THE Jewish Question

MAX EREEN, M.D.

JEWISH QUESTION

ANG THE

KEY TO ITS SOLUTION

1:1

MAX GREEN, M. D.

3.86.65 1 11 11 11 11 11 15

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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

That a second edition of this work is called for within six months of its first issue, is a matter of deep gratification to the writer. The kind and warm appreciation with which the volume has been received both here and abroad, encourages him in the hope that his humble effort may contribute to a speedy solution of the great problem of his people. The writer has used the opportunity to thoroughly revise the book and improve it in many ways. To make the work accessible to the millions of his Yiddish speaking brethren on both sides of the Atlantic, a Yiddish and Hebrew version has since been prepared, which is now being published.

M. G.

Philadelphia, November, 1908.

PREFACE

THE writer of this volume is a physician; he is neither a professional writer, nor a theologian. However, years of study and contemplation of his people's problem, entitle him, he believes, to respectfully present his views before his people. Although not fortunate enough to be among the leaders of the great movements now going on in the midst of Jewry, he has had the opportunity of observing them all from the vantage-ground of objectivity, and so is perhaps, more able to consider them with impartiality. As a physician, moreover, accustomed to the daily work of diagnosis and treatment, he may have been able to approach his people's case with the modern scientific methods applied in the treatment of bodily ailments.

Among the Jewish physicians, in this country, the writer, we believe, is the second one to offer a volume on the Jewish question. While we agree with our distinguished New York colleague* on many points in the diagnosis of the case, we cannot help being at variance with him as regards the treatment. Dr. Fishberg sees the remedy in gradual assimilation, in the gradual loss of the Jew among the nations. But assimilation is certainly not the burden of our message. To look to assimilation as a remedy is to fail to appreciate the many and repeated lessons in the

^*Dr. Maurice Fishberg, The Perils of the Jewish Nationalist Movement. Yiddish; New York, 1906.

long history of our people. It means also to have lost the value of the Jew's highest possessions.

The national reawakening of the Jew, the great movement Zionward, the revival of the Hebrew tongue, and the appearance on the scene of the new Jew, who although Socialistic in his tendencies, is so unlike the assimilating Socialist of yesterday,—all these the writer cherishes as precious facts. He sces in it the coming of the great Jew of to-morrow, who, speaking the language of Moses and Isaiah, will again become imbued with the spirit of our own, and real, Prophets. The young Jew cultivating the Hebrew tongue must go for his models of style to the Prophets and Psalmists, and, sooner or later, he is bound to discover that the so-called prophets of to-day have added, and can add, nothing to the justice and righteousness which those of old have proclaimed.

The writer is painfully conscious of the present unpopularity of his standpoint. It is certainly always more pleasant to stand on the popular side. He feels, however, that no unkind criticism can come from those who will approach his representation of the problem with earnest and unprejudiced minds. To them the motto of our ancient sages is not unknown: "Accept the truth from whomsoever gives it."

The book is intended, of course, for the people whose problem it considers. We trust, however, that it may also prove of some value to Christian readers. Is not a Christian, if true to his religious profession, also an Israelite? Child by faith of the first Hebrew, Abraham, he needs must be a Hebrew in spirit. As such, the problem of his brothers of the ancient stock

of Abraham cannot but be of the highest interest to him.

Those familiar with the works of Edersheim will know the writer's indebtedness to him. Although our points of view differ somewhat, we should never have been able to get through the labyrinth of Rabbinical literature without the guidance of that great scholar. The quotations, however, as the Appendix will show, are all taken at first hand, and, with the exception of two or three passages, have all been carefully copied from the original works. The same may also be said of the English renderings, all of which have been written with the original in hand.

We also must express our obligation to that treasure-house of Jewish lore, the Jewish Encyclo-

pedia.

In the Biblical texts, the Revised Version was used as standard, but it was found necessary in some cases, for the sake of clearness, or in conformity with the object in view, to deviate somewhat from that version. In every case, however, careful comparison was made with the original. A few texts have only been paraphrased. These will be recognized by the absence of quotation marks.

In conclusion, the writer wishes to express his heartfelt thanks to the dear friends, without whose aid and encouragement this volume would never have

been written or published.

M. G.

Philadelphia, April, 1908.

CONTENTS

Ĭ.

THE JEWISH QUESTION.

The Problem acute and urgent, and the People restless and eager to solve it.—Why is there such a Problem?—The Ghetto-Jew's explanation of his anomalous condition.—The Reform movement of the German Jews failing to solve the Problem, remained stagnant.—The Progressive movements among the Jews of Eastern Europe. Their failure to offer a speedy solution of our Problem.—That most remarkable phenomenon—the New Jew. He wants better knowledge and clearer vision to be able to solve his people's Problem. Pages 17-22.

IT.

FOUR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF THE PROBLEM.

The Problem apparently due to the differences which exist between Jew and Christian.

1st Solution: Jew to turn Christian.

2d Solution: Christians to become Jews.

Similar views of both Orthodox and Reformed with regard to the ultimate conversion of the world to Judaism. But the ordinary Jew can no longer be satisfied with vague hopes.

3d Solution: Socialism; its efforts to abolish religious and social differences.—A Brotherhood but no Fatherhood.
—So far it has not brought Jew and Gentile closer together.—The Lesson from recent events.—Rationalistic Germany the cradle of modern Antisemitism.

4th Solution: Nationalism; its remarkable growth.—Zionism and Territorialism.—The Nationalistic argument. Pages 23-29.

7

TIT.

THE FOURTH SOLUTION ANALYZED.

Are the Jews a Nation, or only a religious Denomination?
A distinctly individual people.—A little world of their own.—The strong tie that binds the different elements.—"A people dwelling by themselves."

2. Is the "Goluth"-life of the Jew the sole cause of his

troubles and shortcomings?

Only two really independent reigns.—Jew-baiting existed long before the introduction of Christianity, and is rife in lands outside of Christendom.

3. Is it due to the Jew's own efforts that he has not been

assim!lated?

Assimilation the natural tendency of the Jew.—"When Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked."—"They were mingled with the nations."—Ezeklel 16.—Was kept alive by external forces.—Neither the Jew nor his enemies have yet learned the lesson.—"What you say, we will be as the nations."

4. Will the efforts of the Nationalists remedy the evils

Is it possible to gather all the Jews in one territory?—Will the Jews be free from Christian interference in Palestine?—Zionism a significant movement; but no solution of the problem.—Is there a basis for Territorialism? Pages 30-42.

ΤV

THE REMEDIES INADEQUATE, BECAUSE BASED ON WRONG DIAGNOSIS.

The case of the Jew unique.—The long exile not the cause; only a symptom.—"For our sins."—Cause of the first short exile.—The Prophet Jeremiah.—The Babylonian captivity purified the Jew from idolatry.—He has been very religious ever since.—And yet his were not the blessings but the curses.—More than fifty generations unable to discover real cause.—The Contemporary Rabbis of the Roman Captivity were unable to diagnose the case.—Other Rabbis there were, but their writings have been proscribed.—The only key to the solution of the problem removed by the wise men of the Law.—Faith and hope growing fainter, but the Jew has not yet stopped to inquire that perhaps the Messiah has already come. Pages 43-47.

٧.

THE JEW'S SEVENFOLD OBJECTION TO THE CLAIMS OF CHRISTIANITY.

Israel not restored—The Holy Land still desolate—No universal peace—God not recognized universally—Christianity's strange doctrines—The Law abrogated—Attitude of Christians towards the Jew.

The charge of Injustice towards the Jew.—Jews persecuted in lands of Christendom, because people were not Christian enough.—No real Christian ever persecuted a Jew or any one else. Pages 48-52.

VI.

THE REAL POINT AT ISSUE BETWEEN JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, OR BETWEEN SYNA-GOGUE AND CHURCH

Whether or not Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah.

Quotations from Rabbinical Literature showing attitude of Synagogue toward Mosaic Legislation in Messianic times.—The Synagogue herself expected a New Torah at the hands of the Messiah.

Quotations showing teaching of the Synagogue concerning the Nature and Person of the Messiah it expected.

The Miraculous Birth or mysterious origin of the Messiah.

A Fatherless Redeemer—That seed which is to come from another place—Israel to be comforted through a virgin—I must create Him a New Creation.

2. The Suffering Messiah.

Messiah and the Patriarchs—God's agreement with the Messiah—A remarkable Passage not found in present editions.

3. The Superhuman Messiah.

Pre-mundane existence—Greater than the Patriarchs; higher than Abraham, more exalted than Moses, and loftier than the ministering Angels.—Sitting at the right hand of God—Bearing the Divine name.

The Messianic ideas of the Rabbis also based on the Old Testament.

The objections reduced to two: Israel's Restoration not brought about; the Messianic Age not ushered in.

The answer that these will be brought about at the Second Coming has not influenced the Jew. Pages 53-64.

VII.

ISRAEL'S MISSION.

The Mission and Destiny of Israel occupy a large portion of the Books of the Bible.—The unlifted veil.—"In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."—"A Kingdom of priests and a holy nation."—"A choice treasure."—Chosen to become in time the religious teachers of the world.

To be able to teach others, one must first be a learner himself—Israel's camp a great school of Theology.—The kernel and the outer shell.

What Jehovah required of Israel.—"To know me, for l

Jehovah exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness."

The Pupil's slow progress.—What one of the later Prophets says.—The world would still be without the Divine word, if it had to wait until Israel became ready to impart it to others.

The prospect of the coming Redeemer to bring forth justice to the nations, for whose law the isles would wait.

VIII.

THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE MESSIAH AND HIS KINGDOM, AND THE FATE AND DESTINY OF ISBAEL.

The early harbingers of the coming dawn.

Isaiah's detailed picture of the future Ideal King.

The Maiden's Son—Emmanuel.—A wonder child bearing Divine titles.—Prince of Peace.—The Ideal Judge.—Peace and order will be established and tyranny and violence cease; for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah.

The root of Jesse a beacon to the nations.—Jerusalem the world's spiritual centre.—The ultimate abolition of war

The Redeemer King comes to Zion—His Divine credentials—"I will give thee for a light of the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth."

The Inaugural Address.—"To proclaim good tidings

to the poor."

The people's co-operation invoked.—Following the call of the Coming King would make them the leaders of the nations, and bring in its wake high prosperity, glory, and peace.

The clouds that mar the vision glorious.—Jehovah's Servant despised and rejected by His own generation.

The people's sad mistake, however, will not affect the King's glory.—Though the people rejected their King, "escaped ones" from them will carry the Divine message to the nations.

Nor will the people's blindness and rejection last

Isaiah's prediction of their future repentance, restoration and glory.—Blossoming and budding in all lands, their center will be the Holy Land, to which they will return as the redcemed of Jehovah.

Messianic Prophecy in Jeremiah.

A King of David's line bearing the Divine name.— A New Covenant, different from the old one, will be made with the people.—The old ceremonial law will be abolished.

The Shepherd-King of Ezekiel.

Messianic Prophecy in the so-called Minor Prophets

would come while the Second Temple was yet standing.

—Jehovah sent by Jehovah to dwell in the midst of the people.—His double capacity as King and Priest.—He would come in peaceful humility, but reign in glory as the universal King of peace.—The Kingdom of God to become universal.

Some Messianic Psalms.

The Divine King and His universal Kingdom.—
"Thou art my Son."—"I will give nations for thy heritage."—"Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever."—"He shall rule . . . to the ends of the earth."—"His name shall endure for ever."—"Sit thou at my right hand."—"Thou art a priest for ever."—"All the families of the nations shall worship before thee."

The King and Kingdom in Daniel

"In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed."— "One like a Son of Man."—"All peoples, nations and languages shall serve him."

The Prophecies concerning the Fate and Destiny of Israel.
What would take place if they accepted the coming
King.—"Ten men of every tongue would take hold at
the skirt of one Jew, saying, we will go with you."

Repentance and acceptance of the Kingdom the necessary condition.

What is to happen in case of disobedience.—Loss of land and independence.

But the punishment of the people does not mean their utter rejection—"Israel is holy to Jehovah."—Their nationality as perpetual as laws of nature.—Will abide many days without King and Prince; afterward they will return and seek Jehovah their God and David their King—They will be asking the way to Zion, their faces turned thither.

The captivity of Jacob will be restored.—"He that scattered Israel, shall gather him."—"I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit within them."—"I shall be their God, and my servant David King over them."—"They shall look upon me whom they have pierced; and shall mourn for him."—"As you have been a curse among the nations, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing." Pages 71-90.

ΙΧ.

IN THE ERA OF FULFILLMENT.

The Jews after the Babylonian Captivity.—The Prophets place taken by the Rabbi.—A vassal nation.—There was little to satisfy the Jew's patriotic ambition.—Greek civilization and Roman rule.—Strict conformity to the ceremonial Law as national safeguard.—Laws upon laws and precepts upon precepts.—The real mission of Israel was lost sight of.—Formed a new conception of the Messiah and the Kingdom of Heaven.—Were thus taken unawares.—The "fulness of time."—Humanity was ready to receive the higher principles of life.—The Hebrew, the Greek, and the Roman.—Uniting what was best in the Hebrew and the Greek.—The birth of King David's greater Son.—Radical change in nation's life.—The sceptre removed from Judah.—The nation's anguish and yearning.—An Elijah-like Prophet proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom.—Awakened echoes throughout the land.—"There comes one mightier than I."—A career of three short years which has transformed the world.—The connecting link.—With the King's appearance the Forerunner's work is over.—"He goes (back) to Galilee."—The Inauguration of the King. "Today has this scripture been fulfilled in your ears."—Teach-

ing and healing.—The Disciples.—How unlike the expectations of His contemporaries.—"The Kingdom within."—In the toiling towns of the Lake shore. Pages 91-101.

X.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

What are we to understand by this term?—"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done."—Heaven's Kingdom brought on earth.—The introduction of righteousness into the hearts of men.—"The Kingdom of God and His righteousness."—"But he that does the will of my Father."

What idea did the message convey to the Jewish multitudes?—They had no doubt that He was the Coming One.—Why does not the Messiah show the Sign from heaven?—"Hosanna" and "Crucify him."—The sudden outburst of hatred which ages since have not alleviated.—Even John and the very Disciples carried with them similar anticipations.—John's surprise.—"They understood none of these things."—"They supposed that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately."—Cleopas and the other disciple on their walk to Emmaus.—"We hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel."—"Dost thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?"—Messiah's life as an example; His death as redemption.—A grain of wheat must first die to bear much fruit.—"When I am lifted up . . . I shall draw all men to myself" Pages 102-109

XI.

THE PROGRESS OF THE KINGDOM.

A grain of mustard seed.—Was there anything apparently more ineffectual?—Suddenly begins to flourish.—Twelve Galilean Jews become the spiritual teachers of civilized humanity.—Tremendous event sketched in a few simple lines.—"It is not for you to know the times and the seasons."—Small band of Galilean peasants transformed into mighty witnesses.—That great day of Shebuoth.—The auspicious beginning of the Kingdom on its native soil.—Continual increase.—Had as yet no new name.—Their most conclusive proof of His Messiahship.—The conditions governing the restoration of Israel and the ushering in of the Messianic age.—Messianic prophecy classified.—If the nation had lent its ear.—The sword of the spirit instead of the sword of rebellion.—Leaders instead of captives.—Not the

nation, only "escaped ones."—Fierce opposition spreads the propaganda.—On the world's stage of Greek and Roman Society.—Messianic "gerim."—A Jew whose greatness can only be matched with that of Moses.—From a persecutor the greatest promoter.—"Calling upon both Jews and Greeks."—Conquest of the Empire.—Jerusalem was no more.— The Greek and Roman instead of the Jew.—What might have been.—Jehovah's people, the Messiah's living kinsmen. Pages 110-119.

XII.

THE NEW TORAH OF THE MESSIAH.

No mere adaptation.—The very essence of the Religion of Moses and the Prophets.—The temporal and local; the permanent and universal.—Even in harmony with best views of Synagogue.—The elementary school of law; the higher school of faith.—A way by which man may learn to become good.—Course thrown open to all.—"The law was to us as a schoolmaster."—Abraham's spiritual children.—"Faith which works through love."—"We establish the law."—The liberty of service.—"Love is the fulfillment of the law."—"If any man has not the spirit of the Messiah, he is none of his."—"If you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law."—"The 'far off' made 'near.'"—"Who made both one."—"The old man" and "the new man"—"Till we all attain to the unity of the faith."—The triumph of these doctrines.—If the Jewish contemporaries of St. Paul could have realized.—The work accomplished by one Jew.—If instead of one Paul, there were thousands of Pauls. Pages 120-129.

XIII.

THE KEY TO OUR PROBLEM'S SOLUTION.

Testimony of an opponent.—The power of helpful love readjusting social inadequacies.—The "Galilean" conqueror.—An arch with the keystone missing.—The only book people in Medieval Europe.—The Renaissance and the Reformation.—Human progress and Biblical knowledge.—Why Israel is not restored; the Messianic age not ushered in.—The sign written large on history's page.—To Him undoubtedly has been the gathering of the nations.—The mightiest Factor in the world's history.—The problem's treatment by the Prophet of Tarsus.—People not rejected.—

Seeking their own righteousness, because ignorant of God's.
—"How much more their fulness."—"What shall their receiving be."—"A partial hardening;" "until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in."—"All Israel shall be saved."—"The refreshing seasons from the presence of the Lord."—"Nothing gained by further delay.—In none other is there salvation.—It is all our own.—We do not cease being Jews.—No fear of being assimilated.—The Jews need not close their own Synagogues.—The Jewish Community of believers.—Our mission and destiny yet before us.—"In calmness and repose ye shall be saved."—The Jews never so well prepared for the message.—A Period of Transition.—Widespread revolt against Rabbinism.—The Reformed Synagogue of the German Jews can never attract the spirited and idealistic New Jew.—Impossible that a four thousand year old history be finished by repudiating their greatest and best.—Zion will be ours, when we can return thither as the redeemed of Jehovah.—From a curse, we shall become a blessing.—The glorious Messianic Age.—"Shake off the dust; arise, O my people!" Pages 130-146.

Notes. Pages 147-173.

Appendix. Pages 175-188.

Index. Pages 189-197.

T.

THE JEWISH QUESTION.

Ar no time since the Jews were forced to leave their own land and start on their long weary pilgrimage among the nations, has the Jewish question been more acute and urgent than it is to-day. Never were the Jews so restless and agitated, and so eagerly seeking to solve the problem of their existence, as they are at present. No longer are they satisfied to sit with folded arms in the face of trial and adversity, but manfully they are striving to find an outlet from an intolerable present and to penetrate the dark enigma of their future. New parties are constantly arising, each offering its own scheme for the solution of this problem of the ages—the strained relations between Jew and Christian; yet the problem is no nearer solution than it ever was.

No one need be told what the Jewish problem is. But why should there at all be such a problem? Why have not nineteen hundred years of sojourn in the lands of his dispersion been enough to make the Jew settle down in peace and amity with his neighbors? How comes it that at the beginning of the twentieth century, after so many ages of homeless wandering, the Jew still "finds no ease among the nations, neither is there rest to the sole of his foot, but with trembling heart and failing eyes, and sorrowful mind" (Deut. 28:65), he is compelled to

wander again in quest of a resting place for his weary head? And wherever he comes, even if no longer in danger of life and limb, and of the pillage of his scanty possessions, he is at least made to feel that he is a stranger and intruder, and, at best, is merely tolerated but never welcomed.

During many years of an isolated existence in the ghettos of Europe, the Jew was excluded from all social intercourse with the other inhabitants, he remained a stranger to the life outside his prison-walls, and his mind was fed exclusively on the Torah with its manifold rabbinical commentaries. The Jew then had but one explanation for his anomalous and abject condition, one hope for its discontinuance:

"For our sins have we been exiled from our land and removed from our country." But God will have mercy on us. The Messiah will soon come "to gather our dispersions from among the nations, lead us to Zion with joyful song and to Jerusalem with

everlasting joy."

With the lowering of the ghetto walls in Germany and other countries of western Europe, during the 19th century, the Jews of those lands, on first tasting of the tree of European knowledge, soon opened their eyes and knew that they were naked. The cry of reform was raised in the Jewish camp: "If the Jew could only eliminate from his life and religion whatever marked him externally as a Jew and differentiated him from his Gentile neighbors, he would quickly obtain his rights as man and citizen, and the Jewish question would be no more."

New rabbis arose who unswervingly wielded the

^<sup>1Musaph prayer for festivals.

knife of reform, cutting away from their religion one piece after another, until there was left of it little more than a bare skeleton. They removed from their venerable liturgy all reference to the future hope of Israel, and from their faith all trace of a Messiah. To be considered merely as Germans or Frenchmen of the Mosaic Faith became their most cherished ambition.

But somehow, these Germans of the Mosaic Faith, soon found, to their chagrin, that their emancipation from the old religion availed them little. With all their denials that there was anything in common between them and the ordinary Jew, there yet remained their Semitic features which they could not very well remove or reform. To the Antisemites who rose in formidable array in the lands where Jewish Reform prevailed, it made little difference whether they retained much or little of their liturgy; whether they practised all or none of their religious observances; whether their hope and ideal was the future glory of Israel, or the greatness of the German fatherland. To the Antisemite they were still Jews, Semites, and, as such, strangers and interlopers.

Having failed in its attempt to solve the Jewish problem, the reform movement of the German Jews remained stagnant, its adherents being limited to a comparatively small number of wealthy Jews of Germany and their equally prosperous descendents in the United States. Among the Jews of the eastern countries of Europe, which contain some two-thirds of the Jewish race, the reform movement found no following. The progressive movements among these Jews tended in different directions. The young Jews of these countries, tired of waiting for the Messiah

who still tarried, and despairing of ever obtaining justice in the lands of their birth, turned longingly to Zion, the ancient seat of their fathers, with the cherished hope of gaining it by their own efforts.

But Herzl is dead, and with his death political Zionism received its quietus. Although Zionism in different forms remains a powerful factor in the life of the Jew, the hope of its speedy realization as a solution of the Jewish problem is still as far off as

ever.

At the recent outbreak of the Russian revolution, the hope of a new and brighter day flashed for a moment before the eyes of the Jew, in that country. But this hope was soon overspread by a heavy and terrible pall, from which, with quivering heart, the

Jew is madly rushing for safety.

In the stress and strain of recent times was born that most remarkable phenomenon of the Jewish types—the New Jew. The world at large, outside of Russia, as yet knows little of him; but if signs do not fail, he is rapidly becoming the prevailing type of Jew, holding in his hands the future of his race for good or ill. The world knows the ordinary orthodox Jew, who is rapidly passing away; it is acquainted with the small number of reform Jews in the countries where they are found; it sometimes even speaks of modern Jews, by whom it understands such Jews as are wholly or partly assimilated; but it is yet to hear from the New Jew, who is vigorously shaking the dry bones of the ghetto, infusing into them new life and spirit.

How far this New Jew will go and where he will finally land no one can foretell. Child of this age of free thought and rationalism, he is a devotee of both. Free from all rabbinical prejudices and beliefs, he is yet a Jew to the core, ready to risk his very life for the sake of his people and their interests. Religious he certainly is not, but his zeal and enthusiasm approach very near to religious fervor. He is not spiritual, but is full of spirit. He believes not in the coming of a personal Messiah, but is full of faith in the future destiny of his people and in the inauguration of the Messianic ideal upon the earth. Honest and open minded, he walks in the light as he sees it. He is not only a new Jew, but a live Jew. One cannot help being both proud and fond of him.

With better knowledge and clearer vision, his people's future could be safely intrusted to his keeping.

But what solution have these spirited fellows for the knotty problem of their people? Their mottoes, "If I be not for myself who will be for me?" and "In battle thy freedom thou obtainest," or "Through Fight thy Right," which are just the opposites of the motto of that great Zionist of old, "Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts" (Zech. 4:6),—mean very little that is practical and applicable. It is all "clouds and wind, but there is no rain" (Prov. 25: 14).

^<sup>2One of the maxims of the elder Hillel (Aboth 1: 14), adopted as motto by the Poale Zion and other radical Nationalistic organizations.

II.

FOUR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF THE PROBLEM.

THE world, as a rule, passes judgment on the Jew, simply because he is a Jew; but the Jew himself sees the cause of his troubles both in the fact of his being a Jew and of the others being Christians. If it only were possible for all to become either Jews or Christians, or, else, if there were neither Jews nor Christians, but merely men, the existing differences would then disappear, and the two warring factions—the ten million Jews and the almost fifty times as many Christians among whom they live—would be at peace with one another.

The Jewish problem being apparently due to the differences which exist between Jew and Christian, the following possible solutions present themselves:—

• 1. For the Jews to become Christians.
• 2. For the Christians, or for the world at large, to become Jews.
• 3. For both Jews and Christians to surrender or repudiate their respective religions, becoming merely men, and thus to abolish all existing differences.
• 4. For the Jews to leave the lands of Christendom, where they have so long been misunderstood and misjudged, and establish a home for themselves, either in Palestine, or in some other autonomous land of their own, and there live their own life, free from outside interference.

The First Solution.

Both Jews and Christians must admit that the first way, if realized, would completely and for all time solve the problem of the Jew. But as to an average Jew the mere mention of it is enough to stir up his deepest passions and arouse his strongest resentment, we shall defer its discussion until the other solutions indicated have been considered.

The Second Solution.

It is rather remarkable that both the ultra-orthodox and the so-called reformed Jew, diametrically opposed as they are on almost every point, religious or nationalistic, hold nearly similar views with regard to the second suggested solution of the Jewish

problem.

The orthodox Jew who believed with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and daily awaited His coming, also hoped that along with it, "the world would be established under the Kingdom of the Almighty," and instead of "worshipping emptiness and vanity, and praying to a god that cannot save . . . all would accept the yoke of Thy Kingdom" (Alenu prayer). This simply meant that the world would abandon its Christian faith and be converted to Judaism.

^"I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah and though He tarries yet I daily await His coming" (XIII Ikkerim, 12).

^<sup>2Although it is not known when this prayer, which is recited at the close of the three daily prayers, was introduced in the ritual, and in spite of the denials made from time to time, to allay the suspicions of the Church, every Jew knows that it refers specifically to Christianity.

The reformed Jews, although their every endeavor was aimed at the elimination from their Judaism of everything which gave it a distinctive appearance from the Christian denominations of their neighbors, have yet held fast to the "chosen people" feature of the religion of their fathers, and their rabbis never tire of asserting their world mission.

They have given up the hope and belief in the coming of a Messiah and in the future restoration of Israel as a nation, for this belief would make it appear as if they owed allegiance to another nationality than the one of which they esteem themselves prominent citizens. They do talk, however, of the inauguration in the world of Messianic times, which to them means the coming of the world to their point of view, and the acceptance by the world of their vague monotheism and their bundle of dry ethics.

The orthodox Jew believing in the coming of a miraculous Messiah, who may appear any day and instantly bring about his own restoration and the conversion of the world to Judaism, could afford to endure patiently his intolerable present, while fervently praying and hoping for his glorious future. In a like manner, the prosperous Jew of the reform cult, whose chief grievance is the social discrimination to which he is subjected at the hands of his Gentile neighbors, can calmly look for a time when the world, by giving up the Christian view of the religion of the Bible, will accept the authority of the reformed rabbi above that of St. Paul, in whom reform Judaism sees its chief opponent. But the

^3"Thou hast chosen us from all the people, Thou hast loved us and favored us, and exalted us above all tongues" (Prayer for festivals).

ordinary Jew who is neither ultra-orthodox nor reformed, refuses to be satisfied any longer with vague hopes. To him the question of his present and future is too urgent, and he demands an active and practical solution of his problem.

The Third Solution.

To the Socialists who ascribe to religion all, or most, of the ills with which humanity is afflicted, the Jewish question is only part of the general "Weltschmerz," only one of the evils of the present social system which divides men into classes and masses, fostering religious differences and prejudices, and making men oppose one another, instead of being united against their common oppressors.

Endeavoring to bring about the Brotherhood of Man, the Socialists do everything in their power to weaken and destroy man's faith in the Fatherhood

of God.

