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"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" (Matt. xxiii. 37, 38).
The third cause of the rejection of Israel is seen in their bitter opposition to the spread
of the gospel. Such passages as Acts xvii. 1-7 and xxii. 1-22 should be read. Space for
the citation of many of these passages cannot be afforded, but we give one of them from
the epistle to the Thessalonians:--
"Ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the
Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us;
and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the
Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always; for the wrath is come upon
them to the uttermost" (I Thess. ii. 14-16).