"GOD'S PURPOSE IN ISRAEL, 
 
 AS ILLUSTRATED 
 
 IN HISTORY, TYPE, AND PROPHECY." 
 
 IF the importance of a subject can be measured by the 
 place given to it by God in His Word, then that which 
 brings us together in this Conference'-' must be one of the 
 most important that could engage our attention. And if 
 the hearts of God's people were as full of it as His Word 
 is, this hall would not be able to contain the numbers who 
 would flock together to speak often one to another of God's 
 purposes, promises, and prophecies concerning Israel. 
 
 Of all the LANDS in the earth there is one which Jehovah 
 has called " Emmanuel's Land." 
 
 Of all the CITIES in the world there is one which Jehovah 
 has called ''The City of the Great King," '-'The City of 
 our God." 
 
 Of all the NATIONS on the earth there is one which Jehovah 
 has chosen to be His "own inheritance," and has called 
 "My People." 
 
 Of all the BOOKS in the world there is one which Jehovah 
 calls "My Word," "The Word of God." 
 
 And His Word is filled with a revelation of His purpose 
 concerning this people, this land, and this city. 
 
 This "purpose" is our subject to-night, as illustrated in 
 history, type, and prophecy. Inasmuch as God's purpose 
 is often expressed in "promise," and His "promise" dis- 
 closes His "purpose," it may not be possible altogether to 
 
 * The following is an Address delivered at the Conference on Jewish 
 Missions, held at Mildmav Conference Hall, London, on October 1st to 
 3rd, 1889. 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 God's Purpose in Israel, 
 
 keep the two branches of our evening-'s subject distinct; 
 but we will endeavour to do so as far as we can, confining- 
 ourselves to history, type, and prophecy. 
 
 God's purpose in Israel " goes further back than that 
 which is made the ordinary starting-point ; viz., the call 
 of Abraham." A purpose must have an existence prior to 
 its manifestation or revelation ; and we must go back to 
 the beginning to find its first revelation in Genesis iii. 15. 
 Here we are impressed with the fact that it is emphatically 
 and indeed God's own purpose, emanating wholly and only 
 from Himself. 
 
 Man (like the material creation) had become a ruin — 
 empty, waste, and desolate ; and here, as there, the first 
 motion came from God. It was His purpose. In the one 
 case ''the Spirit of God moved, and God said," &c. In 
 the other " they heard the voice of the Lord God walking 
 in the garden," &c. God was here, as ever, the seeker and 
 the finder of lost and hiding sinners. It is He who first 
 speaks in the first question of the Old Testament, "Where 
 art thou .? " that the sinner may discover his lost and ruined 
 condition, and, in the language of the first question of the 
 New Testament, cry out for the Saviour, saying, "Where 
 is He ? " Where is the promised Deliverer and Saviour 
 provided for lost sinners } Yes, it is God who utters the 
 first word of promise, who gives the first gleam of hope, 
 and who declares His eternal purpose, that the head of the 
 serpent, which had wrought all the sin and misery, ruin and 
 death, should be crushed by the coming seed of the woman, 
 not by the woman whose false worship is upborne by the 
 uncrushed head or wisdom of the serpent as seen and 
 represented by the pictures and the Scriptures of false 
 religion, but by her "seed" — "the Son of man." 
 
 In this "coming One," and in Him alone, from that 
 moment all hope of future blessing was centered. 
 
 But so far the hope was wide. No clue was afforded as 
 to whom the purpose referred, beyond the great fact that 
 He should be a Son of Adam, the " Son of man." But the 
 " Son of man " might be of any nation, people, or tongue. 
 Hence the next step was to narrow down the limits of this 
 hope, and define the particular nation. 
 
 It may be well here just to remind ourselves of the 
 contents of these early chapters of Genesis, that we may 
 
in History, Type, and Prophecy. 3 
 
 see the place occupied by God's purpose concerning- ^ 
 Israel. 
 
