When
England experienced a major outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 1865,
the Suffolk vicar J. C. Ryle (later Bishop of Liverpool) drew attention
to a factor which most of his contemporaries had overlooked. The Egyptians
in the time of Moses acknowledged 'the finger of God' in their plagues.
Ryle called Englishmen to consider their national disaster in the same
light. His address here reprinted, establishes the principle that national
calamities might be the judgements of God and examines the causes of such
a chastisement. Readers may judge for themselves how far his words apply
to more recent outbreaks.
Ryle
examines the crisis in relation to specific 'national sins'. While some
of the details of his tract are obviously dated, the author's religious
and moral points are as relevant as ever. An 'update' page by Dr Alan
C. Clifford highlights other sins which Ryle would doubtless draw our
attention to if he were living today. Thus his uncompromising message
- which we neglect to our peril - continues to provide an undeniable and
urgent challenge in the present crisis. With words of comfort as well
as chastisement, Ryle's timely message also points us to the only antidote
to despair - the healing providence and saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Norwich
Reformed Church
8
Le Strange Close
NORWICH
NR2 3PN
Tel:
01603-452387
Apologies
for the long article. Please feel free to print this out...
THE
FINGER OF GOD
J.
C. Ryle, MA
Look
at the words which form the title of this booklet, and consider them well.
They were spoken by heathen men more than three thousand years ago. They
fell from the lips of Egyptian magicians when one of the famous plagues
came on the land of Egypt. "Then the magicians said unto Pharoah,
This is the finger of God." (Exodus 8:19). It would be well if all
Englishmen were as wise as these Egyptians!
There
is an evil among us that demands our serious attention. It forces itself
on our notice, whether we like it or not. It has seized the nation by
the throat, and will have a hearing. That evil is THE FOOT AND MOUTH
EPIDEMIC.
It
is a heavy calamity. Myriads of cattle have already died. Myriads more
seem likely to die. The loss of national wealth, and the injury of private
interests are something fearful to contemplate. It is as bad as if gold
and silver were snatched from us and thrown into the sea. A vast amount
of property is clean gone and cannot be restored.
It
is a wide-spread calamity. There is hardly a county in England which is
not suffering. There is not a family which will not sooner or later suffer.
The meat on the rich man's table, and the cheese in the cottage, the milk
and butter which form so large a portion of our food, all will be affected
by it. It will reach every home, and come home to all.
It
is a perplexing calamity. No medicines, or remedies, or modes of treatment,
appear to have any effect on the disease. After all the discoveries of
science, after all that has been written by learned doctors, the skill
of man is completely baffled. Even our statesmen and rulers seem at their
wits' end. With all the accumulated wisdom of the nineteenth century,
we have found no foe that entirely beats us. The curse of helplessness
seems upon the land.
Now
I wish to speak of the cattle plague as a minister of Christ. I wish to
draw attention to one or two things which, amidst the anxieties of the
crisis now upon us, appear likely to be forgotten. Let members of Parliament
view the cattle plague from the political side. Let physicians and men
of science propound their theories of prevention and cure. I only ask
leave to offer a few thoughts on the whole subject as a believer of the
Bible, and as a Christian.
I.
Let us consider, in the first place, whence does the cattle plague come?
I
answer, unhesitatingly, that it comes from God. He who orders all things
in heaven and earth, - He by whose wise providence everything is directed,
and without whom nothing can happen, - He it is who has sent this scourge
upon us. It is the finger of God.
I
shall not spend time in proving this point. I refer any one who asks for
proof to the whole tenor of God's Word. I ask him to mark how God is always
spoken of as the governor and manager of all things here below, from the
very least to the greatest.
Who
sent the flood on the world in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:17)? It
was God.
Who
sent the famine in the days of Joseph (Genesis 41:25)? It was God.
Who
sent the plague on Egypt, and specially the murrain on the cattle (Exodus
7:5; 9:3)? It was God.
Who
sent disease on the Philistines, when the ark was among them (1 Samuel
5:7; 6:3-7)? It was God.
Who
sent the pestilence in the days of David (2 Samuel 24:15)? It was
God.
Who
sent the famine in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 8:1)? It was God.
Who
sent the stormy wind and tempest in the days of Jonah (Jonah 1:4)? It
was God!
