ITS SOLUTION. California tegional acility DAVID BARON. Jfewtsb Btoblem : ITS SOLUTION. OR, 30rael'0 present anfc future. BY DAVID BARON, O/ the Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel; Author of" Rays of Messiah's Glory " ; etc., etc. WITH INTRODUCTION BY REV. ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D. (Eiitton. (Carefully MORGAN & SCOTT, LTD. OFFICE OF Jje Christian, 12 PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, AND 30 PATERNOSTER Row, E.G., LONDON. JJattnn: A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. The Organ ef the "Hebrew Christian Testimony" but at the same time devoted to the interests of Israel generally. Edited by DAVID BARON. There is always an Expository Article by the Editor as well as his journals of journeys in different parts of the world. Price ONE SHILLING PER ANNUM post free. LONDON: MORGAN & SCOTT Ltd., 12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.G. THIRD EDITION. CROWN 8vo, PRICE 3s. 6d. anft tfc j$t0ton By DAVID BARON, Author of" T/ie Jewish Problem " ; " Rays of Messiah's Glory" ; etc. "Many will welcome with a personal interest and gratitude the volume just issued by David Baron. The earlier part is devoted to Scripture expo- sition ; the latter to a consideration of the ever-present 'Jewish Question." Whether estimated in its sectional purposes, or in its intention as a whole, it is a book which cannot but instruct and help Bible students, and especially such as give attention to ' the sure word of prophecy." 1 Tht Christian. LONDON: HODDBR & STOUGHTON, WARWICK SQUARE, E.G. PREFACE. THIS is the fifth English edition of this little book, which has also been translated into several other European languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and French. Dr. Pierson's most kind introduction to the original American Edition, printed when I was in Palestine in 1891, tells its history; and I retain his kind words, not because I think hi3 eulogy on myself personally deserving, but as a reminiscence of my visit to America, and of the most happy fellowship it was my privilege to 2095017 iv ^preface. enjoy with some of the choicest of Christ's servants in that vast country. That it may still speak the praises of Him Who is the " Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel," and that a bless- ing may come to every one into whose hands this little book may fall, is the heartfelt prayer of the writer. DAVID BARON. "Northfield? Charley Woody Herts. INTRODUCTION. THOSE who were present at the summer con- ferences at Northfield, Mass., in the months of July and August, 1890, will not soon forget DAVID BARON and his Bible Readings and Addresses. He is a converted Jew ; and is well named David Baron, for he is a true prince of the Davidic House. There was an indescribable charm about the man. His knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and his deep insight into them ; his keen discernment of the exquisite shades of meaning by which the original words differed and were distinguished, and the perfect familiarity he exhibited with both the original Word of God and all the light which the Jewish customs, manners, and religious and national life cast upon that Word, together with a peculiar unction which qualified his whole manner all these peculiarities contributed to render his ser- vices doubly interesting and helpful. After the Conferences closed, there were still at the hotels and boarding-houses a large number of visitors who clamoured for a continuance of the feast ; and vi Jftttro&urtimt. Mr. Baron gave daily Readings in the Parlour of the large " Northfield," or in the Congregational church. At my earnest entreaty, Mr. Baron wrote out one of his best Bible addresses for publication, and it is herewith put into printed form. It lacks only the personal presence of its author to make it a perfect reproduction of one of the most charming and effective addresses I ever heard. It is not too much to say that, to understand this address and to grasp its great expository argument, is to get the key to all Scriptures pertaining to the past, present, or future, of God's ancient people. This little brochure is called the " Jewish Problem " ; it deserves to be called the " Problem Solved " for it is the solution of the historic and prophetic enigma. I commend it to every candid student of the Word of God, and especially to all who pray for the restoration of Israel. ARTHUR T. PIERSON. j xzx. 1-17. HPHE word that cai^e to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, -- Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord : and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord ; We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see Whether a man doth travail with child ? Wherefore do I see every man With his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, And all faces are turned into paleness ? Alas ! for that day is great, So that none is like it : It is even the time of Jacob's trouble. But he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, That I will break his yoke from off thy neck, And will burst thy bonds, And strangers shall no more serve themselves of him : But they shall serve the Lord their God, And David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith the Lord ; Neither be dismayed, O Israel : For, lo, I will save thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity ; And Jacob shall return, And shall be in rest, and be quiet, viii Jfercntialr 1-17 And none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee : Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, Yet will I not make a full end of thee : But I will correct thee in measure, And will not leave thee altogether unpunished. For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, And thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up : Thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee ; They seek thee not ; For I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, With the chastisement of a cruel one. For the multitude of thine iniquity ; Because thy sins were increased. Why criest thou for thine affliction ? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity : Because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured ; And all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity ; And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, And all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. For I will restore health unto thee, And I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord j Because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. THE JEWISH PROBLEM. I. Js tfrm a tt Jute* fUstorattan ? 