To study the Bible was once considered a crime. Only priests were allowed to read and interpret it. Those who were caught searching its sacred pages were punished by fine, imprisonment and not infrequently death. On one occasion Joseph II. under the assumed name of “Count of Falkenstein” was traveling in Bohemia, and, being stopped by a rainstorm took shelter at a village inn. During the evening some of the peasants called at the tavern to talk with the landlord about a small house just outside the village, in which they claimed dark-looking objects, carrying lighted torches, were moving about. Superstition had such a hold upon the peasantry that they thought the future welfare of the little town depended upon the utter annihilation of that cottage, together with its occupants. Joseph, overhearing their conversation, expressed a desire to see the place. Accordingly he proceeded thither with his escort. On arriving, he commanded his attendants to surround the house while he knocked at the door. The summons was answered by an old man who asked, “Who is it that disturbs an honest man at so late an hour?” The Emperor replied: “If you are honest, no harm shall befall you, but, if not, you shall die this very night.” The old man re-entered the room and Joseph followed and seated himself on the stove-hearth. In the center of the room was a table with a Bible upon it, and gathered around were several pious-looking people who had been engaged in divine worship. Joseph ordered the master of the house to proceed with his devotions. This he did, reading from the third chapter of the Gospel of St. John: “For God so loved the world.” After listening a little while, the ruler, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed: “I was not aware that there were people who still had the courage to read the Bible.” He invited the pious father to come to Vienna and inquire at the imperial palace for the “Count of Falkenstein.” The good man, in company with his son, soon after went, and found the Count to be the Emperor himself. Joseph grasped both his hands and gave him a scroll which contained the toleration edict, dated October 13th, 1781. He also handed him a purse of five hundred florins with which to build a chapel. This chapel bearing the inscription, “A present from the Emperor,” is situated in the village of Lackenstein, Bohemia, while the name of Senitz is still honored as the one who dared study the Word of God, though a nation opposed it.
POINTS TO REMEMBER.
To study the Bible one needs a proper spirit. Ezra said, “He prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.” (Ezra 7:10). Heart preparation is needed to open the covers of this Book indited by the Holy Ghost. It is God’s Book, and should be handled by clean fingers and a clean heart. Without doubt Ezra prayed before he studied. “Open Thou mine eyes,” said David, “that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” (Psalm 119:18). Every boy should speak to God before he looks into the Bible, asking that he may reverently and intelligently read its contents.
“Study it carefully,
Think of it prayerfully,
Deep in thy heart let its pure precepts dwell.
Slight not its history,
Ponder its mystery;
None can e’er prize it too fondly or well.”
To study the Bible one should have a special time if possible. The early morning is doubtless the best, for the mind is more active and receptive, and passages then read may be considered with profit throughout the day. However, it is a good thing to glance at it whenever there is a spare moment. James Bonnell made the Holy Scriptures his constant and daily study. He read them, meditated upon them and prayed over them. Sir John Hartop, amidst his many vocations, kept the Bible before him night and day. If it is good to read in the morning, and to meditate upon through the day, it is just as good to read in the evening. The good German expositor Bengel was seen one night with the open Bible upon his knees, and laying his hand upon its sacred page, was heard to say, “Lord Jesus, we are on the same terms that we were this morning, now I will lie down and sleep, and Thou wilt fulfill Thy Word in me.” Blessed confidence!