 In Genesis i. and ii. we have the Creation, and the 
 placing of man in the garden. In chapter iii. the Fall ; 
 the entrance of sin, ruin, and death; and the promise of a 
 Saviour. In chapter iv. the way of access back to God, 
 placed here on the forefront of Revelation, setting forth 
 in the boldest characters the essence of true and false 
 religion from that day to the present moment. The one is 
 ''the way of Cain," i.e., ''works" (Jude 11); and the other 
 is "the way of God," i.e., ''grace" (Acts xviii. 26). In 
 chapter v. we have the perpetuation of sinful birth and 
 sorrowful death. In chapter vi. the working together of 
 sin, and Satan, and evil angels, leading up to the judgment 
 of the flood in chapters vii., viii., and ix. Then in chapter x. 
 we have " the generations of the sons of Noah," and their 
 divisions into seventy nations according to their ''families, 
 tongues, countries, and nations": "by these were the 
 nations divided in the earth after the flood" (Genesis x. 32). 
 Now we are distinctly told, in Deut. xxxii. 8, that "when 
 the Most High" (and this is always the title given to 
 Jehovah in connection with sovereignty in the earth) — " when 
 the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, 
 when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds 
 of the people according to the number of the children of 
 Israel." Here then we have Divine purpose. For we have 
 the nations divided in the earth, with special reference to 
 another nation (which at that time had no existence) two 
 hundred years before the birth of Abraham, its progenitor. 
 Not till the next, the eleventh chapter, do we come to " the 
 g-enerations of Terah " (xi. 27), and read of "the call of 
 Abraham." The very chapter which tells us of mafi s 
 purpose to keep together in one nation, tells us also of 
 God's purpose to scatter them, and of His purpose to 
 choose His own nation in Abraham. In chapter xii. He 
 announces this purpose, and its opening words are, " I will 
 make of thee a great nation" (xii. 2). The families of the 
 earth lost their blessing by disobedience — refusing to go 
 forth ; and they will find it again only through the 
 obedience of Abraham, who came forth and received the 
 promise, "In thee shall all families of the earth be 
 blessed" (xii. 3). 
 
4 
 
 God's Purpose in Israel, 
 
 Thenceforward the hope of a ruined and groaning- 
 creation was bound up in Him who was to be not merely 
 "the Son of man," but ''the Son of Abraham." 
 
 It is important to notice in passing-, that the original call 
 of Abraham is in Genesis xi., and not in chapter xii., thoug-h 
 it is not formally mentioned. The Holy Spirit, by Stephen, 
 is clear on this point; and Genesis xv. 7, Neh. ix. 7, Joshua 
 xxiv. 3, and Acts vii. 2, make it plain that it was " the God 
 of g^lory" who appeared to Abram and brought him out of 
 *'Ur of the Chaldees," and not out of Haran. 
 
 It is in Genesis xii. 2, however, when he was come out of 
 Haran, after the death of Terah his father, that God un- 
 folded His purpose, in that great sevenfold promise which 
 may be summed up in the words, '' I will bless thee, and 
 thou shalt be a blessing." Yes, purpose indeed is here. 
 It is " I WILL," and " Thou shalt." Here is divine certainty. 
 Here is something- we can rest upon. Here is something' 
 to occupy our hearts and our minds; for "the counsel of 
 the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all 
 generations" (Psalm xxxiii. 11); "Every purpose of the 
 Lord shall be performed " (Jer. li. 29). 
 
 This purpose was next ratified in Abraham's " Seed "^ 
 by solemn covenant. Now covenants are of two kinds, 
 co7iditional and tnuonditional. All conditional covenants are 
 made between two or more parties, and when man has 
 been one of these parties he has always failed. An un- 
 conditional covenant, on the contrary, has only one party 
 and here that one is Jehovah Himself : as St. Paul says, 
 speaking of the making of this covenant, " God is one " 
 (Gal. iii. 20). God was the "one" and only party that 
 made that covenant with Abraham in Genesis xv., for, to 
 make it unconditional, and the promise sure, God put 
 Abraham to sleep ; and in that sleep the symbols of the 
 divine presence passed between the parts of the victims^ 
 whose divided pieces formed the covenant sacrifice. 
 
 There are three such covenants in the Old Testament history. 
 One to Noah (Genesis ix.) in connection with the EARTH, over 
 which Christ is "the Son of man." Another is this covenant 
 with Abram (Genesis xv.) in connection with the LAND, 
 of which Christ, "the Son of Abraham," is the heir. And 
 the third is to David (2 Sam. vii.) in connection with the 
 THRONE, of which Christ is the heir, as " the Son of David." 
 
in History, Type, a?id Prophecy. 
 
