of the Romans_[77]; and, without doubt, if it were to happen in any
reasonable time, it could not so probably be expected to come from any
other quarter. But, then, was it _likely_ that Judæa, at that time a
Roman province, should be thus isolated by its own masters? Was it
to be _presumed_, that so small a province should dare to engage in
a formal contest with Rome, the mistress of the world, as well as of
Judæa? with Rome, then the zenith of her power, and irresistible to
all nations? Was it _conceivable_, if any future distraction of that
mighty empire should tempt the Jews to oppose their feeble efforts to
its high fortune, that a vengeance so signal, so complete, should be
taken upon them? that nothing less than a total _extermination_ should
be proposed, and effected? The ruin of the temple at Jerusalem was to
be so entire, that _one stone should not be left upon another_. Allow
for the exaggerated terms of a prophetic description; still, was it
_imaginable_, that the Romans should, in any proper sense of the words,
execute this denunciation? Was it _their_ way, as it was afterwards
that of the Goths, to wage war with _stones_? Was it a principle with
_them_, to beat down the _pride_ of buildings, as well as of _men_[78]?
Would even their _policy_, or their _pride_, have suffered them to blot
out an ancient, a renowned, an illustrious temple, the chief ornament
of their province, the glory of the East, and the trophy of their own
conquests?
Such an event was very improbable, in contemplation: and history shews,
that it did not come to pass in any ordinary way. For the instrument,
in the hands of Heaven, of this exterminating vengeance, was a man,
the most unlikely of all others to inflict it; a man, who by nature
abhorred such extremities; who, in fact, did his utmost to prevent this
dreadful catastrophe, and _could not_ prevent it[79].—Still, a more
unmanageable circumstance, than this, occurs in the prophecy. For,
_Secondly_, it is implied that ONE of our Lord’s disciples should
survive this desolation[80]: and it is expressly asserted, that the
then _subsisting generation should not pass away, before all these
things were accomplished_[81]. They WERE accomplished, within forty
years from the date of the prophecy, and before the death of that
disciple. The fact is certain and undeniable: I leave the rest to your
own reflexions.
_Thirdly_, warning is given in this prophecy to the disciples of Jesus,
to fly from this impending ruin; and a signal is held out to them,
for that purpose[82]. It is further predicted, that they should avail
themselves of this signal and so entirely escape the snare, in which
the rest of their countrymen should be taken, that _not a hair of their
heads should perish_[83]. And this part of the prophecy was, it seems,
completed[84].
_Lastly_, this prophecy was incumbered with another strange event,
_needlessly_ incumbered with it, if the whole were an imposture. It
is said, _that the Gospel should be preached in all the world, for a
witness unto all nations_, before it should be fulfilled. Was it not
enough to say, that the prophecy should be accomplished in the time of
that generation, and in the life-time of St. John, without adding so
unlikely a circumstance, as that a general promulgation of the Gospel,
by a few unlettered and unfriended fishermen, should precede the
accomplishment of it?—I know, that this part of the prophecy admits a
secondary sense: but, in the primary sense, it was so far fulfilled, as
to astonish us with the divine foresight of its author.
I omit other considerations, that might be alledged. But you see
that, setting aside such particulars in the prophecy, as sceptical
men may think themselves able to draw within the sphere of _human
conjecture_, there are several things expressed in it, so strange to
all apprehension, so unlikely to happen, so impossible for any natural
sagacity to foresee, and yet so certainly and punctually fulfilled,
that nothing short of _divine inspiration_ can possibly account for
them. The prophecy, in all its parts, is divine: but in _these_, its
divinity is clear and incontestable.
II. THE DISPERSION OF THE JEWS, is another event, which deserves your
consideration.
