Jewish Audience Cheers Christian Pastor

Four Thousand Jews in Hippodrome Applaud
Venerable Brooklyn Clergyman

Advocates Establishment of A Jewish Nation

Astonished at His Profound Knowledge of the Hebrew Prophecies.

The Jewish Mass Meeting October 9, 1910 Pastor Russell, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Addresses an Enthusiastic Audience at the Hippodrome, New York, N.Y.

"Among them were many prominent figures of the Hebrew literary world... The literary men recognized the pastor as a writer and investigator of international fame on the subject of Judaism and Zionism... Some of those present were Dr. Jacobs, editor of the American Hebrew; W. J. Solomon, of the Hebrew Standard; J. Brosky, associate editor of the same; Louis Lipsky, editor of the Maccabean; A. B. Landau, of the Warheit; Leo Wolfsohn, president of the Federation of Romanian Societies; J. Pfeffer, of the Jewish Weekly; S. Diamont, editor of the Jewish Spirit; S. Goldberg, editor of the American Hebrew; J. Barondess, of the Jewish Big Stick, and Goldman, editor of H'Yom, the only Jewish daily..."

Interview with Prominent Jews "Why is it Christian people in general do not have such a message as this man brings? How is it all are against us? Instead of having a sympathetic word, they are all against us."   THE discourse on "Jerusalem" caused so much interest among the Jews that a few days afterwards several prominent Jews called upon Pastor Russell for an interview. At one of the conventions this summer, while speaking upon the questions concerning the Jews, Pastor Russell said: "I am pleased to tell you that the Lord seems to be rather indicating there is to be work done among the Jews. We preached in Jerusalem from Isaiah 40:1-2, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith my God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem," etc., and there were quite a number of Jews present on that occasion, and some of them were very greatly moved. The principal Jewish man in all Palestine was present. He is treasurer and business manager of the Zionist associations of the world and is located there now. He is the head of all their business enterprises, in advance even of the president, although the president is the higher official of course; but he is the highest man, practically, among them. His name is Doctor Levy. His remarks to some of the friends were more than anything he said to me. He greeted me very cordially after the meeting and said he was sorry there were not more of his co-religionists there. There was a little prejudice against the hall we used. It was known to be a hall owned by one of those converted from Judaism to Christianity, in which an endeavor would be made to convert the Jews and make them Christians, and they were opposed to going to that hall. If he had not had a special invitation he would not have been there himself. But somebody took him a very special, urgent invitation, and on the strength of the assurance of that invitation he was present. He said, "I wish you could remain longer; I would be glad to have our Jews here in the city get acquainted and hear what you have to say." But I could not stay. You know everything was mapped out ahead. I was obliged to tell him I could not remain. Then there were others there to speak, and he spoke to some of them. He said, "Why is it Christian people in general do not have such a message as this man brings? How is it all are against us? Instead of having a sympathetic word, they are all against us." He seemed to be touched by the fact that we had nothing to say against them, but rather pointed out the blessings of God that were coming to them. He indicated he intended to write to some of his New York friends that they might attend the meeting there, when he learned from some of our party that the subject there would be from the same text. I do not know to what extent he brought anyone to the meeting at Brooklyn, but there was a good attendance, and many were turned away, unable to gain admission. Those who were present gave excellent attention for nearly two hours. There was a corridor full of people waiting to take their places, hoping some would go out, but they did not go out, seeing what an interest there was not only amongst Christians but also amongst Jews. The Jews were astonished that any Christian should speak of the prosperity of Judaism, and what blessings God had for the Jews; that was something they could hardly understand. Three Jews called on me to see if they could find out what I meant, what I was going to try to do. Was I going to try to get hold of the Jews and make Christians of them? I told them no, the sermon was not preached at all for the Jews; it was for Christian people, but that the Jews were as welcome as anybody else, and that I was glad if anybody heard anything that was interesting to them in the sermon; but we intended making no special endeavor to convert the Jews. I told them, on the contrary, we understood that God had one plan for the Jews and another for the Gentiles, and then I briefly outlined to them the heavenly and higher calling, calling attention to the fact there were no promises made to them of a heavenly kind; that from Genesis to Malachi there was not a heavenly or spiritual promise mentioned; that they were all earthly promises. They agreed to that. I said, All of those promises are to be fulfilled to you, and the time is near at hand. They were good listeners. One of them was editor of a paper, and the other a publisher of a paper, and they were deeply interested to hear what the object was; they thought there must be something or other behind the scenes, and their thought was, Why would it be so? What are you going to do? Where is the trap? We are looking for the snare that would catch the bird. I told them we had no snare at all. We merely had a good message, that we had a good deal of sympathy with the Jews, and we saw God had cast them off at a certain time. They admitted all of that; they could not think otherwise. We told them that we believed God, that we believed the Prophets, that we acknowledged those prophets of the Old Testament the same as they did; that many Christian people had abandoned the Old Testament, thought it was all fulfilled and past, but we followed the Old Scripture suggestions that many of those things were yet future--indeed most of them; that only a small portion had ever been fulfilled, and God in his due time would fulfill all of those promises to the Jews; and just as soon as this spiritual class was selected, forthwith the message would go to the Jews, and the awakening referred to in this valley of dry bones would take place. We called their attention to the fact that it was Israel's hope that they were to be revivified and they would begin to awaken, and I said to them, What has awakened you now to Zionism is a part of God's promises coming at the right time, but it has nearly spent its force; the power that is behind Zionism is merely the power of patriotism. You feel as though you Jews have no home. The Germans speak of the fatherland, and the others speak of some other land; they have a home land. And you say, We Jews have no home land. You would like to have a home land, and it is a kind of a patriotic spirit that is moving Zionism as far as it can, rather than anything practical. Now, I said, Zionism has nearly spent its force, and it has nearly gotten you ready for the power that is going to move you. The power that is going to move the Jews is the power of God through the prophets. God is going to move you as none of this patriotism ever did in the past. And then they had good ears to hear, and I went on and outlined the "Times of the Gentiles," and the "Seven Times," and how they would end in 1915. Also the fact that God had told the Jews in Leviticus that there would be seven times trial, etc.; that we thought these were the same seven times mentioned when God took away Zedekiah, the King of Judah, who was the last king they had, and that the seven times dated from there. Their eyes sparkled and they listened attentively. I think they were there nearly two hours, just in the parlor talking about it--I did nearly all the talking. Well, they said, we thought that if this is not an endeavor to turn the Jews to make Christians out of them, if it is not that, this would be a wonderful power among our people, and we would like to have you address a meeting. Would you? I said to them that if it were anything like a political meeting I would not wish to address it at all; that we did not mingle in politics at all, but if any of them would have an ear to hear, and would like to know about what God has for them as a nation of people, we would be glad to talk to them as much as we have time. You see I am very busy and I could not give you a great deal of time, but if we could have some one large meeting, perhaps then I could talk to a good many Jews together, and I would be very pleased to do so." Brother Russell afterward said, at one of this year's conventions, Well, they are thinking it over. I did not know what they would think, and do not know what they will do; they had come merely to see what was the motive behind it, to learn if we were trying to trap them. They were afraid if they would push it along we might really catch some of them. That is what they are afraid of. But they all acknowledged and said, Why, this is the most powerful thing we have ever heard. And one of those men said, "I was an unbeliever when I came in here, but now you have convinced me there is something in the Bible for the Jew, and that there is truth in the Bible." And so you and I are learning more and more every day, that that is the wonderful power, both for the Jew, the Gentile and the Christian; it is our Book. Primarily it is for the Christian, but there are certain good things in it for the Jews and for ALL the families of the earth. The Jews are waking up all over the country. I presume that a synopsis of the discourse, which was published in eleven Jewish and Yiddish newspapers, will reach probably half a million of Jews all over the world." Subsequently Brother Russell received an invitation to address a JEWISH MASS MEETING in the great HIPPODROME THEATRE of New York City. A copy of the invitation, and Brother Russell's response to the same and a report of the meeting, which took place as per arrangements, will be found farther along in this Report.

BROTHER RUSSELL received an invitation to address a
Jewish Mass Meeting in the great Hippodrome Theater of New York City.

