A people scattered and apart.
This very remarkable language shows us that the Jews have been one and the same people for thousands of years. This description of the Jews is from the lips of an enemy; still, except in the last clause, it is just and true. In their captivity in the East, in their dispersion, in their present condition throughout Christendom, the Jews are a people by themselves, scattered and apart.
I. THE FACT OF ISRAEL'S ISOLATION. The descendants of Jacob are like no other people, and wherever their lot is cast, they do not intermingle with the population.
1. They are distinguished by their peculiar physiognomy.
2. By their homelessness and dispersion.
3. By the national customs and observances practised among them.
II. THE TREATMENT OF WHICH THIS ISOLATION IS THE OCCASION.
1. They have been looked upon as opposed to the interests and welfare of states. How often have ministers of state and prelates of the Church aroused the hatred of princes against the Hebrew race. "It is not for the king's profit to suffer them!"
2. They have consequently met with scorn, oppression, and persecution. What a disgraceful history is that of the Jews scattered throughout Christendom! That the nation has survived such persecutions is a proof of the inherent vitality of the race, and a proof of the superintending providence of the God of all the nations of the earth.
III. THE TRUE EXPLANATION AND PURPOSE OF THIS ISOLATION. It is an evidence of a special purpose of God. It is a fulfilment of prophecy. It is a witness to the truth of Christianity.
1. We should regard the Jewish people with deep interest.
2. We should use all feasible means to bring the Jews to the Messiah. "He that scattereth will gather them."