Progress of the Work Among the Jews—No. 2
By Frederick C. Gilbert
In a former article the attention of the reader was called to a sentiment now manifest among the Jews favorable to Christianity. Attention was also called to what the spirit of prophecy has said with reference to the Jews’ acceptance of the message. In this article I wish to show that the Lord is really at work upon the hearts of the Jews, leading some to the truth, and causing others to see their need of something that they do not have. During the past few weeks, while taking a trip West as far as Lincoln and College View, Nebr., in the interest of the Jewish work, I found much of interest. Some time ago I received a request to go to the former city as there were a number of Jews who were interested in the truth. I have been corresponding with Jews at that place who have sent for literature, and who have written, asking questions which showed that they were interested. I also learned of one young man in College View who has taken his stand for the truth. When I spoke in our church at Lincoln on Sunday night there were several Jews present to hear the gospel message of the plan of salvation from Adam to the present time. The blessing of the Lord attended the word spoken, and the Jews present seemed very much impressed. They gave the best of attention, and seemed astonished to think that such teaching was the Christian religion. They were surprised to learn that so much of Christ is revealed in the Old Testament, and they could hardly believe that Moses’ had written so much concerning him. The Holy Spirit burned the truth into their hearts, and some of them said they had not heard such Bible teaching before. I feel sure that the seed sown will find lodgment in the hearts of some of those who were present. On my way to Lincoln and College View I stopped at Omaha, and I was surprised to meet about ten or fifteen Jews at the service. They were much interested in what they heard, and wanted to hear more. They could hardly believe that the Bible had so much to say about Christ, and several stopped to ask questions at the close of the service. So it was decided that I should stop on my way back and give a talk on the Passover supper. The meeting had been well advertised, and the Omaha church was packed with both Jews and Gentiles. Some of the prominent business men among the Jews were present, and they seemed to get new light on the Scriptures. One man especially was deeply moved by the truth he heard, and we feel certain that with a little effort he can be brought into the truth. The thing which seems so strange to the Jews is to hear a Jew preach Christ from the Old Testament, from the very oracles which they have for hundreds of years been taught oppose the teachings of the Nazarene, and then show from both the Old and the New Testament that the Sabbath and the law of God are binding upon all people, Gentile as well as Jew. These truths seem almost to stun them, and it takes time for them to recover. But this message has the power to convince them. It is the original gospel of God, the power of the Lord Jesus to save the Jew and the Gentile also. The wrong impression the Jew has had of the Christian religion for so long has led him to believe that there is nothing in common between the Jew and the Gentile. But we must remember that the Gentiles listened to the same gospel as the Lord preached to the Jews. The same preachers preached the same gospel of the same Christ to the Gentiles after the Jews rejected it in the first century. The spirit of prophecy says when the gospel will be presented in its fulness to the Jews, many will accept Christ as their Messiah. For nearly two thousand years the gospel has not been presented to the Jew in its fulness. What he has heard of it has been a perverted religion. The rabbis have taught the Jews erroneous views of the gospel from their standpoint, and the Gentile Christian has taught the gospel from his standpoint. The standpoint of the latter has been but a half-gospel at the best, and a weak half. The Jew says he does not believe in the New Testament; the Gentile says he does not accept the Old. Where can there be anything common between the Gentile and the Jew? But thank God, the Lord has given us the whole gospel, the gospel in its fulness. This gospel we can give to the Jew, and the Lord will help him to listen to it. While I was in Chicago a number of Jews came to hear the message. One night there must have been at least twenty-five or thirty Jews present; and they seemed deeply interested in the message given. One learned Jew, like Saul of old, wanted to discuss the matter. We gave him opportunity to ask questions, but it was evident that what he heard had pricked him. A number of Jews seemed very much pleased with what they heard, and we were glad to see in that congregation some Jews who had taken their stand for the truth. Of these we shall speak in another article. But the Jews themselves are doing much in agitating the question of the Christian religion. A short time ago a prominent rabbi, in a public address, advocated the idea of mixed marriages, that Jews should marry with the Gentiles, and that they should become assimilated with their Gentile neighbors. Now comes another, a prominent rabbi in New York, who says that the “Jews should reclaim Jesus.” There is hardly a Jewish paper that one picks up to-day that does not contain something with reference to Christianity. There seems to be considerable agitation among the Jewish leaders and laity with reference to this matter; and there certainly must be an overruling Providence in all this. The Jews are divided among themselves. Every rabbi is a law unto himself. There is nothing which binds the rabbis to anybody or to anything. Although New York City has a Kehillah (a parent organization to look after all the other Jewish organizations in this city), every rabbi and every teacher is at liberty to teach what he will, when he will, and how he will. One rabbi, a short time ago, in discussing the attitude of the leaders of the Jews among themselves, told his people and incidentally all his Jewish brethren, that if there were not more unity among the Jewish leaders and teachers, one of two things would happen: either the rising generation of Jews would become infidel and atheistic, or else there would be a door thrown open among the Jews which would invite the Christian missionary to give to the Jew the Christian religion. There are many straws in Jewry to-day which indicate the way things are going, and the people of God should see in these things a fulfilment of prophecy. While the Jew may be stubborn, while he may still feel there is nothing in Christianity that he wants or cares for, the Holy Spirit is at work among the Jewish people. The Lord has opened a door, and it is the part of the people of God to enter that door. May the Lord help us to do so.