LECTURES
ON ANCIENT ISRAEL, AND THE ISRAELITISH ORIGIN OF THE MODERN NATIONS OF EUROPE
BY J.
WILSON, London, 1840
"Surely
your turning of things upside down,
Shall be esteemed as the potter's clay:
For shall the work say of him that made it,
He made me not?
Or shall the thing framed say of that him that framed it,
He had no understanding?" Isa. 29:16
DEAR SIR,-
IN a late edition of your work on the
"Restoration of the Jews," you have very briefly brought together the
various views that, up to the time of your publication, had been taken of the
destiny of the Ten Tribes; and as therein you have honored mine with a larger
share of attention than you have any of the others, it is perhaps but justice
that I now direct the particular attention of my readers to the observations
there made. I do this the more readily, as your standing in the religious
world, especially in relation to the subject of prophecy, is such, as to tell
considerably either for good or for ill, according to the representations you
make of matters with which they are not otherwise acquainted. Many do not think
very deeply, and are glad to find one like yourself, a father in Israel, to
perform for them the important service of examining evidence, and declaring
what is truth. Believing also that you have, from your preconceived notions,
been led too hastily to judge of this matter, I am desirous of recalling your
attention to the subject; and, in order to this, I purpose now, God willing, to
point out the inconclusiveness of your reasoning, and the propriety of your
giving a more favorable verdict. Should this end not be obtained, still the
result may be good, as many will doubtless be convinced of the untenableness of
your position; and so become less disposed to trust in man, and more inclined
to examine for themselves whether these things are so:- so may they be led to
trust more entirely upon the teaching of the Father of Israel, as given to them
in his word. Your words are:-
"Calmet has a Dissertation prefixed to
the Book of Chronicles, 'On the Country to which the Ten Tribes were taken, and
on that in which they now are;' giving various opinions to his day, and giving
his own opinion, that the ten tribes gradually returned, and so fulfilled the
prophecies. Mr. Wolf's Journals, from 1831 to 1834, contain many interesting
particulars respecting the Jews in Armenia, Persia, Khorassaun, Toorkestaun,
Bolihara, Balk, Afghanistan, Cashmeer, ,and Hindostan. His idea was, as the result
of his inquiries, that the chief body in the east was at Lassa, in China. In
various parts of the East, (see for instance Jewish Intelligencer, December,
1840, and Buchanan's Researches,) there appear to be remnants of the Ten, as
well as of the Two Tribes, but in a very degraded state. It will hereafter be
really an object of great interest to the Gentiles to search them out, in order
to bring this scattered and peeled people, who have been meted out and
trodden dozen, as a present to the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts, the
Mount Zion. Isa. 18. If part of the ten tribes are in China, it is
singular that both those countries, Palestine, and China, should, at this time
- December, 1840 - be so remarkably brought under the attention of Europe! May
we be delivered from all unrighteous aggression, and made instrumental, as
vessels of mercy, in accomplishing the purposes of God's love to our
fellow-men.
"It may be right here to notice Mr.
Wilson's recent work on our Israelitish Origin. I have read it without any
conviction. Believing with him in the same hope of the restoration of Israel
and the personal reign of our Savior, I cannot but regret that so pious a
writer should, on so scanty a foundation, seek to establish a system which
appears to me to confound the distinct situation of Jews and Gentiles, and the
peculiarity of the divine love in the times of the Gentiles. However, his work
may be useful in calling attention to the subject, and suggesting thoughts to
other minds; his system is, in my view, unsupported in its proofs, and contrary
to the plain testimony of Scripture, Instead of blindness in part happening to
Israel, and the fulness of the elect among the Gentiles now coming in, this
view would make, in the whole of the Gentile dispensation, Israel the seeking
people, and the Gentiles the blinded people, and destroy the contrast of the
apostle between Jews and Gentiles. The sovereignty of God on this hypothesis,
would be resolved into almost a carnal and mechanical selection of one family, instead
of that largeness and fulness of love which the Holy Scriptures reveal, which
has no respect of persons, but deals both righteously and graciously with the
whole human race. There appears more reason to think there is a foundation for
the opinion that the original American Indians were of the ten tribes, as shown
with a good deal of apparent evidence in Mrs. Simon's "Ten Tribes
Identified," but we have no certainty yet respecting them. J. Samuels, in
a volume entitled, 'The Remnant Found, or the Place of Israel's Hiding
Discovered,' endeavors to show that the Jews of Daghistan, on the Caspian Sea,
are the remnant of the ten tribes; and his own evidence of this is brought
forward. They were visited by him in 1837 and 1838; but in any case this can
only be a fragment of the whole. Finn's History of the Jews in Spain and
Portugal contains much valuable information."