Whether the international Brotherhood pictured in the Socialistic dream will have to deal with the Jewish question or not, we are not prepared to say; we do know, however, that so far, Socialism has not brought us any nearer a solution of the Jewish question.

Recent events in Russia and elsewhere have shown that there is not very much love lost even between the Jewish Socialist and his Gentile comrade, neither of whom can be suspected of religious bias or prejudice.

The Russian revolutionists look on gladly and approvingly when their Jewish comrades blindly throw themselves into the forefront of the unequal struggle with the Bureaucracy. But, when as a result of the

precipitate acts of the Jewish revolutionists, the maddened agents of the Bureaucracy pour out dire vengeance on the defenceless heads of the innocent families of the young enthusiasts, their Gentile comrades rather keep in the background, not considering it their duty to aid their Jewish companions in the defense of the women and children of their homes.

Since the outbreak of the Russian revolution, accompanied by periodic massacres of the Jews, thousands of Jewish Socialists helped to swell the ranks of the Nationalists. These Socialists had formerly renounced their own people's cause for that of the world's proletariat, but the ever recurring outrages against the Jews made them so sick at heart, that they began to despair of ever attaining relief for their people's distress even under the red flag of Socialism. The Jewish Socialists are gradually learning that Antisemitic feelings may be harbored not only in the breasts of Gentiles who call themselves Christians, but in a like degree, even among those who have lost their Christian faith and go by the name of Socialists or freethinkers.

It is rationalistic and socialistic Germany that gave birth to modern Antisemitism, and it is in countries where the Bible is least known and read that Jew-baiting abounds. Juster treatment of the Jew prevails in lands, like England and America, where the Jew's Book is better known and appreciated.

The Jew can expect very little comfort indeed from the efforts of his Socialist brethren to destroy the very best which the world received through

the Jew.

The Fourth Solution.

Let us see then what relief to the long lasting woes of the Jew the last and most popular solution has to offer us.

The Jewish nationalistic movement has within recent years grown to such enormous proportions as to include among its advocates and followers Jews of the most widely divergent views. Ranging from the extreme orthodox on the right wing, to free-thinking and socialistic Jews on its left, it has even made appreciable inreads on the ranks of the reform Jews. The older rabbis and leaders of this cult, true to the teaching of the founders of Reform, have persistently maintained that the name Jew stands only for a religious denomination, and does not at all represent a particular people or nation. But they are now mortified to see the ground slipping from beneath their feet, since many of the younger rabbis, boldly repudiating the most cherished traditions, if not the very essentials of Jewish reform, have enlisted under the banner of Jewish Nationalism.

The various parties into which the Jewish Nationalists are divided, differing as they do to a greater or less extent as to their final aim and methods, all agree on the main proposition, that the Jews, although without a land of their own, are an integral nation in all respects; that their anomalous condition is due to their homeless position; and that therefore the Jew must strive to secure a national center of his own.

This home can only be Palestine, the traditional land of Israel, according to the Zionists; while according to the Territorialists, any territory, where

the Jew could enjoy an autonomous existence, would

answer the purpose.

"Older than any of the existing nations of civilization, with a culture of their own, equal, if not superior, to that of any people among whom they are scattered, the Jews," so argue the Nationalists, "have kept themselves alive for so many centuries of a homeless existence, amidst conditions the most adverse, only part of which would have sufficed to crush and annihilate the strongest of races. Incapable of being assimilated heretofore, it is neither possible nor indeed desirable that they yield now. If the Jew have any faults, they are the result of the unnatural, crippling conditions under which he has been obliged to drag out his weary existence, in the inhospitable lands of his exile, since he lost his own cherished home by the Jordan. In his own land, Israel will again renew his strength, and blossom forth as the rose of Sharon."

One cannot help being in hearty sympathy with this remarkable movement of the reawakened Jew. There is likewise cause for rejoicing at the indubitable signs of the rejuvenation of the Holy Land. It really seems as if both the people and the land were preparing for one another, and greater things, perhaps, may yet take place in these days of stupendous happenings, and of the rapidly advancing universal progress.⁴

⁴The above was written two years ago. Let us hope that the recent gladsome news of the newly won freedom in Turkey is only a beginning of the speedy realization of our fond expectations.

III.

THE FOURTH SOLUTION ANALYZED.

The Nationalistic argument when analyzed presents the following points:

• 1. The Jews are a nation in the full meaning of the term, except for the possession of a land.
• 2. All the troubles of the Jew, as well as his short comings, are due to his unnatural homeless existence his "goluth"-life, in the lands of exile.
• 3. The Jew was endowed with an extraordinary individuality which enabled him to withstand all the storms that threatened his existence, and has kept him alive as a distinct people for almost forty centuries. Having therefore lived so long his own life, without being assimilated with the nations of the earth, it is neither possible nor desirable for him to try assimilation either now or in the future.
• 4. In order to remedy the evils from which the Jew, because of his homeless existence, is suffering, as well as to continue unhampered his national development, he must possess a home of his own. This the Nationalists are striving to secure.

Let us consider these points one by one.

1. Are the Jews a nation, or only a religious denomination?

That the Jews to-day are fully as distinct an individual people as they were two thousand years ago, no one who wishes to be honest and consistent can deny. The assertion made by some, notably by the spokesmen of the so-called Jewish Reform, that the Jew stands merely for a religion, differing in no other respect from his Gentile neighbors, has long since been exploded.

The Jews have always represented a little world of their own. The differences between their various religious parties are as great as can be found between the most widely diverging denominations in Christendom. The religious differences, for instance, between an orthodox Jew and the so-called reformed are certainly no less than those which separate the Roman Catholic from the Unitarian.

In the time of Christ there were the Pharisees and the Sadducees and several smaller religious parties. At present we find orthodox Jews, who in themselves are separated into two antagonistic camps—Hasidim¹ and Mithnagdim;² Reformed Jews, Modern Jews, Freethinking Jews, Socialistic Jews, and considerable numbers who are none of these, merely Jews.

Let us take a large Jewish center, such as New York, which contains a full representation of this people from all the lands of their dispersion. Many and wide are the differences which separate this large Jewish body into various classes and parties, but these differences are as nought against that which separates them from the Gentile population, and how

^'Hasidim: pietists; adherents of the mystic teaching of Israel of the Good Name and others, who consider the Zohar and Kabbala as of even higher authority than the Talmud.

^'Mithnagdim: antagonists, protestants; those who antagonize the new teaching that there is any higher authority than the Talmud.

strong is the tie which binds all these various ele-

In times of peace and quiet this tie may become so thin and impalpable as to be hardly noticed. But let calamity somewhere befall Israel, and, behold, how the Jewish heart is stirred! The Jewish heart, in whichever breast it beats—orthodox, reformed or socialistic—is a Jewish heart still, deeply smarting from a wound inflicted anywhere on the Jewish body.

"Behold a people dwelling by themselves, not counting themselves among the Gentiles" (Num. 23: 9), is as true to-day, after four thousand years, as it was when Israel pitched his tents in the desert

of Sinai.

2. Is the "goluth"-life of the Jew the sole cause of his troubles and shortcomings?

No one will maintain that an existence of almost two thousand years, as strangers and homeless wanderers, has done the Jew any good, or has helped to bring out the best qualities of which his nature is capable. But to ascribe all the Jewish troubles and imperfections to his life in exile, is not quite warranted by the facts of his history. Were not trials and tribulations, foreign subjection and foreign oppression, wars and internal dissensions, the rule in that little land of Palestine, during the several hundred years that Israel occupied it?

For a little while sunshine and calm would prevail in the Judean land, only to be followed again by storm and stress. The only years, perhaps, in their entire national history in Palestine, in which the Jews can be said to have tasted to the full a real.

independent, national existence, were those of the reign of Solomon, during their first period, and of John Hyrcanus, the Hasmonean, during the second period. Less than forty years in one case and only about thirty in the other.

But even these most brilliant periods in their history were not entirely unclouded. The people's bitter complaint to Solomon's successor: "Thy father made our yoke grievous; now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father and the heavy yoke which he put on us lighter" (1 Kings 12:4), shows that the people were not altogether happy and contented. The reign of John Hyrcanus was so completely taken up with foreign wars, that no time could have been left to enjoy whatever prosperity might have existed.

And each of these reigns, the brightest in the Jewish annals, was followed by sadness and gloom. After the death of both Solomon and Hyrcanus, dissensions broke out, and the country became a prey to constant strife and discord, marking the beginning of the inevitable end, the effects of which the Jew has been experiencing ever since.

It is not only since the exile that we meet with Jew-baiting and Antisemitism; nor are these peculiar only to the lands of Christendom. Even while in their own land, in Palestine, there was an Assyria and Syria to harass them, and a Babylon and Rome to oppress them. Pharaoh, Amalek, Balak, Haman, Antiochus, Titus, and hosts of others whose names and deeds still rankle in the Jewish memory, were not prompted in their actions by Christian preju-

dice; nor was it a "goluth" Jew that staggered beneath their vicious blows.

3. Is it due to the Jew's own efforts that he has

not been assimilated and is still alive to-day?

That the Jew possesses an individuality of inherent strength and great capabilities, we do not for a moment deny; but that he has never been assimilated, and has kept himself alive for so many centuries of untoward conditions, may not be entirely due to his own efforts or merit.

All through their long history, the fact occurs again and again, that whenever the Jews enjoyed periods of peace and calm, whether during the days of their national existence in their own land, or while sojourning in the lands of exile, they very soon forgot themselves, and madly rushed into the arms of their neighbors.

If those arms had remained open to receive them and if nothing had happened to check their ardor, there would probably be left little of the Jew to-day, and there would be no Jewish question in the 20th century

"When Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked . . . . he forsook the God who made him, and slighted the

rock of his salvation" (Deut. 32:15)

The classic literature of the Greeks and Romans abounds with expressions of hatred and contempt for the Jews. Many of the slanders of the modern Antisemites are only repetitions of those ancient diatribes. Josephus was compelled to write a treatise against the accusations of Apion, who repeated whatever Manetho, Lysimachus and others had ever written against the Jews, with many falsehoods of his own invention. The slanders of Apion found their way to Tacitus and many other writers. There are outbursts of Jew hatred in Cicero's orations; ridicule and contempt in the works of Horace and Juvenal, and malignant attacks in Ovid and Seneca.

They were quick to forsake their own culture and made strenuous efforts to adopt the customs of their neighbors.

"They were mingled with the nations and learned their deeds" (Ps. 106:35), was said of Israel in

their most golden period.

The sharpest darts of prophetic rebuke were hurled both against the wickedness and social injustice which prevailed within, and the assimilating currents which flowed outwardly. One need only read Ezekiel's terrible arraignment (Chapter 16), where Israel is pictured as a wanton offering herself to each and all of her surrounding neighbors, to learn of the people's conduct during the earlier period of their national existence.

The short space of seventy years in the Babylonian captivity, was long enough for the Jews there to lead them to abandon their beautiful Hebrew tongue for the Aramæan language of the country, and freely to intermarry with their neighbors (Nehem. 13:23-25).

To such an extent did the language of the fathers become a foreign tongue to the children born in the Babylonian captivity, that when the Book of the Law was read before the comparatively small numbers of patriots that returned with Ezra and Nehemiah, it had to be interpreted in the vernacular in order to be understood (Nehem. 8: 7-8). This gave rise to the Aramaic versions of the Bible, the so-called Targumim.

For more than a thousand years after the return from Babylon, the Jewish vernacular was an Aramaic jargon mixed with Hebrew. Practically all the Rabbinical works were written in this dialect.

The so-called Yiddish, the Jewish vernacular of to-day, is a German jargon mixed with Hebrew, adopted centuries ago in Germany during an assimilating period, and used ever since.

The comparatively small number of Sephardim Jews, descendants of those who were exiled from Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella, still use in their homes a Spanish jargon mixed with Hebrew.

When the Macedonian conqueror Alexander made Greece the mistress of the East, introducing there her language and culture, the Jews, settled for a second time as a nation in their own country, did not hesitate to respond with an assimilating movement towards Greece, adopting her language and customs and abandoning their own religious culture (1 Maccab, 1:11-15).

The same tendency has been shown again and again, since their second exile, almost nineteen centuries ago, to this very day. Whenever, in any country, they have been treated for a reasonably long time as the equals of their neighbors, they have been only too quick to forsake their origin, to abandon their necessity, and to make every endeavor to

be assimilated.

However, something has always happened to frustrate their intentions, and to prevent them from accomplishing their work of assimilation. As a rule it has been some form of intolerance or persecution on the part of their neighbors, which has driven them back into their own tent.

During their first national existence in Palestine, it was the frequent attacks of the neighboring peoples, no less than the mighty voice of their prophets,

which kept the Jew from effacing himself.

In their second period, when under the beneficent calm which for a while succeeded the conquests of the great Macedonian, they were in danger of becoming entirely Hellenized, the cruel acts of an Antiochus roused the latent patriotism of the Jew, which culminated in the mighty deeds of the Maccabees.

Rome, fortunately or otherwise, never even made

the attempt to court the Jew toward assimilation. Thanks to the cruel sway and haughty demeanor with which she treated her Judæan subjects, the patriotic spirit of the Jew ran very high under the rule of Rome.

When the sun of prosperity shone on the Jews of Spain, under the warming rays of which the flowers of assimilation began to ripen, the insane cruelties of a Torquemada and the fires of the Auto-da-fé, saved the life of the Jew.

Humiliating laws and not infrequent cruelties, as well as his enforced isolation within the ghetto walls, kept the Jew alive in medieval Europe.

When under improved conditions in Germany and elsewhere, during the past century, the Jews started on the way of assimilation—for that is what the reform movement really meant—the rise of Antisemitism soon curbed their aspirations. Thanks to the tireless activities of the Antisemites, who so dearly wish to be rid of the ever present Jew, there are yet Jews to be found in Germany and the other liberal countries of Europe.

Even in Russia where, due to constant persecution, the spirit of Jewish nationalism holds almost absolute sway, it is not so very long since thousands of Jews were carried away on the stream of assimilation, during the few liberal years of Alexander II.

The very recent dire events in Russia, which resulted in the outpouring of an enormous emigration, have been effective not only in raising the national spirit of the ghetto Jew, but have even stirred up the prosperous reformed Jews of Germany and America, bringing them closer to their people. Thus was stemmed for a while the tide of assimilation on

which these Jews had gradually been drifting, in spite of the frequent repulses at the hands of their neighbors.

Thus we see that the natural tendency of the Jew has invariably been towards assimilation; external forces only have kept him alive these many centuries.

Plain and self evident as this should be to anyone even slightly acquainted with the Jew and his history, neither the Jew nor his enemies have yet

succeeded in learning this lesson.

A knowledge of this important fact would have saved the enemies of the Jew many costly blunders. They would know then that the best way to help the Jew lose himself was not by keeping him embittered and humiliated, which only drives him back into his shell, but by treating him with all kindness and consideration. The fate of Haman and his miscarried policy (Esther 3:8; 7:9-10) should serve as warning to the Antisemite of to-day. Trying to kill the Jew will never exterminate him; besides that, it usually is too costly to the one making the attempt.

If the Jew had kept this fact before his eyes, he would then have endeavored, first of all, to find out why such forces have constantly been employed to hold him back from his natural tendency. If after so many centuries of adversity, the Jew is here today, not by his own choice or efforts, and with the terrible question, "What is to be done?" still ringing in his ears, then why, and to what purpose is it all? In what is it all going to end?

Puzzled and bewildered the Jew now stands, torn apart by many conflicting parties, each of them striving to pilot his storm-tossed vessel, but all alike regardless of his own chart. If the cause of his con-

tinued existence were clear to him, the Jew would bethink himself and recall that he possesses such a chart. He would find that the chart clearly indicates the course of his destiny, and points out the rocks and shoals which lie in the track of his wanderings. By means of his chart the Jew would be enabled to steer through the only safe channel, and soon reach the long desired haven of his rest.

It is certainly an awful thought, and the very idea may be repugnant to some modern conceptions of religion, that all those terrible forces which have kept the Jew from being lost among the nations, have only been the messengers of God's justice to lead wayward Israel to repentance. But so was it proclaimed by Ezekiel nearly twenty-five centuries ago, and so has it been proved by historical events ever

"And that which comes in your mind, will never come to pass; that you say, We will be as the nations as the families of the lands. . . . . As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if not with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will reign over you" (Ezekiel 20: 32-33).

If Assyria is spoken of as the rod of God's anger, and the staff of His indignation (Is. 10:5), why not also Spain and Russia? If Nebuchadnezzar is called God's servant, carrying out His judgments (Jerem. 25:9; 43:10), why not also the Antisemites of Germany or the Hooligans of Russia?

Figure 75 There is the following in the Talmud, "Said R. Joshua, If Israel does not repent, God raises up against them a king whose decrees are as severe as those of Haman, and Israel is forced to repent and become good" (Sanhed. 97b).

4. Will the efforts of the Nationalists remedy the evils from which the Jew has suffered?

Far be it from any one to discourage the laudable and enthusiastic efforts that are being made to awaken in the Jew a consciousness of his great past and to lead him to a better life in the future. Nor will any lover of his people disparage the splendid achievements which have already been accomplished in the field of Zionistic activity, and those practical colonizing projects which are yet in the process of development.

But can we expect that these efforts to secure for the Jew a land, a national home, or a national center, will remedy all the evils from which he has so long suffered?

The most sanguine of the Jewish Nationalists no longer imagine that it will be possible in the near future, or even at a more distant time, to gather into one territory all the Jews of the world, or even only those that are badly in need of emigrating. If there could even be obtained a land large enough to accommodate ten or twelve million people—which is nowhere the case—how would these millions scattered over the globe, very few of them having the means to pay their way, be brought together to that territory?

Only two million Jews would overcrowd Palestine; and there is hardly a territory obtainable even in the wilds of Africa, which could provide for more than two millions.

Imagine, for the sake of argument, that Palestine has already been obtained; the Turk has granted the long desired charter, and two million Jews are even now settled down under an autonomous government. Would this solve the problem of the other ten million Jews who would still be scattered among the nations? Or, will the two million Jews living under an autonomous government in Palestine enjoy more liberty and possess greater advantages and security than the same number residing in the United States?

How can the Zionist expect the Jews to become free from Christian interference in Palestine? Palestine of all lands, which is the cradle of Christianity, abounding in places sacred to Christendom which attract yearly thousands of pilgrims? Think of Jerusalem as the capital of the restored Judean State!—Jerusalem, with a Mohammedan mosque on the place of the Holy of Holies, and with Greek and Roman Catholic churches, cathedrals, and monasteries in abundance. Would not such a Judea, even if entirely independent, be constantly embroiled with Mohammedans on the one hand and with Christians on the other?

Instead of solving our problem, would not the Jewish possession of Palestine, as the land and the people are at present constituted, rather make the problem still more complicated, entangled and confused?

Thus, even if the Zionists' dream be accomplished, and Palestine become the national center of the Jew, very little would thereby be contributed towards solving the Jewish problem. But is not, so far, the very talk of acquiring Palestine a mere fancy? The Turk still reigns supreme in the Holy Land, not at all ready to loosen his grip, and the Arab is still in full possession of the soil. The Zionists themselves, now readily admit that Herzl's policy of trying to secure the land by diplomatic means was faulty and

mistaken, and they are adopting again the slow method of colonization which prevailed before.

It is true and even significant that a considerable portion of the tremendous Jewish emigration from Russia now wends its way to Palestine, where the present colonizing efforts are much more practical and of a much wider scope. One may even indulge in the hope that before long Palestine will boast of a half-million or more self-supporting Jews who would no doubt contribute much towards modernizing the ancient land.

But the Jewish problem would even then remain

As to the talk of obtaining an autonomous territory for the Jews elsewhere, only the luxuriant fancy of a Zangwill can see such a land. On the earth's map it would be rather difficult to find such an unoccupied tract, large enough and sufficiently attractive to draw to it even one million Jews. Even if the Territorialists should succeed in colonizing somewhere a few thousand, or a few hundred thousand Jews, would it contribute anything towards answering the question of the Jew?

IV.

THE REMEDIES INADEQUATE BECAUSE BASED ON WRONG DIAGNOSIS.

WE have seen how futile and inadequate are all the suggested solutions of the Jewish problem as discussed and advocated among the Jews. We have also found that their chief shortcoming lies in the fact that the real cause, or source, of the ills which they endeavor to remedy, has not been rightly diagnosed.

It is a common error of all those who attempt to solve the Jewish problem, to consider only the present condition of the Jew, without reference to his past, and to look for the source of the trouble outside of himself

The case of the Jew is unique in the history of mankind. No analogy from the annals and experience of other nations, can help us to unravel his knotty problem. The key to that problem's solution must be looked for in his own historical experience and in the trusty records of his past.

The long exile which has now lasted nearly nineteen hundred years, instead of being the cause of the Jew's troubles, is in itself only a symptom due to a cause which lies much deeper. Trying to relieve the Jew's distress by merely applying remedies to this symptom will not cure the ailment and may only aggravate the trouble. Since his last exile, the Jew has continually been repeating the confession, "For our sins have we been exiled from our land and removed from our country," thus acknowledging that the cause of his long tale of trials and tribulations lay in himself. But he never yet stopped to inquire what those sins were which nineteen long centuries of praying, fasting, and unflinching devotion to the Torah and its commandments, could not expiate.

There has never been any doubt in the people's mind as to the cause and nature of the first and much shorter exile. The prophet Jeremiah, the contemporary of the earlier national catastrophe, not only diagnosed the cause of the exile, but even gave its prognosis.—its duration and the time of its cure

and recovery.

For continually persisting in the sin of following and serving other gods, the Babylonian power would be brought upon the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The land would be laid waste and the people led in captivity, where they would remain for seventy years (Jerem. 25:4-11). At the expiration of seventy years, Babylon itself would be visited for its iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans would become an everlasting desolation. But Israel, seeking Jehovah and finding Him, would be gathered from the lands of their dispersion and return to the home from which they were exiled (Jerem. 25:12-14; 29:10-1-1).

Seventy years passed. Proud Babylon lay prostrate at the feet of the Persian conqueror; but the captive sons of Judah were greeted with the joyous proclamation, in fulfillment of the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, to return to their own

land of Judah, and build the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem (Ezra. 1:1-3).

Israel's deep-rooted propensity to follow and serve other gods was completely eradicated by the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. Forever purified from the deadly sin of idolatry, which, until the advent of Christianity, hung like a heavy pall over the entire ancient world, the Jews now settled down for a second time in their land, a God-fearing people, devoting their best time and attention to the worship of God and the study of His Law.

From the time of Ezra down to this very day the Jews have stood supreme as a godly and religious people. God and His Torah became Israel's all in all. None prayed longer or more fervently; none fasted harder; none spent more time in the study of the Law, or tried better to observe God's commandments. And yet not a single one of the numerous and glorious blessings which were to follow and accompany the keeping of the commandments (Lev. 26:3-13; Deut. 28:1-13) has ever even been tasted by this unfortunate race. Instead they have drained to the full, and have had fulfilled in them to the letter, all the terrible curses which were hurled at them for disobeying God (Lev. 26:14-13; Deut. 28:15-67).

Five hundred years of a convulsive existence in the land ended in the final cataclysm, which violently thrust Israel out of his home, leaving it a desolate ruin, and himself, bruised in body and crushed in spirit, a shadow of his former self, he has dragged out a weary existence these nineteen hundred years, as a fugitive and wanderer in the earth.

Seventy years, only two generations, were sufficient

to purify the Jew from the deadly germs of idolatry, and bring about a complete cure. But for more than fifty generations he has now been languishing on the sick-bed of the second exile, without even being able to discover what the cause of his ailment was or what were those sins he has been continually confessing and lamenting.

The uninspired vision of the contemporary rabbis of the Roman captivity was unable to penetrate to the inmost depth of the trouble and lay bare its cause. They knew by their patient's symptoms that he was afflicted with the sin-malady. But what particular sin gave rise to these symptoms was beyond the diagnostic skill of those rabbis, as it has been beyond that of their successors ever since.

Other rabbis there were, also contemporaries of the Roman period, who like the prophets of the former exile, fully diagnosed the cause of the Jew's trouble (Matt. 23:37-39; Luke 19:41-44; Matt. 24:2; 21:33-44; 23:29-36; Luke 23:28-31; Rom. 9:30-33; 10:2-4; 11:7), and also prescribed the appropriate remedy, giving a well-defined prognosis (Acts 2:36-39; 3:17-21, 25-26; Rom. 11:1-2, 11-12, 15, 23, 25-26, 31-32; 2 Cor. 3:14-16). But the writings of these rabbis, which the Christian world holds to be of equal authority with the Law and the Prophets, remained practically unknown among the Jews. Proscribed by the rabbis of the Talmud, the books of the New Testament have never since been read by the Jews, or if ever read, it was rather with the intention of refuting them than of trying to learn the truth.

¹See Note A

See Note B

The only key to the solution of their problem was thus taken away by their own wise men of the Law, who locked themselves out and kept all others from

getting in (Matt. 23:13; Luke 11:52).

The faith and hope in the coming of the Messiah, which warmed the Jewish heart and sustained his flagging strength in the long centuries of his weary wanderings, are gradually giving way to chilling doubts and cold despair. The fervent prayers for His coming which daily ascended from home and synagogue, are growing faint and fainter. But the Jew has not yet stopped to inquire whether the Messiah has not already come, and whether his troubles may not be due to his continued refusal to accept Him whom the entire civilized world has long since hailed as Israel's Redeemer and humanity's Saviour.

^<sup>2"O cause Thou the Branch (sprout) of Thy Servant David speedily to flourish, and let his horn be exalted in Thy Salvation" (XVIII Benedictions, recited thrice daily).

THE JEW'S SEVEN-FOLD OBJECTION TO THE CLAIMS

For nineteen long centuries the Jew has complacently borne all the miseries which a stern fate imposed upon him, rather than admit that he has made a mistake in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as his Messiah.

1. "How could the Nazarene," so argued the Jew, "have been the Messiah, and yet have utterly failed to accomplish the work of Israel's redemption? The mission of the Messiah, as announced by the prophets, was to deliver Israel, and Israel is still in captivity these many hundred years."

2. "Since the Jews were forced out of Palestine by the cruel Roman power, no place has been more desolate than that country. But was it not predicted that with the arrival of the Messiah, the Holy Land shall be peopled again by the descendants of Jacob, who with King David (the Messiah) at their head, should enjoy unbroken peace and prosperity?"

3. "Where is the universal peace predicted by the prophets of old for the Messianic times? Have the swords been beaten into plowshares, and the spears into pruning hooks? Is nation not lifting sword against nation, and have they ceased to learn war any more (Is. 2:4)? Has the wolf yet learned to

^<sup>1Adopted from Isaak Troki's Hizzuk Emunah and others (see Jew. Encyc., Art. Polemics).

dwell with the lamb without devouring him (Is. 11:6)?"

4. "Has God been recognized by the whole world, as the prophets foretold would be the case after the

coming of the Messiah?"

5. "Can this Christendom possess the true religion of Israel's Messiah, which, with whatever little of the truth it has adopted from Judaism, still largely adheres to pagan beliefs and practices? It believes in a Trinity, and worships God in three persons, or three persons as God, which sounds very much like worshipping three Gods, whereas Israel daily professes, 'Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one' (Deut. 6:4)."

6. "Can this Christianity be the religion of the true Messiah, which abrogated the Law, keeps not the Sabbath, and circumcises not its children?"

7. "Can this be the true religion of the Jewish Messiah, whose followers deified one Jew and have

since persecuted all the other Jews $\rm ?"$

To its followers, Christianity is the glorious tree sprung out of the Jewish root, or the luscious summer fruit ripened from the Hebrew blossom; but in the eyes of the Jew it is no more than a foreign graft on his tree. The religion of Christ has since grown as a mighty cedar, nesting in the shade of its branches birds of every wing (Ezek. 17: 22-24), but to the Jew they are all strange birds, among which he finds no room for the Jewish cooing dove.²

Christianity, born and nurtured in the Jewish

^<sup>2"The Congregation of Israel is likened to a dove, according to Ps. 68: 13. As the dove is protected by its wings, so is Israel protected by the Commandments" (Shabb. 130a).