The invitation and Brother Russell's response to the
same follow:

NEW YORK, September 20, 1910. to Pastor C. T. Russell, Brooklyn, N.Y.  Dear Sir: Your sympathetic interest in the Jewish people for years past has not escaped our notice. Your denunciations of the atrocities perpetrated against our race in the name of Christianity has added to our conviction that you are a sincere friend. Your discourse on "Jerusalem and Jewish Hopes" has struck a responsive chord in the hearts of many of our people. Still we doubted for a time if any Christian minister could really be interested in a Jew as a Jew and not merely from a hope of proselyting him. It is because of this feeling that some of us request you to make a public statement respecting the nature of your interest in our people and we desire you to know that the statement you did make was very satisfactory. In it you assured us that you are not urging Jews to become Christians and join any of the sects or parties of Protestants or Catholics. That statement, Pastor Russell, has been widely published in the Jewish journals. We feel, therefore, that we have nothing to fear from you as a race. On the contrary, in that statement you mentioned that the foundation of your interest in our people is built upon your faith in the testimonies of our Law and the messages of our Prophets. You may well understand how surprised we are to find a Christian minister acknowledging that there are prophecies of the Bible still unfulfilled, which belong to the Jew and not to the Christian, and that these prophecies, according to your studies, are nearing a fulfillment of momentous interest to our Jewish race and, through us as a people, to the nations of the world.   These things, Pastor Russell, have led to the formation of a Jewish Mass Meeting Committee, which, by this letter, requests you to give a public discourse, especially to our people. If you will kindly accept this invitation, will you permit us to suggest a topic for your address, which, we believe, will be very interesting to the public and especially to the Jews, namely, "Zionism in Prophecy."   As for the meeting: We suggest Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock, October 9. We have secured an option on the Hippodrome, New York's largest and finest auditorium, for that date, and we hope that this date and the place will be agreeable to your convenience. We assure you also of a large audience of deeply interested Hebrews, besides whoever may come of the general public.   Trusting to hear from you soon, we subscribe ourselves, Yours respectfully,   JEWISH MASS MEETING COMMITTEE. [The committee in charge of next Sunday's meeting in the Hippodrome includes: A. B. Landau, editor of The Warheit; Louis Lipsky, editor of the Maccabean; J. Pfeffer, editor of the Jewish Weekly; Abraham Goldberg, editor of the Yiddish Volk, and Leo Wolfson, editor of the Yiddish Spirit.] From R4700

---------- BROOKLYN, N.Y., September 21, 1910. Jewish Mass Meeting Committee, New York City.   GENTLEMEN: Your kind invitation to address the Jewish Mass Meeting in the New York Hippodrome Sunday, October 9, at 3 p.m., came duly.   I thank you for the confidence which this invitation implies. The date you have selected is not only appropriate in its relationship to the Jewish New Year, but it is very suitable for my own arrangements, as I leave on October 12 for appointments in London and elsewhere in Great Britain.   Amongst the several prominent members of your race suggested for chairman of the Mass Meeting, I select Mr. John Barrondess, because I have had the pleasure personally of conference with him and because I know him to be very loyal to the interests of your people and because I believe him to be very highly esteemed as such in the counsels of your race.   Faithfully and respectfully yours,   C. T. RUSSELL.

During the week preceding the Mass Meeting many thousand copies of a special paper printed in Yiddish were sold at news stands and distributed with other Yiddish papers. This paper contained quotations from Brother Russell's writings and sermons, and a report of his findings in Palestine during his recent visit to the Holy Land. In this paper were two very significant cartoons.   One represented an aged Jew seated in a graveyard, surrounded by tombstones. Each of these stones represented one of their dead hopes. The picture shows that the Jews have reached their limit--all hopes practically dead, and they do not know which way to turn.   The other picture represents the Jew as waking up--he hears a voice, and, looking up in a surprised manner, he sees Pastor Russell, who holds in his hand a scroll of their prophecies, and is pointing to them, and to the New Jerusalem in the background, which will soon rise out of the ruins of the present city within the walls. Thinking these cartoons will be of interest to others, we reproduce them on the following pages.

New York American

Monday, October 10, 1910

 

Pastor Russell Cheered by an Audience of Hebrews

 

Four Thousand in Hippodrome Applaud When Venerable

Brooklyn Clergyman Advocates Establishment of a Jewish Nation.

Hearers Who Came to Question Gentile's Views on

Their Religion Find He Agrees in Their Most Important Beliefs.

Preacher, After Hailing Them as One of the Bravest Races on

Earth, Says Kingdom May Return to Them by 1914.

 

THE unusual spectacle of 4,000 Hebrews enthusiastically
applauding a Gentile preacher, after having listened to a sermon
he addressed to them concerning their own religion, was
presented at the Hippodrome yesterday afternoon, where Pastor
Russell, the famous head of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, conducted
a most unusual service.
 
In his time the venerable pastor has done many unconventional
things. His religion is bounded by no particular denomination,
and encompasses, as he says, all mankind. His ways of teaching
it are his own. But he never did a more unconventional thing
than this--nor a more successful one.
 
He won over an audience that had come--some of it, at least--
prepared to debate with him, to resent, perhaps, what might have
appeared like a possible intrusion. "Pastor Russell is going to try
to convert the Jews to Christianity," was the word that many had
received before the meeting. "He wants to proselyte us."
 
 

RECEIVED AT FIRST IN SILENCE.

 
In the crowd which filled the big showhouse were scores of
rabbis and teachers, who had come to speak out in case the
Christian attacked their religion or sought to win them from it.
They had questions and criticisms ready for him. He was
received at first in a dead silence.
 
But the Pastor did not seek to convert the Jews. To their
unbounded delight, he pointed out the good things of their
religion, agreed with them in their most important beliefs as to
their salvation, and finally, after a warm advocacy of the plan of
the Jews establishing a nation of their own, brought about a
tumult of applause by leading a choir in the Zionist anthem:
"Hatikva--Our Hope."
 
A more interesting audience the Hippodrome never held,
perhaps. From all parts of the city came serious-minded
Hebrews to hear what it was an alien, a Gentile, might have to
say to them at a service held during their week of feasting, Rosh
Hoshana. They were quiet, well-dressed, thinking men and
women.
 
Among them were many prominent figures of the Hebrew
literary world. Some of these escorted Pastor Russell to the
Hippodrome in a motor car and then took places in the
auditorium. The literary men recognized the pastor as a writer
and investigator of international fame on the subject of Judaism
and Zionism. Some of those present were Dr. Jacobs, editor of
the American Hebrew; W. J. Solomon, of the Hebrew Standard;
J. Brosky, associate editor of the same; Louis Lipsky, editor of
the Maccabean; A. B. Landau, of the Warheit; Leo Wolfsohn,
president of the Federation of Romanian Societies; J. Pfeffer, of
the Jewish Weekly; S. Diamont, editor of the Jewish Spirit; S.
Goldberg, editor of the American Hebrew; J. Barondess, of the
Jewish Big Stick, and Goldman, editor of H'Yom, the only
Jewish daily.
 

NO RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS THERE.

 
No symbol of any religion at all greeted them when they gazed
at the Hippodrome stage. It was entirely empty save for a small
lectern and three peace flags hanging from silken cords above.
One was the familiar white silk banner with the Stars and Stripes
in its center, together with the words, "Peace Among Nations,"
in letters of gold. Another bore a rainbow and the word "Pax."
The third was a silken strip bearing miniature representations of
all the nations' flags.
 
There were no preliminaries. Pastor Russell, tall, erect and
white-bearded, walked across the stage without introduction,
raised his hand, and his double quartette from the Brooklyn
Tabernacle sang the hymn, "Zion's Glad Day." The members of
this organization are Mrs. E. W. Brenneisen, Mrs. E. N.
Detweiler, Miss Blanche Raymond and Mrs. Raymond, Emil
Hirscher, C. Meyers, J. P. MacPherson and J. Mockridge. Their
voices blended perfectly, and the hymn, without any
instrumental accompaniment, was impressive.
 
But still there seems an air of aloofness about the audience.
They did not applaud, but sat, silently watching the stalwart
figure of the pastor. When he began to talk, however, they gave
him respectful attention.
 
With a powerful, yet charming voice, that filled the great
playhouse, the unconventional clergyman made his every word
audible to every hearer. His tones pleased their ears, his graceful
gestures soon captivated their eyes, and in a few moments his
apparently thorough knowledge of his subject appealed to their
minds. Though still silent, the 4,000 were "warming up" to him.

 

RESERVE AND DOUBT VANISH.

 
It was not long before all reserve, and all possible doubt of
Pastor Russell's entire sincerity and friendliness were worn
away. Then the mention of the name of a great Jewish leader--
who, the speaker declared, had been raised by God for the
cause--brought a burst of applause.
 
From that moment on the audience was his. The Jews became as
enthusiastic over him as though he had been a great rabbi or
famous orator of their own religion. He hailed them as one of
the bravest races of the earth-- having kept their faith through
the persecutions and cruelties of all other people for thousands
of years. And he predicted that before very long they would be
the greatest of the earth--not merely a people, any longer, but a
nation. By a system of deductions based upon the prophecies of
old, the pastor declared that the return of the kingdom of the
Jews might occur at so near a period as the year 1914.
Persecution would be over and peace and universal happiness
would triumph.
 
As he brought his address to a conclusion the pastor raised his
hand again to his choir. This time they raised the quaint, foreignsounding
strains of the Zion hymn, "Our Hope," one of the
masterpieces of the eccentric East Side poet Imber.
The unprecedented incident of Christian voices singing the
Jewish anthem came as a tremendous surprise. For a moment the
Hebrew auditors could scarcely believe their ears. Then, making
sure it was their own hymn, they first cheered and clapped with
such ardor that the music was drowned out, and then, with the
second verse, joined in by hundreds.
 
