“Love to Israel, such as Moses and Paul felt, is a ray from that ineffable ocean of light which is in God. The Apostle, when he speaks of his great grief on account of Israel’s unbelief, is conscious that this feeling is not merely one of natural patriotism and affection, but of the Spirit, by virtue of his union with Christ. ‘I say the truth in Christ, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost’ (Rom 9:1). He who referred all feelings of true and tender love to the indwelling of God’s Spirit, who longed after the Philippians in the bowels of Jesus Christ, is clearly conscious that his love to Israel is Christ-sprung, God-given, Spirit-breathed; it is the Saviour’s mind and affection living in his heart. Behold, Jesus Christ still weeping over Jerusalem with the eyes of Paul.”
Adolph Saphir, 1868
from, Israel Beloved; or the Gifts and the Calling of God Which Are Without Repentance (1868),