'NTIL all the writings of the prophet were compiled in one book as we now have it, Jeremiah xxx. and xxxi. formed a dis- tinct prophecy, and was doubtless in circulation amongst the people in a separate prophetic book ; and in verse 2 we read that it is a " book " dictated by God Himself. The subject, then, with which it deals must be one concerning which He is especially anxious to reveal His thoughts. Whatever man may think of it, He considers this matter of immense importance, so that every word must be preserved. "Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book." This book, dictated by God Himself, is a very remarkable one ; for though it concerns Israel, it is addressed chiefly to the Gentile nations. ro 3s tljcre a get JFuturc Hestoration ? " For thus saith the Lord : Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations. Publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel. . . . Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock " (Jeremiah xxxi. 7-10). It is a testimony, then, not so much to Israel as to the Gentile nations about Israel. Just as, in the epistle to the Romans, we find, as it were, an epistle within an epistle ; three chapters ix., x., xi. expressly indited by the Spirit of God, for the purpose of enlightening Gentile Christians with regard to God's purposes in Israel. The apostle is most impressed with the importance of the Church having correct views on this subject ; and feels that he cannot leave them ignorant of this mystery, lest, through the erroneous notion that God hath cast away His people Israel which He foreknew, and that the special promises and privileges reserved to Israel nationally in the Word of God have been transferred to the Church, they should fall into the danger of self-conceit. 1 So here, through the prophet Jeremiah, there is a definite message, a proclamation, a warning, to the chief of the Gentile nations, and to the isles 1 Romans xi. 25. jl ^perial fprodantatton. ti afar off, to the same purport, viz., that God is not yet done with Israel that " He that scattereth Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock." In this special book, written at the express dictation of God, we have the only true solution of the apparently more and more difficult Jewish question. Apart from God's revelation, the Jew is an enigma, a problem beyond the vain attempts of man to solve ; and attempts of the kind, if not based upon the Word of God, are futile and impious. The future of Israel is one of those subjects concerning which the great God has deigned to speak ; and however difficult or im- probable to man that future may appear, it behoves us to believe and receive, and not to speculate or rebel. " For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith Jehovah." Let us examine this special proclamation ad- dressed to the Gentile nations with regard to Israel. It contains, I believe, a programme of events drawn up in chronological order, with re- gard to the future of that people, so wonderful and " terrible from their beginning hitherto." 1 1 Isaiah xviii. 2. 12 E 34 Israel's dottberaiott. indefinite period "without a king and without a prince." How wonderfully true has this proved ; and with what wonderful accuracy has the inspired announcement been fulfilled ! Just about the time of Zedekiah, the last prince who ever sat on the throne of David, the prophet Ezekiel came with this startling announcement : " Remove the mitre and take off the crown ; it shall not be (or, this is no more it} : exalt the low, abase the high (or, let anarchy and usurpa- tion of the throne of David continue}. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it ; this shall be no more until He come whose right it is ; to Him it shall be given." x And so it has proved. For all those centuries before Christ, and for all these nearly nineteen centuries since Christ a fact which only inspiration could have foreseen in spite of every effort and Jewish ambition, there has been no re-establishment of the throne of David. It is true that in the second century B.C. a kingdom existed for a short time in Judea ; but the kings were not of the house of David, nor even of the tribe of Judah, and are not recognised as kings by God, who by oath appointed David and his seed to be the only legitimate kings in Zion. 1 Lit. Hebrew, Ezek. xxi. "ffifje ffrrane of |H JFaiber iatrtfr." 35 " Until He come, whose right it is : to Him it shall be given." Who is this but Jesus of Nazareth? "the King of the Jews," concerning whom it was announced at His birth : " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David ; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end." According to the commonly-received view, there is indeed no importance in the title " Son of David " as belonging to Christ ; except, perhaps, as proving that He descended from David, and enabling us to trace His genealogy. But it is evident that the announcement of the angel attaches to it far greater importance than this, inasmuch as it asserts for Him, as Son of David, " the throne of His father David." " And what throne is that? Not the throne of heaven, nor yet the throne of God's spiritual kingdom ; for neither of these was, or could have been, occupied by David, or could be inherited by Christ as ' Son of David.' The throne intended, then, must be the throne of the kingdom of Israel, and that it is so, the words of the angel testify ; for having said, 'The Lord God shall give to Him the throne of 36 Israel's (Sonireraitm. His father David/ he adds : ' And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.' " The idea now generally entertained is that the throne on which Christ now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high is that meant by the angel in this announcement to Mary ; but this view is not based on a comprehensive and mature study of the Word of God. Take, for instance, Rev. iii. 21 : " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Here the Lord Himself tells us that the throne over which He now sits is not His, but the Father's, who invited Him to share it with Him as a token of His perfect satisfaction with the finished work of His beloved Son ; and that He only occupies this place until He takes possession of His own throne, on which He will grant the privilege of sitting with Him to all those who have been faithful to Him in this rebellious world. When Christ appeared for the first time, had Israel but known the day of His visitation, the kingdom might have at that time been restored to them ; but " His own received Him