That you are, with many others, beginning to
see the importance of the subject, is indicated by your observing with regard
to the Ten Tribes, that "it will hereafter be really an object of great
interest to the gentiles to search them out." To have contributed to
produce the conviction that the people more particularly pointed out as the
objects of blessing, the house of Israel, - divorced from under the law, in
order to be espoused to the Lord according to the terms of the Gospel
dispensation, - to have helped to produce the conviction that the people, so
truly and everlastingly loved of God, are really of some importance, is indeed
consolatory: but the pleasure thus afforded is much diminished by the ignorance
still prevailing on the subject; and which is sufficiently evinced by your
avowal of the purpose for which you think they are to be sought out. It is in
order, you say, "to bring this scattered and peeled people, who have been
meted out and trodden down, as a present to the place of the name of the Lord
of Hosts, the Mount Zion." Is this consistent with the idea or Israel's
having multiplied as the sand of the sea previous to their predicted union with
Judah, as expressed, Hosea 1:10-11? Is this consistent with Ephraim's having
grown into the promised fulness of nations; and, together with the thousands of
Manasseh, having pushed the people to the ends of the earth, - so that at the
time of the Restoration, the nations shall see and be confounded at all their
Might? No, the Lord will perform the truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham,
which He hath sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. The recovery of
Israel from Egypt is to be eclipsed by their Restoration from the north
country. Were they then presented to the land as a miserable fragment, under
the degrading patronage of their Egyptian taskmasters? Was it not in power that
they came forth, under the immediate guidance and blessing of the God of
Israel?
It is true that in Isa. 18 the promise is
given that the present of a people scattered and peeled shall be brought unto
the Lord of Hosts: but look again at the last verse of that chapter, and you
will find, that this present is not to be brought by a mere Gentile people: it
is to be "from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto,
whose land the rivers have spoiled," as truly as it is to be "of
a people scattered and peeled." And the people terrible from, their
beginning hitherto, are of the same stock as the people "scattered and
peeled;" but they are not the same portion of the people. There is the
same distinction marked in the closing verse, as that which is, throughout the
Scriptures, made between the case of Israel and Judah. The people of whom the
present consists are the Jews; the people from whom the present proceeds is
Israel, whose land the rivers have spoiled: by which expression we are led back
to ch. 8:7, 8, of this same prophet, where the spoiling of the land of Israel,
as well as of Judah, is described as commencing with the Assyrian invasion;
when the waters of the river, strong and many, swept away the house of Israel
forth of their land. The outcast house of Israel, terrible from their beginning
hitherto, shall extend favor to the distressed, the scattered, and peeled
children of Judah. Israel, as having renewed their strength in the islands, and
having been brought near to their God; and as having had the mystery of God's
working in providence, as afore revealed in his word, opened up to them, shall
be found in the possession of the abundance of the seas, and shall employ the
ships of Tarshish in this labor of love. See Isa. 41, 50, &c.
You say you have read my work without any
conviction. I leave it with your own conscience to judge of the fact as to
whether you have really read the book, or merely glanced over some particular
portions. But of this I can well judge, that you have not paid attention to all
that is contained even in the beginning of the book; else you could not have
made some of the statements contained in the foregoing extract. I earnestly
again request, as I did before in the preface, that you read the first six
lectures, which chiefly consist of reasoning, with regard to the scriptural
expectations we should form, as to the so-called lost house of Israel. You
cannot know whether a people be indeed the people of the promise until you have
seen what is really promised respecting them. God will honor his word, by
making it the chief instrument in removing the veil that hath been spread over
all nations.
You say that you believe with me in the same
hope of the restoration of Israel, and the personal reign of our Savior. With
regard to the latter, it is probable we are much of the same mind. Neither of
us, however, came all at once to the conclusion at which we have arrived on
this subject. You at first listened to the doctrine of the personal reign of
Christ as unbelievingly as you have since regarded our Israelitish origin; and
I trust that it was not a vain expectation which I have heard expressed, that
your change of opinion will be as complete in the one case as in the other.
With regard to the restoration of Israel
there may yet be a considerable difference of opinion between us, if you look
upon this as identical with the restoration of the Jews. I see it promised, not
that Israel, by the Gentiles, shall be restored as a people scattered and
peeled, as a kind of minor accompaniment to the Jews in their restoration. The
promise is, that Judah shall walk with Israel, when they shall come together
out of the north country. I see that when the Lord shall manifest himself in
fulness as a father to Israel. He will declare Ephraim to be the first-born. I
see that the desolate woman that Was given a bill of divorcement and sent away,
is to have many more children than she which remained under the marriage
covenant according to the law - (see Isa. 54.) I do not believe that the
Gentiles, merely such, will restore Israel; but that the Lord himself will do
this; and that he will be found to have put his firstborn, Ephraim, in a
position of blessing the Jews, as well as of ministering blessing to all
Israel, and, indeed, to the whole family of mankind.
