The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-02-18
The SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Jeholakim's Wickedness-,Jer. 30i i0-31-
Memory Verses, 22, 23.

Memory Verses, 22, 23.
Especially Arranged from S. s. QUARTERLY
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 81. 1904
GOLDEN TExr,-To-day II 70 will hear His
voice, harden not your hearts-Heb 8; 16
CENTRAL TRuTn.--Thc word of our God
abides forever, against every effort to destroy
1t or prevent its fulflllment
TIME-In December, 604 or eos B. @. The
fifth year OF Jchoiaklnl, the ninth month Of
tho Jewish religious year. Ten or twelve
years before the last lesson.
PLAcE.-The palace Of Jehoiakim in Jerusa-
lem.
KrNes.-Jehoiakinn, Of Judah; Ncouchadnez
zar, of Babylon.
Observation-Disclosures had be-
siegcd Jerusalem in the third Dan. 1:D and
fourth tJcr. S6:D years Of Jehoiakim. His
father was king Of Babylon, but died while the
son was at Jerusalem. He accordingly ex.
acted q large tribute and returned to Babylon
to take possession Of his kingdom. To-daye
lesson took place in hts absence and hence
King Jehoiakin was confident that he would
escape the throatenings of Jeremiah that
Babylon would destroy Jerusalem.
HELPS OVER HARD PLAcEa-Jeremiah was
commanded to write out the sum OF his
prophecies during the twenty-three years OF
his prophesy!ng. The roll, or book, was read
to the people ut o fast-day service in the
loading men Of the nation. These were 50 i'm
pressed with the warnings Of tho prophet that
they determined to report to the king, in hopes
that he would repent and the nation be saved
10. 'Baruch:" Jeremiuh's scribe. Hide thee:"
II tho king did not heed them he would try to
kill the prophet and his helper. 30. 'The
courts" The inner court whero the king re-
ceivod. Laid up the rolls" Books were often
then in the form of o roll. They were afraid
that the king would destroy II. g. winter
house:" Or. apartments. g The lower and
warmer ones. "a Gre on the hearth" Not IN
q fireplace like ours. They had no chimneys
then. Tho tro was in a pot OF charcoal In a
place holo wed out In the pavement Of the
court. %. Three or four lcaves:" Or. col.
umns. written across the roll "He:" The
king (see Revised Vcrsion). He read only .
little, but burned the whole. "a. Were not
afraid" The writer is astonished at the dull
ness Of their minds and hardness Of their
hearts. "Nor his scrvants:" His az
tendants, not the princes. 80. None TO sit
upon the throne:" So as to reign as his sue
cessor. His son, Jehoiakim, tried TO. but his
city was besicRed oil the time, and In three
months he was carried away captive.
LESSON COMMENT.
The work Of Josiah had been for the
good OF the people, but after this there
again came times of degeneration, and
under Jehoialsim things had come to q
bad pass. This was not because there
was no prophet in the land to give the
king advice; for jeremiah was still liv-
ing, and did all that was in his power
to arrest the downward course Of
events. But to him the king and his
counsellors would give no heed. An in
stance of this. most painful, and yet
graphic, we have in our lesson for to-
day. To get clear idea of the whole
transaction, the entire chapter must be
read carefully. Notice the triple read
ing Of the woris Of the prophet, first in
the ears of the people, then in the
hearing Of certain princes of the land,
and lastly in the presence of the king
himself. In the latter case there was q
fire of Goals in the room where the king
sat, and as the words of the prophet
were read the king in his imbecile rage
cut the roll with his penknife, and
burned up the obnoxious prophecies.
They plead with him not to do so wick
ed thing, but they speak to deaf ears.
When this part of the tragedy came
to an end, the king gave command
ment that jeremiah should be arrested
and thrust into prison. But jeremiah
hid himself from the kings agents, and
so for awhile escaped. But this is not
the end of the whole matter. jeremiah
calls for his scribe, and again writes
the very same words that the king had
burned, land there were added to
them, besides, many like words" So
the king failed utterly in his effort to
extinguish the utterancc of this servant
of God. 1t was childish folly for him
to think that by such actions he could
in any way affect the future, or turn
aside the judgments that Jeremiah had
pronounced.
once read the story Of an infidel
who got so angry with the Bible that he
tore up his copy and burned it in his
own fireplace. Now it SO happened
that part of a leahet blew out of the
fire and fell near his feet. He stopped
down to pick it up and throw it back
into the fire, when these words met his
eye: Heaven and earth shall pass
pass away, but My Word shall not pass
away" This SO impressed his mind
that he eventually changed and became
an earnest Christian. We are not SO bad
as that. And yet there are some who
are in reality doing no better. Sup
posing that an absent father were to
write q letter to his child, and bid the
child do certain right things. And sup
pose that that child were to burn that
letter up, what would you think of that
child? But supposing that instead of
burning tho letter up the child were to
read itoften, and yet in no way obey the
would that be any more
filial than to burn the letter up? Would
there be much difference between these
two children? think not Well, there
are many people who have Gods word
in their hands, who would not burn it
up, but who study it Sunday after Sun
day, and yet they do not obey what it
says. The trouble is not that they do
not understand it. They do; yet they
remain as they were, and do not be-
come followers of the Master. What
shall we say about such people? Are
they better or worse than .Jehoial.imc