David Baron

“ Yet once again, before the curtain finally falls on this prophetic drama, we hear the shout of happy Israel, and this time they acclaim their Deliverer not only as coming " in the name of Jehovah," but as Jehovah Himself.
The twenty-seventh verse reads literally thus :
" El (the Mighty One) is Jehovah, And He hath shined upon us ! "
" Great is the mystery of Godliness, God manifest in the flesh!" ”

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shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for unclean- ness."
Now, imagine Israel, at that time overwhelmed with the sense of God's marvellous grace in their deliverance, joining together in this glorious song of praise and triumph :
" O give thanks (or literally ' confess ') unto Jehovah ; for He is
good :
For His mercy endureth for ever. Let Israel now say, That His mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, That His mercy endureth for ever. ”

“ What has become of those celebrated empires whose very name still excites our admiration by the idea of splendid greatness attached to them, and whose power embraced the whole surface of the known globe ? They are only remembered as monuments of the vanity of human greatness. Rome and Greece are no more ; their descendants, mixed with other nations, have lost even the traces of their origin ”

“ Not the Sabbath, or Lord's Day, is here meant, in which sense the passage is sometimes quoted, but the great Day of Israel's national deliverance and conversion so full of momentous issues to the world the day of joy which will succeed their present long night of dark- ness and sorrow the day appointed by Jehovah, in which the nation " shall be born " into true spiritual life, and rejoice and be glad in their long rejected Messiah, " with joy unspeakable and full of glory." ”

“ There will be at first, as compared with the whole nation, only a representative minority in Palestine, and a Jewish state will be formed probably under Turkish suzerainty. The nucleus of this politi- cally dependent Jewish state is already to be seen in the 120,000 Jews who have wandered back from all regions of the earth to the land of their fathers. Already Jerusalem is almost a Jewish city, while the thirty and more Jewish colonies 2 which dot the land "are so many milestones marking the advance which Israel is making toward national rehabilitation." ”

“ But when He was manifested to Israel, and when they should have welcomed Him with shouts of joyous acclamation, the " builders " those pharisaic and sadducean priests and lawyers who looked for earthly pomp and grandeur of which they saw none in Christ " despised " Him, and said, " We will not have this man to rule over us," and the words of Isaiah have been literally fulfilled : "He was despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ; and as one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." ”

“ Braving all kinds of torments the pangs of death, and still more terrible pangs of life we have with- stood the impetuous storm of time, sweeping indiscri- minately in its course, nations, religions, and countries. ”

“ The people might cry " Hosanna ! Blessed be the Kingdom of our father David that cometh in the Name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! " (Mark xi. 9-10) ; but He knew full well that " the Kingdom " they were expecting was not like the one He then came to inaugurate, and that before that part of the Hallel could be fulfilled the stone must first be despised by the " builders," and Israel must in consequence be left for a long time in desolation and sorrow, until, in brokenness of heart, they return and " seek Jehovah their God and David their King." ”

“ Though it is the shortest psalm in the collection, it is most comprehensive. It is a psalm for Israel, yet it is universal and cosmopolitan, embracing in its scope " all nations and peoples," so that in the Epistle to the Romans it forms part of the Apostle's argument that Gentiles too are called upon to glorify God for His mercy. It is a thoroughly evangelical psalm, for it sings of grace and truth ; it is a beautiful psalm of praise, for it begins with a Hallelujah and ends with a Hallelujah, and there is a third fervent call to praise in between. ”

“ Thirdly, we have the ever-growing Reformed section, of which the Jewish philosopher, Moses Men- delssohn, who was born in Dessau, Prussia, in 1729, is generally regarded as the father. This division includes Jews of very diverse opinions, ranging from those who only reject the traditions of the Rabbis, to those who have thrown overboard all revealed religion, and are avowedly rationalistic if not infidel.
The strongholds of Reformed Judaism are Germany, Austria-Hungary, and America, though their "Temples" are multiplying even in Russia and Chassidic Galicia. ”

