Lord
wishes to see him." It was Saturday afternoon, and Spurgeon replied, "Tell
him I am busy with his Master!"
Sanballat will have at him again: "It is reported among the heathen, and
Gashmu said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause
thou buildest the wall that thou mayest be their king, according to these
words. And thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem,
saying, There is a king in Judah; and now shall it be reported to the king
according to these words. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel
together." To this tissue of falsehoods manufactured by the mendacious
Gashmu, Nehemiah flashes back with indignation, "There are no such things
as thou sayest, but thou feignest it out of thine own heart." Nehemiah
comes very near giving what Touchstone would call the "lie direct," and he
gives it without the qualifying "If."
Robert Collyer has the following comment upon Gashmu, who was quoted by
Sanballat as authority for the charge that Nehemiah was going to set up
for a king: "This only, this one thing is left: A good man was doing a
good work with all his might, and bad men tried to hinder him. They tried
to hurt his person. Gashmu was above that. He was none of your common
rowdies. Sanballat and Tobiah might do that, but not Gashmu; yet Gashmu
will sit there and nurse his dislike, and be glad to hear the petty
stories that float like thistledown through the neighborhood against the
innocent man; words are twisted and turned to meanings Nehemiah never
thought of, and Gashmu hopes they are true; he wishes they were true; the
wish is father to the thought, and he believes them. * * * So Gashmu has
permitted his prejudices to grow into a lie. Gashmu is to live thousands
of years for one purely false assertion, and to be the representative man
of unprincipled gossips and narrow bigots as long as the world stands."
Another illustration. When the woman, in time of famine, appealed to the
King of Israel as he passed by, "Help, my lord, O King," he turned upon
her with the somewhat grim rejoinder, "If the Lord do not help thee,
whence shall I help thee?" Her case was hopeless, if the Lord could do
nothing.
Although the resemblance is not very strong, this incident suggests a
story of Michael Angelo. It calls to mind the way in which he took revenge
upon Biagio di Cesena. This courtier ventured to criticise his Last
Judgment. With a swift stroke he turned the Minos of the fresco into a
likeness of his critic. Biagio complained to the Pope. "Where has he
placed you?" inquired the Pontiff. "In Hell," said Biagio. "I am sorry,"
replied the Pope; "If it had been in Purgatory, something might have been
done, but in Hell I have no jurisdiction."