object was simple, scriptural, and practicable. It did not profess to promote the national conversion of the Jews. This act, by general consent, is admitted, from the declarations of prophecy, to be reserved for the hand of God alone. It left the debateable ground of prophecy to its own proper domain, to the counsels of Him who doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. It took the simple path of duty, as enforced by the authority of Divine commands. In the course of its labours, it has circulated among the Jews several thousand copies of the holy Scriptures. It has established schools for Hebrew children, and has opened an Episcopal Chapel for Divine service in Bethnalgreen, under the license and sanction of the Bishop of London. The Liturgy of the Church of England has been translated into Hebrew. Forty-seven missionaries and missionary agents have been sent forth, of whom twenty-three are converted Jews. The Society has been instrumental in the formation of similar Institutions in Berlin, Breslaw, Konigsberg, Posen, Cracow, Warsaw, and other places; and it has established a Mission on Mount Zion, where a church is now progress, the first Protestant sanctuary that will have been erected in Jerusalem since the apostolic ages. As to the result of these labours, two in hundred and seventy-nine individuals of the Jewish nation have been received into the Church of Christ by baptism, and eight Jewish converts are now ordained clergymen of the Church of England. In the Prussian dominions upwards of fifteen hundred Jews have been baptized. Dr. Tholuck, an eminent Professor in the University of Halle, observes, "More proselytes have been made during the last twenty years, than since the first ages of the Church. In Breslaw there are three Professors, formerly Israelites; in Halle, five; in Berlin, one. Some of these are of the highest scientific reputation, and are now faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ." This encouragement is still further increased if we contemplate The signs of the times. Their character is truly extraordinary, whether we consider them in their political, moral, or religious aspect. A singular instability is perceptible in all earthly things; and "there is a shaking of the heavens and the earth." There are fearful elements of disorder pervading the whole social system. There is a great conflict of opposite contending principles. Light and darkness, truth and error, religion and infidelity, social order and democratic and revolutionary spirit, are each striving for the mastery. A great crisis seems to be at hand. "Jerusalem," we are told, "shall be built up in troublous times." The Turkish empire is evidently approaching the period of its dissolution. The sixth vial has for some time been poured out on the mystical Euphrates, that "the waters thereof may be dried up, that the way of the kings of the east may be prepared."* The Mahommedan power is the great political and moral impediment that stands in the way of the restoration of the Jews; and the drying up, or gradual exhaustion of that empire, typified by the pouring out of the vial on the river Euphrates, is the process that is now, and has been for some time, in course of operation. Among the Jews themselves there is observable A prevailing spirit of inquiry; A diminution of prejudice; A disposition to receive and examine the Scriptures, and a declining reverence for Talmudical doctrine. A Jew in a distinguished city in the East informed me, that were it not for the dread of a bitter persecution, there were hundreds, he might *Rev. xvi. 12. say thousands, of Jews, who were now secretly convinced of the truth of Christianity, and fully prepared to embrace it. We next notice, The blessing promised to those who love the cause of Israel, and labour to promote it. "Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.' 66 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee."† The truth of this fact has been illustrated in every age, from the times of Joseph to the period in which we now live. In the case of Potiphar. "And it came to pass from the time that he had made him (Joseph) overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon he had in the house, and in the field." + all that In that of Pharaoh; in the preservation of his land in the seven years of famine. In the example of Cyrus; of whom it was said, "I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings."§ In the instance of the Centurion, whose servant was healed, and of whom it was said, "He loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue." || *Numbers xxiv. 9. + Psalm cxxii. 6. Gen. xxxix. 5. || Luke vii. 5. Nor is it less remarkable that as blessings followed the friends of Israel, so did judgments over"I was wroth with my take their oppressors. people, I have given them into thine hand: thou didst show them no mercy! Then follows the denunciation in verse 9, "These two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood." There is also a threatened judgment, of a most appalling and comprehensive character, that still awaits its accomplishment. "And it shall come to in pass, that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” † Reverting, however, to the promised blessing, I would especially appeal to those who have taken an interest in the cause of Israel, and ask whether, in so doing, they have not seen this promise amply verified in their own experience? Whether they cannot trace many providential dealings to this source? Whether the Bible has not become more endeared to them, and more intelligible, in proportion as it has been viewed in connexion with God's purposes of mercy towards his ancient people? The knowledge of the Jewish cause, in its grand outline, and in the two fundamental features of their restoration and conversion, is essential to the right understanding + Zech. xii. 9. * Isaiah xlvii. 6. |