Picture: The People Who Should Have Welcomed Him 3TC 14.1
For more than a thousand years, the Jewish people had waited for the Savior’s coming. And yet, when He came, they did not know Him. They did not see any beauty in Him that was attractive to them. See Isaiah 53:2. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:11. 3TC 14.2
God had chosen Israel to preserve the symbols and prophecies that pointed to the Savior, to be like wells of salvation to the world. The Hebrew people were to reveal God among the nations. In the call of Abraham, the Lord had said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3. The Lord declared through Isaiah, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7. 3TC 14.3
But Israel set their hopes on worldly greatness and followed the ways of the heathen. They did not change when God sent them warning by His prophets. They did not change when they suffered the punishment of heathen conquest and occupation. Every reformation was followed by deeper apostasy. 3TC 15.1
If Israel had been true to God, He would have made them “high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor.” “The peoples who will hear all these statutes” will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deuteronomy 26:19; 4:6. 3TC 15.2
But because they were unfaithful, God could work out His plans only through trouble and affliction. They were brought to Babylon and scattered through the lands of the heathen. While they mourned for the holy temple that was destroyed, they spread a knowledge of God among the nations. Heathen systems of sacrifice were a perversion of the system God had appointed; from the Hebrews many learned the meaning of the sacrifices as God had planned them and in faith grasped the promise of a Redeemer. 3TC 15.3
Many exiles lost their lives because they refused to disregard the Sabbath and observe heathen festivals. As idol worshipers were stirred up to crush out the truth, the Lord brought His servants face to face with kings and rulers so that they and their people could receive light. The greatest monarchs were led to proclaim that the God whom their Hebrew captives worshiped was supreme. 3TC 15.4
During the centuries that followed the captivity in Babylon, the Israelites were cured of worshiping images, and they became convinced that their prosperity depended on obedience to the law of God. But for many of the people, the motive was selfish. They served God as the way to attain national greatness. They did not become the light of the world but shut themselves away in order to escape temptation. God had restricted their association with idol worshipers to prevent them from adopting heathen practices. But they had misinterpreted this teaching. They used it to build up a wall between Israel and other nations. The Jews were actually jealous that the Lord might show mercy to the Gentiles! 3TC 15.5
After their return from Babylon, all over the country the Jews built synagogues where priests and scribes expounded the law. Schools claimed to teach the principles of righteousness. But during the captivity, many of the people had received heathen ideas, and they brought these ideas into their religious service. 3TC 16.1
Christ Himself had instituted the ritual service. It was a symbol of Him, full of vitality and spiritual beauty. But the Jews lost the spiritual life from their ceremonies and trusted the sacrifices and ordinances themselves instead of Him to whom they pointed. To replace what they had lost, the priests and rabbis made many requirements of their own. The more rigid they grew, the less they showed the love of God. 3TC 16.2
Those who tried to observe the exacting and burdensome requirements of the rabbis could find no rest from a troubled conscience. In this way, Satan worked to discourage the people, to lower their ideas of God’s character, and to bring the faith of Israel into contempt. He hoped to establish his claim that no one could obey God’s requirements. Even Israel, he declared, did not keep the law. 3TC 16.3
The Jews had no true concept of the Messiah’s mission. They did not seek to be redeemed from sin but to be delivered from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to exalt Israel to rulership over the world. This prepared the way for them to reject the Savior. 3TC 16.4
When Christ was born, the nation was restless under the rule of foreign masters and was racked with internal strife. The Romans appointed and removed the high priest, and evil men often secured the office by bribery and even murder. So the priesthood became more and more corrupt. The people were under merciless demands, and the Romans also taxed them heavily. Widespread discontent, greed, violence, distrust, and spiritual apathy were eating out the heart of the nation. In their darkness and oppression, the people longed for One who would restore the kingdom to Israel. They had studied the prophecies, but without spiritual insight. They interpreted prophecy in harmony with their selfish desires. 3TC 16.5