At the height of the enthusiasm over the dramatic surprise he
prepared, Pastor Russell walked off the stage and the meeting
ended with the end of the hymn. He was congratulated by scores
of men and women who had come in indifferent, if not hostile,
frames of mind, and he made a friend, they all declared, of
everyone who had heard him.
 

The following is a stenographic report of the entire discourse:

 

Zionism in Prophecy

 

PASTOR RUSSELL: I will read in your hearing from the Holy

Scriptures, Leeser's translation, the Hebrew version:

 

Psalms 102:14-16: "Thou shalt arise, O Lord; for thou wilt have

mercy upon Zion; for it is time to favor her, for the appointed

time has come. For thy servants hold dear her stones, and her

very dust they cherish. Then shall nations fear the name of the

Lord, and all the kings of earth thy glory."

 

Mal. 3:1,5,6,7: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
clear out the way before me; and suddenly will come to his
temple the Lord, whom ye seek; and the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye desire; for, behold, he is coming, saith the
Lord of hosts; and I will come near unto you to hold judgment;
and I will be a swift witness.... For I the Lord--I have not
changed; and ye sons of Jacob --ye have not ceased to be. From
the days of your fathers did ye depart from my statutes, and did
not keep them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith
the Lord of hosts."
 
Ezekiel 16:60-63: Nevertheless will I indeed remember my
covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish
unto thee an everlasting covenant. And thou shalt then
remember thy ways, and be confounded, when thou receivest
thy sisters, both those that are older than thou and younger than
thou; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, though not
because thou wast faithful to the covenant. And I will establish
my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:
in order that thou mayest remember, and feel ashamed and never
open thy mouth any more because of thy confusion, when I
forgive thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Eternal."
Jeremiah 31:31-37: Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord,
when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah a new covenant.
 
"Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day
that I took hold of them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt; which my covenant they have broken, although I
was become their husband, saith the Lord.
 
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, I place my law in their
inward parts, and upon their hearts will I write it; and I will be
unto them for a God and they shall be unto me for a people.
"And they shall not teach any more every man his neighbor, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all
know me, from the least of them even unto their greatest, saith
the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I not
remember any more.
 
"Thus hath said the Lord who bestoweth the sun for a light by
day, the ordinance of the moon and of the stars for a light by
night, who stirreth up the sea that its waves roar.--The Lord of
hosts is his name.
 
"If these ordinances ever depart from before me, saith the Lord,
then also shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation
before me during all time.
 
"Thus hath said the Lord, If the heavens can be measured above,
and the foundations of the earth be searched out beneath, then
also will I reject all the seed of Israel, for all that they have
done, saith the Lord."
 

CR136
(Picture only)
CR137
 

Isaiah 40:1,2: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

 

"Speak ye (comfort) to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out unto

her, that her time of sorrow is accomplished, that her iniquity is

atoned for; for she hath received from the hand of the Lord

double for all her sins."

 
MY JEWISH FRIENDS AND OTHERS: I have pleasure in
being before you today. I am here because of your invitation, for
which I thank you. I am pleased to have an opportunity of
speaking to my Jewish friends and neighbors in this city. All the
more so because I believe that some, in the name of Christ, have
dishonored his name in various persecutions against your race.
I cannot be surprised, my dear friends, that after centuries of
persecution you should feel that it would be almost a miracle if
you should hear a Christian speaking the words of our text to the
Jews, in defense of the Jews. I am pleased, therefore, to have
this opportunity of saying that I have no sympathy whatever
with the conduct of the Russians, nor with the demoniacal
conduct of the so-called Christians of Romania. We read, too, of
the fact recently that in Romania there was a terrible scene
enacted when so-called Christians dug up the dead of the Jews,
brought their carcasses and laid them on the doorsteps. Dear
friends, this is not properly attributive to the Christianity which I
stand for. I am glad that I stand for no such misrepresentation of
the One whom I recognize as my Creator, as my Master, and
one who is of your race.
 
Nothing in his Word ever directed his followers to thus
misrepresent the principles of righteousness, justice. I should
like in one word to tell you the very reason why there is such
conduct on the part of some who have named the name of
Christ. It is this: That during the period we call the Dark Ages,
when ignorance was prevalent throughout the civilized world,
various false theories and doctrines, quite contrary to the Law of
Moses, quite contrary to the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles,
were brought in. So we find that today the name of Christ is
attached to various theories which you and I and all Christian
peoples recognize as sinful and wrong and dishonest. By all
Christian peoples I mean the Christian people in general whom
you meet in this land of liberty; a very different view, you will
notice, from that held by Christians of Russia and Romania and
some other parts.
 
The whole world is swayed by the power of the mind. When a
man's mind is disarranged his conduct will be in harmony with
the disarrangement. What wild and unreasonable things are
often done by the insane because the mind has gone wrong. I am
not charging the Christians in the Dark Ages with these things,
but I am charging it, dear friends, to that which the Scriptures
call "Doctrines of Devils," promulgated in the name of
Christianity, and some of those doctrines of devils are very
devilish indeed. One of these doctrines is what I hold
responsible for all the various injustices that have been done to
your race--the doctrine that our Heavenly Father, when he
created the race, also made a great place of eternal torment and
purposed that the great proportion of these human creatures
whom he made should be cast into this eternal torture. All of this
we believe to be very dishonoring to God, and it is because of
this wrong theory respecting God and his character and his
purposes toward the children of men that the world has
witnessed such terrible persecution of the Jews--and all done in
the name of love.
 
It is not surprising at all that practically all Christian people
believe that every Jew is going to eternal torment. So I say, with
the thought before their minds that the great Creator has damned
every Jew to eternal torment, is it any wonder that those who
believe such a thing should act like demons? It is no wonder! A
man is bound to be conscientious and we must admit that these
people are acting according to their consciences, but if a man is
conscientious he will act according to his light or according to
his darkness, and this gross darkness which came upon the
civilized world 1,000 years ago, from which we have scarcely
emerged, is responsible for the misrepresentation of the
Almighty's character, and is responsible for the persecution of
the Jews. Have we not been told that every man should seek to
be in harmony with and should follow the example of his God?
Whoever, therefore, has a devilish conception of God will have
a devilish form of conduct. And theoretically that has come
upon Christian people who are slowly emerging from the gross
errors of the Dark Ages. Many errors still cling to them; for
instance, the doctrine of eternal torment. These Christian people
believe this to be the doctrine of the Bible, and I thought the
same. I also thought that I was getting it from the Bible, but I
found out differently, my dear friends. I found out that I had
been taking the traditions and creeds of men, and I had been told
that these creeds fairly represented the Word of God, and under
the impulse of the refusal of my mind to follow such a leading I
became a kind of an unbeliever, totally rejecting both the Old
and the New Testaments; and I know, therefore, how to
sympathize with those who are called Higher Critics. I know
how to sympathize with those who feel that there is no real
intelligence in the Bible.
 
But, dear friends, after having had this experience, by God's
grace I came back to the Bible itself and made an examination
along its own lines, and today I am a believer in not merely the
New Testament, but in the Old Testament also. I have the
opinion that both Jews and Christians have to a large extent
neglected the intelligent study of the Word of God and I would
like not only to awaken all the Christians --men and women--to
study the Bible, but I would also like to awaken all the Jewish
people to a study of the Word of God, a study of your own
Scriptures, which contain the most wonderful message. They
explain all the affairs pertaining to your people.
 
After making a thorough study of the prophecies I found the
whole picture of the world there, and I thank God so often for
these prophecies! They are not yet fulfilled. Certain portions of
them have been fulfilled; and then there are other things that
God has for the Jews and for the Gentiles.
 
To my understanding, God has two salvations--a special
salvation, which is only for a mere handful--merely a saintly
few, and as soon as the saintly few have been selected as the
body of the Great Messiah he will fulfill all the glorious things
the Jews have been hoping for, which you and I have been
hoping for, and which the whole world has been hoping for. Do
we not all see the need of a great Deliverer for the Jew; do we
not see the need of a great deliverer for the whole world; do we
not see that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together, waiting, waiting for your Messiah, my Messiah, for the
Messiah God has promised, the Messiah of the whole world?
When we come to see what our God is doing, then there is a
great sympathetic bond I believe between every intelligent Jew
and every intelligent Christian. We have one God, the Father of
all, and we have one hope in his glorious plan, and the glorious
hope of this plan is all centered in the Messiah that has been
promised to the Jews for these 3,500 years since the day of
Abraham. God, foreknowing what he would do for the blessing
of the world, declared in advance to Abraham that through his
seed all the families of the earth would be blessed.
 
