I AM about, if God permit, to speak now of, by far, the most remarkable
people in the world. In the last chapter we studied the Races, and found
that through the labours of scientific men the three patriarchs of 4,000
years ago reappear in this nineteenth century as most important
“witnesses to truth.” We put, as it were, Shem, Ham, and Japheth into
the witness-box, and the result of their testimony was that Noah was
inspired, and the Bible true. Such a subject as that has a tendency to
lose power through the vastness of its extent. Our reading is not
sufficiently wide, nor our minds sufficiently large, to enable us to take
in the whole. We are dependent, moreover, on scientific men; and it is a
strange thing, but a fact, that those who talk most of science are
generally the least disposed to receive the conclusions of scientific
men, when those conclusions differ from their own. But now I am about to
call witnesses, in the examination of whom we do not want the help of
science; for in their case there are no scientific difficulties. Their
evidence is within reach of us all, and if we choose we may test it for
ourselves. I am not about to speak of what happened 4,000 years ago; but
of what is going on now, of what took place last year, and what any one
may see for himself, if he will take the trouble to go to Houndsditch or
Petticoat Lane. There he will find a most remarkable people, eager,
quick, and intelligent, exceedingly different from the rest of the
inhabitants of London, and separated from their fellow-townsmen by a
social barrier, which is very seldom overstepped. These remarkable
people are the Jews.
Now there are five undoubted and indisputable facts respecting the Jews
that I propose, if God permit, to bring before you, and may He be pleased
to help our study to the confirmation of our faith, and to the increase
of our interest in His own ancient people!
(1.) _Their Expatriation_, or their expulsion as a nation from their
country.
Now it is a curious fact, that there is no other nation in the world
which has such a right to its own country as the Jews. Other nations
claim their country simply through the right of occupation. We live in
England, and our fathers lived there before us, so we consider it ours,
and are ready to lay down our lives for its safety. But we have no
title-deeds, and we have no documents to prove that it is ours. But it
is very different with the Jews. They have the clearest possible
documentary evidence of their covenant right to Palestine. There is not
a person in any town who has a better title to his house than the Jews
have to their country. It was distinctly given to them by God Himself,
as we read in Gen. xv. 18. And yet after having occupied it for fifteen
centuries, and after having shown the utmost courage and determination in
its defence, they were driven from their homes by their Roman conquerors.
Their city was sacked, their temple burnt with fire, their country laid
desolate, and they themselves scattered homeless through the world. The
result is that at this present time there are many more Jews in London
than there are in the whole of Palestine. Now these are plain,
well-known facts, and facts so well established that they are beyond the
reach of contradiction.
(2.) _Dispersion_. When their home was broken up in Jerusalem they were
not carried elsewhere as they were when they entered it, like a hive of
bees moved from one garden to another, but they were dispersed in all
directions. From that day they have had no resting-place anywhere, and
they have never since had what we may term a central home. They have had
no head-quarters, and, although they cluster more thickly in some places
than in others, they have on the whole gone forth as lone wanderers on
the face of the earth. The result is that, go where you will, you are
sure to meet with Jews. They are sometimes driven about by persecution,
and sometimes attracted by trade; but we need not study the cause of
their movements. They are found in all the continents—Europe, Asia,
Africa, America, and Australia; in new settlements and old countries, in
all climates and amongst all races; and as the seed is scattered over the
field, so the Jewish people are dispersed through the world.
(3.) _Distinction_, _or Distinctiveness_.
It appears to be the general law of human nature, that when different
races live together they become, before long, fused with each other.
There may be exceptions, as there are in certain cases; but there is
always some cause to account for it. In India, for example, there is
very little fusion between the English and the Hindoo; but then it must
be remembered that no English ever settle in India as their permanent
home. So in America there is not much fusion between the European races
and the negroes; but there again we must remember that there is the
almost impassable barrier of the difference of colour as well as the
slave curse on Canaan. But in ordinary cases there is always fusion, and
when there is no such barrier the races soon amalgamate. In our own
country, for example, there are Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes, and
Normans; but who can distinguish them? We are all merged into one race,
and the distinction of our nationality is totally lost. Who could pick
out from any congregation the Roman, the Dane, or the Norman? But the
Jew remains distinct. There is nothing to keep him separate, but
separate he remains. He is rich, and enterprising, and talented, and
often exceedingly handsome; but he does not amalgamate, and he remains to
this day as distinct from us all as he was when he first landed on our
shores.
(4.) _Reproach and persecution_.
