wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem--because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to bless and to save .
The history of more than a thousand years of God ' s special favor and guardian care , manifested to the chosen people , was open to the eye of Jesus . There was Mount Moriah , where the son of promise , an unresisting victim , had been bound to the altar--emblem of the offering of the Son of God . There the covenant of blessing , the glorious Messianic promise , had been confirmed to the father of the faithful . Genesis 22:9 , 16-18 . There the flames of the sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing floor of Ornan had turned aside the sword of the destroying angel ( 1 Chronicles 21 ) -- fitting symbol of the Saviour ' s sacrifice and mediation for guilty men . Jerusalem had been honored of God above all the earth . The Lord had " chosen Zion ," He had " desired it for His habitation ." Psalm 132:13 .
There , for ages , holy prophets had uttered their messages of warning . There priests had waved their censers , and the cloud of incense , with the prayers of the worshipers , had ascended before God . There daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered , pointing forward to the Lamb of God . There Jehovah had revealed His presence in the cloud of glory above the mercy seat . There rested the base of that mystic ladder connecting earth with heaven ( Genesis 28:12 ; John 1:51 ) -- that ladder upon which angels of God descended and ascended , and which opened to the world the way into the holiest of all . Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven , Jerusalem would have stood forever , the elect of God . Jeremiah 17:21-25 . But the history of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion . They had resisted Heaven ' s grace , abused their privileges , and slighted their opportunities .
Although Israel had " mocked the messengers of God , and despised His words , and misused His prophets " ( 2 Chronicles 36:16 ), He had still manifested Himself to them , as " the Lord God , merciful and gracious , long-suffering , and abundant in goodness and truth " ( Exodus 34:6 ); notwithstanding repeated rejections , His mercy had continued its pleadings . With more than a father ' s pitying love for the son of his care , God had " sent to them by His messengers , rising up betimes , and sending ; because He had compassion on His people , and on His dwelling place ." 2 Chronicles 36:15 . When remonstrance , entreaty , and rebuke had failed , He sent to them the best gift of heaven ; nay , He poured out all heaven in that one Gift .
The Son of God Himself was sent to plead with the impenitent city . It was Christ that had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt . Psalm 80:8 . His own hand had cast out the heathen before it . He had planted it " in a very fruitful hill ." His guardian care had hedged it about . His servants had been sent to nurture it . " What could have been done more to My
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