PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

"THERE are three aspects in which every thing on this earth may be regarded. First, the way in which it strikes the senses, i. e. its outward form; second, the way in which it strikes the intellect, i. e. its place in that system of things which our reason apprehends. These are the two aspects under which we all naturally regard the objects and events about us: for we have two orders of faculties just suited to these two aspects. "But there is a third element in every thing, which is neither discernible to our senses, nor to our intellect—and that is GOD: his power in making and sustaining the thing, and his purpose in placing it, and keeping it where it is. This is the kingdom or reign of God in the affairs of this world: and as this reign is the acting of the Spirit of God, it cannot be seen or comprehended by any one who has not the Spirit of God in him, who is not "born of the Spirit." The Spirit of God in a man, therefore, is that which corresponds to the kingdom of God in the universe, the third and chief element in every thing.

"The time is approaching, when that kingdom will be made most palpable and visible, even to the outward senses and intellect. It is at present working under ground (so to speak), but is soon to explode; and then, all the kingdoms of the earth will become, before it, like chaff on the summer threshingfloor.* Now it cometh not with observation; then it will come even as the lightning, which makes itself awfully visible over the whole earth."t

Of this universally pervading, but hitherto invisible kingdom of God, an outward and visible index has been given to the world in the history of the Jewish nation. From the page of that history, as from a bright reflector, we learn the great principles of God's management in the affairs of this world;

* Daniel ii. 34, 35, 44.

† St. Luke xvii. 20-24.

and are supplied with a miniature specimen of what his universal kingdom will be, when He shall arise to execute judgment and justice in the earth.

No where, except in HIM who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person; no where, except in Jesus Christ himself, is the character of God so clearly exhibited to the contemplation of men, as in the history of the Jewish nation. It is true, therefore, with a fulness of meaning seldom considered, that salvation is of the Jews; because salvation in man is conformity to the character of God; and such conformity is produced by beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord's revealed character, and being changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord; and the characteristic glass held up before us, unto the accomplishment of this transforming process in us, isfirst, the person, character, and ministry of Jesus Christ, "the faithful witness," who was himself a Jew; and secondly, the history of the Jewish nation, to whom Jehovah says, "Ye are witnesses.

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In turning our attention to the Jews, then, we are not merely gratifying an historical, prophetical, or intellectual curiosity; but, if we look aright, we are putting into operation upon our souls God's own manifested witness for Himself, unto our knowledge of Him, which is life eternal. It is, therefore, with unfeigned thankfulness to God, that the Writer of the following Lectures recognizes in the church an increased and increasing attention to this subject.

The history of the Jews has been properly divided into two periods: the former reaching from Abraham to Christ; the latter including all the time which has passed since. And the Jews, living in these two periods, have been distinguished respectively as ancient and modern Jews.

The religion of the Jews, as a nation, requires a similar distinction. Ancient Judaism may be defined, as the system. of doctrines and precepts which were taught in the ceremonial institutions of the Old Testament; and which were retained, though amidst much general corruption, till the time of Jesus Christ. Modern Judaism comprehends the opinions, traditions, rites and ceremonies, which began to be received and practised before the destruction of the second temple; were afterwards enlarged and embodied in the Cabbalistic and Talmudic writings; and have been professed and followed by the great body of the Jewish people, without any material alteration, down to the present day.

From this it is clear that ancient Judaism was Christianity in the bud, contained in typical institutions, ordained by God

himself, and bearing express testimony to the coming Saviour. The Lord God of Israel, who sees the end from the beginning, and calleth things that are not as if they were, acted for ages and generations on the credit (or rather, on the anticipation) Y of what Christ was afterwards to accomplish. "The law had a shadow of good things to come." The believer under the law, i. e. the ancient Jew, who was a Jew indeed, in the spirit and not in the letter only, had access to God on the credit of the then future, but foreordained incarnation of the eternal Son. He had forgiveness of his sins, not by the blood-shedding of bulls, or goats, or lambs, but on the credit of the then future, but foreordained blood-shedding of the incarnate Saviour, the Lamb of God. He had renewal of his character, in heart as well as life, not by the ceremonial washings or sprinklings of water, but by the power of the Holy Ghost, given on the credit of the then future, but foreordained resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

This was true religion, as then revealed in the wisdom of the living God, and the enjoyment of it issued in true salvation. But all this has long since ceased. That which was then future and foreordained, has since been actually performed. The substance of all is in Christ. The miraculous rending of the veil in the temple, when Jesus expired on the cross, was God's own sentence of abrogation upon ancient Judaism as such. The destruction of the temple itself, and the holy city, a few years after, completed the manifestation of Jehovah's purpose as regarded ancient Judaism. He took away the type, that he might establish the antetype. He took away the sign, that he might establish the thing signified. He took away a dispensation consisting of significant promises, superseding it by a dispensation based upon actual performances. Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offering for sin he would have no longer, but the one all-sufficient sacrifice of the death of Jesus Christ once offered. Ancient Judaism, therefore, which was the truth of God then, merged into Christianity, which has been, and is, the truth of God for ever.

