PASSING  UNDER 
THE  ROD

This was a favourite
quotation of the Covenanters as it relates to the purging
of the wicked who will not be allowed into Israel
(Heaven). This inscription appears on a gravestone in
Wanlockhead Churchyard, Dumfriesshire. [ with permission
of A. Little a great, great, grandson ]



 

Ezekiel 20 v
37

I will make
you pass under the rod and I will let you go in by number.

 

We cannot
tell

who next may
fall

beneath the
chastening rod

one must be
first

but let us
all

prepare to
meet our God

 

This poem by
an unknown writer poignantly reflects this belief.

PASSING
UNDER THE ROD.

 

I saw when a father and mother
had leaned

On the arms
of a dear cherished son,

And the star
in the future grew bright in their gaze,

As they saw
the proud place he had won;

And the fast
coming evening of life promised fair,

And its
pathway grew smooth to their feet,

And the
star-light of Love glimmered bright at the end,

And the
whispers of Fancy were sweet;

But I saw
when they stood bending low o’er the grave

Where their
hearts’ dearest hope had been laid;

They had
each heard a voice-’twas the voice of the Lord-

” I love
thee, I love thee-pass under the rod!

 

I saw the
young bride, in her beauty and pride,

Bedecked in
her snowy array,

And the
bright flush of joy mantled high on her cheek,

And the
future looked brilliant and gay;

And with
woman’s devotion she laid her fond heart

At the
shrine of idolatrous Love.

But I saw
when those heart-strings were bleeding and torn,

And the
chain had been severed in two,

She had
changed her white robes for the sables of grief,

And her
bloom for the paleness of woe:

There had
whispered a voice-’twas the voice of the Lord-

I love thee,
I love thee -.Pass under the rod .

 

Unknown.