BRITISH-ISRAEL

Southland Times, Issue 22770, 21 December 1935, Page 13

BRITISH-ISRAEL

(By “

"Briton.”)

The most joyous season of the year lies immediately before us and the Christian world will soon be donning its festive garb in order to fittingly celebrate the annual visit of Father Christmas.

In anticipation of his coming the wheels of commerce revolve with accelerated speed, and business undertakings are completed with utmost despatch in order that all engaged therein should enjoy that period of relaxation and pleasure, which with all the dignity and authority in the world, he annually decrees shall be theirs. ■ The shopkeeper stocks his shelves to their fullest capacity with seasonable goods and makes alluring window display in order to meet the raid of those who, in proportion to their wealth, succumb to the spirit of the time, and for the nonce, become spendthrift. The spirit of good cheer and friendliness usually prevails and becomes articulate in the thousand times repeated greetings: “A Merry Christmas to you.” Those who become imbued with the spirit of this age old sentiment, seem to vie with each other in an endeavour to promote the happiness of the unfavoured ones of the earth, verily their reward shall be great. It is “More blessed to give than to receive.”

It must have been a most momentous and significant event that the very commemoration of it should so profoundly stir the heart of man to the exercise of that virtue, the which, if undertaken in the spirit of goodwill and fellowship covers a multitude of sins. Charles Dickens wrought to good purpose when he presented the Christmas ideal in such a manner as reached the heart of his great public. The reading of his Christmas Carol becoming an annual event comparable in the minds of the people only with the performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” I remember witnessing as a child the performance of “Pepper’s Ghost,” a stage version of the story in which “Scrooge,” of unenviable fame, flaunted the anti-Christmas spirit, his discomforture at the hand of the ghostly visitor being much appreciated by the audience. The ghost was a real live one—one you could see through as he moved through his part on the stage. An appearance arrived at by the manipulation of mirrors and creating an illusion which I then found to be sufficiently gripping. This by the way. We now acclaim as accomplished an event that for centuries was looked forward to as the only hope of succor of the greatly oppressed nation Israel, a hope arising out of the tradition and belief of their past, and rendered poignant by the incidence of national suffering as the result of alien aggression and dominance, a hope that at some time there should arise for them a Saviour and Deliverer.

We in this favoured age cannot hope to enter into that spirit of expectancy which was rendered acute by the vicissitudes of national distress. We are “far from oppression”; it has “not come nigh us”; the only enemies “within the gate” are those we have voluntarily admitted. We, the Israel of to-day, possessing the national security and immunity denied our forbearers are in danger of esteeming lightly the benefits that have accrued to us as the result of the advent, life-work and sacrifice of the great Son and Deliverer of the race. Yet! “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for He hath visited and redeemed His people. “And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of His servant David; “As He spoke by the mouth of His holy Prophets; which have been since the world began; “That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us; “To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers; and to remember His holy Covenant; “To perform the oath which He swore to our forefather Abraham; that He would give us; “That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear; “In holiness and righteousness before Him; all the days of our life.” If the full import of these words were apprehended by the people at large, what a potency for national good would be discerned in them ! Its intimate and particular message to the nation would be grasped to their great joy and comfort. If the words were allowed to speak for themselves, they would carry a message to our people which naught but the deliberately obtuse could fail to understand. When wise men from the East come onto Judea seeking the place where the Christ should be born, they did not ask the question: Where is he that is born the son of a carpenter? But, Where is He that is born King? The emphasis is vitally important for historical reasons. For when Herod the King heard of it he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Would the birth of a carpenter’s son have roused a whole city and disturbed the equanimity of a king? Would a wholesale massacre of little children have been ordered if Christ had been nothing more than the son of a carpenter? For Herod knew that the birth of Jesus spelt the birth of a king destined to rule the world, as it is written: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the Throne of His Father David: And he shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end.” But the birth of the king betokened the rebirth of the kingdom destined to establish the sovereignty of Christ throughout the earth. A child was the centre of the hope of all who looked for the redemption of Israel. As it is written: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor. The Mighty God. The Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His Government and Peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.” These words of Isaiah uttered in anticipation of the birth which we are now about to honour with our grateful remembrances have now been fulfilled. “For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.”

All down the ages the aspect of Christ as the Saviour of souls is the one that has been portrayed to the nations, while that of His kingship over Israel has been, in the main, lost sight of. But both offices, in the counsel of the Almighty, are deemed to be of the greatest importance to humanity, since Christ is to be the “Healer of the Nations,” “The Prince of Peace,” as under His overruling first as King of Israel and ultimately of all other nations a government will be established which will abolish war, intrigue and jealousy. “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this,” not our present “League of Nations.” We are told “not to put our trust in princes,” and from present circumstances it would appear that dictators must be included in the ban. Meanwhile, the King has gone unto “a far country” leaving the development of the Kingdom to His Servant

people Israel, a Kingdom they were to occupy until His coming again. The world is in straining expectance of that event. Those conditions of life which sincere statesmanship looks for as the ultimate goal of human attainment will not obtain as the result of man’s unenlightened efforts, but they will come in with the time that synchronizes with Christ’s second Advent. “For the zeal of the Lord of Hosts,” will, with the co-operation of men of good will, accomplish that which is so earnestly desired. Meanwhile, it is our function and desire to awaken our leaders in Israel to a knowledge of the identity of our race, as an endowment befitting them for the righteous administration of its affairs. In our own particular “Isle of the Blest,” the reins of government have been assumed by a body of men fired with enthusiasm for the attainment of their ideals. So long as those ideals comport in spirit with the basic institutions of our great Empire, so long may they be assured of the goodwill and hearty co-operation of the people. We wish them God-speed in their work and to those who have born patiently with “Briton.” A Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.