The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-07-10
VOx POPULI
z z ZEE &c e

mlah. With the rest of the Bible
~ oin cover TO cover I have read Jere-
mans entire writing twelve times.
win occasional partial reading: at
irsI IN the usaul spirit that because
II appeared in the Bible IL was what
me early editors and translators of
the Bible considered ft-an authentic,
case OF inspiration, and really Gods
word The more / study jeremiah
however. the more | am convinced
mat IN deciding the question Of in
splration. the early church councils
were influenced only by the twenty
thIrd chapter. containing the prophecy
OIL christ. A careful and comparative
reader will admit, however. that that
chapter bears evidence of being one
OF the many instances occurring in the
OId Testament wherein the compilers
paced manuscript fragment in the
wrong place 1t bears all the appear
ances of belonging either in the
dreaming. exalted younger Isaiah or
the mystical Esdras of the Apocrypha-
And aside from that one chapter. any
one reading jeremiah uncriticaIly
with an eye to the continuity of
events in his time, cannot fail TO call
him. not the Weeping Prophet. but
the Prophet of Intrigue, Disloya ty
l.
at all.
To begin with. one must remem-
Der that the word prophet in the
sense we use it. grows out of the
fact that the Hebrew prophets did
predict The word itself does not
mean predicter', nor was it so used
In either Hebrew, Aramaic or an
Gent Greek. It meant approximately
what we mean when we name the
moderator of our Congress Speaker
the leader Of faction. In a theo-
cracy such as Isreal or Judah every
political leader caller himself a
Prophet of God" and of this there
is abundant witness in the Bible it
self, each one calling the others
false jeremiah himself has a tilt
with another prophet of God the son
of a prophet, and it is to be regretted !
that IIammamiah left no memoirs |
to give us the other side of the contro- !
versy. But let US get to the story, |
as il unquestionably appears even |
on Jeremiah's onesided evidence:
When the book begins, we find |
babylon. under the militant and level |
headed King Nebuchadrezzar. rapidly /
becoming a menace to the entire !
known world. Pacifist Israel, turb
ulent judah and powerful, somno !
lent Egypt are in alliance,-apparent |
ly a defensive alliance only, with Ju-
dab the unpopular member of the al
lance as the member most likely to
blunder into a war. Under the skirts
Of this combination huddle many tiny
states. Noah. Ammon Ishmael and
other Gentle tribes of Jewish origin.
Tyre and Sidon, since the days of Sol
ONION have been tributary to Jerusa
lem. All southern Palestine has be-
come fat and pacifist,-and Babylon
threatens
Jeremiah begins with the ineradic
able evils which inspired the vitriol
Of every prophet and king of Israel.
A great many of the now unprintable
terms they used are symbolic-it is
religious adultery they thunder
against, due to the fact that during
1sraeTs long and ancient wars, it be-
came necessary for them to steal wo
men from non-Jewish races: witness
tha partial determination of Ben
iamin by the other eleven tribes and
the subsequent raid upon the daugh-
fers Of Shiloh. With over half Of the
mothers of the nation brought up in
the worship OF strange Gods, the Won
der is not that Isreal persistently fell
in tdolatry, but that any remained
faithful, jeremiah, using this tradl-
tional line of attack weakened the
friendship Of Israel and Judah and in
both kingdoms formed a DefeatisU
Party. The Chaldeans are already
raiding through Dan and Cad, and
Jeremiah cries out for the Jews to
surrender without a fight. He fore
els terrible fate for any who at
tempt 70 defend themselves against
council Of priests. elders. and prophets
nearly lynch him. but as he claims to
be prophet of God, they want to be
sure he is a traitor One party claims
that no harm was done when the
NJ orasthite' was executed for such
ak. Another party argues that Urt-
al was allowed to live and no harm
lme-his prophecies did not work: |
They finally agree that to be on the
safe side they will let him live but
<eep an eye on him. Hammamiah, al
so a prophet of God puts forward
he undoubtedly true statement. as
any military man Will admit-tha,
he alliance can hold out against
Babylon for two years, if they viii
stick together, in which time. even
n the absence of a decisive victory.
3ahylon's invasion must fail from
economic reasons. The matter is left
,pen and Jeremiah's opponent died
n the seventh month of the year
which proves jeremiah right OF
course.
In repulsing a raid, Jehoakim OF
Judah is captured and Zedekiah sue
,eeds. Jeremiah renews his council
# submission on the new king. with
,ur success. Zedekiah was an ignorant
nan. but a brave one, a better mill
airy leader than a politician. He
apparently knew what jeremiah did
lot that Egypt was marching north
ward. One day, word comes Of the
egyptian reinforcements, and the
'haldean army hurriedly raises the
iege Of the northern cities calls in