 5 
 
 So that these covenants must stand. And in spite of 
 all the malice of the enemy, all the failure of Israel, and 
 all the neg-lect of the Church, Jehovah will fulfil all His 
 will. Hath He said, and shall He not do it ? or hath He 
 spoken, and shall He not make it good } " (Numbers 
 xxiii. 19). "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the 
 thing that is gone out of My lips " (Psalm Ixxxix. 34). 
 
 Great emphasis is laid on the fact in Genesis xv. 18, that 
 " in the self-same day the Lord made a covenant with 
 Abraham." Up to this day it was always " I will " (Genesis 
 xii. 7, xiii. 15), here and afterwards it is I have." The in- 
 heritance was given, and its boundaries were fixed — " from 
 the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" 
 (Genesis xv. 18); i.e. not the brook ("Nahal"), of Egypt, 
 the Wady-el-Arisch, but the river (" Nahar "), the Nile of 
 Egypt. 
 
 It is needless to say that the land with these boundaries 
 has never yet been occupied by Abraham's seed, and there- 
 fore the fulfilment of this purpose and promise is still in 
 abeyance. The fact that this covenant was without an "if," 
 without any conditions whatsoever, tells us that the day is 
 yet to come when the land thus given shall be occupied in. 
 all its length and breadth. 
 
 And now we come to the typical illustration of 
 
 THE FURNACE AND THE LAMP, 
 
 which Abraham saw in his sleep, passing between the parts 
 of the sacrificial victims when the covenant was made. These 
 were a type of the whole after-history of Israel. The 
 ''smoking furnace" told of the furnace of affliction into 
 which they should be cast, but the "burning lamp " told of 
 their certain deliverance. The "burning bush," which 
 Moses afterwards saw, told in like manner of their fiery 
 trials, but assured them that they should never be consumed. 
 
 The furnace and the lamp were the divine symbols and 
 tokens that God would preserve the nation, and fulfil all His 
 purposes in His people. 
 
 The furnace wdi?, specially typical of the affliction in Egypt. 
 '* The Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of 
 the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a peo- 
 ple of inheritance" (Deut. iv. 20). Solomon prays, "For 
 they be Thy people, and Thine inheritance, which Thou 
 
6 
 
 God's Purpose in Israel, 
 
 broughtest forth out of Eg^'pt, from the midst of the furnace 
 of iron" (i Kings viii. 51). Again, the prophet in his 
 warning says, " Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the 
 words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in 
 the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, 
 from the iron furnace'' (Jer. xi. 4). So that looking on 
 Israel, His inheritance, Jehovah could say, " Behold, I 
 have refined thee, but not with silver ; I have chosen thee 
 in the fur?iace of affliction." 
 
 But the lamp of deliverance was there, and will never be 
 wanting. In i Kings xi. 36 Jehovah says of Solomon, 
 
 Unto his son will I give one tribe, that David My servant 
 may have a lamp alway before Me in Jerusalem, the city 
 Avhich I have chosen." And in i Kings xv. 4, speaking of 
 Abijam, He says, " Nevertheless for David's sake did the 
 Lord God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son 
 after him, and to establish Jerusalem." 
 
 Thus the history of the nation has ever been illustrated 
 by the furnace and the lamp. The day is coming when the 
 Lord will kindle His *'fire in Zion, and His furnace in 
 Jerusalem " (Isaiah xxxi. 9; see Ezekiel xxii. 18-22). Then 
 He says, " I will bring the third part through the fire, and 
 will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as 
 gold is tried." But the lamp will be there ; for " they shall 
 call on My name, and I will hear them : I will say. It is 
 My people : and they shall say. The Lord is my God " 
 (Zech. xiii. 9). Then shall the proclamation go forth. 
 
 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the 
 Lord is risen upon thee " (Isaiah Ix. i). 
 
