4. The Jew

It may be thought, so far, that the Second Adventist has a very narrow conception of life and his sphere a very limited one. We have been thinking of the coming of the Lord in the air for a company which, compared to the vast multitude throughout the world, is a very small one indeed. It needs therefore to be clearly stated that ultimately “every eye shall see Him,” 1 and that His purpose embraces the whole earth and the whole race from the beginning. It was a wonderful promise given to Mary concerning the son to be born to her: “The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” 2 Let me invite those who believe in Jesus to be the Son of God to contemplate this promise and ask themselves how and when it is to be fulfilled. Was the angel serious? Did he know the meaning of his words? If so, when shall this be?

There is no greater problem confronting men today than the Jew. Strange, is it not, that this particular nation, out of which our Lord sprang, should be right in the forefront of world politics. Not strange, however, in the slightest degree, if you believe the Scriptures. 3 When I speak of the Jew, I mean the people in the midst of whom our Lord was born, “His own” 4 to whom He came. The throne of David, by Divine degree, belongs to Him and to Him alone. Our Lord declared to a woman of Canaan that He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When Jesus sent forth the twelve He was very specific in His charge: “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 5” The disciples did so. Our Lord has been rejected by His people, but the throne that God has given Him, He must and shall have. No other can occupy it. Speculation was once rife in certain religious circles that a distinguished royalty was the David to whom this promise was ultimately in the purpose of god to be applied. That fiction has been decisively exploded, but not all errors are so easily rectified. Do let us understand very clearly indeed that the throne of the house of David belongs by sovereign right to Jesus alone.

The Scriptures have an overwhelming testimony concerning the coming of the Lord in relation to the Jew. It would not be possible within any reasonable limits of space to make but a very small selection of references, but there are one or two salient facts which will be sufficient for our immediate purpose. In Isaiah 53 you have the picture of One who was to suffer. We know it was a prophecy concerning our Lord. Philip was called away from a great work in Samaria that he might be the instrument of God to a eunuch travelling from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. 6 It is hardly credible that God having so directed him he should make a great mistake in dealing with the eunuch. He found the latter sitting in his chariot, reading this chapter from Isaiah and he wished to know of whom the prophet was speaking, “of himself or some other?” Beginning therefore at that passage of Scripture, Philip preached unto him Jesus, and incidentally, let it be noted, when he preached Jesus he preached the immersion of the believer as a confession of his faith in Jesus as Saviour. Hence we know that Isaiah distinctly refers to Jesus. Now when the people heard this story of prospective suffering by their Messiah they were confounded and amazed. “We hid as it were our faces from Him.” 7 Why were they so staggered? They believed in the Messiah Who should come, but they had always believed in One Who should come to reign, not to suffer. Even the disciples, after His death, were still in the dark. The two on the road to Emmaus lamented: “We trusted that it should have been He Who would have redeemed Israel.” 8 There are, of course, a multitude of passages in the Old Testament which anticipate a reigning Messiah, and upon these the people had centred their attention. David himself had the promise. As a warrior, who had shed blood he was not permitted to gratify his desire to build a house for God, but God honoured his willingness with a promise. “I tell thee I will build thee an house,” and He added concerning David’s greater Son: “I will establish His throne for ever.” 9 Psalm 72 is a glorious anticipation of the ruling Messiah. Our Lord has now suffered and fulfilled the prophecies concerning His passion. We may confidently expect that, part of the Scriptures having been fulfilled, He will assuredly complete the Word and promise of God and reign over the house of Israel.

