by A. L. O. E.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE FEAST OF DEDICATION.
Loud was the burst of joyous music from citherns, harps, andcymbals--Mount Zion rang with songs of gladness--when in the earlymorning the worshippers of the Lord of Hosts appeared in His Temple, tooffer sacrifices of thanksgiving! The front of the building was deckedwith crowns of gold, and with shields; and, in the forcible language ofthe ancient historian, "thus was there very great gladness among thepeople, for that the reproach of the heathen was put away."
Then--emblem of thanksgivings from thousands of hearts--rose clouds ofdelicious fragrance from the altar of incense. Judas Maccabeus stoodbeside it--more pale and pensive, perhaps, than seemed to suit theoccasion--watching the light curling smoke as it ascended and lostitself in the perfumed air. Presently the prince took something fromhis arm, and cast it into the flame. The movement was so quiet that itwas noticed but by few by-standers; and none knew what that was whichblazed brightly for a moment, and then left not even visible ashesbehind. It was but a few threads of flax, which had bound up flowerslong since withered; it seemed a worthless sacrifice indeed; but when,a few years later, Judas Maccabeus poured out his life's-blood on thefatal field of Eleasa, the steel which pierced his brave heartinflicted not on him so keen a pang.
And here will I close my story, leaving the hero of Judah a victor overhis enemies, and a victor over himself. Let the picture left on thereader's mind be that of Jerusalem in the hour of her triumph andrejoicing--when the Lord had turned again the captivity of Zion, andher exulting citizens were like unto them that dream!
But, ere I lay down my pen, let me crave leave for a few moments toaddress my readers, both Christian and Hebrew. And to the first Iwould say: Think not of the record of the lives of Judah's heroes, andthe deaths of her martyrs, as something in which we have no personalinterest--merely to be admired, like the courage of the Greeks atThermopylae, or the devotion of Regulus at Rome. Rather let us honourthe children of Abraham who fought or died for the Covenant as ourbrethren in faith, heirs of all the promises on which we rest ourhopes, as well as of some others peculiarly their own. TheirScriptures are our Scriptures--they guarded them at hazard of theirlives; their Messiah is our Messiah, though He visited earth too latefor them--as too early for us--to behold Him. Christianity rests onsuch Judaism as was held by Hebrew saints and martyrs; Christianity isin regard to the ancient religion as the capital to the column, thefull-blown flower to the bud, as the cloud floating high above the seais to the waters from which it drew its existence. Laws and riteswhich passed away when types had been accomplished and propheciesfulfilled, are as the salts which are necessary component parts of thesea but not of the cloud; when it rose on high it left them behind.
It is an interesting subject for thought to inquire whether, ifDaniel's weeks had run out in the times of the Maccabees, and theMessenger of the Covenant had then come suddenly into His Temple,Christ would not have found adoring worshippers instead of fiercepersecutors--a throne instead of a cross? Would He not then have beenwelcomed by the heroes of Emmaus and Bethsura, instead of beingdespised and rejected of men? Would he not, humanly speaking, haveescaped the scourge, the nails, and the spear? But how then shall theScriptures be fulfilled (Matt. xxvl. 54) that Christ should sufferthese things? (Luke xxiv. 36). The Sacrifice must be slain, that thesinner may be pardoned and live.
And if--as I would fain hope--some Hebrews peruse these pages, howearnestly would I desire power to speak to their hearts! Countrymenand countrywomen of Maccabeus, ye whose fathers fought side by sidewith the Asmonean brothers, does the history of their deeds rouse noneof their spirit of patriotism in your breasts? Can ye, amidst thecares and toils of this working-day world, be indifferent to the stateof your own land, your own city--yours by divine right--yours by a deedof gift signed and sealed by God Himself! Is it no grief to you thatthe mosque stands on the site of your holy Temple; that--under acorrupt form of so-called Christianity--idolatry is practised at thisday in the city of David? _Ye that make mention of the Lord keep notsilence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He makeJerusalem a praise in the earth!_ (Isa. lxii. 7, 8.)
If Gentile Christians are longing and praying for that time, shall notHebrews long, pray, and strive to hasten its coming? Shall they notsearch their hearts and ask, "Wherefore is it so long delayed?Wherefore are the heathen still suffered to prevail; the followers ofthe false prophet to hold the holy city in subjection? For whattransgression doth the Lord God of Israel still hide His face from Hispeople; what hath brought upon them a judgment enduring so much longerthan Egyptian bondage, or Babylonish captivity, or the tyranny of anAntiochus Epiphanes?" Seek for the answer to this momentous questionin your own Scriptures; read them in the light thrown by your ownhistory;--that history will in the future flash into greater brilliancythan even in the days of the Hebrew heroes; we Christians are assuredof this, because we, like yourselves, believe those Scriptures, andknow that God's Word is pledged for your restoration, and that _theWord of the Lord endureth for ever_!