 Though the coming day of Jacob's trouble " will be 
 indeed an iron furnace," yet, mindful of this purpose,. 
 Jehovah says, " For Zicn's sake I will not hold My peace, 
 and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteous- 
 ness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof 
 as a lamp that burneth " (Isaiah Ixii. i). That is the lamp 
 that is ever seen in connection with the furnace, which 
 lightens up the future scene of affliction, and causes His 
 people to hope in Him. 
 
 A TYPICAL PROPHECY 
 
 is furnished by Isaiah vi. and vii. It is a solemn prophecy 
 of the blindness which in part should happen to Israel. It 
 
in History, Type, and Prophecy. 
 
 7 
 
 was indeed a solemn moment when it was uttered. The 
 very year is given, and it is a remarkable epoch. It is the 
 year that king Uzziah died" ; and historians tell us it was 
 the year that Rome was founded. Uzziah, after a prosperous 
 reign of fifty-two years, apostatised, and died a leper. In 
 like manner had the nation apostatised. All that the out- 
 ward eye could see was a miserable king, dying, a leper, in 
 a several house" ; but the spiritual eye of the prophet saw 
 the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up " 
 (Isaiah vi. i). In the vision which follows Isaiah is com- 
 missioned to proclaim the awful sentence : 
 Go and tell this people, 
 a I Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, 
 b I Make the heart of this people fat, [but perceive not. 
 c I and make their ears heavy, 
 d I and shut their eyes ; 
 d I lest they see with their eyes, 
 c I and hear with their ears, 
 h I and understand with their heart, 
 a I and convert, and be healed." 
 
 Three times is this solemn prophecy quoted in the New 
 Testament, and each time at an important dispensational 
 epoch. 
 
 I. In Matt. xiii. 14 it is quoted by Christ in the midst of 
 the seven parables. What was the occasion t Verse i tells 
 us. " The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by 
 the sea side." What day .? Ah ! we are told in chapter 
 xii. 14. It was the day that " the Pharisees held a council 
 against Him, how they might destroy Him." 
 
 II. In John xii. 39, 40 it is quoted by the Holy Spirit 
 through the evangelist. But how is it introduced } " Though 
 He had done so many miracles before them, yet they 
 believed not on Him " (v. 37). 
 
 III. In Acts xxviii. 25-27 it is quoted by the same Spirit 
 through St. Paul. But how is it introduced ? " Some believed 
 the things which were spoken, and some believed not " (v. 24). 
 
 In the Prophets it is Jehovah who utters the prophecy. In 
 the Gospels it is quoted by God the Son. In the Acts it is 
 quoted by God the Holy Ghost. Thus we have a silent 
 testimony to the Three Persons in one God. 
 
 Isaiah naturally asks, " How long ? " How long is this 
 blindness to last ? And the answer is vouchsafed, in words 
 
8 
 
 God's Purpose in Israel, 
 
 which Christ epitomised in the expression, " until the times 
 of the Gentiles be fulfilled." And he answered, Until 
 cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, 
 and the land become utterly waste, and the Lord have 
 removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in 
 the midst of the land. And if there be yet a tenth in it, it 
 shall again be eaten up ; as a terebinth, and as an oak, 
 whose stock " (or substance) " remaineth when they are 
 felled ; so the holy seed is the stock " (or substance) 
 ''thereof" (Isaiah vi. 11-13. R.V.). 
 
 Yes, there is "the holy seed" ; and chapter vii. goes on 
 to announce the promise of His birth. The chapter begins, 
 " And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz." Whenever we 
 have that expression it always refers to a time of trouble 
 followed by blessing, as in Genesis xiv. i, Ruth i. i, Esther 
 i. I, &c. So here Isaiah vii. 1-9 tells of the beginning of 
 that desolation which continues still, and will culminate in 
 the great confederacy under the Antichrist, which is fore- 
 shadowed in the confederacy in the days of Ahaz. It was 
 indeed a dark and evil day. Ahaz is told to ask for a sign ; 
 but he deliberately rejects Jehovah and confederates with 
 the Assyrian, saying to him, '' I am thy servant and thy son ; 
 come up, and save me" (2 Kings xvi. 7). Even so will 
 Israel make a covenant with Antichrist in the latter day, and 
 vainly look for him to save them. But their only Saviour 
 will be THE Christ : and here, in this extremity, God's 
 purpose to send Him is revealed. The sign that Ahaz 
 refused to ask is given notwithstanding. The furnace may 
 burn, wickedness may increase, enemies may combine, 
 apostacy may come, but the '* sign " is the lamp of promise 
 given seven hundred years before the event. No power 
 can prevent the birth of that holy seed." " The Lord 
 Himself shall give you a sign ; Behold, a virgin shall 
 conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name 
 Immanuel " (Isaiah vii. 14). A present pledge is given in 
 verse 16, " For before the child," any child, "the child" 
 being used indefinitely, as in Isaiah Ixv. 20, " for the child 
 shall die an hundred years old" : so here, the pledge of the 
 future birth of the virgin's Child — " the holy seed " — is the 
 present fact, that before any one then a child " shall know 
 to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou 
 abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings." That for- 
 
