The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-11
PASTOR EXPLAINS f BIBLE NARRATIVE Way to Gods Ideal City the
 Theme BIRMINGHAM'S POSITION pr. Dickinson Breaches Stirring Ser mon-Discusses the Story of Ju-
 dah's Apostacy and Com
 pares Conditions.
BlRMINGHAM'S POSITION

yesterday morning on the Way to the Ideal City of God" taking his text from Jeremiah BIT: At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah and all nations shall gather unto it
 He spoke in part as follows:
 Jeremiah lived to be between TO and 50 years and was a prophet among his peo- pie during fifty years. This half century saw the greatest changes in the history of Judah. Yet in all the changing con ditions his prophetic position never changed.
 His last message in Egypt to the little remnant of refugees who had openly de- voted themselves to the heather cult or the queen of heaven is exactly that which he had preached thirty years before in the idolatrous days of Jehoiakim as the vassa1 of Egypt. During all the days or evil that intervened neither imprisonment persecution nor bitter hatred from those who believed and taught more cheerful and popular interpretation of events has availed to change his creed He knew that his message was the will of Jehovah concerning his creed. He knew that his message was the will of Jehovah con  shake him in it's preaching. Such con stancy so extraordinary in every ago or the world deserves our careful attention,
 Covenant With Israel.
 His belief can be briefly outlined and itemized as follows: CD Jehovah when he led Israel out of Egypt had espoused her unto himself in love and loyalty. This covenant was one of free choice and hence the relation of God and people, unlike the other heather tribes to their gods, was ethical and rested upon the principles of moral obligation. It was the only ethical religion then In the world, entailing righteousness and faith fulness on both sides. It's basis was love and truth and called for the closest and most persistent culture of mutual fellow ship. Jehovah as the God of the land should bless them with land that flowed with milk and honey, and they should serve Him with true and loyal homage. Thus He espoused them in the wilder ness.
 (2) But when they came into His land, although they found no unfaithfulness in Him. yet they joined in the cult of the Canaanites and forsook Him in their lust | for the profagate Baals, which were adored on every high place and under l every green tree. The apostasy. in spite of Jehovahs pleading through His pro- phets they had stubbornly pursued in all their history until now the base guilt of the degrading worship had thoroughly | dyed their natures and fixed their ways | in wickedness.
 l haft tfxrn in it's ethical nature implied not only bless ings in response to their obedience but threatened cursng for dsobedience. Judahs persistent disregard and disobe- dience left nothing but the curse as her | fate since her apostasy was so indelible ] as to shut the door of repentance. (4) So Jehovah had decreed that He would de- stroy the apostate society in Palestine, and deport the remnant of Babylonia as He had already done with the ten tribes and there make a fresh start to create l for Himself a people who should realize | by d loyal and true life what all along | He would fain have bestowed in Judah save for her apostasy. There He would make a new covenant not like the one he had made with their fathers in Egypt, | of His law and of personal acquaintance and of forgiveness of sin. (5) When He had thus revealed them unto Himself He would restore them to His land, Judah and Israel, together in a theocracy from Jerusalem where all nations also should come to enjoy Jehovah's will.
 The Prophetic Programme. | wa fact and partly promise of the future. Jeremiah could look back on the covenant espoused in the wilderness and the long years of apostasy as past history. He could see that the third step was al | ready realized in the case of the ten tribes, and was at hand in Judah's his tory. But the rewedding and restoration fioated on the horizon seventy years away as at present only beautiful ideal, con tingent upon the conduct of the exiled people towards their God.
 Our morning lesson tells us how he came to see his prophetic programme. It was not new, but had been in it's several parts presented by the prophets hun dred or more years ago. and almost tho very language is to be found in Hosea IS, Isaiah 1:2 and Micah Al. The Jeru- salem ideal had come down through the years as the true capitol of Jehovah for the entire world. Ezekiel takes it up and works it out in its internal appoint ments in minute detail. Jeremiah tells us that it was in the days of Josiah af- ter he learned that the reformation of that king was only "a feigned turning of the heart to Jehovah that Jehovah brought him to study the history of Is- rael, her apostasy and deportation and promised return, and learn the like desti- ny of Judah who much more deserved such sad fate. Thus he learned that Judah would be destroyed and deported and when the children appeared on the northern horizon he saw in their army the instrument that Jehovah would use for this work just as Isaiah and Hosea had seen in the Assyrian for Israel cen tury before
 Social and Moral Conditions. | Most people think that history deter- 1 mins moral and religious conditions, but not so with our prophet, nor indeed with any of the prophets. With them it is moral and religious conditions that con trol the social and political factors of l history to vindicate the God of truth and justice. And so Nebuchadnezzar to | Jeremiah was Jehovah's servant to work | his will in destroying the apostate deser-