>rael's Inalienable 
 Possessions 
 
 DAVID BARON 
 
 Paptr, od. net; Clctfa, is. net
 
 Israel's Inalienable 
 Possessions. 
 
 The Gifts and the Calling of God 
 which are without Repentance 
 
 By DAVID BARON 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE A.VCIBNT SCRIPTURES AND THE MODERN JE\V 
 "THE JEWISH PROBLEM'' ETC. 
 
 London 
 
 Morgan and Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings, E.G. 
 or Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel 
 
 23, Boscastle Road, N.W. 
 And may be ordered of any Bookseller
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 " I "HE substance of this booklet 
 is an address, afterwards 
 written out in amplified form for 
 The Scattered Nation, whence, 
 by request, it is now reprinted. 
 May the Great Shepherd of 
 Israel bless this weak and inade- 
 quate effort to quicken interest in 
 the hearts of Christians for the 
 people still " beloved for the 
 fathers' sakes," to whom He has 
 never forgotten to be gracious 
 even in the darkest hours of their 
 long night of sorrow. 
 
 DAVID BARON. 
 
 2095993
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 A DIVINE FORECAST OF 
 JEWISH HISTORY: 
 
 A PROOF OF THE SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT 
 IN SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Paper, 6<L net (post free, yd.). 
 Cloth, Is. net (post free, is. xirf.). 
 
 " Written by one who has made its subject a life-long 
 study, and has devoted many earnest years to work among 
 the Jews ; . . . full of interest to Bible students." 
 
 Preachers' Magazine. 
 
 "One of the very sanest and best little books on its 
 subject we have ever read." Life of Faith. 
 
 " The renewed scattering of the Jewish oeople, conse- 
 quent upon the repeated massacres in Russia, will invest 
 with timely interest Rev. David Baron's book. In a 
 succinct manner he sketches the familiar story, and after a 
 luminous outline of the apostasy of the nation, he deals 
 with its uniq ae punishment, and the testimony of ' the 
 everlasting people ' to the truth of God's Word. In conclu- 
 sion, Israel s future is indicated as foreshadowed in the 
 prophetic Scriptures. Mr. Baron has written many good 
 books, but none of them has made a stronger appeal than 
 this for a prayerful perusal of those who ' pray for the 
 peace of Jerusalem.'" The Christian. 
 
 "A clear re-statement of an interesting theme, and will 
 commend itself to all who value the place and purpose ot 
 the Hebrew people in the general plan of history. ' 
 
 Irish Congregational Magazine. 
 
 LONDON : MORGAN AND SCOTT.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL . . 7 
 
 II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 
 
 NAME ISRAEL . . .26 
 
 III. ISRAEL'S ADOPTION . . 40 
 
 IV. THE SHEKINAH GLORY AND 
 
 THE COVENANTS . -52 
 
 V. THE LAW-GIVING AND THE 
 
 SERVICE OF GOD . . 64 
 
 VI. THE PROMISES . . 73 
 
 VII. WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 
 AND OF WHOM is CHRIST 85
 
 " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my 
 conscience also bearing me witness in the 
 Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and 
 continual sorrow in my heart. For I could 
 wish that myself were accursed from Christ 
 for my brethren, my kinsmen according to 
 the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom 
 pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and 
 the covenants, and the giving of the law, 
 and the service of God, and the promises ; 
 whose are the fathers, and of whom as con- 
 cerning the flesh Christ came, who is over 
 all, God blessed for ever. Amen." 
 
 Rom. ix. 1-5. 
 
 "As concerning the Gospel, they are 
 enemies for your sakes : but as touching the 
 election, they are beloved for the fathers' 
 sakes. For the gifts and the calling of 
 God are without repentance." 
 
 Rom. xi. 28, 29.
 
 Israel's Inalienable 
 Possessions. 
 
 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 
 
 "For I could wish that I myself were 
 anathema from Christ for my brethren, my 
 kinsmen according to the flesh " 
 
 T7ROM the height of blessed- 
 ness to which the Apostle 
 gradually leads us in the first, or 
 doctrinal section of the Epistle, 
 culminating as it does in the 
 triumphant " No condemnation " 
 and " No separation " to " them
 
 8 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 that are in Christ Jesus," we 
 are here at the commencement 
 of the dispensational, or prophetic 
 section of the Epistle, almost 
 abruptly brought down into a 
 vale of sorrow, and we hear the 
 Apostle speak of " great heavi- 
 ness and uninterrupted sorrow in 
 his heart." 
 
 And if the question be asked, 
 Why this sudden descent from 
 the mountain-top of blessedness ? 
 could not the Apostle have spared 
 us the knowledge and the sor- 
 row ot this dispensational sec- 
 tion of the Epistle, and have 
 taken up the thread of his argu- 
 ment with the practical section 
 which begins with the 1 2th chap- 
 ter ? the answer is No ! For 
 their own good the Apostle could
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 9 
 
 not leave Gentile believers in 
 ignorance of the mystery of God 
 with Israel. God's dealings with 
 Israel, God's purposes in Israel, 
 are subjects with regard to which 
 Christians, for their own good, 
 cannot afford to be ignorant. 
 
 The teaching imparted in this 
 section of the Epistle which was 
 written for the express purpose 
 of instructing Gentile believers 
 about Israel is not only salu- 
 tary but absolutely needful, and 
 though in the course of our study 
 of these chapters, if our hearts 
 be filled with the compassion of 
 Christ, we too shall be filled with 
 sorrow in contemplating Israel's 
 present condition, yet we too are 
 sure in the end to emerge with 
 the Apostle with the triumphant,
 
 io THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 adoring exclamation, " Oh, the 
 depth of the riches botH of the 
 wisdom and the knowledge of 
 God ! How unsearchable are 
 His judgments, and His ways 
 past finding out ! " And our gain 
 in the process will consist of en- 
 larged views of God's character 
 and a better understanding of 
 God's ways and, my dear 
 friends, to the Christian there 
 is no greater gain. 
 
 The first five verses of the Qth 
 chapter form the introduction to 
 this section of the Epistle, which 
 consists of Chapters ix., x., and 
 xi., and in these verses the 
 Apostle Paul, before proceeding 
 to vindicate the ways of God in 
 His governmental dealings with 
 Israel and the nations, stops to
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 11 
 
 express his own sorrow and deep 
 sympathy for that nation, which, 
 though in the purpose of God 
 exalted so high, is at present, 
 through unbelief, fallen so low. 
 
 "I say the truth in Christ, I lie 
 not, my conscience also bearing 
 me witness in the Holy Ghost." 
 By this solemn asseveration the 
 Apostle wants, not only to im- 
 press us with the sincerity and 
 truthfulness of his sorrow and 
 sympathy for Israel, but to 
 teach us that the feelings to 
 which he gives utterance are no 
 mere natural sentiments, such as 
 a Jew might be supposed to have 
 for his nation. He speaks as a 
 man " in Christ," that is, as a 
 man whose conscience, whose 
 whole being, has been renewed
 
 T2 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 and illumined, and who, at the 
 very time of writing, is conscious 
 of being under the direct opera- 
 tion of God's Spirit. It is not as 
 a natural man, but as a spiritual 
 man; it is not as a Jew, but as an 
 Israelite indeed, in whom there is 
 no guile it is as an inspired 
 Apostle that he speaks, and he 
 may therefore well serve as our 
 pattern. 
 
 He says, " I have great heavi- 
 ness (or " I have great grief") 
 and uninterrupted pain in my 
 heart." The Apostle, my dear 
 friends, had indeed drunk deeply 
 of the Spirit of his Divine Master, 
 our Lord Jesus, Who for our 
 sakes became a Man of Sorrows 
 and acquainted with grief, Who 
 was ever moved to compassion
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 13 
 
 when He beheld the multitude of 
 Israel, and Who wept over Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 We may pause for a moment 
 at this second verse, and ask our- 
 selves, " How did this Divine 
 sympathy, this Spirit- inspired 
 grief, operate in his heart ? 
 What did it impel him to?" It 
 impelled him first of all to earnest 
 prayer and intercession on Israel's 
 behalf. 
 