He intimates that there would be two kinds of Abraham's seed--
he would have a heavenly and he would have an earthly seed.
Remember how in the Scriptures he said, Thy seed shall be as
the stars of heaven and also as the sands of the seashore. These
two seeds eventually shall bless the world. As soon as the
heavenly seed shall be completed-- and we believe that that time
is near at hand now--then the blessing of God will begin to come
to his earthly seed. And what do we see, my dear friends? Do
you see the condition in which we are as a race? Do you see the
sickness and weakness of the world of mankind today? Do you
realize that sin is the very cause of all this, and do you know that
God has declared, as I have read in your hearing, that the time is
coming when he will blot out all those things which are the
results of sin? You and I, and all mankind, are suffering from
these things and they will all pass away. Does this not mean that
in due time the wilderness shall blossom as the rose, the solitary
place shall be glad for them, the knowledge of the Lord shall fill
the whole earth as the waters cover the great deep and none will
need say to his neighbor, Know the Lord? We have not had that
time yet! It is still in the future. That is the glorious promise of
God which Israel is looking forward to if they are looking in the
right direction; Christians are also looking forward to this, and
all nations look forward to it.
 
As I have read, not only is the blessing to come to Israel but also
to the Gentiles. That is my understanding, dear friends, of what
the Bible teaches. Let us look for the great antitypical Moses,
this great antitypical David, this great antitypical Melchizedek;
this great one that is mentioned by Daniel, the prophet, when he
said: Then shall Michael (the archangel) stand up (assume
control) and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time
thy
 
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people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written
in the book. God is making a record of those who are true Jews;
he has a book; he has an account, and you and I realize that. We
know we are not living here in vain. You and I believe that the
Great One who created us has something more in store for us
than the brute beast. What is that glorious thing that he has
provided?
 
Our Scripture tells us that under this new regime which shall be
inaugurated when Michael shall take control, Israel will be the
first to be blessed, as God said in the Scriptures which I have
read in your hearing. It shall come to pass as the Lord God has
said. After those days I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the
covenant I made with them when I took them by the hand to
lead them out of Egypt, but a new covenant, like the former, but
more glorious. As the first covenant had a mediator so this new
covenant will have a mediator, a better mediator. As Moses led
the people on the right way, so also will the antitype of
Abraham, Isaac, and Moses, the greater one than Moses, do.
There cometh a greater one than Moses. Now this one will be
the one through whom all the promises of God will come to
Israel, and through Israel to all men.
 
To my understanding, dear friends, the Scriptures are very clear
in their statement that this New Covenant will be for Israel only
and that all the nations of the world, if they desire to receive the
blessings of that covenant, must come into Israel, so that during
the reign of Messiah, which will be for 1,000 years, all nations
will be pressing into it that they may become members of Israel,
and so the nations will eventually come to be a part of Israel, as
the Scriptures say--the seed of Abraham, like the sands of the
seashore, filling the whole earth--and every one who will not
become an Israelite, who will not come into harmony with God,
with that divine law, with the New Covenant, will be cut off in
the Second Death. The Scriptures say that at the end of
Messiah's reign every one will be perfect; all will be of the seed
of Abraham, and his seed shall then be as the stars of heaven
and as the sands of the seashore. But during his reign every one
who will not hear that prophet will be destroyed from among the
people.
 
Then, you inquire, why is it that God has so long delayed? Well,
my dear brother, whether I can make the matter clear to you or
not, it is a fact we all recognize, that he has delayed. And during
this delay of now more than 3,500 years from the time that
promise was made to Abraham, from the time God took his
oath, bound himself to the blessing of all the families of the
earth, and bound himself that the blessing should come through
Abraham's seed,--from that day to this, in all 3,500 years, your
faith as a people has not failed. And in my estimation it is one of
the most miraculous things in the world today to see the faith of
Israel as a people. I esteem it, my dear friends, to be a miracle
itself. No other country has ever done anything like this. No
other nation is the seed of Abraham, as God has revealed this
matter.
 
God gave an illustration of the delay, you remember. The
covenant made to Abraham was made a long, long time before
Isaac was born, and so God's promises to Israel, natural Israel,
the seed of Abraham, have been long deferred, and to our
understanding in a certain way that we may not have time to
fully discuss this afternoon. Our thought is that now God's time
has come, as we read in Psalm 102: "To favor Zion, for the
appointed time is coming." Do you believe that he did found
your nation, and that he had a purpose in respect to that
founding? Do you believe the promises? Do you believe that the
Lord's promises will yet be fulfilled? Do you believe that he is
able to do so? My dear friends, I am afraid that some of the Jews
are getting weak in their faith respecting the promises of God.
God's purposes ripen slowly, but if the Scriptures are true, and
we have a right understanding, Messiah will very shortly be
manifested in power and great glory, not visible to men, but as a
spirit being, invisible to men, as Daniel described, you
remember: Who as God--one like unto God, with power. Yes,
my dear friends, with power; with power through Israel to fulfill
all the glorious promises God made to Abraham and confirmed
to Isaac and to Jacob.
 
Let me give you an idea of one way in which I think of this
matter. I refresh your minds respecting the history of Israel; how
after God dealt with your people through judges, he gave them
kings, and the name of the last king you remember was
Zedekiah. Upon Zedekiah God pronounced a great sentence,
which has since gone into effect. Let me remind you of the
words of the Prophet addressing Zedekiah, the last king of the
Jews. I understand about Maccabeus, king of the Maccabees, but
the Maccabees were not Jews. God has promised his blessing to
Israel and Judah. Now I will quote you the words of the Prophet
Ezekiel, 21:25:
 
"And thou profane and wicked prince, whose time has come that
iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the
diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt
him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn,
overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come
whose right it is; and I will give it him." Who is this one that is
coming? Who is this one that is to take the throne of David?
Who is this one that is to be the successor to Zedekiah? Did God
not promise to David "the sure mercies of David," that of the
fruit of his loins he would raise up this one? This was not
fulfilled at that time. It must belong to some future time because
the sure mercies of David were pointed to after that time and
they have not yet been fulfilled. That great Messiah is not a
man, for no earthly being is able to accomplish for Israel, and
through Israel for the world, the wonderful things which God
has declared this Messiah shall accomplish. He is to bless all the
families of the earth--not merely those living at that time, but
also all those who have gone down into the sleep of death. That
is the time of which Daniel speaks, that in this day many who
sleep in the dust of the earth shall come forth; and some shall
shine as stars in the firmament.
 
Now, my dear friends, a certain period of time from the time
Zedekiah lost his crown is measured all the way down. What do
we find for this measurement in the Word of God, in the Holy
Scriptures? Through the Prophet, God has given a measure
which reaches from Zedekiah, from the time his crown was
taken away to the time that it would be restored. You remember
how it was at the time Israel was discarded from divine favor as
a nation--not the people but as a nation; the crown was taken
away from them as a nation, was removed, to be no more until
the Messiah, but still they would continue to be God's people.
This shows the difference between God's people and God's
nation. But at the time the crown was removed from the brow of
the king of Judah, a lease of power was given to the Gentiles.
 
I remind you that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was the
one who took Zedekiah prisoner. I remind you that he had a
wonderful dream and Daniel the Prophet was there and
interpreted the dream. I remind you what the dream was; that he
saw a great image--head of gold, breast of silver, belly and
thighs of brass, and legs of iron, and the feet of iron and clay
mixed. I remind you that Daniel gave an inspired interpretation
of that dream. Daniel said that Babylon was the first, or head of
gold; that after Babylon would arise another kingdom, a
universal kingdom; and then a third, and then a fourth. You
remember who these are: First, Babylon; second, Medo-Persia;
third, Greece; fourth, Rome. Rome came in fourth and was
represented by the legs of iron--the strongest empire the world
has ever known. Since the Roman empire departed as an empire,
what do we have? Papal Rome. This was shown in the image by
the feet of iron and clay mixed, the feet being part of iron and
part of clay; the iron representing the Roman or civil power and
the clay the religious influences or addition to the Roman civil
power. So these ten toes seem to indicate also the kings of
Europe of the present time, for they have been the successors
and their empires are more or less of religious and civil power
combined; as for instance, the kingdom of England is not merely
a civil but also a religious monarchy, and so with the other
monarchies in Europe. They have the religious feature
represented in the clay and the civil power represented in the
iron. This is a picture of the whole world and all the empires of
earth to whom God gave a lease of power more than 2,000 years
ago.
 
We see how this has been fulfilled. What will follow this? Is this
great image to stand forever? No! Was Babylon to last forever?
No, it was cast away and was succeeded by Medo-Persia. Did it
last forever? No, it was followed by Greece. Greece was
followed by the Roman empire. Did it last forever? No, it
merged into Papal Rome. What about all this? What was the end
of this prophecy of Daniel? The king beheld in his vision and a
stone was cut out from the mountain without hands and smote
the image-- Where? In Nebuchadnezzar's days, the head? No. In
the Medo-Persia days? No. Where? In the feet; smote the image
in the feet at the end
 
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of the Gentile times. If you and I see it that way then we must
see that we are now somewhere at the time of the feet and we
should expect that the time for the smiting of the image in the
feet by the stone would be near.
 
