Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-08
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
For June nth. Jer. 37I-38:13
BY DIR. MARION MICH. HULL

Golden Text: "Be not afraid be-
cause of them; for / am with thee to
deliver thee, saith jehovah" Jer. 1:8.
Some sixteen or seventeen years
after Jehoiakim destroyed the roll,
and thought that he would thereby
avert the judgments it contained,
Jeremiah's life came to a crisis-we
might say to another crisis, for it
was filled with critical moments. For
many years he had been in conf1lct
with the priests and prophets.
Zedekiah had been placed on the
throne by ACKNOWLEDGMENT as his
Vassal, and had visited Babylon to
pay respects to his sovereign lord;
but the Egyptian party was very
strong and Zedekiah was very weak.
They were constantly bringing pres
sure to bear on him to rebel against
Babylon and throw off the hated
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. jeremiah
realized that to do this would but
bring. down upon the nation the
wrath of this powerful world con-
queror and could result in but one
thing, the complete destruction of
their city and nation. His political
sagacity would have told him this,
but he was strengthened in it by the
word to him from God.
About the fourth year Of -Zede-
kiah's reign the Egyptian party was
about to triumph; alliance with 9TH
err nations under the Babylonian
yoke is about to be formed when a
onof1in+ hntunn11 TnrnT1i9h
and Hananiah. The people were
told by their prophets that the YES
sells of the temple which had been
taken to Babylon would be return
ed. They had some foundation for
such belief, for they remembered
that the ark had only been a source
as it was in their midst and 1t was
easy for their prophets to make
them believe that the vessels Of the
temple would prove such to the
Babylonians and make them return
them. jeremiah insisted that such
would not be the case, but, instead,
there.
Hananiah very impressively
prophesied the contrary and with a
"Thus saith the Lord" even set the
date for their return-Within two
years. jeremiah was apparently de-
feated, but at Gods direction he
came back and foretold Hananiah's
death as an evidence of the falsity OF
his prophecy. Hananiah died two
months later.
Under the encouragement of Pha-
roah Hopbra, however, the Egyptian
&n;,y tho Iroaiy lyinc
Zedekiah, rebelled against his suze-
rain, Northumberland. This precip1-
tated an invasion of the territory by
the Chaldeans. Hananiah's death
and this invasion strengthened Jere-
miah's position for the time, and
gave him a greater hearing. He
urged the people and princes to sur
render to the Chaldeans as the only
means Of safety. Anyone could see
that to resist them could only spell
disaster; but the Egyptian party was
too strong for that. Paroah Hopbra
came to their aid, and the Chaldeans
lifted the siege to meet this flank
movement from Egypt. This SEEM
ed to indorse the position of the
prophets who had opposed jeremiah,
but he insisted that the Caldeans
would return. 1t was not long be-
fore they did, for Pharaoh Hopbra
retreated to his own country, and
Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusa-
lem and surrounded it again.
Jeremiah's Imprisonment
About six years had elapsed since
Hananiah and jeremiah had been
in conflict. When the siege of the
Chaldeans was lifted, there was a
great exodus Of the people from the
city-farmers who had left their
fields to take refuge in the city going
back to see what the Chaldeans had
left them, others who had been
cooped up going out for a breath
Of country air after the confinement
in the city. One Of the crowd that
passed through the north gate was
jeremiah. Now, there was very strict
vigilance, of course, as to who came
in and went out, and it so happened
that the guard in charge Of this
gate was Irijah, the grandson OF
Hananiah. He recognized jeremiah
and arrested him, charging him with
deserving to the Chaldeans. 1t was
plausible, for had not jeremiah been
urging the people to surrender to the
Chaldeans? And had he not insisted
that they would return? And was it
not probable that he had some pr1-
vate information now as to the
whereabouts of some detachment of
their army? And was it not reason
able to suppose that he was taking
this opportunity to go out and inform
them as to the distressing conditions
that the siege had brought about in
the city?
These things and more could have
been supposed naturally by the en-
emies of the prophet; and no doubt
Hananiah's grandson welcomed the
opportunity for revenge. So he made
the charge. jeremiah resented it and
denounced it in no uncertain terms
as falsehood. But that was not &C
copied by Irijah. He turned him
over to the princess, his avowed en-
emies, who were incensed with him
and put him in an improvised prison
in the house of Jonathan, the scribe.
The place was cramped, small and
low, and there jeremiah stayed for
many days without food.
The activity of the princes in some
other direction gave Ze!ektah an OPP
portunity to send for jeremiah and
consult him. All Of them were afraid
of him; the princes were afraid to
put him to death and eased their con-
sciences by putting him in this pr1s-
on house and leaving him to StarVe