m History, Type, and Prophecy. 
 
 9 
 
 saking, Ahaz and his confederates would themselves see» 
 and would in it have a proof of the truth of the promise 
 of the future birth of that other Child, who would be 
 Immanuel, God with us." 
 
 This is why Christ is called so emphatically ^'the 
 BRANCH." Israel is a dry stump, like a tree felled to the 
 ground with no sign of life. But there is " the holy seed " 
 remaining. There is a Branch which shall spring out of 
 that apparently lifeless stock. 
 
 " Behold the days come saith Jehovah, that I will raise 
 unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a KING shall reign 
 and prosper" (Jer. xxiii. 5). 
 
 " Behold, I will bring forth my SERVANT the BRANCH" 
 (Zech, iii. 8). 
 
 Behold, the MAN whose name is the BRANCH" 
 (Zech. vi. 12). 
 
 In that day shall the BRANCH of JEHOVAH be 
 beautiful and glorious," i.e., gloriously beautiful, or beauti- 
 fully glorious (Isaiah iv. 2). 
 
 Thus the secret purpose of God is gradually disclosed. 
 First, that Christ was to be "the Son of Man " (or Adam). 
 Then, that He was to be *'the Son of Abraham." Then, that 
 He was to be the Son of David," and, finally, " the Son of 
 God." 
 
 " And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of 
 Jesse, and a BRANCH shall grow out of his roots." Thus 
 opens the glorious Millennial prophecy of Isaiah xi. 
 
 All hope and all blessing is thus wrapped up in this 
 coming holy seed," and in Isaiah vii. 14 this holy seed is 
 seen to be not only "the Son of man," or "the Son of 
 Abraham," or "the Son of David," but "the Son of God" 
 — "Immanuel," "God wuth us"; "perfect Man,'* eating 
 " butter and honey" ; " perfect God " in rejecting all evil, 
 and choosing only the good. 
 
 Till He come there can be no blessing for Israel, or for 
 the world ; for in Him alone shall all nations of the earth 
 be blessed. In this fact we discern the cause of the "enmi'/y" 
 between the serpent and this " seed of the woman." That 
 enmity is directed against all the people of God, whether 
 Israel or the Church, but specially against Jesus, the Head 
 of both. When at length that " holy seed " was born, and 
 the Son was given, the enemy opposed Him. He strove to 
 
lO 
 
 God*s Purpose in Israel, 
 
 slay Him among the babes at Bethlehem (Matt." ii.) ; he 
 thought to kill Him when he tempted Him to cast Himself 
 from the pinnacle of the temple (Matt, iv.) ; he sought 
 to put Him to death by casting Him over the precipice of 
 Nazareth (Luke iv.) ; he tried to destroy Him in the storms 
 on the lake ; and hoped he had succeeded at the Cross ! 
 Satan's purpose is ever to destroy " the holy seed," but God's 
 purpose it to preserve it. Satan's enmity ever kindles the 
 furnace, but God's covenant purpose has ever been a light 
 imd a defence. 
 
 As it was with Christ, so has it been with the nation of 
 Israel. Let me illustrate this purpose by 
 
 THREE HISTORICAL TYPES, OR TYPICAL HISTORIES. 
 