You remember the result; that the stone which smote the image
in the feet accomplished the complete destruction of the Gentile
empire. The great image went to pieces and the wind carried it
away; there was no place found for it. And the stone became a
great mountain and filled the whole earth. And Daniel's
interpretation of that stone is that it represented the Kingdom of
God. He is pointing out how the dominion was taken away from
Zedekiah and given to Nebuchadnezzar, and to all of his
successors, and that the kingdom power would revert to Israel.
Messiah, the head of Israel, will become the great stone that will
eventually be the kingdom which will fill the whole earth, and
bless the whole world. Is that a plain picture? I hold that it is. Is
it a far-fetched interpretation? I hold that it is not. I hold that
there is no other interpretation possible; we must either believe
that or give up the whole matter. If we see that the first part has
been fulfilled in the past, does it not confirm Daniel's prophecy
to you and to me, and to as many as have ears to hear, that the
latter part is just as sure of fulfilment as the first part?
 
Another part of this prophecy shows us that there were seven
times determined upon this great people. What is a time? A time
is a year. Seven times, seven years. Not literal years. More than
literal years. There is a symbolical year used in prophecy which
is reckoned on the basis of a lunar year; twelve months of thirty
days each, or 360 days --each day representing a year. One
symbolical year, therefore, would represent 360 years. How
many would be represented in seven times? I answer seven
times 360 years would be 2,520 years. And if we measure those
2,520 years from the time that God took away the diadem from
Zedekiah and gave a lease of power to the Gentiles, what do we
find? We find the 2,520 years will soon expire. And what would
that mean? That would mean the time to restore Zion has come,
and that, my dear friends, is part of my message to the Jews.
You have suffered persecution for centuries; God has surely
promised you a blessing, and the time of fulfilment is near, and
the blessing that will come upon you is so much greater than
you have ever dreamed of that we are astonished to see the grace
of our God and the wonderful lengths and breadths of his mighty
plan.
 
The reason that you and I have been inclined to go after
infidelity and to reject the Bible is that we never saw the plan of
God as there outlined; never appreciated its wonderful promises,
never appreciated the fact that God will bless every member of
our race. "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed," and that includes the knowledge of God, and the
knowledge of his power, and the knowledge of his guidance,
and the knowledge of the blessing that will come through the
great Mediator of the New Covenant.
 
Well, how would we measure this period of time? You might
say you would count it a few years sooner, etc., but I will tell
you how I measure it. I find that the year of Zedekiah is the year
606 which we call in our common reckoning B.C. I forget how
it is spoken of by the Jews, or the word that they use. 606 years
B.C. and 1914 years A.D. will make what? 2,520 years. What do
you see? You see forces at work today that the world has never
before seen; every intelligent man sees something wonderful
that he does not understand. We hold that the only proper
conception of the things that are happening in your day and
mine are seen only from the divine standpoint. From God's
Word we can know something of what the commotion of our
day signifies. Can any deny that we have commotion in our day?
That we have wonderful things in our day? That ours is a most
wonderful day, for electricity, steam and all the wonderful
inventions that come along these lines? How should we
understand these things?
 
Some tell us these are all a result of our having large heads; that
we are brainier than any people who have ever lived on the
earth. Is this true? As far as you are concerned, and I know as
far as I am concerned, you and I recognize great characters of
the past that were greater than any of our day. Is it not true that
Moses has not today his equal in the world as a law-giver? Is it
not true that David could touch more hearts than any other poet
in the world? Surely! Shall we say, then, dear friends, that all
this great blessing of our day is merely the result of ours being a
"brain age" and that we are so brainy today? Let us take the
Scriptures for it, let us take the words of the prophet for it, that
this is the "day of preparation." Preparation of whom? Messiah.
That is what we have been praying for, for Messiah and for the
great kingdom of God; for the blessing that God has declared
shall come through the seed of Abraham to all the families of
the earth. Do you not see that these are the beginning of the
blessing? My understanding from the Bible is that the blessings
which you and I are enjoying today, the most wonderful
blessings the world has ever known, are only the beginnings of
God's blessings. I thank God that the great blessing is thus
coming to all people and tongues. I thank God we have this hope
of Messiah.
 
As an illustration, the one who has been instrumental in bringing
forward many wonderful things from electricity, Mr. Edison,
says himself that he has no great intelligence on the subject of
electricity or any other subject; he himself tells that he merely
stumbled into these things. The simple interpretation is that
God's time has come for the lifting of the veil of ignorance that
has been in the world, and therefore the blessing of the Lord is
coming out here and there.
 
I remind you of your Jubilee system, inaugurated by Moses;
how it pointed forward to a great time of blessing. You
remember under the jubilee arrangement that on the fiftieth year
every one should again receive what had been lost; everything
should go back in accordance with the original arrangement.
What did that mean? I agree with you that it was a very good
law; I agree with you that it was a very simple law put into
operation on a very similar scale to our present bankruptcy law;
it was typical of something in the future, typical of a great rest
day.
 
Do you not as Jews hold to the promise of the great period of
Messiah's Kingdom when the great Sabbath of rest and peace
will come to all the world? I understand that you do. I certainly
do. Now this great Sabbath year, this great Jubilee, is another
picture of the great day to come, Messiah's reign, his Kingdom,
the restitution spoken of, with every man restored to his former
estate-- that which was lost. Do you know that our Scriptures,
your holy Scriptures, read that God created man not in an
imperfect condition but in his own image, in his own likeness,
perfect morally, perfect in mentality? Do you agree with me that
the Scriptures, your Scriptures, show that so perfect, so
absolutely perfect was Adam that even when the sentence of
death came upon him he did not crumble into dust in a few
years, but for 930 years he was going down into death? As we
mark the history of the world coming down to us we find that
the average of human life is only about 35 years. In our day we
have come down to the very limit almost, and I have noticed
within a week the statements of some, an English physician of
prominence, and an American physician of prominence, and
they both reached about the same conclusion, that at the present
rate of the mental decline of the human family, 268 years more
would make everybody insane. The world is becoming insane so
rapidly that these gentlemen figured out that we would all be
insane in 268 years. What does this mean? A great fall of our
race, in the strength of mind, in the strength of body, which
perhaps some of you have discovered already. Many of my
friends have told me that they had a nervous breakdown. That
means that none of us is equal to the strain.
 
Now, my dear friends, if you have the Bible standpoint that God
created our first parents in his own image and likeness, and that
sin came upon them, and that mentally, morally and physically
we have fallen--if we have this before our minds, and then the
great Jubilee, we see that man will be restored to his former
estate--to all that he lost. That would be restitution according to
the Bible. Now I hold, that, we either stand for God and the
Bible or we stand against it. I stand for the Bible, and the Bible
stands for Israel, and therefore I stand for Israel; and the Bible
tells of restitution; of Divine favor, and therefore I proclaim it. I
am glad, therefore, of having this opportunity of addressing so
many of the Jewish people here and of pointing them to their
own Scriptures as teaching these things, telling of the good
things God has in reservation for you.
 
What, in view of this, is the lesson of the hour? It is this, my
dear friends: That we should seek justice, and not merely seek
the land of Palestine. I may say here that it is not at all my
conception of the Bible teaching
 
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that the eight millions of Jews in the world are going to
Palestine, even though it has been estimated that, under most
favorable conditions, the land could support more than twice
that many. It is my thought that some of your most earnest and
saintly people will go to Palestine quickly, and that the
rejuvenation there will be astonishing to the world. We have no
thought whatever that it is God's plan respecting the Jews that
all Jews will return to Palestine, but the time has come when it is
the duty of every Jew who is not going to Palestine personally,
to give his sympathy, to do all in his power to help every Jew
that does desire to go there, and should be specially desirous of
assisting financially those of the Jews who are now suffering in
Russia, helping them back to Palestine, and establishing there
great enterprises. (Applause.)
 
In regard to your Zionistic ideas, I believe the due time, the set
time, as our text says, to remember Zion has come; therefore
God raised up for you a certain great leader, Dr. Herzl. Through
his efforts the attention of the whole world has been attracted to
Palestine, and to the Jews, and the original covenant. This I
understand was a political move--not religious in any sense of
the word--for the benefit of the Jews living in places where they
suffered persecutions. It was also with a certain justifiable
national pride that Israel might have a home like other people,
and national distinction, and this would give them a share and a
proper recognition by the world of the right of a government,
and the right to share with others, as members, in the blessings
belonging to the human family; that was the original
proposition, and it has done a great deal. It is not necessary for
me to tell you that the Zionist movement has reached practically
its limit, that you have gone nearly as far along that line as you
can go. What then? Should you feel discouraged? I say that this
is NOT the time for discouragement. This is the very time for
encouragement! (Applause.)
 
