What Advantage Hath The Jew?

by Horace H.Elson | Category: General | Aug 1933

"Much every way." Thus succinctly the questions- "What advantage then hath

the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision ? " received prompt and unequivocal reply; but what are the supporting facts ? "First of all that they were intrusted with the oracles of God " (Romans 3. 2).

The faithful discharge of this stewardship reflected credit. upon, and brought substantial advantage to the Jewish race. How meticulously they kept their trust is a matter of history. The care bestowed on the preservation and transmission of the Sacred Oracles is marvellous-a full record of all the facts would fill a volume. Perhaps an interesting little side light. may be seen in the record of the careful handling of the scroll in the Nazareth Synagogue--Luke 4.

Evidently an attendant was provided for the safe custody (among other duties) of time Sacred Scroll, and when required for use the attendant must bring the Scroll from its receptacle to the president of the Synagogue who would deliver the Scroll to the reader, from whom the attendant would receive it after the reading, and bear it carefully back to the ark or chest where it was jealously kept. Thus we read that after the Lord had finished this reading from Isaiah 61. "He closed the book (or scroll) and gave -it bad- to the attendant " before proceeding to address the congregation.

The force of such arrangements will be better appreciated. when it is remembered that in a day long prior to the advent of the printing press copies of the Sacred Writings would be comparatively few and produced at a cost of labour commensurate with the immense care-almost incredible-bestowed on accurately copying the Sacred Text.

Very interesting also is the information available as to the way in which the work of the copyist was safeguarded,. so that the oracles might be passed from generation to generation in their original form. For example, an authority writes

"The oldest and best manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible contain on every page, beside the Text (which is arranged in two or more columns), a varying number of lines of smaller writing, distributed between the upper and lower marginals. This smaller writing is called the Massorah Magna or great Massorah, while that in the side margins and between the columns is called the Massorah Parva or small Massorah.

The word Massorah is from the root masar, to deliver something into the hand of another so as to commit it to his trust. Hence the name is given to the smaller writing referred to, because it contains information necessary to those into whose trust the Sacred Text was committed, so that they might transcribe it, and hand it down correctly.

The Massirites were regarded as custodians of the Sacred Text. Their work was to preserve it. The Massorah is called a fence to the Scriptures, because it locked all the words and letters in their places. It does not contain notes or comments as such, but facts and phenomena. It records the number of times the several letters occur in the various hooks of the Bible ; the number of words, and the middle word ; the number of verses, and the middle verse ; the number of expressions and combinations of words, etc. All this, not from a perverted ingenuity, but for the set purpose of safeguarding the Sacred Text, and preventing the loss or misplacement of a single letter or word."

The writer remembers some years since listening with pleasure and profit to an address by Mr. Lennox in which he made reference to tile passage-" they were intrusted with tile oracles of God." He drew a beautiful and effective illustration of Israel's faithful guardianship of the Divine Oracles, by reference to Sheshbazzar's safe conduct of the gold and silver vessels of the house of the Lord at the return from Babylon. Attention was called to the numbering, and detailed list of the vessels delivered to Sheshbazzar by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer and also to the necessity for unceasing care day and night through the long desert journey, until the ultimate safe deposit in Jerusalem-" All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of tile captivity were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem " (Ezra 1. 11).

It is easily seen how Israel's faithfulness has brought blessing to us, for the ministry of the Old Testament Scriptures is not without voice and application unto us, "unto you, did they minister these things " (1 Peter 1. 12). Our thanks are due firstly to our God, the only Source of the precious Scriptures, yet even this fact, all important as it is, need not make us unmindful of the channel divinely chosen and intrusted to convey His accumulating Revelation down the centuries that it might minister unto us. Israel was the channel ; we are partakers of their spiritual things."

The Epistle to the Romans with its invaluable presentation of foundational truths, together with much more of the New Testament would be largely unintelligible to us apart from access to the Old Covenant Scriptures. We need only call to mind, for instance, time divine truths contained in the types of the Pentateuch ; once again, in what some one has called "the Gospel according to Isaiah" - to realize that God's people of the present dispensation owe to Israel of the past a debt of gratitude in that they were the chosen depositaries and care-takers of the Oracles of God.

The passage in Romans 15., which refers to the contribution by the Assemblies in Macedonia and Achaia for tile poor among the saints in Jerusalem, contains the striking words.

For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to minister to them in carnal things." Macedonia and Achaia were reciprocating when they ministered unto them in carnal things ; and is there not something in Romans 11. 31, from which we may gather a practical consideration in another direction ? The Apostle writes - "That by the mercy shewn to you they also may now obtain mercy." In harmony with this principle may it not be that believers of the Gentiles may through the mercy of God now be used as " channels of blessing " to the Jews ? Can we not join unhesitatingly with the Apostle of the Gentiles in his heart's desire " and "supplication to God for them, that they may be saved " (Romans 10. 1). Without curtailment of the scope of the words in Romans 1. 10, let us seek to follow the Apostle's declaration of unbounded confidence in the gospel message-- I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

Horace H.Elson | Aug 1933
General