man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” Micah 5:7.
Concerning the temple at Jerusalem, the Lord declared through Isaiah,
“Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah
[28] 56:7, R. V.
But the Israelites fixed their hopes upon worldly greatness. From
the time of their entrance to the land of Canaan, they departed from
the commandments of God, and followed the ways of the heathen. It
was in vain that God sent them warning by His prophets. In vain they
suffered the chastisement of heathen oppression. Every reformation
was followed by deeper apostasy.
Had Israel been true to God, He could have accomplished His
purpose through their honor and exaltation. If they had walked in the
16
Chosen People 17
ways of obedience, He would have made them “high above all nations
which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor.” “All people
of the earth,” said Moses, “shall see that thou art called by the name of
the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.” “The nations which shall
hear all these statutes” shall say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people.” Deuteronomy 26:19; 28:10; Deuteronomy 4:6.
But because of their unfaithfulness, God’s purpose could be wrought
out only through continued adversity and humiliation.
They were brought into subjection to Babylon, and scattered
through the lands of the heathen. In affliction many renewed their
faithfulness to His covenant. While they hung their harps upon the
willows, and mourned for the holy temple that was laid waste, the light
of truth shone out through them, and a knowledge of God was spread
among the nations. The heathen systems of sacrifice were a perversion
of the system that God had appointed; and many a sincere observer
of heathen rites learned from the Hebrews the meaning of the service
divinely ordained, and in faith grasped the promise of a Redeemer.
Many of the exiles suffered persecution. Not a few lost their lives
because of their refusal to disregard the Sabbath and to observe the
heathen festivals. As idolaters were roused to crush out the truth, the
Lord brought His servants face to face with kings and rulers, that they
and their people might receive the light. Time after time the greatest
monarchs were led to proclaim the supremacy of the God whom their
Hebrew captives worshiped.
By the Babylonish captivity the Israelites were effectually cured
of the worship of graven images. During the centuries that followed,
they suffered from the oppression of heathen foes, until the conviction
became fixed that their prosperity depended upon their obedience to
the law of God. But with too many of the people obedience was not
prompted by love. The motive was selfish. They rendered outward
service to God as the means of attaining to national greatness. They did [29]
not become the light of the world, but shut themselves away from the
world in order to escape temptation to idolatry. In the instruction given
through Moses, God had placed restrictions upon their association with
idolaters; but this teaching had been misinterpreted. It was intended to
prevent them from conforming to the practices of the heathen. But it
was used to build up a wall of separation between Israel and all other
18 The Desire of Ages
nations. The Jews looked upon Jerusalem as their heaven, and they
were actually jealous lest the Lord should show mercy to the Gentiles.
After the return from Babylon, much attention was given to religious
instruction. All over the country, synagogues were erected,
where the law was expounded by the priests and scribes. And schools
were established, which, together with the arts and sciences, professed
to teach the principles of righteousness. But these agencies became
corrupted. During the captivity, many of the people had received heathen
ideas and customs, and these were brought into their religious
service. In many things they conformed to the practices of idolaters.
As they departed from God, the Jews in a great degree lost sight
of the teaching of the ritual service. That service had been instituted
by Christ Himself. In every part it was a symbol of Him; and it had
been full of vitality and spiritual beauty. But the Jews lost the spiritual
life from their ceremonies, and clung to the dead forms. They trusted
to the sacrifices and ordinances themselves, instead of resting upon
Him to whom they pointed. In order to supply the place of that which
they had lost, the priests and rabbis multiplied requirements of their
own; and the more rigid they grew, the less of the love of God was
manifested. They measured their holiness by the multitude of their
ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with pride and hypocrisy.
With all their minute and burdensome injunctions, it was an impossibility
to keep the law. Those who desired to serve God, and who tried
to observe the rabbinical precepts, toiled under a heavy burden. They
could find no rest from the accusings of a troubled conscience. Thus
Satan worked to discourage the people, to lower their conception of
the character of God, and to bring the faith of Israel into contempt. He
hoped to establish the claim put forth when he rebelled in heaven,—
that the requirements of God were unjust, and could not be obeyed.
Even Israel, he declared, did not keep the law.
[30] While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true
conception of His mission. They did not seek redemption from sin,
but deliverance from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to
come as a conqueror, to break the oppressor’s power, and exalt Israel
to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject
the Saviour.
At the time of the birth of Christ the nation was chafing under the
rule of her foreign masters, and racked with internal strife. The Jews
Chosen People 19
had been permitted to maintain the form of a separate government;
but nothing could disguise the fact that they were under the Roman
yoke, or reconcile them to the restriction of their power. The Romans
claimed the right of appointing and removing the high priest, and the
office was often secured by fraud, bribery, and even murder. Thus
the priesthood became more and more corrupt. Yet the priests still
possessed great power, and they employed it for selfish and mercenary
ends. The people were subjected to their merciless demands, and
were also heavily taxed by the Romans. This state of affairs caused
widespread discontent. Popular outbreaks were frequent. Greed and
violence, distrust and spiritual apathy, were eating out the very heart
of the nation.
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
Hatred of the Romans, and national and spiritual pride, led the
Jews still to adhere rigorously to their forms of worship. The priests
tried to maintain a reputation for sanctity by scrupulous attention to the
ceremonies of religion. The people, in their darkness and oppression,
and the rulers, thirsting for power, longed for the coming of One who
would vanquish their enemies and restore the kingdom to Israel. They
had studied the prophecies, but without spiritual insight. Thus they
overlooked those scriptures that point to the humiliation of Christ’s
first advent, and misapplied those that speak of the glory of His second
coming. Pride obscured their vision. They interpreted prophecy
