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Chosen no: R-3454 a, from: 1904 Year. |
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A Search For Atoning Blood.
THE following will prove interesting reading to
many of our subscribers. It is a report of remarks made by an old Hebrew at a
"mission" meeting. We note that God has so overturned natural Israel that
even if they had possession of the holy places where sacrifices were appointed
to be offered, they have no priest qualified to make the offerings. No Jew
living in the world today could prove his right to the priest's office by showing
his pedigree back to Aaron. Jews named Levy and Cohen are supposed to be of the
Levitical tribe, but could not prove it so as to qualify for the office
according to their Law. With the true Priest and the offering of the
"better sacrifices," the types were obliterated most effectually by
the Lord. By and by fleshly Israel
will realize the truth--they will "look upon him whom they
pierced"--they will recognize him as the great Priest who "offered up
himself." Thank God for the assurances of his Word on this subject in Rom. 11:25-33.
The testimony follows:--
"This is Passover week among you, my Jewish
brethren, and as I sat here I was thinking how you will be observing it. You
will have put away all leaven from your houses; you will eat the motsah--
unleavened wafers--and the roasted lamb. You will attend the synagogue services
and carry out the ritual and directions of the Talmud; but you forget, my
brethren, that you have everything but that which Jehovah required first of
all. He did not say, 'When I see you eat the motsah or the lamb, or go
to the synagogue;' but his word was, 'When I see the blood I will pass
over you.' Ah, my brethren, you cannot substitute anything for this. You must
have blood,
BLOOD,
BLOOD!"
As he reiterated this word with ever increasing
emphasis, his black eyes flashed warningly, and his Jewish hearers quailed
before him. "Blood!" It is an awful word, that, for one who reveres
the ancient oracles and yet has no sacrifice. Turn where he will in the Book,
the blood meets him, but let him seek as he may, he cannot find it in the
Judaism of the present. After a few minutes' pause the patriarchal old man went
on somewhat as follows:
"I was born in Palestine nearly seventy years ago. As a
child I was taught to read the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. I early
attended the synagogue and learned Hebrew from the rabbis. At first I believed
what I was told, that ours was the true and only religion, but as I grew older
and studied the Law more intently I was struck with the place the blood had in all the ceremonies outlined there, and equally struck by its utter
absence in the ritual to which I was brought up. Again and again I read Exodus
12 and Leviticus 16 and 17, and the latter chapters especially made me tremble,
as I thought of the great Day of Atonement and the place the blood had there.
Day and night one verse would ring in my ears, 'It is the [R3454 : page 327] blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul.' I knew I had broken the Law. I needed atonement. Year after year, on that day, I beat my breast as I confessed my need of it;
but it was to be made by blood, and there was no blood!
"In my distress I at last opened my heart
to a learned and venerable rabbi. He told me that God was angry with his
people. Jerusalem
was in the hands of the Gentiles, the temple was destroyed, and a Mohammedan
mosque was reared up in its place. The only spot on earth where we dare shed
the blood of sacrifice, in accordance with Deuteronomy
12and Leviticus 17, was desecrated and
our nation scattered. That was why there was no blood. God had himself
closed the way to carry out the solemn service of the great Day of Atonement.
Now we must turn to the Talmud, and rest on its instructions, and trust in the
mercy of God and the merits of the fathers.
"I tried to be satisfied, but could not.
Something seemed to say that the Law was unaltered, even though our temple was
destroyed. Nothing else but blood could atone for the soul. We dared not shed
blood for atonement elsewhere than in the place the Lord had chosen. Then we
were left without atonement at all. This thought filled me with horror. In my
distress I consulted many other rabbis. I had but one great question--Where
can I find the blood of atonement?'
"I was over thirty years of age when I left
Palestine and came to Constantinople,
with my still unanswered question ever before my mind, and my soul exceedingly
troubled about my sins. One night I was walking down one of the narrow streets
of that city, when I saw a sign telling of a meeting for Jews. Curiosity led me
to open the door and go in. Just as I took a seat I heard a man say: 'The blood
of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' It was my first
introduction to Christianity, but I listened breathlessly as the speaker told
how God had declared that, 'Without shedding of blood is no remission,' but
that he had given his only begotten Son, the Lamb of God, to die, and all who
trusted in his blood were forgiven all their iniquities. This was the Messiah
of the fifty-third of Isaiah; this was the suffering of Psalm 22. Ah, my
brethren, I had found the blood of atonement at last! I trusted it, and now I
love to read the New Testament and see how all the shadows of the Law are
fulfilled in Jesus. His blood has been shed for sinners. It has satisfied
Justice, and is the only means of salvation for either Jew or Gentile."
W.T. R-3454a : page 326
- 1904r