Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-03-11
&eadiuq fur the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
fOriginal.1 [
DELUDED.

us so clear and correct an insight into hu-
man nature as the Bible. Itnot only teach
es us all that can be satisfactorily known
about the being and attributes of God and
the plan of salvation, but it contains a cor
rect and life-siZed portrait of every member
of the human family. 1t names no one now
living, but describes all mnutely. We have
only to read the Bible carefully in order to
learn what we are, and what we do and
think. On one occasion, our Saviour deliv-
cred discourse in the Treasury at Jerusa-
lem. 1t was during the observance of the
feast of tabernacles. There were present on
the occasion, large number of Jews from
all quarters of the country. When the dis
course was concluded many of the Jews
signifed their belief in him. With many
of them, possibly with most of them, the
belief was nothing more than an intellectual
assent to the truth of what the Saviour said.
To those believing Jews our Saviour said,
eff We continue in my word, then are we my
disciples indeed; and we shall know the
truth and the truth shall make you free"
This language of our Saviour seems to indi-
cate, not uncertainty, that he knew, that
the faith of at least some of those who pro-
fessed to believe on him was not of the right
kind. The exhortation of our Saviour, al
though timely and eminently proper, high
ly insulted these Jews who, in some way,
signifed their belief in him, and they re-
piled, "We be Abraham's seed, and were
never in bondage to any man."
This was certainly a marvellous declara-
ton, It contained mixture of truth and
falsehood. This, however, is not marvellous.
No man ever told falsehood which did not
contain some truth, or semblance to truth.
The truth or semblance of truth gives cur
rency to the lie. The individuals who i'm
pudently replied to our Saviour were GER
tainly in one sense, but not in the Scripture
sense, the seed of Abraham. They were
Jews, and for anything known to the con-
trary, with untainted blood. Abraham was
the progenitor of the Jews. The Arabs
might, with propriety, make the same dec
laration Ishmael was the son of Abraham,
consequently the Arabs of the desert can
say, as truthfully as the Jaws, 1--WE be Abra-
HAMS seed. The expression, "Abrahams
seed" in it's proper Scripture import, means
/ TO have the faith of Abraham. This the
Jews, who, on the occasion referred to, re-
piled to our Saviour, did not, in all proba-
bility, have. They were simply the de-
scendants of Abraham, as were also the
Arabs and the children of Keturah.
When the Jews said to our Saviour, "We
be Abraham's seed," their language had
only the semblance of truth. When, how
ever, they said, "We were never in bondage
to any man," there was not even the sem
blance of truth in one syllable which they
uttered. We stand amazed at the moral de-.
pravity of those who dared, in the face of
e. oIyo fJo
difficult to find people who experienced
so many national reverses and individual
calamities. Without much figure of speech
it might be said that the Jews began their
national existence in slavery. Abraham
had been dead only about one hundred and
fifteen years when Jacob went down into
Egypt. Isaac was alive when the sons of
Jacob sold their brother Joseph into slavery.
The whole descendants of Abraham through
the line of Isaac and Jacob, were only sey-
enty when Jacob went down into Egypt.
Joseph lived after the arrival of his father,
Jacob, in Egypt, about seventy years.
Soon after death of Joseph, the descendants
of Jacob were reduced to the captivity OF
not simply dependency, but to the most 40
iect slavery. In this miserable condition
they remained from the death of Joseph
until the return of Moses from the land OF
indian, a period of more than one hundred
years. They wandered about in the will
derness for forty years, and all except two
who came out of Egypt died in the wilder
ness.
Scarcely had the Jews reached the land
which God promised Abraham until they
were reduced to servitude by Chushan-Ris-
hathaim. This state of servitude began
about sixty years after the Israelites crossed
the Jordan and lasted for eight years.
From this servitude they were delivered
by Othniel, and were free for period OF
forty years after which they served Eglon
of Moab, eighteen years. From this they
were delivered by Ehud, and were free for for
eighty years but were again reduced by
Javin, of Canaan, whom they served for
twenty years. They were again delivered,
but after forty years they were reduced to
subiection by the Midianites, whom they
served for seven years. They were deliver
ed from the Midianites by Gideon, but after
period of about ninety years they were
again reduced to a state of servitude by the
Philistines and Ammonites. This lasted
eighteen years. At this time Jephtha rose
as deliverer, but about thirty years after
Jephtha, bondage to the Philistines began
which continued for forty years. From the
Saul, period of about four hundred and
eighty years, they werein bondage one hun.
dred and eleven years, nearly one-fourth of
the time, and during nearly the whole time
they were, on account Of their sins, terribly
harrassed by their enemies. Yet, in the
face of these facts, which probably every
Jew knew, which every Jew certainly had
the means of knowing, and ought to nave
known, they say with an air of selt-lmpor-
tance, 1--WE were never in bondage to any
man."
But this is not all. In the very beginning
of the reign of RehOboam, ten of the twelve
tribes reVolted and followed Jeroboam.
Two hundred and fifty-seven years after
this the kingdom of Israel-the ten tribes
which folloWed-Was extermlnated. Ihe
people were carried into captivity, where
no one certainly knows, and what became
of them no one can certainly tell. The
kingdom of Judah continued to exist for
q period of about one hundred and fifteen
wears longer, and then Nebuchadnezzar con-
uuered Judea and led the people into cap
tivity. After seventy years they were re-
stored, but they could scarcely be SAID TO De
a free people any more. They were the vas
sails first to one and then to another OF the
surrounding nations. 10 make an END OF
their independent nationality. Pompey,
fifty five years before the Christian era,
CAPTURED Jerusalem, and the land which
God had given to Abraham became, on ac-
count of the sins and iniquities of the those
who boasted that they were Abraham seed,
a Roman Province. The Jew was deprived
of everything which had the semblance Of
national liberty. At the very moment
those Jews said to our Saviour, 'We were
never in bondage to any man." they were
the miserable slaves of the Romans. Not
only so but the Jew had lost his cast. He was
held in contempt by all the nations to whom
he was known. Yet the deluded creatures
say, with an air of pride, 1--WE were never