The writer said the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem at the time were about 5,000, and the writer showed no respect for them in his remarks. A portion of the blurb reads, "The sight is a pitiable one in many ways. The abject poverty of most of the mourners excites sympathy rather than derision. The hope and faith for a restoration to power which animates these people would be sublime if their degradation were not so low as to remove them from a possibility of admiration." These devout worshippers were seen as the lowest of human debasement and their prayers described as "hopeless supplications." How I wish the author who penned this disgraceful commentary had read the Bible and observed the Jewish people in Jerusalem today, for he could come to realise the God of Israel gives hope to the hopeless and answers the prayers of His people! God is moved by the faith of those who cry out to Him, and by His might He restored the Jewish nation to power and prosperity who were once made to be exiles in their own land for nearly 1,900 years.
The glory of God is seen in His deliverance, endurance and prosperity of the Jewish people as the LORD spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy 7:7-10: "The LORD did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other
people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD
loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers,
the LORD has brought you out with
a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore
know that the LORD your God, He
is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand
generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face,
to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him
to his face." God redeemed the children of Israel from the house of bondage in Egypt, and God was faithful to bring them into the land He promised to give them as an inheritance, driving out nations that were greater than they. The secret (which is no secret!) of the strength of the Jewish nation is their God, the Creator of heaven and earth who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him. According to God's promise He has gathered those who were scattered, miraculously doing what was altogether impossible. As it is written in Jeremiah 31:10-11, "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and
declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He
who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as
a shepherd does his flock.' 11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he."
Those who assembled at the Western Wall over a century ago, those poor dismissed and despised by men, demonstrate the power of their awesome God to deliver His people as we observe at the Western Wall today. God has blessed and strengthened the Jewish nation exceedingly, and Christians ought to be inspired by the faithful devotion to God seen in the old photographs and to this day in the holy land. Here is a picture of the Western Wall I took in 2015, and the unique rock carving can be seen several stones higher on the wall today as further excavations have taken place. A horizontal darkened line shows the level where the pavement used to be. Those gathering to pray at the wall are standing just beneath the point their forebears stood above them. Parts of the wall that were unseen previously have now been revealed, and may it be so with the God of Israel as He opens the eyes of people to His faithfulness, mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. People may despise and hate us now for our devotion to Christ, but may generations to come joyfully acknowledge how awesome and praiseworthy our God in part by our faithful prayer and obedience to Him.
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