not." They rejected Him, and sent a messenger after Him, saying: " We will not have this man to reign over us." of dbfc. 37 But did Israel's unbelief and rejection of their King frustrate the purposes of God ? Did it for ever rob Christ of that to which He has a right as the Son of David, and which is pre-eminently the reward of His humiliation and pouring out His soul unto death ? " Yet have I anointed My king on the holy hill of Zion." Man's unbelief and disobedience may defer, to his own hurt, the accomplishment of the purposes of God ; but man's unbelief and the very gates of hell cannot frustrate tJiem. " There is an old saying which Bengel was very fond of: ' Deus habet horas et moms' God has His own times and ways. There are pauses in history ; but during those pauses, which are occasioned by the unbelief, the ignorance, and the disobedience of His own people, and are made subservient to the wisdom of God, the great Musician does not forget the melody, and at the proper time it is continued." 1 The King whom Israel insulted and delivered over to the cross, departed for a season with the awful words : " Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew xxiii. 38, 39). 1 Dr. A. Saphir. 38 Israel's Conbcrsion. Or, as we have it in Hosea v. 1 5 : " I will go and return unto My place, till they ac- knowledge their offence, and seek My face ; in their affliction they shall seek Me early." Meanwhile, another underlying parallel purpose of God, even the mystery of the Church, has been revealed, which more than ever makes manifest the manifold wisdom of God. But what about the " Tabernacle of David " ? What about Christ's relation to Israel? Did He renounce? Did He say to Israel, " I have done with you ? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth and for ever." Oh, no ! Behold here too the glorious star of hope suspended right in the midst of the gloom of impending judgment and desolation. The King's departure, however long its duration, is but for a limited time : " Until ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Till they acknowledge their offence and seek My face ; and then, corresponding with what was said above, it is added : " In their affliction in the time of Jacob's trouble (the same word in the original being used in both places) they shall seek Me early." And when once they seek Him, that face, which " in a little wrath has been hid " tSRithont a ftm0 anit ^ritue." 39 from them for a moment," 1 will be lifted upon them in full splendour. " I will return and build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up ; " 2 " and the Lord shall yet reign in Mount Zion, and before His ancients gloriously." 3 Till then, and for these many days, " the children of Israel abide without a king and without a prince." 4 Note that they are not only without a king, but also without a prince. Now, compare this with Ezekiel xxxvii., and see a most beautiful truth about the Lord Jesus in relation to Israel's future. " Thus saith the Lord God : Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel ; and one king shall be king to them all : and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions ; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them ; so shall they be My people, and I will be their God. And David My servant shall be king over them ; and they all shall have one shepherd ; they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes and do them. 1 Isa. liv. 8. 2 Amos ix. n, 12. 3 Isa. xxiv. 23. 4 Hosea iii. i 4 Israel's Conbersbtt. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt : and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever : and My servant David shall be their Prince for ever " (Ezekiel xxxvii. 21-25). "And David My servant shall be king over them ; . . . and My servant David shall be their prince for ever" Here is both Israel's King and Prince in the same person. But, you say, do not the two terms substantially mean the same thing ? No ; the word in the original translated "prince" in this passage, does not mean prince in an hereditary sense of the word. " Nassi," the term used, signifies one exalted, or elected by tJie free will of the people. What a glimpse we get here of the change that will come over Israel at the appearing of Jesus Christ ! At His first coming, Israel, as a nation, deliberately rejected Him. " Not this man, but Barabbas ! " they said : and as to Christ, " Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! " " We will not have this man to reign over us," was their cry. But the national verdict with regard to Jesus of Nazareth will be revoked ; the grand mistake of the Jewish people shall yet be acknowledged and repented of. In- stead of " Crucify Him ! " they will cry " Hosanna ! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the gairifc ^.ttohttefc Iting. 4 1 Lord." They will recognise His claims, not only as "the King," the one whose right it is to reign over them ; but they will deliberately declare Him their " Nassi," their elected or exalted one. This simply means that Israel will ratify God's choice. David himself, whose name Messiah bears, is a beautiful type of Christ in this as in many other respects. In i Samuel xvi. we read of his being chosen and anointed as king over Israel by the command of God. But what followed ? Did he at once commence his reign ? For fifteen years he was a fugitive ; his claims were unrecog- nised ; his home was the Cave of Adullam, or the wilderness of Judah. There was another king, who hated David, and disputed his sovereignty. Meanwhile, instead of a throne on Mount Zion and the hosts of Israel, his court was outside the camp, and his following consisted of his brethren and all his father's house : " And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented" a strange, typical lot, not numbering altogether more than about "four hundred men." 1 But at last, after those years of rejection, the people's heart turned toward him, "and the men of Judah came and " as if he had never been anointed king 1 I Samuel xxii. I, 2. 42 Sarad'a dottijerstott. before " there " (in Hebron) " they anointed David king over the house of Judah." 1 The rest of the tribes of Israel still opposed David, and ranged themselves under the banner of Ishbosheth ; until about seven years later the heart of all the people turned toward him, and " all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before Jehovah, and they anointed David king over Israel." 