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A
Sermon for Sabbath Parah, 5610.
O
HOPE of Israel, who art ready to hear and to save in
all times of trouble and affliction regard not our
sinful state, and condemn us not, though our
iniquities testify against us. The creatures of
circumstances, the fading flowers of the day, we are
lured upon by-paths, and we stray perpetually from
the road which leads to thy rest. But salvation is
with thee, O Father, and mercy is Thine, and
kindness and truth are the seal of thy excellency.
Act then toward us according to thy wont, and
cleanse us from our transgressions, and sprinkle
<<336>>on us the waters of purification, even thy
grace, which is poured out the whole world, and
which invites all who are unclean to come over and
be purified, and which calls on all who are laden
with guilt to throw their burden on thee, O God! and
Thou promisest to relieve them of their sorrow, to
rekindle in them thy holy spirit, and to remove the
heart of stone which is obdurate against thy
goodness, and which refuses to see thee, although in
all the world thy being is manifest, governing with
beneficence, and illuminating all with thy wisdom.
Cause us, then, to feel truly the forgiveness of our
misdeeds, let us be conscious that we are reconciled
to thee, and let the nations let
see that our hope was not in vain, and that our
waiting for thy salvation was not an idle thing. But
let all mankind be enlightened by thy knowledge that
they may understand how Thou alone art the Lawgiver,
Thou alone the Ruler, and Thou alone the Pardoner of
sins; and that as no stranger god was with thee when
Thou stretchedst forth the firmament like a curtain,
and when thy voice spoke in the thunders of Horeb,
so art Thou the sole Refuge for the transgressor,
and that Thou alone blessest the just and redeemest
the erring mortal. And thus shall thy name be
sanctified in the world, and all men worship thee, O
Fountain of Purity, for ever. Amen.
Brethren,—In general it may be asserted that
controversial sermons are not agreeable to an
audience who are more interested in some historical
or admonitory address, and who may imagine that
controversy should be avoided, for fear of giving
just cause of offence to our friendly neighbours,
who might deem themselves aggrieved should they in
our assemblies have to listen to direct attacks on
what they hold sacred. Though agreeing in general
with these views, I cannot consent to banish from
our Synagogues the discussion of purely Jewish
matters, though they come in conflict with the ideas
of our neighbours, and are not well calculated for
oratorical displays and fine phraseology; nor can I
think that any offence can be taken if we
temperately discuss our own views in our assemblies;
as the object is not to attack others, but merely to
give our own people some means of replying to
assaults on their religion, to which they are so
constantly exposed. If, indeed, we were so numerous
that our opinions were backed by the public voice;
if we could in a measure coerce the indifferent to
profess a veneration for our religion by
<<337>>the
indignant frown of the majority: then, indeed, it
might be possible for the pulpit to confine itself
to appeals, and if you will, to persuasions and
denunciations.
But unfortunately this is not the case; we are but a
handful amidst the vast masses which surround us;
public opinion, if not against the morality of our
faith, is certainly against our doctrinal views and
ceremonial practices; denunciations, as fierce, or
fiercer than any Jewish minister can frame, are
hurled constantly, even in our hearing, against all
those who adopt not the opinions of the majority;
all this makes it evident that the mind of our
younger persons, especially those who are thrown
into general society, ought to be fortified with
some sound reasoning when they are asked for the
cause of their abiding by their faith, and not
merely assign as their sole motive that their
fathers had been Jews before them.
This, indeed, is a good reason as far as it goes. It
shows in the one who urges it that he feels a
sincere regard for his progenitors, whom, both by
law and his own impulse, he is bound to love; but it
is not satisfactory to the inquirers, nor will it
stand the assault of temptation when interest and
inclination point one way, whilst the parental
admonitions lift up but a feeble warning voice
amidst the tumult of passion. It is, therefore, but
proper that those who are called upon to address the
people should, whilst admonishing them, also
endeavour to prove, occasionally, the superiority of
our religion, and if this should assume the
appearance of a controversial address, it can of
right not be laid as a charge of wrongdoing against
them.