We have come to the very time, dear friends, when that
realization is to come in, when the promises given in the Word
of God to your race are about to take hold upon you as a people
and fire your hearts as never before. They say, as some have
said to me, Pastor Russell, those who are interested in the
Zionist movement are only the poor. The rich of our people do
not seem to be interested in it at all. I know nothing of that
matter, dear friends, but I have this to say. If my understanding
of the matter is right, the voice of Moses is going to the rich, the
leaders of the Jewish people; the very foundation of your
national character is laid in your religion. And whatever touches
your religion, and your religious sentiments, and your faith in
God, and your faith in the promises made to Abraham, that is
going to stir you as a nation as nothing else has ever stirred you.
I believe that we have come to the time, the set time, in which
God will restore Zion, and that this fulfilment of Isaiah 40:1,2 is
true: "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God, speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, Cry unto her that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath
received of the Lord double for all her sins"--a second portion
for all her sins, and a blessing must immediately follow. We are
in that very time, dear friends, to my understanding. How
largely this will move the hearts of all, and that quickly!
 
If I rightly understand your prophecies--God's prophecies which
you recognize--they indicate that Jacob's trouble is not over yet,
that this trouble will still be with you, and that you will have
more persecution and not merely in Russia, not merely in
Romania; I do not know, my dear friends, whether it will extend
to this country or not; but doubtless it will be done also in the
name of Christ--and I am sorry for that fact. It is sad indeed to
be obliged to admit that these tribulations will probably come to
you from professed Christians. How ashamed I feel of those
who thus dishonor the name and the teachings of my Master, I
cannot find words to express!
 
They are deluded. They have misunderstood the Teacher whom
they profess to follow. Their thought is that God will torment
eternally all who do not profess the name of Christ. Controlled
by delusion, they are serving the great Adversary and
dishonoring Jesus. At the same time God has in these trying
experiences of your people a purpose-- to develop your people,
and to test your faith, and to keep you together as a people and
make you a homogenous people. But as the trials and difficulties
of the patriarch Joseph were God's providences to lead him on to
influence and power and honor, so will all these experiences and
persecutions work blessings for your race and tend to drive them
out of their present satisfaction and make them long for home--
for Palestine. These experiences, in connection with the voice of
the prophets, which will henceforth more and more ring in your
ears, will be the providences of God to accomplish for you more
along the lines of Zionism than personal pride and national
patriotism. There is no other race that shows such persistency as
the Jewish people, and this is all centered upon the religious
sentiment, faith in the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the
God of Jacob, faith in the promises of God that in the seed of
Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed; and as
those persecutions come and as the great time of trouble shall
come upon all the world--never mind whether it be in 1916 or
not; any way that you can interpret that prophecy, no matter
which way you do it, you cannot land very far from 1915 to
1916--God's promise will be fulfilled. In every direction in the
world today, my dear friends, we see signs of great trouble, not
only financial, but also capital and labor storms, and the people
and the governments and the religious systems of the world will
all be in conflict according to the Scriptures. I remind you of
Daniel 12:1, which marks our day, declaring: "At that time shall
Michael (the antitype of Michael, one like as God) stand up, the
great Prince (Messiah.)" Then what? "And there shall be a time
of trouble such as never was since there was a nation," no, nor
ever will be again. "At that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book."
 
My dear friends, when that time of trouble comes over
Christendom, over the civilized world, a great many of the
wealthy Hebrews will want a place of safety and I think that
place will be Palestine. The Bible clearly indicates to my mind
that many wealthy Jews will go back to Palestine. The
Scriptures clearly show that the end of Jacob's trouble will take
place right in Jerusalem; the persecution from the civilized
world will drive them there and that finally the time of Jacob's
trouble will come; then, as the Lord declares, in the midst of that
trouble he will reveal himself, not as a man, but manifest his
Divine power, as the prophet declares: "The Lord will go forth
and fight for you as he fought for you in the day of battle,"
pointing back to the time when God fought for the Jewish
people. In that day he will fight for Israel as in the day of battle.
Then there will be a manifestation of his kingly power, and then
the blessing will begin, and at that time also will appear,
according to the Scriptures, your ancient Worthies, your saintly
ones, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David--all the holy Prophets.
These will not appear as imperfect men when they come
because they have demonstrated their worthiness and faith in
God, but will appear as perfect men, and of these it is written,
you will remember, by one of the prophets: "Instead of thy
fathers they shall be thy children," and Messiah shall be made
prince over all the earth; all the people of the world will be
under this government; it will be a kingly government, my dear
friends. You remember the great King of Israel will be the
Messiah on the heavenly plane, invisible to man, the Prince of
Light as supplanting Satan, the Prince of Darkness, and this
great one will have the earthly government; your ancient
Worthies, your saintly ones, will be princes in all the earth,
perfect as men, and under the direction and guidance of the
heavenly Messiah they shall be rulers amongst men, as the
Scriptures declare: "I will restore thy judges and counsellors as
at the first." You remember he gave them a counsellor, a lawgiver
in Moses and not a king, and so this represents a kind of a
republic, if you please--not a real republic, but a theocracy. God
will be the great one, Messiah will be his great representative to
bring righteousness and peace and blessing to all the earth, and
lift up mankind from the degradation and weakness and
imperfection of sin, and Messiah will operate through these
saintly ones of the past, to bless not only Israel, but through
Israel to bless all mankind, all the families of the earth.
 
I thank God, my dear friends, for such a glorious hope, and I
suggest to you all that you should come to the point where you
will be seeking the Lord, for he says: "I will pour upon them the
spirit of prayer and of supplication." I would that all Jews were
in the attitude of prayer and supplication toward God and
looking for the fulfillment of all the prophecies which God has
written for our admonition and encouragement. Your desires
should be more and more for God and righteousness and you
should be seeking
 
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to do those things pleasing to him, and to cultivate those
elements of character without which no one could secure a place
in the great institution that is to bless the world. Dear friends,
God will not receive a man merely because he is a Jew. There
must be something in you, something specially in harmony with
the divine character, or he will not use you. I think one thing
God will be specially pleased with in respect to Israel is faith,
faith in God, faith in his promises, and I do tell you that I love
and appreciate the faith that has been manifested by Israel for
these 3,500 years, and I believe Almighty God is very much
pleased with that faith. We see, according to the Scriptures, that
this was the very quality in Abraham which made him specially
pleasing to God, and he was called a friend of God, and so then
the Jews who would be in harmony with God must be men of
faith and not faith without action, but faith and action, and your
action will be in accord with your faith in the glorious promises
which God has made in the Bible.
 
It has been suggested, and I think it a very good plan, my dear
friends, that we close this service by the singing of a hymn
which I understand you are well acquainted with.
 

Our Hope   So long the ancient fires blaze In ev'ry staunch Jewish soul, And Eastward we longing gaze Toward Zion, beloved goal-- Not lost is our hope of old, Graven in our hearts so deep, To return to that land foretold, Where our loved sires sleep. While yet our eyes with quenchless tears Yearn for our one-time land, And by graves of sleeping seers Our hosts resolve to stand-- Not lost is our hope of old, etc. Thrills yet every brave Jewish heart With love of flag and land, Hope from us shall ne'er depart Of our return--a triumphant band— Not lost is our hope of old, etc.

CR142

As we are about to go to press with this Report, we notice the
following article in the Chicago Record-Herald, under date of
October 30, 1910. While we are informed that the dates
mentioned in the article are not all correct, yet Zionists agree
with the article in general. We give it place here, as it indicates
the general and increasing interest in the Zionist movement in
all parts of the world, and illustrates the fact that the secular
press is giving considerable space to articles and notices along
this line.

R4700

PASTOR RUSSELL TO ADDRESS HEBREWS

----------

Remarkable Gathering to Take Place in Hippodrome Next Sunday.

----------

Pastor Russell, of the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, is to address a giant
mass meeting of the Jews of New
York on Sunday, October 9, at 3
o'clock, in the Hippodrome. He is
considered one of the most eloquent
Protestant preachers, and has gained
a wide audience among the Hebrews
by his sympathetic treatment of Jewish
questions.

Pastor Russell's sermon will be on
"Zionism in Prophecy." His appearance
before a representative mass
meeting of Jews will be the first time
that a well-known Protestant minister
has been asked to deliver an address
to such an assembly.
Prominent Jewish citizens are arranging
to make the meeting one of
R4700 : page 329
the largest gatherings ever held in this city. The Yiddish
newspapers and Jewish societies are represented on the
committees in charge of arrangements.

