The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-09-26
ReHgiOuS World
,u, ur.N ON THE LOOKOUT.
The International sunday School Les.
son For October l is "Ifle prophet
ezekiel a Waterman" Ezeklel 8.
(By WILLIAM l.. ELLIS.)

MANY Of he Blple HSureS become
clear only after we know Bible lands.
Acquaintance with dozens OF walled
oriental cities, from Jerusalem to
PekIng, has made the figure Of the
uatchman upon the walls a natural
= The aerial scout is the SubSti-
tutA in modern warfare for the ancient
Waterman, pacing the walls or peer
ing out from the towers above the
gates and at the Of the wall.
riding south from Babylon across
the MeSopOtaInian desert, L saw upon
the horizon SIranSe towers, IKE Unto
the pictures of the Tower Of Babel
in the old family Bible. What are
those things, Snamu?' / asked my
servant.
Arab, he look out all time for
enemy, and he tell his friends. Too
much bad men come, all people go
III tower and fight"
Then [ knew where the Psalmist
got his figure Of Jehovah as a high
tower: for In Arabia one fnds him
self still living in Bible times. These
towers, built of mud brick, in the
centre of every ARAB settlement, are
places of outlook, points Of vision, and
strongholds of defence. Verify, My
high tower is He
And We must conceive of old EZe-
kiei. who was perfectly familiar with
Just such structures as the reader
may see today, it he Will adventure
the desert, as a Waterman, set to
warn the scattered sheep Of Judah
against their foes.
The Prophets Thankless Task.
Like his contemporary, jeremiah,
about whom we have been studying,
Ezekiel, had no easy work. There is
no more thankless TASK than that of
the prophet. The greater the prophet,
the truer his insight, the less likely
he is to be favorably received. AL
most uniformly has it been true that
the great seers have been rejected,
and usually abused, by their own
time.
Yet, there is another side. Mrs.
Bianchi has limned the psalmist-
prophet in a few rich lines:
Poor as a shepherd!
Only crook and sheep-dog
with him on the hillside in the
hoar-frost lying
NauSht save his shepherds cloak for
worldly wealth beside,
Len from his shoulders to still a
young lambs crying.
Rich as a shepherd!
STEPPED in psalmist vision,
Richer than reigning kings or po-
t~entates, by ar!
Waiting the sign that makes the
world
Loves Kingdom
Only his dog for wealth and eyes
to see the star"
Who would exchange Ezekiel's Wis
Ion for the sordid blindness of any
OF the rich and peanut-sou1ed cour-
TIERS among his people? Here is a
great life truth: Better poverty and
persecution, with a clear eye to see
Tod, than ali the pleasure that wealth
can buy at the cost Of so~ul-vision.
The Days Demand.
Swift to present conditions runs this
lessons message concerning the need
comes the call for men whose eyes
and lips God has touched. The
junction Of the Waterman is frequent
~ relinquished by modern preachers.
Ihey would rather be able to say
cleVer and complimentary things at
a1ternon teas than to declare great
ana terrible and timely truths from
.nelr pulpits. They have no taste for
me nard life of a jeremiah or an Eze-
kiel. Their motto is BE popular, at
any price. Learn how to be a good
mixer Teach men to count you a
good fellow. The majestic isolation
VI the old prophets is out Of date
Low. So We nave a cOurtier-like
Philadelphia preacher advising the
members of Coatesville's mob of muir
oerers to enter into a conspiracy Of
sllence to defeat the ends of justice.
mat way lies popularity-with lynch
erS.
ina dreadful crime, and most of
me others that are kin to it, has a
ieidton, not very remote, to the fail
ule OF the Church of today to speak
q GEAR cut message with respect to
9Hi ana the law. Our times are law
Iess' alike in the low stratum of the
niop and in the supposedly higher
1eNels OF politics II big business"
anlpefceptibly, we have come to sub
eutGte sugar where Christ meant salt;
salt IS biting, but it preserves whereas
sugar is sweet, but purifying. The
muse notions of oriental nanthoiSrp