WOLF, a strong, fierce, cunning, de-
structive beast of prey, resembling a large
dog, Gen. 49:27. Sheep are
especially
the victims of wolves, John 10:12; and
Divine prophecy, declaring "the wolf
shall dwell with the lamb," fortels the
transforming power of Christianity on
the minds of savage men, preparing to
enjoy social intercourse, in its holy ordi-
nances, governed by benevolence the fruit
of the Spirit of God, Isa. 11:6; 65:25.
WORD OF GOD, a revelation,
message,
or precept, communicated from God to a prophet, 1 Sam. 9:27; Luke
3:2: the Scriptures, Matt. 7:13: the doctrine of
God's law, Isa. 40:8: the doctrine of the gospel, Acts 4:31; Rev. 1:2-9.
WORD OF GOD, a name of Christ as the Son of God, John 1:1,3, 14; Rev. 19:13.
Why our Saviour is called
by this name
has not been fully revealed: but it has
been thought, because of His being the
Revealer to mankind of the gracious
mind and purposes of God, Heb. 1:1-3;
because He created all things by His omni-
potent voice, Psal. 33:6-9; Col. 1:16;
and because of His communicating with
the patriarchs and prophets,
making
known to them the will of God, 1
Kings
13:1, 2, 32.
WORK, to labour, Exod. 5:18; Neh. 4:
6: to act or operate, Josh. 9:4: to prac-
tise, Acts 10:35; Rom. 2:10; Eph. 4:19. God works in this world by His ever-
active providence, John 5:17; Eph. 1:11;
and in the church by the gracious influ-
ences of his life-giving Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:
6, 11. Satan, as the god of this
world, as
the prince of the power of the air, works
in the minds of the irreligious, ruling
them in disobedience to God, 2 Cor.
4:3;
4; Eph. 2:2.
WORMWOOD, a very bitter herb, Deut.
29:18; to this sin and its
fruit, cala-
mity, are likened, Jer. 9:15; Lam. 3:15,
19; Rev. 8:11.
WORSE, less good, 1 Cor. 8:8: less
strong, John 2:10: less virtuous or more
corrupt, 1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Tim. 3:13: more
injurious, Matt. 27:64: more injuri-
ously, Gen. 19:9: more calamitous, 2
Kings 14:12; 2 Pet. 2:20.
WORSHIP, honour or respect, Luke 14:
10. Rulers and princes indulging their corrupt passions, wickedly claimed the
homage of their subjects to such a degree,
that at length they required and received
divine honours, and were therefore wor-
shipped; many demanded the same wor-
ship to be given also to their statues,
which were exhibited for the public
adoration: all these are illustrated in the
life of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 2:4, 5,
31,
37; 3:1, 7, 18, 19; 5:18, 19.
WORSHIP, to reverence or render
homage with both body and mind, Gen.
22:5; 24:26. God the
Creator only
is the lawful object of worship; and He
righteously claims all our powers, which
are His gifts, to serve Him and show forth
His glory, Exod. 34:14; Matt. 4:9,
10; John 4:20-24. God only has a right
to prescribe how men shall worship Him;
and this He has mercifully done from age
to age; instituting the Sabbath with the
tree of life for man in innocency, Gen. 2:
1-3,9; sacrifice of atonement prefiguring
Christ, for man as a sinner, 3:21; 15:9-
17; Heb. 11:4; and for our complete
direction, He has graciously given us His
perfect rule in the Holy Scriptures, Matt.
15:9; Acts 20:32; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
Man, as a rational being, feels the con-
viction of it being proper to worship God;
and hence arose, as many learned divines
suppose, through guilt and superstitious
dread, the various systems of idolatry,
commenced or promoted chiefly after
the deluge, by the famous Nimrod, Gen.
11:8, 9.
WREST, to pervert, as the course of
justice by a bribed magistrate, Exod.
23:26; as the words of a person by
an enemy, Psal. 56:5; as the language
of Scripture by unstable minds, 2
Pet.
3:16.
, Rev. 3:17; as saints are
when depressed with conscious guilt and
imperfections, Rom. 7:24.
WRETCHEDNESS, misery or disgrace,
Num. 11:15.
WRING, to twist forcibly, as to take
off the head of the sacrificed bird, Lev.
1:15; 6:8: to press out, as the wicked
are said to be punished, Psal. 75:8.
WRINGING, twisting violently, Prov.
30:33.
WRINKLE, a furrowy blemish in the
face, indicating decay by age, Job 16:8:
any blemish or defect, Eph. 5:27.
WRITING, letters or a written record,
Exod. 32:16; 1 Chron. 28:19; Est.
4:8; John 19:19. Alphabetical writing
is believed to have been given imme-
diately from God to Moses, for the pur-
pose of his presenting to Israel, and of
transmitting to future generations and
other nations, the inestimable blessings
of Divine revelation. Pictorial
or hiero-
glyphical representaions, it is probable,
were used before the time of Moses,
Gen. 38:18, 25; Job 19:23, 24;
but alphabetical writing appears to have
been the immediate gift of God, whose
law He gave to Moses, "written," that is
engraven, "on two tables of stone, with
the finger of God," Exod. 31:18: this
is, therefore, called the "writing of God,"
32:16. Historical research of the
most learned antiquaries is unable to
trace the invention of letters to a more
remote period: and every investigation
of this subject, pursued as it has been
by the profoundest scholars, leads to the
conclusion that the most ancient Grecians
and Phenicians derived the knowledge
of their alphabets from the Divine dis-
covery of Moses. See BOOK, ENGRAV-
ING, LANGUAGE,
and PAPER.
WRITING-TABLE, a table or tablet on
which to write, Luke 1:63.
