[NOTE: The
following is an extract from the author’s book ‘CHRIST AND ISRAEL,’ pp. 138-191.]
{Book cover writing}
Although he spent most of his life serving in the context of
the Christian Church, Dr. Adolph Saphir never forgot the biblical mandate to
reach his own people, the Jews, nor did he lose his deep desire to see them
receive salvation through Jesus, their promised Messiah. This collection of highly charged and
focussed lectures challenges the Church to reach out to the Jewish nation with
the gospel.
Not only is the Church commanded to do so, argues Dr. Saphir, but loving and witnessing to the Jews will only bring
blessing on their own lives. Clearly
affirming his position as a pre-millennialist, Dr. Saphir provides a detailed
Scriptural basis for Jewish evangelism, and with the benefit of his own wide
experience he gives the reader practical tools for accomplishing this
task. Perhaps most importantly, the author
causes the reader to examine his or her own heart. Do we see only the sinfulness of the Jews,
and none of their own sufferings? Do we
ignore the fact that we are guilty of the same sins? Christ and Israel is a classic for all times,
a must have volume for anyone who has ever considered Jewish evangelism.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS - A COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE STUDY
OF
* A lecture delivered at Blackheath, April 26, 1864.
[Page 138]
The subject upon which I have the great privilege of speaking
to you is so vast and comprehensive, and our space so limited, that all I can
attempt is to give a very brief and rapid sketch of the views which, from a
study of the Word of God, I have been able to form on this most interesting
topic, and I trust that this circumstance will be accepted as some slight
excuse for what may appear the superficial nature of my remarks.
In giving a short statement of views, it is difficult to avoid what may
seem a dogmatic tone, but I beg you to bear in mind that I am merely announcing
my personal views, which I have arrived at from the reading of Scripture.
I shall first state three facts, which
I deem fundamental in this inquiry, then give a brief sketch of the teaching of
Scripture in reference to the Jews, showing that, from Genesis to the Book of
Revelation, they are represented as a peculiar people, chosen for [Page 139] the glory of God and the manifestation
of His salvation to all nations. I shall then bring
before you very shortly the present condition of the Jews, from which it is
evident that the prophecies concerning them await yet their fulfilment. I shall, fourthly, give an
outline of what appear to me to be the phases of Israel’s restoration indicated
in the Bible; fifthly, present a picture of the state of the restored and
converted nation, with Jesus Christ as their King, and Jerusalem as the great
centre of light and service in the coming age: and after having referred to a
few objections frequently brought forward against the literal fulfilment of
Jewish prophecies, I shall endeavour to point out the very important practical
bearings of the subject.
I. The three fundamental facts of which I am
anxious to remind you are these:-
1. There is a Book different from all other books - the
writings of Moses and the Prophets, Evangelists and Apostles - commonly and
justly called the Book, or Bible.
2. There is a nation different from all other nations, a
peculiar people, the Jews, or the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
3. There is a Man, different from all other men, the Man
Christ Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary, of the seed of Abraham, the King of the
Jews and Light of the Gentiles, the Lord from Heaven and the Son of the Most
High, Blessed for ever!
These three - the peculiar Book, the peculiar Nation, and the
wonderful and glorious King of the Nation, and sum and substance of the record
- must always [Page 140] be viewed together. Permit me to
say a few words with regard to each point.
1. The Bible we believe to be inspired by the Holy Ghost; and here we make no
distinction, and especially none between what is called Old and New
Testament. Genesis is as authoritative as
Matthew’s Gospel, the Prophet Isaiah as true a messenger as the Apostle Paul,
the pages of Zechariah as truly given by the Most High as the Apocalypse
entrusted by Jesus to the beloved disciple.
The Spirit foresaw all things, and all future manifestations and
developments of God’s eternal purpose, when He caused the beginnings of the
great history to be written in the Pentateuch.
The very names, Old and New Testament, I believe to be
erroneous, and to have been productive of mischief. For what is meant by
calling the writings of Moses and the Prophets “Old
Testament”? Do they not set forth
the covenant of grace? The doctrine of
justification by faith: does not Paul in his Epistle to the Romans prove it
from Genesis (case of Abraham) and from the Psalms (case of David, Psa. 32.)? Where
is the doctrine of substitution and the vicarious
sufferings of the Messiah set forth more clearly than in Leviticus and in the
53rd of Isaiah? The term “Old Testament” leads
people to fancy it is an antiquated book; whereas, in many respects, it is
newer than the New Testament, referring more fully to the age of glory and
blessedness on the earth which is still before
us. The distinctive
feature of what is called “Old Testament” is,
that its centre is Jehovah as King [Page
141] of the Jews and of all nations,
Theocracy or Christocracy; whereas the peculiarity of the “New Testament” is that it sets forth Jesus as Head
and Bridegroom of the Church, referring to the times of the Gentiles, and
unfolding the mystery which was not made known until the outpouring of the [Holy] Spirit, viz., the mystery of the Church, the
Body of Christ.
Therefore I would call the writings of Moses
and the Prophets - Book of the Kingdom, and the writings of evangelists and
apostles - Book of the Church. However this may be, it was of the Old Testament Scripture that
Jesus testified it cannot be broken; out of it He proved His divine dignity to
the Pharisees, and the resurrection to the Sadducees; it was out of it He
explained to His disciples the mystery of His sufferings and glory; and the
apostles, in all their teaching and witnessing, appealed to the Scripture,
Moses and the Prophets, as authenticating their declaration of the whole
counsel of God. Another remark on
this point, which I feel to be necessary, is that the Bible is simple and
perspicuous. I hold
the good old doctrine of the Reformers, that the Bible is given to all men, and
that for its understanding we require not the erudition of the Universities,
the tradition of the Fathers, the glosses of the scholastics (however valuable
these may be in their proper place); to understand God’s Word, all that is
needed is a humble, childlike heart, conscious of its ignorance and blindness,
and the teaching and illumination of the Holy Spirit. All Scripture
is profitable for all men, who thus
read it, and therefore it must be accessible to the understanding of all.