Synagogue, has been so completely disowned by its mother that the widest gulf separates the two. The mere name 'Jew' has come to be synonymous with one who is an opponent of Christianity, as the name 'Christian' has become entirely identified with Gentiles, to the exclusion of all Jews. Let a Jew adopt Christianity, and he is branded by his people as a traiter and apostate, and cut off from all communion with his own race and brethren.

Because He failed to accomplish the promised redemption and restoration of Israel, the Jew refuses to recognize the Christian Saviour as his expected Messiah. Because the predicted Messianic times of universal peace, divine knowledge, and undisturbed happiness have not yet been ushered in, the believing Jew still awaits the coming of his own Messiah.

On account of its apparently strange doctrines, the Jew denies the claims of Christianity to be the true religion of the Bible. Such doctrines as the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, or the Incarnation, the Jew claims to be foreign to his conception of the religion of Moses and the Prophets, to be accounted for, at best, as a concession to the paganistic tendencies of the Gentile world.

A religion which abrogated the Law, the Jew contends, may be good enough for Gentiles, to whom no Terah was given; but can never have been intended for the congregation of Jacob, who inherited the Law commanded by Moses (Deut. 33:4), and who were expressly commanded not to add to or diminish anything from it (Deut. 4:2).

But the most serious charge, perhaps, which the Jew sets forth against the claims of Christianity, is the behaviour of its followers towards himself. Judged by the standard of its own founder, "By their fruits you shall know them" (Matt. 7:16, 20; 12:33; Luke 6:44), Christianity, whose followers have produced many a blood-stained page in the history of the Jew, cannot be considered the true religion of Jehovah and His Annointed.

Armed with his seven-fold objection against the claims of Christianity, the Jew still persists in turning a deaf ear to its advocates, and hurls anathemas at those of his own race who, having found the true way (John 14:6), dare to brave the scorn of their people⁴ and, like Andrew of old, seek their brothers, telling them, "We have found the Messiah," whose Greek name is Christ (John 1:41).

The charge of injustice which the Jew prefers against the followers of Christianity has already been referred to in the preceding pages. It was shown that Jew-baiting prevailed in the world long before the advent of Christianity, and we also tried to point out its cause. If Christian Europe had its hand in persecuting the Jew, so had also pagan Greece and Rome, and so had the more ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. In Mohammedan Persia and Morocco the lot of the Jew is not much better than in Christian Russia.

The Jews suffered persecution in various countries of Christendom, not because the people of those

^<sup>3See Note C.

^'Heine's characterization of his former friend and companion, Edward Gans, when informed that the latter had not only embraced Christianity, but was inducing others of his people to do likewise, is the general attitude of the average modern Jew towards a Christian missionary of his race:

^"If he does it out of conviction he is a fool; if out of hypocrisy, he is a rascal."

lands were Christian, but because they were not Christian enough. A Gentile Christian might not be entirely free of prejudice against the Jew, a prejudice which he probably inherited from his pagan ancestors. But no real Christian has ever persecuted the Jew, or any one else. He knows too well his Master's injunction, "Blessed are they that are persecuted" (Matt. 5:10), to turn persecutor himself.

A follower and disciple of Him who came to save His people (Matt. 1:21); who declared that salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22); whose mission while on earth was but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24; 10:6); who, when He saw the Jewish multitudes, was moved with compassion on them (Matt. 9:36); who yearned to gather the children of Jerusalem together, even as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings (Matt. 23:37); who when in the agony of the cross prayed, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34);—a follower and disciple of Him could never think of persecuting the Jew.

The Christian who sits at the feet of the Apostle Paul and hears his sobs and his heart pangs at the fate of his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom. 9:2-3); who joins with him in prayer for Israel that they might be saved (10:1); who hears his joyous assurance that God did not cast away His people whom He foreknew (11:2), but that, when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, all Israel shall be saved (11:25-26);—a Christian like this could never forget the same apostle's urgent solicitation that by your mercy, they (the Jews) also may obtain mercy (11:31).

Although in his creed the Jew expresses his firm belief that the whole Torah as now possessed by him (meaning, of course, both the written and the so-called oral Law, or the traditions of the Rabbis) was given unto Moses, and that this Torah would not be changed, nor would another Torah (or dispensation) ever be given by the Creator (XIII Ikkerim, 8, 9);—this formula does not at all represent the opinion of the ancient authoritative Rabbis or the general belief of the Synagogue.

The following quotations from the ancient accepted authorities of the Synagogue will show that the view of the Synagogue as to what would become of the Mosaic Legislation in the Messianic times, does not differ from that held by Christianity. Both Church and Synagogue are in perfect accord on this point, that the ceremonial Law was only temporary, to exist until displaced by the higher and better Law of the Messiah.

"Said R. Johannan, All the Prophets prophesied only unto the days of the Messiah" (Berach. 34 b; Shabb. 63 a; Sanhed. 99 a).

The passage, "You shall draw water joyfully out of the wells of salvation" (Is. 12:3), is paraphrased in Targum Jonathan, "You will joyfully receive a new Law from the elect one of the righteous (the Messiah)."

"In the time to come, God will expound a new

^"For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John" (Matt. 11: 13).

^"The law and the prophets were until John, from that time the good tidings of the Kingdom of God are proclaimed" (Luke 16: 16).

Torah, which He is to give through the Messiah" (Jalkut, Is. 26, 296).

"All the Torah which one is now learning is as nought in comparison with the Torah of the Messiah" (Eccles. Rab. 2:1).

On the words, "For a law shall go forth from me" (Is. 51:4), a rabbi remarks, "God says, A new law shall go forth from me, that is a renovation of the law shall go forth from me." Another rabbi adds that "in the time to come God will prepare a repast for his righteous servants, and those who ate no unclean animal in this world, will be privileged to enjoy such food in the age to come" (Lev. Rab. 13:3).

On the passage, "Jehovah looseth the prisoners (bound ones)" (Ps. 146:7), the Midrash remarks that "in the time to come, God will loosen (permit) whatever was formerly bound (forbidden); that the dietary and purity laws will be no longer in force" (Midrash Tehil. 146).

"In the age to come all the festivals will be abolished" (Midrash on Prov. 9).

^<sup>2This Midrash is on the text, "I have put my law in their inward parts" (Jerem. 31: 33). (See Hebrews 8: 6.13)

^<sup>3See Acts 10: 9-16.

^"For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). "For food will not commend us to God; neither are we the worse if we eat not, nor the better if we eat" (I Corinth. 8:8).

^5"Let no man therefore judge you as regards meat or drink, or in respect of a feast day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath day; which are but a shadow of the things to come" (Colos. 2: 16, 17).

"Rabbi Joseph said, In the time to come all the ceremonial laws will be abrogated" (Niddah 61b).

From the above few quotations it is seen that the Synagogue herself expects a new Torah at the hands of the Messiah, which would be vastly superior to the one it already possesses; and that the ceremonial laws, together with the dietary regulations, would be abrogated and be no longer in force.

Nor do the teachings of the Synagogue concerning the nature and person of the expected Messiah differ so very radically from what Christianity asserts of the Christ who is already come.

The vast literature of the ancient Synagogue abounds with expressions about the Messiah, which differ from the Christian statements, only as a dream differs from its realization, only as hope from its fruition.

Compared with Christianity's clear portrayal of its living Christ, the picture of the Messiah, sketched by the Synagogue, is indeed blurred, hazy, indefinite, and at times, contradictory. But the features and general traits are very similar, and it would only require the touch of a hand to make the Jew identify his long expected Messiah with the Christ of Christianity.

^""For the Messiah is the end (aim, object) of the law unto righteousness to every one that believes" (Rom. 10:4).

^"And so the law has been our schoolmaster leading us to the Messiah" (Gal. 3: 24).

^"For the law of the spirit of life in the Messiah, freed me from the law of sin and of death" (Rom. 8: 2).

^"No man is made righteous by the works of the law, but through faith in the Messiah" (Gal. 2: 16).

The Miraculous Birth or Mysterious Origin of the Messiah.

"There are expressions in Rabbinical literature which convey the idea, if not of the superhuman origin of the Messiah, yet of some great mystery at-

tending His birth."

In the Midrash of R. Moses Hadarshan (on Gen. 37:22) there is this saying of R. Berechiah, "God says to Israel, Ye say unto me, 'We have become orphans and are fatherless' (Lament. 5:3), even so the Redeemer whom I shall raise up from you is fatherless; as it is written, 'Behold the man whose name is Branch and out of himself he grows up' (Zech. 6:12); and so said Isaiah, 'And he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground' (Is. 53:2); and on him David said, 'Out of the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth' (Ps. 110:3)."

In connection with the birth of Seth, the Midrash remarks on the words, "God hath appointed me another seed" (Gen. 4:25), that "Eve had respect, or looked forward, to that seed which is to come from another place. And who is it? It is the King Messiah" (Gen. Rab. 23:7).

A similar remark occurs in the narrative of the crime of Lot's daughters (Gen. 19:32). "It is not written 'that we may preserve a son from our father,' but 'seed from our father;' this is that seed which is coming from another place. And who is it? It is the King Messiah" (Gen. Rab. 51:10).

The following also from the Midrash of R. Moses Hadarshan (on Gen. 41:1). "Said R. Joshua son of Levi, God heals with that with which he wounds.

and thine eyes have not seen the light, and thy skin was cleaving to thy bones, and thy body was dried up like wood . . . . and thy strength was dried up like a potsherd (Ps. 22:15); and all this on account of the sins of our children. Is it thy pleasure that our children should also enjoy the blessing which God bestowed upon Israel? Or perhaps, because of the anguish which thou hast suffered most through them, they having bound thee in the prison-house, thy mind is no longer pleased with them? He answers them, Patriarchs of the world, whatever I have done, it was only done for your sakes and for the sake of your children, that they may enjoy the blessing which God bestowed upon Israel."

The same passage in Jalkut has also this: "God makes an agreement with the Messiah, saying to him, The sins of those who are hidden with thee, will cause thee to be put under an iron yoke . . . and on account of their sins, thy tongue will cleave to thy mouth; dost thou consent to this? Messiah answers before the Holy One, Lord of the world, is this affliction to last many years? The Holy One says, By thy life and by the life of thy head, I have decreed upon thee one week (Dan. 9:27). If it grieve thy soul, I will immediately dispel these sorrows. On this the Messiah says, Lord of the world, with joy and gladness of heart I take this upon myself, on condition that not one in Israel be lost. And that not only those living in my days should be saved . . . but those also who have died from the days of the first Adam until now. And not only these . . . but also those whom thou hast intended to create, but who have not yet been created. Thus I agree and thus I take it upon me."

"Said R. Jose the Galilean, Go and learn the merit of the King Messiah . . . . from the first Adam, on whom was laid only one commandment of a prohibitive character, and he transgressed it. See how many deaths were appointed on him and on his generations . . . . to the end of all generations. But which attribute is the greater—the attribute of goodness or the attribute of punishment? The attribute of goodness is certainly the greater, and the attribute of punishment the less. And the King Messiah who was chastened and suffered for our transgressions, as it is written, 'He was wounded for our transgressions' (Is. 53:5), how much more will he justify all generations. According to the writing, 'And Jehovah had made to meet on him the sin of us all' (Is. 53:6)" (Siphre).

The Super-Human Messiah.

"The Messiah expected by the Synagogue is so far above the ordinary human, royal, prophetic, and even

^*"Quoted by Raymund Martini in his 'Pugio Fidei.' Not found in any of the present editions of the Siphre." (Comp. with this remarkable passage, Rom. 5: 12, 15, 18). In a modified or expurgated form this passage is found in Siphra (Vienna, 1862, p. 27). Instead of "the merit of the King Messiah," it is "the reward of the righteous in the age to come." Instead of "the King Messiah who suffered for our transgressions . . . how much more will he justify all generations," this edition has it "he who fasts on the Day of Atmement, how much more will he justify himself and all generations." This clumsy emendation was probably suggested by the word "mithaneh" (suffered) which also means fasting. There is still another version of this passage in Midrash Hagadol (Cambridge, 1902, 15: 1). For a full comparison of these passages, see the originals in the Appendix.

angelic type; so far above the conditions of the most exalted of God's servants, and so closely bordering on the Divine, that it is almost impossible to distinguish Him therefrom."

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2) is explained in Midrash on Gen. (2:5) and on Lev. (14:1), "This is the Spirit of

the King Messiah."

The first portion of the passage in Jalkut already quoted (on Is. 60) reads as follows: "What is the meaning of the words, 'In thy light we shall see light' (Ps. 36: 10)? This is the light of the Messiah, for it is said, 'And God saw the light that it was good' (Gen. 1:4). This teaches us that the Holy One had respect to the generation of Messiah and to his works, before the world was created, and treasured it (the light) up for Messiah and his generation under His throne of glory. Satan said before the Holy One, Lord of the World, for whom is the light that is treasured up under thy throne of glory? He replied, It is for him who will turn thee back, and disgrace thee, and shame thy face. He said again, Lord of the world, Show him to me. God said, Come and see him. When he had seen, he was overwhelmed with terror, and fell upon his face, and said, Truly this is he that shall cast me and all the Gentiles into Gehenna."

Midrash Tanchuma (Toledoth, 14) has the following: "'Who art thou, O great mountain' (Zech. 4:7)? This is Messiah the son of David. He is called the great mountain,' because he is greater than the Patriarchs. For it is said, 'Behold my servant shall

^"He was the true light which lights every man coming into the world" (John 1: 9).

prosper, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high' (Is. 52:13). He shall be higher than Abraham; more exalted than Moses, 10 and loftier than the ministering angels." 11

In Midrash on Ps. (18:36) we read, "R. Judan in the name of R. Chama said, In the time to come, the Holy One shall set the King Messiah at His right hand; according to the saying, 'Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand' (Ps. 110:1)."12

On the passage in Daniel (7:9) "I beheld till the thrones were set up and the ancient of days sat down," the Talmud asks, Why thrones? (in the plural), and the answer comes from R. Akiba, "One for Him and one for David¹³ (the Messiah)" (Chagiga 14a; Sanhed. 38b).

"What is the name of the King Messiah? Said R. Abba, son of Cahana, His name is Jehovah, according to the saying, 'And this is the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness'

^""For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses" (Heb. 3: 3).

^""Having become so much better than the Angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they" (Heb. 1: 4).

^<sup>12"Compare, Matt. 22: 42-44; Mark 12: 35-37; Luke 20: 41-43; Acts 2: 33-35; Heb. 1: 13; Ephes. 1: 20-21; Philip. 2: 9-11.

^<sup>13That the Messiah is understood by the name "David," may be seen from the following passage in the same Talmud tractate. "Said R. Judah in the name of Rab, The Holy One will raise up unto them another David; according to the text, 'And they will serve Jehovah their God and David their King whom I shall raise up unto them' (Jerem. 30: 9). It says not, 'I have raised,' but, 'shall raise'" (Sanhed. 98 b).

(Jerem. 23: 6)" (Midrash on Lament. 1: 57; also

Midrash on Ps. 21).14

The cumulative evidence just presented clearly shows how closely the authorities of the Synagogue were in accord with the writers of the New Testament on the main Messianic features. Nor need one wonder at this fact, knowing that the Messianic ideas of the Rabbis were based on the same Old Testament predictions, which the writers of the New Testament claimed to have been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

Why is it then, one asks again, that for nineteen hundred years the Jews have persistently refused to consider the Messianic claims of Jesus, when their own ideal of the nature and person of the Messiah so closely approaches that of Christianity? Why have they so stubbornly continued in their opposition to the Christian religion, considering it a foreign graft and contrary to the doctrines of Moses and the Prophets, when the Synagogue's own conception of the new Torah of the Messiah comes so very near to the Doctrine of the New Testament?

The only answer the Jew can make to this is that Jesus has not brought about the temporal redemption and restoration of Israel; that Christianity has not realized the Messianic peace and good-will among men. Whatever else the Messiah was to be or to do, He was foretold by the Prophets to be Israel's Redeemer. He was to accomplish their national restoration and be the glory of His people Israel. Everything else was but means to this end, and the Messiah Himself the grand instrument in attaining it. But

¹⁴See Note E.

how can they regard Jesus as the promised Messiah, when instead of seeing their worldly position improve, it has, since His coming, been reduced from bad to worse?

The argument that Jesus is the promised Messiah because certain isolated Messianic texts were fulfilled in Him, failed to convince the Jew, so long as what he considered the chief mission of the Messiah remained unaccomplished. Nor has it influenced his mind when told that these things were left to be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ. A Jew will often flippantly remark, If there is yet to be another coming, we who waited so long, should rather suspend our decision until He comes again; then we shall know whether it be Jesus or another, for whom we have been looking.

VII.

ISRAEL'S MISSION.

THE fact is generally conceded, and needs no arguing here, that the Hebrew race was instrumental in giving the world its religion and morality, just as the Greeks were the instruments through whom the world received its art and philosophy.

It is not quite fully appreciated, however, that Israel had a definite mission to perform, and that this mission consisted in the work of promoting in the world a knowledge of the true God and His word.

The mission and destiny of Israel occupy a large portion of the books of the Bible, and yet this people, in spite of their familiarity with the Old Testament Scriptures, have not yet been able to grasp the true

For two thousand years one generation followed another in a life study of the Old Testament, without discovering the chief object and aim of this Divine literature. They study the Torah, but a veil darkens their eyes, and its meaning, so clear and apparent to one whose eyes are opened in the Messiah, remains hidden (2 Corinth. 3:13-16). They read the promises and the Messianic predictions, but fail to see that their full realization depends on certain terms and conditions to be carried out by themselves.

We shall endeavor to trace out the nature and meaning of Israel's mission from the earliest records of his history. We are carried far back into hoary antiquity, to the ancient land of Chaldea, where we meet the father of the Hebrew race, the patriarch Abraham. To him the call first comes to "get out of his country and from his father's house" (Gen. 12:1), to go into the land of Canaan (11:31), the land which would be given to him and to his seed forever (13:15).

"I will make of thee a great nation," the promise goes out to him, "and I will bless thee . . . . and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (12:2,3). Again he is promised, "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (22:18), which promise is repeated to his son Isaac (26:4),

and to his grandson Jacob (28:14).

A nation is to arise from the Patriarchs whose mission and destiny is to be a blessing to all the other nations of the earth.

When the children of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, a nation of freemen, waiting to receive their Divine Constitution of the Ten Commandments, the voice Divine proclaimed to them:

"If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a choice treasure unto me above all peoples; for all the earth is mine."

"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and

a holy nation" (Exod. 19:5, 6)

The whole earth is God's; the world and its inhabitants are His (Ps. 24:1). He is good to all and His mercies are over all His works (Ps. 145:9). If He singled out one people as His choice treasure, it was on condition that they obey His voice and keep His Covenant. Nor was it for their own sake that they were chosen from among all the

nations, but in order that they as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," might become in time the ministers and religious teachers of the world.

To be able to teach others, one must first be a learner himself; and so the slow work of preparing this people for their high calling and mission must first be carried out. A slow method indeed it appears to be, but it is the only natural method, and so it should be no surprise that it was the method adopted by nature's God.

Israel's camp became a great school of theology, in which the whole people were enrolled as pupils.

Together with the great lessons inculcated, of love to God and love to man, of justice, righteousness, and mercy, they were given many statutes and ordinances, temporal and local in their nature, to serve a useful purpose, while the people were being trained in the school of the Torah. By the side of such commandments, as "Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:5), and "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:18), there were ordained various institutions pertaining to the well-being and orderly existence of an organized community. The keeping of certain days as feasts and holidays; a code of civil legislation (Ex. 21:1—23:19); the establishment of a ritual for Tabernacle and Temple (25-31; 35-40; Lev. 1-9); laws of clean and unclean animals, of purity and purification; regulations of family relations (Lev. 18), and numerous others.

Many a century, however, passed before Israel learned to order his life according to the Law of Moses. And even then, he only grasped the temporal and local ordinances—the outer shell, as it were, of

the Torah, while paying little heed to the eternal and universal principles of the Mosaic Legislation—the inner kernel of the Torah.

If the indiscriminate way in which the statutes and judgments are presented in the Mosaic Law, left room for doubt as to which were the essential and which temporal and transient, the Prophets spoke in no ambiguous terms as to what Jehovah required of Israel.

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).

"Let him that glories, glory in this: to understand and to know me; for I Jehovah exercise mercy, justice and righteousness in the earth; for these things do I desire, says Jehovah" (Jerem. 9:21).

"For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy" (Hosea 10:12).

^<sup>1A good example of the indiscriminate way in which principles of eternal import are placed, in the Pentateuch, side by side, with commandments of a local and temporal nature, can be found in Lev. 19.

By the side of such laws, for every body and for every, as "the respect of parents" (3); against "idol worship" (4), "stealing," "lying" (11), "perjury" (12), "robbery" (13), "unrighteous judgment" (15), "slander" (16), "enmity" (17), "vengefulness," and "loving one's neighbor as oneself" (18); to regard the alien as "one born among you" and to extend to him the principle of the Golden Rule (34); to use "just scales, just weights, and just measure" (35-36): are also temporary and local ordinances. as to the time of eating a "peace offering" (6); rules against crossing animals, mingling seeds or wearing material (19), and regulations as to the cutting of the hair or the trimming of the beard (27).

"Keep mercy and justice, and trust in thy God alway" (Hosea 12:6).

"Let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream" (Amos 5:24).

"He showed thee O man, what is good and what Jehovah requires of thee: but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8).

Quotations could be multiplied indefinitely to show what the Prophets considered to be the real Law of God, the real Torah. Again and again we find that to know God, to believe in Him and to obey Him, and to exercise justice, righteousness, and mercy towards man, constituted the very soul of the Torah.² All the other statutes and ordinances were but the external containers of these eternal verities, which it was Israel's great privilege and exalted mission to cultivate and make ready for transmission into the great world of the nations.

How poorly Israel responded to the clear teaching of their Prophets, can be best seen from the following words of one of the later prophets:

"Thus has Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Exercise judgment of truth and show mercy and compassion, one to another; and oppress not the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and devise no evil in your heart one against another. But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the Torah, and the words

²See Note F.

which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets" (Zechar. 7:9-12).

Not only have they failed to keep before them Israel's life mission and duty to the world, but the entire vision has become unto them as the words of a sealed book (Is. 29:11).

And this is the people chosen and appointed to be a kingdom of priests—a nation of world priests—to spread the knowledge of God among the nations, and in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed!

The world would still be without the Divine word, if it had to wait until Israel mastered his lesson sufficiently well to be ready to impart it to others.

But the same Spirit Divine that through the Prophets had been endeavoring to recall and reclaim Israel, has also opened up through the same Prophets the prospect of the coming of the Redeemer to Zion, to turn away transgression in Jacob (Is. 59:20; Rom. 11:26), who would not only establish David's throne with justice and righteousness (Is. 9:9); but would also bring forth justice to the nations, and for whose Law (Torah) the isles would wait (Is. 42:1, 4).

VIII.

THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE MESSIAH AND HIS
KINGDOM AND THE FATE AND DESTINY OF ISRAEL.¹

THE predictions of the coming of the King just and righteous, to establish on earth the Divine Kingdom of justice and righteousness, appear at first as faint streaks of light in the prophetic sky, mere harbingers of the coming dawn;² but the light gradually brightens, until the whole face of the East reflects the dazzling splendor of the rising sun.

While the idea, if not the name, of a personal Messiah runs through the entire Old Testament, it is the prophetic books, and particularly Isaiah, that give us a detailed picture of the future Ideal King.

Messianic Prophecy in Isaiah.

A maiden is to give birth to a son whose name will be Emmanuel (God with us).

"Behold the maiden conceives and bears a son, and calls his name Emmanuel" (7:14).

He is to be a wonder-child bearing supreme and Divine titles. As Prince of Peace He is to establish David's throne with everlasting peace, justice, and righteousness.

²See Note G.

^<sup>1The Messianic prophecies, properly so called, stand in such intimate relation, and are so closely connected with the prophecies concerning the fate and destiny of Israel, that many misunderstandings are due to a consideration of either by itself.

"To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called wonderful, counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." To the increase of the government and to endless peace, upon David's throne and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, with justice and with righteousness from now and forever" (9:6-7).

He is a scion of Jesse's stem, on whom Jehovah's Spirit rests. The ideal judge is He, whose regalia are righteousness and faith. As a result of His reign absolute peace and order will be established, and tyranny and violence cease to exist, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea.

"A shoot shall come forth from Jesse's stem, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him. . . . . And he will judge the poor with righteousness and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He will smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. And righteousness will be the girdle of his waist, and faith the girdle of his loins. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; a calf, a young lion, and a fatling shall herd together, a little child leading them. And a

"The King Messiah of whom it is written, 'For to us a child is horn' (Ig. 9, 6)" (Midrach on Deut 1: 17)

^<sup>3 Targum Jonathan: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . and his name was called from of old, wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlastingly established; the Messiah whose peace shall increase upon us in his day."

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cow and a bear shall feed together, their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion, like cattle, will eat straw. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth has been filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (11:1-9).

The root of Jesse will stand as a beacon to the nations. Jerusalem will become the world's spiritual center, and its King, the judge and arbiter of the nations. The establishment of His rule will lead to the abolition of war, which will become a forgotten art, and its arms of destruction will be converted into the implements of peace.

"And it shall be in that day, the root of Jesse, which is set up as the people's standard, to him the nations shall seek, and his abode shall be glorious" (11:10).

"And it shall be in the latter days, the mount of Jehovah's house shall be established at the head of the mountains, . . . and all nations shall flow towards it. And many peoples shall go and say, Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mountain, to the house of Jacob's God, that he may instruct us in his ways and we shall walk in his paths; for from Zion goes forth the law and Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations and will arbitrate to many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (2:2-4).

In the prophetic vision, the Redeemer King is seen coming to Zion. He assumes His exalted office,

and presenting His Divine credentials, delivers His inaugural address.

"And the Redeemer comes to Zion, and to them that turn from transgression in Jacob, says Jehovah" (59:20).

His Divine Credentials.

"Behold, my servant whom I support; my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not shout, nor raise up his voice, nor make it heard abroad. . . . He will not fail, nor be discouraged, till he will have set up justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law" (42: 1-2, 4).

"I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will uphold thy hand, and guard thee; and will set thee up for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations; to open up the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoner from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison-house" (42:6-7).

"And now says Jehovah who formed me from the womb for his servant, to restore Jacob to him, and that Israel be gathered to him. . . . . And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; but I will give thee for a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the end of the earth" (49: 5-6).

The Inaugural Address.

"The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, because Jehovah has anointed me (appointed me as Messiah) to proclaim good tidings to the poor; he sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and deliverance to those that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah" (61:1-2).

In order to carry out the high aims of the King, the coöperation of the people is required,—the People, whose mission and destiny it was to be the bearers of light in the world, and the promoters of the Divine Kingdom of justice and righteousness. An earnest appeal is made to them to give ear and listen, for their own well-being; to follow the call of the coming King, which should make of them the leaders of the nations.

"Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the nations, leader and commander of the nations. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and a nation that knew not thee, shall run to thee, because of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified thee" (55: 3-5).

They are urged first to walk in the light themselves, in order to be able to hold up the light to others.

"0 house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Jehovah" (2:5).

"Arise, shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon thee. For behold, darkness is covering the earth, and gross darkness the nations; but upon thee has Jehovah arisen, and his glory upon thee is seen. And nations shall walk by thy light, and kings by the brightness of thy splendor (60:1-3).

Their work as the world's enlighteners shall bring in its wake high prosperity, glory, and peace (60: 4-22). They shall bear the title of Jehovah's priests, the ministers of God; and their children shall be well-known and far-famed among the nations, as the seed blessed by Jehovah (61: 6, 9). Nations shall see their rightcousness, and kings their glory; and they shall obtain a new name, given by Jehovah Himself (62: 2).