“ It seems from Scripture that in relation to Israel and the land, there will be a restoration, before the Second Advent of our Lord, of the state of things as they existed at the time of His First Advent, when the threads of God's dealings with them nationally were finally dropped, not to be taken up again "until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled." ”

“ Among the millennial nations there will be differences and distinctions even as regard their relationship to God ; thus not only will Israel be the priests of the Lord to the other nations, but even Egypt and Assyria, &c., are to occupy positions different from the rest of mankind (Isa. xix. 24, 25) , while it is the peculiar glory of the Church that in that holy congrega- tion, composed of individuals of every nationality, "there is no difference," for there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ”

“ First, there are the ordinary Talmudical or Con- servative Jews, embracing by far the largest part of the whole nation, and answering in many respects to the Pharisees in the days of Christ. Of most of these it may be said that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They still cling to and are buoyed up in all times of persecution and suffering, by the hope of the speedy coming of the long looked-for Messiah, and a restoration to their own land. Their education is purely religious, or "Jewish." ”

“ Beautiful upon the mountains " will be the feet of Jewish evangelists, with souls fired with love to the once despised Jesus, bringing " good tidings," publishing peace to the nations, who will name them " priests of Jehovah and ministers of our God " (Isa. Ixi. 6) , and the result will be that " many peoples shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths ; for out of Zion 1 The word is the same as in our psalm. ”

“ The history of our people connects present times with the first ages of the world, by the testimony it bears to the existence of those early periods. It begins at the cradle of man- kind; it is likely to be preserved to the very day of universal destruction. ”

“ As the Talmudic and Chassidic Jews may be said to be the representatives of the Pharisees of the time of Christ, so these Reformed Jews are in true succession of Sadducees, as may be gathered from the following Con- fession of Faith, or rather of unbelief, drawn up in 1888 by Dr. Krauskopf, head of the "Reformed" Jewish Community of Philadelphia : " We discard the belief in a God who is man magnified, who has his abode some- where in the interstellar spaces. We discard the belief that the Bible was written by God, and that its teachings are therefore infallible. ”

“ But we may be sure that the great Master Worker, who has us in hand, gives not one unnecessary blow with the hammer, or one needless cut with the chisel, " for He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." ”

“ Reichman, colporteur of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Czernowitz, who came with us, made our way first of all to the palace, and the splendid private synagogue of the Rabbi, which stands opposite to it. The Rabbi, we found on inquiry, was still at his morning prayers, all by himself in a room adjoining the synagogue, but we might see the eldest son and future Zadik in the Beth-hammedrash. ”

“ Not as though the Word of God has proved of none effect, for the number of God's elect are being gathered, but it is reserved for repentant Israel in the future to " declare the works of Jehovah " on a scale and in a manner such as the world has not known before. ”

“ There was at that time a number of Jews in Palestine representative of the nation, but compared with the number of their brethren, who were already a diaspora among the nations, they were a mere minority, and those not in a politically independent condition. ”

“ It is the lesson above all others, which God desires to teach us through all His dealings with us : it is the truth which Israel will learn when they are at last brought to an end of themselves, and experience to the full the bitter disappointment of misplaced confidence in man.
In times past they always sought an arm of flesh to lean on, and when national danger threatened "they called to Egypt, they went to Assyria" (Hosea vii. n) and trusted in their own strength, or in human alliances ; but in that day Israel will say : " Assur shall not save us ”

“ The right hand of Jehovah is exalted : The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly."
The " right hand," which is a figure for energetic interposition, united to the almighty " arm," which in Scripture is the emblem of effectual power that carries through the thing designed, may well be used as a title of the Messiah, who is God's visible executive power in delivering His people, and in executing vengeance on the nations. ”

“ To the Chassid, the Zadik, or miracle-working Rabbi, is the same as the Pope to the bigoted Roman Catholic.
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Many will sell all they have and undergo all sorts of privation in order to make a pilgrimage to the man whom they believe to stand in the nearest possible relationship to God. To get the Rabbi's blessing is worth more to them than the whole world.
There is nothing in a Chassid's estimation which the Zadik cannot attain by his prayers, and many are the books which contain the records of the miracles which he works. ”