The notice you take of the piety of the
writer makes me feel regret that I do not more deserve the character. This,
however, I can say, that what of the fear and love of my God I do possess,
impels me to take his word as my guide in all such matters; and distinctly to
avow what I receive therefrom, however I may, in so doing, have to oppose those
whom I have the greatest cause to esteem, because of their abundant labors in
the cause of God, and because of their rich manifestation of the Spirit of my
dear Lord. - Nay, there may, in such cases, be the greater necessity for clearly
vindicating the truth; as error is never so much in danger of fixing its deadly
thrall upon the meek of the earth, as when associated with so much Scripture
light, and Christian virtue, as in the case of the honored servant of God I am
now addressing.
You speak of my system as having "so
scanty a foundation." You have not, however, pointed out tiny one respect
in which the foundation is deficient. And this I can with confidence say, that
there is not a single mark whereby, according to the Scriptures, Israel were to
be known, but what is to be found in connection with the people I have
identified, as those contemplated in the promises made unto the fathers the
people pointed at by the prophets, and whom the good Shepherd of Israel came to
seek and to save: that having raised up the tribes of Israel, he might also be
for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Isa. 49:6.
You have said that my system appears to
confound the distinct situation of Jews and Gentiles. Now it appears to me,
that you here confound Israel with the Jews; and bring the former under the
latter denomination: for this you have, as far as I understand it, no warrant
whatever from Scripture. - It is true, that the Jews are a portion of Israel;
but Israel were not, and are not Jews; and as it was never said they would
become Jews, but was clearly predicted, that the name of being the Lord's
people, Israel, would be taken from them, it is clear they must be looked for
as bearing the name neither of Israel nor of Judah, but of Gentiles. It is not
until they are as the sand of the sea-shore; and until, in the place they were
called Lo-ammi, or Gentiles, they are acknowledged as the, sons of the living
God, that they are to have the Jews joined unto them. And as you confound
Israel and Judah, that the Lord hath so clearly distinguished, so do you
separate what God hath joined. God hath said b% his apostles, that any
Gentiles, that are saved during the present dispensation, are as branches of
the wild olive, inserted among the children of Israel, the natural branches;
with them, and not to their exclusion, to partake of the root fatness of the
olive tree; yet you would take from Israel their own olive tree, and make it
peculiarly Gentile. No such peculiarity of divine love do we find spoken of in Scripture.
When the lord turned away from treacherous Judah, at the commencement of the
Christian dispensation, it was after backsliding Israel that he sent his word
into the north country. True, Israel were not bearing their name at that time
any more than their father was known to be Jacob, when he stood before Isaac in
the reception of the blessing. Men, as being wise in their own conceits, may
have designed the blessing for another; but it has nevertheless fallen,
according to the appointment of God, upon the promise. It was because the
desolate woman was in the northern wilderness that there is evinced such
peculiarity of divine love in the times of the Gentiles, as that all the
divinely recorded journeys of the apostles, and all their epistles, and the
Apocalypse, as well as the great outlines of Old Testament prophecy, stretch
out towards that part of the world we inhabit, as is noticed in Lecture 6.
Here, indeed, is peculiarity of divine love, enabling the Lord now to say in
truth unto outcast Israel, - "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love: therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn thee."
"Our Israelitish Origin " has been
useful in more than "Calling attention to the subject, and suggesting
thoughts to other minds." It has to many, I am happy to say, opened the
great plan of divine Providence, evincing the most perfect unity of design, in
accordance with the revealed purposes of God, throughout the Holy Scriptures from
Genesis to Revelation. The whole of both the word and the working of God, have
become delightful matter of study to many, unto whom they appeared dark and
wearisome before: yet of the system which has been the means of producing this,
You say, that it is in your view "unsupported in its proofs, and contrary
to the plain testimony of Scripture." What meaning you may have intended
to convey by the expression "unsupported in its proof," I cannot well
say. My proofs have been the whole tenor of Old Testament prophecy, and the
whole outgoings of the divine love under the New Testament dispensation: and I
have shown that facts of the case, as declared in history, and that even the
modern discoveries of science, are all consistent with the view; and are thereby
accounted for, which otherwise they are not. - If you mean to insinuate that I
have made statements as to these matter's which I cannot substantiate, then be
so kind as to point out any of these
that I may correct them. But if you cannot
make good your charge and you are found bearing false witness against one,
however humble, whose single aim is, I trust, to show forth the truthfulness of
the Good Shepherd of Israel, then I pray God may forgive you. If by
"unsupported in its proofs" you mean to say that no one among the
great or the learned, beyond the sacred Scriptures, had in all points advocated
the views, with regard to Israel, which are advanced in my lectures, I
willingly plead guilty to the charge. How else could Israel have been lost as
to name until the time appointed? How else could God, in this matter, destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent;
and make use of the base things of this world; yea, and things that are not, to
bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence?