[Page 142]
People are often deterred from the reading of the prophetical
portions of Scripture by the assertion that it is difficult for unlearned men
to distinguish between what is figurative and literal in prophecy. I do not see the difficulty. I think a child almost can distinguish
between the two. When
we read that we are to have our loins girded and our lamps burning, even a
child knows there is no reference to a literal girdle and lamp; but when the
author of the Book of Job narrates the appearing of the angels before God, and
the presence of Satan among them, it is evidently meant as a statement of fact. Why doubt for a single moment that when
Zechariah speaks of the feet of the Lord standing on the
Consider, again, the prophecies already fulfilled. You argue with a Jew, who does not admit that
Jesus is the Messiah; you point out to him the word of Micah concerning
Page 143]
But not merely the unbelieving Jews avail
themselves of this inconsistency. It is
out of the arsenal of the orthodox that the weapons have been taken with which
the very fundamental truths of the Gospel have been assailed. Time would fail me, nor is this the place, to
show how the spiritualistic interpretation, and subsequent undervaluing, of the
Old Testament, paved the way for Rationalism and Neology. If Jerusalem means not
Jerusalem, and Israel not Israel, if it is an Oriental way of clothing abstract
ideas into a concrete form, how natural was it for a man like Strauss, tired of
the miserable juggleries of the Rationalistic Liliputians
examining the giant body of Scripture, to explain the whole history of Jesus
Christ as a poetic embodiment of the profound and transcendental idea of the
Divine-human?
Instead of blowing the trumpet of alarm, it were
better for us to examine ourselves whether we have truly and sincerely dealt
with the “Word
of God.” When a learned Professor
criticises the Epistles of Paul, and says that the idea of substitution, of the
shedding of blood being necessary for the remission of sins, &c., is
Jewish, and must be carefully distinguished from the eternal and divine element
in the teaching of the Apostle, can the orthodox theologians find in this
argument nothing to remind them of their own mode of treating “Jewish” Scriptures, predictions, and ideas?
The present great
conflict, I feel convinced, will fully and clearly bring out that the Bible is
a divine book, and that the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) is [Page 144] thoroughly Jewish book, and that this
union is planned from all eternity, even in Him, who is the God-man Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of David and Abraham.
2. There are about twelve millions of
Jews existing at this present time. That they are the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob is beyond all doubt and question. Forty centuries have elapsed since the first
promise was given to Abraham, and we may still say of
the Jews, as Balaam said, when he beheld them in the fields of
In every country of the world, defying every climate and
difficulty, and surviving all persecution, they
live to witness to the truthfulness and power of God. Every effort has been made to destroy them,
to take away their energy, their property, their influence; they have been
cramped, despised, tortured and massacred, but not only have they outlived
their persecutors, but their energy has not been crushed, their intellect not
dimmed, their determination not [Page 145] conquered, and their physical and mental vitality not
diminished. That they exist is a
miracle; but that they are what they are is still more wonderful. In the field of abstract thought they
produced a Spinoza; in music a Mendelssohn; in poetry and light literature, in
politics, in the exact sciences, in finance, in every branch of thought and
modern civilisation-life they have shown themselves quite able to compete with
any nation.
The existence of the Jewish nation, associated with the
existence of their former land, is the second fundamental fact of which I
wished to remind you.
3. The Son of God, in His infinite,
condescension and grace, out of love to the Father and to perishing sinners,
according to the eternal counsel and divine purpose, took upon Himself our
nature. The Word was
made flesh. He became man. He ascended and is now at the right hand of
God, the same Jesus who lived upon earth, who died on Golgotha, who appeared
after His resurrection to His disciples and showed unto them His pierced hands,
and feet.
Let us not forget the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not think of it vaguely, and fall into
the heretical fancy that the Son of God became man merely to transact certain
things which were necessary to secure the salvation of men, and that after this
object was achieved His human nature recedes into the background and
impenetrable obscurity. No, it is not so; all-important as His work on earth was - the only
foundation of our hope and blessedness - let us [Page 146] adore the revealed mystery that God gave us His
Son, never to recall Him, as it were, and take Him away from us; He spared Him
not and gave Him to us, allowing Him to become man, exalting Him as the Son of
Man, enthroning Him because of His obedience unto death, and giving unto Him as
the Son of Man all power in heaven and earth. He is now in the highest sanctuary, the Son of Mary
and the Son of David and Abraham; He stood up to comfort, uphold, and welcome
His martyr Stephen; He appeared as Lord from heaven to Saul of Tarsus, and
spoke to him in the Hebrew tongue. And if this be true, why does it appear impossible or incongruous
that Jesus of Nazareth should come again, even so and in like manner as He
ascended, and that upon the substratum of the doctrine, or rather the glorious
fact of His humanity and His Davidic and Abrahamic genealogy, He should prove
Himself to be, what was written over His cross, King of the Jews, as well as
King of the whole earth, the Light
to lighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of His people Israel?
I proceed now to my second part.
II. The
Scripture testimony in reference to the position of the Jewish nation.
1. The first promise
which Jehovah gave to fallen man is the most comprehensive; it refers to
the whole race, and to the ultimate victory over sin and misery. Up to the time of Abraham God dealt with mankind in general without limiting Himself to a chosen
family. But the
end of it was righteous judgment and fearful [Page 147] destruction. God saved
Noah and his household, and hence begins a new period in the world’s
history. Even at this early stage the election of Shem is revealed, and the future
purpose of God - the blessing of all nations through the chosen family -
foreshadowed.
But a second trial of the race is made to
prove, as it were, more abundantly, that salvation, if it is to come at all,
must be secured by divine election. The
[Page148]
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy
name any more be called Abram, but thy name
shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations
have I made thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me
and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I
will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land
wherein thou art a stranger, all the
To Isaac the Lord said: “Sojourn in
this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto
thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraharn thy father; And I
will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed; Because that
Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes,
and My laws” (26: 3-8).
To Jacob the Lord said: “I am the Lord
God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac:
the land whereon thou liest, - to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of
the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the
south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (28:
13-15).
These promises, confirmed by oath,
which are [Page
149] referred to by
all the prophets, by the Virgin Mary, and aged Zachariah, - by the Apostle of
the Gentiles, as well as the other witnesses of Jesus, contain the following
blessings: First, a numerous nation; secondly, a land for an everlasting
possession; thirdly, a God-fearing people (“I will be their God”) in a state of grace; and all this, fourthly, through
a seed, in whom not merely Israel, but all families of the earth, are to be
blessed. The
promise of the Messiah, and
the promise of Israel’s conversion and prosperity in their own land, are
thus linked together by God Himself in the very beginning of the dispensation,
and thus the foundation laid for
the subsequent and yet unfinished edifice.
2. Moses, the servant of the Lord, who
brought Israel out of Egypt, foretold the apostasy of the nation, but in the
following passages he speaks of a spiritual and of a divine restoration to
their own land, which it will be difficult to find fulfilled in the past
history of the nation:-
LEV. 26:
40 - 46.
