The Third Angel’s Message Must Be Given to the Jews
By F. C. GILBERT
THE word which the Lord spoke in olden time is as true now as it was when the Lord uttered it: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isa. 55: 11. At the General Conference held in Takoma Park, D. C., in 1905, the servant of the Lord stated the following: “The time has come when the Jews are to be given light. The Lord wants us to encourage and sustain men who shall labor in right lines for this people; for there are to be a multitude convinced of the truth, who will take their position for God. The time is coming when there will be as many converted in a day as there were on the day of Pentecost, after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit. The Jews are to be a power to labor for the Jews; and we are to see the salvation of God. We are altogether too narrow; we need to be broader-minded.”—Review and Herald, June 29, 1905. In “The Acts of the Apostles,” page 380, 381, we find the following: “When this gospel shall be presented in its fullness to the Jews, many will accept Christ as the Messiah. Among Christian ministers there are only a few who feel called upon to labor for the Jewish people; but to those who have often been passed by, . . . the message of mercy and hope in Christ is to come. “In the closing proclamation of the gospel, . . . God expects his messengers to take particular interest in the Jewish people whom they find in all parts of the earth. As the Old Testament Scriptures are blended with the New in an explanation of Jehovah’s eternal purpose, this will be to many of the Jews as the dawn of a new creation, the resurrection of the soul. As they see the Christ of the gospel dispensation portrayed in the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures, and perceive how clearly the New Testament explains the Old, their slumbering faculties will be aroused, and they will recognize Christ as the Saviour of the world. Many will by faith receive Christ as their Redeemer. To them will be fulfilled the words, ‘As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.’ “Among the Jews are some who, like Saul of Tarsus, are mighty in the Scriptures, and these will proclaim with wonderful power the immutability of the law of God. The God of Israel will bring this to pass in our day. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save. As his servants labor in faith for those who have long been neglected and despised, his salvation will be revealed.” Looking at things from a human standpoint, it would seem as if such statements would be impossible of fulfillment. There never was a time when the large number of Jews were so indifferent to religion as they are at the present time. In their own magazines and newspapers they are to a large extent renouncing religion, even their own religion, and are becoming very bold in denying the integrity of the Old Testament, even the writings of Moses. The spirit of reverence is rapidly dying out from among the Jewish people; they are almost entirely given over to pleasure and to worldly pursuits, and seem to have very little interest in the things of God. Where a few years ago there were a thousand who had respect for the rabbi and the synagogue, there are now scarcely one hundred. The holidays and the holydays concern them but little, and the Bible has a very small place in their lives or in their homes. The rising generation knows comparatively little of God’s dealings with their ancestors, and the young Jews of today are practically irreligious. Nevertheless we are sure that the words of God are true. We know that God will fulfill his own word, and he will see that his word receives its place in its time. When Jesus died on the cross and his own disciples hid themselves in the upper chamber for fear of the Jews, it looked as if the Saviour had a lost cause; but before he gave up his life, he declared that he had other sheep which were not of this fold, and they, too, must come. And they did come. And why did they come?—Because the work was the Lord’s, and not man’s. And the Lord, who declared that he would accomplish his purpose, did accomplish his purpose when his disciples came into harmony with his will, and gave him the opportunity of doing the work in the manner he specified. We see many evidences today that these statements of the servant of the Lord will be verified; but we must note what the Word says, and seek to come into harmony with it. As we come in contact with the Jews and present to them the gospel in its fullness, it creates a hungering in their hearts. The reason why—perhaps I might say one reason why—so few of the Jews give heed to the gospel is because it has not been presented to them in its fullness. When they hear it in its fullness, they long for more. Recently while traveling on the train, I sat down beside a Jew. In a few minutes we were engaged in conversation on religion, and I soon learned that he was one of the Jews who had no faith. I opened up to his mind the true meaning of the oracles, and how those scriptures must be understood in the light of the Messiah as revealed in Moses and the prophets. As his questions were answered from the New Testament, he was astounded; and I believe that he must have felt as did the disciples when the Saviour walked with them on their way to Emmaus. For nearly an hour and a half the man asked questions on subjects which troubled him, and the Lord helped me to answer them in a way that appealed to his soul. How hungry he was! How delighted he seemed! How eager his desire to know these things! How he thanked God for what he learned! He said that I was the first man who had tried to encourage him to believe since he came to America; that he had wanted to believe, but that it seemed he had no foundation for belief. But as he saw the truth of the gospel unfolded from Moses and the prophets, and its fulfillment in the New Testament, he seemed like a man who had been very hungry, and was made satisfied; like a thirsty man who had enjoyed a good drink at a well. There are thousands like this man who are waiting for this beautiful and blessed message of God; and we must take it to them. But we must take it in the way the Lord has told us. More on this point will be presented in another article.