The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume], April 16, 1919, Page 3, Image 3

About The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
month of the Jewish calendar, as well as the
Christian, happens to fall incidentally at the
same time. For the Jewish Passover Service,
which corresponds to the Christian Easter,
commences on the evening of the fourteenth
day of the month of "Nisan" of the Hebrew
calendar, which falls this year on the four
teenth day of April.
At the close of the Jewish Passover Service,
which is held in the Jewish homes all over the
world, and is kept up till after midnight, a
hymn in the Hebrew language, "Chad Gadyo."
is being used in that service of the "Sedar
Jlagudah" - (Passover Service Book) of the
Jewish people, which contains ten verses, s nd
one verse of that hymn has been fulfilled dur
ing the recent war; while during the same
service, before its close, there is a prayer of
fered that next year they hope to be in Pales
tine. Since the outcome of the recent war and
of the giving of Palestine to the Jew3, this
prayer has been changed by the First Jewish
Congress of the United States and Canada,
which has recently taken place, from its for
mer expression for next year to be in Pales
tine to a prayer to be in Palestine this year
Some of the thing.? that have developed dur
ing the recent war have brought out a num
ber of interesting facts in connection with the
Jewish nation, as well as with the land of
Palestine, and also thrown some light on that
very hymn the Jews have been using in the
Passover service for unnumbered years.
The following is the translation of the verses
of that HebreAV hymn and its applications:
"A kid, a kid, my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The kid, a clean animal, refers to Israel,
"the one peculiar people upon earth," whom
God purchased (Exodus 15:16) for Himself by
means of ttVe two precious tables of the law.
"Then came the cat, and ate the kid,
That my father bought
For two pieces of money. '
A kid, a kid."
The eat refers to Babylon. "Ate the kid"
is descriptive of the Babylonian captivity,
which swallowed up the Jewish nationality,
A. M. . 3338.
"Then came the dog and bit the cat
That ate the kid,
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The dog means Persia, by whose power Baby
lon was overthrown.
"Then came the staff and beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The staff is Greece, which put an end to the
Persian dominion.
"Then came the fire and burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The fire refers to Rome.
"Then came the water and quenched the fire
That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid *
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The water refers to the Turks, descendants
cf Ishmael, who wrested the Holy Lan*3 from
the power of Rome.
"Then came the ox and drank the m ater
That quenched the fire
That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The ox means Edom (the European nations),
who will in the latter days rescue the Holy
Land from the possession of Ishmael. (See
Abarbanel on Ezekiel 39.)
"Then came the butcher and slew the ox
That drank the water
That quenched the fire
That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The butcher refers to the fearful war, which
will then succeed, when the confederated ar
mies of Gog and Magog, Persia, Cush and Pul
will come up 'like the tempest" to drive the
sons of Edom from Palestine (Ezekiel 38 and
30.)
"Then came the Angel of Death and killed the
butcher
That slew the ox
That drank the water
That quenched the fire
That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The Angel of Death is a great pestilence in
which all the foes of, Israel shall perish.
"Then came the Holy One, blessed be lie'
And killed the Angel of Death
That killed the butcher
That sleV the ox
That drank the water
That quenched the fire
? That burned the staff
That beat the dog
That bit the cat
That ate the kid
That my father bought
For two pieces of money.
A kid, a kid."
The last verse described the establishment
of God's kingdom on earth, when Israel shall
be restored under "Messiah, the Son of Da
vid" (who is also David's "Lord." See Psalm
J 10:1.) The reader will have already n ?>.d
that this ancient Passover hymn constitutes a
history, in parable, of the Jewish people. All
of the events dealt with in the first six verses
have already taken place. The event referred
to in the seventh verse, namely, "the rescue
of the Holy Land from the possession of Tsh
mafl.V that is, from the Turks, has taken place.
The ox, or "Edom," is, by present day fulfil
ment, identified with the Allies. "Gog and
Magog, Persia, Cush and Pul" are also iden
tified as the Central Powers.
In rescuing the Holy Land from the Turks,
in order to place it in possession o? the Jew
ish people, the Allies have been working in
direct harmony with, and as the instruments
for, the fulfilment of the promise of God given
His ancient people, the Jews, of the posses
sion of that land in the latter days. God's
pledged word is fulfilled, the Allies have won ;
for they fought to make good His promise,
which cannot fail of fulfilment. In light of
the previous and present amazing fulfilment
<;f the prophecies of this ancient hjmn, it ap
pears that the remaining events prophesied
therein might reasonably be^ expected to take
place in due course. And then shall be ful
filled the words of the Lord spoken through
Zechariah the prophet, saying: "And the
Lord shall be King over all the earth ; in that
day shall there be one Lord, and Ilis Name
one." (Zechariah 14:9.)
DR. OGDEN RESTS HIS CASE.
By Rev. U. II. Ogden, D. D.
Having elicited from Dr. Whaling a fourth
confession, namely, that the now famous
phrase, "colloidal and molluscuous," was not
original with him and should have been en
compassed with quotation marks, I shall rest
mv case. Of course the resting is tentative ;
its permanence will depend upon the good be
havior of. my brethren.
The matching of "facts" and "fancies" by
Dr. Whaling and me has been pleasant to us
and perhaps entertaining to the public. The
contest between a professor of Systematic The
ology and one who is "better fitted for popu
lar speech than accurate argumentation" (so
he styles me) must needs be one-sided. The
question is, "which side?" I ask the reader
to review the record and decide.
But the issue involved is far bigger than
o lr wee bit of a debate, and in rest'n^ iuy
ease I wish to submit to the thoughtful men
and women of our Church the following con
siderations :
1. Our vital union problem lies in the rela
tionship between our Church and the I.1. S. A.
Assembly. We scarcely touch the other Pres
byterian and Reformed Churches, but in o very
large part of our Assembly there are U. S. A.
and U. S. Synods, Presbyteries and sometimes
congregations occupying the same territory.
> Our great need is a bond, of union by which
unfriendly competition, where it exists, w'll
be removed and through which the spirit . of
oneness, which is more commonly found, may
function in the full sweep of the work of the
kingdom. We need something more thau a
truce of God : we need full and direct and posi
tive co-operation.
2. The erection of additional ecclesiastical
machinery is certainly unwise when the prob
lem for whose solving it is created can be met
more effectively by a change in the powers cf
our present Church courts.
A Federal Assembly would not be effective
unless it were given very large authority, and
even then it could not fully make good ',he
loss of constructive power which arises from
the overlapping of our Church courts nud con
gregations. It would work well in our ? ?reign
mission and kindred enterprises where there
is now little or no problem : but in the place
that the shoe really pinches a Federal Assem
bly would accomplish meagre results.
3. The Conference Committee of the IT. S.
A. Church presented to our last Assembly a
proposed basis of reunion embodying the very
principles for which our Church stands. If
the U. S. A. Church supports the proposals of
its committee the way to union is open. It
might be well for all of our ministers and