the land of Judea itself. "Cast your eyes," says one who has visited the Jews in their own land,* "cast your eyes between the temple and Mount Zion; behold another petty tribe, cut off from the rest of the inhabitants of this city. The particular objects of every species of degradation, these people bow their heads without murmuring; they endure every kind of insult without demanding justice; they sink beneath repeated blows without sighing; if their head be required, they present it to the scimitar. On the death of any member of their proscribed community, his companion goes at night, and inters him by stealth in the valley of Jehoshaphat, in the shadow of (the hill where once stood) Solomon's temple. Seventeen times have they witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, yet nothing can discourage them, nothing can prevent them from turning their faces towards Zion. To see the Jews scattered over the whole world, according to the Word of God, must doubtless excite surprise. But, to be struck with supernatural astonishment, you must view them at Jerusalem; you must behold these rightful masters of Judea living as slaves and strangers in their own country; you must behold them expecting, under all oppressions, a King who is to deliver them. Crushed by the cross that condemns them, skulking near the temple, of which not one stone is left upon another, they continue in their deplorable infatuation." words of another traveller, "The sight of a poor Jew in Jerusalem has in it something peculiarly affecting. The heart of this wonderful people, in whatever clime they roam, still turns to it as the city of their promised rest. They take pleasure in her ruins, and would lick the very dust for her sake. Jerusalem is the centre around which the exiled sons of Judah build, in airy dreams, the mansions of their future greatness. In whatever part of the world he may live, the heart's desire of a Jew, when gathered to his fathers, is to be buried in Jerusalem. Thither they return from Spain and Portugal, from Egypt and Barbary, and other countries among which they have been scattered; and when, after all their longings and all their struggles up the steeps of life, we see them poor, and blind, and naked, in the streets of their once happy Zion, he must have a cold heart that can remain untouched by their sufferings, without uttering a prayer that the light of a reconciled countenance would +Dr Richardson.

* Chateaubriand.

VOL. III.

X

In the

shine on the darkness of Judah, and the day-star of Bethlehem arise in their hearts."

Lastly, How should the prospect of the conversion and restoration of the Jews delight the hearts of Christians, and animate them to active and prayerful exertions for their spiritual good! The operations for their conversion are, in many respects, most important, and deserving of our support. They are so, when we view the Jews merely in the light of fellow-creatures and fellow-sinners. Is it true that there exists a race of men who are in sin, and yet avowedly rejecting the only way of safety? then the simple. knowledge of that fact, though no other argument could be urged, ought to be enough to stir us up to seek their salvation. But this is far from being all. The object is highly important in respect of the great number who are here the objects of our benevolence. Not that they would be unworthy of our attention, if their number were small. Suppose there were only one unbelieving Jew on the face of the earth, ought the hearts of Christians to be indifferent to that one case? rather, should not, and would not, our sympathies, and our anxieties, and our prayers, and our endeavours, centre, with amazing intensity, on that singular individuality of sin and helplessness? But what is the real state of this case? The number of Jews is probably underrated, if taken at six millions. We behold, then, before the eye of our mind, a mighty nation calling for our aid. object, moreover, is highly important, in consequence of the very dreadful state in which the Jews are lying. Nothing could be more erroneous than to suppose that they are as good as the Old Testament can make them. As they have not chosen the Lord's ways, he has left them to their own. Without any breach of truth or charity, it may be said that superstition, impiety, and immorality, prevail among the great body of them, to a lamentable extent. And, what is especially alarming, they have no atonement to look to for pardon, either figurative or real; and they deride the doctrine of regeneration. Surely, they stand as much in need of conversion as Mohammedans or heathens. Their case becomes peculiarly interesting, too, when we contrast their now abject and wretched condition with their ancient privileges and glory. If the sight of the illustrious unfortunate awaken our sensibilities, nowhere does this sight present itself so vividly as in the Jews. What an honoured people, when, rescued from Egyptian bondage,

The

and led through the Red Sea, they marched across the Arabian desert, under the guidance and shelter of the pillar of cloud and of fire! How astonishing, when they heard the thunders of Sinai, the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of God! How happy, when brought into the land that flowed with milk and honey! How gloriously were they protected and delivered! It was dangerous in the extreme to meddle with them then. How exalted were they in the prosperity of Jerusalem, and, above all, in the glorious privileges of Zion's temple, inhabited by Zion's God! "Beautiful for situation," exclaimed they," the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." But we have just been considering the ruin of their temple and city: and how are the people themselves fallen and degraded! Fugitives, vagabonds on the earth, they are oppressed by rulers, scorned of the people, deserted by God, a wonder to themselves, gloomy in life, and without consolation in death. And then, when we think of the debt of gratitude we owe them! They have been the instruments in the hand of God of almost every spiritual blessing bestowed on man. By Jews, the knowledge of the one true God was kept alive of old. By Jews, the Holy Scriptures were written and preserved. Jews were the first publishers of the gospel to a perishing world. And, above all, He is a Jew who redeemed us unto God by his blood, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. Let gratitude, then, prompt us to discharge some part of a debt which we shall never be able fully to repay. We owe them, also, a debt of justice, in the way of restitution and compensation for the many heavy injuries our own nation, as well as others, has inflicted on them.

The difficulties in the way of their conversion are, doubtless, great, but ultimate success is certain. Individual cases are occurring from time to time, and their national restoration to God is drawing on. The words of Jehovah, by Hosea, are very remarkable and encouraging: "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim;" that is, without any form of government of their own, and without the sacrifices of the law, and yet, without falling into idolatry: "Afterward," continues the same prophecy, "shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his

goodness in the latter days." Yes, fallen, despised, and obstinate, as they now are, they shall yet be great and happy, and shall rejoice to place the crown of David on the head of Him who was indeed born king of the Jews. The Jewish harp now hangs mute on the willow, for the most part; and plaintive indeed are the notes it utters, when any hand tries it; but the time is coming when it will give a far nobler sound. How differently will it speak, when handled by the Jew himself, as an accompaniment to the evangelical songs of Zion! How boldly will he sweep its strings, when he follows up the song of Moses with the song of the Lamb! "O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion for when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall sing." The Lord grant it of his mercy; the Lord hasten it in his time! Glory be to thee, O Lord, that thou hast not cast off for ever the seed of Israel for all that they have done.

How long, O Lord? Let it repent thee now. Put up thy sword into its sheath, and no longer pursue them thus. Turn away ungodliness from Jacob. O thou God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have mercy on the people that were called by thy name. God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look upon Him who now sits at thy right hand, and let the wounds of his sacred body plead for his kindred.

LECTURE CXIV.

LUKE XXI. 25-38.

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26. Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29. And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees; 30. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. 33. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 37. And in the day-time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives. 38. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him."

In considering the 7th verse, it was observed that there was a difficulty in giving a decided and consistent interpretation of this chapter throughout, and that different views were taken of it by different expositors. I here repeat, that while some are for confining the whole chapter solely to the destruction of Jerusalem, and excluding entirely all reference to the general judgment, and while others venture to determine positively where the former subject is altogether dropped, and the latter first taken up, it seems to me the most correct method to expound the greater part of the chapter primarily and directly of Christ's providential coming to the destruction of Jerusalem, viewing, however, that catastrophe as an emblem of his personal coming at the judgment of the great day, the description of this latter