Scripture Clock

Scripture Clock

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Private Collection - © Peter N Millward

What exactly does the Scripture Clock mean?  That was the question I was asking myself. This curious clock and explanation are contained in a book called  "Memories of Gospel Triumphs Among the Jews During the Victorian Era" (1894)  I bought it years ago, a fascinating book to study, but I always felt something more could be done with the Scripture Clock than just leave it unseen within its pages. For those of you familiar with the designs by William C Miles - Gospel Compass and Gospel Target prints one can see similarities, but the Scripture Clock is very different in application and specifically in helping Jewish people know their identity, hope and destiny contained in the scriptures.   It was originally designed and published by Rev John Dunlop -  Secretary of the British Society for the Jews.  The original format and image was only black and white and limited to being printed within a book. Making it now into a colour print with explanation, should reach a wider audience displayed on walls and homes. The text is written, as found - English language from 1894, readers then would have understood. But today's readers?  It isn't easy, the language even though English belongs to a different era. The use of Roman Numerals for the scripture texts is also a further challenge for the unaccustomed.  I listed all the 12 scriptures used in the hours of the clock below to understand better. After some prayer and meditation it started to dawn on me what the Scripture Clock means.  It is 12 carefully selected scriptures to use when presenting the Gospel to Jewish people. Each scripture is a reminder, to help Jews know who they are, their nation, their land, their need....and their Saviour. If these scriptures are adhered to in presenting the Gospel, it should lead many to the 12th hour of the Jewish Clock - “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe” 

It speaks on so many levels to the identity and destiny of the Jewish people.   

So here it is, republished in 2020 after 126 years! You could say  a lot has happened since 1894!  The Jews returned to their home land and now visibly established as a nation once again, Israel - Just as the scriptures teach.

Why are the four seasons displayed on the clock? - Summer, Winter Autumn, Spring? And why are they arranged so curiously?  The sons of Issachar will know - The are called to understand the times and seasons - And also this Scripture clock. 

"And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment." 1 Chronicles 12:32 (KJV)    

Below are the 12 scriptures - I left them in Kings James Version as that is how they were written to be originally understood. 

The Scripture Clock - 12 hours - 12 Scriptures

1 “Jews” - The first occurance of this word “The Jews” in the Old testament  “At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.”  2 Kings 16:6 (KJV)

2 “The Jews”The first occurance of this word “The Jews” in the New Testament “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him”. Matthew 2:2 (KJV)

3 - Jews by Nature - “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,”  Galatians 2:15-21 (KJV)

4 - “The Land of the Jews”    "And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:”,  Acts 10:39 (KJV)

5 - “The Nation of the Jews”   “And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews,” Acts 10: 22 (KJV)

6 - “For Salvation is of the Jews”  “ Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22 (KJV)

7 - “Write not the King of the Jews” “Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.” John 19:21 (KJV)

8 - “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.”  John 19:19 (KJV)

9 - “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a Stumbling block”.  “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness”  1 Corinthians 1:23  (KJV)

10 - “Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks.”   “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Acts 20:21 (KJV)

11 - “I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews.”  “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law” 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 (KJV)

12 - “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe” “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:  Acts 21:20 (KJV)

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The Explanation of the Scripture Clock - Rev J. Dunlop -  Secretary of the British Society for the Jews.

The Voice of the Clock.
JOHN BERRIDGE wrote, and pasted on his clock, the following lines : —
" Here my master bids me stand,
And mark the time with faithful hand ; 
What is his will is my delight, 
To tell the hours by day, by night. 
Master, be wise, and learn of me, 
To serve thy God as I serve thee ! "

So would we give the clock a voice, as it strikes the hours, and make it speak the words of God, concerning the Jews.

The Clock strikes
I. " Jews."—" This word " says Dr. Eadie " first occurs in this passage (ii. Kings xvi. 6), and denotes the Judeans, or men of Judah, in contradistinction from the seceding ten tribes who retained the name of Israel. The name Israelite's was applied to the twelve tribes or descendants of Jacob (Israel) as a body; but after the separation of the tribes, the above distinction obtained until the Babylonish Captivity, which terminated the existence of the kingdom of Judah; and thenceforward, until the present day, the descendants of Jacob are called Jews, and constitute one of the two classes into which the whole human family is frequently divided, viz., Jews and Gentiles." (Rom. ii. 9, 10.)
II. " The Jews." -Here the word "Jews" occurs for the first time in the New Testament. The Jews were regarded by the wise men, as a people, with Jesus as their King.
III. "Jews by Nature."—"Jews by nature," not by proselytism, Jews like Paul and Peter, have cast away their trust in the law, and have been justified by believing in Jesus.
IV. " Land of the Jews."—That land should be to us most interesting, as it wras trodden by the feet, and hallowed by the presence of Immanuel.
V. " The Nation of the Jews."—" A nation that living shall die, and dying shall live; that trampled by all, shall trample upon all; that bleeding from a thousand wounds, shall be unhurt; that beggared, shall wield the wealth of nations; that without a name, shall sway the councils of kings; that without a city, shall inhabit in all kingdoms ; that scattered like the dust, shall be bound together like the rock; that perishing by the sword, by the chain, by famine, by fire, shall be imperishable, unnumbered, glorious as the stars of heaven."
VI. " For Salvation is of the Jews," —The Author of Salvation, the first preachers of salvation, and the word of salvation, were all " of the Jews."
VII. " Write not the king of the Jews,"—said Jewish Priests to Pilate. But Pilate neither would nor could alter what he had written.
The Clock strikes
VIII. " Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.',
IX. " We preach Christ Crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling-block." Seeing that the preaching of the cross excited the deepest hostility of the Jews, why did the Apostles preach it ? Because there was no other way of bringing them to penitence, pardon, peace, and purity. While the preaching of the Cross was to many Jews a " stumbling-block," it was to many the stepping-stone from Earth to Paradise.
X. " Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks."
XI. " I  became as a jew that I might
gain the Jews."—These voices of the clock, teach us how to win the Jew for Jesus. While testifying of repentance toward God, and faith in Christ, treat the Jew as a brother.
As the clock strikes ~
XII. we learn the grand result of adhering to this method.
"Thou seest, brother, how many thousands (lit., myriads) of Jews there are which believe."—Let the disciples of Christ adopt this method now, and the same result will follow. In it we have the prophecy of a golden time coming for God's ancient and beloved people.
" The Jews," said one, " have been sprinkled like millions of globules of quicksilver over the length and breadth of the world; every drop reflecting bright beams from the past, and mirroring forth the morn' ing of a glorious future."
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The Clock and the Society Commended by the late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.
Our friend, Mr. Spurgeon, was kind enough to give our Scripture Clock the first place in his admirable Magazine " The Sword and the Trowel," for May, 1880, and with it the following interesting note :—
" This Clock was brought out in the Jewish Herald, which is the excellent monthly organ of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, and it struck us as worthy of a wider circulation. We commend it and the Society to the thoughtful minds of all believers. Has not the time come in which the Church will lay the seed of Israel more upon her heart ? "

The Scripture Clock