“If they shall confess
their iniquity, and the iniquity of their
fathers, with their trespass which they
trespassed against Me, and that also they have
walked contrary unto Me; And that I also have
walked contrary unto them, and have brought them
into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts he humbled, and they then accept
of the punishment of their iniquity, then will I remember My covenant with
Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also
My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth
desolate without them; and they shall accept of the punishment of their
iniquity; because, even because they
despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes. And
yet for all that, when they be in the
land of their enemies, I will
not cast them away, neither will I abhor [Page 150] them, to destroy them
utterly, and to break My covenant
with them for I am the Lord their
God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the
DEUT. 30: 1-5.
“And it shall
come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and
the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among
all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And
shalt return unto the Lord thy
God, and shalt obey His voice according
to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy
God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee
from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven
out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from
thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee: And the Lord thy
God will bring thee into the
land which thy fathers possessed, and thou
shalt possess it; and He will do thee good and multiply thee
above thy fathers.”
Again, in the song commonly called the
song of Moses, but which, we are told, was given to Moses by the Lord Himself,
we are taught: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of
the children of Israel” (Deut. 32:
8). Here is a
leading idea in the divine geography, history, and ethnology. And, verse 43: “Rejoice, O ye nations (Goiim), with His
people: for He will avenge the blood of His
servants, and will render vengeance to His
adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land and to His people.” When did the Gentile nations ever yet rejoice with the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because [Page 151] God has been merciful to the (now) down-trodden land and to the (now) unbelieving and
impenitent people? When?
3. Passing now on
to David, we see the shepherd-king, himself an eminent type of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the meek and lowly one, chosen from out of the people; the man of
suffering and humiliation, who is strong in faith, achieves the victory with
weapons from the spiritual armoury, who rules over Israel in sympathy and
brotherly tenderness, and praises God in the midst of the congregation.
But wonderful as David is, when viewed as a type of
Christ, and wonderful as is the analogy between the experiences of David and
David’s Lord, we know that, according to the divine promise, David saw in the
spirit the Lord of Glory, the true Solomon, in whose reign peace
and justice were to flourish, and under whose sceptre Israel and the Gentiles
were to glorify God. Throughout the whole Book
of Psalms we have descriptions of this golden future, in which we behold the
fairest among the sons of men, the King
in His meekness, righteousness, crowned on account of His sufferings, His
obedience, and his dearly bought victory ; and the city of the great King,
Jerusalem, beautiful and adorned, with thrones of judgment and services of joy
and praise ; and the nation rejoicing in the glad tidings, and obeying the Lord
God Almighty as their King; and the people and tribes of the earth
acknowledging and glorifying the Lord, even the revealed God of Israel, whose
Name shall endure for ever, and whose praise shall be established in all the
earth. Brief was [Page
152] the period of Israel’s prosperity; the reign of David and, Solomon became the type of the future of Israel; and while in other nations we
find that poets, philosophers, and orators always look back to the golden past,
and in a period of decay have no idea of looking to the East, in the
expectation of sunrise, in Israel we notice, that even in its darkest and most
forlorn state, the prophets [of God] speak of the future, and hopefully and joyously look
forward; for though David and Solomon appear to be Israel’s zenith, yet on
account of the oath and promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Israel’s
sun can never set, and though apparently on his death-bed, the nation is waiting for the Lord’s salvation. Therefore, we find -
4. In the
Prophets:-
ISA. 62:
1-7.
“For
ISA. 11:
1 - 12: 1-3.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a Branch
shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel [Page 153] and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of
his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of
his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall
smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and
with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and
faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child
shall lead them. And the cow and the
bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox. And the
sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on
the cocatrice’ den. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And
in that day there shall be a root of
Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be
glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the Lord shall set His
hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left,
from Assyria, and from
Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam,
and from Shinar, and
from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble
the outcasts of
This is evidently future. Universal peace has not come yet. “That day,” described here associates the [Page 154] times of universal peace, knowledge, and the manifestation of Jesus in
Israel, as centre of the nations, as well as a restored, united, and converted
nation.
Listen to the testimony of Jeremiah:-
JER. 23:
5-8.
“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a King
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth.
In His days
JER. 31:
31-40.
“Behold the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt: which My covenant they brake,
although I was an husband unto them, saith the
Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My
law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts: and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. thus saith the Lord, which
giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the
stars for a light by night, which divideth the
sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of
hosts is His name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of
Can anything be more explicit?
I ask, When was the covenant of grace made with
the Jews? When were
they [as a nation] converted? When was their
iniquity forgiven and their sin remembered no more? During the last eighteen centuries has [the nation, and all of]
5. During the captivity we hear the
testimony of Ezekiel the priest, living among his co-patriots and speaking from
the national Jewish point of view; and of Daniel, the statesman,
living at the court of the world-power, and describing the course of the
world’s history. The
passages in which God declares, through Ezekiel, His unchanging love for His
chosen people, His gracious promise of renewal and pardon and favour - not on account of any merit in them, but
for His own name’s sake - are well known and justly dwelt on as
illustrations of the faithfulness, the love, the power of God in the conversion
and preservation of unworthy and dead sinners. But because
EZEK. 37:
20-28.
“And the sticks whereon thou writest
shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, I will take the children of
Daniel, when describing the end and consummation of things,
refers to the Jews, to
6. But was not the restoration from the
Babylonian captivity the fulfilment of these predictions? From many considerations
this is evidently not the case; but let us listen to the testimony, of the
Prophet Zechariah, living after the return from
[Page 157]
ZECH. 14: 11.
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil
shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women
ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of
the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth,
and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And
His feet shall stand in that day upon
the mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley; and
half of the mountain shall remove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the
mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall
reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye
fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of
ZECH. 12:
9-14.
“And it shall come to pass in that day,
that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against
[Page 158]
These solemn events have not yet taken
place, neither the great battle, nor the physical changes in and about
7. For centuries silence reigned in
Mary herself thought immediately of the promise made unto the
fathers, and so did Zachariah and the [Page 159] faithful who were
waiting for the coming of the great King.
And thus we have arrived at the so-called
New Testament; and here, passing over John the Baptist, who announced to the
Jewish nation the approaching fulfilment of the prophecies concerning the
kingdom, beholding the advents unto salvation and unto judgment as coincident,
let me direct your attention to the true and faithful witness, the Messiah
Himself. I speak of Him now, as the Heir sent to the Jewish people, to
visit and warn them, “peradventure they will reverence My Son.”