 " Brethren," he exclaims, at the 
 beginning of the loth chapter, 
 " my heart's desire and prayer to 
 God for Israel is that they may 
 be saved " ; or, more literally, 
 " The good pleasure of my heart 
 and supplication to God on behalf 
 of Israel is for their salvation. 
 " The good pleasure of my heart "
 
 14 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 the Apostle found delight in 
 prayer for Israel. I wonder of 
 how many it is true now that 
 they pray for Israel at all. And 
 among those who are watchmen 
 on the walls of Zion, and who do 
 pray for Israel's salvation, I 
 wonder of how many it can be 
 said that it is done in " the good 
 pleasure of their hearts," and not 
 rather as a duty at the best. 
 The Apostle found delight in his 
 supplication for Israel, because it 
 brought him so near to the heart 
 of God, who has never ceased to 
 yearn for His wandering people, 
 and because his prayers sprang 
 from sympathy with, and a deep 
 understanding of, the purposes of 
 God, not only to bless, but to 
 make Israel yet the centre and
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 15 
 
 channel of blessing for the whole 
 earth. 
 
 But he not only prayed for 
 them his divinely - given sym- 
 pathy for Israel impelled him also 
 continually to labour for them. 
 Paul was specially commissioned 
 of God to preach the glad tidings 
 of salvation through the crucified, 
 risen Messiah to the Gentiles ; 
 yet, if we follow his missionary 
 career, we find that wherever he 
 went he always sought out the 
 Jews first, and preached to them 
 in their synagogues. " // was 
 necessary that the Word of God 
 should first be spoken to you," he 
 says in one place ; and when the 
 Jews in that city shut their ears 
 and blasphemed, and he had to 
 turn to the Gentiles, we read that
 
 16 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 in the very next place which he 
 visited, Iconium, he and Barnabas 
 went again together into the syna- 
 gogue, " and so spake that a great 
 multitude both of the Jews and 
 also of the Greeks believed." 
 And this we find to be the 
 case to the end of his career. 
 And he not only preached the 
 Gospel to them, but he cared for 
 the temporal necessities of the 
 believing Israelites ; and when a 
 famine broke out in Judea he 
 was the first to raise his voice 
 among the Gentile Churches 
 which he had founded, calling 
 upon them to help these believ- 
 ing Jews, and reminding them 
 that " if the Gentiles had been 
 made partakers in their spiritual 
 things, it was their duty also
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 17 
 
 to minister to them in carnal 
 things." 
 
 But even all his labours and 
 all his prayers did not fully ex- 
 press his yearning love and desire 
 for Israel. He went much fur- 
 ther. This is brought out in the 
 3rd verse. What a wonderful 
 verse this is ! " For I could wish 
 that I myself were anathema from 
 Christ for my brethren, my kins- 
 men according to the flesh:' 
 Shrink as we may, my dear friends, 
 from the full meaning of these 
 fervent words of the Apostle, 
 sure it is that no other meaning 
 will sufficiently satisfy the plain 
 sense of the words, than that the 
 Apostle actually went the length 
 of wishing, if it had been possible, 
 and if Christ had permitted it, to
 
 i8 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 be himself cut off from Christ in 
 the place of his people. 
 
 " The wish," says Dean Alford, 
 " is evidently not to be pressed 
 as entailing on the Apostle the 
 charge of inconsistency in loving 
 his nation more than his Saviour. 
 It is the expression of an affec- 
 tionate and self-denying heart, 
 willing to surrender all things, 
 even, if it might be, eternal life 
 itself, if thereby he could obtain 
 for his beloved people these bless- 
 ings of the Gospel which he now 
 enjoyed, but from which they were 
 excluded. . . . Others express 
 their love by professing them- 
 selves ready to give their life for 
 their friends ; he declares the in- 
 tensity of his affection by reckon- 
 ing even his spiritual life not too
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 19 
 
 great a price if it might purchase 
 their salvation." 
 
 In this respect there are two 
 men in the history of Israel who 
 stand nearest to Christ for their 
 willingness to sacrifice themselves 
 for their people. One was Moses, 
 who, after the apostasy of Israel 
 in the matter of the golden calf, 
 prayed to God, " Yet now if Thou 
 wilt forgive their sin ; and if not, 
 blot me, I pray Thee, out of the 
 book which Thou hast written." 
 And the other was this Apostle, 
 who said, " I could wish that I 
 myself were anathema from Christ 
 for my brethren, my kinsmen 
 according to the flesh." 
 
 And remember, my dear friends, 
 that the man who gives us this 
 glimpse into the intensity of his
 
 20 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 heart's love and yearning for 
 Israel is the one who perhaps, 
 next to our Lord Jesus Christ 
 Himself, has suffered most at the 
 hands of his people. Again and 
 again, as he was proclaiming to 
 them the fulfilment of the promises 
 made to the fathers in God's gift 
 of His only begotten Son, they 
 cried : " Away with such a fellow 
 from the earth, for it is not fit 
 that he should live ! " Five dif- 
 ferent times did they lay many 
 stripes upon him in their syna- 
 gogues ; they hunted him from 
 place to place ; wherever they 
 could, they stirred up tumults 
 against him ; they beat him, they 
 stoned him, they heaped all sorts 
 of reproaches and blasphemies 
 upon him ; and what pained him
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 21 
 
 perhaps most of all was that they 
 tried by all the means in their 
 power to frustrate his Apostolic 
 commission, "forbidding him to 
 preach the Gospel to the Gen- 
 tiles that they might be saved." 
 
 And yet, all through, and to 
 the end, not only had he no incli- 
 nation or desire to " accuse his 
 nation " before the Gentiles (Acts 
 xxviii. 19), but he never ceased 
 to love them and to yearn for 
 them. Truly such k)ve sprang 
 from no mere natural or human 
 source, but was part of that 
 wonderful, everlasting, unchange- 
 able love of Jehovah toward the 
 children of Israel, which even all 
 their many sins and apostasies 
 could never quench, and was 
 drawn by the Apostle from the
 
 22 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 great heart of his Divine Master, 
 who wept over Jerusalem, and 
 who, even on the cross, prayed, 
 " Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do." 
 
 And it is only in this same 
 spirit of a love which never 
 faileth, and of Christ-like com- 
 passion, that we too shall be able 
 to persevere in our prayers and 
 in our efforts for the salvation 
 of gainsaying, disobedient Israel, 
 else we shall soon turn away from 
 them discouraged if not em- 
 bittered, as has been the case, 
 alas ! with some who began well, 
 but whose knowledge of this 
 peculiar people has been shallow, 
 and whose interest did not rest 
 on the deep-enough basis of an 
 intelligent understanding of God's
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 23 
 
 will and purposes, and was not 
 impelled by the all-constraining 
 love of Christ, which alone can 
 prevail. 
 
 " A parallel case," as Dr. 
 Adolph Saphir observed in one 
 of his last addresses on this sub- 
 ject, "is this: Jesus asks Peter, 
 ' Lovest thou Me ? ' then He 
 says, ' Feed My sheep.' It is 
 not love to the sheep that will 
 sustain Peter in feeding them. 
 It is the fact that they are 
 Christ's sheep. It is not because 
 the sheep are lovable that his 
 interest in them will continue. 
 It is because Christ is lovable. 
 Likewise, unless you believe that 
 Israel is God's nation, and your 
 interest is based on the Word of 
 God, your efforts to evangelise
 
 24 THE APOSTLE'S YEARNING 
 
 among Israel will soon languish, 
 and your patience will be ex- 
 hausted." 
 
 To return to the Apostle's 
 willingness to sacrifice himself for 
 his nation, I would remind you 
 that neither a Paul nor a Moses, 
 nor even an archangel, could 
 suffice for the redemption of the 
 people, or of even one soul in 
 Israel. One there is Whose death 
 alone is a sufficient ransom, and 
 He not only "wished," but was 
 actually made a curse for us, that 
 we might be freed from the curse 
 of sin and the law. 
 