But let us drop this introduction, which, perhaps,
was unnecessary, and it was merely put forward to
answer any objection which may have been made
against many of the addresses which it has been my
province to lay before you from time to time.
The object of all religion is professedly the
welfare of mankind, and however absurd his dogmas
and cruel his practices, no priest did ever aver
that he was an enemy to his species. The very
persecutions which we had to endure from the
cruellest of all tyrannies, the Romish Inquisition,
were professedly contrived for the salvation of our
souls; only that we could not recognise in
<<338>>the butcheries of millions of innocents
anything except the basest superstition, acting, if
they were honest, upon weak and excited
imaginations. And to this day every absurdity and
every trifling hair-splitting invented to torment
the human understanding, which are offered in the
name of the most sacred gift of the Most
High—religion—are all based, as their defenders
pretend, on the welfare of mankind; and thus the
superficial might think all systems of equal value,
or of no value at all, and adopt the first that is
offered to him, in case he felt that he required
something more than mere dry morality to govern
himself by.
Every rational being, however, ought to have some
cogent reason why he professes a certain belief,
unless he would subject himself to the charge of
believing blindly, and of following that of which he
has no definite idea himself. Still is this
proceeding too often met with; since men will follow
a certain lead without exactly knowing why, and
they often fancy that the greater their ignorance
the greater is the merit of their faith, as they
term it, as though the Almighty had given us an
understanding which may be exercised in all pursuits
and in every scientific inquiry with the sole
exception of religion. This will give us now the
following results, first, that it is not a matter of
indifference what religion we profess; and that
secondly mere believing without inquiry cannot be in
accordance with the intention of God, who endowed us
with intellect; and that hence absurdities cannot be
defended on the sole plea that they are calculated
for the good of mankind.
It
is not our business to refer to the systems which
are lost in antiquity, or which are removed from us
by distance, or professed by the unenlightened; for
no one asks us to become Greek, Hindoo, or Shaman.
We are only told by our enlightened neighbours that
we are in error, because we profess to follow Moses’
teaching instead of one they call a greater prophet
than Moses. It is not my intention at present to
examine into his claim to be received by us; as I
only mean to confine myself to the peculiar
religious idea which is preached up in his name, and
to enforce which millions of Jewish souls have
ascended to heaven denying it emphatically, from the
burning stake, the <<339>>bloody scaffold, the
surging wave, and the ignominious gibbet.
Every one who thinks must be startled with the fact
of the great opposition of Jews to the spread of the
Nazarene creed, and he must admit, at the same time,
that had it not been for a great principle at stake
in the contest, the self-sacrifice of our brothers
would have been madness, suicide, self-delusion, and
not heroism, not an act meritorious in the sight of
high Heaven, not praiseworthy in the annals of man.
But were our martyrs suicides? were they maniacs?
were they self-deluded? Not a Jew, however he
transgresses, however he has denied his faith,
however he hates his brothers, however far he lets
strayed from his God, will say this, will so
undervalue the glorious heroes who knew how to
maintain their faith, and to perish in its defence
if their death was needed; not an opponent to
Judaism even, but will dwell with admiration, with
respect, nay, with something akin to adoration, on
the recital that thousands and hundreds of
thousands went forth into exile, stripped of their
all but their faith, because they would not, could
not bend their knee to the idol of the hour, and
swear fealty to a god they did not adore in their
hearts.