And so as that the exclamation (Rom. 11:33-36) might most truly be made upon
the discovery of Israel; when the blindness, in part, which has happened unto
us, should be removed: "O the depth," &c.
I might plead that the great and the wise,
as well as the unlearned and the mean, of this nation, have before God, been
constantly acknowledging their Israelitish origin; but I fear this has been in
great ignorance with all classes. The English nation have, according to their
common ritual, been constantly saying, "We are his people, and the sheep
of his pasture;" and so they have proceeded to confess the sin of their
fathers, as tempting God in the wilderness. And so also have they been
acknowledging the wonderful works of God unto Israel, saying, "O God, we
have beard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble
works thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them." And they
have been adopting as their own the words of the Virgin, saying, "He,
remembering his mercy, hath holpen his servant Israel, as he promised to our
forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever." Can a plain Englishman,
holding the principle of the literal interpretation of Scripture, use language
like this, still regarding himself a mere Gentile and not truly an Israelite?
Your view, you must surely confess, is
distinctly contrary to the plain testimony of the Prayer-book [Archbishop
Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer], the highest authority, as I suppose, which
you acknowledge next to the Holy Scriptures. Supposing it to have been
purposely framed to express my view, could it have been more in point? But as I
have shown that your view is contrary to the plain admissions of the
Prayer-Book, so you say that my view is contrary to the plain testimony of
Scripture. Thus you would place matters, so as that you must either give up the
Prayer-book or the Bible. Now my view would so place you as that you may in
truth, and not merely with the mouth, acknowledge your descent from Abraham. It
is an easy matter to prove, that the Scriptures are as uniform in their
recognition of the Israelitish origin of the English, as is the Book of Common
Prayer.
Upon taking a view of Israel, in their
calling, and their training, we shall see that there were circumstances
connected therewith, leading directly to the conclusion, that this people were
designed for important purposes; not for themselves alone, but as related to
the whole human race: - that they were in fact a seed to be sown among the Gentiles
- a seed in whom all the nations of the earth were to be made blessed. We shall
see that for this purpose they were educated in the most wonderful manner, both
in the three great Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, individually; and in
the nation generally in its three grand stages - in Egypt, in the Wilderness,
and in the Promised Land; and there under three grand dispensations, the
tabernacle, the temple, and the prophetic. We shall see how admirably the
circumstances, in which Israel were all along placed, were calculated
to draw out into healthy and vigorous exercise the several faculties of the
human mind, intellectual as well as moral, fitting his people for becoming the
leading people over all the earth. See, Lect. 3, 4.
And, when we look further we shall see that
these expectations, formed from the calling and history of Israel, are amply
borne out by the prophetic word; which abundantly confirms the numerous
promises solemnly made unto the fathers: that of Israel a multitude of nations
should come, who would be at the head of all the people of the earth; and
through whom a blessing would be ministered to all nations. I see that this
prophetic word points directly northward and westward; and, particularly, to
these isles afar off, as being concerned in the fulfillment of those promises.
We shall also see that this is the time when the discovery of Israel may be
expected to take place. In order to see how all this can be, we must notice the
separation of Israel from Judah, the subsequent loss of Israel, or the ten
tribes in the north, so as that, hope with regard to them appeared to be
utterly cut off. These things were clearly contemplated by the Spirit of
Prophecy: but their recovery also is as clearly foretold, which shall be like
life from the dead; when Judah shall be joined to Israel; when they shall be
made one instrument in the hand of the Lord for the distribution of his grace,
and the showing forth of his glory. It must be considered that we have to look
for Israel not as entirely distinct from other people. With regard to the tribe
of Judah, the portion of it which inherited the blessing in the days of the
apostles, became blended with the Gentiles: and only that portion [which
rejected Christianity] remained distinct. See, Lect. 5, 6.
