JEWISH CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
By E. C. Gilbert
God’s Way of Revelation to Man.
SINCE the advent of sin into this world, it has ever been God’s purpose to reveal himself to every soul as a being of love and infinite kindness, and to woo the children of men from the snares and pitfalls and evil traps which Satan has set to ensnare them. It has been ever his one desire to abide with them, and make the soul the very citadel of his throne, that it might enjoy the true and the only love which he alone can give. But the devil has led men to believe that when the Lord approached them, to impart of his love and kindness, it was rather to pour his wrath and anger upon them, for their destruction. This is true even of our first parent. When the Lord came to man after his disobedience, to call him to himself and pity him in the course he had taken, Adam replied, “I was afraid, and went and hid myself.” Even then the Lord did not manifest the temper which the devil had no doubt told him he would put forth, but gave man the promise of the indwelling “seed” which should bruise the very serpent that sought to steal away man’s affections from his Maker, and cursed the ground on man’s behalf,—that his desires and inclinations should be on things above, and not on things below. God’s plan was ever the same through the early centuries; but they were few indeed who would give God the privilege of dwelling with them. Occasionally such an one as Enoch was found, but God removed him from this world. When rabbinism gained the ascendency over the minds of the people, it portrayed God as a character ever lurking to avenge himself upon the children of men, for their transgressions and wrongs committed. And from earliest infancy the child is taught to look upon God as a being who stands at the parapet of heaven, seeking to punish him if he does not do as he says; which means, of course, the God prescribed by themselves. But what a contrast is this to God’s character as described by himself to ancient Israel: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy.” When these men are asked why there is such a contrast between the Talmud and the Bible of the character of God, the reply is that it will be clearly understood when the blessed Messiah comes. What we know not now, shall then be made plain. There are many evidences given in the various liturgies and writings of Judaism which indicate that the fruition of their hope from the thralldom of their condition, temporal as well as spiritual, is in the Messiah. The Talmud teaches that when King Messiah shall come, business will be improved; sickness will no longer exist; the Gentile shall no more have sway over the Jew; Jerusalem shall be restored; and the present captivity shall be turned into great rejoicing. As Christians, we know that the Messiah longs to free them from the bondage of sin now, as he always has done, if they will only give him the opportunity. And the way he frees all men from sin now, is the same way that he freed Israel from sin in days gone by. All spiritual-minded Jews, from the days of Moses even to the present day, know that in the services of the sanctuary which God had erected in the wilderness, there was some deep spiritual truth, which God used to lead the soul to himself. They had been taught from the “fathers” that sacrifice was the means by which the soul was lifted up to its Maker, and found that sweet peace and joy which the abiding presence of God in the heart only could bestow. And no revelation from God could come to man save as it came through the Messiah. This truth is recognized by some of the most able writers among the Jews, tho they deny it means Jesus of Nazareth. Thus an able commentator on Gen. 1:2 tells us that the Spirit of God which brooded over the face of the waters, was the Spirit of the blessed Messiah. Also the exegesis given of Micah 5:2 is that the Messiah dwelt ever with God since the days of eternity. They teach the same thing of Dan. 7:13, and of many other passages, which Christians know refer to the Messiah. While the rabbis have sought in the abstract to abolish the real presence of God as he has revealed it in his Word, in the concrete they teach it very plainly. Ever since the temple has been abolished, the Jew has been taught that in a certain way he can come to God by performing various duties which are nearly the same as God taught the “fathers” in the sanctuary service; and that if he carried out these rites to the letter, they would be acceptable to God. But we know that God’s ways are not man’s ways, and the only way which God delights in is for man to carry out His wishes. We now notice how God did seek to reveal himself to Israel anciently, and that through the Messiah, which revelation gave the individual soul the full consciousness of sins forgiven, and that the Spirit of the Lord abode in the heart. This was all found in the direction and the carrying out of God’s will in the services of the ancient sanctuary. The command of God to Moses in regard to that building is as follows:— “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell or rest in them. As all I have revealed to thee, the image or likeness of the tabernacle, and image or likeness of all the vessels; and thus shall ye make it.” This was evidently God’s plan in having this structure built. Not that he wanted to dwell among them in an indifferent manner, but rather abide and rest in them, and make their hearts his abode. He had told them but a short time previous that he intended to make of them a “holy people” and “select nation,” and this could only be accomplished as the presence of God would abide in each individual soul. This is how the apostle Paul understood the intent of the building of the sanctuary; for he quotes from the tabernacle experience, and applies to the work in the human soul. He says, “As it is written, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The word translated among in our version should be rendered in, and is so rendered in thousands of places in the Old Testament. This was God’s plan of revelation to Israel; and the Jews knew full well that the only good that could come to them was that which was brought through the Messiah. They understood that he was of heavenly origin, and at the same time the Son of man. They knew, in part, that God manifested this truth in this way; but in the future God would reveal it in greater effulgence at the personal appearance of the Anointed One. And the only reason that there exists so much prejudice in the mind of the Jew of to-day, and has for many centuries, is because the rulers and leaders have blinded their hearts and darkened their imaginations by the veil of unbelief in the interpretation of the Scriptures. In place of this great(103)truth which God has taught in his Word, they have devised certain inventions, putting upon them a scriptural interpretation, and claiming that they are taught by the Lord. These are all external rites, by which they are led to believe they can secure their salvation as the people did anciently under the sanctuary services. But the Lord does not look upon outward appearances, as he seeth not as man does. God looks upon the heart, and true worship to him must come from the affections. While there was nothing in connection with the work or service of the sanctuary that brought salvation to Israel from an external effort, all through its services, and even in the very material itself, the Messianic promises were held in great prominence, and all who would could by faith grasp the promises of God through the blessed Anointed of the Lord. And God, in the very means used by the Jews of to-day in their worship, is seeking to teach them the great truths of salvation as revealed in the great Sacrifice slain for the sins of the world. In our next we will take up the work of the sanctuary and the building of it. E. C. GILBERT.