Moses himself had predicted this circumstance of their fortune, in
terms of the greatest energy. He had told them—_that they should be
removed into all the kingdom of the earth, and that they should be
scattered among all people from one end of the earth even unto the
other_—that, among the nations, into which they should be driven,
_they should find no ease, nor rest, and that they should be only
oppressed and crushed alway_—that they should _become an astonishment,
a proverb, and a by-word among all nations_—and that _their plagues
should be wonderful, and of long continuance_[85]. These prophecies had
been, to a certain degree, fulfilled in other parts of their history:
but there was to be a time, when _the wrath of God should come upon
them to the uttermost_[86]. This time was now come, when their city was
destroyed, and their land desolated, by the arms of Titus. Then, as
Jesus prophesied of them, _were the days of vengeance, that all things,
which were written, should be fulfilled_: then, were they _to be led
away captive into all nations_: and thenceforth, _was Jerusalem to be
trodden down of the Gentiles, until_ THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES SHOULD
BE FULFILLED[87].
Nor say, that this _last_ prophecy is _indefinite_: for _the times
of the Gentiles_ is a period, well known in the prophetic writings;
a period, of long duration indeed, as the event hath shewn; yet a
period, marked out by other prophecies (which may come, in turn, to
be considered in this Lecture) no less distinctly, than their other
captivities had been.
For, to all these predictions there must be added _one_ more, which
expressly asserts the return of this people, in some future age, from
their long and wretched dispersion: for _blindness, in part_, only,
_hath happened to Israel_; and that again, _till the fulness of the
Gentiles be come in_[88]. This, St. Paul terms _a mystery_: and yet
the ancient prophets had a glimpse of it, when they foretold, _that
the Lord would not make a full end of them_[89], and that a remnant of
them _should remain, and should return in the latter days_[90]. Moses
himself, who had denounced such heavy judgements upon them, and of so
_long continuance_, during their dispersion, had mingled, with his
woes, this one note of mercy—_And yet for all that, when they lie 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_[91].
Consider these predictions, and compare them with the present and past
state of this people for seventeen hundred years; and see, if there be
nothing to take your attention, or, rather, your astonishment, in the
completion of them.
Why is this dreadful vengeance, _singular_ in its circumstances, and
never yet experienced by any other people on the face of the earth,
why is this peculiar vengeance executed on the Jews?—Or, whatever the
_cause_ may be, is not the _fact_ such as was predicted?
“The predictions, you will say, have the appearance of being fulfilled.
But where is the wonder, that a people, distinguished by a _singular_
religion, and above measure _addicted_ to it, should continue to exist
under that distinction, and should be every where known by it? That a
people, on account of their profession, more than commonly obnoxious
to the other religious sects, among whom the earth hath been chiefly
parcelled out—to the _Heathen_, for their unconquerable aversion
to idolatry—to the _Christians_, for the atrocious murder of their
founder—to the _Mahometans_, for the constant rejection of their
prophet—should be the scorn and outcast of all three; and that, being
excluded from the only country, to which they have any attachment,
they should be vagabonds on the earth, and should disperse themselves
indifferently through every quarter of it, as caprice, or interest, or
convenience, invites them? that, lastly, being thus distinguished from
all men, and thus at enmity with all, they should never be suffered
to enter into any other civil community, or to establish a distinct
community of their own?”
But the wonder doth not lie, altogether, where these questions seem to
place it. That the Jews, while they profess themselves such, should be
thus treated, may be natural enough: but that they should _continue_,
for so many ages, under such treatment; every where and always spurned,
reviled, oppressed; yet neither worn out by this usage; nor induced
by it to renounce their offensive profession, and take refuge in the
mass of people among whom they live; that neither time, nor custom, nor
suffering, should get the better of their bigotry or patience; but that
they should still subsist a numerous, a distinct, a wretched people, as
they do, to this day—all this hath something prodigious in it, which
the common principles of human nature will not easily explain[92].
We, who admit the divine origin of their religion; and, adore, with
them, the extraordinary providence, by which their polity was so long
administered and upheld; can, better than any others, explain this
difficulty. For, what so likely to produce an invincible attachment to
their Law, as the abundant evidence, they had of its authority? But
neither will this account of the matter be found satisfactory. For,
as if on purpose to discredit this solution, their history informs
us, That _ten_, of the twelve tribes, which originally composed their
nation, did, in fact, disappear under their last captivity, and were,
in a good measure at least, absorbed in it. If such, then, was the
fate of _Israel_ in its dispersion, within the compass of not many
generations, and yet the relics of _Judah_ are still preserved in all
countries to this day, what better or other reason can we assign for
this difference of fortune in two branches of the same people, equally
attached to the same divine Law, than that the _former_ were left to
the natural consequences of a dispersion, and that the _latter_ were
purposely kept from being affected by them, as the prophecies had
distinctly foretold?
