Isai. xxvii. 6. He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root : Israel shall blossom and bud, and Jill the face of the world with fruit.
OF all the people upon the earth, the Jews have been, beyond comparison, the most highly honoured of their God. To no other nation did Jehovah ever manifest himself by such miraculous interpositions ; nor was any other ever blessed with such rich and glorious communications. Even their present state, degraded as it is, evinces the peculiar interest which Jehovah takes in them : for, though scattered over the face of the whole earth, they still remain a sepa- rate people ; and are reserved for higher honours,
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and more signal blessings, than their most favoured ancestors ever enjoyed. The various nations that, in successive ages, have oppressed them, the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Grecian, Roman, have all sunk beneath the yoke which their respective conquerors have laid upon them, and have been mingled with their invaders in one common mass. Not so the Jews : they, though more cruelly oppressed than any, have still been kept distinct from the people amongst whom they have dwelt : and to this remark- able event the prophet refers, in the words following my text : " Hath God smitten him, as he smote those who smote him ? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?" No: " though God has made a full end of all other na- tions, he has not made a full end of them :" but he still has his eye upon them for good; and will, in due season, fulfil to them all his purposes of love and mercy : " He will yet cause them to take root, and blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit."
In these words we may see, I. What the Jews are destined to become —
Their state, both political and moral, is at present as low as can well be conceived. Scattered as they are amongst all nations, they have never yet been affiliated with any, so as to be regarded on a par with other citizens, or to enjoy the rights belonging to all the other classes of the community. The pos- session of landed property has been, till of late, uni- versally denied them ; so that they could never " take root" in any place, or be established in any country under heaven.
Nor have they been less degraded in their moral and religious character. Being despised of all, they have not been accustomed to respect themselves, or to affect that high sense of honour which elevates the characters of other people. In their religious assem- blies they have not even the semblance of piety ; so carnal are they in their spirit, and so irreverent in