Mankind saw in their fury, unpityingly, tender
maidens, reared in luxury, the admired in a circle
of devoted friends, wandering half-perished,
famishing for a drink of cold water, on the shore of
the raging sea, turning their back for ever on the
country which they loved, the songs of which
recounted the brave deeds of their fathers, the
learning of which emanated from their ancestors, the
commerce of which had been enriched and multiplied
by the enterprise and skill of their own brothers
perhaps,—yes, such as these were
seen hastening away bereft of all, the scorn, too,
of their former adorers, not heeded by those they
had formerly nurtured and relieved in their
distress—and why? because they had revolted against
the state? because their hands were stained with
blood? because deeds of infamy had sullied their
name?—no,—no, they were Israelitish maidens, doomed
to misery by men, however pure, unspotted, noble
were their souls; and why?—because they abided true
to the faith of their thrice-glorious ancestors,
because they could not imagine, and therefore could
not believe, <<340>>and therefore could not
acknowledge that the Lord God should change, should
be false to His word, and vacillating in His
purpose. It was for this they were driven forth, for
this they were unpitied, for this they were scorned;
and do you call them fanatics? do you believe them
mistaken in their line of duty? when a word spoken
would have placed them above danger? high in the
estimation of the world?
There is therefore evidently something which the Jew
avers, for which he lives, for which he is willing
to die, which the Nazarenes, for it is of them I
speak, deem erroneous, and the contrary of which
they have endeavoured to propagate and enforce,
during the past eighteen centuries, pending all
which time the other had nothing to oppose but an
undaunted courage, an inflexible obstinacy, if you
will call it so, which nevertheless was the very
means best calculated to overcome the danger of
annihilation which threatened him, and to extort the
admiration of his tormentors.
And yet, it is from the same source that both
parties endeavour to fortify their faith; it is the
sacred Scriptures which both appeal to in
justification of their opinions. We have, therefore,
a common medium to consult, and the umpire to decide
with whom is the best of the argument, must be the
reason with which we are endowed, the
light of the spirit which the Creator himself
has kindled within each breast. Let us then see what
is the principal point of faith about which we
contend, and then apply Scripture to its
elucidation.
The Nazarene being the claimant of a new revelation,
must speak first, we will give him the precedence:
he then says, that man in sinning has no means of
salvation; that inexorable justice demands a
sacrifice; that in the first man, Adam, all his
descendants had sinned past redemption, and that it
required a new creation, a being unlike any other
that ever lived, created though not created, man
though not man, mortal though not mortal, a servant
of God, though God himself, to assume the sin of
Adam and all mankind, and to atone for them to the
Creator by his voluntary death.
The Jew denies all this; he says that man, though he
sins is not past redemption; that a sacrifice is not
absolutely required for the atonement of sin; that
in Adam’s fall all mankind did not
<<341>>lose their
immortal salvation, and that no such being as is
alleged to have come, did come into the world; and
what is more, that none such exists, and that it is
derogatory to God to suppose that He has an
associate through whose means alone forgiveness can
be vouchsafed to mankind.
It
may easily be imagined that there are other points
of difference, both in faith and practice, between
the parties; but that on which they diverge the
most, is the principle just exhibited. Now we
contend that our religion being from God, as even
our opponents allege, must have been always
coinciding with theirs, if they are in the right,
and we are the wrong; but that if we can prove that
we have always maintained the same idea, from Moses
to this time, we must be right, if even they are
correct that their prophet was greater than ours.
Were it now the case that any one would assert that
the Scriptures are not at present as they were in
the beginning, we would have no authority to refer
to, for our justification; but praised be God! He
has enabled us to be faithful guardians of His
word, and we have therefore an unfalsified record to
refer to, in case we are asked for the reason of our
persevering as Jews.
Let us refer to the history of the most disgraceful
dereliction of which we have been guilty nationally,
often as we have offended, which is the making of
the golden calf, while our teacher was tarrying
forty days and forty nights, without food or drink,
to receive the law and commandments on Mount Sinai.
We had been only just taught how to fear and worship
God, had been shown how great He was above all
deities, how He was alone the Sovereign of heaven
and earth; the fire of glory yet blazed on the top
of the mount, where the glorious Presence dwelt; the
manna yet descended for us daily, and was spread
before the rising of the sun, like sand around our
camp; and still we were senseless enough to despair
of God’s mercy and truth, because the man Moses, who
had led us forth from Egypt, had not returned so
speedily as we had expected him; and straightways we
repaired to Aaron, to ask of him, “Rise, make for us
gods, which shall go before us!” and when we beheld
the image of the Egyptian idol, the likeness of a
calf, we shouted, “These are <<342>>thy gods, O
Israel, that have brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt!”
