The Messiah, predicted in the Old Testament scriptures for more than 1,000 years, was the single most anticipated figure in Jewish history. The hope of every Jewish girl was that she would become the mother of this promised deliverer. The hope of Jewish boys was that they could fight alongside this mighty warrior. The hope of rabbis, scribes, and priests was that they could have the honor of being identified with this savior of the nation. And yet, when the Messiah appeared, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).
The mission and message given to Israel was a gospel of religious liberty. God had raised up the nation “to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free” (Isaiah 58:6). After delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, their divine Liberator revealed His desire to free them from the grasp of sin as well. He promised them, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:5, 6). This prophetic calling, repeated for nearly fifteen hundred years, found its fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His mission was to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Scripture reveals why the Messiah–the true Freedom-Giver–was rejected. These lessons must not be ignored, unless we wish to repeat the failures of the past. Any church today that claims the mantle of protecting and defending religious liberty must understand and heed the warnings contained in Israel’s history. So, why did Israel reject the Messiah?
First, Israel focused on the wrong kind of kingdom-building. Rather than seek a spiritual kingdom offering freedom from sin, “the Israelites fixed their hopes upon worldly greatness” (The Desire of Ages, p. 28). In seeking the wrong kind of kingdom, Israel inevitably sought the wrong type of king. “While the Jews desired the advent of the Messiah, they had no true conception of His mission. They did not seek redemption from sin, but deliverance from the Romans. They looked for the Messiah to come as a conqueror, to break the oppressor’s power, and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Saviour” (The Desire of Ages, p. 29). By seeking a worldly rather than spiritual kingdom, Israel rejected the Messiah. They surrendered their civil and religious liberty and became captive to the power of sin.
Second, the Messiah’s rejection resulted from the acceptance of heathen customs and ideas into Israel’s methods of worship and education. Again, the book The Desire of Ages tells us,
“After the return from Babylon, much attention was given to religious instruction. All over the country, synagogues were erected, where the law was expounded by the priests and scribes. And schools were established, which, together with the arts and sciences, professed to teach the principles of righteousness. But these agencies became corrupted. During the captivity, many of the people had received heathen ideas and customs, and these were brought into their religious service. In many things they conformed to the practices of idolaters” (The Desire of Ages, p. 29).
While the Jewish nation fought bitterly against the Roman armies that occupied their land, it readily succumbed to the worldly worship styles and philosophies that controlled the mind. As a result, those waiting to welcome the Messiah became unable to comprehend the true principles of religious liberty, and the chosen nation rejected the one Person who could set them free from the power of sin.
Third, Israel rejected its own Prince of Peace because it replaced the divine commands with man-made rules. Jesus made this clear when He told the religious leaders, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? …But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:3, 9).
“They trusted to the sacrifices and ordinances themselves, instead of resting upon Him to whom they pointed. In order to supply the place of that which they had lost, the priests and rabbis multiplied requirements of their own; and the more rigid they grew, the less of the love of God was manifested. They measured their holiness by the multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with pride and hypocrisy” (The Desire of Ages, p. 29).
Liberty of conscience and religious liberty are rooted in the Word of God. Obscure that Word with human tradition, policies, official statements, manuals, or handbooks, and the liberty that springs from the Bible inevitably fades away. Obfuscate that Word long enough, and the living Word of God becomes stale, unrecognizable, and undesirable.
Fourth, politics and corruption within the priesthood eroded the spiritual life of the nation and prepared the way for the rejection of the Messiah. In the time of Christ, “The Romans claimed the right of appointing and removing the high priest, and the office was often secured by fraud, bribery, and even murder. Thus the priesthood became more and more corrupt. Yet the priests still possessed great power, and they employed it for selfish and mercenary ends. The people were subjected to their merciless demands, and were also heavily taxed by the Romans. This state of affairs caused widespread discontent. Popular outbreaks were frequent. Greed and violence, distrust and spiritual apathy, were eating out the very heart of the nation” (The Desire of Ages, p. 30).
The Bible tells us that as bad as this situation was, even “among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42, 43). Those who seek the approval of others are easily manipulated, and those who thrive on the praise of man quickly become slaves to human approval and human censure. Liberty of conscience and religious liberty become predictable casualties in this game of human approval-seeking and politics.
Finally, pride obscured the interpretation of prophecy and prevented the nation from recognizing the danger of its true spiritual condition. “They had studied the prophecies, but without spiritual insight. Thus they overlooked those scriptures that point to the humiliation of Christ’s first advent, and misapplied those that speak of the glory of His second coming. Pride obscured their vision. They interpreted prophecy in accordance with their selfish desires” (The Desire of Ages, p. 30).
Popular preachers and teachers focused on predictions of national blessing, success, and victory. At the same time, the voices of those recalling the prophets’ repeated messages of rebuke and warning were ridiculed, ignored, and silenced. The terrible consequences of this misguided national pride were revealed by the Messiah’s words as He left the temple for the last time.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:37, 38).
A desolate house cannot remain so for long. Only hours after Jesus spoke these words, the nation chose another king. When Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar” (John 19:15). For the remaining thirty-nine years of its national existence, Israel reaped the result of that terrible decision.
“…the nation was left to the control of the leader she had chosen. Her children had spurned the grace of Christ, which would have enabled them to subdue their evil impulses, and now these became the conquerors. Satan aroused the fiercest and most debased passions of the soul. Men did not reason; they were beyond reason—controlled by impulse and blind rage. They became satanic in their cruelty. In the family and in the nation, among the highest and the lowest classes alike, there was suspicion, envy, hatred, strife, rebellion, murder. There was no safety anywhere. Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents slew their children, and children their parents. The rulers of the people had no power to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions made them tyrants. The Jews had accepted false testimony to condemn the innocent Son of God. Now false accusations made their own lives uncertain. By their actions they had long been saying: “Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” Isaiah 30:11. Now their desire was granted. The fear of God no longer disturbed them. Satan was at the head of the nation, and the highest civil and religious authorities were under his sway” (The Great Controversy, p. 28).
The nation formed to prepare the world for the Messiah’s advent failed to recognize its own Redeemer. The people chosen to champion religious freedom ended up in chains. Those created to be vessels of light became vassals of Satan. This tragic history is recorded for our warning today.
The Messiah is coming again, and He is soon to appear in clouds of glory. As with His first coming, He has called a people to prepare the world. Will we grasp the hand of divine power? Will we allow our Savior to cleanse us with the washing of water by the Word, individually and corporately? Will we be part of the Messiah’s “glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; …holy and without blemish”? (Ephesians 5:27). The decision is ours to make, just as it was 2,000 years ago in a city called Jerusalem.