THEY MOCK THE TEN COMMANDMENTS—MAKE OF GOD A FOOL

If the Ten Commandments are not kept, what is the keeping of other commandments otherwise than jugglery and trickery, yea, a real mockery in which God is treated like a fool? Just as if a mean Devilshead among us would march along in robes of bishop or preacher, and keep all the laws and ways of such persons outwardly, but under that spiritual decoration were a real Devil, wolf, an enemy of the Church and a blasphemer who would tread under foot, curse and condemn both the Gospel and the Ten Commandments: O what a wonderful saint that would be before God.

Or if in this world a beautiful woman were to parade in a wreath (token of virginity) and follow all manners, rights and behavior of maidenly modesty and virginity, but underneath were nothing but a nasty, shameful whore transgressing the Ten Commandments, what would her fine obedience help her if outwardly she observed the rights and ways of virginity? This it would do to her, that people would despise her seven times more than a free, public whore! Thus God always chided Israel a mean whore through His prophets, because they practiced all manner of idolatry and wickedness under the show of outward commandments and sanctity. As Hosea especially laments Chapter 2:4,5: "I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceiveth them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink." It is nice indeed to find a maiden or woman who is pious, cleanly and decently dressed and outwardly behaving in a modest manner. But when she is a whore; the dress, decorations, wreath and trinkets would appear, more honest on a sow in the mire. As Solomon says: "A golden braid on the nose of a sow is as a beautiful, silly woman."

Therefore, they might as well keep from boasting about outward obedience to the Laws of Moses without true obedience to God's Ten Commandments. Yea, it makes them sevenfold more unworthy to be the people of God than the heathen.

Let them alone! And let us remain with those who pray the miserere, the 51st Psalm, that is, who know and understand what the Law is and what is keeping or not keeping the Law.

From this, dear Christian, note what you are doing when you permit these blinded Jews to mislead you. In such an instance the proverb certainly is fulfilled: "Where the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch." More you cannot learn from them. To lack understanding of God's commandments and yet be proud and overbearing towards the heathen who are much better than they are before God, because they do not have such pride of holiness, and yet do much more of the Law than the proud saints and condemned blasphemers and liars.

THEIR SCHOOLS A DEVIL'S NEST

Therefore be on your guard against the Jews and know that where they have their schools there is nothing but the Devil's nest in which self-praise, vanity, lies, blasphemy, disgracing God and man, are practiced in the bitterest and most poisonous way as the Devils do themselves. Wherever you see or hear a Jew teaching, do not think otherwise than that you are hearing a poisonous Basiliskus who with his face poisons and kills people. (Medieval legend.) Through God's wrath they have been delivered to believe that all of their boasting, vanity, lying to God, cursing all men, are right and a great service to God, something well becoming to such noble blood of the fathers and circumcised saints (no matter how mean they otherwise might know themselves to be in gross vices) which service they think they have rendered hereby. Look out for them!

They brag and boast that they have had the land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem and the temple from God. Although God has overthrown such boasting and vanity many times, especially through the king of Babylon who led them away and destroyed everything, like the King of Assyria had before led away and destroyed the entire Israel. Finally they were rooted up and devastated by the Romans, now almost 1400 years ago, that they might comprehend how God did not consider, nor will He regard country, city, temple, priesthood and principality, that He should consider them His own chosen people on that account; yet their iron neck (as Isaiah calls it) is not bowed, nor has their iron forehead become red with shame. They constantly remain stiff-necked, blinded, hardened, and immovable. Still hope that God will bring them home again and give everything back to them.

DEVIL POSSESSED

They do not see and hear that God had given everything for the purpose that they should keep His Commandments; therefore they should be His people and Church. Just as they boast of their blood and nobility, but that they should keep His Commandments, on account of which and for which purpose he had chosen them, that they do not see and regard. They boast about their circumcision, but the purpose for which they were circumcised—to keep God's Commandment—does not mean anything to them. They know how to boast of their Law, Temple, Divine Services, city, country and principality; but disregard the purpose for which they had it. The Devil has possessed these people with all his angels; that they always boast of outward things, their gifts, their accomplishments and deeds, which is to offer up the empty shells without the kernels. Those He is to look upon and on their account take them (the people who offer them) for His nation, exalt and bless them above all heathen. But that they should keep His Commandments and keep Him as their God, that they will not aceept. The saying of Moses applies to them: "They do not regard Me as God, therefore I do not regard them as my people," as also says Hosea 1:9.

If God had not permitted the people of Jerusalem to be torn asunder and driven them from the land, but had let them keep it after as before, no one could convince them that they are not God's chosen nation. Because they would still have the temple, city and country, regardless of their wickedness, disobedience and stiff-neckedness. Although many prophets would daily cry out and a thousand Moses' be standing here and exclaiming: "You are not the people of God, because you are disobedient and rebellious." Even now they cannot give up their insane raving boast that they are the chosen people of God, after they have been dispersed and rejected for 1500 years! Still they hope to get back there because of their own merits. There is no promise for that on which they could lean for comfort, except what they smear into the Scriptures according to their own imagination … Thus the Jews at last continue in their willfulness, and knowingly want to err and not leave their Rabbis, and therefore we also must leave them to their poisonous blasphemies and lies, and disregard them.