Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-01
SCHOOL LESSON
TEMPERANCE LESSON.
jeremiah. 3S, Is, Fila, 10, 10.
Worlds Temperance Sunday)
Golden Text: Whether therefore
ye eat, or drink. or whatsoever ye
do, do all to the glory of Cod
l Cor, 10, 81.
BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.

BY REV. HUGH r. STEVENSON.
Worlds Temperance Sunday calls for
a temperance lesson, so that the study
for this week is one that takes us back
prophet jeremiah, who first saw and
declared that the nation should arise to
the cody level where stood the prophets
of the past, not by a national establish
ment of their faiths. but by universal
personal trust in the personal love OF
God" He was the prophet to whom men
l;ken the Christ and to whom Paul and
other New Testament writer's turned for
words that would touch the souls of
men to the quick. During the larger
part of his public ministry he was in
constant conflict with both the civil and
religious authorities because he pointed
out their departure from Jehovah and
neglect of Obeying His commands as the
source of both personal and national
covenants with Jehovah considered
treaties '.as mere scraps of paper" and
as a result Jehoiakim and Jhdea was
threatened by the approaching Babylon
ian army
In the dark hour that filled jerusalem
ton jeremiah saw in the presence of
the Rechabites, who had been forced
by the raids and rObberies of marauding
bands of Chaldeans, SyrianS and other
nations who roamed at will throughout
Judea to seek shelter within the city
fective sermon to his fellow countrymen.
The Rechabites. whose stanch adher-
ence to the commands of their fathers,
appear three times in the Old Tesla
Ment history. During the days when
Jehu and Jonadab united their forces in
the persecution of the followers Of Baal
the Rechabites revealed their zeal for
Jehovah. They supported Jehu's at
lacks upon the house of Ahab in his en-
deavor to root out the idolatrous wor-
ship of Baal which that dynasty had
encouraged. In his zeal to preserve the
purity of the religion of Jehovah, Jona-
dab sought to perpetuate the nomadic
ideals that had been held by Israel when
her morals were austere, her life simple
and her religion pure by his prohibit
tory laws that evidently were based upon
the idea that settled life would lead to
apostasy from the true faith, as it had
in the case of the Israelites who had
adopted the customs of civilization from
the Canaanites. He believed that the
cultivation of the corn and the grape,
which were associated in the worship
of Baal, might lead to the forsaking of
Jehovah so that the foundation of his
prohibitory laws was to preserve the
primitive faith Of his fathers, who had
united with the Hebrews in the desert
The Rechabites' loyalty to the COM
contrast with the devotion Of Judah
to the commands Of their God. Their
presence within the city gave the
prophet an opportunity to present an
object lesson to the covenant breaking
Judah. He brought them into the
temple dedicated to the worship of
Jehovah and when they were hungry
and thirsty placed before them the
condemned wine and urged them to
drink The descendants of the Kenites
had in all their nomadic life obeyed
the commandments of Jonadab, the
reformer. who had commanded them
not to drink wine. The test came to
them in the temple of God, a place
where men do not expect to be tested
and where consequently there is the
greater danger of ones failure. Their
physical condition and environment
were such that only a rugged faith in
the principles of prohibition and their
relation to life and religion could have
given them power to resist the
temptation to drink the wine.
All men are called upon to face the
testings of life. but no man needs
to fall when he is tried for God always
provides the way of escape for us in
turn unto Him for help and power to
overcome. When the Rechabites faced
the issue they refused to drink They
were sustained by the strength of His
grace. They had been trained by the
teachings of their fathers and re-
loyal to the commands of Jonadab,
the son of Rechab. God knew what
the issue of the test of the prohibition
law promulgated by the great reform
er. who had united the Rechabites
with John in the latter's efforts to
He commanded jeremiah to use the
Rechabites as an object lesson to
teach the nation, that was rapidly ap-
preaching exile for neglecting Gods
commands, the value of keeping their
obligations and promises with Je-
hovah.
Americans are about to test the
value Of the prohibition amendment
to the Constitution. All loyal Ameri-
cans will, now that it is a part of the
fundamental law of the nation. obey
its precepts and practice prohibition
without regard to their personal views
on the subject. 1t will not absolutely
prevent the use of alcoholic liquors as
a beverage any more than the prohi-
bition against murder and robbery
have prevented murder and robbery,
but it will curtail the power of rum
the political anu OuSahCSS iiAC -
the nation. It will strengthen the
teachings of parents. school teachers
and the church. by placing the ban OF
society upon 1t and finally prohibition
will triumph in every walk of life.
The reward that God promised TO
the Rechabites for their fidelity to the
instructions of their ancestor Jona-
dab shows that the faithful Recha-
bites, or campbell riders Of the des-
ert. gained more than life by their
abstinence from drinking wine. Trav-
elers in the desert Of Arabia have re-
ported that they have found scattered
bands dwelling in tents who claimed
that they were Rechabites. The infiu-
ence of their example has inspired
more than one generation to take a
firm stand against the use Of liquors
as a beverage. During the rebuilding
of the wall of jerusalem after the
exile Malchijah. a Rechabite, was
found among the scribes aiding in
the work. In rebuilding civilization
| the unon Of both temperance and re-
IiEious forces is needed.
The athlete that wins the game for
| his college has been practicing tenn
perance The life insurance companies
recognize that the man who does not
drink is the best kind of risk. The
business world has no place today
| for the drinking man. The writer re-
calls that nearly a year ago, as he
| walked the streets of London with
men who had responded to Canada's
! call for men to sign up and fight fol
| liberty, justice and right, that, as
| they saw the open bars in Great Bri.
| tain and the people who showed the