We are to expect blessing for Israel, not as
remaining entirely separated from other people, but as being made one with them
in the Lord. God will display his truth in raising up, according to his
promise, the instrument; and then he will show his goodness in the making use
of that instrument as a blessing unto all. When we survey the workings of God
in providence, we shall see his wondrous truth and faithfulness, in the
fulfillment, to this time, of the prophetic word: Here, in the north, at the
termination of the prophetic line of empires, at the time and in the
circumstances predicted, do we find a people possessing all the marks of
Israel. They are a people wonderfully dealt with and eminently blessed. Their
origin, and the origin of their wise institutions, are unaccounted for. They
come from the same quarter as that in which Israel was lost, and their boasted
institutions were the appointments of Moses; and this superiority of
intellectual and moral constitution, is the result, as we shall see, of that
wonderful training which Israel received from their great Teacher, in the days
of old. See Lect. 7-12.
God's object, it may be remarked, has been,
not to preserve perfect distinctness either in the tribes or in Israel.
Distinctness was necessary in the training, and for witness, in the fulfillment
of the prophecies respecting them as a particular people; But, these objects
being accomplished, the next is the good they are to serve for mankind, both as
acting with and towards other people. In order to this, they have been most
favorably placed hitherto; and they are yet to be more favorably placed, as
being given to possess that land which was promised unto their fathers, and
which, as we shall see, is the most admirably situated with regard to all
lands, and all races of mankind, - all climes, and all the productions of the
earth. A position evidently designed to be the center of universal empire; but
hitherto unoccupied as such; although trodden under foot, of all the great
masters of the world from the Assyrian downward. The Babylonian, the Persian,
the Grecian, the Roman, the Saracen, and the Turk, have all trampled this land
under foot; but none of them have, in the fulness of the promised blessing,
possessed it. The possession is reserved for the people that should be created
for the praise of Jehovah: with whom, and for whom, he hath indeed done
wonderfully; and who have actually already come into such close connection with
the land as that they have twice restored to the Turk, that which is rightfully
their own: "Turn again, O virgin of Israel turn again to these thy
cities." See Lect. 1, 2, 12, 14.
It is well you have condescended to point
out the respects in which this "system" is contrary to Scripture. It
would not, you think, allow of blindness, in part, happening to Israel. Now I
am clearly persuaded that it does most clearly prove blindness to have happened
to Israel. Is there no blindness in the case of a people, in whose hands have,
for centuries, been the Scriptures, that throughout testify of all that the
Lord hath done, is doing, and will do, with regard to that same people; and yet
they have known nothing of the matter? At the same time they have, in their
Common Prayer, been uttering words the same as if their eyes were open, to see
out of obscurity and out of darkness; to see the word and the working of God as
testifying in harmony of his everlasting love to themselves as the children of
the promise. If this be not blindness in part, I know not with what darkness of
understanding you would be satisfied.
But farther, you insinuate that my view does
not allow that the "fulness of the elect among the Gentiles" is now
coming in. I suppose you refer to Rom. 11:25, which, however, does not contain
the expression you use. You have pressed the doctrine of election into your
service here, where nothing is said directly with regard to it in the text. The
expression is, "Blindness in part hath happened to Israel until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Now the question is, what is meant by
this expression, "fulness of the Gentiles?" And when we find, from
Gen. 48:19 (see marginal reading and Hebrew text) - when we find that this is
one of the great promises made with regard to the very people with whom I
identify the English; who have been introduced into the participation of such
blessing, as that the Lord bath not dealt so with any nation, we need be at
little loss to know to what Old Testament prophecy the apostle here refers. It
is not of mere Gentiles, but of the "Fulness of the Gentiles" to come
of Ephraim, that the word of God here speaks.
It remains for you to show how the Lord is
also to be for salvation unto the ends of the earth, after having raised up the
tribes of Israel, if the tribes of Israel are not to be enlightened until the
fulness of the Gentiles, as you understand it, have come in!! The view that
Israel are not to be saved until all the elect of the mere Gentiles that are to
be saved are come in, is, I am bold to say, altogether without foundation in
Scripture. No; it is of Israel he hath said, "This people have I formed
for myself; they shall show forth my praise." - "Thou art my servant,
0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Yes; Ephraim, chosen of God to the
place of the first-born, and since cast out among the Gentiles, and long
confounded with them, is being brought into the Little Sanctuary, to the Holy
of Holies, which the Lord said He would Himself be to them in the countries
into which they should come. See Ezek. 11. And Ephraim having received blessing
from Him that sitteth between the Cherubim, shall be honored with the
ministration of blessing unto his brethren, so that All Israel shall be saved.
And the Lord, having raised up the tribes of Israel, the house of All Israel,
will also be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. Yes, at length even the
Gentiles shall have their eyes opened, and come unto the Lord from the ends of
the earth, saying, "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and
things wherein there is no profit." Such is the order of blessing. A
portion of Israel, the believing Jews, were made the means of blessing a
portion of the Gentiles; and the Roman Gentiles being made the means of
conveying the light of salvation unto outcast Israel, as being brought out into
the northern wilderness, All Israel shall be made the means of surrounding the
whole earth with blessing.
