The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1919-10-30
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
Especially Prepared for The Republi-
can by DIR. U. S. Wright.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2.


perance Sunday Jer. 351-8, 1914, Is,
10.
Whether therefore We eat or drink, or
whatsoever We do, do all to the glory of
God. l Cor. 1921.
JEREMIAH MESSAGE.
About 900 years before Christ Jeru
salem, all that was left of the little
monarchy Of judah which had been no
larger than Bedford county. Pa, to
start with, was circled by the besiegers
from Chaldea. Their position was as
hopeless as that of Belgium in 1914 and
in some respects jeremiah was another
Cardinal MERCER. Having by sheer
weight of character attained the po-
sition of power as the outstanding re-
hgious leader his word had weight far
beyond its mere form. physically,
our case is hopeless" he may have
have said, There is no escape from
the overwhelming strength of these in
vaders and we can best preserve our
liberties by endeavoriug to placate them
by obedience. But the nation shall livel
Fallen walls, ruined cities, shattered
Temples are merely the eXternals. Let
them go; regretting their going, pro-
testing against their going but keeping
the inner spirit which made them pos
sibl. Jehovah is not dead. Trust in
Him, and Be true to HIM, and certain
ly the nation shall be reborn. See! IN
proof of my faith buy the land of my
relatives so sure am | that in spite of
wasted towns and vineyards we shall
return and the nation shall liye." 1t
was this inslstance upon the perma-
nence of the spirit of Judah that should
be preserved thru all the overthrow
that the faith of these carried into cap
tivity. The explanation for the inva-
sion was their own disobedience to the
commands of God that had carried them
into all manner of sin and the lessen is
the staging of picture to carry home
this idea to the minds of all the dwell
ers in Jerusalem. 1t was a pictorial
sermon with the text, "Be true. Obey
Jehovah and live"
The MATERIAL.
The material for such a picture the
prophet found ready at hand for the
rigors of war had driven all the SYM
pathlsers of judah within the walls of
Jerusalem. And in one of the open
spaces he had seen group of tents
covering strange band of refugees.
They were the Rechabites. In the old
days when Israel travelled toward the
land of promise the Kentes became
part of the moving company and were
assimilated into the body of tribes.
When the battle between Jehovah and
Baalsm waxed hot a member of this
family, Rechab by name. protested
against the disloyalty and asserted the
objection by forswearing the city with
its lure and wine that was so much a
part of the agricultural feasts. He be-
lieved in the simple life of the nomad
and felt that thus could be met the ap-
peals that had made Ahab notorious.
He pledged his family to a perpetual
observance of these restrictions and
thru the centuries they had been loyal.
Now jeremiah seized upon this body of
descendants and tried to induce them to
break their pledge but in vain. Then
he turned to the citizens and pointed to
the men who had been and were true in
the face of the greatest odds under the
pressure put upon them by the Prophet
recognized by them as Jehovah's mes
senger and urged their example In
obedience to the God they claimed to
worship.
THEIR PLACE IN THE PROGRAM.
About the middle of the last century
there came into existence the lodge
plan of combating intemperance. Men
were finding in the saloon a social cen
ter where under the stimulus of drink
they might realize sense of democ-
racv and shared ENJOYMENT Among
other attempts to meet the condition
the Rechabite were organized to supply
lodge room where all the conditions
that were good in the other might be
preserved without the attendant drink.
Good Templars, Sons of Temperance
and various other fraternal orders came
into being at about the same period all
striving to meet the need of the man
endeavoring to break away from the
habit and the association. They en-
Joyed wonderful popularity and did
great good in providing a remedy for
cases but offered no cure for the dis
ease. They were built about individ-
ual pledging of total abstinence but
made no attack upon the system that
produced the drunkard. Their lesson
for today is in their attempt to provide
place in which could be realized all
the social elements offered by the now
.outlawed saloon and this is worth care
full study for substitution must be made
else the last state of the body social
may be as bad as before
THE NEWER CALL.
The phase of the Temperance move