 Yes, it was necessary, not on the 
 ground of human " expediency," 
 as Israel's apostate high priest 
 expressed it ; but because of a 
 Divine necessity, springing from
 
 LOVE FOR ISRAEL 2$ 
 
 the eternal principles of God's 
 moral government of the world, 
 that the Christ Himself "should 
 die for the people, that the whole 
 nation perish not" (John xi. 49- 
 
 54 
 
 And Jesus did die for that 
 
 nation, and in that great and 
 wonderful fact rests the certainty 
 of Israel's future salvation. But 
 blessed be His Name, He died, 
 not for that nation only, but that 
 also He should gather together 
 in one the children of God that 
 were scattered abroad, which en- 
 sures also the eternal salvation 
 of every one of His people indi- 
 vidually, of whatever nation, who 
 have been brought to faith and 
 reliance on Him.
 
 II 
 
 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 
 NAME ISRAEL 
 
 "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, 
 but Israel" 
 
 ' I "HE chief reasons of the 
 Apostle's interest in and 
 love for Israel are given to us 
 in verses 4 and 5. These two 
 verses practically summarise " the 
 gifts and the calling of God" oi 
 which he speaks in the 29th verse 
 of the nth chapter, and which 
 are " without repentance," that 
 is, without a change of mind on 
 God's part the gifts or privi- 
 leges and the high calling, namely, 
 26
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 27 
 
 which God irrevocably bestowed 
 on the chosen people, and which 
 are Israel's inalienable posses- 
 sions. And these reasons, my 
 dear friends, still remain, and 
 they are the permanent grounds 
 why we now should be interested 
 in and love Israel. As we ex- 
 amine Israel's divinely bestowed 
 gifts and calling, as summarised 
 in these verses, I beg you to 
 note that we have here a gra- 
 dation in these privileges, cul- 
 minating in the last, which is the 
 highest and greatest. 
 
 The first is expressed in the 
 words, " who are Israelites" This 
 is the name of honour given by 
 God to Jacob. It is, I may say, 
 the ideal and prophetic name of 
 Israel in the future, into the
 
 28 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 full meaning of which they will 
 only enter after they shall have 
 passed through the same expe- 
 rience which Jacob had made 
 on that night when his name was 
 changed from Jacob to Israel. 
 
 Let me remind you of that 
 mysterious transaction recorded 
 in Gen. xxxii. 22-32. In " that 
 night," in anticipation of his 
 meeting with his brother Esau, 
 when his heart was full of anxiety 
 and fear, Jacob, after taking his 
 family and all he had over the 
 brook Jabbok, " was left alone, 
 and there wrestled a man with 
 him until the breaking of the 
 day. And when He (this mys- 
 terious man) saw that He pre- 
 vailed not against him, He 
 touched the hollow of his thigh ;
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 29 
 
 and the hollow of Jacob's thigh 
 was out of joint as He wrestled 
 with him. And He said, Let Me 
 go, for the day breaketh. And 
 he said, I will not let Thee go, 
 except Thou bless me. And He 
 said unto him, What is thy 
 name ? And he said, Jacob. 
 And He said, Thy name shall 
 be called no more Jacob, but Is- 
 rael ; for as a prince hast thou 
 power with God and with men, 
 and hast prevailed. And Jacob 
 asked and said, Tell me, I pray 
 Thee, Thy name. And He said, 
 Wherefore dost thou ask after 
 My name ? And He blessed 
 him there. And Jacob called 
 the name of the place Peniel ; 
 for I have seen God face to face, 
 and my life is preserved. And
 
 30 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 as he passed over Peniel the sun 
 rose upon him, and he halted 
 upon his thigh." 
 
 This historical incident forms 
 at the same time one of the 
 most beautiful parables of God's 
 present and future dealings with 
 Israel ; and Jacob may, in this 
 mysterious and wonderful trans- 
 action, be very well regarded as 
 the type of his whole posterity. 
 This, my dear friends, is the 
 " night " period of Israel's his- 
 tory ; and a long, dark, and 
 dreary night it has proved full 
 of sorrow and of weeping, which 
 will not cease till joy is ushered 
 in, in that looked-for morning, 
 by the sudden rising upon them 
 of the Sun of Righteousness. 
 
 And it is still the "Jacob"
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 31 
 
 period of Israel's history. Not yet 
 are they as a nation " Israelites " 
 princes having power with God 
 and with men, and prevailing. 
 There have indeed always been 
 individuals among them to whom 
 the Lord Himself could bear 
 witness and say : " Behold an 
 Israelite indeed in whom there 
 is no guile " ; but as a nation it is 
 the " Jacob " name which still ap- 
 plies to them. And there is a 
 man wrestling with them un- 
 known, His Name not yet re- 
 vealed to them it is "the 
 Man Christ Jesus " ; it is the 
 Messiah, the Angel of the Cove- 
 nant. 
 
 What are all God's dealings 
 with them as a people ? What 
 are these chastisements the
 
 32 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 various strokes which they re- 
 ceive in this their night of sor- 
 row ? Are they not all God's 
 wrestlings with them, with a view 
 to bringing this national Jacob to 
 an end of himself. But we read 
 that Jacob withstood, even as 
 the nation withstands now, until, 
 finally, before the breaking ojK 
 the morning in the last dark 
 hour of the dark night of 
 which we read in the prophetic 
 Scriptures in that final sorrow 
 and " great tribulation " which is 
 to come upon them, Jacob's thigh 
 shall finally be out of joint ; and 
 then all that they shall be able to 
 do will be to cleave to Him, the 
 Mighty One, and say, " We can- 
 not we will not let Thee go, 
 except Thou bless us." And
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 33 
 
 then, having been overcome, they 
 shall be overcomers. 
 
 In Hosea xii. 3, 4, we have 
 light thrown on this mysterious 
 transaction. There we read that 
 Jacob " by his strength had power 
 with God ; yea, he had power 
 over the angel and prevailed ; he 
 wept and made supplication unto 
 Him. He found Him in Bethel, 
 and there He spake with us ;" 
 from which we see, not only the 
 true character of the mysterious 
 " Man " who wrestled with him 
 that night, that He was none 
 other than the Divine Angel of 
 the Covenant, in and through 
 whom all the theophanies of the 
 Old Testament took place the 
 Eternal Sen of God, Who in the 
 fulness of time became flesh and
 
 34 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 dwelt among us, that men may 
 behold the glory of God in the 
 face of Jesus Christ ; but we are 
 also let into the secret as to how 
 Jacob, after he was first of all 
 prevailed over, had power with 
 God and over the Angel, " and 
 prevailed." " He wept and made 
 supplication unto Him. " He wept 
 over his past over the corruption 
 of his nature and the crookedness 
 of his life, which he confessed 
 when he said, " My name is 
 Jacob"; and he "made suppli- 
 cation " for pardon and grace and 
 for the power of a new life when 
 he clung to the Angel, saying, " I 
 will not let Thee go except Thou 
 bless me." 
 
 This is how Jacob became 
 " Israel " a prince having power
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 35 
 
 with God; this is how he "pre- 
 vailed " in the same way as 
 the helpless little child prevails 
 over the strong father whom 
 he has offended or grieved ; not 
 by resisting him, or making ex- 
 cuses for his sin, but by throwing 
 himself into his father's arms in 
 penitent sorrow and love. 
 
 This is how we, too, may 
 become spiritual Israelites. My 
 friends, have we all passed 
 through such an experience ? 
 Have we confessed and wept 
 over our past, and by faith laid 
 hold on God's strength and made 
 supplication unto Him, saying, 
 " I will not let Thee go except 
 Thou bless me"? Then we know 
 what conversion means ; then only 
 do we know the meaning of that
 
 36 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 word, "for as a prince hast thou 
 power with God and with men, 
 and hast prevailed." 
 
