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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
October 1932
n ih e JEWISH WORLD . . B y J. A . V aus
and women o f the older generation to cling to outgrown and outworn remnants o f tra ditional Judaism is pathetic in the extreme. How unhappy and pitiful is the lot of poor misdirected, misunderstood, blinded Israël ! How pitifully inadequate to atone for sin and to give ease to burdened Jew ish consciences are the prayers, fastings, charities, and ceremonies o f Atonement Day, when, through prejudice, misunder standing, and spiritual blindness, their hearts and minds are fast closed against
Without a Sacrifice “ For the children o f Israel shall abide, many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and with out an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hos. 3 :4 ). How sad has been the lot o f God’s willful, wayward, scattered, lost flock, Israel! Failing to recognize and to follow the true Shepherd, they have been deceived by the false hire lings who have permitted them to wander
Rosh Ha-Shonah and Yom Kippur T h e r e is something inexpressibly sad in the recurrence and observance of Rosh Ha-Shonah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the two most important Jew ish holidays o f the whole year, which fall this year on October 1 and 10 respectively. The tragic hopelessness and barrenness of Judaism becomes more and more painfully apparent with the passing years and the growing indifference of its followers.
and become scattered upon a thousand hills, there to fall prey to g r ie v o u s wolves, many o f whom are masquerading in sheep’s clothing! Without a king, without a prince, without a sacri fice, without an ephod, without a priest, without a temple, without a land, without a flag, without a shepherd, without a mis sion, without the presence of the Shekinah glory, without a blood atonement, without peace, without a comforter, without hope, without rest for their poor troubled hearts and wan dering feet, such is the plight o f the “lost sheep of the house o f Israel” today. Could the lot of any people be more pitiful or unhappy than that of the chosen na tion?
Once again the people of the scattered nation will be temporarily aroused from the spiritual apathy that accompanies t h e o t h e r eleven months o f the year, and they will engage with a great show o f enthusiasm in unwonted religious ac tivities, only to lapse again into tbe former state of lethargy with the passing o f these holidays. Rosh Ha-Shonar a n d Yom Kippur, even after the lapse of centuries of observance, still have an appeal even to the most in different. The serious as pect j of these holidays, which were originally insti tuted by God Himself, has been in large measure pre served to the present day. No matter how many other changes have been effected
B lowing the S hofar on A tonement D a y .
their own Messiah—the Lord Jesus Christ! How disastrous and far-reaching have been the consequences o f the sin o f Jewish un belief ! How are the mighty fallen! This proud nation, whose ancestors gave to an idolatrous world its knowledge of the one true, living God, have by a strange paradox become remotely estranged and isolated from the God of their fathers. Our readers are urged to pray that Si nai’s authoritative, thundering law, so highly honored in word in the Jewish syna gogues, might inspire such wholesome fear of God in Jewish hearts as to lead them to “ repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” ; for crowded syna gogues, rivers of tears, abundance of chari ties, multiplied fastings, agonizing cries, and the reiteration of ritualistic prayers (which is the usual order on the Day of Atonement) that no longer move the hearts of those who utter them cannot disguise the fact that an omnipotent hand has writ ten with indelible characters that “ it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:11), and that “without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). It is therefore impossible for the Hebrew to ignore the Lamb o f God, Jesus Christ, and to find any other acceptable substitute for the blood o f atonement.
with the passing of time, so strong is the hold o f these holidays upon the Jewish conscience that no Jew, unless he has cut himself off entirely from the synagogue, will fail to observe the Day o f Atonement by resting from his daily pursuits and at tending service in the synagogue. . Atonement Day as now observed by the Jewish people is but a pathetic travesty upon that ancient, God-given Jewish holi day. The annual observance of the day, with elaborate form and ritual, penitence and prayer, fasting and charity, accom panied by the solemn chanting of the Kol Nidre and the shofar call to repentance, but serve to emphasize the barrenness and hopelessness o f Judaism, the utter absence o f the blood o f atonement, and Israel’s futile dependence upon the traditional sub stitutes of prayer, fasting, and charity. Israel observes a Day of Atonement, but it is in reality a day without atonement and one whose religious observances are large ly prompted by racial and family loyalty rather than by individual religious con viction. The walls o f present-day Judaism are rapidly crumbling into dust and ruins. The Toras Moshe (the Law o f Moses) is hon ored more in the breach than in the ob servance. The feeble efforts of Jewish men
“Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?” Are you, dear reader, indifferent to the great and urgent spiritual need of God’s ancient people ? Are you aware that an op portunity, unparalleled in the history of the dispersion of Israel, now presents itself to the church of.Christ, to evangelize the Jews ? Do you know that Jews by the hundreds are abandoning the synagogues and casting about for a religious substitute for Juda ism? Do you realize that, in this crucial period in the history o f Israel, thousands o f Jews will this year be ensnared by the harmful teaching o f the cults—unless stayed by a Christian hand? Can we afford to ignore our personal ob ligation to Israel at the price o f eternal loss, both to us and to them? Should we not rather be willing to gladly sacrifice, if need be, in order that the Jew might have the gospel, and thus our own hearts be cheered by the knowledge that our Jewish friend and neighbor, so far as we are in dividually responsible, need not go out into the darkness o f eternal doom, without a sacrifice? Service Versus Sentiment It is not especially difficult to interest the average Christian man or woman in [Continued on page 445]
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