DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4641#0011
ISRAEL.
Moses, with whom a third era began, in the redemption from Egypt, the prediction extends further
still, comprehending the whole period of conquest, possession, and decay; and reaching even beyond the
final fall of the nation, into that vast and obscure region of time, when Judah was to be absorbed and
hidden in the oppressions and conflicts of Gentilism; like the site of Paradise, covered by the swamp,
and trampled by the barbarian, yet still retaining a melancholy reverence in the memory of mankind.
The history of the Jews commences with Abraham, the son of Terah, in the tenth generation from 1996
B.C.
Noah, at a period when the earth was sunk in idolatry; when even the patriarchal family had bowed down
to the work of men's hands, and perhaps he alone retained the unpolluted worship of his fathers. It pleased
the Almighty to interpose, in this last extremity of man, and once again to reveal His worship to the world.
Nearly two thousand years before the birth of our Lord and Saviour, the word of God came to
Abraham in " Ur of the Chaldees," commanding him to leave his country, and go forth; with the
promise that he should be the founder of a nation.
All the ways of Providence exhibit consistency. They are a series of profound analogies. The
training of Israel closely resembles the training of the individual mind. In both, faith precedes sight;
and the nation and the man are alike taught full reliance and solemn submission, before either is led
into consummate reward. Faith was the discipline of the patriarchs and the people for the long period
of four hundred and thirty years. The life of Abraham was a powerful and unwearied exercise of faith.
But to estimate his trial, we must remember his time. The member of a civilized community, he was
suddenly commanded to abandon the fertile soil of Chaldea, in which his fathers had dwelt for ages,
and go forth " he knew not where," to what wild region of the earth; and this pilgrimage was to be made
at a period, when all beyond Chaldea, with perhaps the single exception of Egypt, was either a wilderness,
or traversed by bands of warlike savages. Nor had he the common stimulants of barbarian enterprise. He
was not the chieftain of a horde; he had neither ambition nor rapine before him; he was a keeper of sheep.
He reached Haran, on the borders of the desert; and there the divine guidance suffered him to
remain until he was verging on old age. Suddenly, at a period when man naturally looks for rest, at
the age of seventy-five, he was commanded again to uproot himself, to throw away the fruits of his
labour during so many years, and begin a journey which might be interminable. But the injunction
had grown stricter still. He was now not merely to leave his home, but to separate himself from his
kindred: and thus at once doing violence to his natural affections, and divesting himself of the
protection of all allied to him by blood, again begin his journey, and advance into Palestine, a country
possessed by turbulent clans, and apparently, at that period, convulsed by recent invasion. Yet he
obeyed, still unknowing in what portion of the world his journey was to terminate; nor was it until he
had actually arrived within the borders of Palestine, that he received a knowledge of the promised land.
Even there he found himself tried alike by the sterility of the soil and the violence of the people.
He was successively, a fugitive in Egypt from famine, and a captive in the hands of one of the chiefs
of Palestine. Released from both only by miracle, he continued still to "dwell in tents," a stranger in
the land. The birth of the promised son was retarded, until he was a hundred years old. Even this
blessing but increased his trial. He was commanded to sacrifice Isaac; and thus, by a single act, to
c
Moses, with whom a third era began, in the redemption from Egypt, the prediction extends further
still, comprehending the whole period of conquest, possession, and decay; and reaching even beyond the
final fall of the nation, into that vast and obscure region of time, when Judah was to be absorbed and
hidden in the oppressions and conflicts of Gentilism; like the site of Paradise, covered by the swamp,
and trampled by the barbarian, yet still retaining a melancholy reverence in the memory of mankind.
The history of the Jews commences with Abraham, the son of Terah, in the tenth generation from 1996
B.C.
Noah, at a period when the earth was sunk in idolatry; when even the patriarchal family had bowed down
to the work of men's hands, and perhaps he alone retained the unpolluted worship of his fathers. It pleased
the Almighty to interpose, in this last extremity of man, and once again to reveal His worship to the world.
Nearly two thousand years before the birth of our Lord and Saviour, the word of God came to
Abraham in " Ur of the Chaldees," commanding him to leave his country, and go forth; with the
promise that he should be the founder of a nation.
All the ways of Providence exhibit consistency. They are a series of profound analogies. The
training of Israel closely resembles the training of the individual mind. In both, faith precedes sight;
and the nation and the man are alike taught full reliance and solemn submission, before either is led
into consummate reward. Faith was the discipline of the patriarchs and the people for the long period
of four hundred and thirty years. The life of Abraham was a powerful and unwearied exercise of faith.
But to estimate his trial, we must remember his time. The member of a civilized community, he was
suddenly commanded to abandon the fertile soil of Chaldea, in which his fathers had dwelt for ages,
and go forth " he knew not where," to what wild region of the earth; and this pilgrimage was to be made
at a period, when all beyond Chaldea, with perhaps the single exception of Egypt, was either a wilderness,
or traversed by bands of warlike savages. Nor had he the common stimulants of barbarian enterprise. He
was not the chieftain of a horde; he had neither ambition nor rapine before him; he was a keeper of sheep.
He reached Haran, on the borders of the desert; and there the divine guidance suffered him to
remain until he was verging on old age. Suddenly, at a period when man naturally looks for rest, at
the age of seventy-five, he was commanded again to uproot himself, to throw away the fruits of his
labour during so many years, and begin a journey which might be interminable. But the injunction
had grown stricter still. He was now not merely to leave his home, but to separate himself from his
kindred: and thus at once doing violence to his natural affections, and divesting himself of the
protection of all allied to him by blood, again begin his journey, and advance into Palestine, a country
possessed by turbulent clans, and apparently, at that period, convulsed by recent invasion. Yet he
obeyed, still unknowing in what portion of the world his journey was to terminate; nor was it until he
had actually arrived within the borders of Palestine, that he received a knowledge of the promised land.
Even there he found himself tried alike by the sterility of the soil and the violence of the people.
He was successively, a fugitive in Egypt from famine, and a captive in the hands of one of the chiefs
of Palestine. Released from both only by miracle, he continued still to "dwell in tents," a stranger in
the land. The birth of the promised son was retarded, until he was a hundred years old. Even this
blessing but increased his trial. He was commanded to sacrifice Isaac; and thus, by a single act, to
c