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THE FUTURE PROSPERITY OF THE JEWISH CHURCH
THE Church of God, previous to our Saviour’s first advent, looked forward to that event with eager expectation: and with the same holy feelings ought we to look forward to that advent of which the Scriptures so largely speak, when he shall take to him his great power, and establish his kingdom over the face of the whole earth. That such a period will arrive, there can be no doubt; and that it is fast approaching, seems clearly intimated in the prophetic writings. It is not necessary for us to fix the dates of prophecy with such accuracy as to mark the precise year, when this great event shall commence, or be accomplished: an obscurity necessarily hangs over such predictions: it is not the design of God so entirely to make known the designs of his providence, as to put us into complete possession of them before they have occurred; but only so to reveal them, that, when they shall have occurred, we may know them to have been foreordained by him, and to have fulfilled his eternal counsels. The chapter before us is altogether a description of that event. As for any thing which took place at the return of the Jews from Babylon, or even in the apostolic age, it is altogether out of the question, as a fulfilment of this prophecy. It is agreed, on all hands, that the events here predicted remain to be accomplished. And what those events are, I will endeavour more fully to explain.
Let us consider then,
I. To what these words refer—
Good men, especially in later ages, have been so fond of spiritualizing the Scriptures, that they have, in many instances, totally overlooked their primary meaning. The chapter before us, for instance, they have applied to the Gentile Church, and have almost entirely lost sight of the Jews as comprehended in it. And I cannot but think, that the grievous neglect of which the Christian Church has been guilty, in relation to the welfare of the Jews, is very greatly to be attributed to ministers themselves, who have either kept out of sight the prophecies altogether, or interpreted them in an erroneous way. The chapter before us relates to the Jews; nor can any person with an unprejudiced mind put any other sense upon it.
Hear St. Paul’s explanation of it—
[To understand it aright, we must take into our view the two last verses of the preceding chapter: “The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord.” To whom now do these words refer? Consult the Apostle, when citing them, in his Epistle to the Romans [Note: Rom_11:25-28.]: “I would not have you ignorant of this mystery,” says he, “that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Does any doubt remain on the mind as to the Apostle’s meaning? His next words will dispel it utterly: “As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” There can be no doubt, therefore, but that the Apostle understood the prophet as speaking altogether of the Jews.]
Examine the entire contents of the chapter—
[The chapter is a continuation of those words which the Apostle has cited and explained. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together; and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows! Surely the Isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought: for the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow down themselves at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Then come the words of my text, “Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated;” and so on.
Thus have I cited the whole preceding context, to shew, that it is all one continued address to the Jewish Church; and that, from beginning to end, there is not one syllable that can warrant the application of it to the Christian Church. You will observe, that the Jewish Church is spoken of in terms not at all applicable to the Christian Church; (for it is the Jewish, and not the Christian Church, of whom God says, “In my wrath I smote thee; but in my favour have I had mercy on thee:) and you will further notice, that throughout the whole of it, the Gentiles and their kings are contrasted with the Jewish Church, to which they minister. And all this is the rather to be noticed, in order that you may see how little ground there is for that perversion of the passage which they are guilty of, who pass over the Jewish Church, and apply the whole of it to the Gentiles: and at the same time, that you may learn to read the Scriptures with an unprejudiced eye, and to expect the fulfilment of them according to their true import.]
Having ascertained the just application of the words before us, let us consider,
II. The glorious prospects which they hold forth—
The Jewish Church was forsaken and hated at the time of the Babylonish captivity: and still greater hatred and contempt has she endured since the degradation inflicted on her by the Romans. To have any connexion with her is judged a reproach, throughout the whole world [Note: See Lam_2:15-16. sadly descriptive of the treatment to which they have been, and still are, subjected even in the Christian world.] — — — But there is a time coming, when she shall be again honoured, both by God and man: yea, “she shall be made an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” She shall be honoured,
1. In the number and dignity of her converts—
[Bold and beautiful are the figures here used by the prophet, for the purpose of describing this event. The whole Gentile world, together with their kings, are viewed as a nursing-mother, who administers to her infant offspring what God has given her for its support. In the first instance, they join the Jewish Church, as her children; but, having done this, they themselves assume the office of a parent, accounting all that they possess as valuable only in proportion as it may minister to the Church’s welfare. This is more plainly declared in another chapter, where God says, “I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders; and kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens thy nursing-mothers [Note: Isa_49:22-23.].” Having already brought before you the whole chapter, I forbear to notice it again, any further than to say, that, whilst the accession of converts to the Jewish Church is there depicted in such vivid colours, that you see it, as it were, actually taking place before your eyes, it is particularly said, that “they bring their silver and their gold with them [Note: ver. 9.],” so anxious will every true convert be to advance the Church’s welfare, and the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom throughout the world. We must not however forget, that God is honoured in the conversion of the poor, as well as of the rich; of the meanest beggar, as well as of a monarch upon his throne. When the “glory of Lebanon shall come unto the Church,” not only shall the noble “fir” or the majestic “pine” be seen, but the low and humble “box;” and equally shall they all, in their places, contribute to “beautify the place of God’s sanctuary, and to make the place of his feet glorious [Note: ver. 13.].”]