You say that my view makes Israel the
seeking people; and so you will find the Scripture does make the tribes of the
Lord's inheritance the seeking people, and that at the time when their natural
connection with Abraham is not known, when they are not to be acknowledged as
Israel, as you will find from the words with which they seek unto the Lord,
Isa. 63:15-19; 64. - This is the hitherto unknown house of Israel, as contrasted
with Israel recognized as such. It is between these two houses of Israel that
the Lord makes the contrast, ch. 65:1,2; and such contrast is elsewhere made in
Scripture, as when the Lord said to Jeremiah, "The backsliding Israel bath
justified herself, more than treacherous Judah."
I do not, as you say, destroy the contrast
between the Jews and the Gentiles; but this I say, that you confound the house
of Joseph with the house of Judah, which you ought not to do. You are never, in
Scripture, directed to look for the former among the Jews, but among the
Gentiles.They are "the fulness of the Gentiles," and as such, are,
indeed, frequently contrasted with the Jews in Scripture. Wanting this key, so
clearly held out to you throughout the word of God, you could not but remain
under the infliction of that blindness in part which hath happened unto Israel.
You say that "The sovereignty of God,
on this hypothesis, would be resolved into almost a carnal and mechanical
selection of one family, instead of that largeness and fulness of love, which
the holy Scriptures reveal." Is this language consistent with your having
changed the words of the apostle, "Fulness of the Gentiles," into
"Fulness of the elect among the Gentiles?" Surely you did not
introduce election in words, in the beginning of this paragraph, in order to
deny election altogether in point of fact, in all that you were afterwards to
say on the subject. This Would be using an artifice, with which I will not
accuse you. Yet, unless you explain yourself farther, you may, to a
simple-hearted reader, seem to have done this. Those who have observed the
inconsistencies of human nature, and especially of theologians, writing on
prophecy respecting the Jews, need not, however, have recourse to any such
uncharitable hypothesis. I wish you to consider that it was not I, but God,
that chose Abraham, and his seed for ever, and that made with them an
everlasting covenant; the promises of which, Christ did not come to take away,
but to confirm. And I do see greater largeness and fullness of love in God's
leading about and instructing a people, and preparing them afore as vessels
unto glory, and then casting them out among the nations, to be afterwards, as
placed in the most favorable localities, used as instruments of communicating,
blessings to the whole family of man: - More blessing I see in this, than if he
had indiscriminately sent his word to any quarter from Jerusalem - and not from
Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum [Yugoslavia] - directly northwest ward, in
the direction of the people he had prepared for his Name, and of whom he
speaks, saying, "I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away."
Do you mean to say that God deals
unrighteously and ungraciously with the human race, in making an election,
whether of individuals or of nations, to be his special messengers or ministers
of blessing unto others? Or do you intend to deny that in point of fact he has
not specially sent his word into the north country, after Backsliding Israel? I
call upon you to answer how else you can account for the existence of that law
of Providence, as constant as the laws which regulate the movements of the
heavenly bodies, according to which the whole tide of blessing hath flowed in
the direction of the nations I have identified with Israel. And surely you will
not maintain that the coming dispensation will show God to be ungracious and
unrighteous, because Israel will therein be so exalted in the general
ministration of blessing! Why should not the God of Israel be allowed, out of
his free mercy, to place Ephraim, his firstborn, in the position appointed him,
and for which he hath for ages been preparing him, by his providential
dealings? Why should the God of sovereign grace not be permitted to give to
whom He will, the fitting qualifications for the service unto which he is
pleased to call them? God will do all his pleasure. Yes, the Lord hath so far
fulfilled his word, "I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak comfortably unto her." He hath sowed her to himself in the
earth; and he hath mercy on the outcast house of Israel, that had not obtained
mercy:- upon Israel, as distinguished from Judah; compare Hosea, ch. 1:6, 7,
with ch. 2:23. The name of his people was taken from them, but He is now saying
unto them, "My people!" And may they, as knowing him to be indeed
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working, speedily be brought to say unto
Him, in the fulness of their hearts, "My God."
