John Wesley’s Zionist Hymn (From Hymn Book 1779)

1. Almighty God of Love, Set up the attracting sign, And summon whom Thou dost approve for messengers divine; from favoured Abraham’s Seed and new Apostles choose, In isles and continents to spread the dead reviving news.

2. Them, snatched out of the flame, through every nation send, the true Messiah to proclaim, the universal Friend; That all, the God unknown, may learn of Jews to adore, And see Thy glory in Thy Son, till time shall be no more.

3. O that the chosen band might now their brethren bring! And gathered out of every land, Present to Sion’s King! Of all the ancient race not one be left behind, But each, impelled by sacred grace, His way to Canaan find.

4. We know it must be done, For God hath spoken the Word, And all Israel shall the Saviour own, To their first state restored. Rebuilt by His command, Jerusalem shall rise; Her temple on Moriah stand again, and touch the skies.

5. Send then Thy servants forth, To call the Hebrews home; From East and West, and South and North, Let all the wanderers come: Wherever in lands unknown, The fugitives remain, Bid every creature help them on, Thy Holy Mount to gain.

6. An offering to the Lord, There let them all be seen, Sprinkled with water and with blood, In soul and body clean: with Israel’s myriads sealed. Let all the nations meet, And show the mystery fulfilled, The family complete.^*

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^*John Wesley (1705-1791) was educated at Oxford University, England. This brilliant young intellectual taught Greek, tutored, and founded the “Holy Club,” which met to study the Scriptures; visiting the sick and ministering to prisoners. In 1735, he was sent to the new colony of Georgia by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to serve the Religious needs of the colonists, and to start a mission to the Indians. While crossing the Atlantic, Wesley met a company of Moravians, and was humbled by the weakness of his faith compared with theirs. He “felt his heart strangely warmed” – “that Christ, the Messiah died for me” was what he felt, and thereafter tried to make all men feel. He traveled all over England, crossing the Irish Channel 42 times. He traveled 5,000 miles a year on horseback, and preached 15 sermons on the Scriptures in an average week. He promoted popular education and was keenly interested in the condition of the poor and in the means of improving it. Wesley organized societies and classes, and established preaching places, enlisting hundreds of preachers. One of the leaders in the great Weslyan Revival, his voluminous Journals report these amazing labours day by day.