I
count it mere waste of time to dwell much on this point. I cannot understand
how any one can be called a believer of the Bible who denies God's providence
over this world. For my own part, I believe thoroughly that God has not
changed. I believe that He is governing all things on earth as much now
as He was in the Old Testament days. I believe that wars, famines, pestilences,
cattle plagues, are all His instruments for carrying on the government
of this world. And therefore when I see a scourge like the cattle plague
I have no doubt as to the hand that sends it.'Shall there be evil in a
city, and the Lord hath not done it?' (Amos 3:6). It is the finger of
God.
Can
any one give a better account of the cattle plague? If he can, let him
speak out like a man, and tell us why it has come. To say that it originated
in another land, that it is not a new but an old disease, that it has
done great harm in days gone by, - all this is evading the question. I
ask to be told why it has come upon us now? How and in what way can the
outbreak be accounted for at this particular period? What possible causes
can be assigned for it that have not existed for hundreds of years? I
believe these questions cannot be answered. I believe that the only cause
that we must come to as last is, the finger of God.
Does
any one regard my assertion as absurd and unreasonable? I have no doubt
that many do so. Many, I suspect, think that God never interferes with
the affairs of this world, and that pestilences and cattle plagues are
only the result of certain natural laws which are always producing certain
effects. I pity the man who thinks so. Is he an atheist? Does he believe
that this wonderfully designed world came together by chance, and had
no creator? If so, he is a very credulous person. But if he does believe
that God made the world, where, I ask, is the absurdity of believing that
God governs the world? If he allows that God framed the universe, why
not allow that God manages it? Away with this modern scepticism! It is
offensive and revolting to common sense. They are not to be heard who
would shut out the Creator from His own creation. He who made the world
at the beginning by the finger of creating wisdom, will never cease to
govern the world by the finger of His providence, until Christ comes again.
This cattle plague is the finger of God.
Does
any one pretend to say that God is too loving to send us such a scourge
as this, and that it is wrong to suppose that anything evil can come from
Him? I pity the man who can argue in that way. - Has he children? Does
he never correct them? If a wise and sensible man, I have no doubt that
he does. - But does he hate them because he chastises them? Does he not
show the highest love by checking them when they do wrong? And shall not
our Father in heaven do the same? Yes: indeed! God does not hate us: He
is a God of mercy and love, and therefore He keeps up His providential
government of mankind. There is love even in this fell scourge which is
now upon us. The cattle plague is the finger of a wise and loving God.
II.
Let us consider, in the second place, why has the cattle plague come upon
us?
I
answer that question without hesitation. It has come upon us because of
our national sins. God has a controversy with England, because of many
things among us which are displeasing in His sight. He would fain awaken
us to a sense of our iniquities. This cattle plague is a message from
heaven.
The
sins of individual men and women are often not reckoned for while they
live; but this is because there is a judgement day yet to come. In that
day, 'every one of us shall give account of himself to God' (Romans 14:12).
For nations there can be no future judgement day. The sins of nations
are reckoned for in time. Special sins and corruptions in a nation call
for special chastisements. I believe that this cattle plague is a special
national chastisement on England, because of our special national sins.
The
teaching of the Bible on this point is to my mind plain, distinct and
unmistakable. Let any one who doubts it read what God says about Babylon,
Tyre, Egypt, Damascus, Moab, Edom, Ammon and Nineveh (Isaiah 13:1; 15:1;
17:1; 19:1; Jeremiah 46:2; 48:1; 49:1-7 ;50:1; Nahum 3:1). Let him read
such texts as these, -
'The
eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful nation, and I will destroy it
from off the face of the earth' (Amos
9: 8).
'He
increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations,
and straighteneth them again' (Job 12:23; 34:29).
Let
them study such chapters as Daniel 4 and 5. Surely, if a man believes
the Bible, these passages should set him thinking. The God of the Bible
is still the same. - He never changes.
Does
any one ask what the special national sins of England are? I will mention
some which appear to my eyes to stand out prominently in this country
at the present time. I may be quite wrong. I only give my judgement as
one who looks on attentively, and marks the signs of the times.
(1)
The first national sin I will name is covetousness. The excessive love
of money,and the desire to be rich in this world, are what I mean. Never,
surely, was there such a race for riches as at the present day. To make
money and die rich seems to be thought the highest virtue, and the greatest
wisdom. Yet God has said 'Covetousness is idolatry' (Colossians 3:5) and
'The love of money is the root of all evil' (1 Timothy 6:10).
(2)
The second national sin I will name is luxury and love of pleasure. Never,
surely, was there a time when people ran so greedily after excitement,
amusement and gratification of their senses. The many are 'lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God' (2 Timothy 3:4).