The record of the Jew is as pathetic as it is interesting. They were promised a King Who would reign over them in righteousness, yet their history is one of abysmal failure, disaster and oppression. By reason of their sin the ten tribes were delivered into exile under the Assyrians, and about 150 years later Judah and Benjamin suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Babylonians. Subsequently, some returned and their descendants were in Galilee and Judea when our Lord was born at Bethlehem. Coming into the synagogue at Nazareth He opened the book at the prophet Isaiah at chapter 61 announcing the acceptable year of the Lord. Halting at those words and with the eyes of all the congregation fixed upon Him He declared: “This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” 10 But nobody believed Him! Later He fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 11 and entered Jerusalem on an ass, but the religious leaders were foremost in denouncing Him and urging the people to reject Him. Whereupon our Lord, looking over Jerusalem, uttered the never-to-be-forgotten declaration: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye say, “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.” 12 Desolate! That was the condition of the house consequent upon their rejection of Jesus the Messiah King of Israel, the true and only rightful occupant of the throne of His father David. At the same time it is not to be left desolate for ever. The desolation is until One comes who shall be gladly welcomed by the people as their Messiah. If Jesus is the Messiah, as all Christians believe, then let every disciple who really does learn of Jesus understand very clearly that our Lord Himself declares that the true Messiah is to be seen by the people of Jerusalem and welcomed as the Blessed One. The event has certainly not yet taken place. On the contrary, Jerusalem has indeed been desolate. In A.D. 70 the Romans rased the city to the ground and brought the national existence politically to an end. Since then the nation has been scattered amongst the Gentiles in a unique way. It is the one nation without a king, flag, government or land which has not been merged into the nations amongst which it has settled. The prophecy of Deuteronomy 28. 63 has been fulfilled. It is therefore an indubitable fact that if the Scripture references to the Jew are read as such, the condition of the Jew as we know it in the world at this moment is in correspondence with what the Scriptures declare. The house is desolate. Is there any sensible, intelligent, honest Christian man who reads his newspaper who can deny that the Jew is indeed desolate at this moment? Surely if that be the case as the reader must know it is, then here is sufficient encouragement to pursue the study; for if the history of the Jew at this moment is written deep in the prophecy of nearly 2,000 years ago then there is ground for thinking that the rest of prophecy will likewise be fulfilled. Yet a writer in the “Baptist Times” who is officially appointed to solve the theological difficulties of young and old in the denomination told his readers that whatever coming of the Lord there was was accomplished in A.D. 70! That is to say this writer contradicts Jesus flatly and definitely. Our Lord says the house is left desolate until He comes to be welcomed as the Blessed One. This writer corrects our Lord and says He came in A.D. 70, leaving the house desolate and to remain so! If the blind lead the blind there is one common destiny, the ditch.

What then of the future? First of all the Scriptures declare that the Jew will experience increasing trouble and persecution amongst the Gentile nations. The pressure and affliction will increase. “In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! And at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! For the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see” (Deut. 28. 67). There is no question that the troubles of the Jew are increasing. The evidence in the Press is so recent and so convincing that illustration is unnecessary. The Chief Rabbi has written to the “Times”:- “the agony of the Jewish people is greater and its needs more urgent than they have been for centuries.” That is a statement by a competent authority who knows the history of his own race and is in possession of first hand information concerning the present situation in Europe. Everything in Scripture, however, declares that those troubles will increase. Jeremiah foresaw a day: “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble.” 13 Then he adds words of significance which shew it is still future: “But he shall be saved out of it.” Daniel evidently refers to the same time: “And there shall be a time of trouble, such never was since there was a nation even to that time.” Evidently Jeremiah and Daniel are referring to the same event. Both of them speak of an experience without previous parallel, and Daniel adds in the same significant way the assurance: “And at that time the people shall be delivered.” 14 Finally, our Lord puts His sovereign seal to the witness, declaring: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be.” And He makes a significant addition also: “But for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” 15 The conclusion is inescapable that the Scriptures as we have them before us foreshadow for the Jew a yet deeper experience of suffering, but no less when the depths have been touched there shall be deliverance. Deliverance has not yet come to pass. It may be on the horizon, but it would appear from other Scriptures that its centre is to be in Jerusalem and therefore in its intensity and bitterness, in its darkest hour which will indeed precede the dawn, it is yet to be.