HE IS HIGHLY ENDORSED

Counselor Leo Wolfson, president of the Federated
Roumanian Jews of America and Vice Grand Master of
the I.W.S.O., when seen at his office, said:
"As one who is interested in the Jewish question and
an old worker for the Zionistic movement, my attention
was called to Pastor Russell's interest in the Jews.
"I feel that an address by him on Zionism and Jewish
prophets will present the question from a new point
of view, and a point of view that I will be very willing
to learn.

"I am sure that Pastor Russell's treatment of the question
will be sympathetic, and will doubtless create widespread
discussion of Zionism, its aims and ideals."
In speaking of the coming meeting and Pastor Russell's
address, J. Pfeffer, of No. 139 Delancey street, said
last night:

"Many of Pastor Russell's sermons have been printed
in Jewish papers, and in these sermons he has preached
sympathetically upon Jewish questions. This is primarily
the reason why the Jews are anxious to hear him
speak of the future of the Jew.

UNUSUAL COURSE FOR GENTILE

"Pastor Russell has been and is agitating Zionism.
From a religious point of view he seems to believe in
Judaism. It is a new occurrence for the Jews to have a
Gentile take so much interest in problems and topics that
are of special interest to them.

"Judging from the preparations and the interest already
manifested in the announcement of the meeting
I am of the opinion that it will be a very large gathering."
Pastor Russell, it is reported, will leave after next
Sunday's meeting for London. While he is in England
he will address many gatherings. One of these meetings
will be a Jewish mass meeting. The London mass meeting
will be held in Albert Hall, the largest auditorium in
Great Britain.

The committee in charge of next Sunday's meeting
in the Hippodrome includes: A. B. Landau, editor of
The Warheit; Louis Lipsky, editor of the Maccabean;
J. Pfeffer, editor of the Jewish Weekly; Abraham Goldberg,
editor of the Yiddish Volk, and Leo Wolfson, editor
of the Yiddish Spirit.
----------

Reprinted from The Jewish Advocate

Who is this Pastor Charles T. Russell, who through one
medium and another is making an appeal to the Jews, in fact,
is going to the lengths of advising them on internal affairs,
from a Kehillah to Zionism? And if he appeals to the Jews
why does he do it? The average Jew, without reading a word
about Mr. Russell, would answer any question of this kind by
the curt observation, “another missionary.” Some have indeed
so branded Mr. Russell, but Mr. Russell hotly denies the
whole business. He makes a point of advertising the fact that
he is in no way connected with any of the missionary
movements; and those who have aided him in some measure to
get a Jewish hearing—he spoke to thousands of Jews in the
New York Hippodrome—would prefer helping a thief to steal,
to aiding a missionary in any of his nefarious designs. It was
therefore largely in the interest of fair play that the editor of
THE JEWISH ADVOCATE paid a flying visit to New York to
spend a day with Mr. Russell, determined to report his
conclusions whatever they might be. And let us at once set
forward the conclusion, in justice to the man: Pastor Russell is
not a missionary to the Jews, he has no desire to convert them
to Christianity in any form, in fact, he could not be an
ordinary Christian and be Pastor Russell at the same time.
He is a realist of the resurrection idea, and has separated
himself from all other forms of Christianity, even from the
Adventists by certain peculiarities. His doctrine concerned the
writer in so far as this, that the doctrine would show whether
or not Mr. Russell has a subconscious conversionist purpose in
seeking contact with the Jews.

Seated in his study he permitted himself to be questioned by
the hour, and the questioner was hostile and critical, but the
answers came freely and without reserve. His teachings are
curiously akin to the doctrines of the Chassidim, of whose
existence the Pastor and his friends know nothing. Of course
the Pastor believes in the Nazarene, but it is not the
common Christian conception, and what concerns us most
his Christ is for the Christians, not for the Jews. He does
not believe in the Trinity and regards the doctrine as
contrary to all Scriptures.

Reading his Bible literally, and particularly the Psalms, he
believes that the dead are all dead till the resurrection, and
Sheol is the grave and nothing more. Calculating from the
Book of Daniel he has some idea of the actual date of “the
things to come,” and his teaching and his life and that of his
disciples are entirely a preparation for “the latter days.” He
and they and all those who are good and accept his
teaching are to be, or seek to be, among the 144,000 who
are to have a special resurrection, and whose Kingdom is
to be invisible, in the sky. For the rest of us there is to be
a physical, material resurrection embracing all
generations since man began.

The fervid enthusiasm with which all this is related would
surprise most Jews who take the hereafter, and the future life,
as a matter of course. With Pastor Russell and his followers it
is a matter of a burning quest. They seek to be among the
saints; they want for themselves something more than that
physical resurrection which they hold out with assurance to all
mankind. And because of this desire they approach the Jews,
and more particularly the Zionists, in a peculiar spirit of
fellowship. Pastor Russell is not looking for the resettlement of
all the Jews in Palestine. He is quite satisfied if in numbers
and effort they repeat what is related in Ezra and Nehemiah,
but the more they move in that direction, the more they
accomplish towards rebuilding Zion. Pastor Russell believes
that all nations will, under the Millennial Reign, become Jews.
So Pastor Russell neither practically nor theoretically favors
the conversion of the Jews. But our interest in him does not
quite end there. The removal of the fundamental cause for
suspicion brings him, as a matter of fact, on an entirely new
plane of relations with Jews. He is the possible philo-Semite.
His particular creed teaches him that the Jews are entitled to
their own creed, and therefore he has not the usual Christian
reason for assuming an attitude of spiritual superiority
towards the Jews. Thus his form of Christianity permits the
Jew to be himself, and offers him a measure of praise if he will
be it. In the words of Pastor Russell:

“My writings and teachings in general are addressed to
Christians. I am striving my utmost to help fellow-Christians
out of the blindness of error and superstition and away from
the misconceptions of the Divine Word which led our
forefathers to persecute your race—in dense ignorance of the
teachings of the holy Scriptures and the spirit thereof. From
an unsectarian standpoint I am speaking to the little remnant
of true Christians in the great heterogeneous mass. Those
true Christians I am endeavoring to instruct from the word of
God respecting the spiritual privileges and hopes which the
Bible holds out to them.

“All the good promises of His Word are sure to be fulfilled. I
see it in your prophecies. I urge upon the Jew that he turn to
the Voice of God speaking through Moses and the Prophets.
The time for this is ripe. Set before your minds the glorious
heights and depths and lengths and breadths of your
Law—love to God with all your hearts, and love to your fellows
as to yourself.

“Assuredly, I do not urge Jews to join any Christian sect or
party, nor to accept the crudities of Christian creeds. My
message to them is “To the Law and to the Prophets
(testimony). If they speak not according to this word it is
because there is no light in them.” (Isa. 8:20.) True Christians
and true Jews should not be very far apart in their love for
God and in their well-wishes toward each other, even though
they differ in their views relative to certain modes of belief.”

The additional info below was included in Bible Students Monthly—Volume 7, Number 12

PASTOR RUSSELL CHEERED
BY AUDIENCE OF HEBREWS

Four Thousand in Hippodrome Applaud When
Venerable Brooklyn Clergyman Advocates
Establishment of A Jewish Nation—Astonished at His
Profound Knowledge of the Hebrew Prophecies.



————————————————-WHAT PASTOR RUSSELL SAID

The speaker read to his audience many quotations from the
prophecies of the Bible relating to Zionism, the first one of
which was Psa. 102:13-18—“Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come.
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the
dust thereof. Then shall the Gentiles fear the name of
Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the
Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

Pastor Russell declared that while once he had been inclined
to discard the Bible as unreliable, along the lines of Higher
Criticism, he had subsequently given it very earnest study,
entirely apart from all creeds and theories of men. This study
had greatly enlightened his mind and had given him a very
different view of the sacred Book. He now has absolute
confidence in it. He now realizes, not only that there is a great
Cre ator, but that he is definite, orderly, in his dealings with
humanity, in his shaping of earth’s affairs. For instance, the
first Psalm quoted mentions the time, yea, the set time, for the
return of Divine favor to Zion.

So he finds matters everywhere through the Holy
Scriptures. In due time David, Solomon and others
represented Jehovah in the Kingdom of Israel and “sat upon
the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord” Later the Kingdom
was taken from Zedekiah, the last of the line of David to sit
upon the throne of God’s typical Kingdom. When the
dominion was taken from him the Gentile governments were
recognized, but not in the same manner as was Israel. None
of them was designated the Kingdom of God. None of them
was given perpetuity of rule.