As to other views you say, "There is
more reason to think there is a foundation for the opinion that the North
American Indians were of the ten tribes, as shown with a good deal of apparent
evidence in Mrs. Simon's "Ten Tribes Identified." - I had examined
Mrs. Simon's view long before our Israelitish origin was made known to me; but,
however desirous I might be to see that at which the word of prophecy pointed,
I certainly saw there no fulfillment of it. There was no evidence that they
were a seed the Lord had blessed. They were not taking root downward, and
filling the face of the world with fruit, as was predicted of Israel, whilst
their own land would be forsaken and left like a wilderness. Here, at least, I
can heartily accord with you in saying, that "we have no certainty yet
respecting them." The injustice of the comparison you have ventured to
make, between such a view and that I advocate, you will, I trust, yet be led to
acknowledge.
With regard to the remnant said to be found
by Mr. Samuel, the people in Daghistan, on the Caspian Sea, which you say were
visited by him in 1837 and 1838, I believe there is as little certainty; and
supposing they really had been visited by him, the Editor of his work
acknowledges that their existence, as described, would not at all affect my
argument.
As to the Nestorians, since described by Dr.
Grant, they may indeed be those ready to perish in the land of Assyria: but
they cannot be the fulness of the nations to come of Ephraim; and who were to
be received into the blessing, not in the countries into which they were taken,
but in those into which they should afterwards come. What you say with regard
to the remnant said to be found, may well be said of the Nestorian community:
"In any case this can only be a fragment of the whole."
It remains that I notice China, with regard
to which you seem to have some expectation. You observe that "if part of
the ten tribes are in China, it is singular that both countries, Palestine and
China, should at this time (December, 1840), be so remarkably brought under the
attention or Europe." China is, I believe, the last resource of the
unbelievers of our Israelitish origin. The only proof, as far as I know, of
Israel's having gone into China, is very unreasonable. It is not derived from
the Bible, but from , the apocryphal book of Esdras, where we are told, that
after the ten tribes had been taken across the great waters by the Assyrians,
they resolved to go into a farther country. And so, passing the springs of the
Euphrates, they went a long journey of a year-and-a-half, to go into a land
wherein man never dwelt, that they might there serve Him whose service they had
so neglected in their own land. By their being said to pass the springs of the
Euphrates, it is supposed they went eastward. But any one, by looking at the
map, may see, that, as being by the Assyrians carried away beyond the great
waters, into the cities of the Medes, they were already eastward of the
Euphrates; and needed not to repass it at the springs, except as passing
north-westward, in the direction pointed out in the following Lectures; and
whither the good Shepherd, who came to seek and save that which was lost, hath
followed them in the whole ministration of the Gospel; as well as with all the
blessings of his providential goodness: so that he can in truth say, "I
have chosen thee, and not cast thee away."
And surely the Lord's thus accomplishing his
word, in leading his people "in a way they knew not," and in, at
length making "darkness light before them, and crooked things
straight;" in preserving them through so many great and strange
revolutions, making an end of all the nations among whom they were scattered,
but still preserving and increasing them:- from so small a beginning, enlarging
them even unto all the ends of the earth; and, from the gates of death, raising
them up to make them the head of the heathen;- in giving to them, in these last
days, all the advantages he said he would bestow, so that there hath not failed
one good thing of all that the Lord had said he would do for them:- Surely the
truth and the mercy of God towards the children of Israel, convey no barren
lessons to us: to those in whose behalf God hath so manifested his Wisdom, his
power, and his goodness. Surely we are thus instructed that nothing is too hard
for the Lord, and that we may henceforth fully confide in him in every strait.
That we have only to avoid sin and unbelief, which brought such overwhelming
calamities upon our fathers; and obediently trust in that Almighty Savior, who
hath, according to his word, delivered Israel thus far out of all their ills,
and brought them into this state in which they may reasonably indulge in an
expectancy as to the full accomplishment of all his promises. Surely we are
taught that there is no wisdom, nor might against the Lord; and that our wisdom
is to have the mind of Christ; and our might is in leaving ourselves in his
hands, to be the instruments of his good pleasure, towards the children of men,
for good unto all. Surely if God hath been working in all these things
according to his word, although man perceived it not working, according to his
written word, which we held in our hands, and yet we perceived it not: but
doubtfully regarded this word, as if there were no unity in the designs of God
Eternal, nor power in the Almighty to accomplish that which He had promised
unto our fathers: Surely, if thus we have been darkness, whilst the Lord hath
been light about us; surely we shall henceforth mistrust ourselves: and we
shall not implicitly confide in any creature, however raised in the world, or
exalted in wisdom, or honored even in the cause of God: but we shall say, Let
the Lord alone be exalted - God is my refuge; and underneath are the
everlasting arms. - Surely now it shall be said, as in Isa. 12:1-3. O Lord, I
will praise Thee. Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away,
and thou comfortedst me." And surely we shall now in truth address
ourselves to the work appointed us - even the proclaiming the praise of God
among all the people of Israel, as in v. 4, and even unto all the earth, as in
v. 5. And especially to the house of Judah, the first, who shall be the last,
but not the least, as showing the salvation of Israel. v. 6.
