The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1905-08-18
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON YIN, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 20.


Of a good king, one who believed God
and trembled ut His word and sought
very earnestly to lead the people to
know and trust and serve Him. Now
we have before us Il son of that same
king, sitting Oh the same throne, the
throne Of the Lord q Chron. xxx, 23),
as the Lords representative, but lie
has no respect for God or for His word.
The ten tribes, the kingdom of Israel,
had been carried into captivity because
of their persistent rebellion against
God, and now the two tribes, the king
dom of Judah, were nearing the end Of
Gods patience with them. In less
than twenty years from the date Of our
lesson (see verse u the judgment had
fallen upon them, and they were cap
tives ut Babylon. When men persist
emily blaspheme God and refuse to
listen to Him, then lie speaks in judg
ment but up to the last with II desire
that men may not perish eternally.
See verse and Job XXXiii, 30, 80.
jeremiah was the Lords messenger
during the last forty years before the
captivity of Judah, eighteen years Of
the reign of Josiah ana twenty-five Of
Jehoikim and Zedekiah, and now after
he had been the Lords faithful witness
for about twenty-five Of tie forty
years he is commanded TO write in a
book the Lords words against Lis peo-
pie if perchance they might return to
the Lord and the threatened judgments
be averted. 1t is no easy matter to be
a witness against evil and evildoers,
and jeremiah was told ut the begin
ming of his ministry, THEY shall fight
against thee, but they shall not prevail
against thee, for l am with thee, saith
the Lord, To deliver thee" chapter j.
100. Isaiah and Ezekiel were also fore
warned that the people would not re-
ceive their message. The apostles were
sent forth as sheep in the midst Of
wolves, and we are assured that
throughout this whole age there will
be wayside and rocky soil hearers, and
tares will grow with the wheat till the
harvest, while in the last days there
will only be Il form of godliness, with
out the power and people will not en-
dure sound doctrine QI Tim. iii, 10;
iv, 81.
Verse of our lesson chapter teaches
us that Scripture is the word of the
Lord. There may be a mans pen and
q mans mouth, but the words are the
words Of the Lord. See chapter i, 0:
II Sam. xiii, 2; Deut. xviii, Is; Matt.
Y, 90.
In Jehoikim, the professed represent
alive of God, cutting and burning the
words of the Lord without fear or
trembling we see n foreshadowing of
the destructive criticism OF our own day
which will not tolerate the word of
God concerning sin or Judgment TO
come or anything supernatural, will
not believe in Saviour conceived by
the Holy Spirit nor in the resurrection
of the dead has no use for the atone
mcnt Of Christ and therefore no in
terest in foreign missions. Like the
prophets of Jeremiah's time, they
prophesy falsely, speak n vision of
their own heart and cause people TO
err by their lies and their lightness,
and the people seem to love to have it
so DER. V, so, 81; xiii, 1G 81; lisa. xxx,
10, IL.
In all ages God has His remnant of
faithful ones, and there were those who
begged Jehoikim not to burn the roll,
but he would not hear Verse 25). He
had no use for such words as these,
Gle that, being often reproved, hard
eneth his neck, shall suddenly be de-
stroyed, and that without remedy
prov. xxx, u, but he had hatred and
Imprisonment for those who would
dare to reprove him Verse 2G), remind
ing us of the words of Ahab concern
ing Micaiah, 81 hate him, for he never
prophesied good unto Inc, but always
eviP' QI Chron. xviii, y, and recalling
the words of our Lord also, IF the
world hate you, We know that it hated
Me before it hated you" John XIV, 49,.
The princes, knowing the temper of
their king, had advised Baruch and
Jeremiah to hide themselves, and now
we read that the Lord hid them oversees
10, 2G). When the Lord hid Elijah,
Ahab could not possibly find him Il
Kings xvii, 3; xviii, 10). There is n
hiding from God and n hiding in God
Gen iii, 8, 10; Isa. xviii, II; ii, 10;
Zeph. ii, -. Happy are those who can
truly say, "My life is hid With Christ
in God" (Col. ill, 81.
However much men may seek to de-
stroy the word Of God and seem to
succeed, the true child of God rejoices
in Ps. cxiX. so. Forever o Lord, Thy
word is settled i'm heaven" and lisa.
Il, S, ''1'he word OF our God shall stand
forever" The Lord. saw Jchoiklm's
treatment Of Ills message and bore pa
tiently with him yet awhile, but told
jeremiah to take another roll and write
in il all the former words and many
more oversees %, 32). Men may re-
fuse to believe the word of God and
even cut out and destroy the portions
of the Bible which they DO not like,
but it stands, all of it, forever settled
in heaven, and some day they will be-
lieve II.
Although neither the king nor his
people would listen to the words of
the Lord, 1t came to pass in due time
inst as fhp Lord had said III ChrOn