Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-09-03


to the heather deity. Sometimes II
was a boy and some times It was
girl that was placed naked in the arms
of the great image after 1t had been
fred to a red heat with fuel piled un-
derneath the image and passing
through It as a flue. The cries of these
infants so horribly sacrificed were
drowned by the cheers of the worship.
pers and various musical instruments.
All of this. indeed everything akin
to suffering. was strictly forbidden
by the Divine Law given to Israel.
And they had been specially warned
against this very form of idolatry
Leviticus xviii, 81; Deuteronomy
xviii, 10). 1t is a gross mistake and
SANDER of the Divine character and
Law to suppose that it ever sanctioned
torture. And it is still worse Sian
der upon God to suppose that he would
himself do, and that for all eternity.
what he condemned in his fallen crea-
lures.
The Lord declares all this through
the Prophet jeremiah vii. 31-3iD. Here
God particularly forewarned the Israel.
ties that their wrong course would
eventuate in the terrible time of trou-
BILE which came upon Jerusalem in the
year \. d. 20, when it was estimated
That over million died at the siege
of Jerusalem. In fulhllment of this
prophecy the Jews cast the dead bodies
over the wall OF Jerusalem into this
very Valley. Thus we read, Behold,
the day is come, saith the Lord, that it
shall no more he called ToTheth, nor,
The Valley of the son OF Hinnom, but.
The Valley of Slaughter; for they shall
bury in Topheth till there be no place,
And the carcGsses Of this people shall
be meat for the fowls of the heaven,
and for the beasts of the earth"
After the reformation made by King
Josiah the Valley of IIinnom was desc
Grated to the intent that it might never
afterward be considered fit for any
kind of religious worship, sacrifice or
ceremony. 1t became the valley of
deflement. 1t was used at certain
timessfor the burning of the offal and
rubbish Of the city. 1t became the
dumping place of dead cats 6nd dogs,
etc If any of these fell upon the
lodges Of the rock, no one thought
worth while to interfere. and the mag
gots and worms destroyed them. Fires
also were lighted occasionally to burn.
the combustible rubbish. and birthstone
was added so that the fumes might
destroy any malarial tendency, in the
interest Of the health of the city.
The Lesson Jesus Taught.
We have before our minds now the
gehenna fire which no one ever at
tempted to quench, but which was de-
signed to consume utterly everything
cast into it. We have in mind also the
worms of which he spake-worms
which were permitted to feed on the
carcasses undisturbed until the car
casses were consumed and tAe worms
themselves died Another item here
should be noticed, namely, that say
ing amongst the Jews was, Whosoever
commits such a misdemeanor will be
in danger Of going from bad to worse
until he will be brought before the
tribunal of the Sanhedrin, culprit
Jesus took the same line of proverbs
and declared that anyone violating the
Golden Rule to the extent of calling
his brother a fool would be in danger
eventually of such DEPRESSION from
Righteousness as to bring him under
sentence Of the greater tribunal Of
Messlahs Kingdom. and. "Whosoever
shall say unto his brother, Thou art
a fool. shall be in danger Of gehenna
fire. Natthew V, 22).
What the Great Teacher meant was
that the earthly Jerusalem was a pic
ture or type of the heavenly Jerusa-
lem, which represents the Divine Gov
ernment or Eingdom-the New Jeru-
salem which, by and by, will come
down to earth-when Gods will shall
be done on earth as it is Zone in
heaven.
AS gehenna lay outside of the wall
of Jerusalem, so our Lord intimated
there would he an antitypical gehenna
outside the New Jerusalem. As the
AluSn anu Ouul VI llt ~ plNdl 'lAS NNAN
consumed in the Valley of HinnOm, so
the offal and trash of humanity who
will refuse all Of Gods favors. mercies,
blessings and opportunities, will be
treated as disgraceful wretches and be
consumed, destroyed, in the antityp-
ical gehenna-wh is the Second
Death. Concerning this antitypical ge-
henna, the Second Death. we are def
nltely informed of the characters which
will there be destroyed utterly, as Pc
ter says, "as natural brute beasts"
We have a description Of this sym
bolical New Jerusalem or Divine King
dom Revelation xxi, composed pri-
marily of the Church, and secOndarily
of all from the world who. during
Messiah's reign, will enter in through
its gates and enjoy the blessings of
Divine favor and life eternal. And
then we read. verse 8, Put the fear
full, and uu3ciiaving, and the abomina-
Bile, and mUrderers, and whoremong-
ers. anG soroerprs, and idolaters and
all liars, shall have their part 10 the
lake which burncth with fire ana brim-
stone which Is the Second Death"
4 Lit.