“ O Jehovah, we beseech Thee send now prosperity. Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of Jehovah." The meaning of which prayer is : Oh, let Thy people " now " at last enter into the spiritual " salvation," and the whole land into the outward " prosperity " which Thou hast long promised to charac- terise the blessed reign of Messiah over His people Israel. ”

“ In this classification I have not included the black Fallashas in Abyssinia, whose origin and history are subjects of great uncertainty, and who religiously cannot be included in the category enumerated above, inasmuch as they observe a sacrificial cult based on the law of Moses, ignoring the fact that, apart from the valueless- ness of any sacrificial system now that the great Anti- type has appeared, it is enjoined in that very law to which they seem to cleave, that the divinely appointed sanctuary in Jerusalem is the only place where sacrifices can be offered ”

“ Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto Thee ; Thou art my God, and I will exalt Thee ! "
I have left out part of the twenty-seventh verse, which needs explanation. They are the words :
" Bind the sacrifice with cords, Even up to the horns of the altar."
The word " chag," primarily meaning " feast," and here translated "sacrifice," describes the special sac- rificial offerings at the great feasts, and the word in the original translated " unto " cannot mean " on " or "to," but " up to " or " until," " the horns of the altar" ”

“ They are ascetic in practice, and their particular tenets are " that purity and holiness, and not learning or knowledge of the Talmud, is the great requisite for obtaining a high spiritual life, and that the Holy Spirit operates still through certain chosen vehicles called Zadikim (righteous ones) , who are endowed with miraculous gifts, and who are particularly qualified to be media- tors between God and their believing disciples." ”

“ Those who endeavour to introduce into the Church a sacrificial ritual and a priesthood distinct from the great assembly of God's redeemed people, are either going back to the " weak and beggarly elements " of the law, and are two thousand years behind time, or they anticipate the millennium, when such a priesthood will again be introduced. In either case the system is out of time and out of place, for even the millennium can present no parallel to the Church of this dispensation. Then God will deal with nations as nations, but the ”

“ Ixxxix. 1 8, 'For with Jehovah is our Shield, and with the Holy One of Israel is our King,' and below, in a straight line, are the words, ' For Jehovah God is a Sun and Shield.'
" We could not help longing for the day when Israel, with eyes open to the glory of Christ, will turn the above into prayers of their hearts, and ask God to look, not on them and their sins, but on the face of His Anointed, who is both Israel's Sun and Shield !
"After awhile the Haham, or one who temporarily acts as such, brought the keys and took us inside the synagogue. Several of his congregation followed. ”

“ I have also omitted the other small section of black Jews, namely, the Beni-Israel in India, whose origin is likewise a subject of doubt, many Western Jews even disputing their geniune Israelitish descent.
The whole Jewish nation, at any rate in Europe, is usually divided into two great bodies or families. ”

“ Mr. Gordon drew out his sympathy by telling him that we feel much drawn to the Karaite Jews, because we too reject the Talmud and Rabbinical tradition, and take our stand on the Word of God, the difference between us and them being that we have not only the Old, but also the New Testament, in which we
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find the completion and hope given to our fathers. He told us that about thirty-five years ago, when he was a teacher in Constantinople, he had a friend, a Hebrew Christian, whom, said he, ' I loved as a brother,' who used to talk to him of these same things. ”

“ Their stronghold is in the Crimea on the Black Sea, but there are small communities of them in other parts of Northern and Eastern Europe, and in the Orient They are in many respects different from Talmudic Jews, with whom they do not intermarry, and they have also been treated differently by the governments in the lands where they are settled. Thus, for instance, in Russia they enjoy full civil rights, while the four or five million of their Rabbinic brethren do not. ”

“ The hymn was abruptly suspended, while the multitude wept like children."
So it will be with the spared remnant of Israel in the day of their final national deliverance, when in solemn procession they enter through "the gates of righteousness " to " give thanks unto Jah." They too will mingle weeping and " confessions " with their thanksgiving, for " in that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the whole land shall mourn . . . every family apart and their wives apart" (Zech. xii.) ”