Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-06-26
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Golden. Text: BLESSED be the
Lord. the God of Israel: For He
hath visited and wrought redemp-
ton for His people. Luke 1854.
For July /, 1928
BY DR.. MARION McH. HULL

AOrus the UOO Oh lSFdels + UT ne
hath visited and wrought redemp.
ton for His people. Luke 1854.
The Gentiles-neathen- to
exercise dominion over Israel, the
chosen people of God, in SOC B. c.,
when Nebuchadnezzar carried away
the first captiVes to Babylon; and
have continued to this day. Fol-
lowing the Babylonians came the
Medo-Persians, then the Greeks and
Macedonians, and then the Romans:
For more than 400 years after Ne
hemiah drove the son of Sanballat
out of the temple-the last recorded
act of the Old Testament-there was
no word from God, no prophet, no
priest, no king. Oh, there were
those who exercised these offices as
the gifts of the Gentle leaders, as a
sort of sop to the proud, restless,
and difficultto-rule people; but the
nation as such was under a cloud,
submerged under the heather flood.
During this time there arose a
group of nationalist who felt that
the law of the prophets must be
observed and in attempting to keep
them alive and active, they had over
laid them with so many obligations
that the Law of God was hidden I'M
der the rubbish of the law of man.
These nationalist were divided
the Pharisees were the SticklerS for
the written and oral law; the Sad
ducees were the rationalists, the ma
terlalists, the liberals of that day,
believing in nothing that they could
not prove; the Herodians were the
enemies of the government, and the
Essenes were a spiritual group of
ascetics who had a modicum of truth
but who hid it among the things to
be done. All were legalists, trust.
ing in what they could do or in
what they left undone.
One day an old priest was burning
incense before the altar. He. had
probably been waiting years for his
turn for this service. He had
wife who was also of the Aaronic
family. The great sorrow of their
lives was that they were childless.
This day, as Zacharias served, he
had vision and heard voice. He
couldn't believe what he had heard,
even though it was exactly what he
had prayed for SO long. He was to
have a son. His 6oubt resulted in
dumbhess which lasted until the
son was born and was named ''the
favor of God''-John.
Three n.,nths before his birth, his
mother Elizabeth had had a visit
from a young cousin. Mary of Naz-
areth. who told her Of strange
things that had happened to her;
and the recital of it had caused the
babe in Elizabeth's womb to leap.
This prenatal maternal impression
was the beginning of his life's work.
Mary had returned to Nazareth in
. short while; her boy grew up in
the village of Nazareth in Galilee,
while. the child of those old parents
grew up in the hill country of Ju-
dea. They probably, therefore,
never saw each other, although each
knew, no doubt, from his mother,
some of the strange happenings that
We noted above. Johns parents were
old when he was born, and prob
ably had died before he reached
maturity. Raised in the hill coun.
try, he retired deeper into the
wilderness, and there lived a wild,
outdoor, but extremely simple life
His food was locusts and wild
honey; his dress the skins of wild
animals that he had killed, and his
sirdle OF leather Of his own tan
ming.
Possibly you can form a mental
picture of this son of Zacharias
and Elizabeth-rugged sunburned,
muscular, athletic, powerful; I'M
shaven, with long unkept hair,
heavy overhanding brows, and
voice like the thunder of a water
fall
With abundant time for medita-
ton and prayer, with nothing to in
terrupt his communion with God,
God spoke to him one day in some
way and this rugged son of the
priest began to speak. He did not
go into the towns and villages, but
began to speak to those about him
in the wilderness as the occasion of.
fered. Before long others came to
hear him, and soon from all Judea
and even as far as Gaiilee people
were gathering in crowds to hear
what this strange man of the wilder
ness was saying. If he had an in
vitation to come to Jerusalem he
did not accept it; but Jerusalem
came down to hear him, even the
high and naughty Pharisees and
the infdel Sadducees made the trip
from their luxurious quarters in the
city, undergoing all the inconyen-
fences of the wilderness in order to
hear this strange preacher. For
while he was a priest by birth, he
was a prophet by calling.
His Message
To aud oil hn T1roochnd 4hn
same sermon, Repent, for the King
dom of Heaven Is at Hand" Re-
pentance in Johns thought meant
turning away from everything they
had been doing, forsaking every
thing in which they had been trust
ing; for in no other way could they
be brought into the place of bless
ing just beyond them. To get ready
for the kingdom of heaven which
was just ready to be established
they must turn their backs on all
the legalism in which they had been
trusting. Repentance is only the
backside Of faith; it is simply the
acknowledgment of our inability to
do anything to save ourselves, and
turning from self to one who is
dDiS W dO CFCl tiIlA1S lOI
us. Therefore, as a sign that they
had turned from self, as an evidence
that they were trusting no longer
in the things that they had done or
could do, as away of confessing their
sins they were baptized by John.
This was not new; the Jews had
made much in their symbols of the
publication by additions WITH
water, and they understood, there.
fore, fully the meaning of tbs
symbol.
But John was very careful that
no oke should trust in that. When
the Great ones of the earth came
from Jerusalem to receive baptism,
he declined to administer it until
they had shown in their lives evil
dences of the real thing which the
attF71hpl would IJp q 9