 L Egypt. In Exodus i. we see the attempt of the enemy 
 to destroy the whole nation. Pharaoh's object was merely 
 to retain them in servitude, and prevent their getting up out 
 of the land. "Come on," he said, "let us deal wisely" 
 (Exodus i. lo), and he commanded the male children to be 
 killed, charging " all his people, saying, Every son that is 
 born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall 
 save aHve " (Exodus i. i6, 22). But it is written, " He 
 taketh the wise in their own craftiness " (Job v. 13). Moses 
 was indeed "cast into the river," and Pharaoh's wisdom 
 ended in his having to bring up, educate, and prepare the 
 very man who should lead Israel " up out of the land." 
 Verily "there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel 
 against the Lord " (Prov. xxi. 30). " There are many 
 devices in a man's heart ; nevertheless the counsel of the 
 Lord, that shall stand " (Prov. xix. 21). 
 
 II. Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, when she " saw that 
 her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed 
 royal" (2 Kings xi. i). Here is another illustration of 
 the perpetual enmity between the serpent and the seed. 
 Satan's purpose was to destroy the line of succession, and 
 so prevent the birth of the coming Saviour, and frustrate 
 i he purpose of God ; Athaliah's purpose was merely to usurp 
 the throne of Judah, and enjoy its possession; but God's pur- 
 pose was to fulfil His promise, and preserve the seed alive. 
 
 What a ''furnace" for the faith of those who looked for 
 that coming One ! What a blow to all their hopes ! All 
 the seed royal slain ! The line of succession for ever 
 
in History, Type, and Prophecy. 
 
 II 
 
 broken ! No son of Abraham now ! No son of David now ! 
 All lost ! The word of God broken ! The promise failed ! 
 
 But no ! Jehovah had said, " I have ordained a lamp for 
 Mine anointed : I will make the horn of David to bud 
 (Psalm cxxxii. 17). He " bringeth the counsel of the 
 heathen to nought : and maketh the devices of the people 
 of none effect" (Psalm xxxiii. 10). And so when it says 
 that Athaliah " arose and destroyed all the seed royal," it 
 expresses her wishes and her thoughts. She thought she 
 had destroyed them all, ''but Jehosheba . . . took Joash the 
 son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons 
 which were slain ; and they hid him, even him and his 
 nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not 
 slain " (2 Kings xi. 2). 
 
 Even so it was with David's son and David's Lord. The 
 enemy thought he had destroyed Him on Calvary, " but 
 God raised Him from the dead." He was rescued " from 
 among " the dead,*-' and is hidden in the Father's house on 
 high. All who are Christ's are with Him in the heavenlies^ 
 for their "life is hid with Christ in God " (Col. iii. 3). ; 
 
 Here also we have an illustration of the church's present 
 position and occupation. Jehosheba and Jehoiada as wife 
 and husband illustrate the twofold attitude of the servants 
 of God. Like Jehosheba, our life is hidden and occupied 
 7vith Christ ; like Jehoiada, our life is occupied for Christ. 
 The affections of the wife were centred in " the king's 
 son," the activities of the husband were going forth for 
 the king's people. While the eye was beholding Him, 
 there was the transformation into His image (2 Cor. iii. 18) 
 on the one hand ; and the testimony concerning His 
 coming on the other. Jehosheba could have neither 
 complacency nor complicity with Athaliah or her schemes 
 and plans for governing or improving the kingdom she 
 had usurped, while Jehoiada was busy in detaching her 
 supporters and attaching all loyal hearts to the coming 
 king, assuring them that he was alive, and would speedily 
 be manifested, to the dismay of the enemy and the joy of 
 the faithful. It is interesting to note the burden of his 
 
 * Whenever Christ's resurrection or His people's is spoken of it is always- 
 *'/r<7;«," or, as in the Greek, '"'■from ajiiong'' the dead, leaving the other 
 dead ones behind ; while the resurrection of the others — the wicked — is 
 always the "resurrection ^the dead. 
 
