The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-05-30
BY the peace among Our peoples let
men know We serve the LORD.
The Torch That Never Goes Out


The Torch That Never Goes Out
IF anybody thinks that history goes
BY h~aphazard, let him look at the
Jews. Babylonia, Egypt, Assyria
Persia. Greece, Rome. all have per
ished and become memories, but this
strange little people, often Oppressed
and led captive, dispersed among the
nations, SO that were they like Other
peoples they would long ere this have
lost their identity and been merged
with the races about them, yet never
| theless, persist in their racial integri-
ty in all lands and despite all vicis-
STUDIES. Israel is d torch lighted
by God, and he has not let any of the
f~iercest blasts Of history blow it out.
Sometimes it has been trampled into
embers, and scattered widely, and the
fragments seem to shoulder at a point
just above extinction; but the fire
still burns, and from it has come the
Light to tighten many nations.
One who has travelled in the lands
with which the Bible deals finds him
self i in the grip Of a great conviction
concerning the Jews. In them he be-
holds the clearest attestation Of the
truth Of Old Testament prophecy. He
sees them living. and at present in
growing power, in the lands of their
former exile, though their ancient OPP
preSsors have been gOne from the
scene for centuries. In Bagdad, there
has been within a generation a
strange recrudescence Of the vitality
of the huge Jewish population. Long
in poverty n misery, they are now
lifting up their heads In prosperity,
are building great schools. teaching
their sons and daughters the English
language, and making ready to profit
by the rehabilitation of MesopOtamia,
through the irrigation project Of Sar
William Willcocks. In Palestine also,
although opposed by the Turkish gov
eminent, the Jews are steadily in
creasing in numbers and power. Link
these facts with the cognate fact
that the Jews are increasing in might
in America and Europe, and that the
archaeolOgists are making strange new
discoveries, in Samaria and Jerusalem,
concerning the history Of the Chosen
People, and one is bound to pause and
ask, What do these things lean?
Surely, there is one persisting divine
purpose running through all the
course of history.
The Religion For Men Who Sin.
In the contemplative PHILOSOPHERS of
the East, there IS much hat is at
tractive to a speculative mind; and
not a few Europeans nave been so
far ~recreant to the teachings Of his
tory, and their own racial inheritance,
as to accept these as their religion,
discarding Christianity. All other con-
~siderationS aside. however. these eth
mic religions fail because they do not
provide pardon for mans sins. In
the summer days Of thoughtlessness
these vague teachings may please, but
in the stress and struggle and sin of
real living the human heart cries
aloud for forgiveness. Like Israel of
old, men are still prone to slip away
from their great allegiance, and to
seek false gods. An ever-present reali-
ty, With which all SOUND philosophy
and history must reckon, is the huge
fact Of sin. You cannot explain your
self. nor your neighbour, nor that ag-
gregation Of n%eighbors called the
world, unless you take sin into &C
count That is why we must have a
tender-hearted Father God, who is
SLOW to anger, and plenteous in mer-
cy."
Russia's foreign policy Is often
pointed to as an instance of indomita-
bic patience. and men marvel at this
Observation-Disclosures. But what of the pa
tience of Jehovah, who has waited
millenniums for the fulfillment of his
purposes, and for the return of his
wandering children? There is nothing
else like it in the universe; it can
only De measured by the distance from
the East to the West. The forbear-
ing heart Of God is enough to break
q human heart Of
For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of mans mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most WONDERFULLY kind
\ Hope For the Heartsick.
This sc +hn ro~oI --L:-L T~--a
holds out. Despitesau the backslidings
Of Israel, Jehovah would yet abund-
antly pardon. That is the word for
the sore hearts Of men. Everybody
at all knows himself, knows that
his deepest need is forgiveness. He