The Manifestation of the Jewish Nation From Divine Providence

The history that records the origin and formation of the people of the Jews into a glorious and great nation makes known to all that from one man alone, as from the aged root of an oak, a nation sprouted and was brought forth that surpassed all other nations in the thoughts and principles of humanity throughout the ages. Christianity is the brightest testimony confirming the truth of this word. The Holy History, which records the deeds of the patriarch of this great and glorious nation, tells us that by divine calling, he left his father’s house and the land of his birth and journeyed to a foreign land, where he dwelt and acquired a son from the barren womb of his wife, who had reached the ninetieth year of her age. And it was said to him that this son would become a great nation, and that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. We do not attempt to bring forward the divine inspiration and revelation of God as historical arguments, nor to demonstrate historical truth by means of arguments, for we do not wish to solve the question exhaustively and by means of abundance of Scripture; but we relate as a historical fact the beginning of the origin of this great nation, so that we might historically demonstrate the truth of both the revelation of God and his providence for the human race, and so that we might marvel at the accuracy of the aforementioned promises in their outcome. History teaches us that all nations sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; error and ignorance hovered over the breasts of the peoples like a nightmarish phantom. Humanity groaned under the weight of polytheism, atheism, and superstition. Universal corruption ate away at the heart of family. The future was dark. And the things concerning the future life were darker than Tartarus. Let us now examine: whence came this change? From whence came the peace granted to the hearts of men? From whence came the moral and virtuous life, the godly conduct that lavished happiness and prosperity upon humanity? From whence came love for all and that brotherhood through which the nations and tribes of the earth were united? From whence came all the goods that humanity abundantly enjoys today? History teaches that all these things proceeded from Christianity. Christianity transformed the face of the earth. The complete transformation of the character of nations, their true regeneration, the knowledge of the one true God, the change of laws and governments, of principles and thoughts, of feelings and desires—all these belong to Christianity alone. In the name of Christ, who came from Abraham, the first patriarch of the Jewish nation, all the nations have been blessed, and the name of God is blessed upon all the face of the earth. What an exact fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed! What clearer testimony could there be to the providence of God toward man? Who does not discover in the results the revelation of God that has come to pass? I think that the mere thought that from a race of foreign sojourners dwelling in Palestine the Savior and Reformer of the world was born; that this race, after a perilous life full of dangers and persecutions, became a great nation and achieved much in the world and worked more than any other for the civilization of the world and the regeneration of humanity—this thought alone is sufficient and adequate to form in us the conviction that surely this great patriarch of the nation would be chosen by God and his friend, and that the Jewish nation received particular providence from the almighty God, and that truly this God directed the fortunes of this nation toward the great purpose that so manifestly is revealed today. Fortune does not guide with deliberation, nor does it arrive at a deliberate end. The Jewish nation, accomplishing this great work, did not work alone; it worked with God. God guided it, and he was revealing himself to it. But leaving the Jewish nation aside, let us come to the Greek nation. Let us examine its history and see how it acted upon the universal stage.