The history of more than a thousand years of God's special favor and guardian care, manifested to the chosen people, was open to the eye of Jesus.
There was Mount Moriah, where the son of promise, an unresisting victim, had been bound to the altar -emblem of the offering of the Son of God. (Genesis 22:9)
There the covenant of blessing, the glorious Messianic promise, had been confirmed to the father of the faithful. (Genesis 22: 16-18.
There the flames of the sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan had turned aside the sword of the destroying angel (1 Chronicles 21) - fitting symbol of the Saviour's sacrifice and mediation for guilty men.
Jerusalem had been honored of God above all the earth. The Lord had "chosen Zion," He had "desired it for His habitation" (Psalm 132:13).
There, for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning.
There priests had waved their censers, and the cloud of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended before God.
There was Mount Moriah, where the son of promise, an unresisting victim, had been bound to the altar -emblem of the offering of the Son of God. (Genesis 22:9)
There the covenant of blessing, the glorious Messianic promise, had been confirmed to the father of the faithful. (Genesis 22: 16-18.
There the flames of the sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan had turned aside the sword of the destroying angel (1 Chronicles 21) - fitting symbol of the Saviour's sacrifice and mediation for guilty men.
Jerusalem had been honored of God above all the earth. The Lord had "chosen Zion," He had "desired it for His habitation" (Psalm 132:13).
There, for ages, holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning.
There priests had waved their censers, and the cloud of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended before God.
There daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered, pointing forward to the Lamb of God.
There Jehovah had revealed His presence in the cloud of glory above the mercy seat.
There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51) -that ladder upon which angels of God descended and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all.
Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect of God. Jeremiah 17:21-25. But the history of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They had resisted Heaven's grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their opportunities.
There Jehovah had revealed His presence in the cloud of glory above the mercy seat.
There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting earth with heaven (Genesis 28:12; John 1:51) -that ladder upon which angels of God descended and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all.
Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven, Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect of God. Jeremiah 17:21-25. But the history of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They had resisted Heaven's grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their opportunities.
