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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
As the time drew near for the Son of God to make his first advent,
Satan became more vigilant in preparing the hearts of the Jewish people
to be steeled against the evidences he should bring of his Messiahship.
The Jews had become proud and boastful. The purity of the priesthood
had not been preserved, but was fearfully corrupted. They retained the
forms and ceremonies of their system of worship, while their hearts
were not in the work. They did not sustain personal piety and virtuous
characters. And the more they were wanting in the qualifications
necessary to the sacred work, as priests of the most high God, the more
tenacious were they of outward show of piety, zeal, and devotion.
They were hypocritical. They loved the honors of the world, and
were ambitious to become exalted through riches. In order to obtain
their desire, they improved every opportunity to take advantage of the
poor, especially of the widow and fatherless. They exacted heavy sums
of money of those who were conscientious, on various pretenses, for
the Lord’s treasury, and used the means thus dishonestly obtained for
their own advantage. They were themselves rigorous to outwardly
keep the law. They appeared to show great respect for traditions and
customs, in order to obtain money from the people to gratify their
corrupt ambition.
Traditions, customs, and needless ceremonies, were repeated to the
people, which God had not given them through Moses or any other one.
These originated from no higher source than man. The chief priests,
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scribes, and elders, forced these upon the people as the commandments
of God. Their hearts were hard and unfeeling. They showed no mercy
to the poor and unfortunate. Yet, at the same time, while praying in the
market-places, and giving alms to be seen of men, and thus ting on the
outward semblance of goodness, they were devouring widows’ houses
by their heavy taxes which they laid upon them. They were apparently
exact in outward forms when observed of men; for they wished to
give impressions of their importance. They wished the people to have
exalted ideas of their zeal and devotion to religious duties, while they
were daily robbing God by appropriating the offerings of the people
to themselves.
The priesthood had become so corrupt that the priests had no scru-
ples in engaging in the most dishonest and criminal acts to accomplish
their designs. Those who assumed the office of high priest prior to, and
at, the time of Christ’s first advent, were not men divinely appointed to