St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1909-02-27

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] Of the beloved Jerusalem. How the
temple would be rebuilt and the city
take on much of the old life and acttV-
ity which had marked it in the days
of its former glory
And now he contrasted the pictures
| which his enthusiastic young hope
had drawn with the realities OF the
present. after 15 years of struggle and
waiting
.eWhat has been Gods purpose in
bringing his people back to Zion II
the temple is not to be rebuilt! ne
/ asked himself, as he reached his mod
est little room and sat down on the
i low bench and watched with far
away look the sun sink out OF sight IN
the west.
His frugal meal was forgotten, ana
he was unconscious of the gathering
darkness. His whole thought cen
tered around the history of the return
of the Jews to Jerusalem and the evil
dent failure of the highest hopes OF
the movement. And he went on TO
catechise himself as to why sucn
things could be.
God has spoken of great blessing
TO his people at Jerusalem, mused
Zachariah. WAS 1t not his promise
that after 20 years he would return
the captivity and establish his people
| in Zion? Had not Daniel searched out
these promises given by the prophet
Jeremiah and had not they found fui-
fi1lment in the return Is years be-
fore? Had not the return been with
gladness, and had not the manifest
blessing of God rested upon the
movement"
With what joy, he thought, had they
/ begun the rebuilding of the temple IN
order that God might have dWelllns
place in their midst And the WORK
had progressed to the point where the
ruins had been cleared and the
| foundation walls again built ready 10
| begin the superstructure. Tnen haa
come the opposition of the Samarltans
and the decree of Artaxerxes ordering
that the work be stopped. But now
] the king of Babylon was dead ana
Darius had come to the throne, ana
4 with the change had come the new IN
! spiration and hope that the work on
the temple would be resumed.
Haggai had come with his stirring
message, and had reassured the peo-
pie with the promise that Coo was
/ with them. But now after two months
the work was tagging and gave indiea-
lions of ceasing again altogether
What is the matter?" exclaimed
Zechariah. What can be done to
/ rouse the people and hold them to
/ their tasks? It needs more than the
| enthusiasm which first aroused the
people" he muttered to himself as
he leaned out of the open easement
and watched the stars flashing out one
by one as the night grew darker.
What is indifference to Gods work
but the forgetting of God and Gods
law?" he demanded Of himself, at
last. Does not sin lie at the door,
then? An ne exclaimed, excitedly,
chat is where the trouble lies. We
need God"
AS though by way of response, a
voice came floating down through the
night and instinctively Zechariah
4 h1GW 1t Was IOu 0pCdh1hS. WIN Aap
lifted but reverent gaze, zechariah
whispered:
Speak, Lord, thy message"
/ Again came the voice, saying:
THE Lord hath been sore dis
pleased with your fathers Therefore,
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts: Turn We unto me, saith the
Lord Of hosts, and I will turn unto
you, saith the Lord of hosts. Be We
not as your fathers, unto whom the
former prophets have cried, saying.
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Turn
ye now from your evil ways, and from
your evil doings; but they did not
hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the
Lord. But my words and my statutes,
| which / commanded my servants the
prophets, did they not take hold Of
your fathers? and they returned and
said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought
to do unto us, according to our ways,
and according to our doings, SO hath
he dealt with u.s.
"The Lord hath told me to speak to
his people," whispered Zechariah to
himself after the voice had ceased.
Can it be?" he exclaimed in rapture,
''that God is calling me as prophet
and priest to serve his people?"
And then by way of response he
added, earnestly:
/ II will speak. All the Lord hath
said will l tell the people. And, Oh,
that they may indeed hear the voice
of God and turn to him. It is only
thus that the work of the rebuilding of
the temple viii prosper"
So it came to pass on the morrow
that zechariah's place upon the tenn
pie walls was vacant, but Jerusalem
had new prophet whose voice was
sounding throughout the city the call
to repentance and urging the need OF
turning to God.
|