He came as a Jewish Prophet to the Jewish people. He came to seek and to save that which was
lost; He came to be the Light of the world, and the Redeemer and Bridegroom of
His Church. But I limit myself now to
one aspect of His mission - the national one - to the house of Israel; and in
the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, I say that Jesus Christ was a minister
of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers (Romans 15: 8).
Without entering into the exposition of His
prophetical discourses (in Matthew and Luke) concerning the destruction of Jerusalem,
and the final great tribulation before His second coming, it is sufficient for
my purpose at present to quote the following remarkable words: “And Jesus said unto them
(His disciples), Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall
sit on the throne of His glory ye
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”
(Matt. 19:
27, 28).
“
From these passages, it is almost
impossible to avoid the inference that Jerusalem, called by Jesus Himself “The City of the Great King,” is to be restored,
that the times of the Gentiles are to be fulfilled and give way to the period
of Israel’s pre-eminence, that in the “regeneration” and kingdom of Christ’s glory, the twelve tribes are to exist under the government of the apostles, and that the blindness and
obstinacy of Israel are not to continue for ever, but that the loving and compassionate King David is to be seen and welcomed after many days by the
people of God’s election.
But did not the crucifixion of Christ
change all this? Guilty of the greatest
crime, and burdened with the enormous sin of shedding the blood of the Holy
Child of God, may God not justly cast off Israel and remember them no more? I reply, what is the testimony of the risen
Saviour? Forty days
after His resurrection He appeared to His disciples, and spoke to them of the things “pertaining to the
And what does the Lord answer? Does He correct their question? Does He deny their [Page 162] supposition and expectation of a
Jewish kingdom? Does
He say to them, O fools and slow of heart, how long am I to be with you and
bear with you? No; but He confirms the [promised (Ps.
2: 8)] kingdom, by speaking of the times and seasons not being revealed to man,
and telling them the
divine order - first, the Church and testimony [of His kingdom] among all nations, then the [manifestation of the] kingdom of God and of His Christ. A Jewish idea, indeed! and how
could it be otherwise? For by a Jewish
Messiah (who was of the seed of Abraham) and out of the Jewish Scriptures they
had been taught to believe the truth of God, and to adore the wonderful
salvation of the Lord.
But it may possibly be said, all this is
before the outpouring of the Spirit on [the disciples] Pentecost. Well, let us pursue the sequence of testimony
of the infallible and all-consistent Word.
What does Peter preach after the glorious day of the effusion of the
Holy Ghost? Acts 3: 19-21: “Repent ye therefore and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached to
you: whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began.”
And Paul, the great Apostle of the
Gentiles, in the 11th chapter to the Romans, teaches as clearly the great future national conversion and
restoration of
What Paul dreaded has come to pass. The Gentile Church, to a large extent, became ignorant of this mystery,
and the consequence was they became conceited, arrogating to themselves titles
and excellences, rights and powers, which they did not possess. But the great
Apostle of the Gentiles declares here, that the covenant with Abraham stands
firm and cannot [Page 164] be moved through
I have only a few moments time to refer to that wonderful
concluding Book of the Scriptures, the Book of Revelation, and it may suffice
to state, that here also the Jews are regarded as occupying a peculiar place in
the counsel of God to the end of time.
When Christ’s second coming is mentioned in the
first chapter, the Jews, “they that pierced Him,” are spoken of separately, and the reference to Zechariah is
unmistakable. In the 7th chapter we have again the twelve
tribes enumerated, and distinguished from the great multitude, consisting of
men from all other nations, and peoples, and tongues.* Further on, we read of the beloved
city and of the temple. And thus, from
Genesis to the Apocalypse, there in an unbroken chain of evidence, declaring
that, according to the [Page 165] divine plan, in Abraham’s seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed,
and that the Jewish people are chosen to occupy a peculiar and central position
in the future [millennial] kingdom of the Messiah.
* How often is this passage quoted to
prove that in the Church there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. But people must surely not have read the whole chapter. It is after this, viz., after the sealing
of the 144,000 in the twelve tribes, that he beheld the multitude. Notice the same usus loquendi in the
Gospel of the same author, John 10: 16, and especially 11:
52, where he contrasts the nation (the Jews)
and the other children of God scattered abroad.
[Page 165]
III. Condition of the Jews since the first
Advent.
And now, supposing for a moment the history of the Jews as a nation
had arrived at its termination, I ask, whereunto have they been chosen, and
wherein consists their glory and pre-eminence?
Four hundred years in Egypt; forty in the wilderness;
a long, dark, and terrible period of warfare, backsliding, and idolatry; a
brief gleam of sunshine in the reigns of David and Solomon, a rapid downward
career of apostasy, discord, and sin, to the time of the Babylonish captivity;
seventy years’ exile; a long interval of darkness and oppression; the great
rejection of the Lord of Glory, the frightful sufferings and downfall of
Jerusalem, and nineteen centuries of shame, oppression, dispersion, and above
all, above all, unbelief, blindness, hatred to God’s dear Son, the only Saviour!
- behold this, as yet, is the history of the great favoured nation! And is this
all? Impossible, and a
thousand times impossible! God’s
gifts and calling are without repentance; He
will yet be glorified in a converted and restored
I allude chiefly to
1. The Rabbinical; among them we find
much zeal, diligent reading of the Scriptures, and especially the [Page 166] Talmud; firm, almost fanatical cleaving to the national customs and
hopes. But the
law is to them no schoolmaster, convincing of sin and driving to a Redeemer;
the ideas of sin and atonement have almost disappeared, spiritual religion is
most rare, and the opinions of celebrated rabbis eclipse the truths of the
Inspired Word. This party existed
already (in substance) in the days of Jeremiah and Christ.
2. The modern or Neologian (a large
proportion in Central Europe and rapidly increasing even in
But it may be interesting to compare this
present time with the period of the Greco-Macedonian Empire, the Antichrist of
the latter days being foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanes. From the Books of the Maccabees
we learn that at that time the Jews began to adopt the manners and customs of
the Gentiles. They erected in
3. A third party among the Jews is
neither so much trammelled by Rabbinical tradition,
nor so far gone in doubt and worldliness.
Among them there is a spirit of inquiry and a more open field for the
proclamation of the truth.* But I must beg you to remember that the
Jewish nation have never yet acknowledged their sin and humbled themselves
before God. Though admitting in general
terms that their long exile is in consequence of their sin, there is no true and deep mourning over
their iniquity, no humility and contrition of heart, no real prostration of the
soul on account of their transgression.