But alas, what clouds are these that mar the vision glorious? The people fail to recognize their own King. Jehovah's Servant is despised and rejected by His own generation. He is humble in appearance, and without the outward marks of royalty. His work does not appear to them to be of the kind that would advance their national interests, or promote their material well-being. His report is disbelieved, His claim rejected, and Himself judged and condemned, and cut off from the land of the living.

"Who has believed our report, and upon whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed? He has grown up like a tendril before him, and as a root from a desert land. There is neither form nor comeliness in him; and on seeing him, there is no appearance that we should desire. Despised and rejected of men. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

the land of the living for the transgression of my people" (53: 1-3, 7-8).

But His very sufferings and death were intended for our peace and healing.

"But he has borne our sickness, and endured our pains; while we regarded him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, broken for our iniquities; the correction of our peace was upon him, and with his bruising have we been healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned each one his own way, and Jehovah has made to meet on him the iniquity of us all. . . By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, and shall bear their iniquities. . . . . . And he bore the sin of many and is interceding for the transgressors" (53:4-6, 11, 12).

The people's sad mistake, however, will not affect the King's glory. Though despised and rejected by them, He is to receive the homage of kings and their people, and is to be exalted, and extolled and be very high.

"Thus says Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the despised of men, to the abhorred by the nation. . . . . . Kings will see and arise, princes, and they shall worship" (49:7). "Behold my servant shall prosper, he will be exalted, and extolled, and be very high" (52:13).

God's purposes will be accomplished, and His Kingdom promoted in the world. Though the people rejected their King Messiah, and kept away from doing their appointed work, "escaped ones" from them will carry the Divine message to the nations, to the

distant isles, to declare His glory among the Gentiles, of whom also He will raise up priests and Levites.

"When the time has come to gather all the nations and tongues, that they come and see my glory,—I shall set up a sign among them, and will send escaped ones from them to the nations . . . . to the distant isles, that have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. . . . And of them also will I take for priests and Levites, says Jehovah" (66:18, 19, 21).

But the people's disobedience, blindness, and consequent rejection, are not to last forever. The prophecies of their future repentance, restoration, and glory, which take up so large a portion of the other Prophets, are equally clear in Isaiah.

The day will come when "those that are deaf shall hear the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of the darkness and gloom" (29:18).

"Jacob will no longer be ashamed, nor shall his face grow pale. For he will see his children, my handwork, among him, sanctifying my name, sanctifying the Holy One of Jacob, and fearing the God of Israel. The erring spirits will come to understanding, and the rebellious ones will learn their lesson" (29:22-24).

"And it shall be in that day, that the Lord will set out his hand, a second time, to recover the remainder of his people. . . . And he will raise up a standard to the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather up the dispersion of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (11:11, 12).

"Fear not, for I am with thee; I shall bring thy seed from the east, and from the west will I gather thee. I will say to the north, give up; and to the south, hold not back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth" (43:5-6).

"Israel shall be saved in Jehovah, an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed nor reproached for evermore" (45:17).

"In the days to come, Jacob shall take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the face of the world with fruit" (27:6).

While blossoming and budding in all lands, and filling the earth with their fruit of justice and right-eousness, their center will be the Holy Land of Israel, which shall be rejuvenated, and to which they shall return as the redeemed of Jehovah.

"The wilderness and desert will be glad, and the arid land shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
. . . The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon" (35:1, 2).

"And redeemed of Jehovah they shall return, and come to Zion with song; everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (35:10).

Messianic Prophecy in Jeremiah.

A King of David's line bearing the Divine name.

"Behold the days come, says Jehovah, that I shall raise up to David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and prosper; and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And

this is the name with which he shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness" (23:5-6).

A new covenant, different from the old one, which they have broken, will be made with the people. Under the New Covenant there will be a provision for forgiveness of sin.

"Behold the days come, says Jehovah, that I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers . . . which . . . they have broken. . . . But this is the covenant which I shall make with the house of Israel after those days, says Jehovah. I have put my law among them, and in their heart will I write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people . . . for they shall all know me, from their smallest to their greatest, says Jehovah; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (31:31-34).

The old ceremonial law, as represented by the ark of the covenant, shall be abolished; but Jerusalem shall become the world's spiritual center.

"In those days, says Jehovah, they shall say no more The ark of Jehovah's covenant; and it shall not come to mind, and they shall not remember it, nor visit it; neither shall it be performed. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to Jehovah's name, to Jerusalem" (3:16-17).

The Shepherd King of Ezekiel.

"And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he will

The Prophecies Concerning the Messiah 81

feed them and he will be their shepherd. And I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David the Prince among them. I Jehovah have spoken" (34: 23-24). (See John 10: 11-14; Heb. 13: 20; 1 Pet. 5: 4; Rev. 7: 17.)

Messianic Prophecy in the so-called Minor Prophets.

In the little village of Bethlehem will be born Israel's Ruler, whose origin is from everlasting (indicating pre-mundane existence) and whose reign of peace will extend to the ends of the earth.

"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, which art little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth to me to be ruler in Israel; and his origin is of old, from everlasting. . . . And he shall arise and feed (his flock) in the might of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God. And they shall be settled down; for presently he will increase unto the ends of the earth. And this shall be for peace" (Micah 5: 2, 4, 5).

He shall come while the second Temple is yet standing.

"For thus says Jehovah of hosts . . . . And I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desired of all the nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory. . . . . The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the

^<sup>4Applied Messianically by the ancient and also the later Rabbinical commentators. R. Akiba applied this prophecy to Bar Cochba (Sanhed. 97b). "Said R. Azariah, He speaks of the coming salvation, according to Haggai 2: 6-7" (Debar. Rab. 1: 20).

former, says Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace" (Haggai 2: 6-7, 9).

"Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and suddenly will come to his temple the Lord whom you seek, and the Angel of the covenant, whom you desire, behold he has come, says Jehovah of hosts" (Mal. 3:1).

"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee, says Jehovah. And many nations shall attach themselves to Jehovah in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts has sent me to thee" (Zechar. 2: 10-11).

The Coming One in His Double Capacity as King and Priest.

"Thus said Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is Branch (sprout), and he shall grow up from his own place (from himself). . . . And he shall bear splendor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be priest upon his throne" (Zechar. 6: 12-13).

He shall come in peaceful humility, but reign in

glory as the universal King of peace.

"Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout 0 daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King is coming unto thee; he, the righteous and saving one; he is lowly, and rides upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the (war) horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off. And he shall speak

In this remarkable text, Jehovah announces His coming to dwell in the midst of the people, and speaks of Himself as being sent by Jehovah; Jehovah being sent by Jehovah.

peace to the nations, and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from river to the end of the earth" (Zechar. 9:9, 10).

The Kingdom of God to become universal

"And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall Jehovah be one and his name one" (Zech. 14:9).

"For I will then turn to the nations a pure speech, that they may all call the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one shoulder" (Zephan. 3:9).

"For from the rising of the sun even unto the setting of it, my name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense shall be brought to my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the nations, said Jehovah of hosts" (Malachi 1:11).

Some Messianic Psalms.

The Divine King and His universal Kingdom.

"And I have anointed my king on Zion my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. Jehovah said unto me, thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give nations for thy heritage, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Ps. 2:6-8).

"Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore has God, thy God, anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Ps. 45:6-7).

"Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the kingly son. He will judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice. . . . He will do justice to the poor of the people; he will save the children of the needy, and will crush the oppressor. They shall fear thee while the sun endures, and before the moon throughout all generations.

The righteous shall flourish in his days, and (there shall be) an abundance of peace until the moon be no more. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.

His name shall endure forever. His name shall continue as long as the sun. And they shall be blessed in him; all nations will call him blessed" (Ps. 72: 1-2, 4-5, 7-8, 17).

"Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool. . . . Jehovah has sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:1, 4).

"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he rules among the nations" (Ps. 22: 27-28).

"All nations, whom thou hast made, shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name" (Ps. 86:9).

"Jehovah has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness to the eyes of the nations. He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God" (Ps. 98:2-3).

The King and Kingdom in Daniel.

"And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its reign be left to another people. It shall break to pieces and consume all those kingdoms, but itself shall stand forever" (Dan. 2:44).

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man, and he approached unto the Ancient of days, and was brought near before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and the kingdom; and all peoples, nations and languages shall serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14).

The Prophecies Concerning the Fate and Destiny of Israel.

What would take place if they accepted the coming King and joined in the work of promoting His Kingdom.

"And many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah of hosts, in those days (it shall be) that ten men of every tongue of the nations will take hold, they will take hold at the skirt of a Jew, saying, We shall go with you, for we heard that God is with you" (Zechar. 8: 22-23).

But such glory could be theirs only on condition of their repentance and unqualified acceptance of the Kingdom of God.

"If thou wilt return, 0, Israel, says Jehovah, if thou wilt return to me . . . in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations shall be blessed in him, and in him shall they glory" (Jerem. 4:1, 2).

"Return, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God, for thou hast stumbled in thy iniquity. . . . . Then shall

I be to Israel as the dew; he will blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon" (Hos. 14:1, 5).

"Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Return to me, says Jehovah of hosts, and I shall return to you, says Jehovah of hosts" (Zechar. 1:3).

But what is to happen in case of their disobedience and rebellion?

"I shall go away, and return to my own place, until they acknowledge their offence (confess their guilt) and seek my face. In their affliction they shall diligently seek me" (Hos. 5:15).

They shall lose their land and independence, and meet with affliction in strange lands.

"Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed up as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps, and the mount of the house as the high places of the forest" (Micah 3:12).

"And it shall be, when you will say, Wherefore has Jehovah our God done all these things to us? Then shalt thou say to them, Just as you have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in lands that are not yours" (Jerem. 5:19).

But the punishment of the people of Israel does not mean their utter rejection.

"Even in those days, says Jehovah, I shall not utterly destroy you" (Jer. 5: 18).

In spite of their sin, Israel is still peculiarly owned by Jehovah, who condemns all their oppressors.

"Israel is holy to Jehovah, the first fruit of his harvest. All that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, says Jehovah" (Jerem. 2:3).

^<sup>6Israel "is" holy, not "was," as Luther and all the modern translations which followed him have it.

Israel's nationality is declared to be as perpetual as the laws of nature; their rejection is therefore impossible, and any attempts of their own to lose their identity must fail.

"Thus says Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night. . . . . If these ordinances depart from me, says Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever" (Jerem. 31:35-36).

"Thus says Jehovah, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth can be searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, says Jehovah" (Jerem. 31:37).

"And that which comes in your mind shall never come to pass; what you say, We shall be as the nations, as the families of the lands. . . . . As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if not with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out will I reign over you" (Ezek. 20: 32-33).

After staying for a long time without a government of their own, and without a national ritual, whether that of the temple of Jehovah, or that of the pillars of idolatry, they will at last return and seek Jehovah and His Messiah.

"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king and without prince; without sacrifice and without pillar, without Ephod or Teraphim;

⁷This passage which is Messianic according to practically all the ancient Jewish authorities, is applied by the commentators to the present captivity, in which there is neither temple worship nor idolatrous practices. The words "sacrifice," "pillar," etc., are explained as referring to the

afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear to Jehovah and his goodness in the latter days" (Hos. 3:4-5).

Israel will be turning his face Zionward, trying to find the way thither; but it must be as a penitent people seeking God with tears of contrition.

"In those days and in that time, says Jehovah, will the children of Israel come, together with the children of Judah; they shall walk weeping and seeking Jehovah their God. They shall be asking the way to Zion, with their faces turned thither. Come, let us join Jehovah, an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten" (Jerem. 50:4-5).

The captivity of Israel will now come to an end; they will be rehabilitated in their own land, a happy, united nation in a prosperous country, under the rule of the King Messiah.

"Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will restore the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and will have compassion on his dwelling places. . . . And his children shall be as heretofore, and his community shall be firmly established before me. . . . . And you shall be my people and I will be your God" (Jerem. 30: 18, 20, 22).

"I will yet build thee again, and thou shalt be built, 0 virgin of Israel . . . . Thou shalt yet again plant vineyards upon the hills of Samaria . . . . .

types of national worship which existed in the two divisions of ancient Palestine. The temple "sacrifice" of Jerusalem and the idolatrous "pillar" of Samaria; the "Ephod." the typical priestly garment of the temple, and the "Teraphim," the oracular images worshipped in the Northern Kingdom. The people would stay without either one or the other.

For there shall be a day when the watchmen upon mount Ephraim shall call, Arise, let us go to Zion, to Jehovah our God" (Jer. 31: 4-6).

"Hear the word of Jehovah, 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 does his flock. For Jehovah has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand that was stronger than he. And they shall come and sing on the height of Zion, and they shall flow to the goodness of Jehovah... and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all" (Jerem. 31: 10-12).

"Fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor 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 be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid" (Jerem. 46:27).

"Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you from the lands, in which you have been scattered, and shall give you the land of Israel. . . . And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit within them, and shall take away the stony heart from their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 11: 17, 19).

"And I shall take you from among the nations and gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed" (Ezek. 36: 24-25).

"Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. . . . . And will cleanse them, and they shall be my people and I will be their God,

and my servant David king over them, and one shepherd he shall be to all of them . . . And they shall dwell in the land . . . forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever' (Ezek. 37:21-25).

"Behold, I will save my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west, and will bring them in, and they shall dwell in Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness" (Zech. 8:7-8).

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced (John 19:37; Rev. 1:7); and shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born (Zechar. 12:10).

Their very afflictions of the present are made a pledge for their future restoration and glory.

"For thus says Jehovah, Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good which I have promised them" (Jer. 32:42).

"And it shall be, Just as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing" (Zechar. 8:13).

^<sup>8It is also Messianically applied in the Talmud: "And they shall look unto me whom they have pierced, etc.; this is, upon Messiah the son of Joseph, who was slain" (Sukkah 52a).

IX.

IN THE ERA OF FULFILLMENT.

We have seen how with one accord the Hebrew Prophets and Psalmists, whose inspired sayings are treasured up in that sublime collection of Hebrew Scriptures, known to the world as the Old Testament, have foretold the coming of the King just and righteous to establish in the world the Divine Kingdom of justice and righteousness. We have also seen the part that was assigned by them to the people of Israel in the promotion of the Divine Kingdom. We are now prepared to compare with the predictions of the Hebrew Prophets the events described by another group of Hebrew seers—the Apostles and Evangelists—whose no less inspired writings are gathered in the collection of Greek Scriptures, known to the world as the New Testament.

When the Jews settled again in Palestine, after the Babylonian captivity, the Prophetic era was already past. Israel's teachers no longer spoke in the Divine name, as direct messengers of Jehovah. The familiar expression of the Prophets, "Thus says Jehovah" was heard no more. The place of the Prophet was now taken by the Rabbi—student and expounder of the ancient inspired word spoken by the Prophets.

Although in their own land again, it was no longer as a free independent nation that they inhabited the

country of their fathers. As vassals of the Persian monarch they returned, and as vassals of one or another of the succeeding world powers, they practically remained all through their second possession of Palestine, until finally led captive again by the Roman power.

There was little in his present state to satisfy the patriotic ambition and yearning of the Jew. In his eyes even the rebuilt temple was as nothing compared with the same house in its former glory (Haggai 2:3). Surrounded on all sides as they were by the seductive influences of the Greek, and smarting under the oppressive hand of the hated Roman, the Rabbis saw the only national salvation of their people in strict conformity to the Mosaic Legislation, which would enable them to continue unchecked their national existence. The undivided attention of the Rabbis was now devoted to the study and cultivation of the legal and ceremonial portion of the Bible, expounding and enlarging upon it. They thus piled up laws upon laws, and precepts upon precepts, until a system was raised which, although it had the word of God as its foundation, was as foreign to the spirit of the Prophets as the Aramaic jargon, in which this so-called oral law flourished, was to the pure Hebrew of Moses and the Prophets.¹

The real mission of Israel, as outlined by the Prophets,—the cultivation of the Divine principles of justice and righteousness, in order to become in time the world's teachers of Divine morality—was entirely lost sight of, and the only end and aim of

^<sup>1 See Note L

Israel's existence, according to the Rabbis, was the study and strict observance of the Law.

If they eagerly awaited the coming of the promised King the Messiah, it was because at His coming they would be made free and independent, and be able to pursue unhampered their favorite study, and continue unhindered their separate existence. If they ardently wished for the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, it was because to them it meant the expansion in the world of their peculiar system, when all nations would be forced to conform to their religious customs, and be led to worship God according to their peculiar rites.

It thus happened that when in the fulness of time (Gal. 4:4; Mark 1:15), the great event predicted by the Prophets took place, the nation of Israel so long preparing for it, was taken entirely unawares (Luke 19:42).

The great powers of the East, the centers of civilization in the ancient world, have had their day, and passed out of existence. The Babylonian and his Persian successor were no longer the world's masters. The aged head of the East was now bending low to the young and masterful West. The civilized lands, centered around the Mediterranean, owned Greece as their intellectual mistress, speaking her language, reading her literature, and imitating her customs, while paying allegiance to Rome which, headed by the first great emperor, Augustus, held the entire civilized portion of the globe in her iron grip.

Humanity, unified under the intellectual sway of the Greek, and consolidated under the rule of the Roman, was now ripe to receive the higher principles of life and ready to have the Kingdom of God planted in its midst.²

As in the formation of a chemical compound, the heat of fire is necessary to bring together the various elements into one article of utility, even so the fire

^*See Note J.

of the Divine Spirit was needed to regenerate the human race, and uniting what was best in the Hebrew and the Greek, to produce a new type of man, the heir and successor of both.

When Augustus Cæsar sat on the imperial throne of Rome and his vassal, the Idumean usurper Herod, the last King to bear undivided rule over the whole Judean land, occupied David's throne in Jerusalem, there was born in Bethlehem, the native city of Jesse and David, the Child of the Nazarene Maiden, King David's greater Son and the real heir to his Kingdom, who by Angel voices was proclaimed the Saviour of His people (Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:11).

Thirty years passed. In Rome the wise and liberal Augustus was succeeded by the narrow-minded and tyrannical Tiberius. Jerusalem, although rejoicing at the passing away of the cruel Herod, was yet unable to place another king on his throne. The scepter had been removed from Judah, and Jerusalem was no longer the royal city of a Jewish king. Judea, reduced to a mere district of the Roman province of Syria, was ruled by a Roman governor; and he, Pontius Pilate, one of the most insolent, cruel and malicious of the many oppressors whom the Jews had endured in their long and eventful history.

What anguish must have filled the hearts of the loyal sons of Judah, at the realization of their utter helplessness against this insolent representative of hateful, all-powerful Rome! How they must have yearned for the coming of that promised King who was to save them from their enemies, and from the hand of all that hated them, and enable them fear-

See Note K.

lessly to worship God in holiness and righteousness before Him all their days (Luke 1:71, 74-75).

In this state of national anxiety and restless yearning, the news spread over the Judean hills that an Elijah-like prophet had appeared in the wilderness, in the region of the Jordan, proclaiming the near advent of the Kingdom of Heaven and calling upon the people to repent and prepare for its reception.

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea . . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah. . . . . And he came to all the region of the Jordan, calling upon the people to turn away from their ways and to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 3: 1-3).

"And John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey" (Matt. 3:4. Comp. 2 Kings 1:8).

"The cry that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and the call to prepare for its coming, must have awakened echoes throughout the land that startled even the most careless and unbelieving."

"And there came out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and the whole region of the Jordan, and they were baptized by him, in the river Jordan, confessing their sins" (Matt. 3:5-6).

"Then while the people were all in expectation, and were all debating with themselves whether John was not the Messiah, John answered and said to them: I indeed baptize you with water; but there comes one who is mightier than I, the latchet of

whose shoes, I am not worthy to unloose, and he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire"

(Luke 3:15-16).

Among the Jewish multitudes which flocked to John, confessing their sin and being baptized by him in the waters of the Jordan, was He whose birth, thirty years before, had been heralded by Angels and godly men, as the coming of Israel's Redeemer. All this time He had been preparing for a career which was to last but three short years, but which has since transformed the whole civilized world, and is still, slowly but surely, transforming the human race, until all mankind will become the redeemed of Jehovah.

"Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? But Jesus answering said to him, Suffer it now, for thus it becomes us to

fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:13-15).

The smoldering embers of ancient Hebrew prophecy which for centuries lay dormant in death-like stillness, burst forth, for a moment, in a mighty blaze in the son of Zechariah, who formed the connecting link between the Prophets of the Old Dispensation and their successors of the New—the Evangelists or the proclaimers of the Good News. Elijah-like in form and aspect, with the fiery tongue of an Isaiah, and pleading like a Jeremiah, he called upon the people to prepare for the coming of the King and the ushering in of His Kingdom.

But the King Himself has already appeared. Together with the rest of the people He is baptized in the Jordan (Luke 3:21), and is ready to assume the

administration of His Kingdom. The messenger's (Matt. 11:10) work accomplished, the career of the Forerunner of the Messiah is cut short. The fate of the former prophets of righteousness is shared also by John. The prison gates of the petty prince of that territory soon close upon him, and the axe of the wicked Tetrarch's executioner forever stilled the fiery tongue of the great Prophet (Luke 3: 19-20; Matt. 14: 3-12; Mark 6: 17-29).

"After John had been imprisoned Jesus comes (back) to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:14-15).

"And he comes to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and on the Sabbath day he entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue, and stood up to read. And there was given him the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and he opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

"'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor;

"'He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives,

'And recovering of sight to the blind;

"'To set free those that are oppressed;

"'To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord' (Is. 61: 1-2).

"And he closed the book . . . . and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say to them, To-day has this scripture been fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:16-21).

"And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea (Matt. 4:13), a city in Galilee; and he was teaching the people on the Sabbath day; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority" (Luke 4:31-32).

"And Jesus went all through Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing all kind of disease and all kind of sickness among the people" (Matt. 4:23).

"And he called to him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority . . . to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness" (Matt. 10:1).

"These twelve, Jesus sent forth and charged them saying, Go . . . . to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, proclaim, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 10: 5-7).

"And they departed and went through the towns, proclaiming the Good News, and healing every-

where" (Luke 9:6).

"And the multitudes . . . . followed him; and he received them, and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God and healed those that had need of healing" (Luke 9:11).

"After these things, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them, two and two before his face, into every city and place. . . . And he said to them . . . into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you . . . . heal the sick that are therein, and say to them, The Kingdom of God has come near you" (Luke 10:1-9).

It was thus that the Messianic work of Jesus began.

Before He was yet born, the Angel Gabriel had

announced to His Maiden mother, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and to his Kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33).

How unlike the expectations of His contemporaries was the beginning of His Kingship, as was indeed the whole course of His earthly career. What a difficult lesson for the people of His day and generation to learn, that His Kingdom was not one of physical force, but of spiritual power; that He came to establish His rule over the hearts of men, and to found the Kingdom within, the inner kingdom (Luke 17:21); that instead of occupying an earthly throne, "the son of man came not to be served, but to serve" (Matt. 20:28).

Instead of wending His way to Jerusalem, to proclaim aloud His Messiahship from the pinnacle of the Temple; to throw Himself by miraculous power upon the Roman legions, and sweeping down all opposition to His authority, to obtain the crown and throne of His father David, but lately defiled by Herod; instead of possessing Himself of the kingdoms of the world and all their glory, and transferring the imperial crown from the wicked head of the Roman Cæsar to the just head of the Messiah; instead, in a word, of becoming the Messiah that His generation expected and Satan tempted to become (Matt. 4: 1-11); He turns back to Galilee, and there, among the simple folk, tillers of the soil and fishermen, He inaugurates His Divine reign, proclaiming the Kingdom of heaven, and freely spreading His works of mercy.

If He publicly proclaims Himself as the long expected Redeemer of Israel, as the Divinely anointed Messiah, it is done in the little village synagogue of His home town of Nazareth, among the companions of His childhood, youth, and early manhood. Away from the political and social center of the nation, in the toiling towns of the Lake shore, He scatters the first seed of the Kingdom; and from among the laboring fishermen, He chooses His first Disciples, whom He trains for the work of being "fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19), and who go about at His bidding, healing the sick and proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven.

$\mathbf{X}$

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

"Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven" (the Church).

"We therefore hope in Thee . . . .
To establish the world
Under the Kingdom of the Almighty . . .
That all may accept

What are we to understand by this Kingdom of Heaven, or Kingdom of God, which formed the subject of John's great message, and the planting of which constituted the great work of Jesus Himself? Does it refer only to a condition of life in the world to come, the life of the spirit (Matt. 12:32; Mark 10:30), bearing no relation to the life here on earth; or is it something applicable to the life of the present, to the earthly existence?

The very name "Kingdom of Heaven," "Kingdom of God," tells us of the origin of this Kingdom. It is heavenly, and Divine; spiritual and eternal. There is then nothing unusual in finding it identified in several New Testament texts with the life of the spirit, or the hereafter.

"Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the

Kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43).

"Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God" (Luke 14:15).

"I appoint unto you a Kingdom, even as my Father appointed to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom" (Luke 22: 29-30).

In such texts the term "Kingdom" can only have a

spiritual meaning.

But Jesus proclaimed the coming of this Kingdom on earth, and His earthly career was largely spent in the work of introducing it into the lives of men.

"The Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt.

"The Kingdom of God is come upon you" (Matt.

12:28).

"The Kingdom of God is within you (or among you)" (Luke 17:21).

"The Kingdom of God shall be taken away from

you" (Matt. 21:43)

"Woe unto you . . . . because you shut the Kingdom of heaven against men" (Matt. 23:13).

In these and similar texts, the Kingdom is spoken of as having its existence in the life of the present.¹

In His model prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray,

"Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

The coming on earth of God's Kingdom, then, means, first of all, the doing of God's will by the inhabitants of earth, even as it is done by those in heaven. It is the recognition by men of the Fatherhood and Kingship of God, and their rendering implicit obedience to His will.

See Note L

What this will of God is, we have already

learned from our study of the Prophets.

"I, Jehovah, exercise mercy, justice and righteousness in the earth; for these things do I desire, says Jehovah" (Jerem. 9:24).

"He showed thee, O man, what is good and what Jehovah requires of thee: but to do justice, and to

love mercy" (Micah. 6:8).

According to Daniel's vision, the anointing of the most Holy, and the coming of the Messiah, was for the purpose of finishing transgression, putting an end to sin, of expiating iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24).

The introduction of this everlasting righteousness into the hearts of men, formed the chief Mes-

sianic work of Jesus.

"The Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33) was His watchword. The seed of this Kingdom He scattered broadcast among His countrymen. He planted it deep in the hearts of His chosen twelve. In His parables, sublime in their beautiful simplicity, He described and illustrated its character, the manner of its coming and growth (Matt. 13: 3-52; 18: 1-4; Mark 4: 2-32); and He exemplified it in His perfect life.

Righteousness, in the elements of which Israel had been trained by Moses and the Prophets, was now simplified and perfected by Jesus, and made ready to pass the narrow bounds of Judea and become the common property of the human race.

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His

righteousness" (Matt. 6: 33).

"Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall

in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 5: 20).

"Not every man that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

But what idea did the message of the coming of the Kingdom convey to the Jewish multitudes that flocked to hear John and eagerly pressed around Jesus? To them it could have meant nothing else than the realization of the glorious Messianic age as pictured in Isaiah and the other prophecies of the "latter days." "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand," must have carried to their minds, first of all, the idea of the passing away of the wicked and oppressive power of Rome, the purging of the Holy Land of all wickedness and injustice, and the immediate establishment upon David's throne of the reign of endless peace and prosperity.

The Jewish multitudes, breathlessly listening to the sublime teaching of Jesus, and daily witnesses of His wonderful works of mercy, could entertain no doubt that He was the coming One, the Messiah, foretold by the Prophets. For, said the multitude, "When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than those which this man has done?" (John 7: 31). "No man ever spoke as he speaks" (John 7: 46), was the verdict of the very officers of the law, sent to apprehend Him as an agitator and disturber of the peace.