Notwithstanding the wealth and great ability of the Jewish nation, they
have always been a people under reproach. In trade, if people wish to
describe any one as covetous, grasping, and avaricious, it is not an
uncommon thing for people to say that he is “a regular Jew,” and thus,
whatever a person may be in himself, the name “Jew” is a term of
opprobrium throughout the world.
But reproach is not all, nor nearly all; for they have had to endure the
most terrible persecutions. They have been treated most barbarously by
the nations amongst whom they have been scattered. It has mattered
little whether they have been living amongst Pagans, Mahommedans, or
spurious Christians, though I fear it must be admitted that the treatment
by spurious Christians has been the worst. But I need not dwell on these
horrible atrocities; for they are fresh in our own memories. We have
only to go back to the newspapers of last year to learn what the poor
Jews endured in Southern Russia. Their property was plundered, their
homes burnt, their daughters—oh, I cannot tell you the horrors!—and their
whole families cast out on a pitiless world to perish from cold, hunger,
and nakedness; and all this in the face of the whole of Europe in this
enlightened nineteenth century.
(5.) _Preservation_.
But in the midst of all this they have been preserved. Kindness has not
fused them, reproach has not shamed them, and persecution has not
destroyed them; so that after eighteen centuries they are in the midst of
us still—still scattered through the world, still remaining a separate
people, still under reproach and persecution, but still moving amongst us
as an active, intelligent body of men; in the midst of us, but not of us;
living in England, but not Englishmen; the subjects of another dynasty,
the proprietors of another land, and the scions of another home.
Now I wish to put it to all thinking and observing men, Can they refer me
to any other people in the world in which these five facts are found to
meet? Do they know of any other people that was ever so completely
removed from its home, that was ever so effectually dispersed amongst the
nations, that has been kept so distinct, that has endured such reproach
and persecution, and that, notwithstanding all, has been so long
preserved? There have been amongst other races conquests, massacres, and
migrations; but I venture to affirm, without the slightest hesitation,
that you may search history from one end to the other, may ransack its
pages for all that you can find respecting the nations, and I venture to
affirm, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that you will not
find one in which any of those facts have taken place as they have with
the Jews, and still less one in whom in this most extraordinary manner
they have all been found to meet.
But now comes the question, How is all this to be explained? What is it
that has made the Jews such an exceptional people? What is it that has
made their experience so entirely different to that of all the other
peoples upon the earth? I ask the infidel to tell me if he can, but I
know he cannot; I ask the man of science to explain it on scientific
principles, but I know he cannot. But I ask the believer to explain it,
and he can do so in a moment by the simple answer, “It is the hand of
God.” But some man may say, “How do you know that it is the hand of God?
What proof have you that it is His doing?” A perfectly clear proof that
it is impossible to deny. There is a _sixth_ fact quite as plain as the
other five; _i.e._, that all the five facts were predicted in the
prophecies, and that centuries before the dispersion took place it was
clearly foretold in the prophecies of the Word of God. These facts were
all foretold in prophecy, and therefore we are firmly persuaded that they
were all brought about by God. The fulfilment of prophecy is a proof
that the whole is of God.
In proof of this let us refer to a few passages.
I spoke of the fact of their _expatriation_, or expulsion from their own
land. Now what did Moses say of it fifteen hundred years before it
happened? Only mark his words: “Ye shall be plucked from off the land
whither thou goest to possess it.” (Deut. xxviii. 63.)
I spoke of their _dispersion_ amongst the Gentiles. Now what did Moses
say of it? “Thou shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.”
(_v._ 25.) “And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the
one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve
other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and
stone.” (_v._ 64.)
I spoke of their _distinctness_. Now what did Balaam say of it? “The
people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned amongst the nations.”
(Num. xxiii 9.) And though these words were spoken no less than three
thousand three hundred years ago, do they not predict exactly that which
you may see this very day in London, Liverpool and in every other great
city of Europe?
I spoke of _reproach and persecution_. And returning to Deut. xxviii.,
what do we there find? In verse 33 you find the prediction of
persecution and spoliation. “The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours,
shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only
oppressed and crushed alway.” And in verse 37 the reproach in foretold:
“And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byeword, among
all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.”
The last fact of which I spoke was the _preservation_, the long
preservation, through those eighteen centuries of unequalled trial; and
again we turn to Moses, and find him saying, “And yet for all that, when
they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither
will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with
them: for I am the Lord their God.” (Lev. xxvi. 44.)
Now all these passages are taken from the Pentateuch, the earliest book
of the Scriptures; and I have referred especially to them because some
people appear to speak with disrespect of the Pentateuch. But here we
see the Pentateuch prophecies fulfilled in this nineteenth century in so
remarkable a manner that no observant man can deny it.