8 Thus it is with Christ. From His incarnation He was designated King of the Jews. Jehovah Himself has anointed Him as His King on the holy hill of Zion ; and it was even then announced that "the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." But my people knew not the day of their visitation ; and for all these centuries have resolutely, as a nation, refused to acknowledge His claims. Meanwhile, also, the god of this world, " the prince of the power of the air," is permitted in the infinite wisdom of God to usurp Christ's sovereignty over the nations ; and the followers of our blessed, glorious Master are a mere handful of individuals from all nations who 1 2 Samuel ii. 4. a 2 Samuel v. 3. te Camp." 43 spiritually are like that motley crowd in the cave of Adullam, "in distress, in debts, and discon- tented, or bitter of soul " because of a sense of sin and sorrow. These are painfully conscious that Jesus Christ is not yet accepted King over the earth ; for instead of a crown which will come by and by, we have to take up His cross and follow Him, " without the camp bearing His reproach." 1 But as sure as there was a cross planted for Him on that Golgotha, outside the walls of Jerusalem, so surely, if the word and oath of our God stand for anything, is there yet to be a glorious throne for our Redeemer and Master on Mount Zion. " The stone which the builders have rejected has become the headstone of the corner " ; and, however marvellous and improbable in our eyes, Israel shall yet "serve Jehovah their God, and David their King," and deliberately elect Him, whom during centuries of unbelief they have despised and rejected, as their " Nassi " their freely chosen ruler and prince. 1 Hebrews xiii. 13. IV. present (te&ition of Israel. ISRAEL'S present state, and the miracle of their preservation. This is the next item in the divinely dictated message through the prophet Jeremiah. After proclaiming the fact of their restoration, and describing the glad day when the remnant of Israel, after passing through the purging ordeal, shall " call on the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one consent," x we read in the tenth verse : " Therefore fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith Jehovah ; neither be dismayed, O Israel : for lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." It is beautiful to note how the people are encouraged to draw consolation and hope in their present desolation and sufferings, from the bright- ness and glory which is yet to break upon them. " Therefore " in view of the glorious prospect just dilated on " fear thou not, O My servant Jacob." 1 Zephaniah iii. 9. Consolation ana Hope. 45 " I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Gloomy indeed is the prospect of the present state of the Jewish people in its dispersion and unbelief, if viewed apart from the bright morn of promise so clearly foretold in the Word of God ; but, in the light of the bright future, even the present darkness and gloom become less intense. How full of consolation is the assurance that "Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid" \ The present state of the peculiar people has been foretold with minute exactness in predictions like the following : " For lo, I will command, and I will sift (lit. toss or shake about} the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is tossed about in a sieve " (Amos ix. 9). Or, in the words of Jeremiah : " I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil ; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them" (xxiv. 9, R.V.). O ye who doubt the inspiration of the Book of books, compare these prophecies of thousands of years ago with what is going on before your very eyes ! How can we account for the repeated dis- persions, and the continued, unceasing wanderings 46 flljs fjrmnt Hanbitim of Israel. and strange restlessness of the Jew, apart from these ancient inspired utterances ? That Palestine should be vanquished, and that Israel should be cast out of their own land, or even be dispersed among the nations, was within the range of human possibility, and mayhap within the power of a shrewd observer to forecast ; but, that for centuries and centuries, a people, vanquished and scattered out of their own country, instead of becoming absorbed among the nations as has been the case with other peoples ; and instead of taking root and finding rest in the new soil to which they have been transplanted, should retain a separate existence, everywhere dwelling alone, and not reckoned among the nations, yet in all places kept in a state of unrest, and continually agitated or tossed about : who, but He whose hand has kept up this standing miracle as His witness among the nations could have foreseen or foretold than Before even their first settlement in Palestine, Moses predicted that, if Israel sinned, and was disobedient, "Jehovah shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other ; . . . and among all these nations shalt thou find no ease, neitJur shall the sole of thy foot find rest? And as the mouth of the Lord has spoken, so it has been all these centuries. What is t&tatttrering f Bin." 47 the monkish legend of the " Wandering Jew " but a parable of the whole Jewish nation? The original version of the legend is as follows : Joseph Cartophilus, a Jew, was door-keeper at the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate when Jesus was led away to be crucified. As Jesus halted upon the threshold of the Praetorium, Cartophilus struck Him on the loins, and said, " Move faster. Why do you stop here?" Jesus turned round to him, and said : " I go, but you will wait till My return." Cartophilus, who was then thirty years old, and who has always returned to that age when he has completed a hundred years, has ever since been awaiting the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. This wretched man, who must exist in spite of his longing for death, and desperate efforts at self-destruction, is further said to be possessed with a spirit of restlessness which makes him ceaselessly wander over the face of the earth. Who cannot see the application of this legend to the whole tribe of the " wandering foot and weary breast " ? More than eighteen hundred years ago, when Israel insulted their Messiah, and hastened Him to the cross, Jesus, with a pitiful but dis- appointed look, turned to them, and said : " The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him ; but this generation shall not pass away until all these 48 h IJrmttt C0ttbtfiatt 0f Israel. things be fulfilled ; for I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say: Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Forthwith Israel, taken possession of by a spirit of restlessness, had to take staff in hand, and gird his loins, and commence his wanderings amongst the nations. 