(3)
The third national sin I will name is neglect of the Lord's Day. That
blessed day is rapidly becoming in many quarters the day for visiting
and pleasure, and not the day of God. Yet Sabbath desecration was specially
one of the sins which brought down God's judgements on the Jews: 'My sabbaths
they have greatly polluted' (Ezekiel 20:13; Nehemiah 13:18).
(4)
The fourth national sin I will name is drunkenness. The quantity of intoxicating
drink needlessly consumed every year in England is something frightful.
The number of public houses, gin palaces and beer shops, in our large
towns, is a standing proof that we are an intemperate people. There are
more people, every Sunday night, in some London parishes, in gin shops
than there are in churches and chapels. We are worse in this respect that
either France or Italy. Yet God has said, 'No drunkard shall inherit the
kingdom of God' (1 Corinthians 6:10).
(5)
The fifth national sin I will name is contempt of the seventh commandment:
'Thou shalt not commit adultery' (Exodus 20:14). In town and in country
among rich and among poor, the tone of feeling about purity among the
young, is at the lowest ebb. Yet God has said, 'Let no man deceive you
with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God'
(Ephesians 5:6).
(6)
The sixth national sin I will name is a growing tendency to look favourably
on the Roman Catholic Church. The very Church which burned our martyrs
three hundred years ago, withheld the Bible from our people, trampled
on our liberties, and to this very day puts the Virgin Mary practically
in the place of Christ, is favoured and trifled with by thousands! A judicial
blindness seems to be coming over us. The line between toleration and
favour appears clean blotted out. The great desire of many is to 'go back
to Egypt.'
(7)
The last national sin I will name is the growing disposition to scepticism
and infidelity. Little by little, men in high places are ceasing to honour
God. Year after year the Bible is more openly impugned, and its authority
impaired. To believe the Bible was once a mark of a Christian. In the
present day an English divine dares to call himself a Christian, and yet
boasts that he thinks much of the Bible is not true. Nothing, I am thoroughly
persuaded, is so offensive to God as to dishonour His written Word.
I
believe firmly that these things are crying to God against England. They
are an offence against the King of kings, for which He is punishing us
at this very day. And the rod He is using is the cattle plague. The finger
of God, I believe, is pointing at our seven great national sins.
To
say that we are not so bad as some nations, and that the sins I have named
are far more abundant in other countries than in England, is no argument
at all. We have had more privileges than other countries, and therefore
God may justly expect more at our hands. 'For unto whomsoever much is
given, of them shall much be required' (Luke12:48). 'You only have I known
of all the inhabitants of the earth, therefore will I punish you for your
iniquities' (Amos 3:2).
I
might easily enlarge on the points that I have mentioned. I purposely
abstain from doing so. I am anxious to make this booklet as short as possible.
To effect this, I content myself with supplying little more than seeds
of thought, which I hope may spring up and bear fruit in many minds. It
only remains to offer a few practical conclusions.
III.
What does the cattle plague summon every one to do?
In
answering that question, the reader will distinctly understand that I
only write as a Christian minister. Let politicians make the best laws
they can to meet the present emergency. Let medical men use every possible
means to arrest the disease, and patiently try every remedy. Let practical
agriculturists neglect nothing that may be available to prevent contagion,
to diminish the liability to infection, and to 'stamp out' the plague
when it arises. But my standpoint is that of the Bible. In the light of
that book I raise my concluding question. What shall we all do?
For
one thing, let us all consider our ways. It is an age of hurry, bustle,
restlessness and fast living. Railways and telegraphs keep everyone in
a state of unhealthy excitement. Now surely it would be well, when the
hand of God is stretched out against us, if we were all to sit down and
think a little. Are we not all over England living too fast? Would it
not be well if there was more Bible reading, more Sunday keeping, more
calm quiet effort to serve God and honour Him? Happy is that man, and
happy is that nation, that begins to think!
For
another thing, let us all humble ourselves before God, and acknowledge
His hand. Alas, we are a proud, self-conceited nation! We are apt to think
that we English people are the wisest, and greatest, and richest, and
bravest people in the world. We are sadly blind to our many faults and
sins. Surely when God's hand is so plainly stretched out against us, it
is high time to give up this boastful spirit. If there is anything that
God hates, it is pride.
