shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his What has been the state of the Jews since the Lord thy God; then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sickness, and of long continuance; and ye shall be plucked off from the land whither thou goest to possess it, and the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind." Deut. xxvii. 58 -65. As the faithfulness of Jehovah has been manifested in the dispersion of Israel, so will it be in their restoration. "He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock." Though they have long been rejected of the Lord, yet hath he not utterly cast them off. The clouds at length begin to disperse; the long night of adversity is nearly spent, and the Lord speaks in mercy: "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Isaiah liv. 7, 8. That the time to favor Israel is come, is most manifest from the attention which the Christian world is paying them. Here, indeed, we may adopt the language of David: "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come; for thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof." It is now twenty years since the first Jews' Society was formed to promote their spiritual welfare. Of late, other societies have been established, which have for their object both the temporal and spiritual welfare of Israel. One of those societies, at least, is formed on a plan calculated to promote the restoration of the Jews to their own land. Though, however, the efforts made for Israel's welfare are great, they are not equal to the claims they have upon us, "whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed for ever!" O! how ought Christians to exert themselves in behalf of this long-neglected and almost unthought-of people; "that through our mercy, which we have obtained through their unbelief, they also may obtain mercy." Rom. xi. 30, 31. And if Christians neglect their duty to the Jews, then their deliverance shall arise from another quarter, and they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines! Is. xi. 14. If we look to the Jews themselves, we see evident marks of their approaching restoration; there is evidently a "shaking among the dry bones of the valley;" they are themselves on the tiptoe of expectation; are paying an unusual attention to the Old Testament, and are praying for the coming of their Messiah. Though for near 1800 years they have been under the curse of unfruitfulness, at length the season of their resuscitation begins to appear. All this is aptly represented by the parable of the fig-tree, (Matt. xxiv. 32, 33,) in which reference appears to be made to the tree which withered away under the curse of unfruitfulness,-then the time for figs was not arrived,-and because it was unfruitful, it was to remain so during that age; (Mark xi. 13, 14; Matt. xxi. 19, 20;) but now the fig-tree (the Jewish people) begins to put forth, at least the leaf of profession, we may know the summer of their fruitfulness is near, and that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, yea, even at the doors. If we look to the providence of God in behalf of his people, we shall be led to draw the same conclusions. The infidel had said, Israel shall be no more a people,-they are cast off forever; and the Christian had said, their restoration is spiritual! But the thoughts of Jehovah were different. Why hath he preserved them in the midst of all nations a separate and distinct people, (a greater miracle than which cannot exist,) but because he means to perform the mercy promised to their fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, even the oath which he sware unto Abraham, saying, "I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will he their God?" Gen. xvii. 7, 8. Why is he now making those mighty preparations in the east, and drying up the mystic river Euphrates, but because he is about to "set his hand a second time to recover the remnant of his people" which are dispersed throughout the world? Isaiah xi. 11--16. The fact, that the arm of Jehovah is already stretched out, is a convincing proof that he will soon say "to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;" "for as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, saith the Lord; or shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God." Isa. lxvi. 8, 9. Oh! what could not the present state of the Jews teach mankind, if properly regarded! It would teach the infidel that there is a God in heaven; that the Bible is no fable. It would teach all men that God is faithful to his word. It would. teach the Christian the importance of attending to the prophecies, and that the coming of the Lord draweth near. And now, Christian reader, let me exhort you to lay these things seriously to heart. Count them not as idle tales. The importance of the subject, at least, and the deep interest you have in it, demand your serious and devout attention. Throw aside all preconceived opinions. It may be that you are |