The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1922-05-25
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared especially for The Republi-
can by DR.. U. S. Wright.
SUNDAY, MAY %
JEREMIAH SPEAKS BOLDLY FOR
GOD.
Jeremiah 26. Read Chap. 1, 7; II,
Chron. So.
Amend your ways and your dOings
and obey the voice of Jehovah-Jer.
26:13.
THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE
Walking northward from Jerusa-
lem for an hour brings the traveller
to all that is left of the village of
Anathoth where jeremiah was born.
1t seems to have been Fort Laven-
worth for political offenders, for
Abiathar had been banished there and
that may have been the occasion for
its being Hilkiah's home. Possibly
the line ran back to good, weak, old
Eli so that reference to Shiloh had
special poignancy as it fell from the
Prophets lips. If his Uncle Shallum
is the same as 2 Kings 22:14 the
family was not only priestly but
familiar with prophetic fire. Thir-
teen years after Josiah came to the
throne the youth of uncertain age had
his own call and became the outstand-
ing figure in Jerusalem politics and
religion in the years when that city
staggered to its fall in $50. Remain
ing in his loved land after the over
throw he was finally carried to Egypt
where he met his death, presumably
by violence. Tender and sympathetic
as woman he was as clear-visioned
in political currents as Lloyd George
has ever been and as uncompromising
as Cromwell with wrong. He reaches
the high levels of life in his under
standing of God so that sin caused
him to grieve for Jehovah's hurt as
we'll as for the inevitable consequent
ces to the sinner. His courage that
overbore all physical objections finds
its counterpart in the Gospels Geth-
semane. There is no more heroic
figure in the Old Testament gallery
than his. And the work he did for
the real life of his people brought
them back from captivity and paved
the way for the coming of our Lord.
Isaiah had proclaimed the protection
Of both city and temple because they
were in the special care of Jehovah |
and necessary to the carrying out His !
plans for His world. This had be-
come an ingrained element in the |
minds of the citizens and the honor
of Jehovah was felt to be bound up in |
the fate of Jerusalem. Jeremiah
alone saw what Lowell expresses:
New occasions teach new duties.
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
We must ever up and onward,
If we'd keep abreast of truth.
God holds the continuous purpose for
the good of His world but His plans
vary with the changing conditions.
jeremiah insisted that temple and .
city were not an essential and ranked
not at all in comparison with life;
that thru sin they had forfeited the |
right to protection and that the de-
struction, sure to come, would not
change Jehovah of His love for His
people. 1t was this reiterated state
ment that cheered the exiles and gave
them courage to attempt the resto.
ration. Without jeremiah there
would have been infdelity instead of
faith and it was the Prophets hand
that kept its torch alight thru all the
night of desolation.
THE HIGHER PATRIOTISM
jeremiah loved his land with a de-
votion that dared everything for her
good. But he recognized the right of
others also so that it was not simply
the conpuering Jew but the conrad |
ing Jew sharing with others in the
world plans of a world God that he |
proclaimed. Facing the narrow
patriotism that shouted "Judea First"
and "Judea, may she always be right;
but Judea right or wrong" he looked
beyond her borders and answered:
"Judea must be righteous or pay the