And as for the great sin which they committed
in crucifying Jesus, not one of the
various Jewish parties has as yet made the slightest approach in the way of
confessing and lamenting it. The orthodox still maintain
that Jesus was a blasphemer, and deserved death; the rationalistic Jews admit
it was unjust and cruel, but attribute the crime to a fanatical and
unenlightened party, such as may and does exist at all times and among all
nations; but that the rejection and crucifixion of the Lord is their great
national sin, and the rejection [Page 168] of Jehovah. Himself, they have never yet seen. Truth compels me to add that the Jews,
instead of being humbled by their sufferings and the divine punishment, rather
boast of the unparalleled patience and fortitude which they
have manifested and of their faithfulness to God and His law during all
this period. Truly, they are without
king, priest, temple, and land, and without the knowledge of the true God and
their king David.
* I
regret very much that I had not time to enlarge on this topic. I should have dwelt with joy on the many
excellent features of Jewish character, specially in
their domestic life and charitable labours.
The necessary development of Monotheism without a Mediator into Deism
and pantheism, as strikingly illustrated in the Jewish nation, is an important
point. Also the
phenomenon of orthodoxy, cleaving to Bible, temple, and Sabbath, rejecting a
living Saviour.
I must not forget, however, to remind you that though this is
the state of the nation, many individuals have
been brought to the knowledge and love of Jesus, and that at all periods
of the Church’s history. In the
apostolic time, many myriads of Jews believed, and we read of whole districts
who received the gospel; and within the last fifty years many sons of Abraham have, by the grace of God, been converted to the only
Redeemer of men and manifestation of the Father. But the nation is still in darkness, in ignorance of
God’s righteousness, unenlightened in mind, unbroken in heart, unconvinced in
conscience, and the time when they behold the open Fountain, and glorify God as
their Saviour in the new covenant, has not yet arrived.
IV. The Phases of the Restoration, culminating in the Coming of the Great King, form the fourth point in our
consideration.
The Jews return in an unconverted state. This is evident from the following Scripture
statements:-
1. They are to be
brought to
[Page 169]
EZEK. 22: 17.
“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin,
and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace they are even the dross of
silver.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because ye are
all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you
into the midst of
If they had returned to their own land in a converted state,
it is impossible that God would pour out upon them His wrath.
2. It is in
3. A second restoration is
spoken of in Isaiah.
ISA. 11:
11, 12, 15, 16.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of His people, which shall
he left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from
Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from
Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up
an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble
the outcasts of
ISA. 66: 19,
20.
“And I will set a sign among them,
and I will send those that escape of them unto the
nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that
draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame,
neither have seen My glory; and they shall
declare My glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of [Page 170] all nations upon horses, and in
chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon
swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the
children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the
Lord.”
Here it is declared that there shall be a second and more
general ingathering of
Returned to their own land in unbelief, a remnant of God-fearing people still among them, it
is more than probable that they will rebuild the temple and restore the
sacrifices. And this
probability is converted into certainty, when we read in Joel that the priests,
the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; in Isaiah (66: 5, 6), that the
great decision, the birth of the nation, is preceded by a voice of noise from
the city - a voice from the temple; and in Ezekiel, we find a most minute
description of its dimensions and arrangements. Equally explicit is the testimony of Daniel,
who speaks of the abominations which are to be set up
in the temple, until the consummation, and of the daily sacrifices, abolished
by the great enemy of God and of the nation (the same events are expressly
pointed out by the Saviour).
The second phase in the future history of the Jews is, their connection with Antichrist and subsequent conflict [Page 171] with him. I can only
express here my opinion, that Antichrist is a person yet to come. He is described as
the man of sin and son of perdition, whom the Lord Himself will destroy with
the breath of His mouth and the brightness of His personal presence. Compare Dan.
11: 36-45, 7: 21-25; Isa. 14.; 2 Thess. 2: 3-9; Rev. 19: 11-21.
Antichrist is in every respect the opposite of the Messiah. Antichrist is from below, comes in his own
name, speaks flatteries and lies, seeks his own aggrandisement, and aims to
destroy the glory of God; our blessed Christ is from above, comes in His
Father’s name, speaks the truth, seeks the salvation of men, and sacrifices all
to the glory of God. The Lord humbled
Himself, and the Father exalted Him.
Antichrist exalts himself, and his judgment is instantaneous, fearful,
and irrevocable. Yet shall he deceive
many. Jesus foretold that another would
come in His own name; him would the Jews receive. But soon the enemy
shows his true character: he defiles the
Still there shall be a godly remnant, praying for deliverance;
a poor and afflicted people trusting in the name of the Lord and crying, “Avenge me of
my adversary! Oh, that Thou wouldest rend
the heavens and come down!” They shall then, I imagine, study the Book of Daniel
especially, “which
is shut up to the time of the end” (Dan. 12: 4), and the
whole prophetic word.
They tremble at the Word of the Lord, and resemble the brothers of
Joseph, when first convinced of their great guilt and longing for help.
[Page 172]
In the great and final conflicts between the nations, headed
by Antichrist and
A terrible destruction of many of
Israel, even two thirds of the whole (“And it shall come to pass that in all
the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the
third part shall be left therein,” Zech. 13: 8); the
deep humiliation and repentance of the remnant, prepared to receive the Lord;
the pride of Antichrist, and his fierce determination to “exalt his
throne above the stars of God, to sit upon the
mount of the congregation, and be like the Most
High” (Isa. 14.). Then shall be
fulfilled the memorable prediction in Zechariah, to which we have already
referred (14: 2-11). All nations are to be gathered against Jerusalem to battle; the
Lord shall go forth to fight against them; after the victory, the Lord is to be
King over the whole earth, and recognised as such: certain physical changes are
to take place with regard to the Mount of Olives and the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem, and the city shall be safely inhabited. Not in
one single feature does this correspond to the destruction of Jerusalem by
Titus. Only one nation came then against the city.
God did not defend His ancient people, much less conquer their
enemies. A period of universal
submission to Jehovah did not succeed.
The Mount of Olives did not cleave in the midst, and
the waters did not go out of
[Page 173]
Even as He ascended, so shall He come again, Himself,
personally, and His saints with Him, and shall appear to deliver and save
Israel; to destroy Antichrist, to bind Satan, and to take
possession of the throne of His father David.
