In all the ancient world there was but one people among whom Christ could have come with his revelation, and through whom his message could have been given to mankind. That people was the Jews, in certain respects the most remarkable of all the races.

I. We notice their origin, which shows a series of selections extending through many centuries and a training for their peculiar mission.

1. Of the three great families of earth, they sprang from the Semitic, which has been the mother of all the great religions of the world; a thoughtful, meditative race, rather than active and aggressive.

2. From this race Abraham was called, more than twenty centuries before Christ, to be the father of a great nation (Gen. 12. 1-3; 17. 1-8). He was distinguished for his worship of the one God, for his faith, and for his nobility of character. Notice his title in Jas. 2. 23; a name by which he is still known in the East, el Khalil, "the Friend." His influence upon his family (Gen. 18. 19).

3. Of the families descended from Abraham that of Isaac was chosen (Gen. 21. 12; Rom. 9. 7). All the other races of Abrahamic origin yielded to the idolatrous influences around them and lost the knowledge of God.

4. Of the two sons of Isaac one married among the Canaanites, and, as a result, his descendants became idolaters (Gen. 26. 34, 35; 36. 2). The other chose the inheritance of the covenant (Gen. 28. 20-22). His name was changed (Gen. 32. 28; 35. 10). His descendants, the Israelites, trained up in the true faith, became the people of God. Each of his twelve sons was the ancestor of a tribe (Exod. 1. 1-7). They continued one people for a thousand years, though part of the time divided into two kingdoms.

5. In the year 721 B. C. ten of the twelve tribes were carried into Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17. 18-20). Having lost their religion, the only bond of unity, they mingled with the idolatrous world and ceased to be a separate people. The tribe of Judah was left, Benjamin being incorporated with it. Henceforth they were called "the Jews," a name found first in 2 Kings 18. 26.

6. But through all the history of Judah, as well as of Israel, there had been two distinct elements in the people: the worshipers of God and of idols; the religious and the worldly. In order to separate these elements, to cut off the evil and to discipline the good, came the Babylonian captivity, B. C. 587. Through this the idolatrous element was either destroyed or assimilated with the heathen world. At the release from captivity, B. C. 536, all the Jews were of God-fearing, Scripture-loving element. This was the Remnant, the "holy seed," the true Israel (Isa. 6. 8-13).

Thus, out of all the world, was gradually chosen and prepared a people among whom the Lord should come.

II. Notice their traits as a race, for which they were chosen, and which were intensified by their training:

1. They were a religious people; monotheistic; worshiping the one invisible God, hating idolatry. See the command (Exod. 20. 3-6). The exhortation of Joshua (Josh. 24. 14). This is the great glory of Israel alone among the ancient nations.

2. They were an exclusive people; strongly attached to each other, and seeking no affiliation with other races. Note this trait in Abraham (Gen. 24. 2-4). Also in Isaac (Gen. 28. 1, 2). See Balaam's prophecy (Num. 23. 9). To this day the Jews dwell apart; in most European cities there is a "Jewish quarter."

3. They were a conservative people; attached to their own customs, opposed to all changes, clinging to their worship despite persecution.

4. They were an aspiring people. From their earliest history the Jews cherished the expectation of being a great and conquering nation. From their own prophecies they obtained the hope and belief that a great king should arise among them to rule the world. See the promises in Gen. 49. 10. The prophecy in Isa. 32. 1, 2. His title in Dan. 9. 25. The word "Messiah" in Hebrew is "Christos" in Greek, and "Anointed" in English. This messianic hope was the central thought of all Judaism.

5. They were a moral people. Their Scripture set up a standard of character immeasurably superior to that in other ancient lands. Among the Jews womanhood was honored, drunkenness was rare, honesty was the rule, and crime was far less frequent than elsewhere.

These were the traits that made the Jews the people of God and fitted them to accomplish the divine purpose.

III. What was that purpose? Every race has its mission in the world. The Greeks were set to exalt the intellect; the Romans, to establish the reign of law. We notice the mission of the Jewish people:

1. To perpetuate the knowledge of God. In the general wickedness of the world and the spread of idolatry there was danger lest the true religion be utterly lost. Therefore God chose out one nation—the one having the traits best fitting it for his purpose—and set it apart to guard the holy fire of divine truth until the rest of the world should be ready to receive it.

2. To receive training for higher revelation. The higher revelations of God can come only to a people whose religious faculties have been trained to receive them. Judaism was God's school where a chosen race was educated. They received the Scriptures, the prophets, the ritual of worship, and, above all, the discipline of trial, fitting them to become "a nation of priests." See Paul's enumeration of their privileges in Rom. 9. 4, 5.

3. To proclaim the Gospel to the world. When, in the fullness of time, Israel was trained up to knowledge and the outer world prepared to receive the truth, Christ came as the consummation of Judaism. Then a new mission opened before the Jews—that of proclaiming Christ to the world. The little company of disciples were the seed that should replenish the whole earth. See the command. (Matt. 28. 19, 20.)

IV. We notice now the Jews in the time of Christ.

1. They were divided into two great branches: the Jews of Palestine and the Jews of the Dispersion. The former were descendants of those who had settled in Palestine after the decree of Cyrus, B. C. 536 (Ezra 1. 1-3); the latter those who remained in the lands of their adoption, were found all over the ancient world, and were far more numerous. See references to them in John 7. 35; James 1. 1; 1 Pet. 1. 1. We note that these "Jews of the Dispersion" were not descendants of the Ten Tribes, except in a few instances, but were Jews—that is, descendants of Judah.

2. Noticing now the Palestinian Jews, for with these the life of Christ was mainly connected, we find them divided into two sects, or schools of thought: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These two parties arose about 168 B. C., in the time of the MaccabÆan uprising. Let us look at them in contrast.

3. Thus far we have noticed only Jews, but there were also in Palestine many Gentiles, which was the name the Jews gave to all foreigners or people of race other than themselves. These were of three classes, called respectively: 1.) Sinners—That is, those who made no attempt to observe Jewish usages. See Gal. 2. 15. The same name was given to the Jews who did not undertake to keep the ceremonial law, without reference to their moral character (Matt. 9. 10, 11). 2.) The Devout. Those who believed in the Scriptures and worshiped God, but who had not been received into the Jewish Church by circumcision. Such was Cornelius (Acts 10. 1, 2). 3.) Proselytes—Such as renounced Gentilism, received circumcision, and obeyed the Jewish law (Acts 6. 5; Matt. 23. 15).

V. The Language of Palestine.

1. Originally Hebrew; still read, in Christ's time, in the synagogue but not well understood and requiring an interpreter.

2. Mostly Aramaic, or Syro-Chaldaic—that is, Chaldaic with Syrian admixture; the common dialect of the people, and undoubtedly spoken by Christ. See instances in Mark 7. 34; 15. 34. This is the language referred to in John 19. 20, 21, and Acts 22. 2, as "Hebrew."

3. The language of polite literature in all countries was Greek; strongly opposed by the Pharisees, but employed by the Jews of the Dispersion, and used in the courts of Herod and Pilate (Acts 21. 37).

4. The official language was Latin, that of the Roman Government, but not used by the Jews, and not generally understood by them.