But His works of teaching and healing, extraordinary and wonderful though they were, only increased the longing of the multitudes for the coming of those material blessings, the anticipation of which continually filled their minds. Why does not the Messiah show the sign from heaven? Why does He not undergo the supreme test of His Messiahship, the miraculous establishment of the Kingdom?—was the impatient question often on their lips.

"And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and . . . . . asked him to show them a sign from heaven (Matt. 16:1). And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Verily I say to you, there shall no sign be given to this generation" (Mark 8:12).

"And being asked by the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God comes, he answered them and said, the Kingdom of God comes not by observation (not a visible material manifestation); neither shall they say, Lo, here, or there! for lo, the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17: 20-21).

The Jewish multitudes that surrounded Jesus on His final entry to Jerusalem, shouting, "Hosanna, blessed be the coming Kingdom of our father David!" (Mark 11:9-10), must have seen in that Messianic entry (Matt. 21:4) the beginning of the realization of their Messianic hopes.

When their expectations did not materialize, and the One they hailed as Deliverer was standing, apparently helpless, before the hated Roman governor, the same multitude, now turned into a mob. gave vent to their disappointed rage, clamoring, "Crucify him, crucify him!" (Mark 15: 13-14). The Messiah they expected would not allow Himself to suffer this humiliation, and so cruelly disappoint His people!

perceived not the things that were said" (Luke 18:34).

Again and again they show that the supposition that "The Kingdom of God was to appear immediately" (Luke 19:11) was ever uppermost in their thoughts. The disappointment expressed by Cleopas and the other disciple on their walk to Emmaus, "But we hoped that it was he who should redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21), must surely have been a feeling common to all the Disciples, after He whom they had known as "a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and the people" (Luke 24:19), was delivered up by the chief priests and rulers, condemned to death, and crucified. Even after the wonderful event took place, and they met again the now risen Lord, their first question was, "Lord, dost thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).

That the earthly career of the Messiah was to be limited to the supreme work of exemplifying by word and deed, yea, by His very life, the supreme virtue of life; and when that work was finished, to die, in order to redeem the race; seems not to have entered the minds of His Disciples, until later events opened their eyes.

"I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God . . . . for therefore was I sent" (Luke 4:43).

"To this end was I born, and to this end have I come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37).

"When you have lifted up the son of man, then shall you know that I am he" (John 8: 28).

"Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains by itself alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24).

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself" (John 12:32).

"His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that those things were written of him, and that they had done these things to him" (John 12:16).

XI.

THE PROGRESS OF THE KINGDOM.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field. It is indeed the smallest of all seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and lodge in its branches" (Matt. 13: 31-32).

To all human appearances, was there anything more ineffectual and fruitless than the Kingdom which Jesus founded when one of His chosen twelve betrayed his Rabbi with a kiss (Matt. 26:49)? His followers all left Him and fled (Mark 14:50); even Simon, the first of His chosen, who had been ready to follow his Master to prison and to death (Luke 22:33), thrice denied Him (Luke 22:54-61). He, the Sinless One (2 Corinth. 5:21; 1 John 3:5), between two malefactors on the cross was hanging (Luke 23:33); He, the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15), dead in the grave was lying; only some of the faithful women daring to come near, to shed a parting tear over the head of the Master they loved; while the Disciples were cowering behind locked doors for fear of the populace (John 20:19).

What else can account for the burning enthusiasm, the fiery spirit, the lofty authoritative tone, suddenly assumed by the hitherto wavering fishermen, Simon Peter and his Galilean companions, which only seven short weeks later set the entire capital aflame, and raised twelve unlettered Galilean Jews to be the spiritual teachers of civilized hu-

manity? What else can account for this most wonderful historical fact, except the tremendous event sketched in a few simple lines, "His showing himself alive after his passion, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking the things concerning the Kingdom of God?" (Acts 1:3).

"It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father has appointed. . . But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).

These were the parting words of the risen Lord to the handful of bewildered Disciples, before "He was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9).

And it was not very many days after that the Holy Spirit did come upon them. How the small band of Galilean peasants was transformed! What mighty witnesses they became, whose testimony to their Master soon filled Jerusalem and the whole Judean land! Thence, crossing the Mediterranean, it penetrated the very heart of Rome's vast empire; and thence down the ages, from continent to continent it rolled, until it has encircled the whole globe.

On that great day of Shebuoth, only seven weeks after the memorable night when he thrice denied his Master, Peter stands before a vast multitude of festival visitors, proclaiming to them that "God has made this Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2: 36).

Such was the effect of his utterance on the large and varied Jewish audience, that "there were

added to them in that day about three thousand

$\rm souls$ " (Acts 2:41).

The number of Jewish believers was soon raised to about five thousand (Acts 4:4), as the result of another stirring address of Peter in Solomon's porch in the temple, when he called upon the people "to repent and turn again, so that your sins may be blotted out, and that there may come the seasons of refreshing from the face of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

"And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women" (Acts 5: 14).

"And the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied exceedingly in Jerusalem; and a great number of the priests became obedient

to the faith" (Acts 6: 7).

"And the Community throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and was edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied" (Acts 9: 31).

"And all the believers were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, according as any man had need. And day by day they continued steadfastly with one accord in the temple . . . praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the lord added to them day by day those that were being saved" (Acts 2: 44-47).

"And the whole Community of the believers were of one heart and soul. . . And with great power the Apostles gave their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great favor was poured upon them all. And neither was there among them any that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the

things sold, and laid them at the feet of the Apostles; and distribution was made to each, according the need of any one" (Acts 4: 32-35).

Such was the auspicious beginning of the Kingdom of God, the growth of Messianism among the people, in whose midst it had been planted. From the small group of about a hundred and twenty brethren (Acts 1:15), the number of those who believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah of Israel, continually increased until the whole land was filled with thousands upon thousands of disciples of all ranks and classes.

As yet the believers bore no new name to differentiate them from the rest of the people. Walking in all the ordinances of Moses and zealously keeping the law (Acts 21: 20), they were distinguished only by the superior sanctity of their lives (2: 46-47). It was as brethren (1:15, 2:37, 11:1); disciples (6:1); devout men (Hasidim, 8:2), or saints (9:13, 32, 41; 26:10), that the believers (4:32, 5:14) in Jesus the Messiah, were known and honored among the people.

The multitudes of Jewish believers who, following the lead of Peter and the other Apostles, accepted the crucified Jesus as the promised Messiah, did so on the undoubted evidence of the Resurrection, which to them formed the most conclusive

proof of His Messiahship.

Jesus lived, suffered, and died without realizing the political aspirations of the people, without restoring the Kingdom to Israel, without ushering in the Messianic age. But, was it not long since indicated by the Prophets that the restoration of Israel depended on its own repentance (Jerem. 3: 12, 14; 4: 1-2; Zechar. 1: 3; Malach. 3: 7), and that the ushering in of the Messianic age was to be accomplished only when the earth should have become filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea (Is. 11: 9; Habak. 2: 14)? Not until after the Resurrection did the Disciples learn that the present coming of the Messiah was not for the purpose of bringing about, in a miraculous way, the restoration of all things, but in order "that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24: 47).

It was now made plain to the Disciples and followers of Jesus that the Messianic Prophecies must be divided into two parts, and that there were to be two Advents of the Messiah; that His first coming was to be as "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Is. 53: 3), as the suffering Messiah, in order "to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows" (Is. 53: 4); that the refreshing times of the Jew would come as soon as he repented, and had his sins blotted out; and that at the time of the restoration of all things, the Messiah would come again as the victorious Messiah² (Acts 3: 18-21).

Canticles 7: 3 is paraphrased in Targum Jonathan, "Thy two redeemers who shall redeem thee, Messiah the son

See Note M

^<sup>2 In order to reconcile the Messianic texts which refer to the superhuman character of the Messiah, and those which speak of His suffering and death, the Rabbis invented a preliminary Messiah who would come from the tribe of Joseph, or Ephraim, instead of from Judah, and who would willingly undergo suffering for His nation, and fall as a victim. To Him was referred Zech. 12: 10 (Sukka 52a). as well as Is. 53.

How entirely different would have been the history of the Jew, and that of the nations, too, in the past nineteen Christian centuries, if the Jewish nation had lent its ear to the Divine counsel uttered by the mouth of Simon Peter:

"Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, and that the Seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3: 19).

How many thousands of Peters and Pauls would then have arisen to carry the word of God and proclaim the Good News of His Anointed among the nations? Instead of recklessly raising the sword of rebellion against the tremendous power of Rome, and losing everything in the foolhardy attempt, the spirited youths of Judea would quickly have overrun Rome's vast empire with the sword of the Spirit, and a generation or two perhaps would have sufficed to lay the world tributary to the God of Israel and His Messiah. The mount of Jehovah's house would still established be, and all nations would flow towards it; from Zion the law would go forth and Jehovah's word from Jerusalem (Is. 2:2-3); Jehovah's priests their name would be, they would be spoken of as the ministers of our God; whoever saw them, would know them as the seed which Jehovah blessed (Is. 61:6, 9).

But, alas! this was not to be. When "the time came to gather the nations and tongues that they might come and see his glory" (Is. 66: 18), it was not the nation of the Jews to whom belonged the honor of this work, but only "escaped ones" from them (Is. 66: 19; Acts 8: 4; 11: 19) went unto the nations . . . . to the isles afar off that have not

heard His fame, neither have seen His glory, and they declared His Glory among the nations.

The fierce opposition with which the Messianic movement soon met at the hands of the blinded heads of the Judean capital (Acts 8: 1, 3) led to the spread of the Apostolic propaganda beyond the confines of Judea, and transferred Messianism from the narrow bounds of the country of its birth, to the world's stage of Greek and Roman society. In a shorter time than the fondest dreams of the early promoters of the Messiah's teaching could anticipate, there was hardly to be found an important center of population in the vast domain of the Roman empire, without its community of Christians, or Messiah-men—men and women who renounced their pagan deities and attached themselves to the God of Israel and His Messiah, walking in the precepts of Moses and the Prophets, according to their true interpretation by the Messiah's messengers, the Apostles

"And those who were scattered abroad in consequence of the persecution that arose. . . . traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none but to the Jews only. But there were some of them. . . who, when they came to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also . . . And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. When the report concerning them came to the ears of the Community, which was in Jerusalem, they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch. . . And he went to Tarsus to seek for Saul; and when he found him he brought him to Antioch.

And. . . for a whole year they were assembled together. . . . and taught many people. And it was in Antioch that the Disciples were first called Christians (Messiah-men)" (Acts 11: 19-26).

The man who more than any one else was divinely instrumental in making true Judaism the common property of the human race, was a Jew whose greatness can only be matched with that of Moses, the man of God—the saintly Saul of Tarsus, the great Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul. What Moses was to the Torah of the Old Testament, Saul of Tarsus is to the Torah of the Messiah (Rom. 8:2; Gal. 6:2), of the New Testament. As Moses was Jehovah's spokesman, and lawgiver to ancient Israel, so Paul is the Messiah's spokesman, the exponent of Christianity or Messianism, to New Israel, the followers of Israel's Messiah from every race and nation.

Saul was a native of Tarsus (Acts 21:39), a celebrated Greek city of Asia Minor, which rivaled Athens and Alexandria as a center of Greek culture and art. According to his own statement, he was not only a Hebrew of Hebrews (Philip. 3:5), but a Pharisee of Pharisees (Acts 23:6; 26:5). He was brought up in Jerusalem, at the feet of Rabban Gamaliel, by whom he was instructed according to the strict manner of the law (Acts 22:3). As a youth he showed great proficiency in Jewish learning, "beyond many of his own age, among his countrymen," and became a zealous champion of the tradi-

^"And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name" (Is. 62: 2). "But his servants will he call by another name" (Is. 65: 15).

tionary law of the Rabbis (Gal. 1:14).⁴ His early career as the zealous agent of the Priestly party, in persecuting and attempting to exterminate the followers of the Nazarene, was soon cut short by a heavenly vision, while he was on an errand of persecution to Damascus⁵ (Acts 9:1-22; 26:9-20). From a persecutor he now becomes the greatest Apostle of Jesus, and for thirty years, until his martyr's death in Rome, he ceaselessly labors for his Master, "calling upon both Jews and Greeks to turn to God and believe in the Messiah" (Acts 20:21), traversing Rome's empire, and dotting its surface with communities of the Messiah's believers.

The work of St. Paul and his companions, which was continued by others, both Jews and Gentiles, with the same burning enthusiasm and self-sacrificing zeal, so permeated the whole empire with the message of the Good News of the Messiah that only a little more than two hundred and fifty years after Paul, Rome itself bowed at the feet of the Jewish Messiah, and the Cross of the despised Nazarene became the royal standard of the Empire.

In the days of Christianity's struggling infancy, Jerusalem was its capital and the seat of its elders (Acts 15:2; 21:17-18), and the Jewish followers

^*Compare Kohler's assertion (Jew. Encyc. Art. Saul of Tarsus) that Paul was not familiar with the Old Testament in the original Hebrew, not to say that he must have been entirely ignorant of Rabbinical learning!

Paul's very Greek betrays the Hebrew idiom, and his argumentative style shows how deeply versed he was in Rabbinical dialectics. Many a chapter from St. Paul's Epistles might easily be taken by an average Jew for a page from Hagada or Midrash.

Compare the remarkable similarity between the vision of Saul and that of Daniel (Dan. 10: 4-12).

of the Messiah held prepondering influence in the Community of believers. But at the time of Christianity's triumphant victory, Jerusalem was no more; Judea lay a barren waste, her children dispersed and despised among the nations, and the Community of Jewish believers, the Jewish Christians, dwindled into insignificance. Rome, instead of Jerusalem, now became the imperial city of Christendom, the Greek and the Roman, instead of the Jew, were now the exponents of the Jewish Prophets and the Jewish Apostles, and the proclaimers of the Good News of the Jewish Messiah.

We have already indicated what might have been the result had the Jewish nation given heed to the urgent solicitation of the great Apostles, Simon and Saul. If instead of raising the standard of rebellion against Rome and losing everything in the attempt, the zealous Jewish patriots had rather chosen to join the great Paul in his efforts to convert the population of the empire to the God of Israel and His Messiah! How exalted would Israel's position have been when Rome lay prostrate at the feet of the Jewish Messiah! Would not the Jews, as the people of God and the living kinsmen of the Messiah, have seen realized, in a much shorter time than three hundred years, all the glorious spiritual and material blessings predicted by their Prophets?

Children of the Patriarchs, noble race of the Prophets and Apostles, the world's spiritual teachers, how high might be your position in the great family of nations, whose God is your Jehovah, who bow the

knee to your Messiah!

XII.

THE NEW TORAH OF THE MESSIAH.

"In the age to come, God will expound a New Torah which He is to give through the Messiah" (Jalkut Is. 26, 296).

"But," still argues the Jew, "were not our fathers right in opposing the teaching of the Apostles of the Nazarene, because their doctrines involve the abolition of the Torah, the abandonment of the Law of Moses, substituting as they did faith in Jesus as the Messiah, in place of the belief and practice of Judaism?"

The faith proclaimed by Peter and Paul was no mere adaptation of Judaism, adjusted to meet the requirements of the Gentile world. It was the very essence of the religion of Moses and the Prophets, which has now become, through the Messiah, the universal faith of the human race, both Jew and Gentile. Only the temporal, local, and non-essential, the mere shell of the Torah, passed away; whatever is permanent, universal, and essential in the religion of the Jew—the kernel of the Torah—not only is retained in Christianity, but is even made infinitely stronger, by becoming living and real, through faith in a living Messiah.

The doctrines of Christianity as developed in the teaching of the Apostles, particularly in the writings

With the coming of the Messiah, the elementary course of instruction in the lesson of righteousness, which lasted more than a dozen centuries, from Moses to Jesus, was completed, and an advanced course was then begun. The pupils now grown, of mature years, were to proceed from the elementary school of the Law to the higher school of Faith. And, instead of being limited to one people, in one locality, as the case had been heretofore, the course was thrown open to the whole human race, to as many as were able to learn. The higher school having been established, there was no longer any need for the elementary, preparatory course which led up to it. Righteousness through Faith became the course of instruction for Universal Israel, in place of the former course of Righteousness through Law, which obtained among local Israel.

"Before the coming of the faith, we were kept in ward under the law, as the confined of the faith which was to be revealed. And so the law was to us as a schoolmaster leading us to the Messiah. . . . . But now that the faith has come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster. . . . And there is no longer (any difference between) Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, male or female, but you are all one in the Messiah. And if you are Messiah's, then you are Abraham's seed" (Gal. 3:23-25, 28-29).

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness . . . they that are of the faith are also the children of Abraham" (Gal. 3:6-7).

Abraham's faith was counted to him for righteousness, before he was yet circumcised; and he received

the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had before. He is, therefore, the real father of those who possess his faith, and not only of those that are circumcised (Rom. 4: 9-11).

There was never any intrinsic merit in the mere fact of one's being a Jew, of being merely a descendant of Abraham, or of having one's flesh circumcised.

"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is that of the heart" (Rom. 2:28-29. See Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jerem. 4:4; 9:26).

God does not belong to the Jews only, He is the God of the Gentiles also. It is the same God who makes the circumcised righteous by faith; and the uncircumcised also through faith (Rom. 3:29-30).

God's righteousness, therefore, through faith in the Messiah, was now given to all men, to all that have faith (Rom. 3:22).

"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him; 'for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Joel 2: 32)." (Rom. 10: 12-13).

Faith is made an essential condition for admission into the New Covenant of the New Universal Israel of the Messiah. But it is not the kind of faith which is a mere assent to, or acceptance of, certain dogmas, but not productive of deeds of righteousness and mercy. Faith of this kind is declared by another

writer of the New Testament to be a dead thing which can save no one (James 2:14-17).

"Neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything but faith which works through love" (Gal. 5:6).

It is a working faith, a faith which is productive of deeds of love, that counts.

"Do we then make the law of no effect through faith? God forbid; nay, we establish the law"4 (Rom. 3:31).

The Messianic liberty proclaimed by St. Paul is the liberty of service, to serve one another.

"You were called unto liberty . . . to serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, namely, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'" (Gal. 5:13-14).

"Owe no man (anything) except the love of one another; for he that loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not

^<sup>3There is really no difference, as some would make it appear, between the teaching of St. James that "by works a man is justified and not by faith only" (James 2: 24), and that of St. Paul that "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3: 28). By "the deeds of the law," the ceremonial or ritualistic observances must be understood which in themselves can make no one righteous (Gal. 2: 16). St. Paul insists, with as much emphasis as does St. James, on the absolute need of the works of righteousness and mercy which spring from love of fellowman, and without which faith alone is nothing. ("If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing," 1 Cor. 13: 2).

^*Compare the words of Jesus, "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5: 17).

steal, Thou shalt not covet,' and whatever other commandment there is, are all summed up in the words, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' Love works no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" 5 (Rom. 13: 8-10).

Righteousness through Law, the method which prevailed under the Old Dispensation, was limited in its application, and therefore could only be a temporary provision. The weakness of human nature makes it necessary that the law be constantly enforced. And so under the New Dispensation the method is changed. Instead of commanding men to be good, a way is offered them by which they may learn to become good. Through faith in the Messiah man will learn to absorb the spirit of the Messiah, and so be guided not by the lower motives of the flesh, but by the higher influences of the Spirit. For the spiritually minded there is no need of enforcing the law of righteousness; in them it is "fulfilled," it becomes their second nature.

"What the law could not do, because it was weak through the flesh, God sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit . . . . You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, provided the spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the spirit of the Messiah, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:3-4, 9). "As many as are led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you received not the spirit of bondage again unto

^<sup>5Compare also, John 13: 34-35; 15: 12-13; 1 John 3: 10; 4: 7-8, 20.

fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, whereby

"Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh . . . . If you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal. 5:16-18).

"The works of the flesh are quite evident, which are: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envying, drunkenness, revelry, and such like; of which I warn you, even as I have warned you, that they who practice such things, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."

"But the fruit of the spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. Against such things there is no

law" (Gal. 5:19-23).

Through the Messiah it was made possible for the nations to come "under the wings of the Shekinah," to become members of the Divine Covenant of Israel. The Gentiles who were formerly strangers have now, in the Messiah, become the Jew's kinsmen, his close relations. The Messiah has thus broken the wall, the partition, which separated the Gentile from the Jew, abolishing the enmity and making peace between the two. The aim and object of the Messianic Faith, of Christianity, is to gather and unite all men—Jews as well as Gentiles—in the one faith, in the faith of Jehovah the God of Israel and His Anointed, until the whole human race shall attain to the heights of the Messianic ideal, and there shall live upon earth a new and perfect humanity in unity and brotherly love.

"Remember this, that you were formerly Gentiles in the flesh, called 'The Uncircumcised' by those that are called 'The Circumcised' in the flesh, made by hands; that you were at that time without the Messiah, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the Covenant of the promises, having no hope and without God, in the world. But now, in the Messiah Jesus, you that once were 'far off' (Nokherim, strangers) are made 'near' (Krobhim, kinsmen), in the blood of the Messiah. For he is our peace (Is. 9:6; Zech. 9:9-10), who made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and broke the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity... that he might create of the two (Jew and Gentile) one new man, thus making peace' (Ephes. 2:11-15).

"Put off the old man (the old self) and his doings, and put on the new man (the new self) that is being renewed in knowledge after the image of him who created him; in whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or freeman, but the Messiah is all and in all" (Colos. 3:9-11).

"Till we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a fullgrown man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Messiah (the ideal manhood after the fulness of the standard of perfection of the Messiah)" (Ephes. 4:13).

These are the doctrines of Christianity, as enunciated by St. Paul, and this the Messianic ideal, which the great Apostle of the Messiah and his companions risked their lives to realize. The triumph of these doctrines, the realization of Christianity's ideal, will accomplish the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth, will bring about the glorious

Messianic age long predicted by Israel's Prophets, will set up on earth the ideal human Brotherhood in the Divine Fatherhood.

Judging from the work accomplished by one Jew, Paul, we can imagine what might have been achieved if the intellectual acumen and great learning of the Scribes and Pharisees, together with the enthusiasm of the young patriotic zealots, had been enlisted in the cause of spreading Messiah's Kingdom in the world.

If, instead of one Paul, there were thousands of Pauls!

If the great learning, industry, and spiritual zeal, which for centuries has been employed in rearing that great monument of wasted human energy—the immense literature of the Talmud—were used rather in the living work of propagating the Gospel of Christ!

If Jerusalem, instead of Rome, had remained the capital of Christendom, and the Jew, instead of the Greek and Roman, the guiding spirit in the councils of the Church!

Imagine, if you please, an array of such names, as Gamaliel; Johannan ben Zakkai; Akiba and his companions; the saintly and princely Rabbi Jehudah, the compiler of the Mishnah; the hundreds of Tannaim and Amoraim, whose sayings form the vast mass of the Talmud; the Gaon Saadiah; Maimonides; Jehudah Halevi; Ibn Ezra; Rashi, and the long line of Biblical and Talmudic commentators; Spinoza; Moses Mendelssohn; the Gaon of Wilna; Israel of the Good Name; Karl Marx—and the thousand other intellectual and spiritual giants whom the Jews have produced since the coming of Christ;—imagine all these doing the work of St. Paul, and then tell me, how much of the Kingdom of Heaven would not already be an accomplished fact!

${\rm XIII}.$

THE KEY TO OUR PROBLEM'S SOLUTION.

"R. Elieser said, If Israel repent, they shall be redeemed; if not, they shall not be redeemed. Said to him R. Joshua, If they do not repent they shall not be redeemed? (Then they might always remain unredeemed). But the Holy One raises up unto them a king whose decrees are as severe as those of Haman, and Israel is forced to repent and become good" (Sanhed., 97b.).

The ordinary Jew, ignorant of the real meaning and force of Christianity, looking at the many divisions of Christendom, and considering the real or apparent shortcomings of the various churches, jumps to the hasty conclusion that Christianity has been a total failure, and that, therefore, its Author could not have been the Divine Messiah.

Let an uncompromising Jewish opponent of Christianity bear reluctant testimony to the efficacy of Christ's work in the world:

"It was, after all," says Kohler, "the glad tidings of Jesus which won humanity for Abraham's God. Jewish rightcousness, "zedakah," which is the power of helpful love readjusting social inadequacies, was destined to go forth from the synagogue in order to lift the burden of woe from suffering humanity, and to organize everywhere works of charity. By this the Church, 'the Congregation of the Lord,' conquered the masses of the vast Roman Empire. . . .

^<sup>1 See Note O.

"But," continues Kohler, "the Church, in Jewish eyes, seems to cultivate only the feminine virtues, love and humility, not liberty and justice." He, therefore, concludes that "Christianity is not an end, but the means to an end; namely, the establishment of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of

God."

The shortcomings that one may find in Christendom, or even in the Church, do not at all prove inperfections in Christianity. Christianity, as we have already learned, is the sum total of the doctrines of Moses and the Prophets, of Jesus and the Apostles. It is the truth of God contained in the whole Bible, both the Old Testament and the New.

If the power of helpful love, which the Church has been cultivating for the past nineteen centuries, has not yet succeeded in readjusting all social inadequacies, it is mainly because the one people, who above all others, should have constituted the very keystone in the Church's arch of nations, has held aloof from doing its appointed work of promoting in the world the knowledge of its Sacred Literature.²

If society and the state in most of the lands of Christendom are still largely Roman in character, though Christian in name, it is chiefly due to the fact that at the time when Christianity gained its ascendency in the Roman Empire, there were no Jews there, that is, no Christian Jews, to make Hebrew righteousness, instead of Roman law, the foundation on which to rear Christianity's temple of love.³

In the Middle Ages, when a thick veil of darkness and ignorance covered Europe, in consequence of the destruction of the ancient civilization of the Roman Empire by the yet untutored ancestors of

^{- 2}As an example of how the Rabbis utterly misunderstood the universal mission of the Judaism of Moses and the Prophets may be cited the oft repeated Talmudic dictum, "Proselytes are as burdensome to Israel as leprosy" (Jebam. 47b; 109b; Kiddushin 70b; Niddah 13b); and the malediction, "Evil upon evil betide those engaged in religious propaganda" (Jebam. 109b).

the present European nations, the Jews were practically the only book-people on the Continent. While Europe was passing, as it were, through its second childhood, the Jews were the only mature race among nations of children. When the Bible was a sealed book to Medieval Christendom, all Jews not only could read it, but were even then producing their greatest Biblical scholars and commentators.

With the Renaissance, when people learned to read and Bible truths like rays of light penetrated the darkness, came the Reformation. Only since then has Protestant Christendom been in possession of its Bible, for which right it had to fight with its life blood. Since the Reformation, the advance of civilization and human progress has been in proportion to the spread of Biblical knowledge and of pure Christianity. To-day, it is in countries where the Bible is least read and known, that the Church has not emerged from Medievalism, and where progress is either stagnant, or is meeting with tremenduous opposition. Lands in which the spirit of humanity and justice prevail at their highest are those where the Bible is best known, loved and studied.

In no age, perhaps, has there been such widespread interest in Bible study, nor has the Book ever been so accessible to every one who can read, in

⁴Rashi, Ibn Ezra, the Kimhis, and many others. It should be no surprise, that the Christian or Messianic Faith was largely misunderstood among the half-civilized, child-like nations of the Middle Ages. Without the necessary informing knowledge of the Bible, and deprived of the helpful guidance of the only people who could impart this knowledge, medieval Christendom could hardly be expected to rise to the height of Jesus and the Apostles.

whatever language, as it is to-day.⁶ And in no age has the human spirit been so restlessly stirring towards freedom and light, as at this time. The apparent revolt against things spiritual and religious is, when closely scrutinized, not against pure religion at all, but against certain antiquated human notions about religion. In the fire of criticism, only the human dross will burn away, while the gold of Divine truth will come out unscathed in all its pristine purity.

The end is not yet. Much, very much, remains to be done, before the world will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. But the work is going on; the Spirit of God is moving men's hearts to the very depths, and the hand of God is rapidly removing hitherto almost insuperable bar-

riers to the advance of Biblical truth.