1 Still they are on their weary march, which has already extended over a period of nearly two millenniums. How often has not my people built a nest for itself, and said : " Here let us rest ! " But, as often has God put His hand under the nest and said : " Arise and depart, for this is not your rest- ing-place ! " " That which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say : We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries" (Ezekiel xx. 32). If God had cast away His people which He foreknew, He would have let them alone to go to national destruction and amalgamation, which they courted ; but no, even in these repeated dis- persions and long - continued wanderings and chastisements, we see God's faithfulness to His covenants, and love for His people. Israel gives us the picture, on a national scale, of God's dealings 1 Hosea ix. 17. & (Kail from (Soft. 49 with a backslider. And surely it is in love and mercy that rest and peace are taken from those that wander from God. If the prodigal in the far country had found what his heart desired, he might never have turned his thoughts to his father and his home. " Thou turnest man to the very dust, and sayest, Turn, O children of men !" (Psalm xc. 3, Heb.). Each stroke, each separate edict of banishment from one country or the other, which has, as it were, been God's word of command to the nation to resume its long march, each calamity and wrong which has befallen the dispersed people, has been a call from God : " Turn ye ! turn ye ! from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ? " " If then their uncircumcised hearts be 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" (Leviticus xxvi. 41, 42). But the day is not far distant when God will heal their backslidings j 1 and then at the cross, where they commenced, Israel's wanderings and dispersions will cease. "Jacob shall return, and be in rest, and be quiet ; and none shall make him afraid." Meanwhile, though scattered and peeled, 1 Hosea xiv. 4. G SQ hc $ resent Contrition of Israel. tossed about among the nations, and finding no rest for the sole of their feet, Israel's preservation is guaranteed. " For I am \vith thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee : for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee ; but I will correct thee with judgment, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished" (Jer. xxx. II, R.V.). This agrees with what the same prophet says in another place : "Thus hath Jehovah said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not make a full end " (Jer. iv. 27). And again, in giving His mandate to the nations to " go up upon her walls and destroy," He is care- ful to put in the reservation clause, " but make not a full end." 1 We also read in Amos ix. 8 : "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah." Let the miracle of the continued existence of the Jewish people bear witness to Jehovah's faithfulness to His promises, as well as to His threatenings. By the word of God was this nation first brought into existence ; and by the word of God it continues to exist, and nothing can move it. 1 Jeremiah v. 10. JUtitiitre of (Unttiles. 51 It surely is not necessary to remind the world that there are no thanks due to the Gentile nations especially not to professed Christendom that there is such a being as a Jew now left on the face of the earth. What force or influence is there, which might be supposed to tend .to the utter extermination of the people, which has not been brought to bear upon them with terrible severity for many centuries ? On whatever else the nations of the earth were divided, they were at one on this point ; and, to use the language of Psalm Ixxxiii. 4, which will be the war cry of the final great con- federacy of the nations who will assemble against Jerusalem, they have said : " Come, let us cut them off from being a nation ; That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance/' Popes, councils, bishops, monks, kings, and peoples, seemed equally enraged against them, and equally determined on their extermination. To effect this, every expedient has been tried, but all have equally failed. Let me remind the reader of a few typical actions on the part of the great representatives of the Gentile world, to illustrate their attitude to Israel. Pharaoh, the head of the Gentile world of his time, conceived the idea of a policy of 52 Ije present Condition of Israel. extermination against the chosen people, and he tried the expedient of water. " Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river," was the stern edict. But what was the result ? Israel ultimately passed the water ordeal in safety ; not only the River Nile, but also the Red Sea. But note the retributive justice of God : the very means which he had planned for the extermination of God's people were chosen for his own destruction. Pha- raoh and his hosts were drowned ! Once again Israel was in bondage, though for a short period ; and the great head of the Gentile world at that time, Nebuchadnezzar with whom pre-eminently began the " times of the Gentiles " tried how it would do to destroy these Jews by fire. Three Hebrew youths, because they would not serve his gods, nor worship the golden image which he had set up, were cast into the " burning fiery furnace," heated one seven times more than it was wont ; however, the fire had no power over the bodies of these Jewish men, nor was a hair of their head singed, but the flames slew those men who threw them into the furnace. Darius, another great monarch of the Gentile world, tried the expedient of throwing one Jew, the representative of his people, to wild beasts. But God sent His angel and shut the lions' JHotortt fperaemtions. 53 mouths, so that they did not hurt him ; although these same lions had the mastery of Daniel's enemies, and brake all their bones in pieces, or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Were these occurrences mere chance ? Oh no ! they were in fulfilment of that wonderful promise, primarily given to Israel as a nation : "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not over- flow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah xliii. 