But, alas! although God has been thus far so
good, how ungrateful have we been! We look upon the body of Israel, but as yet
we may almost say, "No breath is therein;" no harvest of Israel, like
to the first-fruits of Judah, has as yet been enjoyed. We are, however,
promised, that God shall most assuredly accomplish to scatter the power of the
holy people. He will bring them together, and put his Spirit within them, and
declare them to be his people, and He will be their God.
This resurrection of Israel, after having
been lost, and buried, and scattered, is most justly in Scripture held forth as
a grand type of the resurrection of the bodies of the individual saints, just
as the resurrection of the Savior was a grand pledge of this resurrection of
Israel. And thus the words which are in the Old Testament used with regard to
the resurrection of Israel, are in the New applied to the literal rising up of
the, saints from the dust of death. Compare Hos. 13:14, with I Cor. 15:54-57,
the same omniscience, faithfulness, and power, are manifest in the one instance
as in the other. This grand subject of prophecy which has a special reference
to the loving-kindness of Jehovah, and the spiritual life of his people thence
resulting, has thus also a prime reference to the two grand supports of this
life, the objects of our faith and of our hope:- our faith, which looks back to
the death and the resurrection of Jesus: who, at the same time that he made
atonement for our sins, was confirming the promises made of God unto the
fathers, with regard to their natural or literal seed, whose natural death had
taken place; and who, after two days and a half [ABCOG: 3 days and 3 nights!]
would be raised up, and made to stand in his sight. In regard to all which,
this subject points forward to the object or our hope: to the appearing of our
Lord in glory, and our own individual resurrection from the grave, with the
whole body of the redeemed people or God, to share, fully and for ever, in the
glory and blessedness of our already risen Head.
This subject has important aspects. It is
calculated to draw the whole house of Israel into love and unity with each
other, in self-distrust and mutual forgiveness; for all have been blind, and
yet all have had some different portion of the truth. It is calculated to bring
them into humble and holy effort for the good of the whole human race; for
that, as we have seen, is the purpose for which they have been raised up, and
not for proud oppressive pre-eminence. Seeing that such must be the results of
this important truth respecting Israel, can we wonder that the subject occupies
so overwhelming a portion of the Old Testament Scriptures? And seeing that this
subject has not been understood, can we wonder that these Scriptures have been
left in comparative neglect? They have been like a maze of sentences,
expatiating as if in rhapsody upon a subject of which the mind had formed no
definite idea: and which sentences have consequently been variously, and in all
cases, but dimly shaped out by the various imaginations of men. And truly, when
the Lord hath done his marvelous work, even a marvelous work and a wonder, he
will shame all human wisdom, and, in that day, shall the deaf hear the words of
the book: See Is. 29:18, 19. Most true it is that the consideration of this
subject is necessary to understanding the great body of the Old Testament
Scripture, which chiefly consists of details of the Lord's various training of
Israel, and prophecies respecting what would be done with and by them in after
ages. This view is equally necessary to an understanding of the course of
Providence generally, and of the things that have happened, and are happening,
to these kingdoms in particular. The origin of nations - the scattering of
peoples, and the revolutions of empires - the formation of many of the most
important national characteristics in politics, religion, and civil manners,
are otherwise all involved in obscurity; but thus they become light - thus the
grand connecting links of history are discovered and gathered up; and all the
nations are shown to be debtors to Israel, and Israel shown to be debtors to
all the earth.
But, after all, there seems to be wisdom in
God's hitherto hiding from Israel his true origin. It would at first, perhaps,
have been an embarrassing matter to have employed these nations in the
multiplication of Bibles, and in the spreading them abroad among all nations,
had they been made acquainted with the fact that they themselves are the people
with regard to whose origin and destiny so much has been said in the
Scriptures. The witnesses have been transmitted as if silently, to all nations,
without its being known what they would testify in this respect; and then shall
they all with, as it were one voice, although in every language under heaven,
proclaim the wonderful works of God in his dealings with Israel. Then,
astonished at our own stupidity, and the Lord's great goodness, our mouths
shall be filled with laughter, and our hearts with rejoicing. And even they
afar off among the heathen shall say, "The Lord hath done great things for
them!" And we shall say, "The Lord hath done great things for us! We
are glad!"
That you may soon see and admire the
marvelous goodness of our God toward the house of Israel, according as he spake
unto our fathers from the days of old; and that you may thus be the better
prepared to state clearly, and vindicate fully, his truth, is the heart's
desire of yours in the love of our dear Lord Jesus.
J. WILSON.