This is the great crisis in the history of
V. The condition of the nation after
the second Advent. And here the first and most important
thing is their conversion. God’s
covenant is unconditional but He Himself causes all conditions to be fulfilled that is, He converts and renews His
people. For the outward possession and
glory, the outward restoration and national life would be of no avail, would
neither glorify God nor benefit the people, were it not the external
manifestation and accompaniment of an inward state. God promised not merely to restore, but to
renew and quicken His people. Pardon of sin, the outpouring of the Spirit, faith in the crucified
Redeemer, are the covenant blessings.
We are told that the Jews shall see Him whom
they have pierced. Expecting Jehovah to
arise for their help, the godly remnant shall look for His appearing, but they
look for the Lion, the Conqueror, the Mighty God.
When they behold that Jehovah, the Deliverer,
the Hope and Help of Israel is none other than the once rejected and crucified
Jesus, then doubtless shame, confusion, terror, and grief shall take hold of
them, even as [Page 174] the brothers of
Joseph stood amazed and appalled when the great prince on whom their safety
depended revealed himself as their brother, whom they had sold into Egypt.
But Joseph had pity and compassion; he spoke to
them, nay, embraced them and kissed them; he fell on the neck of his brother
Benjamin and wept. Then,
we are told, his brethren talked with him. And thus, when Jesus
shall reveal to them His love and mercy, His pardoning grace and overflowing
tenderness, fear and awe shall give way to deep, unutterable self-loathing and
contrition; repentance and faith, self-abasement and joy shall burst forth out
of the new hearts of flesh, renewed and gained for ever by their Lord and God.
How can any one say that the Jews would - if all this be true - become proud?
Does God’s favour make us proud? When, sitting at the Lord’s Table, you hear the wonderful
declaration, This is My body, broken for you, and you are assured that Christ
gives you His body, which is meat indeed, and His blood, which is drink indeed;
do you then think of your worthiness or your sin, of your greatness or your
insignificance, of your merits or of God’s grace? The Jews shall be bowed
down to the very dust by the exceeding great weight of grace and glory
bestowed on them. Like the Apostle Paul,
they shall say most emphatically, “By grace we are what
we are. Where is boasting? It is excluded. We are the monuments of His wonderful love.
Salvation is of the Lord!”
God’s Spirit shall be poured out upon them, and they shall be
cleansed from all filthiness and [Page 175] backsliding. They shall remain
faithful to God throughout the whole period of the [millennial] kingdom, and “look back no more.”
Such being their spiritual condition, we notice -
1. That after the conversion of
ISA. 49: 18.
“Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather
themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe
thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy
desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed
thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine
ears, The place
is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these,
seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and
who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up Mine hand
to the Gentiles, and set up My standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be
carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be
thy nursing fathers,
and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the
earth, and lick
up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be
ashamed that wait for Me.”
ZECH. 1: 6.
“And I will strengthen the house of
[Page 176]
2.
ZECH. 8: 4.
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets
of
3.
The great fertility of the land, and the prolonged period of human life.
Amos 9: 13-15.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that
soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet
wine, and all the hills shall melt. And
I will bring again the captivity of My
people of
JER. 33: 12-16.
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Again in this place, which is
desolate without man and without beast, and in
all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the [Page 177] cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the
JER. 31: 27, 28.
“Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of
4. The original territory, extending
from the shores of the Mediterranean to the borders of the
5. The Church of
Christ, the Bride of the
Lamb, consisting of both Jews and
Gentiles, will be associated [after ‘the First
Resurrection’ (Rev. 20: 4-6, cf. Luke
20: 35 and
Phil. 3:
11ff, R.V.)] with Christ in the heavenly
* What Jacob saw in his dream, and what
took place on the Mount of Transfiguration and during the forty days after the
Resurrection, when the glorified Saviour lived, not on the earth, yet with His
disciples, explains to some extent the communication between the two
Jerusalems.
JER. 33: 17.
“David shall never want a man to sit
upon the throne of the house of
EZEK. 20: 40.
“For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of
the height of
[Page179]
6. While the
glory of the Lord shall be made manifest on His chosen Zion, where He will
dwell, because He hath desired it as His habitation (Psa. 132:
13), Israel shall be made a blessing to all
the earth; * Jerusalem shall
be called the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 60: 11, 12, 14); they
will be made a name and a praise among the people of the earth (Zeph. 3: 20); “All nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts” (Mal.
3: 12).
Then shall be fulfilled passages like the 2nd
of Isaiah: “Out of
* Rom. 11:
15; Psa. 102:
13-15.
I notice briefly -
[Page 180]
VI. Some objections.
1. ‘The whole
scheme is designated as carnal, and implying
retrogression instead of a progressive development.’
My reply is twofold.
(a) The word “carnal”
is ambiguous. Flesh means sin and
corruption, and is opposed to the Spirit; but embodiment, outward
manifestation, concrete, form, is not opposed, to the Spirit. Carnal means sinful and hostile to God; the
evil spirits, who we suppose possess no bodies, are carnal, but the Son of God
became man, the Word was made flesh, He took upon Him
a human body as well as a reasonable soul.
God’s ways and thoughts are not ours.
While the abstract and ethereal imaginations of human reason create a
god, who is not spirit, and whom they do not worship in spirit and truth, the God of the Bible is God manifest in the
flesh - Immanuel. Metaphysics may
not find out a god like the God of Israel.
Did not Abraham welcome three strangers; and did he not stand by and see
them eat? And yet
one of them was the Lord. Did not Jesus,
after His resurrection, eat before His disciples, who gave Him a piece of a
broiled fish and honey? Is not the [i.e., this restored sin-cursed (Rom.
8: 19-21)] earth to be the scene of God’s triumph and manifestation? Whatever is revealed
is spiritual, whatever man imagines is carnal; the end of the ways of God is
embodiment. The Son of God became man.
But (b) it must be borne in mind that the glorified
Church, the saints of the most high places, the transfigured children of the first resurrection, are in a [Page 181] heavenly inheritance, and they rule
over
2. ‘But, it is
urged, how can the Levites, the sacrifices and the festivals ever be
restored? Does not this contradict the
teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews?’
Wherever we have express statements in Scripture, it is ours
to believe them, even though we should not [Page
182] be
able to understand them, and to harmonise them with other declarations of the
divine Word. We know
that all the words of the Lord are true, and that all apparent contradictions
shall disappear, when the fulfilment has come; but with regard to the Levites,
and the revival of the festivals and sacrifices, may we not suppose that what
was typical before the first coming of Christ, pointing to the great salvation
which was to come, may in the kingdom be commemorative of the great redemption
accomplished?