In our study to find out the causes which so far prevented the fulfilment of the two chief promises predicted in connection with the Messiah; namely, the Restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messianic Age of universal peace, or the triumph of the Kingdom of God with its resultant brotherhood of

^"Since the past century, chiefly under the auspices of the British Bible Society, the Bible has been translated and circulated in practically all the languages and dialects of the globe. Only recently, a Russian Jew, who in time became the Episcopal Bishop of China, the late lamented Bishop Schereschewsky, consummated the herculean task of translating the whole Bible into the literary language of China, thus opening up his people's Book to almost onefourth of the human race.

^'The late events in Russia and Japan have opened these countries, particularly the former, to the spread of pure Christianity.

man; we came to the conclusion that in both cases the postponement of this happy consummation was chiefly due to Israel's own defection.

The Jews would have been restored if they had repented and accepted the Glad Tidings of the Messiah; the spread of the knowledge of God would have been facilitated, and the triumph of the Kingdom of God, the establishment of the glorious Messianic age, accelerated, if Israel had remained true to his Divinely appointed mission of being "a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation," of being the chief promoters in the world of God's truth in the Messiah.

The Sign that Jesus did not see fit to give (Matt. 12:38-39; Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:29; 23:8-9) and which was impossible for St. Paul to demonstrate (1 Corinth. 1:22) has since been written large on history's page. The Stone which our builders refused has become the world's chief corner stone. (Ps. 118:22; Acts 4:11).

"If the claims of Jesus have been rejected by the Jewish nation, He has at least, undoubtedly, fulfilled one part of the mission prophetically assigned to the Messiah. Whether or not He be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to Him assuredly has been the gathering of the nations, and the Isles have waited for His law. Passing the narrow bounds of obscure Judea, and breaking down the walls of national prejudice and isolation, He has made the sublime teaching of the Old Testament the common possession of the world, and founded a great Brotherhood of which the God of Israel is the Father. He alone also has exhibited a life in which absolutely no fault can be found, and promulgated a teaching to which

absolutely no exception can be taken. Admittedly, He is the one perfect man—the ideal of humanity; His doctrine the one absolute teaching. The world has known none other, none equal. . . The Man of Nazareth has, by universal consent, been recognized as the mightiest Factor in our world's history: alike politically, socially, intellectually and morally. If He be not the Messiah, He has at least thus far done the Messiah's work. If He be not the Messiah, there has at least been none other, before or after Him. If He be not the Messiah, the world has not and never can have a Messiah" (Alfred Edersheim).

Keeping in mind what the Prophets of the Old Testament have said concerning the fate and destiny of Israel, we now turn to the inspired treatment of his people's problem by the great Prophet of the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus.

"Has God rejected his people? God forbid. . . God has not rejected his People whom he fore-knew" (Rom. 11: 1-2).

"For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God's rightcousness and seeking to establish their own (rightcousness), they did not subject themselves to the rightcousness of God. For the Messiah is the end (aim, object) of the law unto rightcousness to every one that believes" (Rom. 10:2-4).

"I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid. But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them (the Jews) to jealousy" (Rom. 11:11).

"Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness!" (11:12).

"For if their casting away has been the reconciling of the world, what shall their receiving be, if not life from the dead!" (11:15).

"For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in."

"And so all Israel shall be saved" (11:25-26).

God has not rejected the people of Israel whom He has chosen of old. Their failure to accept Jesus as their Messiah, was not due to inherent wickedness, but to ignorance and misunderstanding. Failing to comprehend the real nature and mission of the Messiah as presented by the Prophets, they were unable to recognize in the person and work of Jesus their own long expected Messiah, and in Christianity the New Covenant predicted by the Prophet and anticipated by the Rabbis. Unable to understand God's simple way of establishing righteousness in the world through faith in the Messiah, they devoted themselves to building up a righteousness of their own by the cultivation of innumerable laws, precepts and regulations, which they came to regard as Divine, and to the study of which they devoted their lives.

Christianity, meanwhile, passed out of their hands, going directly into the world, and leading nation after nation into the Divine Covenant of Israel.

Estranged from the sacred books which form the second half of the Bible, and possessing the most dis-

torted views concerning the life and deeds of Jesus the Messiah, and the nature and meaning of Christianity, the Jews, so far, have had no means of finding their fatal mistake so as to be able to rectify it. In this position they are compelled to wait "until the fulness of the Gentiles would come in;" until Christianity would obtain a firm hold on Christendom, when the Gentile Christians, in their turn, would help the Jew to recognize in Jesus Christ his own long expected Joshua the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel and his Redeemer.

Without the aid and coöperation of Israel, "the fulness of the Gentiles" must naturally be slow in coming; but its final coming shall lead to "all Israel being saved,"—the restoration of the whole nation, both spiritually and materially; the literal fulfilment of those grand prophecies that belong to Israel alone.

Israel's salvation would have such a tremendous effect upon the world at large, stirring up such a revival of pure religion, as to be nothing short of "life from the dead." It would lead to the rapid spread in the world of real Christianity, filling the earth with the knowledge of God, which could not but result in the triumph of God's Kingdom of truth, justice and righteousness; the establishment of peace on earth, good will among men.

Sad indeed our theme, if we had to speak only of what might have been, of what might have taken place in the past of yesterday, and had nothing before us concerning the future of to-morrow. The bright colors with which Israel's future is portrayed by both Prophet and Apostle make clear our path of the present.

"To repent and turn again" is all we can and must do to-day, and the morrow will be sure to bring "the refreshing times from the presence of the Lord." The days that we abided without King and without Prince are already many and long. Nothing but sorrow and suffering, disappointment and despair can be gained by further delay. Is it not high time that we return and seek Jehovah our God and David our King?

Jesus of Nazareth holds the key to our problem's solution, and He has been waiting these many centuries to open the door for us. In none other, and in nothing else, is there salvation for the Jew (Acts 4:12).

Shall we refuse to accept Him as our glorious Messiah, because the world knows Him as its Christ and worships Him as its Saviour? Shall we close our eyes to the fact that Christianity is the New Torah, the New Covenant of our own Messiah, because the nations recognize it as their rule of faith and practice?

We should rather rejoice at the fact that the nations have come to worship our Jehovah as their God; that they have accepted our Messiah as their Saviour and Christ, glorying in Him and being called by His name. We should thank God for the fact that our Scriptures have become the world's Bible, and that civilized humanity sits at the feet of our Prophets and our Apostles.

The books of the New Testament are ours, just as much as the books of the Old Testament. Ours are Moses and Isaiah, and so are also Peter and Paul. They all testify of Him, of our own Messiah Jesus (John 5:39; Luke 24:27). Christianity first came to us (Acts 13:26, 46). The Apostles and Evangel-

^*Christianity is in reality neither more nor less than Judaism—the real Judaism of Moses and the Prophets—with Jesus Christ in it. Instead of regarding Christianity as the antithesis of Judaism, it must be looked upon as Judaism plus Christ. Just as Orthodox Judaism is the Old Testament plus the Talmud or Rabbinism; Reform Judaism, the Old Testament plus rationalism; Christian or Messianic Judaism can be neither more nor less than the Old Testament plus the New Testament—the entire Bible.

^9"And of them also will I take for priests and Levites, says Jehovah" (Is 66: 21)

acknowledge Jesus as our Messiah. As Messiahmen, as followers of the Jewish Messiah, who is "the root and offspring of David" (Rev. 22:16), we become real Jews, Israelites indeed.

Nor let the fear of being assimilated with the Gentile world and losing our identity be a stumbling block in our path. Until all Christendom shall attain to the unity of the Faith (Ephes. 4:13), there will be Anglican Christians, Lutheran Christians, Roman and Greek Christians, and many other kinds

It is cheering, however, to find that of late the feeling has grown in many quarters, that the usual barrenness and sterility of Jewish mission work was not entirely due to the proverbial stiff-neckedness of this people, but that the methods in vogue had something to do with it. Christian thinkers who have made a study of the Jewish problem are beginning to realize, that the cause of Christ must remain unpopular among the Jews, as long as their evangalization shall be identified with their Centilization.

Says Dr. Blyth, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem: "The Jew cannot, by the missionary distinction imposed by Christ, be incorporated into any Gentile form of Christianity. When the Jew sees his promise in Christ, he will mould into his national liturgy, acts, rites, and ceremonies, which are his and not ours, which if he may not force them upon us, we may not prohibit to him. Does not the Church teach both the Old and the New Testament?"

¹⁰ The fear of assimilation, the instinctive dread of being Gentilized and lost among the nations has been perhaps the greatest stumbling block in the Jew's path to a recognition of Jesus as the Messiah. Since the time that the Church has become predominantly Gentile, the best and the worst efforts of the Church to Christianize the very people through whom Christianity was given to the world, have remained practically fruitless—because these efforts have in the large majority of cases been attempts to transform the Jews into Latin Christians, Greek Christians, German Christians, or Anglican Christians, instead of helping them to become Jewish Christians. There is a half truth expressed in the contention of the rabbis that no genuine Jew can become a Gentile Christian.

of Christians; and until then, we can be and remain Jewish Christians.¹¹

The Jewish Synagogue at Nazareth first resounded with the Messianic proclamation of Jesus (Luke 4: 16-20). In the Synagogue He proclaimed the Good News of His Kingdom (Matt. 4:23). It was the Synagogue that first marveled at His teaching and His words of authority (Luke 4:32). In the Synagogue, the great Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul, first delivered his message of Salvation (Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:10). What is called Church is merely another term for that which we call Synagogue. It is the Synagogue of Jesus the Messiah. The Church worships Israel's God as does the Synagogue. It acknowledges but "one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom are all things" (1 Corinth. 8:6). There may be certain things in the Church which are not exactly to the Jew's taste; there may be certain things to which a Jew, rightly or wrongly, objects. It may not be unnatural for a Jew, born and bred in the Syna-

Dr. W. R. Huntington, an eminent minister of New York, says: "With the methods of 'convertion' (of the Jews) commonly pursued by Christian evangelists I have had small sympathy. Paul's question, 'Why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?' (Gal 2: 14), ought to work both ways and be translatable into, 'Why compellest thou the Jews to live as do the Gentiles?' We have tried too hard to Gentilize the Jews."

¹¹ It is true that as matters stood, the acceptance of Christianity by individual Jews, has inevitably led to the ultimate assimilation of themselves or their progeny. But this need not be the case when considerable numbers of Jews turn to the Messiah, when a Messianic movement is launched among the Jews, when communities of Jewish believers in the Messiah spring up again all through Jewry, as in the early Christian centuries.

Zion, the possession of which is beyond all the efforts of the Zionists, will become ours when we can return thither as the redeemed of Jehovah (Is. 35: 10). While blossoming and budding in all lands, our center will again be the Holy Land of Israel, from where our Peters and Pauls will once more go forth to fill the earth with the fruit of justice and righteousness. From being a curse among the nations we shall become a blessing—a blessing to ourselves and a blessing to the world. The time will be hastened when the earth shall become filled with the

knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. The glorious Messianic age will be ushered in and God's Kingdom on earth, the great human Brotherhood under the Fatherhood and Kingship of God and His Anointed, will become an established fact.

"Shake off the dust;
Arise, O my People!
And adorn thyself with
Thy beautiful attire.
By the hand of Jesse's Son,
The Bethlehemite, draw
Nigh to my soul, redeem it."

"Awake, awake, arise and shine, For thy Light has come. Awake, awake, utter a song; For the glory of Jehovah Upon thee is revealed."

"To right and to left thou wilt extend, And Jehovah thou shalt magnify. By the hand of the Man, the Son of Perez, We shall rejoice and be glad."14

¹⁴ Chanted in the Synagogue on Sabbath Eve.

NOTES

Note A. Attitude of R. Johannan ben Zakkai toward the patriotic Zealots.

NOTE B. Attitude of Talmud authorities toward the books of the New Testament and Jewish Christians (Minin).

Note C. The so-called "Sword passages" in the Gospels.

Note D. The Synagogue interpretation of Isaiah 53.

NOTE E. Talmudic discussion of the name of the Messiah. A controversy between a Min (Jewish Christian) and a Rabbi.

NOTE F. A unique Talmudic passage in regard to the reduction of the 613 commandments into their elements.—Hillel teaches a Pagan the whole Law while standing on one leg.

NOTE G. How the Rabbis interpreted the Messianic texts, before the exigencies of Controversy compelled them to forced interpretations.

NOTE H. R. Akiba laughs when he sees a fox coming out from the place of the Holy of Holies.

NOTE I. Literary sterility of Second Palestinian Period.
—Some mistakes of "Higher Criticism."

NOTE J. Daniel's forecast of the time of the rise of the Kingdom of Heaven.—A Midrashic Couplet.

NOTE K. The advantage of reading the New Testament in Hebrew.

NOTE L. Was St. Paul's interpretation of the "Kingdom" different from that of Jesus?—The "world to come" according to Jesus; according to Rab.

NOTE M. An analysis of the sayings of Jesus concerning the Second Advent.

NOTE N. The Positive Golden Rule of Jesus and the Negative of Tobit, Hillel, and Confucius.

Note O. The Ancient Roman civilization and charity.

NOTE P. Roman Law and Hebrew Righteousness (Zeda-kah).

Note Q. Socialism and the Jews.

NOTES

Note A. Some of the great Rabbis of that day, whose vision was enlightened by their study of the Prophets, knew that the terrible Roman scourge was only a rod in God's hand to chastise wayward Israel and lead him to repentance. Like Jeremiah of old, they were tireless in counselling peace. But the misguided zeal of the patriots won the day to their own destruction. The great Rabbi Johannan ben Zakkai, despairing of ever being able to influence the maddened war party, and foreseeing the inevitable doom of the nation, and the final loss of its possessions, endeavored to save at least the spiritual possessions of the Jew, the Torah. He managed to elude the vigilance of the patriotic zealots, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, by feigning death and having himself carried out of the city as a corpse. When presented before the Roman general he asked for nothing but to be allowed to put up his school in the small town of Jabneh, or Jamnia, where he could continue to teach the Torah (Gittin 56a and b). This town whither, after the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin also removed (Rosh Hashan. 31a), remained for years the chief seat of Rabinical learning and authority.

There have been very few Jews since who refuse to admit the wisdom and true patriotism of the clear headed and far-

Zealots.

Note B. The following quotations show the attitude of the Talmudic authorities to the books of the New Testa-

ment, and to Jewish Christians in general:

"The Evangels and Books (Bibles) of Minin (Jewish Christians) are not to be saved from fire; they should rather be burned, together with the Divine names in them. R. Jose says, On weekdays one must cut out the Divine names that are in them, and bury them; the rest he should burn. Said R. Tarphon, I swear by my children if these books ever come in my hands, I shall burn them together with the Divine names that are in them" (Shabb. 116a).

"A scroll of the Law (Pentateuchal Scroll for Synagogue reading), written by a Min (Jewish Christian), should be

burned; written by a Gentile, it should be buried; if found in the hands of a Min, it should be buried, found in the hands of a Gentile, some say, it should be buried, but according to others, it may be used for reading" (Gittin 45b).

On the same Talmudic page (Shabb. 116) there is a direct quotation, or rather a misquotation, from the Gospels, the only one perhaps, in all Rabbinical literature. It is of interest as showing that some, at least, of the books of the New Testament were already well known in the first century.

A certain "philosopher," a neighbor of Rabban Gamaliel, tells that rabbi that since the exile, the Law of Moses has been taken away and another book given in its place. On another occasion he tells him that it is written in this book, "I came not to take away from the Law of Moses, but (nor) to add to it." Evidently intended for, "I came not to destroy but to fulfil" (Matt 5: 17)

Note C. Jewish controversialists try to make much of the so-called "sword passages" in the Gospels. Passages like the following: "Think not that I came to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword" (Matt. 10: 34); "Think you that I came to give peace in the earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division" (Luke 12: 51), and the direction to the Disciples that "he that has no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22: 36), are taken out of their context, and brought forth to show the warlike spirit of Christianity. These isolated texts, among hundreds of others breathing the spirit of "peace on earth, good will to men" (Luke 2: 14), are taken to prove that Christianity from its very beginning has been a religion of the sword. Some even, trying to read between the lines of the Gospel narrative, say that Jesus must have led an armed revolt against the Roman power, for which act of treason he suffered the penalty of the Roman law. (See Jew. Encyc. Art. Christianity.)

That Pilate himself disproves the charge that Jesus perverted the people (Luke 23: 14), and Christ's memorable words, "Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's" (Matt. 22: 21), counts for nothing with these critics.

A right understanding of these texts, which have proved such a stumbling block to the Jew, is of great importance, and we shall endeavor to bring them out in their real meaning

When He sends out the twelve Disciples on their first Mission tour, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 10: 5-7), Jesus begins by disillusioning their Notes 151

minds of the belief then held in common by the Disciples and the people, that the Kingdom of Heaven would immediately be established and the Messianic age of universal peace and righteousness would be ushered in by a miracle (Luke 19:11; 24:21). He now tells them on what a tremendous task they are setting out, and prepares them for what they are to expect (Matt. 10:16-22). The light which they are to spread will stir up all the powers of darkness. They will have to stand arrests, scourgings, hatred, yea, death itself, for the sake of the message.

It was not His way suddenly to change human nature. "This generation seeks after a sign (a miraculous redemption), but there shall no sign be given to it" (Luke 11: 29; Matt. 12: 39). Poor humanity, steeped in darkness, ignorance and sin, can only gradually be led up to the light. But in the meantime the bearers of the light which He came to kindle in the world (Luke 12: 49) shall be exposed to all kinds of dangers and even martyrdom. Indeed, He Himself their Master, must undergo the hardest of martyrdoms, the worst of deaths (Luke 12: 50), and the Disciple is not above his Master (Matt. 10: 24-25).

The sword of which He speaks (Matt. 10: 34; Luke 12: 51) is not one which His followers are to use, but which will be used against them. As far as they are concerned, they are not only to go out unarmed, but entirely empty handed, without even provisions or the means with which to purchase some (Matt. 10: 9-10). The only weapon they are to carry for their conquest of the world is this message

and the sword of the Spirit (Ephes. 6: 17).

However often the lesson was impressed upon the Disciples by precept, parable and example, that the "Kingdom of God comes not with observation;" that it is not to be a visibly established Kingdom, but that "it is within you" (Luke 17: 20-21), that it aims at regenerating the world through the regeneration of the human heart; that it was not for them to know when it would be fully and victoriously established (Matt. 24: 36; Acts 1: 7), but that it was to be their task, as indeed it was their Master's, to proclaim and promote it—yet they could not understand it (Luke 18: 34; John 12: 16); and, until the very end of Christ's earthly career, they continued in their supposition that "the Kingdom of God was immediately to appear" (Luke 19: 11).

We may imagine how the heart of the Disciples must have palpitated with joyous anticipation of the approaching great redemption which should soon be visibly wrought

place in it. There had indeed been times when their lack of faith and understanding taxed even His infinite patience, and called forth severe rebuke (Matt. 17: 17; Mark 9: 19), but now, on the last night of His earthly career, with the shadow of suffering and death looming up before Him, the patience and kindness He displays are boundless. He knows that soon the whole truth will dawn on them, and they will understand. If any rebuke, or irony, is conveyed by the Master's words. His voice hardly betrays it.

"When I sent you forth without purse, and wallet, and shoes, lacked ye anything?" No, they did not. But now you want the sword to depend on for protection and defence. Have swords, if you think you must have them Take along now purse and wallet, and supply yourselves with swords, even if you must sell your cloaks to get them You will then have occasion to find out how much you car rely on swords. There are, you say, two swords in your possession. That will do. For all the good swords can do

two are quite sufficient (Luke 22: 35-38).

When they are attacked, and one of the Disciples does draw the sword, He quickly stops him, "Put back thy sword into its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matt. 26: 52).

And yet the antagonists of Christianity say that Jesus

directs His followers to have recourse to the sword.

Note D. "Isaiah 53 must always have been Messianically understood. It formed the groundwork of Messianic thoughts to the New Testament writers; nor did the Synagogue read it otherwise, till the necessities of controversy diverted its application, not indeed from the times, but from the person of the Messiah."

"Behold my servant shall prosper" (Is. 52: 13); Targum Jonathan has it, "Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper." R. Moses Alshich declares, "Behold our Rabbis of blessed memory concluded with one mouth, even as they have received it from their predecessors, that this is

spoken of the King Messiah.'

Ibn Ezra, in his commentary on the chapter, admits the strained position of the modern interpretations. "This chapter," he writes, "is very difficult. Our opponents say that it refers to their god ... many interpret it of the Messiah, because our ancients of blessed memory have said that Messiah was born the day when the temple was destroyed, and that He is bound in chains."

Abarbanel opens his exposition of this chapter with the following: "The first question to decide (in regard to this

chapter) is of whom does this prophecy speak; for the wise of the Nazarenes have explained it as referring to that man who was hanged towards the close of the second temple, who was, according to their views, the son of the blessed God, being incarnate in the womb of the Virgin, as is well known in their sayings. And truly, Jonathan ben Uzziel has interpreted it of the Messiah that is to come; and this is also the opinion of our wise men, in many of the Midrashim."

Note E. The following Talmudic discussion of the names of the Messiah is also of interest, as showing the application of several Messianic texts.

"Said R. Johanan, The world was created only for the Messiah. And what is His name? The school of R. Shila said, 'Shiloh' is His name; according to Gen. 49: 10, 'The scepter shall not depart from Judah ... until Shiloh come.'— The School of R. Janai said, 'Jinon' is His name; according to Ps. 72: 17, 'His name shall flourish (jinon) as long as the sun.'—The school of R. Hanina said, 'Haninah' is His name; after Jerem. 16: 13, 'For I shall give you no favor (haninah).'—Others say, 'Menahem' is His name; as in Lament. 1: 16, 'Because the comforter (menahem) . . . is far from me.'—Our Rabbis say, "The Leprous One of the house of Rabbi' is His name; according to Is. 53: 4, 'He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken (negua, leprous), smitten of God, and afflicted' " (Sanhed. 98b).

In Sanhed, 38b, there is a record of a controversy between a Min (Jewish-Christian) and a rabbi, in which the latter makes a curious concession.

A certain Min asked of R. Iddith, "It is written, 'And unto Moses he said, Come up unto Jehovah' (Ex. 24: 1); it should rather be, 'Come up unto me?' The rabbi answers that the speaker must be Metatron, whose name is like that of his Master; according to the text 'For my name is in him' (23: 21). "If so," the Min asks, "Let us worship him (Metatron)?" The Rabbi replies, "It is written, 'Thou shouldest not rebel against him' (ibid); read instead, 'Thou shouldest not interchange him' (Metatron with God). (The play of words is on two similar Hebrew verbs, "Marah" to rebel, "mur" to exchange). "Then why," the Min further asks, "does it say, 'He will not pardon your transgressions?" (Ibid). (Forgiveness of sin being a Divine attribute). To this the Rabbi defiantly rejoins, "We simply made up our minds not to accept him even as a guide."

Notes 155

Rashi's comment on the last words is, "We have it as a certainty that he is unable to forgive sin; and we also despised and rejected him and refused to accept him even as a guide."

Note F. Even among the Rabbis, whose prevailing view was that everything in the Law was equally holy and equally binding, and who even made the many legal innovations of their own of as great, if not greater, obligation as those of Scripture itself, ("One must be more strict in observing the commands of the Scribes than those of the Torah. . . For he that transgresses the words of the Scribes is guilty of death," Erub. 21b); even among them there were those who could discern the grain from the

husk; as the following unique passage will show.

"Moses received 613 commandments. David came and reduced them to eleven; according to Ps. 15. 'Jehovah, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? (1) He that walks uprightly, (2) and works righteousness, (3) and speaks truth in his heart. (4) He that slanders not with his tongue, (5) nor does evil to his neighbor, (6) nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor. (7) In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, (8) but he honors them that fear Jehovah, (9) He that swears to his own hurt, and changes not, (10) He that puts not his money in usury, (11) nor takes bribes against the innocent. He that does these things shall never be moved."

Isaiah came and reduced them to six; according to the text, (1) 'He that walks righteously, (2) and speaks uprightly; (3) that despises the gain of oppression, (4) that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, (5) that stops his ears from hearing of blood; (6) that shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He shall walk on high' (1s. 33: 15-16).

Micah came and reduced them to three; as it is written, 'He showed thee, O man, what is good and what Jehovah requires of thee; (1) but to exercise justice, (2) and to love mercy; (3) and to walk humbly with thy God' (Micah 6:8).

Isaiah came again and reduced them to two; according to the text, 'Thus says Jehovah, (1) Keep justice and (2) do righteousness' (Is. 56: 1).

Amos came and reduced them to one; according to the text, 'Thus says Jehovah to the house of Israel, (1) Seek ye me, and ye shall live' (Amos. 5: 4)."

A rabbi here interposes a remark, that "seek ye me" might mean in the whole Torah: so, instead of Amos, he

puts in "Habbakuk, who reduced them to one; as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith' (Habak. 2:4)" (Makkoth 24a).

"For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith unto faith; as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:17).

"That no man is justified by the law before God, is evident, for the righteous shall live by faith" (Gal. 3: 11).

"A pagan appeared before Shammai, asking to be initiated in the Hebrew faith, on condition that he should teach him the whole Torah, while he (the pagan) stood on one foot. The rabbi pushed him away with a builder's cubit which he had in hand. The man then went to Hillel, who initiated him, saying, 'Whatever is hateful to thee, do not to thy neighbor;' this is the whole Torah. All the rest is its commentary; go and learn' (Shabb 31a).

Note G. It is just about these early Messianic prophecies, where the vision is more or less veiled, that the fiercest battle of controversy has been raging. The strongest weapons of the controversialists, ancient or modern, have been trained against the Messianic application of such texts as Gen. 3: 15; 49: 10; Num. 24: 17; Deut. 18: 18; Is. 7: 14; 9: 5-6; 53; Ps. 2: 7, 12; 72; 110, and some others. They curiously assume that if they can overthrow the Messianic reference to "the woman's seed;" if it could be proven that the term "Shiloh" refers to a place instead of a person; if Balaam had not the Messiah in view when he sang of "a star arising from Jacob;" if Isaiah's designation of the mother of Emmanuel could be translated "young woman," instead of "virgin;" if the "wonder child," who was to become the "Prince of Peace," could be made to refer to Hezekiah, instead of the Messiah; if the "suffering servant of Jehovah who bears our sins" could be applied to Israel in Messianic times, instead of to the suffering Messiah; and if the words in the Second Psalm translated "kiss the son," could be given some other meaning—then these changes in interpretation would cause the whole Christian structure to fall to pieces.

It is true that the Messianic application of several of the early prophecies cannot be proved with mathematical certainty, and that in some, at least, of these texts, other interpretations, besides the traditional, are quite admissible. But, it must be borne in mind that the traditional interpretation of these texts does not belong to the Church alone. The ancient Synagogue read the King Messiah in

Jesse which is set up as the Peoples' standard, to him the nations shall seek' (Is. 11: 10)." (Gen. Rab. 99: 10).

See also Sanhed, 98b referred to in Note E.

"There shall come a star out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (Num. 24: 17).

Targum: "When the king shall rise out of Jacob, and the

Targum Jonathan: "When the mighty king out of the house of Jacob shall rule, and the Messiah shall grow up, and a mighty scentre out of Israel."

Psalm 2 is treated in Rabbinic literature as full of Messianic reference. Vs. 1-2 are applied to the wars of Gog and

Magog in the Talmud (Berach, 7b; Abod, Zar, 3b).

"The Holy One says to Messiah the Son of David who shall be revealed (quickly in our days), Ask of me anything and I shall give it to thee; according to the text, inducat my son, etc., ask of me and I shall give nations for thy heritage' (Ps. 2: 7-8). When he sees Messiah, the son of Joseph, being slain, he says, Lord of the World, I ask of thee nothing but life. God says to him, Life before thou hast yet said; according to the saying, 'He asked life of thee, thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever' (Ps. 21: 4)" (Sukkah 52a).

The first clause of verse 12 is interpreted by Ibn Ezra "Kiss the son," referring it to the Messlah, according to

verse 7, "Thou art my son."