Modern Judaism is as much opposed to this truth, as any of the varying forms of heathenism in the world. Dr. Owen has well remarked, that whosoever judges of modern Judaism by what he finds written in the law of Moses and the Prophets, is but a novice in such matters.* Encountering modern Judaism, it is not merely against a perversion of Scripture that we have to contend. It is not simply (as some seem to think)

* Qui religionem Talmudicam, seu præsentem Judaismum eam esse quæ in Lege et Prophetis enarratur, putat, is hisce in rebus hospes est.-Owen Theolog. Lib. v. Diagr. iv.

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against a rejection of the New Testament, while the Old Testament is received as the alone revelation from God. It is not against the emptiness of ignorance; neither against the pride of unassisted human reason, that we have to direct our efforts; but against a mind pre-occupied by human traditions, supposed to be of divine authority, and a heart pre-engaged by most palatable superstitions.

The doctrine of modern Judaism, on the fundamental question of a sinner's acceptance with God, is thus expressed:"When we have no temple or altar, there is no other expiation made for sin than repentance only."* Again, "As Jews, we would deem it to imply mutability in the Supreme, were we to entertain any belief that sincere repentance does now require a Mediator, to render it acceptable to the Almighty."+

In the German and Polish Jews' Prayer Book is the following fearful address to God, on the atoning merit of fasting:"Sovereign of the Universe, it is clearly known to thee, that whilst the holy temple was established, if a man sinned, he brought an offering, of which they only offered its fat and blood; yet didst thou, in thine abundant mercy, grant him pardon. But now, because of our iniquities, the holy temple is destroyed, and we have neither sanctuary nor priest to atone for us. O! may it therefore be acceptable in thy presence, that the diminution of my fat and blood, which has been diminished this day (by fasting), may be accounted as fat offered and placed on the altar, and thus be accepted for me, to make atonement for my sins!"

Of the manner in which the characters of men are estimated before God, Maimonidest gives the following pernicious description:-"In every man, virtues are mixed with vices. If the virtues of an individual exceed his vices, he is esteemed righteous. If his vices exceed his virtues, he is accounted wicked; and if his virtues and vices be equal, then he is called an intermediate. The estimation in this matter, depends not on the number of virtues or vices, but on their greatness; for one virtue sometimes outweighs many vices; and sometimes one vice outweighs many virtues. As, at the death of an individual, an estimate is taken of his virtues and vices, so on the festival of each new year every man's virtues are compared with his vices. He that is found righteous, is adjudged to life; he that is found wicked, is sentenced to death. Respect* Maimon. de Pœnit, a Clavering, p. 45.

+ See Jewish Repository, vol. ii. p. 462.

Or Moses, the son of Maimon. He is also called Moses the Egyptian and Rambam. He is reputed among his nation, as the wisest man who has ever appeared since Moses the Lawgiver. Hence the proverb: A Mose usque ad Mosen non fuit sicut iste Moses.

ing an intermediate, judgment is suspended till the day of atonement. If he repent before that day, he is adjudged to life; but if not, he is then liable to death. When a man's virtues and vices are compared, the first and second sins are not reckoned, but only the third, and those which follow."*

Concerning the punishment of sin after death, a catechism of modern Judaism contains the following question and an

swer:

"How many judgments then does such a man undergo, when he leaves this world?

"Answer. Seven. The first is when the soul departs from the body. The second is when his works go before him, and exclaim against him. The third is when the body is laid in the grave. The fourth is Chibbut Hakkefer; that is, the beating in the grave, when the angel Duma rises, attended by those under his command who are appointed for the beating of the dead. They hold in their hands three fiery rods, and judge at once the body and the soul. The fifth is the judgment of the worms. When his body has lain in the grave three days, he is ripped open; his entrails come out, and his bowels are taken and dashed in his face. After the three days a man receives judgment on his eyes, his hands and his feet, which have committed iniquities, till the thirtieth day. The sixth is the judgment of hell. The seventh is, that his soul wanders, and is driven about the world, finding no rest anywhere till the days of his punishment are ended."

In answer to an objection urged against parts of this, that a dead body is not capable of feeling, Rabbi Isaac says, “A worm in a dead body is as painful as a needle in a living one."

The precepts of modern Judaism are enumerated by the Rabbies, six hundred and thirteen. They are divided into two classes-affirmative and negative. The affirmative are two hundred and forty-eight; answering, as we are gravely informed, to the number of members in the human body. The negative are three hundred and sixty-five; which rabbinical anatomy pronounces to be the number of veins, or other smaller vessels.

Rabbi Crool, of Cambridge, in his book on the restoration of Israel, speaking of the two tables of the decalogue, says: "These two tables contained the whole six hundred and thirteen precepts of the law." And the reason he assigns is highly characteristic of modern Judaism. It is this: "In the ten

*I am unwilling to quote such poison, even in the way of exposure, without exhibiting, in connexion with it, the divine antidote, in the language of God himself, by the Apostle James:-"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, HE IS GUILTY of all.”