the Sadducees is generally interpreted as referring to a condition of things, which renders a Resurrection

unnecessary, and makes the whole argument meaningless. Notice the words. Matt. xxii. 31, "But as touching

the Resurrection of the dead, have ye not read," etc.; Mark xii. 26, "And as touching the dead that they rise,

have ye not read," etc; and Luke xx. 37, "Now that the dead are raised even Moses showed at the Bush,

when He calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," etc. The whole point is concerning

Resurrection, and the argument is contained in the fact that as this unconditional Covenant was made with

the Patriarchs and cannot be broken, so likewise it cannot be fulfilled unless they rise from the dead.

We are all aware however of the present sad and scattered condition of the nation of Israel. But all their

sufferings -- without a country, without a king, without the knowledge of the saving truth -- all is the

consequence of their own conditional Covenant at Sinai.

God gave them a law, holy just, and good. He gave it to prove to them their own impotence, and to lead them

to the omnipotence of the Saviour He had provided.

The prophets spake of His glory, but they also predicted his rejection. He became the "Hope" of those who

believed in Him; "the consolation of Israel" to those who waited for Him; and "Redemption" to those who

looked for Him.

At length He came to His own inheritance, as the seed of Abraham; and to His own Throne, as the seed of

David; but His own people received Him not. (John i. 11). He was despised, rejected, and crucified. "This is

the heir," they said. Yes, the heir of the Land, and the heir of the Crown! But they said, "let us kill Him," and

"in ignorance" they did it (Acts ii. 17). They "knew Him not" (Acts xiii. 27). "They knew not what they did"

(Luke xxiii. 34). And yet they were guilty, for though they did it in ignorance as to His person, they did it not

in innocence as to His blood. They had full proof of Jesus' innocence. One of the malefactors said, "This

man hath done nothing amiss (Luke xxiii. 41). His judge said, "I find no fault in Him" (Luke xxiii. 4). Pilate's

wife said, "that just man" (Matt. xxvii. 19); the heathen soldier when he saw Him expire, said, "This was a

righteous man" (Luke xxiii. 47); and when he saw the signs that followed, he cried out "Truly this was the

Son of God" (Mark xv. 39). In spite of all this testimony they bribed false-witnesses and put Him to death.

They did not "believe ALL that the prophets had spoken" (Luke xxiv. 25), and thus a portion of truth

separated from the rest, blinded them to their ruin. But according to the typical illustration in 2 Kings xi., the

King has been rescued from among the slain; He is hid in the heavenly Temple above. The king has "sat

down" because His redemption work is done, but He is "expecting" because the years have not yet run their

course. Here comes in the "mystery" of the Church. Like Jehosheba her "life is hid with Christ in God"

(verse 2, Col. iii. 3), like Jehoiada she goes out in testimony for the king whom all else think to be dead. She

can have no sympathy, part, or lot, with Athaliah the usurper. Here and there some are let into the secret of

the covenant and the oath (verse 4) and many a loyal heart beats for the rejected king, and longs for the day

of His manifestation.

But meantime the usurper holds the rule, and "Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of

the Gentiles be fulfilled." There can be no hope for Jerusalem and no hope for Israel except as based on the

everlasting Covenant. And the claims of the Heir can be met only in and by Christ's coming again in virtue

of that covenant, to receive "the thro ne of His father David," and to "reign over the house of Jacob for

ever" (Luke i. 33). Here is the secret of all future blessing for Israel.

All this was foreshown in Ps. lxxxix. 30-37. Speaking of David it was written, "If his children forsake my law;

and walk not in my judgments; it they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit

their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindess will I not

utterly take from Him, nor suffer my faithfu lness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that

is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure

for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon and as a faithful

witness in Heaven. Selah"!