Frontispiece: When He Comes He will Rule over the Whole World details

“It is better to hope and to wait patiently for Him than to reckon the day of His coming. For if the reckoning is wrong, and He does not come, then men despair, and no longer make ready for Him.”

“How does a man make ready for Him, Rabbi?” asked the Boy.

“By prayer, son, and by study of the law, and by good works, and by sacrifices.”

“But when He comes He will rule over the whole world, and how can all the world come to the Temple to sacrifice?”

“A way will be provided,” answered the old man. “though I do not know how it will be. And there are offerings of the heart as well as of the altar. It is written, ‘I will have mercy and not sacrifice.’ ”

“Will His kingdom be for the poor as well as for the rich, and for the ignorant as well as for the wise?”

Yes, it will be more for the poor than for the rich. But it will not be for the ignorant, my son. For he who does not know the law cannot be pious.” (pp. 64 – 67)