If it be still said, “That there is nothing more extraordinary in
this continuance of the Jews, under their dispersion, than of other
religionists in like circumstances; of the _Christians_ for instance,
under the Turkish dominion;” the cases (to say nothing of the
difference in point of _time_) are, in many respects, entirely unlike.
The Asiatic CHRISTIANS derive a confidence, and some degree of
protection, from the many flourishing Christian empires, which subsist
in other quarters of the world.
THEY, can perform all the duties of their religion, as perfectly in the
countries, where they reside, as in any other.
THEY, have the future hopes of the Gospel, the proper sanction of their
Law, to support them in all the distresses, to which their Christian
profession may, at present, expose them. What is it to them, as St.
Austin well observed in a like case, that they suffer for a season
in a strange land; when even in their _own_, that is, a Christian
country, they are still obliged, by the principles of their religion,
to consider themselves, _as strangers and pilgrims on the earth_[93]?
The condition of the JEWS, on the other hand, is widely different.
THEY, profess a religion, founded on temporal promises, only: and how
miserably these have failed them, the experience of many ages hath now
shewn.
The JEWS, are shut out from the only country in the world, where the
several rites and ordinances of their religion can be regularly and
_lawfully_ observed.
The JEWS, have, besides, the sensible mortification of knowing, that
all their brethren of the dispersion are every where in equal distress
with themselves; and that there is not one Jewish state or sovereignty
subsisting on the face of the whole earth.
It follows, that in the JEWS, we find nothing but their _destiny_, so
plainly read to them by their own prophets, as well as ours, to account
for their long continuance in their present dispersion: whereas, the
_Asiatic Christians_ have many resources of comfort within themselves;
and may subsist, in Mahometan countries, on the same general motives
and inducements, which sustain the courage of other unhappy men.
Yet, notwithstanding the advantages, here pointed out, on the side of
the Asiatic Christians, the _fact_ is, that they are reduced to a very
small number, and are insensibly melting away under the oppressions
of their Ottoman masters; so that in no long time, if that enormous
tyranny should be permitted to continue, they may, not improbably,
quite vanish out of those countries, where they had formerly so many
and flourishing churches: whereas, the Jews continue every where to
abound in great numbers; they thrive under their oppressions; and
seem to multiply amidst their distresses; as if the order of things
were reversed in regard to them, and the same causes operated to the
conservation of this people, which tend so naturally to the waste and
destruction of every other.
Still, I have another reflexion, or two, to make on this interesting
subject.
1. It deserves to be considered, that the _natives_ of any country,
though subdued and enslaved by a foreign nation, may, indeed, subsist
very long under that distinction. Thus, the Gentoo Indians have
preserved their name and race, under their Mahometan invaders: and
thus, the Moors, if they had not been violently expelled, might
have continued a distinct people for many ages, in their old Spanish
quarters. But that small colonies of men, transported into _strange_
and populous nations, should preserve a distinct existence, and not
insensibly moulder away, and mix themselves with their numerous native
masters; This, I think, is without example in the history of mankind.
If the Jews might be expected to abound any where, it should, methinks,
be in Judæa; where the sight of the _holy land_, and the memory of
their past fortunes, might invigorate their prejudices, and perpetuate
their attachment to the Jewish name and worship. But it so happens,
that the number of Jews in that country hath now for many ages been
inconsiderable, while they swarm in every other.
2. It should, further, I think, be observed, that a _sect_, whether
you will call it of _religion_, or _philosophy_, may subsist through a
long tract of ages; I mean, that certain opinions may continue to be
professed by some people, or other, without intermission; as may be
true of the _doctrine_ concerning _the two principles_, at all times
so prevalent in the East; of that species of eastern _idolatry_, which
consists in the worship of _fire_; and in other instances. But that
these opinions, in circumstances any thing like those of the Jews,
should still be professed, not only by some, but by the _same_ men,
that is, by men known to be of the same extraction, as well as of a
certain persuasion; this, again, is, I think, a circumstance of great
singularity, and altogether unprecedented in the case of any other
people. Who knows, of what race or family the present Manichees are
descended, or the professors of the old Persian idolatry? The followers
of the Mosaic law, are every where known to be of the stock of Abraham.