 And that is how the whole 
 Jewish people shall at last enter 
 into the meaning of the name 
 " Israel," which was divinely 
 bestowed on them. Oh, what a 
 day that will be when " the spirit 
 of grace and of supplications " is 
 poured upon Israel, and when the 
 whole nation confesses and weeps 
 over its past. What are many of 
 the psalms and prophecies ? 
 What is that wonderful 53rd 
 chapter of Isaiah but inspired 
 future penitential confessions of 
 repentant Israel ? Yes ; " in that 
 day shall there be a great mourn- 
 ing in Jerusalem, . . . and the 
 land shall mourn, ... all
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 37 
 
 the families that remain, every 
 family apart, and their wives 
 apart." 
 
 And this sorrow and weeping 
 will be accompanied by supplica- 
 tions and by a clinging in faith to 
 the promises of God " But now, 
 O Lord, Thou art our Father : we 
 are the clay and Thou our Potter; 
 and we all are the work of Thy 
 hand. Be not wroth very sore, 
 O Lord, neither remember in- 
 iquity for ever ; behold, see, we 
 beseech Thee, we are all Thy 
 people." " Turn us again, O 
 Jehovah, God of Hosts, cause 
 Thy face to shine, and we shall be 
 saved" (Isa. Ixiv. 8, 9; Psa. 
 Ixxx. 19). 
 
 Then it is that " worm Jacob " 
 shall become " Israel," strong in 
 
 D
 
 38 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 
 the Lord and in the power of 
 His might, having power with 
 God and with men, and prevail- 
 ing. Then also will Israel see 
 " Peniel " again which means 
 the " Face of God," which now 
 is hid from them in consequence 
 of their sins, but which they shall 
 yet behold in greater glory and 
 favour than before, when the Sun 
 of Righteousness shall rise upon 
 them in the glorious appearing of 
 their Messiah-King. 
 
 It is interesting to observe that 
 the Apostle himself was proud of 
 the name "Israel" "Are they 
 Israelites ? " he says, " so am I " 
 " for I also am an Israelite of 
 the seed of Abraham, of the tribe 
 of Benjamin": and truly he knew 
 from experience the full signifi-
 
 THE NAME ISRAEL 39 
 
 cance of the name, for, after the 
 persecuting Saul, who had so 
 long resisted Christ, had been 
 conquered and turned into Paul, 
 he became a true prince among 
 men, having in a measure, even 
 unsurpassed by prophets and 
 apostles, "power with God and 
 with men, and prevailing."
 
 T 
 
 Ill 
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 "Israel is My son, My firstborn" 
 
 HE second of the irrevocable 
 
 gifts or privileges included 
 in Israel's high calling of God, as 
 enumerated by the Apostle in 
 this scripture, is expressed in the 
 words, " To whom pertaineth the 
 adoption," or more literally, "the 
 sonship." At the very beginning 
 of their national history, when 
 God sent Moses to bring them 
 out of Egypt, His word to Pha- 
 raoh was, " Israel is My son, My 
 firstborn, and I say unto thee,
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 4* 
 
 Let My son go, that he may 
 serve Me." 
 
 Thus Jehovah avouched them 
 in a special sense as His pe- 
 culiar people His firstborn from 
 among the nations ; and all His 
 subsequent self- revelations to 
 them, and all His dealings with 
 them, were designed to teach 
 them what is implied in this 
 blessed relationship ; what it 
 means in the spirit and in truth 
 to pronounce the word " Abba." 
 Hitherto, though Israel has had 
 this most precious Name of God 
 much on their lips, they have 
 not as a nation entered experi- 
 mentally into its meaning, nor 
 have they as yet corresponded to 
 the character of " children of the 
 living God." There, has, indeed,.
 
 42 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 
 always been the little remnant 
 according to the election of grace, 
 who worshipped God in the spirit 
 and in truth, and who by the 
 spirit of adoption which was in 
 them cried, " Doubtless Thou art 
 our Father, though Abraham be 
 ignorant of us, and Israel acknow- 
 ledge us not ; Thou, O Jehovah, 
 art our Father, our Redeemer; 
 Thy Name is from everlasting " 
 (Isa. Ixiii. 16) ; but to the people 
 as a whole the words uttered by 
 Malachi to the priests may well 
 be applied : "A son honoureth 
 his father, and a servant his 
 master ; if then I be a father, 
 where is mine honour ? and if I 
 be a master, where is my fear ? 
 saith Jehovah of Hosts." 
 
 One of the most pathetic
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 43 
 
 complaints of God against Israel 
 in this connection is to be found 
 in Jeremiah iii. 4. In the first 
 verses of that chapter He re- 
 minds them of their many grie- 
 vous sins and apostasies from 
 Him of their spiritual adultery, 
 which, if He dealt with them ac- 
 cording to law, would be suffi- 
 cient to separate them from Him 
 for ever ; but being full of com- 
 passion, He is willing to forgive 
 all the past, and cries, " Yet re- 
 turn again to Me, saith Jehovah." 
 Then follow those wonderful 
 words which give us a glimpse 
 into the yearning and love of His 
 heart for His people, and show 
 us His longing that they should 
 at last understand and enter ex- 
 perimentally into the relations in
 
 44 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 
 which He stood to them accord- 
 ing to His covenants and pro- 
 mises : " Wilt thou not from this 
 time (Wilt thou not now at last) 
 cry unto Me, Abi (' my Father') 
 Thou art the Guide of my 
 youth?" The word, " alluph? 
 translated here " guide," is the 
 same as in Prov. ii. 17, where 
 it is used of the "strange" adul- 
 terous woman who forsake th "f/ie 
 guide of her youth, and forgetteth 
 the covenant of her God" a 
 truer rendering, however, of 
 which would be : " Who for- 
 saketh the gentle mate, or friend 
 (or husband], of her youth " ; and 
 so, by this act forgetteth or 
 breaketh, the covenant of her 
 God. 
 
 Now these were the two great
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 45 
 
 and blessed relationships into 
 which God had entered with 
 His people that of a father to 
 his son, and that of a husband to 
 his wife. In both of these Israel 
 has thus far proved unfaithful. 
 As a Father, God has to com- 
 plain of His disobedient and 
 gainsaying people, that they are 
 " children who have corrupted 
 themselves " and become cor- 
 rupters (Isa. i. 4) : and as a Hus- 
 band He has to pour out His 
 heart's grief and pain ever so 
 many times at Israel's spiritual 
 adulteries, because she " had 
 played the harlot with many 
 lovers." But, blessed be His 
 holy Name, our God abides faith- 
 ful and true, though men always 
 prove liars, "He will ever be
 
 4 6 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 
 mindful of His covenant" (Psa. 
 cxi. 5) ; and in spite of all our 
 disobedience and apostasy He 
 has never ceased to be "a Father 
 to Israel," or to call Ephraim His 
 " firstborn " (Jer. xxxi. 9, 20). 
 And in the end Israel will at last 
 enter experimentally into the 
 blessedness of both these rela- 
 tionships. 
 
 It is beautiful to note in that 
 same third chapter of Jeremiah, 
 where, 'in the second part, a 
 glimpse is given us of the 
 future when Jerusalem shall 
 be called the throne of Jehovah 
 we read, " But I (Jehovah) 
 said, How shall I put thee among 
 the children and give thee a 
 goodly heritage of the hosts of 
 the nations ? and I said, Ye shall
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 47 
 
 call Me, Abi ('my Father'), and 
 shall not turn away from follow- 
 ing Me" (vers. 17-19). "Wilt 
 thou not from this time cry unto 
 Me, Abi ? " 
 
 Not yet has Israel as a nation 
 apprehended that for which they 
 were apprehended of God ; not 
 yet has the people as a whole re- 
 sponded to their high calling and 
 looked up to the God of heaven 
 and earth, crying, " My Father." 
 But to them pertaineth the 
 huiothesia the sonship, and in 
 the end Jehovah has pledged 
 Himself to bring them, actually 
 and experimentally, into this 
 blessed relationship. 
 