But Gentile governments were promised a lease of power
during the period when Israel would be cast off from God’s
favor. Then at the appointed time the Gentile lease of earthly
power would terminate, and God’s origi nal provision for Israel
to represent his Kingdom in the world, would return.
These are certainly the set times referred to by the Psalmist.
God’s promise to David—“The sure mercies of David”—were
that of the fruit of his loins one should sit on the throne of the
Lord forever. The real purport of this promise was that
Messiah, the long-promised King of Israel, would be the root
and off-shoot of the Davidic line and blessed of the Lord; his
Kingdom should be and everlasting one and fully compe tent
to fulfill all of the Divine promises made to Abraham—“In thy
Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

ZEDEKIAH REJECTED—

NEBUCHADNEZZAR ACKNOWLEDGED

So long as God acknowledged the nation of Israel as his
Kingdom their kings were his representatives; but when
Zedekiah was rejected it was not inconsistent on the Lord’s
part to recognize the Gentile governments, as above
suggested. Of King Zedekiah we read, “O thou profane and
wicked Prince, whose time has come that iniquity should
have an end. Remove the diadem. Take off the crown. This
shall not be the same. I will over turn, overturn, overturn it
until he come whose right it is (Messiah), and I will give it
unto him” (Ezek. 21:25, 26, 27).

It was at this very time that God gave the lease of earthly
power to Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, as is related in
Daniel’s prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed, but
disremembered his vision. Daniel the Prophet, made prisoner
at an earlier date, was, by Divine providence, introduced to the
king as the one person in all the world able to rehearse the
King’s dream and to give its interpretation, and his power so
to do is declared to have been of the Lord.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S VISION OF GENTILE DOMINION

The vision was of a stupendous image. Its head of gold
represented Nebu chadnezzr’s Empire—Babylon. Its breast
and arms of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire. Its
belly and thighs of brass represented the Grecian Empire. Its
strong legs of iron represented the Roman Empire, East amd
West. Its feet of iron and clay represented Papal Rome. The
iron continues to represent civil governments, and the miry
clay, making them appear like stone, represented
ecclesiasticism as it is now mixed up with the politics of the
ten kingdoms of Europe.
The whole period of time in which these various Gentile
governments would dominate the world would last until
Messiah’s promised Kingdom. And this period is symbolically
stated to have been “seven times“; that is, seven
years—evidently not literal years, but symbolical.
At their end the lease of earthly power of Gentile
governments will ter minate in the great time of trouble
foretold by Dan. (12:1). Then Mes siah shall stand up in the
sense of assuming control of earth’s affairs and Gentile
governments will cease, for all nations shall serve and obey
Messiah. And then God’s Chosen People, Israel, will come to
the front in the world’s affairs, because they will become the
representatives and instruments amongst men of Messiah’s
Kingdom, which will be spiritual and invisible, as is that of the
Prince of this world, the Prince of dark ness, whom Messiah
will bind or restrain during the thousand years of his reign of
righteousness and destroy at the conclusion, when he shall
deliver over the Kingdom of the earth to the Father. Mankind
will then be perfect, because all wilful sinners will be
destroyed in the Second Death. Meantime, Messiah’s reign
will not only bless and uplift Israel, but through Israel the
blessing will extend to every nation, people, kindred and
tongue in full accord with the Divine promise and oath made
to Abraham more than thirty centuries ago.

All this is briefly and beautifully represented in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as explained by Daniel. He saw a
stone taken from the mountain without human aid. He
watched and saw the stone smite the image on its feet and
beheld, as the result, complete demolishment of the Gentile
sys tems. This smiting of the image in the feet symbolically
represents that it will be by Divine power that present
institutions will all come to naught preparatory to the
establishment of the Kingdom of God in their stead.

MESSIAH’S KINGDOM IN THE VISION

Then Messiah’s Kingdom, symbolized by the stone, will not
only fill the place where the image stood, but, gradually
increasing, will fill the whole earth. From this standpoint,
said the speaker, it is not difficult for us to believe the words
of the Psalmist that there is a time for God’s regathering
Zion, yea, a set time—fixed and unalterable. The speaker
would not pretend to say the day or month or year in which
these things would be accomplished—in which the
Gentile lease of earth’s dom inion would expire and
Messiah’s Kingdom assume control.

He did, however, offer a suggestion: So far as he could
discern, the time for these stupendous events is very much
closer than many of us had sup posed. The seven times, or
years of Gentile domination, reckoned on the basis
suggested in the Scriptures themselves, should be
interpreted a day for a year, lunar time. Seven years in lunar
time would represent 2,520 days and these, symbolically
interpreted, would mean 2,520 years—from the time
Nebuchadnezzar, the head of the image, was recognized
down to the time of the expiration of the lease of Gentile
power, when the stone shall smite the image in the feet. So
far as Pastor Russell has been able to determine, the year of
Zedekiah’s dethronement was 606 B.C. Thus calculated the
2,520 years of Gentile lease of power will expire in Octo ber,
1914. There are some who claim that Zedekiah’s
dethronement should be dated B.C.588. If this be true it could
make a difference of but eighteen years and give the date
1932. Pastor Russell’s convictions, however, favor the 1914
date.

ZIONISM’S FUTURE ASSURED

BEYOND QUESTION OF DOUBT

For more than thirty years I have been presenting to
Christian people the views I am today presenting specially to
Jews, at the invitation of your Committee. Thirty years ago I
attempted to tell to Israel the good tid ings that God’s set time
to remember Zion had come. But that seemingly was too
early. God’s set time for Israel to hear was still future. I
waited and am still waiting for God’s own time and way for the
fulfill ment of Isa. 40:1, 2—“Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people;
speak ye com fortingly to Jerusalem. Cry unto her that her
appointed time is accom elished, and her iniquity pardoned,
for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all of
her sins.”

“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.”

About twenty years ago providence raised up for your people
a great leader, Dr. Herzl, whose name is now a household
word with your race. While your people were unready for any
message that I could give them they were ready for what God
sent them through Dr. Herzl—a message of hope, a message of
national aspiration which quickened the pulse of your people
into new hope respecting the future of the Jews. Dr. Herzl’s
endeavor was to have all loyal sons of Israel rise from the dust
and aspire to be a nation amongst nations and to provide a
home for the persecuted of their race in Russia and Eastern
Europe. Dr. Herzl struck a popular chord in the hearts of the
people. At first it was purely political, and the name Zion
meant little of anything religious; but gradually Dr. Herzl and
all the leaders of the counsels of your people began to see that
the religious element of the movement was the stron gest, the
most powerful.

Dr. Herzl has been succeeded by Dr. Nordau, also evidently a
man of great talent and great patriotism; but Zionism
languishes. I am disclosing no secret when I tell you that
amongst the leaders, as well as amongst the rank and file,
Zionism is trembling in the balances and fearful of coming to
naught. It has spent its force along the lines originally inaugu
rated; but it will not fail, as many fear. Without assuming the
role of a seer, I answer you that Zionism is about to take on
fresh vigor; that its most prosperous days are yet to come.
According to my understanding of the Hebrew prophets the
time of “Jacob’s trouble” is not yet ended. Further pogroms of
Russia may be expected and further atrocities in the land of
Roumania and elsewhere.

It is sad indeed to be obliged to admit that these tribulations
will probably come to you from professed Christians. How
ashamed I feel of those who thus dishonor the name and the
teachings of my Master, I cannot find words to express! They
are deluded. They have misunderstood the Teacher whom
they profess to follow. Their thought is that God will tor ment
eternally all who do not profess the name of Christ. Controlled
by delusions they are serving the god Adversary and
dishonoring Jesus. But as the trials and difficulties of the
patriarch Joseph were God’s provi dences to lead him on to
influence and power and honor, so will all these experiences
and persecutions work blessings for your race and tend to
drive them out of their present satisfaction and make them
long for home- -for Palestine. These experiences, in connection
with the voice of the prophets, which will henceforth more and
more ring in your ears, will be the providences of God to
accomplish for you more along the lines of Zionism than
personal pride and national patriotism. It is not my thought
that the eight millions of Jews in the world will return to
Palestine, even though it has been estimated that, under most
favorable conditions, the land could support more than twice
that many.

It is my thought that some of your most earnest and
saintly people will go to Palestine quickly, that the
rejuvenation there will be astonishing to the world.
Further, it is my thought that Jews in every part of the
world, in proportion as they come under the holy influence
of God’s prom ises through the prophets, will go to Palestine
sympathetically—by encouraging those who can better go
than themselves and by financial assistance and the
establishment there of great enterprises.

Permit me to suggest that in the time of trouble,
incidental to the transfer of Gentile rule to the power of
Messiah, all financial interests will be jeopardized.
Many of your race, growing wealthy, will surely take
pleasure in forwarding the work of Zionism, and soon as
they shall realize that it is of God, foretold through the
prophets. And those of your people of insufficient faith
to use their means in forwarding the Lord’s work at this
important juncture will, before very long find them
selves in the condition pictured by the Prophet Ezekiel,
who declares (8:19) that in this great day of
trouble—“They shall cast their silver in the streets and
their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold
shall not be able to deliver them in the day of wrath of the
Lord.” The great Messenger of the Covenant who you delight
in (Mal. 3:1-3) will test and prove you as a people. Those who
worship idols of gold and sil ver, stocks and bonds, will receive
sever chastisement at his hand that they may learn a great
lesson before he will grant them a share in the fast
approaching blessing.