The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-12

the part Of Israel The statement that the Lord after having made this ar engagement with AbrahamS seed, went into a far country implies that the ar rangement was to stand for a long time.
 The Original Vine Dressers While in this parable the entire na- tion of Israel is represented by the vineyard, the husbandmen were the re- ligious leaders (Matthew 25:2, 3.) These lvine-dressers became conceited and acted as though they were the real owners, and not merely the owners ser wants. Even in their speech they be- came accustomed to refer to the masses of Israel as the laity and to themselves as the clergy. In other words, they failed to glorify God properly. In due time the owner, Jehovah, sent His ser wants, the prohpets, to Israel These servants and their messages became tests of the love. devotion and loyalty of the vine-dressers, and also of the aracter-deve1opment of the people of Israel
 But alas! the very ones who should have been glad to welcome the owners representatives reasoned that to ac- knowledge those servants and their re- proofs would mean an acknowledge
 ment that they were merely vine-d dres- sers, and not in any sense owners of
 
 class not held responsible under the general law governing all, Therein their pride and desire to show off prompted the mistreatment of the owners special representatives, the prophets. As the parable shows, some of the servants they beat others they stoned, others they killed.
 that the rulers of Israel would cruelty His Son. But the parable states the matter as though the owner had said. as He might well have said, They will reverence My Son." Surely the rulers of the Jews should have reverenced the Perfect One-"holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners" Surely they
 should have recognized Him. have hearkened to His message, have re- pented of their sins, have come back through Him into harmony with the Father.
 However, the spirit of selfshness and self conceit leads those who possess 1t | to monstrous acts which afterward ap- pail even themselves. The Jewish doc tors, the clergy of that time, perceived that Jesus the Son of God, the repre- sentative of the owner of the vineyard, was exerting a mighty influence over | the people, and that to whatever extent His cause would prevail, their power, their influence, titles, honors of men, would fade
 In their realization that Jesus victory
 meant the defeat of all the institutions
 which represented their wisdom and teachings, they determined that His death was necessary for the success or their theories and plans they could not endure the thought that their great in- stitutions, so laboriously constructed out of human traditions which made l void the word of God, should all fade away. To them itseemed that for Jesus l to carry out the plans which He preached would mean the ruin of the vineyard. They did not realize that their course was the very one which would | lead to the destruction of that typical
 Kingdom of God, that typical vineyard, The New Vine-Dressers
 | The parable was fulfilled. Gods judg- ments came upon that Jewish nation, with the result that 1t was entirely overthrown in the year 70 A. D. Their nationality has never since been re-
 stored, nor will it be until the time foretold by the prophets, when Messiah shall establish His reign or righteous
 ness, and when unoer HIS kinsooih those faithful servants, the prophets, who were slaln stoned to death, etc.
 will be given authority and power as lMe.siah,s representatives in the earth. l Tha Lord said that the Jewish lead ara were wicked vine-dressers. He ap- nointed new ones--the IF apostles-St- paul taking the place of Judas More cver He started a new vineyard, put t,rr into it only the true vine, in- snired with faith and loyalty toward lGod Those faithful servants. although they long ago fell asleep, have con itinued through their words. their teach inf n