The Jew Has No Excuse

Who dares to say, "I wouldn't've spurned God's Son?"
When Mary gave birth in Bethlehem's barn,
Wise men afar followed the setting sun,
While His own deemed God's advent but yarn!
Three hundred forty times Jew prophets said
The divine Messiah was on the way;
Three hundred forty times Jews shook their head;
Killed those who told them what God had to say!
Yet when scholars tested each one for truth,
None was found false or wrong in any way;
God lived among us from birth through youth,
Past thirty-three; was slain; rose; lives today!
For the Jew there is no excuse at all,
Then or now, that God Jesus did in vain call!

What is difficult for me to understand, providing they read the same Bible I do (and scholars tell me they do), is how most Jews in the days that Jesus lived with them did not recognize Him as the Messiah (Moshiach to them) that was promised. No less than 340 passages of the Old Testament prophesied His coming. For a people who prided themselves on reading the Torah, Talmud, Writings, and Prophets (the main elements of scripture in their time) , they failed to recognize One the details of whose coming were scattered throughout, from Genesis 3:15 all the way to Malachi 4:5, the last verse in the Septuagint. Daniel even gave the exact date that He would be born, but for some unknown reason, they didn't identify Daniel as a prophet. Micah said He would be born in Bethlehem, and they proved they knew it, because when King Herod asked them where, so that he might kill Him to prevent His taking over the kingdom, they told him correctly. Wise men from India knew of His birth and followed His star in the west until they found Him; only a few shepherds, who were told by a choir of angels, came to His place of birth to worship Him. Where were the priests?

As a race chosen by God to be priests to the whole world on behalf of God who would be born one of them, and who was to bring salvation to a fallen world, the Jews proved to be unusually dull spritually. Even Moses, their foremost prophet and the leader who freed them from slavery in Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land, constantly reminded them of all that God had done for them, because in every hardship they quickly forgot what He had done for them. Finally God pronounced judgment upon them that insured they would reject the coming Messiah, who would then turn to Gentiles (every human being not Jewish) to spread the gospel worldwide.

"'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.'" (Isaiah 6:9-10) (750 years before the birth of Christ)

Isaiah was shocked to hear this harsh judgment on Israel from God. He quicl;y asked God how long the judgment would last. He was told, in effect, that it would last until Jesus Christ returns to earth the Second time, which has not yet happened. Jesus was keenly aware of this curse upon the understanding of the Jews. He mentioned it several times---once, He told His disciples that He taught in parables because the Jews were not supposed to understand the message of salvation. Another time He told the Jews about the curse upon them, by quoting the passage from Isaiah. Paul knew about it and preached it to the Jews in Acts 28, when they grew angry and walked out on him. Paul also told of it in Romans 11. The judgment is still upon the Jews today. The nation of Israel today is composed of 78% Jewish population, of which 200,000 are Messianic; that is, who believe Jesus to be Messiah. I expect many of the Jews, even a majority, to accept Jesus when the judgment is lifted after Christ returns to earth.