THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY TO THE PRESENT TIME; COMPRISING THEIR CONQUESTS, DISPERSIONS, WANDERINGS, FORMS OF WORSHIP, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS EFFORTS MADE FOR THEIR CONVERSION COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. WITH A PREFACE BY WILLIAM JENKS, D.D. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY M. A. BERK. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by MATTHEW BOSTON: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY DOW AND JACKSON. INTRODUCTION.. In every point of view in which the state of the Jews can be contemplated, it must be regarded as an object fraught with the deepest interest. They have been a wonderful people from the beginning. Their history, commencing with the call of Abraham, extending onward to the periods of their captivity-and the destruction of Jerusalem-and embracing the subsequent judgments that overtook themtheir present dispersion—and their future glorious prospects, —is a history full of meaning and of interest, and valuable for the lessons which it teaches. It differs, in many important respects, from the history of any other portion of the human race. The country which they once occupied exhibits many singular and peculiar features. Once they were God's "peculiar treasure,”-first as a family, and then as a nation. Their national literature is the most ancient in the world; and their code of laws, as embodied in their sacred books, was admirably adapted to the circumstances in which they were placed, and to the promotion of the specific purposes for which it was designed. The great features of their national character are delineated in the records of their earliest history. Once they were "a kingdom of priests, an holy nation; " but they neglected the great salvation; and now they are homeless and desolate, "without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without a Terraphim." Nevertheless, they remain unconsumed, "meted out, and trodden down;" but marvellously preserved, as a distinct and separate race, "dwelling alone, not reckoned among the nations, a bye-word and a proverb,” but still beloved for their fathers' sakes. They now hang their harps upon the willows, and weep when they remember Zion. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me; my God hath forgotten me." But what saith the Lord? "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, but I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hand; thy walls are continually before me." A time of favor is yet awaiting them. "I will raise up," saith the Lord, "the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.” "And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land, which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God." "And when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad." As a standing memorial of God's faithfulness, all the judgments that he threatened have overtaken them; but, as destined also to be the monuments of his mercy, all that he has promised will be accomplished. The righteousness of Zion and Jerusalem shall "go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." The city that sits "solitary," and "is become as a widow," shall "no more be termed Forsaken, nor the land be any more termed Desolate; she shall be called Hephzi-bah, and the land Beulah; for the Lord delighteth in her, and her land shall be married." Though she hath "lien among the pots," she shall "be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." "The Jews shall turn to the Lord, and the veil shall be taken away." Though now scorning the imputed righteousness of Christ, they shall yet be pardoned and cleansed, and become "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of their God." Though now scattered and called outcast, |