But if people prefer prophecies of a later date they shall have them; for
time makes no difference to truth, and the inspiration of the Scriptures
extends through its whole length.
We find that they have been driven from their country, and can no longer
inhabit the land which is their own. Now what did the prophet Isaiah
say? “Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities be
wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be
utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a
great forsaking in the midst of the land.” (Chap. vi. 11, 12.)
We found that they are scattered amongst all the nations of the world.
Now what did God predict by the mouth of Ezekiel? “The whole remnant of
thee will I scatter into all the winds.” (Chap. v. 10.)
We found that, though scattered, they are preserved as a distinct and
separate people. Now what did God foretell by the prophet Amos? “For,
lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all
nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth.” (See ix. 9.)
We found that in their dispersion they have been the object of cruel
reproach, and have endured much fierce persecution. Now what said
Jeremiah, the prophet of God, in chap. xxix. 18? “And I will deliver
them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and
an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations
whither I have driven them.”
But we found also that, notwithstanding all, they have been preserved in
a most marvellous manner; so that at the end of eighteen centuries they
are still amongst us a separate people, and preserved in the providence
of God. And is it not all explained by that wonderful prophecy of
Jeremiah? “If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me
for ever.” (Chap. xxxi. 36.)
Such passages might be multiplied to almost any extent, as they abound
throughout the prophecies; and I have merely selected a text from the
Pentateuch and another from the later prophets to illustrate each of the
five facts to which we all are witnesses. And are they not sufficient?
How was it, I ask, that these great prophecies were given, some fifteen
hundred years, and some five hundred years, before the dispersion? Was
it accident? Was it calculation or guesswork? How should the writers
have calculated, or, how should they have guessed? One thing is
perfectly plain. They could not have been written after the event; for
ever since that time the Jews have been dispersed over the world, and in
all their dispersions have carried with them these prophecies. If they
were forged afterwards, how did the forger get them into circulation
amongst all the scattered Jews throughout the world, and that before
there was a printing-press? They must have been written before the
event; and before the dispersion what human mind could calculate the
condition of the Jews after eighteen centuries of wandering? Think
calmly over it. Consider well the five facts; test them both by history
and the statements of modern travellers; and I cannot doubt for one
moment that the conclusion of any thinking and intelligent man must be
that the history of the Jewish people has been ordained of God, and that
the Scriptures foretelling it were inspired by His Spirit, I cannot
imagine how it is possible to avoid the conclusion that it is His hand
which has ordered all in His sovereign providence, and His Spirit which
has so clearly and so unmistakably foretold it all in His Word. While,
therefore, we grieve over the Jew, and long to see, not only the nation
safe in Palestine, but the individual safe in his own Messiah, we
consider it no small gift in these sceptical days that we have him living
amongst us as one of a separate people, and so bearing an unconscious
testimony to the truth and inspiration of the prophecies of God.
But I cannot stop there; for it is not the inspiration of the Scriptures
only to which the Jews bear unconscious testimony, for they are witnesses
also to the faithfulness of God. Here they are after eighteen centuries
of dispersion, during which they have lived without a king, and without a
prince, and without a sacrifice; during which they have been exposed to
isolation, to temptation, to reproach, to spoliation, and to most unjust
persecution; but not one grain has been lost from the seed, and here they
are, Jews still. Aye, and what is more wonderful than anything, they are
thus preserved in mercy, notwithstanding all that they have done, even in
the rejection of their own Messiah. How could it be, and how can such
preserving mercy be explained? Just turn to one text out of many that
may unlock the mystery. It is written, in Psalm cv. 42, “He remembered
His holy promise, and Abraham His servant.” There was His own covenant
given to Abraham, and our heavenly Father is faithful to it still. Three
thousand eight hundred years have not exhausted His faithfulness, and
even the sin of the Jew has not prevailed over the fidelity of our God to
His friend. Oh, what a lesson does this teach us as to the faithfulness
of our God! Will He break the covenant which He has made with us in
Christ Jesus? Will He depart from the promise which He has ratified in
the precious blood of the chosen Messiah? Is not the covenant with
Christ as sure as that with Abraham? And though we may be deeply
conscious how unable we are to stand, and still more deeply conscious how
unworthy we are to be preserved, may we not rest in the peaceful
assurance of His covenant grace, and apply to all His people in Christ
Jesus these wonderful words in Jeremiah xxxi. 37: “Thus saith the Lord;
If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth
searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all
that they have done, saith the Lord”?