Priestly yout hs. Nor do the exaggerated descriptions of what the Midrash on

Lamentations40 describes as the dignity of the Jerusalemites; of the wealth which they

lavished on their marriages; of the ceremony which insisted on repeated invitations to the

guests to a banquet, and that men inferior in rank should not be bidden to it; of the dress

in which they appeared; the manner in which the dishes were served, the wine in white

crystal vases; and the punishment of the cook who had failed in his duty, and which was

to be commensurate to the dignity of the party - give a better impression of the great

world in Jerusalem.

And yet it was the City of God, over whose destruction not only the Patriarch and Moses,

but the Angelic hosts - nay, the Almighty Himself and His Shekhinah - had made bitterest

lamentation.  41 The City of the Prophets, also, since each of them whose birthplace had

not been mentioned, must be regarded as having sprung from it.42 Equally, even more,

marked, but now for joy and triumph, would be the hour of Jerusalem's uprising, when it

would welcome its Messiah. Oh, when would He come? In the feverish excitement of

expectancy the y were only too ready to listen to the voice of any pretender, however

coarse and clumsy the imposture. Yet He was at hand - even now coming: only quite

other than the Messiah of their dreams. 'He came unto His own, and His own received

Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become children of

God, even to them that believe on His Name.'