The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-24
For August rs is 1.-The Captivity OF
Judah."-II Kings 25:1-21.
New Hope for Exiled Jews.

For August rs is 1.-The Captivity of
Judah IL Kings 25:1-21.
New Hope for Exiled Jews.
Back of the surge and swing of the
war, lie certain great interests which
are quietly maturing plans made pos
sible by the present universal upheav-
al Every few days we read illusions
to Zionism, and to its future after
peace has been signed. Out of the
sE-oke of battle, out of the rivers of
blood. out of the starvation and suf-
fering of the remnant who dwell in
the Promised Land, out of the over
turn of empires and social 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 faith
ers- Probably it will come by the
processes of democracy; the returned
Jews will vote themselves into author
ity in the land of precious memories.
One of the many unprotected and un-
expected benefits is the boon it prom
ises to bring to the Chosen People, SO
long scattered abroad
This present day news of a possible
new beginning for the Jews link trag-
ically to the story of the decline of the
royal line; the fall of the last king of
judah and the destruction of the city
OF JeruSalen--a story upon which the
attention of thirty-five million Sunday
school members is now concentrated
The two events are part of one long
national drama, the most wonderful
| in all the history of nations. And in
every act the devout and the discern
ing 6eholder may perceive as the prin-
clpaI actor jehovah From the going
out of Abraham, at the reckoning of
God. until the present movement for
the return of the Jews to the Holy
Land. the history of this people has,
primarily, a religious significance.
Great David's Lesser Son.
| We sing of Great David's Greater
| Son; this tale concerns the last and
| one of the least of his sons to occupy
a throne, Zedekiah, so named by his
heather master, Acknowledgement: a
Vassal II a state, a craven weaklins
IN spirit one of the most unrcyal
sons of the great king who ever sat
upon the throne of Judah. Zede-
ktah did not even fulfil. the modern
! cynical definition of an honest politi-
cian-"One who will stay bought -
! Unable to protect his state, he was
aiike unable to keep faith with his
conquerer. He went bac ok on his peo-
pie, he went back on his position and
traditions, he went back on Ne
buehadnezzar and he went back on
Jehovah. He was what the colloquial
speech of the day calls a s'welcher.:
Like king like people. If Zedekiah
wa poor stick, the people over
whom he reigned, and who fell with
him, were a sorry lot. The nation was
guilty along with the ruler. For the
record runs: Moreover, all the
chiefs of the priests and the people
trespassed very greatly after all the
denominations of the nations, and they
polluted the house of Jehovah and
they Knocked the messen-
md 7
and scoffed at His prophets until 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
its rope, and there\was a moose or it.
Deadly Disease.
Or, to suggest a less violent end
the Jewish nation died of spiritual
atrophy. By ceasing to exercise its
spirit, the nation lost it; for souls
like the atrophied and troublesome
stomach called the appendix may die
thru disuse. The fall of Jerusalem
and the conquest of Nebucha dnezzar
was there in the Kingdoms body. II
is the stern law of nature and of God
that any powers unused become lost
The greatest tragedies of our time are
not those which find their way into
the newspapers; they are the hidden
lldScdlSS Vi SplrltS, as When a
man discovers that he has by neglect
lost his taste for all the higher things
and for God. Spiritual deafness is a
calamity far overshadowing the STOP
page of breath, the disappearance
from the body of the mysterious vita
spark.
Judah was not wholly dead, but SC
nearly SO that only EXTREMIST meas.
ures could save the remnants So Coo
wiped her off His slate as nation
In His dire punishment Jehovah was
still dealing with the chosen people
as with His sons He had to do a
parents hardest duty-punish His
own To lift up, He had first to cast
down. Nothing short of national de.
struction and exile could teach the
nation the sin and folly of idolatry
And. bitter as was the lesson. the
Jews learned it; after the exile they
never returned to this sin which had
cursed the people from the days OF
the wilderness to the fall of the roya
dynasty. After all, no price is toe
great to pay to learn the exceeding
sirfulness of sin.
America, say many voices, has beer
soft" She has lost her spirituaI
sensitiveness and ancient idealism
, Luxury and self-indulgence have en-.
tered into her spirit like a canker
Now comes the surgery of war with
its healing. We may lose many prec-
, ious lives, but we shall surely find oul
souls.
Even in the act of blotting out the
national life for a time, we are giver
. a rare indication of the long patience
and eager affection of God. for Je-
hovah pictured as rising up early ano
. sending, because He had compassion
for His people" The forbearance Of
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