In the Lord’s Supper we commemorate
Christ’s death; we altogether repudiate the Popish doctrine of a repetition of
the offering of Christ; we do not believe in any such renewal of the sacrifice,
but we gratefully, obey the command of Christ to commemorate His death in such
a way that both an external memorial is presented to the world, and an outward
and visible sign and seal given to the believing partaker.
May not a similar plan succeed the Lord’s Supper, which we know shall
cease at Christ’s coming? It is also
possible that both the glorified saints in heaven and the nations on earth will
contemplate during the millennium the full and minute harmony between type and
reality. Even the Church has as yet only a superficial knowledge of the treasures of
wisdom in the Levitical institutions and its symbols.
It is evident, moreover, that the old institutions, festivals,
and offerings shall be modified and adapted to the new covenant time. It seems probable from Ezekiel that the
seventh day will be changed to the eighth (Ezek.
13: 26, 27). The
commemoration of [Page 183] the great final deliverance of the nation shall eclipse that of the exodus
from
3. “The
Apostle Paul teaches that in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile; but
you are building up again the wall of separation which has been abolished!”
It is true that in the
* It must be remembered also that all distinctions relate only to
this earth and to time. In the millennial period the
condition of Israel will be distinct and unique among the nations of the earth,
but in the eternal Day which is to follow the saved of Israel and of the
nations will form the one great body of the Redeemed: one House of the living
God, the one completed Church of which Christ shall eternally be the Head.
4. ‘Christ
says: “This generation shall not pass away till
all be fulfilled!” Now, although it might be thought that the
predictions of Christ concerning the first destruction of Jerusalem were
witnessed by Christ’s cotemporaries, there are other prophecies evidently not
fulfilled yet, in connection [Page 184] with which the Saviour
uses the same expression (for instance, Matt. 24: 29-39).”’
“Generation” refers
not to the individuals as such, but to the race in their peculiarity,
character, views (as evil and adulterous generation,
generation of vipers, &c.). And, in this sense, how true is the prediction! The Jews of the nineteenth century [and
the apostate A-millennial believers today] are truly “this generation” of which and to which the Saviour spoke. The identity in character, temperament, tone
of feeling, is most striking. Thus this expression confirms the view that the Jews remain
unconverted till the great crisis.
5. ‘If this be
so, why send missionaries to the Jews?’
First, because Christ commands us to
preach the gospel to all nations and every creature.
Secondly, because during the last fifty years God has blessed Jewish
missions in a very marked manner, so that, notwithstanding all the peculiar
difficulties and discouragements of this work a very considerable number have
been converted to Christ, and have become useful and energetic labourers in His
vineyard. Thirdly,
because it is of great importance to testify to the nation, and to disseminate
among them Scriptural views, in the hope that the seed may spring up in the
future, when God’s providential dealings with them shall break up the hard
ground. The mission to the Jews,
while it has a most beneficial and blessed influence on the Church, has
produced already much fruit, and several hundred converted Jews are preaching at the present time the Gospel of grace.
[Page 185]
VII, -Practical Inferences.
Though many regard this whole subject as at best a theoretical
problem, a speculation which has no bearing on our
spiritual welfare, I feel convinced that it is of the utmost practical
importance, and especially in the present day.
The spirit of
worldliness and unbelief, the loose
and shallow views which are gaining
ground on the inspiration of Scripture, the uncertain sound which the trumpet nowadays so frequently gives on the
great doctrines of grace - the whole disease of the present
day [disbelief in, and rejection of God’s unfulfilled
prophesies and accountability truths] seems to me to be connected with ignorance
and unbelief of the great central fact which we have been considering, God’s purpose with regard to Israel.
1. As regards the
Scripture. Holding the view I
have endeavoured to announce, what vitality and unity of purpose do we perceive
in this Record? The genealogies, topographical and historical detail, and
minute statements, which appear to so many superfluous and without any vital or
necessary connection with the whole, are all of importance, and instead of
being antiquated, await yet at once their full illustration and perfect
fulfilment. If the Bible is viewed as the Book of the Kingdom and the Church
(and not as a text-book for systematic theology,
exclusively or chiefly), such questions as - Are the tables of genealogy, names
of districts, &c., also inspired by the Holy Ghost? - have no meaning at
all. The sum and
substance of Scripture is Christ - but Christ is of the seed of
Abraham; to be King of the Jews as well as Bridegroom of the Church and King of
the Gentiles, [Page
186] and therefore
everything that is connected with this [coming
Messianic and Millennial] kingdom is connected with
Christ and [promised to Him and His overcomers - (Ps. 2: 8; 72 &110; Rev. 2: 25; 3: 21, R.V.) -
as] revealed by the Holy Ghost.
The feeble pulse in Christendom regarding the Scripture is chiefly owing - to our ignorance of the Word. Outwardly professing to believe the canonicity,
inspiration, and whatever other abstract technical words, what are Isaiah,
Ezekiel, Daniel - I may say two-thirds of the Bible -
to many of our people? Do they read
them? understand them?
Here and there a verse is singled out and
spiritualised, but the Gospel they find in Ezekiel they would find equally in
any other book of the Scriptures; the peculiar messages of the Prophets are not
regarded. It is not AUTHORITY, but LIFE, that the Scriptures
want to many; and the Book becomes a living Book when we regard it in
connection with the nation and the King, when we remember that from Genesis to
the Apocalypse there is the witness for the great purpose of God, which shall
be made manifest at the coming of Christ and His kingdom. And then the living,
animated body of Scripture, seen in its unity, will be Admired and respected -
it requires no defence; but of a dead mass people - [including multitudes of Bible
Teachers (so called), who think they know it all!] - venture to clip and cut, they
are tempted to [and do] take all kinds of liberties with it; it is their servant and
not their master. The Scriptures cannot be broken;
not a single link can be taken out, for it is living, sensitive,
Spirit-breathed and Spirit-breathing; and, like the blessed Saviour, not a bone
of that body [of truth and all prophecy] shall be broken.
