hecy. The result was that their
beliefs became, indeed, a complex labyrinth with paths leading in opposite
directions. Later events have proved beyond question that these popular
types were the dreams of religious enthusiasts rather than true pictures
of the way in which the divine purpose was to be perfected in human
history, and yet the apocalyptic type of prophecy was not without its
significance. It tended to correct the narrow national hopes of the Jews
and to lift them to the consideration of that which was spiritual and
eternal. It also led them to appreciate the unity of all history, and in
times of distress it kept alive their faith in a God who was wisely
guiding their destinies. Underlying all these different types of prophecy
is the appreciation of the broad truth that God was working out in the
lives of men and nations a definite purpose, and that that purpose was
good, and that the God back of all history was a God not only of power but
also of love. It was inevitable that the ethical and more spiritual
expectations of the early Hebrew prophets should find the fullest response
in the heart and life of the Great Teacher. In the face of opposition from
the leaders of his race, from the multitudes that gathered about him, and
even from the disciples who loved and followed him, he proclaimed that the
kingdom of God would not come by observation, but that its growth would be
natural and gradual like that of the mustard seed, that it was not
external but within the hearts of men, that membership in that kingdom
depended not upon the arbitrary will of God, but upon men's acting in
accord with that will in the every-day relations of life. Thus Jesus
prepared the way for the complete fulfillment of all that was noblest and
best in Israel's messianic hopes, and in his character and teachings far
surpassed the highest expectations of the inspired teachers of his race.

APPENDIX

I

A PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY

Books for Constant Reference. The complete text of the biblical writings
of the post-exilic period are found in Volumes II to VI of the _Student's
Old Testament_. A careful, thorough resume of the history is contained in
Riggs's _History of the Jewish People during the Maccabean and Roman
Periods_. Professor Bevan, in his _Jerusalem Under the High Priests_,
presents, especially from the ecclesiastical point of view, a fresh
survey of the history during the Greek and Maccabean periods. The
geographical