 "And I said" it is His irre- 
 vocable purpose "ye shall call 
 Me, Abi" for He who has
 
 48 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 
 called them to be "His son, His 
 firstborn," will pour the spirit of 
 adoption the spirit of filial fear 
 and of love into their hearts, so 
 that they shall be obedient children 
 and shall "no more turn away 
 from following after Him." 
 
 So also that other near and 
 precious relationship of the Bride 
 to the Bridegroom, or of the Wife 
 to the Husband, to which Israel 
 was called, shall yet become an 
 actual experimental reality in their 
 experience ; for after Israel re- 
 pents of her past unfaithfulness 
 and returns to her "first (or 
 lawful) husband " (Hosea ii.), we 
 read : " Thou shalt no more be 
 termed Forsaken, neither shall 
 thy land any more be termed 
 Desolate; but thou shalt be called
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 49 
 
 ' My Delight is in her,' and thy 
 land ' Married ' ; for Jehovah de- 
 lighteth in thee, and thy land 
 shall be married. For as a 
 young man marrieth a virgin, so 
 shall thy Builder * marry thee ; 
 and as the bridegroom rejoiceth 
 over the bride, so shall thy God 
 rejoice over thee" (Isa. Ixii. 4, 5). 
 Meanwhile, during this period 
 of Israel's unfaithfulness and dis- 
 obedience, there is a remnant 
 according to the election of grace 
 from that nation, and a people 
 taken out for His Name from 
 among the Gentiles, who enter 
 into the enjoyment of those very 
 " gifts," or high privileges, to 
 
 * An ancient alternative reading for " thy 
 son." The word for "son" and "builder" 
 is the same in Hebrew. 
 E
 
 50 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 
 
 which Israel was called. To us, 
 too, if we be Christ's, belongeth 
 the huiothesia the sonship "for 
 as many as are led by the Spirit 
 of God, they are the sons of God. 
 For ye have not received the 
 spirit of bondage again to fear ; 
 but ye have received the spirit of 
 sonship, whereby we cry Abba, 
 Father. The Spirit itself beareth 
 witness with our spirit that we are 
 the children of God " (Rom. viii. 
 14-16). 
 
 I was recently asked by a 
 friend, a Scotch evangelist, as 
 to the meaning of the repetition 
 of the word " Father " in this 
 passage, and also in Gal. iv. 6. 
 There is meaning and beauty in 
 it. " Abba " is, of course, the 
 Hebrew for "Father"; and Ho
 
 ISRAEL'S ADOPTION 51 
 
 Pater, which immediately fol- 
 lows, is the Greek for the same 
 word : and the repetition in the 
 two languages is in keeping with 
 the character of the Church in 
 this dispensation, in which there 
 is no difference between the Jew 
 and the Greek, who, through 
 Christ, have access together by 
 One Spirit unto the Father ; for 
 the same Holy Spirit which 
 creates in the believing Israelite 
 the spirit of sonship and teaches 
 him to cry in his language, 
 "Abba," fulfils the same blessed 
 mission in the heart of the Greek 
 believer the Greek standing in 
 the New Testament as the repre- 
 sentative of the Gentiles and 
 teaches him to cry in his lan- 
 guage, Ho Pater.
 
 IV 
 
 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 AND THE COVENANTS 
 
 "The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar 
 of fire by night departed not from before 
 the people" 
 
 "Nevertheless, I will remember My cove- 
 nant with thee in the days of thy youth, and 
 I will establish unto thee an everlasting 
 covenant " 
 
 third of the "gifts" 
 enumerated in our Scrip- 
 ture as constituting part of Israel's 
 high calling of God, is expressed 
 in the words, "and the glory." 
 This, of course, refers to the 
 glory of the personal Presence of 
 Jehovah in their midst, which 
 
 52
 
 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 53 
 
 distinguished and separated Israel 
 from all other peoples (Ex. xxxiii. 
 1 6) that wonderful Shekinah, 
 the visible symbol of which was 
 the cloud of glory and pillar of 
 fire, which went before them in 
 all their wilderness experiences, 
 and which never utterly left them, 
 in spite of all their frowardness 
 and sins ; the glory which in the 
 Tabernacle and in the first Tem- 
 ple dwelt between the cherubim, 
 as the visible demonstration of 
 His covenant relations with that 
 people. 
 
 Well may their great lawgiver 
 exclaim, in view of this special 
 relationship of Jehovah to His 
 people, "Happy" (or, "oh, how 
 happy," or "blessed") "art thou, 
 O Israel : who is like unto thee,
 
 54 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 
 O people saved by Jehovah, the 
 Shield of thy help, and who is 
 the Sword of thy excellence "- 
 "for ask now of the days that 
 are past which were before thee, 
 since the day that God created 
 man upon the earth, and ask 
 from the one side of heaven unto 
 the other where hath been any 
 such thing as this great thing is, 
 or hath been heard like it ? Did 
 ever people hear the voice of God 
 speaking out of the midst of the 
 fire as thou hast heard, and live ? 
 or hath God assayed to go and 
 take Him a nation by tempta- 
 tions, by signs and by wonders, 
 and by war, and by a mighty 
 hand, and by a stretched-out arm, 
 and by great terrors, according 
 to all that Jehovah your God
 
 AND THE COVENANTS 55 
 
 did for you ?" (Deut. xxxiii. 29 ; 
 iv. 32-34). 
 
 At present, and ever since the 
 commencement of " the Times of 
 the Gentiles "with the Babylonish 
 captivity, the glory has departed 
 from Israel, and since then the 
 word " Ichabod" is written over 
 their whole history. " Where is 
 the glory ? " their land is laid 
 waste, their Temple destroyed, 
 themselves scattered and tossed 
 about among the nations. But 
 this " Ichabod " period will not 
 last for ever. 
 
 The same prophet, Ezekiel, 
 who in the earlier chapters of 
 his prophecy describes the slow, 
 reluctant departure of the glory 
 of Jehovah from the midst of His 
 people, sees also its return from
 
 56 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 
 the same direction from which he 
 saw it depart a vision, this, of 
 the appearing of the glory of the 
 great God and our Saviour, Jesus 
 Christ, when His blessed " feet " 
 shall " in that day " stand again 
 " upon the Mount of Olives, 
 which is before Jerusalem on the 
 east." 
 
 But when the glory of the 
 personal Presence of Jehovah- 
 Jesus shall thus be revealed so 
 that all flesh may see it together, 
 even as the mouth of Jehovah 
 hath spoken Israel and Jeru- 
 salem will again be the centre of 
 it, and the word will yet go forth : 
 " Cry out and shout, thou in- 
 habitress of Zion, for great is the 
 Holy One of Israel in the midst 
 of tkee" (Isa. xii. 6). Not till
 
 AND THE COVENANTS 57 
 
 then, not till "out of Zion, the 
 perfection of beauty, God doth 
 shine," will the ancient promise 
 be fulfilled, that the glory of 
 Jehovah shall cover this earth 
 even as the waters cover the sea : 
 " For behold, darkness shall cover 
 the earth, and gross darkness the 
 peoples, but Jehovah shall rise 
 upon thee, and His glory shall 
 be seen upon thee, and (then) 
 nations shall come to thy light, 
 and kings to the brightness of 
 thy rising" (Isa. Ix. 1-3). Truly 
 great and wonderful is the ''gift," 
 or privilege, expressed in the 
 words, " theirs is the glory." 
 
 " And the Covenants"- This is 
 the fourth item in the summary 
 of the "gifts and calling" which 
 God irrevocably bestowed upon
 
 5 8 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 
 the chosen nation ; and at the 
 remembrance of it the Psalmist 
 may well sing : 
 
 " Glory ye in His Holy Name ; 
 
 Let the heart of them rejoice that seek 
 Jehovah, . . . 
 
 He remembers His covenant for ever, 
 
 The word which He commanded to a 
 thousand generations 
 
 Which (covenant) He made with Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 And His oath unto Isaac ; 
 
 And confirmed the same unto Israel for 
 an everlasting covenant ; 
 
 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land 
 of Canaan, 
 
 The lot of your inheritance." 
 
