The daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 190?-1908, 1908-11-19

Johanan laid violent hands uron rae
and dragged me thither. for | alone
remain faithful to God. Oh. that lie
would give me his message to speak"
But OF what use is Il to speakY''
came voice from within.
Yea, I know It seems futile" he
admitted dejectedly, but that Is no
reason why should not speak II
is not for me to withhold because the
ground into which the seed falls IL
hard and unproductive. Woe Is me IL
! cry not out against the iniquities OF
my people. Oh, God, give me thy mes.
sage"
The heart that feels the overburden-
Ing desire to know Gods word and to
speak it, never fails Of receiving Di-
vine enlightenment. and the opportu-
nifty of becoming the mouthpiece OF
God SO 1t was with jeremiah. Gods
message came to him. and he went
forth to speak It,
The first one he encountered was
Johanan himself. who had come long
since to treat the prophet with a sort
of good.natured indifference Had not
the comfort and apparent prosperity
with which the Jews now found them
selves surrounded more than justified
the wisdom of his move In taking the
people into Egypt? He had nothing
further to fear from the influence OF
Jeremiah over the people. Had not
the prophets dire warnings been unful.
filed thus far? And was there any
likelihood that they would ever be full.
filled? And feeling thus. 1t was with
supreme satisfaction that he had seen
Jeremiah passing from place to place
where the Jews had their dwelling
place. He'll learn a thing or two"
Johanan had chuckled to himself.
And jeremiah had learned thing
or two, but not the thing or two which
Johanan had had In mind. jeremiah,
indeed, had observed the prosperity of
the Jews. but it had only appeared
| like a most horrible thing, being moth
! ing more nor less than the purchase
| price of their souls. And as we have
| already said. he had observed the
utter abandon of the people to the
! idolatrous practices of the Egyptians.
had agonized over II in prayer to God.
and now was going forth with his
message fIom God. And the first per
son whom he chanced to meet as he
set forth upon his new mission was
Johanan himself.
His first impulse was to turn from
him as from one accursed of God, but
instantly there came the thought:
Set not the bounds upon Gods
grace, neither do thou become Judge
in Gods place"
Humbly he turned and addressed
himself to Johanan, pouring out such
a message of entreaty and condemna
tlon upon sin as to fairly make the
man writhe in the turmoil of conflict
ing emotions and an accusing con
science. But when jeremiah came tO
declare the evil which God would Ger
tainly bring upon the people because
of their sins, a contemptuous sneer
curled the lips of Johanan. and, as he
turned away, he exclaimed:
Thou ever prophesieth evil, but
good cometh to us. Thou art indeed d
false prophet"
Nothing daunted, jeremiah passed
from place to place, speaking to the
Jews and pointing to the desolation oi
Jerusalem and Judea as the evi
dences of Gods certain punishment
upon sin and declaring that God had
spoken, saying, Il will punish then
that dwell in the land of Egypt, as
have punished Jerusalem, by the
sword. by the famine and by the pes
thence; SO that none OF the remnant
of Judah, which are gone into the
land of Egypt to sojourn there, shal
escape or remain, that they should re
turn into the land OF Judah, to the
which they have a desire to return t.
dwell there; for none shall return bu
such as shall escape"
But, however much Johanan pro
fessed to be Indifferent TO the prophet
he had lurking fear of the infiuenc'
he might exert over the people, AM
80, as the prophet went about deliver
ing his message, he followed him
seeking to unity the people against tn
prophet. How we'll he succeeded wa
apparent when the men all came tC
, gether and made answer to Jeremia
in these words:
"As for the word that thou has
spoken unto us in the name OF tn
Lord, we will not hearken unto the'
But we will certainly do whatsoeve
. thing goeth forth out of our mouth, I
b burn incense to the queen OF HEAVIER
e and to pour out drink offerings unit
< her, as we have done, we, and ou
D fathers, our kings and our princes 1
q the cities OF Judah. and in the street
= OF Jerusalem for then had we plent
n of victuals and were well and saw n
e evil"
e Sick and disheartened, Jeremia
+ faced that great assembly, They ha
l. scorned him, they had rejected God
Y word. There remained nothing fc
l. him to do but to deliver Gods fini
4 word OF Judgment.
d THUS saith the Lord OF hosts. tn
/ God of Israel" he cried "Behold