2. In the special favour of our God—
[In former days, God had shewn himself to be the Friend and Protector of his people: in Egypt, in the Wilderness, in Canaan, by numberless manifestations of his power and grace. And in days that are yet future, shall there be such evidence of his presence with them, as will leave no doubt on their minds, or in the minds of others, that “God is with them of a truth:” for in the very next chapter it is said, “All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed [Note: Isa_61:9.].” Nor need we look for miracles to establish this. There is, in the very work of God upon the soul, abundant evidence that it is his work. This is well described by the prophet, in the words following my text: “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron. I will make thine officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall be no more heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise [Note: ver. 17, 18.].” Here, under the figure of temporal prosperity, such as obtained in Israel under the reign of Solomon [Note: 2Ch_9:20.], is set forth the piety of Zion’s converts; none exercising any more their corrupt propensities, or resting any longer in the possession of mere moral worth; but all exhibiting the brightest virtues, and abounding in the sublimest graces; “their very brass becoming gold; their iron, silver; their wood, brass; and their stones, iron.” Such was the change wrought on the converts on the day of Pentecost: and who could be at a loss to find the Author of it? The creation itself does not more loudly proclaim its divine original, than this work does, whereever it is wrought: and to the person’s own conscience it bears witness, “I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Reedemer, the Mighty one of Jacob.”]
Let me now call your attention to,
III. The interest which the whole world has in the accomplishment of them—
Look at the present state whether of the Jewish or Gentile world—
[Truly, wherever we turn our eyes, we see nothing but sin and misery. “All the foundations of the earth are out of course [Note: Psa_82:5.].” In private life, how little of God is seen! In communities, what “oppression, what violence, what wasting and destruction,” fill the world! Say, Is there not a call for such a change as has been described? Methinks “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together,” till it be accomplished [Note: Rom_8:22.].]
Contemplate, on the other hand, the predicted change—
[Our prophet beautifully describes it in another place: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking-child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea [Note: Isa_11:6-9.].” This exactly accords with the representation which we have been considering. Peace and holiness will pervade the whole Church: yea, such peace will the Church enjoy, that it shall need no walls or gates for its protection: “her walls shall be salvation, and her gates be praise.” With such a fulness of blessings, too, shall she be enriched, that no created comforts shall be wanted by her to administer their light: neither “sun nor moon” can add to her; for “the Lord himself will be a light unto her, and her God her glory.” Nor shall this blessedness be transient, as in former days: “the Lord shall be to her an everlasting light; and the days of her mourning shall be ended.” At all former periods there have been tons of Belial to dishonour and afflict her: but in that day “her people shall be all righteous, even trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, in whom he shall be glorified.” Such a state of things, it may be said, is impossible; there being scarcely so much as an appearance of any such thing upon the earth. But that which is at present but “a little one, shall become a thousand; and a small one, a strong nation: Jehovah himself will effect it: the Lord shall hasten it in his time [Note: ver. 19–22.].”
O, what a different world will this then be! Should we not pray for this happy time? Should we not labour to bring it forward? What exertions should we not make, if, peradventure, we may but collect a few of the stones with which this temple shall be built!]
Learn from hence,
1. What should be our own personal state before God—
[We see what the Church is to the whole world: such should we individually be, in our respective circles; an excellency and a joy to all who behold us; a source of good to all connected with us; objects of complacency even to God himself. O Brethren, let us not contemplate these things in the millennial Church, and forget that they should characterize the Church in all ages I We deceive ourselves grievously in this matter. We think that such and such things became the primitive saints, but are unsuited to us; or that they will be proper for the millennial period, but are not so for the present hour. Religion is the same in every age: nay more, the assistances for attaining it are the same in every age. The Holy Spirit should be poured out upon us, if we sought his influences as we ought: “if we have not, it is because we ask not; or because we ask amiss.” Prayer has the same power as ever; and, if we were instant in it, would prevail with God so to fill us out of his own fulness, that we might “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God [Note: Col_4:12.].”]
2. What we should do for the benefit of the world—
[We should labour especially to extend the knowledge of Christ, which alone will prevail for the diffusion of holiness or happiness throughout the world. More particularly we should labour for the conversion of the Jews; seeing that they are God’s appointed instruments for the conversion of the world. It is to their light that the Gentiles shall come; and “on their skirt that the Gentiles shall lay hold, saying, We will go with you, for we perceive that God is with you of a truth.” Some are apt to imagine, that a zeal for the welfare of the Jewish people argues somewhat of indifference for the Gentiles. But, if we had no personal regard for the Jews at all, yet, for the Gentiles’ sake, we should labour for their welfare; because it is through them that salvation is to come to the whole Gentile world. Not that we are to set the two in opposition to each other: there is ample scope for exertion amongst them both; and we may hope to be partially useful to them both. But the great period to which we are looking forward, when “the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ,” will be introduced by the conversion of the Jews; “the receiving of whom shall be as life from the dead, to the whole world [Note: Rom_11:15.].”
This, then, I say to you; Begin the work, which kings and queens are destined to carry on: draw forth, if I may so say, the breast to them; and let all the affections of your souls be deeply engaged in administering to their wants. Bring, as the converts of the latter day will do, “your silver and your gold with you;” and know, that you can never expend it more beneficially to the world, or more honourably to your God, than by promoting that good work, of which the prophets have so largely spoken, and for the ultimate attainment of which the Saviour himself poured forth his soul unto the death.]