There have been some who have brought prophetic truth into disrepute by making assertions concerning the exact time of the return of our Lord. They have been proved to be wrong. There does not appear to be in Scripture any authority for such speculations. Elaborate calculations have been made which have not been justified by the event. I am quite incapable of suggesting in any way the time of the occasion, believing as I do, that the blessing is for every generation of believers in the attitude itself of watching and waiting. At the same time, if I am impressed at all with the sense of the nearness of our Lord’s return I should feel that the most important clue to the hour of His appearing was the present position of the Jew. I think there is justification for saying the Jew is the timepiece of the eternal purpose, and I cannot escape in my own heart the sense of awe as I see his predicament in Europe today. He has come right into the forefront of European politics, the question of a permanent settlement for him, is an international issue, and brooks no delay. All this must be considered in the light of our Lord’s words: “So likewise ye, when ye see these things being fulfilled, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh.” 16 There are some who without the slightest justification, calling themselves, let it be noted, Christian disciples learning of Him, will assert that in such statements Jesus unfortunately echoed the ideas current among the Jews of His time. They dope their congregations with such falsehood, deliberately ignoring such a solemn declaration as is added: “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away.” Hence the Jew in his sorrow must arrest the attention of every earnest and true believer. The Jew in his suffering is the herald of the coming of the great day. The Christian must be particularly careful not to be carried away by anti-Semitic prejudice. It may be true that the Jew has been and is all that is declared, but nobody can judge a whole nation except God Himself. Its individuals may be wrong, but we must, as Christians, abstain from condemning wholesale every man, woman and child that belongs to the race out of which our Lord sprang. At least in the history of the race there arises one great wonderful Figure Who can turn to the rest of mankind and ask: “Which of you accuseth Me of sin?” 17 At the same time there are many who are taking this line of general condemnation and persecution. On the day of the crucifixion the Jews cried out to Pilate: “We have no king but Caesar.” 18 Now they are to suffer for rejecting their own king, and deliberately acknowledging the over lording of the Gentiles. I hesitate to make assertions of a concrete character when they exceed in any degree the word of God, but I do venture the assertion that according to my reading of Scripture if the Jew does not find his path more and more difficult we may well doubt the significance of the Old Testament prophecy. The Scriptures so clearly foresee an ever-increasing furnace of affliction for the Jew.

With this fact clearly established in our minds let us consider some of the promises of Scripture that would seem to be unfulfilled. In Genesis 15. 18 the Lord gave a promise to Abram: “Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt (the Nile) unto the great river the river Euphrates.” The nearest realisation of that promise was in the time of Solomon. It may be argued that having thus accomplished the promise in Solomon there is no further fulfilment because of unbelief. In the first place the promise is one without condition and it is difficult to believe that if God gave it, it could be His purpose that it should cease to be theirs. In the second place there are subsequent Scriptures that emphasise that the promise is one that must be kept. The prophecy of Amos concludes with these words: “And I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord.” 19 The final settlement of the Jew must therefore be in the land. The ultimate of God’s purpose for the Jew is return to his own land promised him in Abram from which he shall no more be pulled up. Quite clearly therefore he is destined to go back and to remain there by Divine decree, all the dictators of the world notwithstanding. There is one more declaration of Scripture which will complete the picture. The prophet Micah, in line with Isaiah, declares: “ And many nations shall go, and say, Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” 20 Here then is the completed picture. The Jew is in distress and destined to pass into greater suffering. At the same time the Scriptures envisage for him a time when he will be back in his own land impregnable by Divine decree and instead of being the object of international persecution will be the centre of world wide blessing. Now these are political events to be observed by the ordinary eye. They are not to be spiritualised as the manner of some is by leaving the curses upon the Jew and walking off with all these assertions as spiritual realities for the church. The Scriptures stand or fall by these events as observable by ordinary men and women. The Jew is to pass right down into the depths of affliction and then to emerge as the centre of world wide blessing. The question to be asked concerning the Jew is that we asked concerning the church. There we asked when should we pass from this body of humiliation into the body of the glory. Here we ask when shall the Jew pass from abysmal suffering of the most awful kind into the possession of the land with his king, the rightful and only heir of David in the midst, to be the centre of religious blessing to the rest of mankind? There is no need for any involved language or for such a multiplicity of references to Scripture as shall leave the mind in confusion. One prophecy will be sufficient. Just take your Bible and turn to Zechariah. Then read through leisurely and with the desire to understand simple language chapters 12, 13 and 14. Read them as you would a letter from a friend. If he mentions Australia you don’t try to argue he means the North Pole, or to split phrases into bits or take sentences or paragraphs and see how many “hands” have “reverently” made emendations and redactions, but give this Scripture as much credence as most give to a modern scientist. You will then notice very easily an oft recurring phrase: “in that day.” You will make a note of it. That day is the day of the Lord, and in heaven’s calendar it is marked as no day in the history of any European nation is marked. See then what is to happen on that day. “I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” That cannot be a reference to A.D. 70 because, instead of destroying the nations that came against it, those foreigners destroyed the inhabitants of Jerusalem. If therefore it is to happen the Jew must first be back again in Jerusalem. He will come back under the pressure and affliction of the Gentile, and apparently from these chapters, the enemies who have persecuted them until they have fled to Jerusalem will then follow them to their own capital. The gentile nations in all their pomp and pride, having wiped God out of their thoughts will be blind to the fact that God is using them for His own glorious purpose in His Son, the Son that the Gentiles too have refused. God declares: “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken and the houses rifled, and the women ravished.” 21 The Gentile nations will be radiant with delight at their victory, but it will be short-lived. Notice what the Word declares. “Then” that will be the moment of Divine intervention. That is the point of time to which we are hastening; it is inevitable and inescapable. To this point of time indicated in that word “then” both Gentile and Jew are hastening under the overruling decrees of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when He fought in the day of battle and His feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives.” 22 The language is perfectly clear and simple. Again it cannot be a reference to A.D. 70 because this is the day of deliverance for the Jew, not the beginning of further desolation. It is a great day of victory for “the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be One Lord and His Name One.” 23 If it were not for the fact that so many theologians have resolved to give no credence to the truth of the Personal Return of the Lord, these Scriptures would be so perfectly plain and clear that it would be inevitably the joy and hope of every believer.

