The last fact of which I spoke was the _preservation_, the long preservation, through those eighteen centuries of unequalled trial; and again we turn to Moses, and find him saying, “And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.” (Lev. xxvi. 44.)
Now all these passages are taken from the Pentateuch, the earliest book of the Scriptures; and I have referred especially to them because some people appear to speak with disrespect of the Pentateuch. But here we see the Pentateuch prophecies fulfilled in this nineteenth century in so remarkable a manner that no observant man can deny it.
But if people prefer prophecies of a later date they shall have them; for time makes no difference to truth, and the inspiration of the Scriptures extends through its whole length.
We find that they have been driven from their country, and can no longer inhabit the land which is their own. Now what did the prophet Isaiah say? “Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.” (Chap. vi. 11, 12.)
We found that they are scattered amongst all the nations of the world. Now what did God predict by the mouth of Ezekiel? “The whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.” (Chap. v. 10.)
We found that, though scattered, they are preserved as a distinct and separate people. Now what did God foretell by the prophet Amos? “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” (See ix. 9.)
We found that in their dispersion they have been the object of cruel reproach, and have endured much fierce persecution. Now what said Jeremiah, the prophet of God, in chap. xxix. 18? “And I will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them.”