Of all the Messianic texts, Is. 7: 14, seems to be the only one to which no direct Rabbinical reference is extant. But even here, 7: 21 is referred to Messianic times, in Midrash (Gen. Rab. 48: 10).

Note H. The following story from the Talmud is of interest. "R. Gamaliel, R. Eliezer, R. Joshua, and R. Akiba were going up to Jerusalem... Coming near the Temple hill, they saw a fox coming out from the place of the Holy of Holies. All began to weep, except R. Akiba, who was laughing. They asked him, why do you laugh? He said, why do you weep? The place, they said, of which it is written that 'the stranger that comes nigh shall be put to death!' (Num. 1: 51), and now 'foxes walk upon it' (Lament. 5: 18), and shall we not weep? For this very reason, he rejoined, do I laugh... Before the prophecy of Micah was yet fulfilled, that 'Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest'

(Micah 3: 12; Jerem. 26: 18); I feared that the prophecy of Zechariah that 'there shall yet sit old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem... and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets' (Zechar. 8: 4-5), will not be fulfilled either. But now since the prophecy of Micah was fulfilled, we are assured that the prophecy of Zechariah shall also be fulfilled. They said to him, Akiba, thou hast comforted us: '(Makkoth 24b).

Note I. It is remarkable that in the five hundred years, or more, from Ezra till the Roman exile, and for a thousand years after, not a single Hebrew work was produced that has come down to us and not a line of poetry written, that we know of. Many volumes were produced by the Jews in those fifteen hundred years, but none of them in Hebrew, and nothing resembling the poetic style of the Prophets. The works that have come down to us from the second Palestinian period, such as the Apocrypha and the writings of Philo, are practically all in Greek, the world's language of that age. The Rabbinical writings, which were compiled after the Roman exile are almost all in the Jewish Aramaean, which continued to be the Jewish vernacular for more than a thousand years.

In view of this, how amusing are some of the theories of the higher critics, which assign to the Maccabean period the composition of some, if not most, of the sublimest Prelime

In Psalm 83, for instance, Asaph denounces the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moab, Ammon and Philistia, with whom Assyria is also joined. They all consult together to cut off Israel from being a nation. Although most of the named nationalities no longer had existence in the times of the Maccabees, or, at least, were known by other names, the ingenuity of higher criticism sees under these names a veiled reference to the enemies of the Jews who made common cause with the Greco-Syrian power against Judas Maccabeus. It, therefore, must have been written in his day. The great Messianic Psalm 110 is made to contain an acrostic spelling Shimon (Simon), and so, ingenious discovery! it surely refers to Simon Maccabee, a brother and successor of Judas.

It is Simon, and not the Messiah, who is the "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," the Messianic application of this Psalm by both Church and Synagogue notwithstanding. Psalms like 9, 10, 14, 56, 58, are found

by the critics to contain the pronunciamentos of the Pharisees against their Sadducean opponents, and are, of course, the product of the cut and dried prosaic spirit of the Pharisee.

How wonderful that in an age which, according to the discoveries of the "higher critics," abounded with sublime lyric poets in the choicest of Davidic Hebrew, there was none that considered it worth while to celebrate in Hebrew verse the heroic deeds of the Maccabees, unique as these are in the Jewish annals. They could write soul-stirring Psalms, though too modest to own their authorship, ascribing them by "pious fraud" to David or to Asaph; but none of them saw fit to leave us even a prose recital in the Hebrew tongue, of the proudest achievements of the greatest Jewish warriors. The story of the Maccabean conquests comes down to us in Greek.

The truth is, however, that from a literary point of view the second Palestinian Period was the most sterile in Jewish history. They could sing the Psalms, but there was none to compose any. There can be little doubt that the Psalms of David existed substantially in their present form since the days of Ezra. To the contemporaries of the Maccabees, who could wield the sword much better than the pen, the Psalter was what it is even to us to-day, an ancient, sacred classic.

The above cited facts might also be considered by the Jewish Nationalists who assert that the Jew only wants a land or territory of his own, to rise to the poetic heights of the Old Testament Prophets. The many hundred years of literary sterility during their second occupancy of Palestine, does not at all assure us that in his own land the genius of the Jew would break out again in all its pristine purity and grandeur. It was in Spain, after a thousand years of exile, that Ibn Gebirol and Halevi tuned again the long silent Hebrew harp. To-day it is in Russia, of all lands, that a magnificent Hebrew literature has sprung up, and where new Hebrew singers arise almost daily.

Note J. Compare the prophetic forecast of the time of the rise of the Kingdom, in Dan. 2: 31-45. Babylon (the golden head) is succeeded by the Medo-Persian empire (the silver breast and arms); this, in turn, is followed by the Greek power (the bowels and thighs of brass); then comes the empire of Rome (the iron legs, and the feet partly iron and partly clay); "strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things; and as

iron that crushes all these, shall it break in pieces and crush" (40). "The feet partly iron and partly clay" indicating its subsequent division (it shall be a divided kingdom) (41), into two empires; the Eastern, with Constantinople for a capital, and the Western with Rome as its capital. That "the Kingdom shall be partly strong" (the Eastern Empire which continued until the middle of the 15th century, when Constantinople was taken by the Ottoman Turks, and made the capital of Turkey), "and partly broken" (42), (the Western Empire, which fell, a thousand years before, in 476 A. D.). "And in the days of these kings (in the days of the Roman power), the God of Heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed . . . . it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch . . . that a stone (Ps. 118: 22; Matt. 21: 42; Mark 12: 10-11; Luke 20: 17; Acts 4: 11; Ephes. 2: 20; 1 Peter 2: 6-7) was cut out of the mountain without hands, and the it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold" (44-45).

It is indeed one of the most wonderful passages of Old Testament prophecy that subsequent history has minutely verified, and constitutes one of the greatest vouchers for the Divine origin of Christianity. Arising at the height of the Roman power, it has consumed and absorbed all those kingdoms, gradually transforming the old civilizations in what will eventually be the Kingdom of God and His

Saints (Dan. 7: 18).

In the Midrash (Canticles Rab. 2: 29), there is a beautiful couplet, probably based on the prophecy of Daniel.

"When the Kingdom of Rome to decay will yield, The Kingdom of Heaven shall be revealed."

The time when Rome has reached the highest degree of development, which also marked the beginning of its decline and subsequent fall, was also the time when the Kingdom of Heaven arose. This really points to the time of Augustus Cæsar and his immediate successors, when Rome reached the highest pinnacle of its power, but when its decay also began.

Note K. One who reads the New Testament in Hebrew never needs to be reminded that the names "Jesus" and "Saviour," as well as the term "salvation," are intimately related words.

Jesus (Jeshua); Saviour (moshia); salvation (jeshuah)

"Thou shalt call his name Jesus (Jeshua), for he shall save (joshia) his people" (Matt. 1: 21).

"And he raised up a horn of salvation (jeshuah) for us

In the house of his servant David" (Luke 1: 69)

"There is born to you this day in the city of David a

Saviour (moshia)" (Luke 2: 30).

"Of this man's (David's) seed has God, according to his promise, brought to Israel a saviour (moshia), Jesus (Jeshua)" (Acts 13: 23).

Note L. Kohler (Jew. Encyc. Art. Kingdom of Heaven) argues that the Kingdom which John the Baptist announced and Jesus proclaimed, was a political kingdom in

opposition to the kingdom of Rome.

"But," he adds, "when the trend of events led early Christianity to make a decided disavowal of all political expectations antagonistic to Rome, the conception of the Kingdom of God was made an entirely spiritual one, and was identified with the 'olam-haba' (the world to come), the spiritual life, in which 'there is no eating or drinking. but righteousness and peace, and joy in the holy spirit' (Rom. 14: 17). Rab speaks of it in the same way: "The world to come is not like this world. In the world to come there is neither eating, nor drinking, nor procreation, nor strife, but the righteous sit enthroned and enjoy the splendor of the Shechinah' (Berach. 17a)."

If the saying of Rab is to be compared with anything in the New Testament, it is more like the saying of Jesus,

in which He compares the two states of existence.

"The children of this world marry and are given in marriage; but those that become worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels" (Luke 20: 34-36; Matt.

22: 30; Mark 12: 25).

"That world and the resurrection," in the words of Jesus, and "the world to come" in the saying of Rab both refer to the state of existence after death. In neither is there any mention made of the term "Kingdom of God." But the Kingdom of God spoken of by St. Paul, in the text quoted does not refer at all to the state of life in the other world. If the learned encyclopedist had taken the trouble to read the entire chapter, or even parts of it, he would know that the Apostle was discussing the question then agitating the infant Messianic Community,—the question of the obligation of the ritualistic part of the Law, chief of which were held to be circumcision and the regulations concerning

otes 168

"Kosher" and "Terephah" ("clean" and "unclean" food). (See Acts 10: 9-16, 28; 11:-2-3; 15: 1-2, 5, 6-21. Gal. 2: 11-21). St. Paul here advocates peace and broad toleration regarding matters which are not essential.

The Kingdom of God, he teaches, concerns itself with higher matters than questions about meat and drink. Righteouspess and peace are the things for which the

Kingdom stands, and not eating and drinking.

"All things indeed are clean" (Rom. 14: 20); for "nothing is unclean of itself, except to one that considers anything to be unclean; to him it is unclean" (14). "He who eats (anything) let him not despise him that eats not; and the one that eats not, let him not judge him that eats" (3).

"For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (17). "Food will not commend us to God; neither are we the worse, if we eat not; nor the better, if we eat" (1 Cor.

8:8).

The "Kingdom" in the sense spoken of by St. Paul does not differ at all from the "Kingdom" as proclaimed by Jesus.

Note M. An analysis of the sayings of Jesus concerning His coming again, or second Advent, will show us that they naturally arrange themselves into two groups. One referring to His coming again, within the lifetime of that generation, and another group speaking of His final coming at the end of days.

First Group

"Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the son of man be come" (Matt.

10:23).

"Verily I say unto you, There are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom" (Matt. 16: 28).

(. . . . till they see the Kingdom of God come with power." Mark 9: 1.)

"When ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the Kingdom of God is nigh. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled" (Luke

21: 31-32; Matt. 24: 34; Mark 13: 30).

Second Group.

"For the son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render to every man according to his deeds" (Matt. 16: 27).

"Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray . . . And these good tidings of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations ('And the good tidings must first be proclaimed unto all the nations,' Mark 13: 10); and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24: 3-4, 14).

"But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the son, but the Father only" (Matt. 24: 36; Mark 13: 32).

It is evident that the first group of sayings refers to His spiritual coming, 'the coming of the Kingdom of God with power' (Mark 9: 1)—the planting of communities of believers in the Messiah, throughout the length and breadth of the Roman empire, which took place within the lifetime of that generation.

In the second group His final coming at the end of days is spoken of, the day and hour of which is known to the Father only (Matt. 24: 36; Mark 13: 32); but which is to take place only after the Gospel shall have been preached in the whole world, unto all nations (Matt. 24: 14; Mark 13: 10), which is yet far from having been accomplished, even after these nineteen hundred years.

Note N. Compare Jesus' commentary on the Golden Rule, "Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, even so do you also to them" (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31), with that of Tobit, "Do that to no man which thou hatest" (Tobit 5:15), and that of Hillel, "What would be hateful to thee, do not to thy neighbor" (Shabb. 31a).

The Chinese have a precept ascribed to Confucius similar to the two latter, "What you do not want done to yourself, do not to others."

The three latter precepts express the negative side of the Golden Rule, while the one of Christ is positive. And there is a world of difference between the two doctrines. "Do not" states the negative side and is good as far as it goes. The man who obeys Hillel or Confucius will do no harm and that is something; the harmless man stands upon a higher plane than the man who injures others. But "do" is the positive form of the rule, and the man who does good is vastly superior to the merely harmless man. One can stand on the bank of a stream and watch another drown

without lifting a hand to aid and yet not violate the "do not" of Hillel or Confucius, but he will violate the "do" of Christ (see W. J. Bryan, Letters to a Chinese Official, VIII).

Note O. "The Roman Empire in all the splendor of its glory, rich almost beyond conception in treasures of art and literature, in palaces and magnificent buildings, had not one hospital, one asylum for the poor or suffering. When the slaves of Lucullus, a Roman Senator, grew old and useless, they were cast into his fish ponds to feed his lampreys. Now go through any great city and ask, what are these great buildings? and you will be told that one is a hospital, another is a home for the aged, another an asylum for the deaf and dumb or for the blind. The principal activity of any large parish is work among the poor" (A. G. Mortimer).

Note P. Roman Law and Hebrew Righteousness.

Roman law, as all other law of civilized society, is founded upon the principle of justice; Justice being the foundation of all law. What justice is may be summed up in the words: "Give to each one what is his own." The various laws simply serve to define this ownership. The Romans, both before and after the introduction of Christianity, have contributed most to the cultivation of the laws of justice. The Justinian Code, which forms the foundation of the law systems of Christendom, is perhaps Rome's greatest contribution to the world. This Code lays down three precepts as the foundation of law: 1, to live honestly (honeste vivere); 2, to hurt nobody (altereum non laedere); and 3, to give to each what is his own (suum cuique tribuere). These three, however, readily resolve themselves in the last. To live honestly virtually amounts to live according to law. The second principle is the negative converse of the third, an infliction of injury being a distinct violation of the principle of ownership. The right of an individual to what he owns constitutes, therefore, the basis of the whole legal system, and the laws founded upon it are merely an elaboration of the question of mine and thine.*

Justice is also a fundamental principle of the Bible, but it does not belong to the Bible alone. Justice is a uni-

^*See B. D. Oliensis, Talmudic and Roman Law, Jewish Exponent, Vol. 46, No. 9.

versal idea, common to the whole human race. No civilized community, whether pagan, Hebrew, or Christian, could exist without the principle of justice being recognized and enforced. The civil laws of the Talmud run in almost parallel lines with the civil laws of Rome, although the former are based on the Law of Moses and the latter on mere human reason.

Justice alone, however, does not cover all the needs of human society. We may imagine a community whose members are all just, where no one takes advantage of another and yet it will be possible to find in such a community a great deal of suffering and want. There may be those who, by whatever cause, have lost their own and are left without means. There may be the helpless sick, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan who are compelled to depend upon others for care and support. Justice, or the laws founded upon it, makes no provision for the relief of those so situated. In Greek and Roman Society, the State, as the representative of society, took care to enforce the laws of justice, that is, to protect the rights of those who were fortunate to own or possessed nothing were left to depend on the "charity," the free gifts of their well-to-do neighbors, or the "liberality," the generosity of the free-born (libri) rich to the lower classes. Society making no provision for the poor and needy, it depended upon the number of the charitably disposed, as well as upon the quality and quantity of their free gifts, as to how much poverty and suffering was relieved. In pagan society, where there was no special impulse for charitable deeds, the amount of suffering and want must have really been appalling.

Moreover, the laws of justice themselves may from time to time become unjust, and require readjustment. For it is inevitable that those who possess most—and there is nothing in the principle of justice to prevent the accumulation of great property in single hands—should also have the power to sway justice, or shape its laws to suit themselves, regardless of it being detrimental to the interests of those who possess less. Roman law, or any law founded on mere justice, offers nothing to prevent the abuse of power, provides nothing for the relief of the needy and helpless.

Righteousness (Zedakah), and the laws founded upon it, is a distinctly Hebrew principle, and concerns itself with those cases which are left unprovided for by justice.

What righteousness is may be summed up in the words: "Give to each one as much as he needs." An act of duty incumbent upon men of means to provide for those in need; an assessment of the rich in favor of the poor. The idea that the poor and needy stand under the special protection of God who "loves the stranger, and is father of the fatherless, and judge of the widows" (Deut. 10: 18-19; Ps. 68: 5) is the underlying motive of righteousness (Zedakah). The ideal type of the righteous man (Zaddik) is he who is "eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and father to the poor" (Job 29: 15-16); and that of the virtuous woman, she who "stretches out her hand to the poor and reaches forth her hand to the needy" (Prov. 31: 20).

Under the Mosaic Legislation, which is based upon the principles of both justice and righteousness (Mishpat and Zedakah), the extremes of great wealth and abject poverty are really made impossible. The institution of the Sabbathic year (Shemita)—every seventh year—when all the produce of the field was thrown open to all (Lev. 25: 2-7); and the Jubilee year—every fiftieth year—when "liberty was proclaimed throughout the land, to all its inhabitants," and "every man returned to his possession and to his family" (Lev. 25: 10), was sufficient, in a simple agricultural society, to prevent the accumulation of great property or great wealth in single hands. The feudal lord and the peasant serf were both made impossible in such a society. It is due to the Mosaic Legislation that there were never to be found among the Jews the sharp divisions of class and rank which existed among all other nations. The expression "all Israel are princes" (Shabb. 128a) is equivalent to the modern American conception that every citizen is a sovereign.

But as even under the most ideal state of society it would be impossible that there should not be found some who, through either misfortune or shiftlessness, would become dependent on others for support, the most stringent measures are taken in the Mosaic Code to provide for such the necessities of life.

"For the poor will not cease from the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open well thy hand to thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor in thy land." (Deut. 15: 11.)

"If there be with thee a poor man . . . . thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open well thy hand to him and shalt lend him as much as he needs. . . . Thou shalt

give him well and thy heart shall think no evil when thou

givest him." (Deut. 15: 7, 8, 10.)

The right of proprietorship did not extend to the "corners of the field" (Peah); the "gleanings of the harvest" (Leket); the "forgotten sheaf" (Shikha), as well as the growth of the seventh year (Shemita). These belonged to the poor, the stranger (a Gentile sojourner in need), the orphan, and the widow (Lev. 19: 9-10; 23: 22; Deut. 24: 19-21; Ex. 23: 11). The tithes of the yearly produce were also claimed every third year, for the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and the widow (Deut. 14: 28-29; 26: 12).

The term "Zedakah" (righteousness) which frequently occurs in the Bible together with "mishpat" (justice) (Jerem. 9: 24; Amos 5: 7, 24; Prov. 21: 3) or with "hesed" (loving-kindness, benevolence, mercy) (Jerem. 9: 24; Hosea 10: 12: Micah 6: 8) is specifically applied to the systematic

giving of alms.

"He has bountifully given to the needy; his righteousness

endures forever" (Ps. 112:9; 2 Corinth. 9:9-10).

"Take heed that you do not your righteousness before

men" (Matt. 6: 1).

"And he that supplies seed to the sower and bread for food shall . . . increase the fruits of your righteousness" (2 Corinth. 9:10).

"Whosoever does not righteousness is not of God" (1

John 3: 10).

"Said R. Eleazar, The doing of righteousness (Zedakan) is greater than all the oblations; according to the text, "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice' (Prov. 21: 3)." (Sukkah 49, b.)

Doing "Zedakah" was a universal duty; all being obliged to contribute to it; even the poor themselves, as far as they could afford it (Gittin 7, b). The rich were forced to contribute their full quota (Baba Bathra 8, b; Ketub. 49, b). Every Hebrew community had its "Zedakah" box (Kuppa shel Zedakah), which contained the funds for the support of the indigent townsmen who received every Friday their weekly stipend for food and clothing. From this fund the transient poor were also provided for, receiving only as much as was needed for the day. There was besides the "Zedakah" bowl (Tamhui shel Zedakah) for the keeping of victuals needed for immediate relief. The collecting and distribution of "Zedakah" was administered by special boards (Gabbai Zedakah, public almoners) elected by the whole community (Baba Bathra 8, b).*

^*See Jew. Encyc. Art. Charity.

According to the principle of righteousness, it was the prerogative of a community to pass upon the prices of provisions as well as to determine the wages of workingmen, and to impose fines for the violation of these provisions (Ibid).

We thus see that in a society which recognized and enforced the principle of righteousness, the poor and the helpess were not left to depend on the generosity of individuals. The community took care of its poor, its widows and orphans, its helpless sick and suffering, compelling every citizen to contribute to the cause of righteousness, according to his means, just as it demanded of all the support of and obedience to the laws of justice.

But even the principle of righteousness, when reduced to a mere dry duty, will collapse, if it has not behind it the all-compelling, all-constraining influence of love, of kindness, mercy, and benevolence. Indeed, were loving-kindness and mercy the guiding principles of Society, no laws, whether of justice or of righteousness, would need to be enforced. And so, in addition to "mishpat" (justice) and "zedakah" (righteousness), we need the principle of "hésed" (loving-kindness) to complete and round out the former two, to supply the defects of both justice and righteousness; in other words, we need the cultivation of the heart, the development of character.

"I Jehovah exercise loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for these things do I desire, says Jehovah" (Jerem. 9: 23).

Justice (mishpat), righteousness (zedakah), and loving-kindness (hésed) are the three essential principles of the religion of Jehovah. They are the three foundation stones on which must rest the social structure of a Society which acknowledges Jehovah as its God.

A consideration of the distinguishing characteristics of the two chief divisions of the Bible—the Old and New Testaments—will show that justice and righteousness are the leading principles of the Old Testament Scriptures, while loving-kindness is the principal message of the New Testament. This does not mean however that the principle of loving-kindness has no place in the doctrines of Moses and the Prophets; or that the laws of justice and righteousness have been revoked, under the New Dispensation. The few texts we have quoted are sufficient to show what importance was attached, in the Old Testament, to the quality of "hésed" (loving-kindness). Even the Rabbis, whose nobler teaching reflected the light of the Torah, insisted

on the superiority of the principle of "hésed" to those of

"mishpat" and "zedakah."

The same Rabbi (Eleazar), who speaks of "zedakah" as being greater than all the oblations, declares that "deeds of love (gemiluth hasadim) are greater than even 'Zedakah' (Sukkah 49b), and that the reward of 'zedakah' is only in proportion to the loving-kindness (hésed) with which it is dispensed" (Ibid).* "In three ways," the Rabbis taught, "are deeds of love (gemiluth hasadim) greater than 'zedakah.' 'Zedakah' is done only with one's money; loving-kindness, with both one's person and one's money. 'Zedakah' is bestowed only upon the poor; loving-kindness, upon both poor and rich. 'Zedakah' can be offered only to the living; loving-kindness, to both the living and the dead" (Ibid). "The bestowal of kindly deeds (gemiluth hasadim) is one of the three things on which the world is stayed (the other two being the study of the Torah and Divine worship)," teaches Simon the Just, one of the last of the Great Synagogue (3d cent. B. C.) (Aboth 1: 2).

Nor does the New Covenant of Christ repeal the law of justice and righteousness of Moses and the Prophets. "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5: 17). Under the New Covenant, "the law is to be inscribed on the heart" (Jerem. 31: 33); justice and righteousness are to be transformed into the higher principle of love which embraces all. It is to be a "righteousness which exceeds (not, which is different from) the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees" (Matt. 5: 20). Christ's special message is to the individual; the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 3—7: 27) is addressed to individuals; it is to individuals that the standard of perfection (Matt. 5: 48) is presented. Christ's teaching contains no message for Society, no social system. Why should it? Moses and the Prophets have provided for the needs of Society long before, and there was nothing to add to their Social doctrines.

Christianity owns the whole Bible, both the Old and the New Testament. The Law and the Prophets, that is, such Mosaic and Prophetic doctrines and principles as are of a universal and permanent character, form as essential a part of Christianity as does the New Testament, or the doctrines of Christ and the Apostles. For the individual Christian, Christ's law of love, or "the law of the Spirit of life" (Rom. 8: 2), is sufficient to guide his life and establish him in every good work (2 Thess. 2: 17). But Society

^*Comp. "God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinth. 9: 7).

Notes 171

and the State need the enactment of laws and ordinances to regulate the relations between one man and another, or to define the mutual duties and obligations between the individual and Society, or the State as the representative of Society. While the teaching of the New Testament should form the rule of faith and practice of the individual Christian, the doctrines of Moses and the Prophets should serve as the foundation of the civil legislation of Christian Society and the State.

For three centuries the Church's work was carried on in a Society which was bitterly antagonistic, in a State which was terribly oppressive. Society and the State were beyond the reach of the Church's power; she only had individuals for her followers, and to the individuals she could only proclaim Christ's message of Love. When, early in the fourth century, the Church gained mastery over the Roman State, Jewish Christian influence was entirely absent from the councils of the Church. The Gentile Christian leaders of the Church somehow failed to perceive that the situation has now entirely changed, that the whole empire has now become the Holy Land of Israel, all its citizens the spiritual children of Abraham. The Church had the empire at her command, but she still confined her message to the individual, leaving Society and the State to be ruled and guided by mere Roman law, instead of reconstructing both on the principle of Hebrew righteousness. Christianity has since become the religion of civilized humanity, but Society and the State in Christendom are still largely Greek and Roman, instead of Hebrew, in their principles and ideas.

It is this anomaly which makes the Jewish opponent of Christianity taunt the Church for having cultivated only the feminine virtues of love and humility, not liberty and justice. It is this sad fact which brings the reproach from the educated and observant Oriental that "you profess Christianity, but your civilization has never been Christian."* Even a devout and thoughtful Christian is "forced to admit, that after nineteen centuries of Christianity, whatever may be the case with individuals, Society at present is certainly not Christian; not Christian in its aims and methods, not Christian in its judgments."**
"Whether we are justified in disparaging the Law of Moses as we do," the Bampton Lecturer further says, "we must acknowledge that it was the high average morality of the Jews, which made Jewish life and Jewish religion the fit setting for the ethical teaching of Jesus . . . . as the starting point of what is still better, the formation of Christian character."***

How many of the bitter struggles of the past would have been avoided; how many problems of the present would find a speedy solution, if, instead of "disparaging the law of Moses," Christendom would remember and clearly understand the Master's emphatic words, "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy but to fulfill."

Note Q. Jews have been prominently identified with the modern Socialistic movement from its very inception.

***Ibid. p. 146.

^*Letters from a Chinese Official, p. 6. **Bampton Lectures, 1907, p. 107.

${\tt APPENDIX}$

THE QUOTATIONS FROM RABBINICAL LITERATURE
IN THE ORIGINAL

Appendix

THE ORIGINAL QUOTATIONS

I

• ומפני חטאינו גרינו מארצנו ונתרחקנו מעל אדמתנו... אבינו מלכנו גלה כבוד מלכותך עלינו מהרה... וקרב פּוורינו מבין הגוים... והביאנו לציון עירך ברנה ולירושלים פית מקדשך בשמחת עולם. (סדור, מוסף לשלש רגלים).
  • 2. אם איז אני לי מי לי. (פּרקי אבות א: י"ד).

H.

• 1. אני מאמין באמונה שלמה בביאת משיח, ואף על פּי שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא.
• (י"ג עקרים, י"ב).
• 2. עלינו לשפח לאדון הכל... שלא עשנו כגויי הארצות... שהם משתחוים להבל ולריק ומתפללים לאל לא יושיע... על כן נקוה לך ה' אקהינו... לתקן עולם במלכות שדי וכל פני בשר יקראו בשמך... ויקבלו כלם את על מלכותך. (סדור).
• 3. אתה בהרתנו מכל העמים, אהבת אותנו ורצית בנו. ורוממתנו מכל הכשונות. (סדור, הפלה לשלש רגלים).

111.

5. אמר לו ר' יהושע, אם אין עושין תשובה אין נגאלים? אלא הקב״ה מעמיד להם מכך שגזרותיו קשות כהמן, וישראל עושין תשובה ומחזירן למוטב. (סנהד. צ"ז, ב).

IV.

הגליונין וכפרי מינין אין מצילין אותן מפּני הדליקה, Note B. אלא נשרפין במקומן הן ואזכרותיהן. ר׳ יוסי אומר בחול קודר את האזכרות שבהן וגונזן, והשאר שורפן. אמר ר' מרפון אקפח את בני. שאם יבאו לידי שאני שורף אותן ואת האזכרות שבהן.

(שבת, קט"ז, א).

ספר תורה שכתבו מין ישרף, כתבו נכרי יגנז. נמצא ביד מין יגנז, נמצא ביד נכרי, אמרי לה יננז ואמרי לה קורין בו.

(ניטין, מ"ה, ב).