Hence it appears from these chapters that the Jew will return to his own land in unbelief. There he will be assailed by his enemies, but delivered in his extremity out of their hand by the Personal appearance of our Lord on mount Olivet. He will come, we believe, with His redeemed church already glorified, and He will smite the nations and take the power into His own hands to reign over the earth where He has been rejected. His own people will look upon Him Whom they pierced. That prophecy was fulfilled at His crucifixion, and it will be fulfilled again at His appearing. There will be a reconciliation between His own who once refused Him and Himself. They shall indeed say: “Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.” It will be a reconciliation of which we may with some reason think that that of Joseph and his brethren was an anticipation. Those brethren meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. The rejection of the Messiah by the Jew was meant for evil but God meant it for good. It has brought blessing to the Gentiles. Read Romans 11 and see how Paul shews that if the casting away of the Jewish branch has brought blessing to the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead.

The conclusion therefore is inescapable if the Scriptures are the final and only authority for our beliefs. The Jew is destined by Divine decree to be established in His own land. But how and when? By the Divine intervention of His rejected Messiah Who will come to Olivet actually and really; as truly as He ascended from it. When thus He comes He comes to reign in righteousness. How solemnly, seriously and expectantly we should observe this present movement in Jewry. See how the nations in a time of so called peace are piling up huge armaments to prevent war. Watch the Jew being pressed among the nations and struggling for a foothold in Palestine. These facts are significant. We see them on the earth and our Blessed Lord is watching them from heaven. At that great day He will appear on mount Olivet and His church with Him. Hence the church will already be raptured and with Him that it may come with Him to the earth. What an experience to descend through the heavens with Him and to stand with Him on this blood-stained earth for His victory! How it thrills! And remember it is no imagination. It is as clearly taught in Scripture as the truth of your salvation. 24

1

Revelation 1:7-8

2

Luke 1:26-33

3

Acts 18:28

4

John 1:11

5

Matthew 10:5-6

6

Acts 8:26-35

7

Isaiah 53:3

8

Luke 24:21

9

2 Samuel 7:13

10

Luke 4:21

11

Zechariah 9:9

12

Luke 13:34-35

13

Jeremiah 30:7

14

Daniel 12:1

15

Matthew 24:21-22

16

Luke 21:31-33

17

John 8:46

18

John 19:15

19

Amos 9:15

20

Micah 4:2

21

Zechariah 14:2

22

Zechariah 14:3-4

23

Zechariah 14:9

24

Acts 4:12