Page:The message of the hour - four sermons delivered on the new years' day, and the day of atonement, 5651-1890 (IA messageofhourfou00moseiala).pdf/43

 eager to accept. Through the loss of his political existence, Israel has saved his soul alive, and has become, by the very martyrdom which he had to endure, the Savior, the Messiah, of humanity, the mediator between God and man. The soul of Israel is his religion, which, in one form or another, is now the animating spiritual force in the life of the civilized nations of the earth.

4. Nor is this mission of Israel, to be the prophet of true religion, ended in our time, though some of the fundamental principles of his faith have been universally accepted. The last word of Israel has not yet been spoken; Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, are not final truths, but phases of his spiritual life. The religion of humanity, the all-embracing faith of an Universal Religion is yet to come, and as of old, Israel is the Elijah, the forerunner and preparer of that great messianic time out of the soul-life of Israel must that future religion of humanity be born. This is no dream, nor proud self-exultation, nor the vaunt of despair it is the verdict of history as well as of faith. Of all the nations of antiquity, before and after Israel's appearance in history, none has survived a certain period of time. Within the limits of a few hundred years the proudest and most powerful nations had exhausted their productive genius; they gave their contribution to the wealth of humanity, and then disappeared from the face of the earth. Their mission was ended. New nations sprang up in their stead, to take up the task of humanity, to labor at the solution of some new problems, and to contribute their share to the larger life of mankind. But^all along the line of history we see Israel continue his life-work. Deprived of his national independence, twice exiled and robbed of his rights, driven from land to land, and proclaimed an alien wherever he set his weary foot, plundered, tortured, burned, massacred, on account of his faith, Israel could not be destroyed, but still exists, and is to-day as numerous as he has ever been in the days of his kings! What truth does his historical exception teach us? What else, but the divine lesson that Israel's mission is not yet ended, that his presence is still needed as an essential element of humanity?

5. Applying these truths to our own wants and the problem of