The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-01
Az 1NQuIRrvo JEw,s SUGGESTIONS
Why he ta Surprised 90 Find Christians 80 In-
terested In the MniennIuus.

this week in church in this city. listening
20 the reading Of a series Il papers ON the
suh1ert and taking part in tho discussions on
the topics suggested by these essays. There IL
a large ancisni. and respectable body of bO-
liovors ia the doctrnn Of tho millennium which
has not boon invited to attend the Conference.
mean the Jews. Their opinions on tho cab
bect may he entitled 70 some consideration. II
only by reason Of tho per'inacity with which
thcy have elunR to them over since tho death Of
thoir ilusirieus fellow Israolite. tho founder Of
Christianity. nearly two thousand years ago.
They base their belief On the same Old Tcstn-
ment which Christians revere. and thoy are in
every way az d,tlrous 81 salvation as are their
poetesl that they would be invited 10 the present
Conference; but II may not be- deemed Dresump-
tuous none Of them should set forth the jewish
views ~ TO tbe Messiah g advent Some Of the
ten rned gentlemen whose scholarly sage show
how mach study they have given 70 the subject
ness ofthese yievs II wrong Snr.iv 10 do this
and bring to the fold Of Christ the lost ehecp
of lsraeli would be an achievement not UNI
worthy Of tue important ocansion.
According 10 Christian belief two disting
aoInings ol Messiah are promised bvthe Hebrew
Scriptures. The Jews hold that there II no
authority for the idea Of second coming; but
that the hope was only made necessary by the
failure Of sesus to fulfl the conditions required
lQretOld. On this point all Jews--Orthodox aud
hstormers-aro agreed. Az TO Messiah who il
to come there are differences OF OpiniOn-nOt
NJ To the claims Of jesus TO be considered az
Messiah. which are in no way entertained by
any sect OF Jews, but rs " the question Of n
temporal or spiritual millennium. The Re-
formers, for the most part hold 20 the latter in
tcrpretaiion Of the prophecies. They are, how
ever, but very inconsidcrablc proportion Of
the Jews Of the world. All Orthodox Jews hc-
lavo In temporal millennium. and ruligiouHy
pray iYr 10 their homes and synasogucs. ON
what they base this belief shall show after
briefly setting forth tho grounds upon which
AZ jews are united In deny ng the doctrine that
Messiah has appearedi or that he eyer could
The Jews Of the time OF jesus. in their un-
happy condition under tho Roman yoke. were
nnxiously awaiting the advent of Messiah 10
end their troubles. and would gladly have be-
lioved II they could that Jesus was he Some.
we know. did believe in him 10 the last; but.
win notable exception. they werc ignorant
and needy. and perhaps were attracted 10y his
communl-tic teachings. which discouraged
wealth The spiritual descendants OF one Of
thcm. poor unlcttcrcd fisherman. for centuries
have boon found 70 stand ut tho head Of His
Church, The Pharisecs. however. the learned
Jews Of thos" times. representing the highest
Intelligence for they were the lawyers. ply
sicinns. scribes and magistrates-rciusod To
receive him. because they failed 10 sec fulfilled
ia his. advent the conditions which were to at
tend the coming Of the promised Messiah. And
the jews ot to-day stand In precisely the same
auiludc IN THIS matter as that in which their
forniathcrs stood nearly 900 years ngo
Tho promised Messiah. according to the
prophecies, Is 70 be- dcsccndcl from the royal
house OF David. Jesus Of Nazareth Is not
claimed tO have been more thnn affiliated t.
David through Joseph. The Gospel does not
claim that Mary was descended from David
Tho Scriptures promised that Messiah " shall
spank peace unto the heahcn.' Jesus says:
Think not that ! am come to make peace on
earth. came not To send peace. but the sword
and 10 set a man at variance against his father.