הוה ההוא פילוסופא בשבבותיה (דרבן גמכיאל)... אמר ליה, מן יומא דגליתון מארעכון איתנטלית אורייתא רמשה ואיתיהיבת ספרא אחריתי... למהר... אמר להו שפילית לסיפיה דספרא וכתיב ביה, 'אגא לא למיפחת מן אורייתא דמשה אתיתי, אלא (ולא) לאוספי על אורייתא דמשה אתיתי'. (שבת, קט"ז).

. את צמח דוד עבדך מהרה תצמיח וקרנו תרום בישועתף 3. (שמונה עשרה).

V.

2. רדמיה כנסת ישראל ליונה, שנאמר יכנפי יונה נחפה בכסף (תהלים, ס"ח: י"ד). מה יונה זו כנפיה מגינות עליה, אף ישראל מצות מנינות עליהן. (שבת, ק"ל, א).

VI

אמר ר' יוחנן, כל הנביאים לא נתנבאו אלא לימות המשיח. (ברכות ל"ד, ב; שבת ס"ג, א; סנהד. צ"ט, א).

ושאבתם מים בששון ממעיני הישועה. (ישעי' י"ב, ג'); תרגום יהונתן: ותקבלון אולפן חדת בחדוא מבחירי צדיקיא.

לעתיד לבוא, הקב"ה יושב ודורש תורה חדשה שעתיד ליתן על ידי המשיח. (ילקום, ישעיה כו, רצו).

ר' חזמִיה בשם ר' סימון בר זבדי אמר, כל התורה שאת למד בעולם הזה הבל הוא לפני תורה שבעולם הבא (של משיח). (קהלת רבה, ב, א, על הפסוק 'נתתי את תורתי בקרבם', ירמיה ל"א, ל"ב).

אמר ר' אבין בר כהנא, אמר הקב"ה 'תורה חדשה מאתי תצא' (תורה מאתי תצא, ישעיה נ"א, ד), חדוש תורה מאתי תצא. אמר

ר׳ ברכיה בשם ר׳ יצחק, אריסטון עתיד הקב״ה לעשות לעבדיו הצדיקים לעתיד לבא, וכל מי שלא אכל נבלות וטרפות בעוה״ז, זוכה לראותו לעוה״ב. (ויקרא רבה יג. ג.)

יה' מתיר אסורים' (תהלים קמו, ז), כל הבהמה שנטמאת בעוה"ז, מטהר אותה הק"בה לעתיר לבוא, וכן הוא אומר, 'מה שהיה הוא שיהיה ומה שנעשה הוא שיעשה' (ההלת א, מ); מהורים היו מקודם לבני נח, וכן הוא אומר להן, כירק עשב נתתי לכם את כל' (בראשית ט, ג); מה ירק עשב נתתי לכל, אף החיה והבהמה לכל. מתחלה ולמה אסר אותה? לראות מי שמקבל דבריו ומי אינו מקבל, ולעתיר לבוא הוא מתיר את כל מה שאסר,

(מדרש תהלים, קמו).

ומהו 'מתיר אסורים' ? אין איסור נדול מן הנדה...ולעתיד לבוא הוא מתירה, (שם).

וכעוה"ב שכל המועדים יהיו בטלין, וימי הפורים לא יהיו נבטלים...אף ימי הכפורים אינן בטלין, (מדרש משלי מ')

כל המועדים יהיו בטלים, וימי הפורים לא נבטלים.

(יוצר לפּרשת זכור).

אמר ר' יוסף מצוות בטלות לעתיד לבא, (נדה סא, ב),

אמר ר' ברכיה, אמר הקב"ה לישראל, אתם אמרתם לפני,
ייתומים חיינו ואין אב' (איכה ה, ג), אף גואל שאני עתיד להעמיד
מכם אין לו אב; שנאמר, 'הנה איש צמח שמו, ומתחתיו יצמח'
(זכריה ו, יב); וכן אמר ישעיה, 'ויעל כיונק לפניו וכשרש מארץ
ציה' (נג, ב); ועליו אמר דוד, מרחם משחר לך טל ילדותך (תהלים
קי, ג). (מדרש של ר' משה הדרשן, בראשית לו' כב).

יותקרא את שמו שת, כי שת לי אלהים זרע אחר' (ב ראשית ד, בה); ר' תנחומא בשם ר' שמואל אמר, נסתכלה באותו זרע שהוא בא ממקום אחר, ואי זה? זה מלך המשיח. (בראשיתרבה בג,ז). ר' תנחומא משום ר' שמואל, ונחיה מאבינו זרע' (בראשית ימ, לב): 'ונהיה מאבינו בו' איז בתיב באו אלא זרע, אותו זרע שהוא ימ, לב): 'ונהיה מאבינו בו' איז בתיב באו אלא זרע, אותו זרע שהוא

בא ממקום אתר. ואיזה? זה מכך המשיח (בראשית רבה נא, י).

אמר ר' יהושע בן לוי...הקב״ה בדבר שהוא מכה בו מרפא. וכן אתה מוצא בישראל בדבר שהכם בו בדבר רפאם. הטאו בבתולה 'ושם עיטו דדי בתוליהן' (יחזקאל כג, ג), ולקו בבתולה, 'נשים בציון ענו, בתולות בערי יהודה' (איכה ה, יא), ומנהמם בבתולה, שנאמר, 'שובי בתולת ישראל...כי ברא ה' תרשה בארץ, נקבה תסובב גבר' (ירמיה לא, כ—כא). ר' הונא בשם ר' אידי אמר, זה מלךהמשיח, שנאמר בו, 'בני אתה אני היום ילדתיך (תהלים ב' ז), (מדרש של ר' משה הדרשן, בראשית מא, א).

וכד תיתי שעתיה (של מלף המשיח), אומר הקב״ה, עלי לבראתו בריה חדשה, וכן הוא אומר, 'אני היום ילדתיף, (תהלים פ' ז). (מדרש תהלים, ב).

עתידין אבות העולם לעמוד בניסן ואומרים לו, משיח צדקנו, אף על פּי שאנו אבותיך, אתה מוב ממנו שסבלת עונות בנינו (ישעיה נג, יא), ועברו עליך מדות קשות ורעות, מה שלא עברו על הראשונים ועל האחרונים...וישבת בחשך ואפילה ועיניך לא ראו אור, וצפר עורך על עצמך, וגופך היה יבש בעץ...וכחף יבש כהרס (תהלים כב, מז), וכל אלו מפני עונות בנינו. רצונך יהנו בנינו מטובה זו שהשפיע הקב״ה על ישראל? שמא בשביל צער שצערת עליהם ביותר, וחבשוף בבית האסורים, אין דעתך נוחה מהם?—אמר להם, ביותר, וחבשוף בכית האסורים, אין דעתך נוחה מהם?—אמר להם, אבות העולם, כל מה שעשיתי לא עשיתי אלא בשבילכם ובשביל בניכם, שיהנו מטובה זו שהשפיע הקב״ה על ישראל.

(ילקום ישעיה, ם, שנם).

התחיל הקב"ה מתנה עמו; אמר לו, הללו שגנוזים אצלך, עונותיהם עתידים להכניסך בעול ברזל...ובעונותיהם של אלו עתיד לשונך להדבק בחכך, רצונך בכך? אמר משיח לפני הקב"ה, רבונו של עולם, שמא אותו צער שנות רבות הם? אמר לו הקב"ה, הייף וחיי ראשף, שבוע גזרתי עליך (דניאל מ, כז), אם הקב"ה, הייף וחיי ראשף, שבוע גזרתי עליך (דניאל מ, כז), אם נפשך עצבה, אני מורדן מעכשיו. אמר לפניו, רבש"ע, בנילת לכי

ובשמחת לבי אני מקבל עלי, על מנת שלא יאבד אחד מישראל. ולא חיים בלבד יושעו בימי, אלא אף אותם שגנוזין בעפר; ולא מתים בלבד יושעו בימי, אלא אף אותם מתים שמתו מימות אדם מתים בלבד יושעו בימי, אלא אף אותם מתים שמחו מימות אדם הראשון עד עכשיו; ולא אלו בלבד, אלא אף נופלים יושעו בימי; ולא נופלים בלבד, אלא אף מי שעלתה על דעתך להבראות ולא נבראו. בך אני רוצה, בכך אני מקבל. (שם).

(1) אמר ר' יוסי הגלילי, צא ולמד זכות של מלך המשיח ושכרם של צדיקים מאדם הקדמוני שלא נצטווה אלא מצוה אחת בלא תעשה ועבר עליה; ראה במה וכמה מתות נקנסו לו ולדורותיו ולדורותיו ולדורותיו עד סוף כל הדורות. זכי איזה מדה מרובה, מדת הטוב או מדת הפורעניות? הוה אומר, מדת הטוב מרובה ומדת הפורעניות מועטה. ומלך המשיח המתענה והמצמער בעד הפושעים, שנאמר 'והוא מחולל מפשעינו' (ישעיה נג, ה'), על אחת כמה וכמה שיזכה לכל הדורות כולן. הדא הוא דכתיב, 'וה' הפגיע בו את עון ככנו' (ישעיה נג, ו), (ספרי).

לכן, כאשר החטא עלה בארץ עלדידי אדם אחד, והמות בא לרגלי החטא, כן פגע המות בכל פני אדם, באשר כלם חטאו... אפס כי אין ערך הפשע כערך החסד. כי אם בפשע אחד מתו רבים, כמה פעמים יתר על המדה יועיל לרבים חסד אלהים ומתנת ידו על פי חסד... המשיח... לכן כאשר בפשע איש אחד נשפטו כל בני אדם ויאשמו, כן גם בצדקת איש אחד יזכו כל בני אדם לחיי אדם ויאשמו, כן גם בצדקת איש אחד יזכו כל בני אדם לחיי צדקה. (רומיים ה' יב, מו, יח).

(2) ר' יוסי אמר אם נפשך לידע מתן שכרם של צדיהים לעתיד לבוא, צא ולמד מאדם הקדמוני שלא נצטווה אלא מצוה אחת בּלא תעשה ועבר עליה. ראה כמה מיתות נקנסו לו ולדורותיו ולדורות דורותיו עד סוף דורותיו, וכי איזה מידה מרובה, מידת הטובה או מידת פורענות? הוי אומר מידת הטובה. אם מידת פורענות מועטת הרי כמה מיתות נקנסו לו ולדורותיו ולדורות דורותיו עד סוף כל הדורות. השב מן הפגול ומן הנותר (ויקרא ים, ו-1)

ו המתעגה ביום הכפורים על אחת כמה וכמה שיזכה לו ולדורותיו ולדורות דורותיו עד סוף כל הדורות, (ספרא, וויען, 1862, כז, א).

(3) ר' יוסי אומר, אם נפשך לידע מתן שברן של צדיקים, צא ולמד מאדם הראשון שנצמווה על מצוה אחת בלא תעשה ועבר עליה. נמה מיתות נקנסו עליו ועל בניו ועל בני ביתו עד סוף כל הדורות. כמה מיתות נקנסו עליו ועל בניו ועל בני ביתו עד סוף כל הדורות. וכי איזה מדה מרובה, מדת הפורענות שהיא מדת הטוב מרובה ממדת הפורענות. ומה אם מדת המקיים א ת מועטה כך נקנסה בה מיתה עד סוף כל הדורות, ה מ קיים א ת ה מ צוות על אחת כמה וכמה שיזכה לו ולדורותיו ולדורות דרותיו עד סוף כל הדורות.

(מדרש הגדול טו, א; שעכטער, קימברידש, 1902).

יורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים׳ (בראשית א, ב), זה רוחו טל מלך המשיח. (בראשית רבה ב, ה; ה, א; ויקרא רבה יד, א).

מהו 'באורך נראה אור', (תהלים לו, י)? זה אורו של משיח; שנאמר, 'וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב' (בראשית א, ד). מלמד שצפה הקב"ה בדורו של משיח ובמעשיו קודם שנברא העולם וגנזו למשיח ולדורו תחת כסא הכבוד שלו. אמר שמן לפני הקב"ה, רבונו של עולם, אור שגנוז תחת כסא כבוד שלך למי? אמר לו, למי שהוא עתיד להחזירך ולהכלימך בבושת פנים. אמר לו, רבש"ע, הראהו לי. אמר לו, בואו וראה אותו, וכיוון שראה אותו נזדעוע ונפל על פניו; אמר בודאי זהו משיח שעתיד להפיל לי ולכל האומות בגיהנם. (ילקום ישעיה, ם, שנם).

מי אתה הר הגדול לפני זרבבל למישור' (זכריה ד, ז), זה משיה בן דוד. ולמה נקרא שמו 'הר הגדול', שהוא גדול מן האבות. שנאמר 'הנה ישכיל עבדי ירום ונשא וגבה מאד' (ישעיה נב, יג)... ירום מאברהם, שנאמר 'הרמותי ידי אל ה'' (בראשית יד, כב), ונשא ממשה, שאמר 'כי תאמר אלי שאהו בחיקף' (במדבר, יא, יב), וגבה ממלאכי השרת, שנאמר 'ונבתם מלאות עינים' (יחזקאל א, יח). ממלאכי השרת, תולדות, יד).

משה אין בישראל גדול ממנו... מי גדול ממשה שלא נתעסק בו אלא הקב"ה. (סוטה ט, ב).

יוענותך תרבניי (תהלים יח, לו). רי יודן בשם רי חמא אמר לעתיד לבוא הקב"ה מושיב מכך המשיח לימינו; שנאמר, 'נאם ה' לאדני, שב לימיני' (תחלים קי, א). (מדרש תהלים, יח).

כתוב אחד אומר, 'כרסיה שביבין די־נור' וכתוב אחד אומר, עד כי כרסון רמיו ועתיק יומין יתב' (דניאל ז, ט)? – לא קשיא, אחד לו ואחד לדור; כדתניא, אחד לו ואחד לדוד, דברי ר' עקיבא. (חגינה יד, א; סנהדרין לח, ב).

13. אמר ר' יהודה אמר רב, עתיד הקב״ה להעמיד להם דוד אחר, שנאמר, 'ועבדו את ה' אלהיהם ואת דוד מלכם אשר אסים להם' (ירמיה ל, ם); 'הקים' לא נאמר, אלא 'אקים'. (סנהדרין צח, ב).

מה שמו של מלך המשיח? ר' אבא בר כהנא אמר, ה' שמו' שנאמר 'ווה שמו אשר יקראו, ה' צדקנו'. (ירמי' כג, ו).

מדרש איכה, א, נו).

יקורא למלך המשיח על שמו. ומה שמו? 'ה' איש מלחמה' (שמות מו, ג); ומלך המשיח, 'ווה שמו אשר יקראו, ה' צדקנו'.

(מדרש תהלימ רא)

ר' יוחנן אמר, לא אברי עלמא אלא למשיח. מה שמו?

דבי ר' שילא אמרי 'שילה' שמו, שנאמר 'עד כי יבוא שילה'
(בראשית מט, י). —דבי ר' ינאי אמרי 'ינון' שמו, שנאמר 'יהי שמו
לעולם, לפני שמש 'ינון' שמו' (תהלים עב, יו). —דבי ר' חנינא אמרי
'הנינה' שמו; שנאמר 'אשר לא אתן לכם חנינה' (ירמי' טו, יג).

—ייש אומרים 'מנחם' שמו, שנאמר, 'כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב
נפשי' (איכה א, טו). —ורבנן אמרי 'חיוורא דבי רבי' שמו; שנאמר,
'אכן חלינו הוא נשא ומכאובינו סבלם, ואנחנו חשבנוהו 'נגוע', מכה
אלהים ומענה' (ישעי' ננ, ד). (סנהדרין צח, ב).

אמר ההוא מינאה לרבאידית, כתיב 'ואל משה אמר עלה אל חי' שמות כד, א), 'עלה אלי' מבעי ליה ? —אמר לו, זהו מטמרון ששמו) כשם רבו; דכתיב 'כי שמי בקרבו' (כג, כא). אי הכי, ניפלחו ליה?—כתיב 'אל תמר בו' (שם), 'אָל תמירנו בּו'. אם כן 'לא ישא לפשעכם' (שם) למה לי? אמר לו, הימנותא בירן, דאפילו בפרוונקא נמי לא קבילניה, דכתיב 'ויאמר אליו אם אין פּניך הולכים אל תעלנו מזה' (לג, מו). (סנהדרין לח, ב).

רש"י :—הימנותא בידן שאין בו כח לשאת פשעינו, ואנו נמי (משמנוה ומיאנו לקבלו אפילו בפרוונקא, שליח מוציא ומוביא)

אוהר בדברי סופרים יותר מדברי תורה... שכל Note F. הנובר על דברי סופרים חייב מיתה. (עירובין כא, ב).

דרש ר' שלמאי, תרי"ג מצות נאמרו לו למשה, שם"ה לאוין במנין ימות החמה, ורמ"ח עשה כנגד אבריו של אדם...בא דוד והעמידו על אחת עשרה: דכתיב (תהלים טו):

'ה' מי יגור באהלך, מי ישכן בהר קדשך ? א) הוקף תמים ב ופועל צדק, ג) ודובר אמת בלבכו. ד) כא רגל על לשנו, ה) לא עשה לרעהו רעה, ו) וחרפה לא נשא על קרבו, ז) נבזת בעיניו נמאס, ח) ואת יראי ה' יכבד, ט) נשבע כהרע ולא ימיר, י) כספו לא-נתן בנשך, יא) ושהד על-נקי לא לקה, עשה אלה לא ימוט לעוקם'.

באַ ישעיה והעמידן על שש; דכתיב, א) 'הלדְּ צדקות, ב) ודובר מישרים, ג) מאם בבצע מעשקות, ד) נער כפיו מתמדְ בשחד, ה) אטם אזנו משמע דמים, ו) ועצם עיניו מראות ברע, הוא מרומים ישכן'. (ישעי' לג, מו—מז).

בא מיכה והעמידן על שלש, דכתיב, 'הגיד לך אדם מה־טוב ומה
ה' דורש ממך; כי אם א) עשות משפט, ב) ואהבת חסר, ג) והצנע
לכת עם אלהיך. (מיכה ו, ח). חזר ישעיה, והעמידן על שתים,
שנאמר, 'כה אמר ה' א) שמרו משפט, ב) ועשו צדקה', (ישעי' נו,א).
בא עמוס והעמידן על אחת; שנאמר, 'כה אמר ה' לבית ישראל,
א) דכשוני וחנו' (עמוס ה. ד). מספים לה ה' נחמי רב יצחה. אומא

יררשוני' בעל התורה כולה? אלא בא חבקוק והעמידן על אחת; שנאמר, 'וצדיק באמונתו יהיה' (חבקוק ב, יד). (מכות, כד, א).

מעשה בעכו"ם אחד שבא לפני שמאי, אמר לו גיירני על מנת שתלמדני כל התורה כלה כשאני עומד על רגל א'. דחפו באמת הבנין שבידו, בא לפני הלל, גייריה; אמר לו 'דעלך סני לחברך לא תעביד', זו היא כל התורה כולה, ואידך פירושה הוא זיל גמור. (שבת לא, א).

VIII.

תרגום יהונתן: ועתידין הנון למעבד שפיותא Note G. עקבא, ביומי מלכא משיחא. (בראש׳ ג, מו).

תרגום ירושלמי: ברם עתידין אנון אלין לאלין למעבד שפיותא בעקבא, בסוף עקב יומיא, ביומי דמלכא משיחא (שם).

תרגום אונקלוס: עד דייתי משיחא דדיליה היא מלכותא וליה ישתמעוז עממיא (בראשית מט, י).

תרגום יונתן: עד זמן דייתיֶ מלכא משיחא, זעיר בגוי, ובדיכיה יתימסון עממיא. (שם).

תרגום ירושלמי: עד זמן דייתי מלכא משיחא דדידיה הוא מלכותא, וליה עתידין דישתעבדון כל מלכותא דארעא. "עד כי יבא שילה' (בראש' מט, י) זה מלך המשיח, (בראשית רבה, צח, יג); 'ולו יקהת עמים' (שם), מי שאומות העולם מתקהלין עליו; שנאמר, 'שרש ישי אשר עומד לנס עמים, אליו גוים ידרושו' (ישעיה יא, י).

(בראשית רבה צט, י).

תרנום אונקלום: כד יקום מלכא מיעקב ויתרבא משיחא מישראל (במדבר כד, יז).

תרגום יונתן: כד ימלוך מליך תהיף מדבית יעקב, ויהרבי משיחא ושבט תקיף מישראל, (שם).

משיח בן דור שעתיד להגלות במ'הרה בימינו, אומר לו הקב"ה, שאל ממני דבר ואתן לך'; שנאמר 'שאל ממני ואתנה גוים נחלתך', תהקים ב, ח). כיוון שראה משיח בן יוסף שנהרג, אומר לפניו, רפש"ע, איני מבקש ממך אלא חיים. אמר לו חיים עד שלא אמרת; בבר התנפא עליף דוד אביך; שנאמר, 'חיים שאל ממך, נתת לו ארף ימים' (תהכים כא, ה). (סוכה נב, א).

ינשקו בר פּן ינאף' (תהכים ב, יב), הנה 'עבדוּ את ה'' כננד 'עכ ה' ו'נשקו פר' נגד 'על משיחו'. והנה מכת 'בר' כמו 'מה ברי ומה בר בטני' (משלי לא, ב); וכן כתיב 'פני אתה וכו''. (אבן עזרא).

יואל הבקר רץ אברהם' (בראשית יח, ז), חייך, שאני פורע לבניך... לעתיד לבוא. מנין? שנאמר, יוהיה ביום ההוא יחיה איש עגלת בקר' (ישע'ה ז, כא), (בראשית רבה מה, י).

3. תרגום יונתן: ארי רבי אתיליד לנא... ואתקרי שמו מן קדם, מפליא עצא, אלהא גברא, קים לעלמיא, משיחא דשלמא יסגי עלגא ביומוהי (ישעי' ט, ה).

מלך המשיח שכתוב בו, 'כי ילד ילד לנו' (ישעי' ט, ה)

(דברים רבה א, יו).

תרגם יונתן: מנך קדמי יפוק משיחא, למהוי עביר שולטן על ישראל, די שמיה אמיר מלקדמין מיומי עלמיא, (מיכה ה, א).

בר' עקיבא שהיה דורש 'עוד אחת מעט היא ואני מרעיש את השמים ואת הארץ וכ'ו'. (חגי ב, ו--ו). (סנהדרין צו, ב).

אמר ר' עזרי' מדבר בישועה העומדת לבוא, כשהנביא אומר לישראל, 'עוד אחת מעט היא, ואני מרעיש את השמים ואת הארץ וכו'' (חני ב, ו—ז). (דברים רבה א, כ).

אי אל משיח בן יוסף שנחרג, היינו דכתיב 'והביטו אלי את אשר ... דקרו, וספדו עליו כמספד על היחיד' (זכריה יב, י). (סוכה גב, א).

ר' גמליאל ור' אליעזר בן עזריא, ור' יהושע ורבי Note H. עקיבא היו עולין לירושלים. . . כיוון שהגיעו להר הבית, ראו שועל שיצא מבית קדשי הקדשים. התחילו הן בוכין ור' עקיבא מצחק. אמרו לו מפני מה אתח מצחק? אמר להם, מפני מה אתם בוכין? אמרו לו, מקום שכתיב בו, 'והזר הקרב יומת' (במדבר א, נא) ועכשיו 'שועלים הולכים בו' (איבה ה, יא) ולא נפכה? אמר להם

לכף אני מצחק... עד שלא נתקיימה נכואתו של אוריה 'לכן כגללכם ציון שדה תחרש וירושלים עיין תהיה, והר הבית לבמות יער' (מיכה נ' יב; ירמיה כו, יח), הייתי מתיירא שלא תתקיים נבואתו של זכריה, 'עוד ישבו זקנים זזקנות ברחובות ירושלים... ורחובות העיר ימלאו ילדים ויכדות משחקים ברחובותיה' (זכריה ה, ד—ה). עכשיו שנתקיימה נבואתו של אוריה, בידוע שנבואתו של זכריה מתקיימת. אמרו לו, עקיבא ניחמתנו, עקיבא ניחמתנו. (מכות כד, ב).

IX.

. הגיע זמנה של מלכות רומי שתכלה, Note J הגיע זמנה של מלכות שמים שתגלה.

שיר השירים רבה ב, כט).

X

מרגלא בפומיה דרב, לא כעוה"ז העוה"ב. העוה"ב אין בו לא אכילה ולא שתיה, ולא פריה ורביה, ולא משא ומתן, ולא קנאה ולא שנאה, ולא תחרות; אלא צדיקים יושבים ועטרותיהם בראשיהם ונהנים מזיו השכינה. (ברכות יז, א).

XI.

2. תרגום: תרין פריקיף דעתידין למפרקיף, משיח בר דור משיח בר אפרים. (שיר השירים ז, ד).

XII.

1, אבא שאול אומר, 'ואנוהו' (שמות מו, ב) הוי דומה לו: מה הוא זנון ורחום (שמות לד, ו), אף אתה היה חנון ורחום. (שבת, קלג, ב). XIII.

ר' אליעזר אומר, אם ישראל עושין תשובה ננאלין, ואם לאו אין נגאלים, שנאמר. ישובו בנים שובבים, ארפא משובותיכםי (ירמיה ג. כב); ׳שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם׳ (מלאכי ג, ז). אמר לו ר׳ יהושע אם אין עושין תשובה אין נגאלים? אלא הסב״ה מעמיד לחם מלך שנזרותיו קשות כהמן, וישראל עושין תשובה ומחזירן למומב. (סנהדריו צז. ב).

2. דאמר ר' חלבו, קשים גרים לישראל כספחת; דכתיב 'ונלוה

הגר עליהם ונספחו על בית יעקבי (ישעיה יד, א). (יבמות מז, ב; קמ∙ ב; קרושין ע, ב; נדה יג, ב).

רעה אחר רעה תבא למקבלי נרים. (יבמות קט; בּ)

. ר' שמעון אומר, כל ישראל בני מלכים הם. Note P.

(שבת קכת, א).

שמעון הצדיק היה משירי כנסת הגדולה. הוא היה אומר, על שלשה דברים העולם עומד, על התורה ועל העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים. (אבות א, ב).

אמר ר' אלעזר, גדול העושה צדקה יותר מכל הקרבנות, שנאמר 'עשה צדקה ומשפט נבחר לה' מזבח' (משלי בא, ג). ואמר ר' אלעזר, גדולה גמילות חסדים יותר מן הצדקה, שנאמר 'זרעו לכם לצדקה, וקצרו לפי חסד' (הושע י, יב). אם אדם זורע ספק אוכל, ספק אינו אוכל, אדם קוצר וראי אוכל. ואמר ר' אלעזר, אין צדקה משתלמת אלא לפי חסד שבה, שנאמר 'זרעו לכם לצדקה וקצרו לפי חסדי. תנו רבנן בשלשה דברים גדולה נמילות חסדים יותר מן הצדקה: צדקה בממונו, גמילות חסדים בין בגופו בין בממונו; צדקה לעניים, גמילות חסדים בין לעתים: צדקה לחיים. נמילות חסדים בין למתים. (סוכה מט, ב).

רשאין בני העיר להתנות על המדות ועל חשערים ועל שכר פועלים, ולהסיע על קיצתן. (בבא בתרא ח: ב).

אמר מר זוטרא, אפילו עני המתפרנס מן הצדקח, יעשה צדקה, אמר מר זוטרא, אפילו עני המתפרנס מן

רבא אכפיה לר' נתן כר אמי ושקיל מיניה ד' מאה זוני לצדקה. (בבא פתרא ח, ב; כתובות מט, ב).

תנו רבנן, קופה של צדקה נגבית בשנים ומתחקקת בשלשה... תמחוי נגבית בשלשה ומתחלקת בשלשה... תמחוי בכל יום, קופה מערב שבת לערב שבת; תמחוי לעניי עוכם, קופה לעניי העיר.

(בָבא בתרא ה. בּ).

Index to Biblical References

Index to Rabbinical References

Miscellaneous References