A Jewish Prayer-Book [pp. 495-506]

0A /ewish Prayer Book.
the nations as unique in the present and future as it ever was,
according to the most conservative, in the past. And if the:
scrutiny is not too close, these doctrines may seem to satisfy
some existing facts, and some Scriptural testimonies. They
may appear to explain why, ever since the destruction oft
Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, that people, although so widely scattered, and exposed to so many persecutions, has been so wonderfully preserved and kept distinct.
There are Messianic prophecies also which might be forced
into a semblance of harmony with these ideas, although they
cannot be said positively to teach them. For example: " Judah,
thou art he whom thy brothers praise.... The sceptre
shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of
the people be."-(Gen. xlix: 8, io.)
But a little more careful scrutiny of facts and Scripture
shows these doctrines to be without a solid foundation. Spacewill not here permit the full statement of the arguments
against them. Nor is this necessary, for the most part, for
those who shall read this article. But it is to be remarked that
existing facts do not point to the Messiahship of the Jewish.
people. They are not leading the nations to God. Proselytism to Judaism is a rare occurrence anywhere. And outside
of the pale of Judaism, so far as progress is making by the
nations toward a higher religious condition, it is mainly
through the instrumentality of Christians. If we turn from
existing facts to the Scriptures, we notice that in all the thirtynine times in which the Hebrew word i'.9 (Mashiach) occurs in the Old Testament, it is not once applied distinctly to
the Jewish people. And the same is true in regard to the.
other titles of the Messiah which are there employed. This;
of itself is presumptive evidence against such an application
as that which this book makes of the name. The Scriptures.
also plainly point to a person as the Messiah. The circle
within which he is to appear, according to the first promise, is
wide as the race. But in all the subsequent predictions there:
is a gradual limitation, until eventually the circle is narrower
even than a tribe in Israel. The house of David is to have the
honor of his lineage. It must be a person, therefore, that is.
meant. Indeed, he is so designated by the use of pronouns,
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