ana ana ,hc daughter AGAINST tho mother and tn"
How Ill does this accord with the promise Of
Isaiah that the advent Of Messiah shall BE- the
occasion OF universal peace. when the nations
shall beat their swords into ploughshares
and thoir spears Into pruning hooks nation
shall not ~ up sword against nation. neither
shall they learn war any more. Instead OF His
coming pelng the occasion Of fgmlly strife. the
great and dreadful day Of the Lord aud he
shall turn the heart OF the fathers 10 the chill
dren. and the heart OF the children 10 their
With the advent Of Messiah all present en-
pirrs and rulers are 10 be abolished; there il 10
H. but one Kingdom and Messiah il TO be King:
md In the days Of these Kings shall the God ~
Heaven st M n kingdom which shalt never hc
DESTROYED and the kingdom shall not los left To-
consume all these kingdoms and IL shall last
forever" Daniel also says OF tho promised
Messiah Aud all rulers shall serve ana obey
him" In the Psalms we read: - Yea, all Kings
shall PROSTATE themselves before him: all ma
tions shall serve him The, prophet Iacharah
sea, and from river even to the end OF the
earth Jesus says OF himself that he " came
not 10 ba minstcred unto. but 10 minister and
10 give his life ransom for many" Certainly
he has never ruled the earth In either a tenn
p9rral or spiritual sense.
Tho prophecies distinctly set forth that az the
advent OF Messiah there is Ia be only one re-
ilgion and that the religion Of Israel Suppos-
ing oven that ~ Christians claim a second COM
ing Is toretold by the Scriptures, the fact re-
mains that II Is distinctly declared that Judaism
Il 10 be- the creed ~ u" mill"nnium Zarharah
says; Thus saith the Lord Of Hosts In those
days It SHAH come 10 pass that ten mon Of ma
to il OF diverse language shall take hold Of the
Tor we have heard ti.t Go il W With ynu WIZ
again he says; And II shall come to pass that
every one that l. left of the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall even 60 up from year 10
year 10 worship the King. the Lord of Hosts and
70 keep the feast of rahernacles' The feast of
Tabernacles is a jewish festival unknown
IN the Christian calendar With all the
other jewish holidays It was observed hy
Jesus. who was never anything but Jow.
Paul even. after his own conversion" cir.
cumcised Timothy. showing that no considered
the Mosaic dispensaton 10 he In full force He
SAD san 10 NE Galatians: For ! testify To every
to do the whole law" Tho prophecies
relating, TO, the. so-called second coming OF
Christ declare distinctly that Judaism Is TO be
recognized AZ the true religion; and inasmuch
as jesus never authorized tho abTogntion Of Ju-
daism. but himself observed It's rights and cerc-
tendon can arrogate to itself the Instrumental
~ OF fulfilling the conditions Of the millennium.
Jeremiah says; Behold the days come saith
the Lord. when | shall raise up unto David a
righteous branch. and King shall reign and
prosper. and he shall execute Judgment and
saved and Israel shall dwell IN security" II Is
easy 10 see why the Jews look forward with
anxiety for these days 10 como. II Is not so
easy i9r them 10 understand what satisfaction
the iulnlment OF the prophecy will be 10 Chris
itndom which has systematically prosecuted
the race Of its founder and his apostles and re-
pudiated tho ancient religion they practised
preached. and rcvercd.
In showing why the Jews refuse to believe
that tho promised Messiah ha7 appeared. |
nave ~ quoting from the prophecies. shown
Incidentally some ~ the promises upon which
they base their belief In the ultimate advent Of a
temporal Messiah, Tho passages quoted are
nut small proportion OF those which might be-
hdduced but as Il - not possible, within tho
limits OF the prcst nj article. to exhaust the evil
dences OF the ScriI lures in support Of the Jew
Ism view OF the millennium, | will. In conclu-
sion. content myself 10y making reference. in
addition. only 70 few OF tho more striking
passages bearing on the subject.
The last words Of the Old Testament contain
a distinct promise that Elijah. the prophet shall
come on earth 70 prepare the way FOR Messiah
Aiter Insisting on the immutability of the
law OF Moses, the inspired Malachi says: Be-
hold viii send you Elijah the prophet before
the cohinG OF The great and dreadful day OF the
The Ten Tribes Of Israel which were carried
away from Samaria by Shalmanossar OF As
syria ana have ever since been lost are 10 be
restored and united with Judah and Benjamin
under the dominion Of one king OF the house of
judah. See Ezekiel. NIXyii.. 10.
The Gcntilss are all TO be converted to Ju-
daism. See Iechariah. viii % also Nly. ..
IlINM