Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-08-24
new HOPE FOR ExILED JEWS
The international Sunday School Lesson for August
26 Is "The Captivity of Judah. III Kings 25:1-21
BY It.
BY WILLIAM Il. ELLIS
BY WILLIAM II. ELLIS


Back of the surge and swing ol
the war, lie certain great interests
which are quietly maturing plans
made possible by the present unlVer-
sal upheaval. Every few days we read
#allusions to Zionism, and to It's tu-
Slre after peace has been signed: Oul
of the smoke of battle, out or the
rivers of blood, out of the starVatlon
and suffering of the remnant VINO
dwell in the Promised Land, out OF
the overturn of empires and soclal
systems, there is slowly emerging
what seems to be the fulfilment of
the ancient hope of Israel. The Jews
are to have their chance in the land
of the fathers. Probably it will come
by the processes of democracy; the
returned Jews will vote themselves
bnto authority in the land of precious
memories. one of the many unpre-
dicted and unexpected BENEFITS is the
boon it promises to bring to the
Chosen People so long scattered
abroad.
This present day naws of a pos
Esible new beginning for the Jews link
tragically to the story of the decline
of the royal line, the fall of the last
#Iling of Judah, and the destruction
of the city of Jerusalem-a story
upon which the attention of thirty
five million Sunday school members
is now concentrated. The two events
hre part of one long national drama,
he most wonderful in all the history
of nations. And in every act the de-
vout and the discerning beholder
may perceive as the principal actor
Jehovah. From the going out of
abraham, at the beckoning of God
until the present movement for the
return of the Jews to the Holy Land,
he history of this people has, pri-
marily, a religious significance.
Great David's Lesser Son
We sing of Great Davids Greater
Son." this tale concerns the last and
bne of the least of his sons to occupy
b throne, Zedekiah, so named by his
heathen master, Nebuchadnezzar; a
fassal in state, a craven weakling
n spirit, one of the most unroyal
sons of the great king who ever sat
lpon the throuo of Judah. Zede-
liah did not even fulfill the modern
ryncial definition of an honest politi-
fian-."Ono who will stay bought" D."
Unable to protect lrs state, he was
alike unable to keep faith with his
fonqueror He went back on his
people, he went back on his position
Rnd traditions, he went back on Ne
buchadnezzar and he went back on
Jehovah. He was what the COLO
Fluial speech of the day calls a
welcher, a man who repudiates his
bargain.
Like king, like people If Zede-
liah was a poor stick, the people
bver whom he reigned. and who fell
with him, were sorry lot. The ma
ion was guilty along with the ruler.
For the record runs: Moreover, all
he chiefs of the priests and the peo-
pie trespassed very greatly after all
he denominations of the nations, and
hey polluted the house of Jehovah
hnd they Knocked the mes
sengers of God, and despised His
words and scofred at His prophets,
|lntil the wrath of Jehovah rose
against His people, until there was
no remedy" This nation-king,
princes, priests and people-had
reached the end of it's rope, and
here was a moose on it.
A Deadly Disease
Or, to suggest a less violent end,
he Jeweish nation died of spiritual
ltrophy. BY ceasing to exercise its
spirit the nation lost it: for souls,
ike the atrophied and troublesome