2. But, secondly, as regards the whole view
of the [Page
187] world’s
history. The present time has a great
dislike to miracles. The
evidence from miracle has become quite unfashionable, and is not congenial to
the present thought. And why? Let me ask -
Is it congenial to the Church of the present day? The way in which most of us divide history is
this: 1st Period of miracle and direct interference of God; it ends
with the apostolic time. 2nd Period of no miracles, extending to
the end of time. Now, the Bible division
I believe to be this: 1st Period. - Miracle; the
Theocracy, ending with Christ and the apostles. 2nd
Period. - Times of the Gentiles: pause or parenthesis; no
miracles. 3rd
Period. - The coming of Christ and His [millennial] kingdom; miraculous, i.e., direct interference of God
in the history of the earth; communication between heaven and earth
restored. Now, how different are these
two views! In the first, miracles seem
to be without analogy; there is something unsymmetrical about the whole plan;
it seems anomalous, and, I must confess, difficult to believe. In the second, it is easy for me to believe
the God that was, and is, and is to come.
The music has ceased; no, not to me, for the very pause is full of
rhythm, and the great Musician, I know, lives, and at the right time He shall continue the
mighty strain, and the perfect harmony and beauty of His thought become manifest
to all. The pause is that of centuries;
but the thought is the thought of the Eternal, and its fulfilment stretches
into the ages to come.
Here we behold -
3. The unworldly character of the
Christian Church; [Page 188] or, rather, I would say, “other worldly,” not of this world or age. To wait for the Lord from heaven; to have our affections set on the things above; to understand,
condemn and shun the spirit of ungodliness and self-worship; to trust only God and
depend only on His Spirit; in short, to be a
chaste virgin, who lives only for the Heavenly Bridegroom - this ought to
be the attitude of the people of Christ, who are guided by the sure word of
prophecy.
4. Let us adore the faithfulness of
God! What He promised to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, He fulfils; not a word shall fail, and all will be accomplished
though Israel sinned against Him, and crucified the Lord of Glory,
nevertheless, He cannot deny Himself, His truth must stand for ever - behold the
wisdom of God! Even their unbelief and
falling away He overruled, and the Gentiles were grafted in, and the [regenerate, Spirit filled (see Acts 7: 4, 5, R.V.)] Jews have been His witnesses
throughout these centuries, proving the truth of Scripture and preaching the
very gospel they reject.
And above all, see the love of God! He forgives his enemies; their sin has
abounded unto death, but His grace doth much more abound unto eternal
life. What can exceed the guilt of the Jews! Their ingratitude, their
unbelief, their hatred of the most loving and gentle Redeemer, who visited them
and sought to gather them, with unspeakable tenderness! But the Father’s love, the Saviour’s love,
the love of the Holy Ghost, are greater than their sin - infinite depths of
mercy and compassion are here revealed to us.
[Page 189]
Last of all, what is still more important,
see here the [future, manifested, millennial, and
eternal] glory
of God. This is the end and purpose of
all things; all the history of the world and all the manifestations of God’s
love and power are to the praise of the glory of His grace, that His Name be
exalted, and that His supremacy be acknowledged and adored. When the Jewish nation is
restored, then shall it be made manifest before all angels and principalities,
and all the ends of the earth, that salvation is of the Lord; that He has mercy
on whom He will have mercy; that His gifts and calling are without repentance;
that man’s unfaithfulness cannot change the purpose of His love and the counsel
of His compassion, and that He gives deliverance, pardon, renewal, strength and
glory to His chosen [and obedient]*
people. That it is of grace, and
of grace alone, by God’s power and might, and unto His glory and praise -
[* Acts 5:
23, R.V.]
And the centre of all is, and will be,
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Lord from heaven, the
King of the whole earth; and the foundation of all - the cross on Golgotha,
where the “King
of the Jews” was
crucified; and throughout the whole period of the [coming messianic] kingdom, all tribes and peoples of the
earth, united with Israel, shall ascribe glory to the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, the God of Salvation - His manifold wisdom, His infinite love,
His all-conquering power, shall then
appear to all. The Church of the heavenly
inheritance, associated with Christ in His reign, the chosen nation on earth
with its centre, the city of the Great King, and all the kingdoms of the earth
walking in the light and peace of God’s love, according to the testimony of the
Book of the Kingdom and the Book of the Church, shall praise Him and show forth
His glory, until after the brief conflict of the end and the final condemnation
of Satan, all things are again made new, and the whole family of God enter into
the everlasting state of blessedness; the consummation, when God shall be all
in all, and the kingdom of the Son be delivered to God, even the Father.
[Page 191]
NOTES
A. PAGE 140. OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT
The expressions “Old” and “New Testament” have been so long and universally in
use, that my view may appear fanciful and eccentric. But I request the
reader to weigh the argument. I may add, that Christ and the apostles never use the expression “Old
Testament,” but “the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets.” They based all their
teaching on the Jewish Scriptures; and if they had designated them old, would
not this have implied that their doctrine was now? If the doctrines of grace are in Moses and
the Prophets, it is most illogical to call their writings Old Testament, or
Covenant of Works! Think of Genesis,
where the law is never even mentioned, of Isaiah and of the Psalms, which you,
Christians, sing on the Lord’s day! Christ died and rose according to the
Scripture, saith Paul; that is, according to what is called
the Old Testament; but according to the Old Covenant it is not Christ, but the
sinner who dies. When Paul (2
Cor. 3.)
speaks of our being ministers of the New Testament, he does not refer to books, most of which were not yet written, but to
the gospel, which he found in the Scripture he possessed. The Jews could only see “Old Testament” in Moses and the prophets, because
they were [spiritually] blind. To the spiritual all Scripture is gospel,
or New Testament (the Law being the schoolmaster, bringing us to Christ), but
to the natural and self-righteous, as we ought to know from experience and
observation, all Scripture (gospels and epistles included) is Old Testament, or
Covenant of Works. The subject seems to
me both important and clear.
B. PAGE 174.
Zinzendorf says:-
“The simple preaching of the Gospel
will be able, under God’s blessing, to bring back to Him the first-fruits of
the people - one from a city, and two from a family, according to the expression
of the prophet; but who but the Lord appearing in person could convert the
whole nation, and humble them at His feet as one man? Who but He could take away the thick veil,
which until this day remains on their heart, when Moses is
read? What other hand but His
could open their sepulchres, and raise them up, living with the life of God, to
sing eternally of His love? ‘Can these bones live?’ No,
Lord, if Thou dost not display Thy sovereign power in them, they will not
live! But at Thy appearing, and under
the life-giving breath of Thy Spirit, so soon as they
are re-animated, ‘they will stand on their feet, an exceeding great army; regathered in holy pomp in
the day of Thy power, they will publish Thy glory throughout all ages!’”
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