They are distinguished in all places, as being Jews by _descent_, as
well as by _Religion_.
3. Supposing, what I think cannot be shewn, that the history of the
world furnishes an instance or two of a people circumstanced in all
respects, as the Jews are; these extraordinary cases would not much
abate the wonder, we are now contemplating. For how happened it, that
a prophecy delivered above three thousand years ago concerning the
fate of a _particular_ people, should be so exactly verified, as it
has hitherto been, when that fate is so far from being a common one,
that it has only taken place, in one or two instances besides, within
the compass of so many ages? And still more, how should it enter into
the head of Moses to deliver this prophecy, when, at the time of his
delivering it, he had absolutely no instance before his eyes of such
fate, in the case of _any_ people?
These things, then, deserve to be well and seriously considered.
Lastly, We believe, on the faith of the sacred oracles, that the
Jews shall _never be destroyed utterly_, but shall exist a distinct
people, as they have hitherto done, _till the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled_. But here, you will say, the prophets indulged a natural
prejudice in favour of their own nation; it being the way of all people
to delight in such dreams of _existence and perpetuity_. It may be so:
But see, whether this _dream_ hath ever yet been so far realized, in
the case of any other people. The Romans, for instance, were as partial
to themselves, and doted as much on the idea of their _perpetuity_, as
the Jews. But what now is become of their _eternal empire_? Consider,
therefore, the singular fate of the Jews through so many ages, and see
whether it be not credible from what is past, that the prophet was
moved by something more than a spirit of _national vanity_, when he
said, _Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord, for I am
with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have
driven thee_, BUT I WILL NOT MAKE A FULL END OF THEE[94].
To these prophecies concerning _Jerusalem_, and the _Jews_, I add
III. _A third, concerning_ THE CALL AND CONVERSION OF THE GENTILES TO
CHRISTIANITY.
This prophecy is very remarkable, whether we consider—_the matter of
it_—_the persons, by whom it was delivered_—or, _the manner, in which
it hath been fulfilled_.
1. As it had been declared from the beginning, that in the promised
seed, _all the nations of the earth should be blessed_, so the Gospel,
or, the good tidings of that blessing, was, in due time, to be
communicated to _all nations_. Further still, this Gospel was not only
to be published to all nations, but to be acknowledged and received by
them. There are numberless prophecies to this purpose in the books
of the Old Testament: prophecies, which say expressly—_that God
would give unto the Messiah the heathen for his inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for his possession_[95]—_that from the
rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, his name should
be great among the Gentiles_[96]—_It is a light thing_, says the
prophet Isaiah, addressing himself, in the person of the Almighty, to
the Messiah, _that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes
of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give
thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to
the end of the earth_[97]. And Jesus himself, when he commissioned his
Apostles to publish his doctrine, did it in these words—GO YE INTO ALL
THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE[98].
It is unquestionable, therefore, from these and other passages[99],
that not the Jews only, but all nations were to be instructed in the
Christian faith; that the Gospel was to be an universal religion;
and that, thus, the Messiah was to be, in every sense, the Saviour of
mankind. There is no doubt, I say, but that such is the language of the
prophets; and that they clearly suppose the dispensation of the Gospel
to have these views, and to terminate in this event.
But now, let any man consider with himself, what it is to proselyte
the whole race of mankind to one faith, and to one religion. Let him
revolve in his mind this great, this magnificent idea. Let him, next,
turn his thoughts on what history and experience may suggest to him on
the subject. And then let him tell us, whether there be not something
extraordinary in this project; whether, indeed, there be any other
example of this sort in the annals of mankind.