2). Coming to more modern times, it may well be said that no weapon that was forged against Israel prospered, and every tongue that rose up against them in judgment was contemned. Whenever there arose a Haman, who planned their destruc- tion, there was an Esther or a Mordecai fore- ordained. Behold, He that keepeth Israel did neither slumber nor sleep. Hence it comes to pass, that after nearly two thousand years of dis- persion, untold and unheard-of sufferings, confisca- tions, violence, tortures, massacres, banishments, and systematic oppressions, the Jewish nation has proved indestructible ; and not only exists, but exists in larger numbers to-day than in the most palmy days of David and Solomon, and shows no 54 &!JE present Condition of Israel. symptoms of an exhaustion of the early vigour of their national life. Note the eloquent appeal of a Jew : " Braving all kinds of torments the pangs of death, and still more terrible pangs of life we have withstood the impetuous storm of time, sweeping indis- criminately in its course nations, religions, and countries. What has become of those celebrated empires, whose very name still excites our ad- miration by the idea of splendid greatness attached to them, and whose power embraced the whole surface of the known globe ? They are only remembered as monuments of the vanity of human greatness. Rome and Greece are no more ; their descendants, mixed with other nations, have lost even the traces of their origin ; while a population of a few millions of men, so often subjugated, stands the test of revolving ages, and the fiery ordeal of eighteen centuries of persecution. We still preserve laws that were given to us in the first days of the world, in the infancy of nature. The last followers of a religion which had embraced the universe have disappeared these eighteen cen- turies, and our temples are still standing. We alone have been spared by the indiscriminating hand of time, like a column left standing amid the wreck of worlds and the ruins of nature. The JV Ration for (Ebcr. 55 history of our people connects present times with the first ages of the world, by the testimony it bears to the existence of those early periods. It begins at the cradle of mankind ; it is likely to be preserved to the very day of universal de- struction." l " 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 Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever. Thus saith Jehovah, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Jehovah" (Jeremiah xxxi. 35-37). 1 Michael Beers, Appeal to the Justice of Kings. V. 31 lark future: r, a Contrast ffJEthrcett thx pitman attb tire $ thine of tlje Jfetoislr fjrnblem. OR thus saith Jehovah, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause that thou mayest be bound up : thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forgotten thee ; they seek thee not ; for I have wounded thee with a wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity ; because thy sins were increased. Why criest thou for thine affliction ? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity : because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee " (Jeremiah xxx. 12-15). But, lest the Gentiles should mix themselves in God's controversy with His people, and say, as they have done : " God hath cast them off ; come, let us destroy Israel from being a nation," there is put in, as a parenthesis, the warning : "Therefore, all they that devour thee shall be de- voured ; and all thine adversaries, every one of them shall go into captivity ; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all they that prey upon thee will I give for s anir Hopeless." 57 a prey. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah ; because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after" (Jeremiah xxx. 16, 17). - What a picture of Israel ! Some people are fond of drawing gloomy outlines of the present state of the Jews ; and this may suit their tastes, for surely they could not present a darker one than what is here portrayed by God's own hand. The Jew is represented here as in a fielpless and hopeless condition. He is helpless. The figure is that of a sick man lying, bruised and wounded, and having no remedy within reach. I say, "a sick man lying," because the words translated, " thou hast no healing medicines," may literally be rendered : " Thou hast no medicines to raise thee up." Behold this bruised and wounded man, O church of Christ ; and may God give you the heart of the Good Samaritan and the compassion of Jesus ! Do you realize the present helplessness of poor Israel ? We sometimes hear the Jews spoken of by Christians of a certain stamp, after this manner : " After all, they are not so badly off as the heathen. They are a moral, God-fearing people ; they have the Old Testament Scriptures in their possession. They are intelligent, clever, influential, and cer- tainly not so low and degraded as the heathen." H 5S Jl gnrJk fjidturi. The answer of God to all this is : " Thou hast no healing medicines." The Jew has the Scriptures ; but what if they testify not to him of Jesus Christ, in whom alone, and not in the letter of the Scriptures, is eternal life ? And, think of it, whoever you are, who have some such thoughts as the above in your mind ! Is not the Jew a sinner? Has not God said: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die?" Has not Jesus Christ said : " If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins ? " Must the Son of God come down from heaven to die on the cross in order to save you, and can the Jew be saved by morality? Must you have a Saviour to comfort you in your sorrow and in the hour of death, and can the Jew do without Him ? Out of Christ, it is not a question what a man has ; but what he has not. If a sick man were lying in a room fitted up with shelves full of bottles of all sorts of drugs, what avail would it be to him if the only remedy which could alone save him were wanting ? " He that hath the Son, hath life ; and he that hath not the Son " (be he never so moral, wise, and influential), " hath not life." You say : " Granted Israel's case is helpless ; but have you not just said that it is also hopeless f" Does not God say : " Thy bruise is incurable ; thy 44 3fs 2Utst&tnjj too fjarfr for i&e forfc ? " 59 wound is grievous " : and again, in the fifteenth verse : " Thy sorroiv is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity ! " Yes, altogether hopeless, as well as helpless, from the human standpoint ; but search and see : you will not find either of these words in the vocabulary of God. Helpless ! Hopeless ! " Is the arm of Jehovah shortened at all that it cannot save?" " Behold," says God, through Jeremiah, in relation to this very subject, " I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh ; is there anything too hard for Me ? " 1 " Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty (or " hidden," " fortified," or "inaccessible") things, which thou knowest not." 2 "Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is grievous," says man. " I will restore health unto thee, and will heal thee of thy wounds," says Jehovah. Is not the Church of Christ guilty in this matter of limiting the " Holy One of Israel " ? Has it not been guilty of scepticism and unbelief in the declaration of the inspired Apostle to the Gentiles, that " the gospel is the power of God unto salva- tion . . to the Jew first"? 