The Green Forest tribune., 1911-05-12


 died. which WAS Beecher) B. c. B& or QIastings) B. c. 749.
 PLACE-The Temple in Jerusalem
 KINGS-In Israel Menahem; in As syria, Asshur-daan III
 This is a home-missionary lesson We are asked to read Isaiah 2-4. What home-mtsstonary thoughts are to be found there? Those glowing sentences are in many particulars faithful pic lures of our wealthy modern nations. There are the unexampled movement of immigration, the aping of evil GUS toms from other lands, the vast wealth, the mammon-worship, the pride, the social wrongs and expressions, the misgovernment, the devotion to fash ion and luxury, and in 1t all a nucleus of nobility that will bring about the utmost triumph of godliness. There Is as great need that We should work for our country as that Isaiah should work for his; and, though we are so much inferior to Isaiah, yet God calls same great service.
 The literary qualities most conspic- uous in Isaiah Is the wealth and bril- liancy of his imagination. No other Old Testament writer has the same power of picturesque and graphic de- scr1ption. There Is no other Hebrew author who furnishes the reader with so many quotable sentences. One can imagine the people of Jerusalem stop ping one another on the street, to tell and hear the latest from the prophet. This, of course, was precisely what he desired and intended Isaiah was humorist and satirist in the truest sense of the word. This Is evident from his vivid, quaint description of the strange manufactured idols and images of worship, from his curious and vivid picture of female luxury and fashion in his day.
 The events of his time may be summed up in two momentous occur rences. The first was the advance of the Assyrians upon the small states of Syria and Palestine, paralyzlng their national consciousness, and with this also their national religions Judah was not destroyed like Samaria, but It's independence was lost, and it was the prophets chief political task to enable his country to adjust itself to the new conditions. As politician Isaiah's maxim was mo politics" He strongly dissuaded Ahaz from entan- gling himself with Assyria, but when his advice was disregarded and Judah become subject to Assyria he resist ed with equal strenuousness all at- tempts to throw of the Assyrian yoke.
 The second occurrence was the fall of Samaria, by which the mission of united Israel became the heritage of Judah alone. During all these troub- lous times Isaiah was the leading statesmen of his country.
 Isaiah was filled with fear of a vision because 1t was vision of God, could see God and live Isaiah loved God, and instinctiyely he prepared to join his voice to the seraphs' chant, but ere the harmony could pass his lips he caught his breath and was dumb. horrible sense of unclean- ness seized him.
 One of the bright seraphs, glowing as with fire, and with wings like the lightning fash" took hot stone with tongs from the altar and touched Isa- iah's lips with it in token of purifica- tion. The hot stone is a stone kept in all ancient Oriental households as means of applying heat to household purposes.
 Why does Jehovah seek a man to go on his errands, when he has the winged seraphs? Because men can reach men better than angels can Only once did God choose a completely sinless preacher Always, but that once, God has chosen sinful men; and, not seldom, the most sinful of men he could get to speak to their fellow-men about sin and salvation. Isaiah was quick to offer himself as the mesen. ger, because he felt himself, with his sin removed, both fit and able for service, and wanted to show his grat- itude for what had been done for him.
 How does this marvellous chapter ap- ply to our nation and to home mis- sions? It contains a message of doom and message of hope and promise. Which shall 1t be for our nation? The former, if Christians are needless of the great work before them, to evan gelize the masses of our fellow-coun- trymen that do not know Christ The latter, if home missions are earnestly promoted, in the spirit and power of our Lord.
 One of the chief problems of home missions is the large number of for eign immigrants. When the United States is prosperous more than a mil lion of these come to our shores every year, and about three-fourths of them remain. The large majority of present day immigrants come from Italy Aus tralia, Hungary and Russia, the Flu ropean lands that are farthest removed from ours in civilization. In proportion to their numbers, the foreigners in the United States furnish two and one-half times as many criminals as the nar lives. Illiteracy among foreigners is three times as great as among the native whites, and pauperism also Is three times as prevalent Europe alone could send us 3000,00O immigrants