 (Psa. cv. 3-12.) 
 
 Yes, this covenant with Abra- 
 ham still stands, and will " to a 
 thousand generations," for it was 
 absolute and unconditional, and 
 was renewed again and again to 
 Isaac and to Jacob, and confirmed
 
 AND THE COVENANTS 59 
 
 by oath by the God who cannot 
 lie, and who pledged His own 
 existence for its certain fulfilment. 
 And one chief item guaranteed 
 in this covenant is Israel's ulti- 
 mate permanent possession of 
 " the land of Canaan as the lot 
 of their inheritance," so that we 
 may confidently look forward to 
 the certain fulfilment of it, in 
 spite of those who, in opposition 
 to God's promise and oath, boldly 
 deny that the Jews ever will be 
 restored, or that there is a na- 
 tional future for Israel at all. 
 
 But it is not only that one un- 
 conditional everlasting covenant 
 which He made with Abraham, 
 and which He renewed to Isaac 
 and Jacob, that the Apostle has 
 in his mind. ''Theirs are the
 
 60 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 
 covenants" he says for all the 
 covenants which God, in His 
 great condescension, made with 
 man since Abraham, were made 
 with them, and primarily belong 
 to them. 
 
 Christians sometimes speak of 
 the Jews as the " people of the 
 Old Covenant," in contradis- 
 tinction to themselves as the 
 people of " the New Covenant"; 
 but we have only to turn up the 
 original records of the new cove- 
 nant to see that, nationally, God 
 did not make this covenant with 
 the English, or French, or Ger- 
 mans, or Russians ; but " the 
 days come, saith Jehovah, that 
 I will make a new covenant with 
 the House of Israel and with the 
 House of Judah : not according
 
 AND THE COVENANTS 61 
 
 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, 
 though I was an husband unto 
 them, saith Jehovah. But this 
 is the covenant that I will make 
 with the House of Israel. After 
 those days, saith Jehovah, I will 
 put My law in their inward parts, 
 and write it in their hearts, and 
 I 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 Je- 
 hovah : for they shall all know 
 Me, from the least of them unto 
 the greatest of them, saith Jeho- 
 vah ; for I will forgive their
 
 62 THE SHEKINAH GLORY 
 
 iniquity, and will remember their 
 sin no more" (Jer. xxxi. 31-34). 
 
 It is true that, as individuals, 
 men of all nations are, through 
 their union with our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, grafted on to the olive 
 tree of Israel's covenanted mer- 
 cies, and, together with the rem- 
 nant of the nation, even now 
 partake of the root and fatness 
 of the Jewish olive tree thus 
 anticipating the time when "all 
 Israel shall be saved " (Heb. viii.). 
 But this inclusion of Gentile be- 
 lievers who were formerly "aliens 
 from the commonwealth of Israel, 
 and strangers from the covenants 
 of promise," in no wise affects the 
 purpose of God in relation to 
 Israel nationally. Theirs are 
 "the covenants"; and as snre
 
 AND THE COVENANTS 63 
 
 as there is a God of truth, every 
 item and promise in those cove- 
 nants, from the highest and 
 greatest contained in the words 
 " I will forgive their iniquity, 
 and I will remember their sin 
 no more ; I will put My law in 
 their inward parts, and write it 
 in their hearts ; I will be their 
 God, and they shall be My 
 people ; they shall all know Me 
 from the least of them unto the 
 greatest of them" down to the 
 minutest promise in reference to 
 the possession of their land, and 
 their future national prosperity 
 in it, shall all be fulfilled in His 
 own good time.
 
 V 
 
 THE LAW-GIVING AND THE 
 SERVICE OF GOD 
 
 "Thou earnest down also upon Mount 
 Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, 
 and gavest them right judgements and true 
 laws, good statutes and commandments" 
 
 " I "HE next step in the gra- 
 dation of the great "gifts" 
 which God bestowed upon Israel 
 is expressed in the words, " and 
 the giving of the Law" or " the 
 Law-giving." I fear Christians, 
 generally, would not count this 
 among the gifts or privileges of 
 Israel ; but such a derogatory 
 
 estimate of the Law shows a very 
 6 4
 
 THE SERVICE OF GOD 65 
 
 shallow view also of the Gospel. 
 The New Testament never 
 speaks disparagingly of the law. 
 On the contrary, it tells us that 
 the law is "good," and "holy," 
 and "spiritual"; only that in the 
 unregenerated man it becomes 
 weak and ineffectual by reason of 
 the weakness and carnality of the 
 flesh. 
 
 "The La\v r -giving" oh, what 
 a wonderful event that was in 
 the history of the world and of 
 Israel, when Jehovah came forth 
 from Sinai and burst forth (as the 
 rising sun) from Seir unto them, 
 when He shined forth from 
 Mount Paran, and came with 
 myriads of His holy ones, bring- 
 ing in His right hand a fiery law 
 unto them (Deut. xxxiii. 2).
 
 66 THE LAW-GIVING AND 
 
 What a light that was which 
 then, for the first time, shone 
 upon the moral darkness of this 
 earth ! True, it was not, nor was 
 it meant to be, " the Light of 
 Life." Much more did it become 
 by reason of sin, and our innate 
 corruption which it reveals a 
 consuming fire and the minister 
 of death. Yet it was "glorious" 
 (2 Cor. iii. 7), for it was a reve- 
 lation of God's holiness and a 
 perfect transcript of His holy 
 will. It was also a necessary 
 precursor of the Light of Life, 
 and was meant to be our school- 
 master unto Christ ; that is, teach 
 us our need of a Saviour, and to 
 set us longing for the redemption 
 to be accomplished by Him. 
 I am often grieved at the
 
 THE SERVICE OF GOD 67 
 
 ignorant use and popular per- 
 version of a beautiful scripture. 
 I refer to the Apostle's saying, 
 " For the letter killeth, but the 
 spirit giveth life " (2 Cor. iii. 6), 
 which is often quoted by some 
 as an excuse for a disregard of 
 the literal sense, or even for 
 a destructive handling of the 
 letter of Scripture. But the 
 Apostle plainly uses the term 
 "letter" for the law the letter 
 " written and graven in stones " ; 
 and, my dear friends, this " letter " 
 this wonderful revelation of 
 God's absolute holiness and of 
 the requirements of His holy 
 government is meant to kill us, 
 and must kill us, before the Spirit 
 can come and give us life. " The 
 Lord killeth and maketh alive ;
 
 68 THE LAW-GIVING AND 
 
 He bringeth down to the grave, 
 and bringeth up. The Lord 
 maketh poor, and maketh rich. 
 He bringeth low, and lifteth up." 
 
 That is ever His process, and 
 there is no other way ; and if, 
 by the revelation of His holiness 
 and your own inability and innate 
 corruption, you have not, like 
 Paul, been brought to an end of 
 yourself, and to cry, " O wretched 
 man that I am ! who shall de- 
 liver me from the body of this 
 death ? " if the Law of God has 
 not, like a two-edged sword, 
 pierced and broken your heart, 
 you do not know the full sweet- 
 ness and preciousness, and the 
 life-giving power of the Gospel. 
 
 " And the Giving of the Law " 
 and the greatness and beauty
 
 THE SERVICE OF GOD 69 
 
 of this wonderful "gift," which 
 constitutes part of Israel's high 
 calling, will not be fully mani- 
 fest till, in the millennial period, 
 the Law is put in their inward 
 parts, and written on their hearts 
 when the final end, which God 
 had in the " Law -giving " 
 namely, that His people may be 
 holy, because He is holy shall 
 be accomplished, and the earth 
 shall see, for the first time in its 
 history, a whole nation upon 
 whose life, and conduct, and 
 possessions, shall be written, 
 " Holiness to Jehovah." 
 