3 Who speaks of hopelessness on God's part in the matter of a 1 Jer. xxxii. 27. * Jer. xxxiii. 3. 8 Romans i. 16. 60 JL arfe picture. sinner's salvation ? Search and see ! Has Christ ever sent away any case because it was beyond His power to cure? There were many hopeless incurables who came to Jesus when He was on earth. There were many such at the Pool of Bethesda. I suppose that poor woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years, and who spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, was as hopeless a case as you might wish ; but she only touched the hem of His garment, and immediately she was healed. Look again at Israel. In this chapter which we are considering, he is likened to a hopelessly sick man. When you come to Ezekiel xxxvii., the sick man has died ; and, like Lazarus fn the' grave, by this time he not only stinketh, but his flesh has rotted away and all there is left of him is a heap of dry bones strewn over the open valley. " Son of man, can these dry bones live ? ... So I prophesied as He commanded me ; and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army " Look at another figure of unbelieving Israel, in Romans xi. They are compared to broken- off branches of the brittle olive-tree. Can these broken-off fragments be made once again to live and bear fruit ? Yes, 6 1 " God is able to graft them in again. For if thou (Gentile) wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted, contrary to nature, into a good olive tree, how much more shall these (Israelites) which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree !" (Romans xi. 23, 24). " For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jehovah. Because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after" (Jeremiah xxx. 17). Those not acquainted with the original lose very much of the force of this last verse. Some Christians are very fond of the term " Zion " as a name for the Church, and they speak of " our Zion." They may be surprised to learn that " Zion " in the Hebrew means a " desert," " barrenness," or, as it is translated in Isaiah (xxv. 5) "a dry place." Now, note the force of this taunting reproach. " They," (the Gentiles), " called thee Zion " a barren desert, good for nothing, and which therefore, " no man seeketh after." Now, just because it is so unpromising a plot of ground, God is going to take it in hand, and once again " the desert shall rej'oice and blossom as the rose." Blessed be God, it is just like Him ! He always takes the most unpromising materials to accomplish most glorious ends. Look at Israel in the past. Why did God 62 Jl g ark choose them ? Was it because they were more in number than other peoples ? Was it be- cause of their goodness or righteousness ? No : they were the fewest of all people ; and as Moses solemnly testifies to them : " Understand therefore, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteous- ness ; for thou art a stiff-necked people" (Deut. ix. 6). But Israel's very stiff-neckedness and barrenness gave occasion for the greater display of God's power and the infinitude of His grace. All the greater glory and credit to the great Husbandman, that the unpromising vine which He brought out of Egypt flourished so wonderfully, that " She sent out her boughs unto the sea, And her branches unto the river. The hills were covered with the shadow of it ; And the boughs thereof were like cedars of God." (Psalm Ixxx. 10, n.) Can any good thing come out of Zion ? Yes : an Abraham, a Moses, a David, an Isaiah, a Paul a CHRIST ! Alas ! in a moment of God's righteous anger, this garden of the Lord has become withered, as if smitten by some sirocco blast. " The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it" They called thee " an Eton's H0pe. 63 outcast," saying, "This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after ; " but the miracle of the past will yet be repeated and intensified. Zion, in God's hand, is yet to be turned into the very " perfection of beauty ; " l and the barren fig-tree shall again "bud and blossom, and fill the face of the earth with fruit." " But," some will say, " Israel's restoration and conversion, according to your own showing, is a work which can only be accomplished by the power of God. What then ought to be the attitude of the Church in relation to this matter ? What can we do?" True, Israel's restoration depends not on anything man can do, " He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." We may well leave this in the hands of Him in whose power alone are the times and seasons, and whose counsels and purposes shall stand for ever, and are inde- pendent of all human strength and human means. Although God specially proclaims the fact of Israel's restoration to the Gentile nations, and in the isles afar off, 2 showing that it is most im- portant for them to know it, yet He nowhere commands them to bring it about. 1 Psalm 1. 2. * Jeremiah xxxi. 10. 64 JV ark picture. Again, the work of conversion whether of individuals or of nations, whether of Jews or of Gentiles is always a work which only the power of God can accomplish ; but that does not mean that the Church of Christ is to fold her hands as she has done for many centuries, and do next to nothing. What your attitude to Israel should be, is plainly shown in the Word of God. (l) It should be an attitude of prayer. Do you aspire to be one of Jehovah's remembrancers ? Then hark to His command : " Ye that make mention of the Lord [or, ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers} keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jeru- salem a praise in the earth" (Isaiah Ixii. 6, 7). Let there be the heart's desire and believing prayer unto God for Israel that they may be saved. 