In the old world, the institutors of _pagan religion_ looked no
further, than to single communities: each destined his ceremonies
for his own people only; and never presumed so far on the truth or
importance of his religious scheme, as to set it up for a standard of
belief or worship to the other nations of the earth. Even the _Jewish
ritual_ was so constituted as to respect the Jews only, and was even
practicable no where but in the land of Judæa.
But this idea of universality was equally strange to the _Doctors_,
as to the Legislators, of the ancient world. Sects of philosophy,
there were many; espoused with zeal, and propagated with industry; and
some of them, of no small extent. Yet the most sanguine, or the most
successful of these speculatists never conceived so much as the idea
of bringing all nations into their system. They presumed, indeed, that
truth, or probability at least, was on the side of their favourite
opinions; but they beheld a neglect of them in others, with a sort of
indifference; and, contenting themselves with their own superior skill
or felicity, left it to the rest of the world to philosophize in their
own way, and on their own principles. They seem not to have thought it
either necessary or possible, that their own sentiments should become
the standing, universal persuasion of mankind.
_Ambition_, I know, hath been sometimes enterprizing enough to think of
subduing the whole world. But this was the ambition of _power_, not of
religion, or philosophy: it was an ambition to subdue the _bodies_, not
the minds of men. This _last_ was a project, too big for a Cæsar or an
Alexander, much more, for a Numa or an Aristotle, to entertain. And I
think it certain, that, except in the scheme of Christianity, or such
other schemes of revelation as have been copied from it[100], we shall
no where find the idea of _universality_ to have taken place in any
religious or philosophical sect whatsoever[101].
If then this idea was _familiar_ to the Jewish and Christian prophets,
you will, at least, conclude that this circumstance is remarkable
enough to engage your attention; and you will naturally ask, how it
came to pass that those prophets should adopt so strange a fancy,
which appears not to have entered into the views or conceptions of
other men.
When you are in this train of inquiry, it will surprize you still more
to find,
2. _By what persons, these prophecies_, so remarkable for the _matter_
of them, _were announced_.
The publishers of this extraordinary doctrine were, in one word, JEWS:
that is, men of the most narrow and contracted minds; men, brought
up in the highest conceit of themselves, and in the utmost scorn and
contempt of the Gentiles; men, accustomed to think themselves the only
favourites of Heaven, and to regard the rest of the world, as outcasts
of its providence; men, in short, induced, partly, by the genius of
their religion, ill understood, and partly, by their carnal temper,
long indulged, to believe with assurance the perpetuity, the eternity
of their divine law; and to deem it impossible that God should reign
anywhere but in the land of Israel, or should impart his blessings to
any that lived out of the Jewish pale.
Was it, now, to be expected of such men, as these, that they should
enlarge their ideas so far as to form the project of a new and
universal religion; a religion, not imprinted outwardly on the flesh,
but _written in the heart_; a religion, that was to supersede and
evacuate the law of Moses, to which they were so immoderately addicted,
and to enlighten and bless and save the heathen, whom they so perfectly
despised and abhorred?
You will suspect, perhaps, that the meaning of these prophecies was
no more, than that the Jewish Law should finally prevail over all
other Laws, and be the sole predominant religion of the whole earth: a
prejudice, very likely, it may be said, to possess the minds of such a
people as the Jews; and suitable enough to that zeal, which prompted
them _to compass sea and land_, as Jesus himself observed of them, _to
make one proselyte_[102].
But the contrary is apparent from the _structure_ of the Jewish Law,
which, as I said, was so contrived, that it could not be observed out
of Judæa—from the _tenour_ of that Law, addressed only to the house
of Israel, and not obligatory to any other people—from express
_declarations_ of the prophets themselves; who call the dispensation
of the Messiah, _a new Covenant_, a covenant _written in the heart_,
in opposition to the law of circumcision[103]; who say, that the Lord
will _create new heavens and a new earth_, that is, in the prophetic
language, will institute a _new_ dispensation of religion, different
from that, which he had given to the Jews, and _subversive_ of it[104];
who, lastly, speak of this dispensation, as of _one_, that should be
established under _a new name_, and should be embraced by the Gentiles,
as _such_, that is, by men, converted immediately to this new religion
from their state of Gentilism, without passing through the strait gate
of the Jewish Law[105].