 Together with " the Giving 
 of the Law," the Apostle names 
 <; the Service of God" as the next 
 step in the gradation of Israel's 
 special privileges. This refers
 
 70 THE LAW-GIVING AND 
 
 to the Divine institutions of their 
 Tabernacle and Temple ; the Di- 
 vinely-appointed ritual of which 
 I cannot describe here, but which 
 so beautifully and in such a 
 variety of ways sets forth the 
 blessed Person and redeeming 
 work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 This richly symbolical and 
 beautiful "Service of God" may 
 be said to constitute "the Gospel 
 in the Law," for it already pointed 
 the way how a man who stood 
 condemned and separated from 
 God by the moral law, could yet 
 draw near to Him namely, on 
 the ground of shed blood, and by 
 the ministry and intercessions of 
 the high priest ; and in reference 
 to the future it is probable that, 
 by the temporary restoration of a
 
 THE SERVICE OF GOD 71 
 
 modified form of this Divinely- 
 appointed " Service of God," 
 which is forecast in the prophetic 
 Scriptures, Israel shall yet teach 
 the spared of the nations the 
 deep significance of their ancient 
 types, and open to them the ful- 
 ness and manifoldness of the 
 atoning work of their Messiah. 
 "The Service of God": I 
 would only add that it is not re- 
 corded in the Mosaic writings, 
 and described with such minute- 
 ness of detail for our imitation 
 now, as some ignorantly think, 
 who seek to set up an unautho- 
 rised human mimicry of Israel's 
 Divinely-appointed ritual in the 
 Tabernacle and Temple, and 
 thereby pervert the simplicity 
 of the Gospel and of Christian
 
 72 THE LAW-GIVING 
 
 worship ; but it is recorded for 
 our study, that we may perceive 
 the spiritual significance of these 
 types and shadows, and learn 
 more and more the fulness which 
 dwells in Christ for us.
 
 VI 
 
 THE PROMISES 
 
 " Now I say that Jesus Christ was a 
 minister of the circumcision for the truth of 
 God, to confirm the promises made unto 
 the fathers " 
 
 " A ND the Promises." This 
 constitutes another of 
 God's great and irrevocable 
 " gifts " to Israel. Perhaps the 
 great Abrahamic promises with 
 regard to the land and the 
 promised seed, in whom all 
 families of the earth should be 
 blessed, are uppermost in the 
 Apostle's mind the promises 
 
 G 73
 
 74 THE PROMISES 
 
 which are unfolded and ampli- 
 fied in the words of God sub- 
 sequently spoken to Isaac and 
 to Jacob, and, later, to the whole 
 people, through Moses and the 
 prophets, and which are wonder- 
 ful and comprehensive in their 
 scope ; and are God's guarantees 
 for the blessing of Israel, and 
 through Israel, for all the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 Now, on this point, espe- 
 cially professing Christendom, 
 and many true Christians even 
 in Protestant countries, have 
 through ignorance been at vari- 
 ance with the Apostle and with 
 the clearly revealed mind of 
 God. The general belief of 
 Christians for many centuries 
 has been that the promises made
 
 THE PROMISES 75 
 
 to Israel have, in consequence of 
 their rejection of Christ, been 
 either annulled or bodily trans- 
 ferred to the Church. This has 
 arisen from the erroneous belief 
 that God hath utterly cast off 
 His people which He hath fore- 
 known, and that there is no more 
 a national future for the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 " The attitude of such Chris- 
 tians in relation to the Jews has 
 been humorously illustrated by 
 that prominent Jewish witness 
 for Christ, the late Joseph Rab- 
 inowitch, in the following story : 
 During the last Russo-Turkish 
 war, after a great battle, a certain 
 number of men in a particular 
 regiment were returned in the 
 list as dead, and an officer with
 
 76 THE PROMISES 
 
 a company of soldiers was com- 
 missioned to attend to the sad 
 duty of seeing them decently 
 buried. 
 
 "While engaged in this task, 
 they came across a poor man 
 who was badly wounded, and 
 left on the field for dead, but 
 who had life enough in him to 
 refuse to be buried. But the 
 amusing part of the business 
 was that the officer in command 
 seemed very much perplexed. 
 He asked the poor man's name, 
 looked at his list, and then said, 
 ' Well, I do not know what to do 
 with you ; in my list you are put 
 down as dead.' This, Mr. Rab- 
 inowitch said, is the attitude of 
 many Christians in relation to 
 the Jew.
 
 THE PROMISES 77 
 
 "In their political and re- 
 ligious creeds, the Jews as a 
 nation are put down as dead, and 
 even many true Christians, when 
 reading in the Scriptures the 
 exceeding great and precious 
 promises which God made to 
 Israel, say, 'Oh yes, Israel that 
 is a nation that once lived, but 
 died some nineteen centuries ago, 
 when they rejected Christ, and 
 now " Israel " means no longer 
 Israel, but the Church which has 
 entered into their inheritance.' 
 But Israel, though seriously 
 wounded, is not dead, and re- 
 fuses to be buried ; and the 
 remarkable signs of vitality which 
 as a people they are now mani- 
 festing are in themselves suffi- 
 cient to show that they are not
 
 78 THE PROMISES 
 
 merely a nation of the past, but 
 pre-eminently the nation of the 
 future." * 
 
 When the Apostle Paul wrote 
 these words, Israel had already 
 rejected Christ, and it was on 
 that account that he pours out 
 the great sorrow and uninter- 
 rupted pain of his heart, yet 
 and this is one great purpose he 
 had in writing these three chap- 
 ters he proceeds to show how 
 that, though all men be liars, God 
 abides faithful, and that His gifts 
 and calling of Israel (in spite of 
 all that has happened) are "with- 
 out repentance " or a change of 
 mind on His part. 
 
 Therefore, it is with design 
 
 * Quoted from my book, " The Ancient 
 Scriptures and the Modern Jew."
 
 THE PROMISES 79 
 
 that he says, not that they were 
 Israelites, and that to them be- 
 longed the adoption, and the 
 glory, and the covenants, and 
 the service of God, and the pro- 
 mises : but who are Israelites, 
 and that theirs still are all these 
 gifts which constitute their high 
 calling, for God hath not cast 
 off the people which He had 
 foreknown ; and though the ma- 
 jority of many generations of 
 Israel may exclude themselves 
 through unbelief from the enjoy- 
 ment of these great privileges, 
 they are reserved in the purpose 
 of God against the time when 
 "all Israel shall be saved," and 
 when, through Christ, they shall 
 experience nationally what we 
 now experience individually, that
 
 8o THE PROMISES 
 
 all the promises of God, " how 
 many soever they be," and whe- 
 ther relating to spiritual bless- 
 ings in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus, or to national and " tem- 
 poral " blessings in earthly places 
 in Canaan " in Him is the yea " 
 of verification, " and through 
 Him also is the Amen " of 
 response and of experience "to 
 the glory of God through us " 
 (2 Cor. ii. 20). 
 
 Meanwhile, far from the death 
 of our Lord Jesus being the 
 occasion for the cancelling or 
 annulling of the promises made 
 to Israel, the Apostle assures us 
 that " Christ was made a minister 
 of the circumcision for the truth 
 of God that He might confirm 
 the promises made unto the
 
 THE PROMISES 8r 
 
 fathers" (Rom. xv. 8); and since 
 they have been ratified with His 
 own precious blood, they have 
 been made doubly sure, and can 
 never fail. 
 
 I am speaking to Christians, 
 and do not want to be misunder- 
 stood. I believe that there is 
 not a promise in reference to 
 spiritual blessing which the least 
 and weakest believer in Christ 
 may not apply and enjoy as if 
 uttered to himself, and (as I said 
 elsewhere) remember that in all 
 His words and acts to Israel the 
 heart of Israel's God is opened 
 up to you, whoever you may be, 
 who have learned to put your 
 trust under the shadow of His 
 wings. For this God is your 
 God for ever and ever the
 
 82 THE PROMISES 
 
 Father of your Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, who wants you to 
 learn from His infinite grace and 
 faithfulness to His unworthy Israel 
 that His faithfulness to you, too, 
 can never fail. 
 