1 And lest you should not know how to pray about this matter, God Himself has condescended to supply you with a form of prayer for Israel : " For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations ; publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel" (Jeremiah xxxi. 7). Has compassion, has gratitude for the wonderful blessings which you have received through them as 1 Romans x. I, 65 the channel, yea, has God's clear word of command, ever made your heart to go out after this manner in the prayer of faith for poor sick Israel ? (2) // sJtould be an attitude of service. When Ezekiel was made by the Spirit of God to pass through and round about the " dry bones " in the valley of vision, the Lord put the question to him, " Son of man, can these dry bones live ? " And the prophet's answer was : " O Lord God, Thou knowest ! " as much as to say : " It is certainly beyond the power of man to do anything in such a case. The giving of life, whether physical or spiritual, is Thy prerogative and in Thy power ; Thou alone must do it O Lord God, Thou knowest ! " But there followed a command from the great God which must have seemed strange to the prophet. " Yes," said Jehovah, " life is My prero- gative, and I am going to bestow it : ' Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, . . and will put My spirit in you, and ye shall live.' But, son of man, there is sometliing which you must do, so that the life which I alone can give may come to these dead bones. 'Prophesy unto these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones y hear tJie word of Jeliovah! " 66 31 gark picture Now, this is precisely what the Church has neglected to do ; and yet it wonders that there has been no noise, no mighty shaking, or many signs of life among the dry bones. O ye Christians who are fond of speaking of "Jewish unbelief," and have a pious aversion to poor Israel, because he calls not on the name of Christ, " How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed ? And how shall they believe on Him of whom they have not heard ? And how shall they hear without a preacher"? Know ye not that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God ? And know ye not that for centuries and centuries the gospel of their own Messiah has been withheld from them ; and the name of the Blessed Saviour was made to be blasphemed among them by the terrible cruelties which have been perpetrated on them, and the awful caricature of Christ which has been presented to them by those who have professed His name ; and that to this day, in spite of a few recent, inadequate, and not always wisely-directed efforts, the great mass of the Jewish nation is left in perfect ignorance of the holy name of Christ, and of the very existence of such a book as the New Testament ? You believe that Gentiles can only be born of Jtehrisfr ^Jtisstons. 67 again by the Spirit of God : yet you do not expect those to whom the gospel has not been preached to believe and call on the name of Christ ! Those among Israel who have heard the glad tidings of salvation through their crucified and risen Messiah have not all disbelieved it ; and it is a matter of fact which, however, those not informed on this subject may be surprised to hear that, in spite of difficulties and terrible disappointments, there is no modern mission so hopeful, or which has produced such glorious results in conversion, or the converts from which have, by their usefulness and service to the Church universal, so abundantly rewarded all the efforts put forth, as the Jewish field. But how, some may ask, does this advocacy of the evangelization of the Jews tally with what has been shown in an earlier chapter that Israel, as a nation, will not be converted until after their restoration and the re-appearance of their Messiah upon whom they shall look and mourn ? Why, in the same manner as the evangelization of all the Gentile nations is consistent with the plain teaching of the Word of God : that not one of them, as a nation, will be converted before Christ's return, and the conversion of Israel. Our commission is not to convert any one people or nation, but to evangelize all to " go into all the 68 31 ark world, and preach the gospel to every creature " ; and the results of this work of universal evangeli- zation have been already foretold. As far as Israel is concerned, " a remnant according to the election of grace" will be called out to call Jesus " blessed " now ; while all Israel shall be saved by and by, when the Redeemer comes out of Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 1 And, as re- gards the Gentiles, God has visited them in this dis- pensation by the preaching of the gospel, " to take out of them a people for His name " ; while " all 'the Gentiles " are left over to the time when the same Jesus who was taken up into heaven shall so, and in like manner, come back from heaven. Oh, fellow Christian, time is short! Already there are abundant signs that long scattered and long neglected Israel is hastening back to his land to pass through ere long that fiery ordeal and furnace awaiting him in Zion. Perhaps the most significant fact in this connection, is the now almost universally known, and rapidly spreading, Zionist Movement, which seems destined, after centuries of dispersion, to bind all the scattered fragments of the people into one national force, with the ostensible aim of regaining possession of the land of their 1 Romans xi. 5, 26. fattb " attfc " (Efre o0k." 69 fathers. 1 " The Land " also is now being rapidly opened up, after all these many centuries, during which it was kept locked, and in its desolate condi- tion as a stereotyped Commentary on " The Book." The distant sounds of our Master's chariots are already heard, and Jesus Christ is coming quickly to render to every man according to his work. " If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain ; if thou sayest, Behold we knew it not ; doth not He that pon- dereth the heart consider it ? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it ? and shall not He render to every man according to his works ?" (Prov. xxiv. 1 1, 12.) Who will be up and doing? Who will rise to the Lord's help against the mighty ? Who by their prayers and substance will help to carry the gospel message to poor scattered Israel ? " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." " Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judg- ments, and His ways past finding out ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been His counsellor ? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again ? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things : to whom be glory for ever. Amen." (Romans xi. 33-36.) i For a full account and examination of Zionism, Anti- Semitism, &c., see my "ANCIENT SCRIPTURES AND THE MODERN JEW" (Hodder & Stoughton, 1901). LONDON : MORGAN AND SCOTT Ltd., 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.G. A 000109056 2 Unive: Soi Li