12 
 
 God's Purpose in Israel, 
 
 testimony as it is given to us in 2 Chron. xxiii. 3 — "Be- 
 hold, the king-'s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of 
 the sons of David." Yes, the King-'s Son that was slain 
 shall surely reig-n, and the word of the Lord endure for 
 ever. And so it was — the six years soon ran their course ; 
 so it will be — the seventh year will come. And then "the 
 King's Son " shall be revealed. All who look for Him will 
 indeed rejoice. Many will be ashamed, but those who 
 -"love His appearing" will lift up their heads as the day 
 approaches. It will be then as it was when Joash was 
 manifested — ."AH the people of the land rejoiced, and the 
 city was in quiet." When ? Ah ! solemn word for all who 
 now side with the world and labour for its improvement. 
 It was not until " they slew Athaliah with the sword " 
 (2 Kings xi. 20). So, in like manner there will be no peace 
 for the world until the Beast shall be taken, the Antichrist 
 destroyed, and Satan bound ; until the prophetic word shall 
 be fulfilled — " Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness " 
 (Isaiah xxxii. i). "Behold, the king's son shall reign, as 
 the Lord hath said of the sons of David." 
 
 III. The last illustration is from the " furnace " of Persia, 
 •where we see again the " lamp " of God's Word lightening 
 the darkness. The enmity here is of a deeper dye. 
 Haman's purpose was more in accord with Satan's than 
 was Pharaoh's or Athaliah's. Five times he is called 
 emphatically "the Jews' enemy" (Esther iii. 11, vii. 6, 
 viii. I, ix. 10, 24). Jehovah's interminable war with 
 Amalek (Exodus xvii. 16) is still carried on, and in the 
 Book of Esther He is seen waging it. True, He had 
 removed from earth, He had forsaken His place between 
 the cherubim ; and during this period, in the Books of 
 Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, He is called by the significant 
 title, " the God of Heaven. He has removed to and acts 
 from such a distance, that in the Book of Esther He is not 
 na?7ied at all. This has been a great cause of stumbling to 
 many. Some have questioned the canonicity of the book 
 because of it ; others have doubted its inspiration ; others 
 
 * Just as the parables which refer to the kingdom during this period of 
 rejection call it " the kingdom of heaven." For its King is in heaven, and 
 the kingdom is now removed to a distance. It is now in abeyance, and 
 before it is re-established with divine judgment, power, and glory, it is 
 therefore called " the kingdom of heaven." See " The Kingdom " and " The 
 Church,'" by the same Author. 
 
171 History^ Type, a?id Prophecy. 
 
 13 
 
 have raised objections, while its defenders have themselves 
 been perplexed. It u'ill be relevant to our subject to state^ 
 that not only is Jehovah's purpose " to preserve His people 
 clearly seen, and His hand visible on every page of the 
 book, but that His name "Jehovah" has been emblazoned 
 on its pag-es by the Holy Spirit, in such a way that His 
 enemies will not know how to get it out. In the midst of 
 the furnace this lamp is seen, and the sight is one to 
 gladden our eyes, and rejoice our hearts. 
 
 Four times the name of Jehovah is given in the Book of 
 Esther in the form of an acrostic ! For centuries the 
 Massorah has been calling attention to the fact, while 
 ancient Hebrew manuscripts — copies, doubtless, of manu- 
 scripts still more ancient — exhibit the acrostic letters written 
 in larger and bolder characters. But all in vain : commenta- 
 tors and Bible students have neither seen nor noticed them. 
 It is well that the fact should be made known for the first 
 time at a Conference which has " God's Purpose in Israel " 
 for its subject. It is, however, impossible to say here all 
 that is to be said on this important and deeply interesting 
 subject.**"' It must suffice to say that the phenomenon is not 
 new to the Bible ; the Holy Spirit has written thirteen other 
 scriptures in the acrostic form. ZT^r^ their character, order, 
 and teaching are alike perfect. If we were asked to put 
 our finger on four sentences each consisting of four Hebrew 
 words, on which the whole history turns, we could not find 
 other four which so exquisitely form its wonderful pivots. 
 Jehovah is seen alternately overriding the wisdom, wrath, 
 and glory of man, and ruling according to His own inscru- 
 table will : making the wrath of man to praise Him, and 
 causing His people to glorify Him : delivering them from 
 their enemies, and preserving them for the accomplishment 
 of all His purposes in them and through them. 
 