Was ever apostacy greater than this? did you ever
hear of a treason more deserving of utter
annihilation than this base ingratitude, this wicked
forgetfulness of all that had been experienced, when
we had been shown how utterly powerless were the
gods of Egypt against the outstretched arm of the
Lord? It was therefore justice when God spoke to
Moses, “Go, get thee down, for thy people,” that is
to say, Moses’s people, not any more God's people,
“which thou hast brought up out of the land of
Egypt, have become corrupt; they have turned aside
quickly from the way which I have commanded them;
they have made themselves a molten calf; and they
have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and
have said, These are thy gods, O Israel, that have
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Here you see how greatly the Lord thought us
culpable; we had deserted Him, through wilful
wickedness; we had forsaken the way of His
commandments, so soon almost as it had been pointed
out to us; and we had made for us a god fashioned by
our own hands, and bowed down before it, worshipped
it, sacrificed to it, and ascribed to it almighty
power, declaring that it and its associates had
effected for us what is in the hands alone of the
Creator to accomplish. What wonder, then, that the
decree of destruction was pronounced against the
sinning race, that God told the prophet not to pray
for them, that they should perish even as they had
despised and rejected Him! Moses was promised that
he should become the father of a great nation, in
order to fulfil in this way the promise made to
Abraham, that he should be the progenitor of a
people who should always be in covenant with the
Lord, and have Him as their God and Protector.
If
Moses had been ambitious, in a worldly sense, he had
now an opportunity of being gratified to the highest
extent; not alone that he was a legislator under
divine inspiration, he had now, also, opened to him
the prospect of being a patriarch like Abraham, the
immediate father of a nation called by his name. You
may say, this would have required ages to
accomplish: granted; but what are a few hundred years in the providence of God? what matters it that
an event takes place in this or that century? whe-<<343>>ther
this or that generation become the agents in the
fulfilment of the will of the Most High, in the
accomplishment of His vast purpose in which we are
all not merely idle spectators, but participants by
deeds and thoughts, whether we desire it or not,
whether we feel it or not?
But Moses did not desire his own elevation to the
detriment of others; he therefore prayed though told
that it was useless; thus showing us that man should
never despair of God’s mercy, should never believe
that the gates of repentance are closed to him, as
our wise men teach us, לא
היו ישראל ראויים לאותה מעשה אלא לתן פתחון פה לבעלי
תשובה “The Israelites
were not deserving of committing this great sin,
only to give a confident hope to the repentant
sinners.” Whose sin was greater than ours? who
deserved more to be destroyed than we? No one; still
Moses prayed, he humbled himself for the
transgressors, and afterwards called on them to show
their regret by humiliation and sorrow for their
misdeed; thus proving that they detested their own
backsliding, that they felt that they had acted
unworthy of their high calling; and in consequence,
the Lord remitted their sin, and did not destroy
all, although some of the most prominent malefactors
suffered with their life for the great scandal which
they had affixed to the name of Israel by their
senseless worship of an inanimate idol.
We
now ask of the candid inquirer without reference to
preconceived dogmas, Does this brief narrative prove
the utter condemnation of the sinner? the absolute
necessity of an atoning sacrifice? We ask those who
assert this idea to point their finger to the
passage in the record which teaches this. To our
apprehension, we are informed that sin is punished
in a strict measure of justice; but that the Lord
can and does remit it often in his mercy, without
punishing to the extent of the guilt incurred, and
that at the same time, when punishment has been
meted out, the iniquity is wiped away; because the
Merciful wishes to correct and to improve, not to
destroy utterly and to everlasting those whose days
are brief, whose power is limited, and who cannot,
with all their malevolence, influence permanently
the course of events.
