to draw down Jehovah's ire, and that nothing could hold back the destroyer's sword save the sprinkled sign,—at once a confession and a covert,-an acknowledgment of guilt and an avowal of confidence in Jehovah's covenant: whilst, in like manner, the personal offering spoke the sad admission, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." But along with the suggested sinfulness, simultaneous and commingling, rose the idea of substitution. Still the victim, and that victim most frequently the lamb,-beautiful and free from blemish; the lamb so patient and meek, so innocent and endearing, such a favourite everywhere, the gentle creature which you would like to carry in your bosom. But once more, the hand laid upon its head, and the guilt confessed,-once more, the glittering steel, the flowing blood, the dying struggle,-once more, the victim and the sacrifice. So that the same sacrifice which spoke of guilt published God's mercy. Along with the Divine displeasure, it gave a welcome hint of righteous reconciliation. It suggested a penalty, but a penalty which could be somehow transferred. And if to the transgressor it cried, "Behold your sin!" to the believing suppliant it audibly whispered, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes it away!" Finally, in preparing a nation as the special shrine of the Advent, God sent to it many prophets. In predictions exceedingly numerous and many of them remarkably precise He gave the Jews tokens by which they might recognise the Saviour when He came. His divine Father, His mortal mother, His tribe, His family, His birthplace, the period of His appearing, His precursor, His miracles, His popularity, His betrayal, His cruel death in its minutest details, His reappearance in life, His ascension to heaven, and the wonders that should instantly follow, all were so vividly described that for ages beforehand the Hebrews could tell "the marks of Messiah." A PECULIAR PEOPLE. 25 Thus peculiar were Palestine and its people; and such were the great truths to which, through a term of fifteen centuries, the Most High had been gradually conducting them; till at last the Holy Land had become the only oasis in a blighted world, the only Goshen amidst the heathen gloom. Of sound theology and of substantial morality, the Jews, however otherwise uninteresting, possessed a monopoly ; and of all nations they alone had the means of acquiring those views of sin which awaken the desire of a Saviour. Theirs was the only land without an idol, and theirs the only one which boasted a revealed religion. The moral law was theirs, and theirs were all the prophets. And yet, with all their advantages, the Jews themselves were not a noble people. Generally speaking, they had no elevation of mind, no expansiveness, no spirituality. In the reign of the Casars they had become a morose and selfish community— a set of noisy wranglers and repulsive fanatics. Could we suppose a philosopher like Seneca travelling in Syria about the year 25, we might imagine him writing,-"What a paradoxical people! Judging by the Greek version, there exists nothing comparable to their sacred books. Rules of virtue so strict, patterns of excellence so majestic, representations of the Deity so sublime, do not exist in any other literature. And they have many strange usages: a Sabbath on which they will do no work; sacrifices which they offer with very singular but affecting observances; many lustrations and intricate ceremonies. But the two most extraordinary features of this anomalous people remain to be noticed. There is not in all their land a single statue or image; and yet they are not atheists. On the contrary, no people can be more religious; but they fancy that any similitude, however costly or fair, would be an outrage on the infinite and invisible Deity. Their other peculiarity is this: their sacred books teem with predictions of a great Deliverer, who, they think, will acquire for their country universal empire. He is suddenly to make his appearance in their temple at Jerusalem; and you cannot conceive with what intensity the expectation makes them cling to this temple; which, indeed, is in itself a fane of surpassing costliness and glory. At this very moment they are on the tiptoe of expectation; for they affirm that the time has arrived for this conqueror coming. We shall see. I confess that I am perplexed. I admire the theology and ethics of these Jews; and sometimes, in their gorgeous temple, with its veiled but vacant sanctuary, amidst their ancient worship, I feel as if I could adore the Jehovah of Israel. But when I look to the Jews themselves, and say, - Is this the product of that lofty creed and spiritual worship? these sour bigots and solemn triflers, these jabbering rabbis and snivelling pedants-are these the normal community,-the model people, the optimist nation? And when I see that such is revealed religion's master-piece, I fall back upon philosophy, and am again the doubter." Not so, Sir Sage. Not the normal people, but the pupil nation. Israel is God's scholar, but he is not meant to be the world's pattern. By a series of admirable lessons God has been educating this nation with a view to the Saviour's arrival; and in His wonderful wisdom He has contrived it that were Messiah coming now, the mass of the people would instantly be moved, and yet He would obtain an enlightened welcome from only a small and wistful minority. The moment that His harbinger announces, "The kingdom is nigh!" you will see the whole country stirred from end to end; but when He adds, "Behold the Lamb of God!" few will follow. And yet these few, in following Messias, will move the world. But were it in your Rome that the cry was THE CRADLE OF THE ADVENT. 27 raised, “The kingdom of God!" who would understand? and were he proclaiming, "Behold the Lamb!" would not the magistrate confine him as a maniac? No; not the model people, but the mould for a nobler dispensation. It is only amongst a people who believe the Divine unity and holiness that an Incarnation can answer its purpose. It is only amongst a people habituated to the ideas of substitution and expiation that a Gospel, based on sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, can find its first footing. It is only amongst a people possessed of the prophetic marks of Messiah, that He can be expected before He arrives, and identified when at last He appears. Like one who looks at the dark mould into which the artist is about to pour the liquid alabaster, and he thinks, "How black! It will surely soil the fine material! And pray, what is the use of these sharp cuttings and deep indentations?" But the projection takes place, and as soon as the mass is set, there comes forth a copy from some great Master,—a Nativity, a Transfiguration, a Last Supper. You look at that Hebrew Institute, and you say, "Had it been the work of a Divine Artist, it had surely been fairer." But you forget that it is only the matrix of a forthcoming model: the pattern of eventual Perfection. Every depression and indentation has its meaning. These strict precepts and stern prohibitions will only give brighter relief to the counterpart Gospel; and the nicer and more numerous the lines, the more exquisite will the product appear. "Meats, and drinks, and new moons, and holy days, and sabbath days, are all shadows of things to come: but the body is of Christ." If you desire to know the meaning of this Hebrew Institute, you must look to Messiah. This land of greatest light has been prepared as His cradle. These prophecies are His credentials. That temple is the march-stone of the two dispensations, the limit which *Heb. ix. 23. fixes His arrival, and on the hither side of which His coming must take place. That Old Testament is His text-book, and the pedestal of the national religiousness His pulpit. The very prejudices of the majority will be the means of accomplishing His great oblation, and the existing rites and sacrifices are the hieroglyphics which His one offering will finally expound. And when once that Advent is accomplished, the old Institute will be abolished. When once the medallion comes forth, the mould will be broken. No counterfeit can ever appear; for, exploding the temple, annihilating the royal family of Judah, and expelling every Hebrew from the Holy Land, God in His providence will make it impossible for any one after His own Messiah to be born at Bethlehem, or to claim descent from David, or to come suddenly to the temple at Jerusalem. And having fulfilled their first function as the pupil nation and the pioneers of the Advent, but rejecting the mercy which they transmit to others, the Jews will survive as God's witnesses. Sullen and self-blinded, the old scholar will wander everywhere a reluctant evidence that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Gospel is Divine. J. H. ASPIRE! A BALLAD FOR THE TIMES. HIGHER, higher, ever higher,- In the strength of Truth. |