 But what I want you to know 
 is that your inclusion into pro- 
 mises made to Israel in no way 
 alters the meaning and force of 
 the words as primarily uttered 
 to that nation, and that you 
 can be no gainer, but rather 
 much of a loser, by the so-called 
 spiritualising, or phantomising, 
 method of interpreting Scripture, 
 by which " Zion," " Israel," 
 " Jerusalem," etc., are explained 
 to mean the " Church," or " hea- 
 ven " a method which is largely 
 responsible for the fact that the
 
 THE PROMISES 83 
 
 Bible, especially the prophetic 
 Scriptures, has become a sealed 
 book to the majority of profess- 
 ing Christians, who in conse- 
 quence become an easy prey to 
 every wind of false doctrine, or 
 to the specious rationalism in re- 
 lation to God's \Yord which now, 
 alas ! permeates the Churches. 
 
 " Theirs are the promises," and 
 not one thing that God spake 
 will ever fail " For thus saith 
 Jehovah, like as I brought all 
 this great evil upon this people 
 [and so literally fulfilling all the 
 threatenings and curses which 
 He had uttered against them], so 
 will I bring upon them all tJie 
 good that I promised them." "He 
 will turn again, He will have 
 compassion upon us ; He will
 
 84 THE PROMISES 
 
 subdue our iniquities, and Thou 
 wilt cast all their sins into the 
 depths of the sea. Thou wilt 
 perform the truth unto Jacob, 
 and the mercy to Abraham, which 
 Thou hast sworn unto our fathers 
 from the days of old." And then, 
 when Jehovah " hath remembered 
 His mercy and His truth toward 
 the house of Israel, all the ends 
 of the earth shall see the salva- 
 tion of God " (Jer. xxxii. 42 ; 
 Mic. vii. 19, 20 ; Psa. xcviii. 3).
 
 VII 
 
 WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 AND OF WHOM IS CHRIST 
 
 "As touching the election they are be- 
 loved for the fathers' sakes " 
 
 "Jesus Christ the son of David, the son 
 of Abraham" 
 
 A~I 7"E are now approaching the 
 climax in the gradation of 
 the great " gifts " and high privi- 
 leges which are parts of Israel's 
 calling, The next step is " Whose 
 are the fathers" Oh, my friends, 
 whenever you want to have your 
 hearts stirred afresh with love 
 and interest for Israel, think of 
 "the fathers." Think of Abra- 
 ham, " the friend of God," who
 
 86 WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 
 was strong in faith and staggered 
 not at the promise of God through 
 unbelief, and so became a pattern 
 of faith and obedience to all the 
 family of God ; think of Isaac, 
 who was willing to be put on the 
 altar of burnt - offering, and so 
 became a type of Christ, ' ; the 
 Lamb of God"; think of Jacob, 
 who became " Israel " ; of Joseph, 
 the beautiful type of our Lord 
 Jesus in His purity of life and 
 in His sufferings and exaltation ; 
 of Moses, the great law -giver, 
 who was willing to sacrifice him- 
 self for his nation. 
 
 Think of the company of 
 Israel's prophets and psalmists, 
 whose words you continually use 
 as the expressions of your deep- 
 est feelings of penitence, faith,
 
 AND OF WHOM IS CHRIST 87 
 
 devotion, and praise. Think of 
 those " elders " who, " through 
 faith obtained a good report," and 
 whose paintings are hung up in 
 God's picture gallery of his 
 heroes, for the admiration and 
 imitation of all ages, in that 
 wonderful eleventh chapter to 
 the Hebrews. No wonder that 
 we read that they are still beloved 
 of God for their fathers' sakes 
 (Rom. xi. 28). Christendom has 
 forgotten the relation between 
 these poor wandering Jews in 
 their midst and their noble fathers 
 who form the true aristocracy of 
 all times. 
 
 I am reminded of an amusing 
 incident which happened a few 
 years ago. A clergyman who 
 was much interested in the Jews
 
 88 WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 
 was spending his summer holiday 
 in a small out-of-the-way place 
 in Schleswig- Holstein. Being 
 anxious to create an interest in 
 God's people, he gathered a num- 
 ber of the peasants together one 
 day and gave them an address, in 
 the course of which he reminded 
 them of their obligations as 
 Christians to the Jewish people. 
 He spoke of Israel's past history, 
 and how through them were 
 given to us the oracles of God. 
 Then he proceeded to speak of 
 the " fathers " and the prophets ; 
 and finally came to the New 
 Testament, and observed that 
 the apostles of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, too, were all Jews. 
 
 At this point he was inter- 
 rupted by one of the peasants,
 
 AND OF WHOM IS CHRIST 89 
 
 who stood up at the end of the 
 room and said, " I beg your par- 
 don, sir, this is a mistake ; Jesus 
 Christ had twelve apostles, but 
 only one was a Jew, and that was 
 Judas." I fear that poor ignorant 
 peasant gave expression to the 
 practical thought of multitudes in 
 Christendom. They remember 
 Judas, and readily associate him 
 with the Jewish people ; but they 
 forget that Peter and Andrew, 
 and James and John, and Philip 
 and Bartholomew, and Paul and 
 Nathanael, and all the other 
 apostles were also men of Israel. 
 Alas ! there are still Judases 
 among the Jews as there are 
 among the Gentiles, and they 
 are sometimes to be found even 
 among the professed followers
 
 90 WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 
 and " apostles " of Christ ; but, 
 blessed be God, there are also 
 still those who answer to John- 
 disciples whom Jesus loves, and 
 Nathanaels to whom He Him- 
 self bears witness : " Behold 
 Israelites indeed, in whom there 
 is no guile " ; and Pauls and 
 Apollos men " mighty in the 
 Scriptures," and faithful ministers 
 of the truth, who have instructed 
 many, not only of their own 
 nation, but among the Gentiles. 
 We now reach the climax of 
 this wonderful gradation. All 
 the previous steps have linked 
 Israel with everything that is 
 sacred and holy in the history 
 of the world and of humanity ; 
 but this last step connects Israel, 
 not with earth only, but with
 
 AND OF WHOM IS CHRIST 91 
 
 heaven li And of whom as con- 
 cerning the flesh is Christ, who is 
 over all God blessed for ever" 
 Oh, my friends, every time you 
 approach the Throne of Grace, 
 every time you seek to draw 
 near to God, remember that the 
 "Man at His right hand" our 
 one Mediator with God and Ad- 
 vocate with the Father is, as 
 far as His blessed humanity is 
 concerned, for ever linked with 
 that nation ; for when, " for us 
 men and our salvation," the Eter- 
 nal Word was made flesh, so that 
 He might have a sacrifice to offer 
 " for the life of the world " (John 
 vi. 51), He took not upon Him 
 the nature of angels, but He took 
 on Him the seed of Abraham 
 (Heb. ii. 16), and was born of a
 
 92 WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, 
 
 Jewish virgin named Mary, who 
 was of the family of David, and 
 of the tribe of Judah. 
 
 I do not expect love or interest 
 for the Jewish people from those 
 who know not and love not 
 Christ. I am not surprised at 
 the anti-Semitism which is to be 
 found among so-called Christian 
 nations who have become apos- 
 tate from the truth, and who 
 have turned the grace of God 
 into lasciviousness ; but I do 
 wonder that there should be 
 true Christians without any love 
 or sympathy for Israel. 
 
 " Of whom, as concerning the 
 flesh, is Christ," but the Babe 
 which was born in Bethlehem is 
 none other than He " whose 
 goings forth are from of old,
 
 AND OF WHOM IS CHRIST 93 
 
 even from the days of eternity " 
 (Mic. v. 2), and the " Son of 
 Man " and " Son of David " is 
 none other than the eternal Son 
 of God the Wonderful Coun- 
 sellor, the Mighty God, the 
 Everlasting Father, the Prince 
 of Peace, the Jehovah-Tsidkenu, 
 who, according to His Divine 
 nature, is " God over all, blessed 
 for ever." To Him, with the 
 Father and the Holy Spirit, be 
 glory everlasting. Amen. 
 
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