Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1911-04-27
PLEASANT FIELDS OF HOLY WRIT
The Intern ational S. S. Lesson.
Second Quarter; Lesson v April,
80 1911, Jonah III S to 1V-11
Gods PITY For The Heather

The Book of Jonah is a ring of
gold curiousIy craven with mystic
device of ship and city, fish and
gourd. But what gives it its greatest
value is the solitaire with which it
blazes. The gem is the infinite
Love of God That is the jewel
which the ring clasps and displays
to the greatest possible advantage.
Four centuries before St. John said
it categorically Jonah said it in a
pictorial way-"God is Love!" That
he should send his prophet out of
Palestine to a heather city reveals
as in a diamond flash the Wilderness
of Gods mercy; that he cared at all
to have an alien city repent; that
he could compassionate a condition
of ignorance so pitiful that it could
not discern right hand from left;
and that his tender sympathy de-
scends even to dumb brutes-nOne
of the great religions of antiquity
flash such light on the character of
Deity! Scarcely any part Of the Old
Testament does as much. That is
what makes this booklet of four
scant chapters, totaling only forty
eight short verses, one of the might
est things ever done with a pen,
making it All mems book" as
Carlisle once called The Book of Job
That such a piece of literature could
ever be the butt of coarse wit is a
marvel. Yet no other book in the
bible has been so ridiculed. 1t has
been considered the venerablest
spot, weakest link in the chain
reducing the whole volume to a rope
of sand. If the average man had
Disseminated between the writing
itself and the artificial framework
which with the best intent it has
been surrounded, results would not
have been so disastrous. Men who
could have been better employed
have fallen tithing mint and cum
min, measuring whales jaws and
estimating the power of the human
cuticle to resist the gastric juice Of
a fish, and have neglected the
Weightier matter-the splendid mes
sage of the book itself-its protest
under a figure against the racial
prejudice which would limit the
divine pity to single race. The
flight of Jonah illustrates the inve-
terate prejudice from which even a
prophet could not free himself. What
happened to him shows in dra-
matte way the futility of going
contrary to the divine purpose. AS
we'll hurl oneself against Pillars of
Hercules Heather sailor and
heather citizen appear in better light
than holy prophet. The sailors are
not so prejudice that they cannot
pray to the God of Israel and the
Ninevites repent. But Jonahs' pre-
judice carries him to a still deeper
depth. Ninevehs' repentance dis
appoints him. He would rather die
than see the city saved! Another
object lesson must be given him.
By it the prophet is revealed to
himself as more regretful over the
whitening of a gourd than the ruin
of a city-a gourd of one nights
growth, than a city crammed to its
gates with helpless men, women and
children! The abrupt close of the
book is its most impressive feature.
1t has been aptly said that here
Israelitish prophesy quits as victor
in its severest struggle-that against
itself.
The Teachers Lantern.
In this instance spiritual truth is
more important that historical fact.