SLEEPING, SLUMBERING, is taken either for the sleep or repose of
the body; or for the sleep of the soul, which is supineness, indolence,
stupidity; or for the sleep of death. “You shall sleep with your
fathers;” you shall die, as they are dead. Jeremiah, li, 39, threatens
Babylon, in the name of the Lord, with a perpetual sleep, out of which
they shall not awake. Daniel, xii, 2, speaks of those that sleep in the
dust of the grave. “Lazarus our friend sleepeth; let us go and awake
him,” John xi, 11; he is dead, let us go and raise him up. “Awake, thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light,” Eph. v, 14. Here St. Paul speaks to those that were dead in sin
and infidelity. St. Peter says of the wicked, “Their damnation
slumbereth not,” 2 Peter ii, 3. God is not asleep, he will not forget to
punish them in his own due time. Isaiah, lxv, 4, speaks of a
superstitious practice among the Pagans, who went to sleep in the
temples of their idols, to obtain prophetic dreams: “They remain among
the graves, and lodge in the monuments.” The word, which we translate
“monuments,” signifies places “kept” or “observed.” Some interpret it of
idol temples, some of caves and dens, in which the Heathens used to
worship their idols; and some of tombs or monuments for dead persons.
Thus also the superstitious and idolatrous Jews, in contempt of the
prophets, and of the temple of the Lord, went into the tombs and temples
of idols to sleep there, and to have dreams that might discover future
events to them. The Pagans for this purpose used to lie upon the skins
of the sacrificed victims.
the body; or for the sleep of the soul, which is supineness, indolence,
stupidity; or for the sleep of death. “You shall sleep with your
fathers;” you shall die, as they are dead. Jeremiah, li, 39, threatens
Babylon, in the name of the Lord, with a perpetual sleep, out of which
they shall not awake. Daniel, xii, 2, speaks of those that sleep in the
dust of the grave. “Lazarus our friend sleepeth; let us go and awake
him,” John xi, 11; he is dead, let us go and raise him up. “Awake, thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light,” Eph. v, 14. Here St. Paul speaks to those that were dead in sin
and infidelity. St. Peter says of the wicked, “Their damnation
slumbereth not,” 2 Peter ii, 3. God is not asleep, he will not forget to
punish them in his own due time. Isaiah, lxv, 4, speaks of a
superstitious practice among the Pagans, who went to sleep in the
temples of their idols, to obtain prophetic dreams: “They remain among
the graves, and lodge in the monuments.” The word, which we translate
“monuments,” signifies places “kept” or “observed.” Some interpret it of
idol temples, some of caves and dens, in which the Heathens used to
worship their idols; and some of tombs or monuments for dead persons.
Thus also the superstitious and idolatrous Jews, in contempt of the
prophets, and of the temple of the Lord, went into the tombs and temples
of idols to sleep there, and to have dreams that might discover future
events to them. The Pagans for this purpose used to lie upon the skins
of the sacrificed victims.