As
the text now reads, and as it unquestionably always
did read, it emphatically declares that the
<<344>>Lord forgave the greatest national sin that
ever was committed, without sacrifice, without
mediator, fully and freely as ever forgiveness was
accorded to sinners, and the decree of annihilation
was revoked, and the covenant with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob not delayed in its fulfilment longer than
it was required in the course of nature to educate a
people fit to enter the land which had been promised
them for their possession, in which they were to
develope the high excellence of their revealed
religion before the eyes of all the world.
We
know not, indeed, what mystery some may discover in
the plainest words almost, which the Bible text
contains; but to us there is no hint of an
associate, no impossibility in the ONE to accomplish
all which He desires to do without any aid or
inducement from any other source. But if this should
not yet be sufficient, the narrative before us gives
us farther insight into the relative position of man
to God.
After Moses had obtained a temporary remission, he
descended the mount, and coming unto the camp of the
rebellious Israelites, he saw only too palpably
fulfilled what he had foreseen by his prophecy.
There was the dancing, the senseless ceremony of the
idolaters, the idol itself, and all in uproar and
confusion. We are next told that the prophet
summoned around him who were true to the Lord; when
instantly all his own tribe flocked to receive his
command, which was that they should slay every one
his nearest friend who had violated the precepts of
the Decalogue in worshipping a false god.
How sore must have been the trial of that mighty
mind, in this fearful emergency; to save the life of
one Hebrew, he had slain an Egyptian, on account of
which he became a stranger to the king’s palace, and
was forced to feed the flocks of Jethro in the
lonely desert far from the habitations of man;
whereas, now he was compelled to see three thousand
Hebrews bleed to avenge the outraged covenant. Yet
this timely severity recalled the people to their
senses, and the remainder stood by, and earned
wisdom, and they felt anew that the works of the
hands of man cannot save, that they are dead,
without breath in their nostrils, without sight in
their eyes. And then when the law was again
triumphant, and feeling how utterly inadequate all
which had <<345>>been done was to wipe out the
immense guiltiness of which he had been an
eye-witness, Moses repaired again to the mount of
God, and appealed anew for what he was assured was
not deserved by the guilty.
At
the same time he felt conscious, meek as he was to
man in general, indifferent as he was to the opinion
of the vulgar crowd, that he had been faithful in
all the varied relations of his eventful life; and
that if any one could be received, he might offer
himself as an acceptable sacrifice to his Maker; and
he even offered more than his life, the utter
forgetfulness of his existence, so as not to be
mentioned in that book where are recorded the
mercies and deeds of God, in which he the prophet
had been the most prominent actor; and he prayed in
the records of revelation should not contain the
evidence case of God’s forgiveness, that the name of
Moses might not be mentioned as a participant in the
glorious scheme of the world’s regeneration.
Was ever a nobler sacrifice offered on any altar?
What, compared to this, is the boasted redemption on
which our opponents vaunt themselves? for there was
glory, a name, sects, and followers in multitudes
predicated on the sacrifice, which, moreover, is
declared to have been both necessary and voluntary.
But here the prophet desired to sink into oblivion,
so it pleased of God to forgive the sin which bad
been committed against him as well as his Master.
Nevertheless, no sacrifice was accepted, and God
said:
מי אשר חטא לי אמחנו מספרי
׃ שמות ל״ב ל״ג ׃
“Him who hath sinned against me, will I blot out
from my book.”—
EXOD. xxxii. 33.
If
any one is to perish, if any one is to be blotted
out from recollection, it is not the innocent, but
he who has burdened himself with sin; hence it
results that a vicarious atonement for all the
iniquity of mankind is incompatible with our
Scriptures, the acknowledged word of God.—To-day we
must break off here in the midst of our subject,
which I hope to follow up on a future occasion. And
now let us in the mean time trust that the
contemplation of it has not been without profit, and
that it may rivet closer the bond of our union to
our Father in heaven, the Lord One.—Amen.
Adar 17th, March 1st, 5610. |