 The histor}' of the Book of Esther is a historical type, and 
 a typical history. It is also prophetic, for it is being 
 repeated every day. The people are scattered, yet dwell- 
 ing alone : they are the prey of all their enemies : but 
 Jehovah's eye is upon them : His hand is with them : He re- 
 members His covenant which He made with Abraham. That 
 
 * A pamphlet fully explaining it is published by the same Author, entitled 
 The Name of Jehovah in the Book of Esther. It can be obtained, price 2d., 
 at 7, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, E, C. 
 
5 4 God's Purpose in Israel, i?i History, Type, and Prophecy. 
 
 covenant is the pledge of Israel's blessing ; and the all- 
 sufficient reason for this our gathering. 
 
 Well may the Spirit ask by St. Paul, " What advantage 
 then hath the Jew .? " and well may He answer, " Much every 
 way." But chiefly because that to them are committed the 
 oracles of God," and that their God is Jehovah. This is the 
 great lesson of Psalm cxliv. 11-15. It is the "strange 
 children whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand 
 is a right hand of falsehood" who speak. But what is the 
 vanity which they talk 1 What is the false speaking of all 
 
 strange children } " Why this, that the happiness of a 
 nation consists in outward prosperity — sons, daughters, 
 garners full of store, sheep and oxen, peace and safety. 
 
 Happy are the people that are in such a case " {vv. 12-15). 
 NO ! NO ! a thousand times no ! " yea," or ''yea, rather, 
 Happy is that people whose God is Jehovah" That alone is true 
 happiness, and that is Israel's portion. The language of 
 all God's real children is, " There be many that say. Who 
 will shew us any good .? Lord, lift Thou up the light of 
 Thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my 
 heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine 
 increased" (Psalm iv. 6, 7). Yes, that is the only source 
 of happiness and gladness for any people. It is not the 
 store that they put in their garners, but the gladness ' 
 which God puts in our hearts. What advantage then 
 hath the Jew Much every way" ; for they have the Lord 
 for their God. Hence it is that while the nations that have 
 oppressed them have passed away, Israel is preserved. 
 While Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Rome have gone, and their 
 gods with them, Israel remains to-day a witness of Jehovah's 
 *' purpose," and we w'ait for the time when Israel will be 
 God's witness to the ends of the earth ; the great missionary 
 nation, filling the face of the earth with fruit, and flooding 
 the nations with light, and glory, and blessing. 
 
 The day is at hand when a glorious answer will be given 
 to the question, " What advantage then hath the Jew? " A 
 wondrous light will be thrown on the words much every 
 way." Yes, " every way " ; for even now the Church is 
 blessed in the Son of God ; and ere long Israel will be 
 blessed in the Son of Abraham, and in the Son of David ; 
 while the whole creation shall find its blessing in " the seed 
 of the woman" — **the Son of Man." 
 
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WORKS BY THE REV. E. W. BULLINGER, D.D. 
 
 Incumbent of Brunswick Chapel^ Upper Berkeley Street^ London^ W. 
 
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WORKS BY THE REV. E. W. BULLINGER, D.D. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY IN THE 
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 TEN SERMONS ON THE SECOND ADVENT. 
 
 Preached at Oxford. 
 Second Edition. Price Two Shillings and Sixpence. 
 Contents. 
 
 I. The Importance of Prophetic Study (2 Peter i. 19). 
 II. The Interpretation of Prophecy {2. Peter i. 20, 21). 
 
 III. The Second Advent Pre-Millennial {Isa. xi. 9; Matt. xxiv. 37). 
 
 IV. No Millennium without Christ [Matt. xxiv. 29, 30). 
 
 V. The Calling and Hope of "The Church of God" [Eph. Hi. 8, 9). 
 VI. The Church's Motive for Service (i John Hi. 2, 3). 
 VII. The Second Advent in Relation to "The Jew" {Rom. xi. 25-29). 
 VIII. The Second Advent in Relation to "The Gentile" [Dan. H. 44, 45). 
 IX. The Resurrection of "The Just and of the Unjust" (i Cor. xv. 22-24). 
 X. The Judgment of "The Quick and the Dead" (2 Cor. v. 10; Matt. xxv. 
 31, 32; Rev. XX. 11-15). 
 Appendix: — The Beginning of the End. 
 
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 By the late Rev. Thomas Boys, M. A. Edited by the Rev. Dr. Buli.inger, 
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