It
is written:
'Pride
do I hate' (Proverbs 8:13)
'Pride
goeth before destruction' (Proverbs
16:18)
'I
am against thee, O thou most proud' (Jeremiah 50:31)
'This
was the iniquity of Sodom, pride and fulness of bread,and abundance of
idleness' (Ezekiel 16:49)
'Those
that walk in pride He is able to abase' (Daniel 4:37)
'He
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted' (Matthew 23:12)
For
another thing, let us each individually endeavour to break off our own
besetting sins, and to amend our ways. It is easy work to find fault with
the Government, and to blame others when we are in trouble. The better
course is to look within at ourselves, and try to do our own part to make
things better. The sins of a nation are made up of the sins of a great
number of individuals. Now, if every individual tries to amend his own
life, and to do better, the whole nation will soon improve. The city is
soon clean when every man sweeps opposite his own door.
For
another thing, let us each use any influence we have to check sin in others.
The power that parents, masters, mistresses and employers have in this
respect is very great. If all such would exert themselves to check Sabbath
breaking, excess of dress, idleness, drunkenness and breaches of the seventh
commandment, it would be an immense gain to the general condition of the
nation. Influence over others, we must never forget, is a talent for which
we must one day give account. There are thousands of parents and employers,
I fear, who completely bury this talent in the ground. They allow those
under them to run into sin and, like Eli, never reprove them. It is written:
'His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not' (1 Samuel
3:13).
For
another thing, let us each lay ourselves out more heartily to do some
good in the world. It is a melancholy fact, that the increase of alms
giving in England of late bears no proportion whatever to the increase
of wealth. The trade and commerce of the country have probably doubled
within the last twenty-five years. Yet the incomes of most of our large
religious societies are almost at a stand still. If English people will
not remember that their gold and silver is only a loan from God, and intended
to be used for Him, they cannot be surprised if God reminds them of it
by such visitations as the cattle plague. The hand that gives a nation
wealth is the hand that can take it away.
Last
of all, but not least, let us each resolve to offer special prayer to
God for the removal of the judgement now upon us. Whatever else we do,
let us pray. The Word of God encourages us to it:
'In
everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known
to God' (Philippians 4:6)
'Is
any afflicted, let him pray' (James 5:13)
'If
I send pestilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and will heal their land' (2
Chronicles 7:13-14).
The
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven at God's right hand invites
us to it. He that died for sinners on the cross is sitting there to be
the sinners' Advocate and Friend. He can be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, and knows the trials of our earthly condition. The examples
of Scripture warrant us. The men of Nineveh humbled themselves, and cried
mightily to God, and God heard their cry: 'Shall I not spare Nineveh that
great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot
discern between their right hand and their left; and also MUCH CATTLE'
(Jonah 4:11). The character of God Himself makes it folly not to pray:
'He does not afflict willingly' (Lamentations 3:33). He is the Lord God,
'merciful and gracious, shewing mercy unto thousands' (Exodus 34:6). 'Call
upon me,' He says, 'in the time of trouble, and I will deliver thee' (Psalm
50:15).
Then
LET US PRAY.
PRAYER
Almighty
God, who orderest all things in heaven and earth, and in whose hand is
the life of man and beast, have pity on us miserable sinners, who are
now visited with great sickness and mortality among our cattle. We have
nothing to say for ourselves. We humbly confess that we deserve Thy chastisement,
because of our many national sins. - But spare us, good Lord, according
to Thy many mercies. Deal not with us according to our sins. Withdraw
from us this grievous plague, and restore health to our cattle. Above
all, stir up amongst us true repentance, and increase true religion in
the land. We ask all in the name and through the mediation of Jesus Christ
our Lord, to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory.
Amen.
PUBLISHER'S
POSTSCRIPT
Needless
to say, some of the details of Ryle's tract are dated, e.g. information
and transport technology have progressed in quantum leaps since the nineteenth
century. Air travel, electronics, the TV, computers and the internet were
all in the future. However, the author's religious and moral points remain
as valid and challenging as ever. A recent reader asked, "What would
he say today when things are so much worse?" Ryle would surely add
to his list of 'national sins' such modern evils as government sleaze,
racism, the lottery, the rising divorce rate, child abuse, teenage promiscuity,
drunkenness and drugs. He would be alarmed by legalised abortion and homosexuality,
pornography and paedophilia, and their impact on popular and increasingly
violent entertainment. He would see a clear link between promiscuity and
HIV. He would doubtless oppose multi-faith apostasy and 'new age' idolatry,
and the amoral impact of the pseudo-scientific theory of evolution. That
said, those with eyes to see will readily agree that Ryle's message is
now more urgent than ever. May God save us from wickedness and have mercy
upon us!
Dr
Alan C. Clifford (Pastor, Norwich Reformed Church)