Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-03
LESSON


in their hearts and therefore hanged
their harps on the willows growing
on the banks of Babylon's streams.
And the travesty of it was their
caDtors required of them songs, say
ing, sing us one of the songs of
Zion
How could they sing under those
conditions? And particularly one of
the Lords songs? What would
these heather who knew not God
know if they sung to them, "The
Lord is my shepherd, l shall not
want" or II was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the
house of the Lord" or How Iowa
BILE are thy tabernacles, o, Jehovah
of hosts" or Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin
is covered; blessed is the man unto
whom the Lord imputeth not in
iquity," or "As the hare panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, o, God?
! What would some bobbed haired
bandit appreciate in such a song as
I'm the secret of His presence how
my soul delights to hide or 81
come to the garden alone, when the
dew is still on the roses" or "I will
walk and talk with the King?
No, they could not sing the
Lords songs in a strange land. so
| they wept instead, and hung their
/ harps on the willows.
But the luxury all AROUND them
did not make them forget Jerusalem.
eff [ forget thee, Jerusalem, let
my right hand forget; if [ do not
remember thee, let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth"
! Then the thought of their beloved
| city and its present desolation re-
minded them of it's enemies and how
Edom had said: RaZe it, rae it to
! the ground. That stirred all the bit
| terness in their hearts at the
| thought of what Babylon had done
to it. Then they remembered what
| Isaiah had said about Babylon: "The
glory of the Chaldees excellency
shall be as when God overthrow
Sodom and Gomorrah," and they
cried out: 20, daughter of Babylon,
who art to be destroyed; happy shall
he be that rewardeth thee as thou
hast served us. Happy shall he be
that taketh and dasheth thy little
ones against the stones"
OF course, this sentiment Is so
utterly foreign to what Christians
with the light that streams from the
Cross of Calvary have been taught,
that we can hardly appreciate it.
But try to put yourself in their
places then without any of that
light, and suffering as they were!
1t is to these people, these sad
dened, captive, suffering, embitter-
ed people, that Ezekiel comes with
his messages of encoura cement and
hope and cheer. Their pitiable con-
dition was partly the result of their
leadership. They had shepherds,
but they had been false shepherds.
Instead of leading them and feed
ing them, their shepherds had fed
| on them-thev had eaten the fat,
| had clothed themselves with the
wool, the diseased they had not
strengthened, neither had they
healed the sick or bound up the
| wounded, nor brought again that
which was driven away, nor sought
that which was lost. The flock had
been scattered because the shep-
herds had forsaken them.
Against these false shepherds
| Ezekiel speaks Gods word of denun-
citation; and in contrast with what
they had been He tells them what He
will do. He will be to them shep-
herd A careful study Of this part of
his message shows that God states
35 things that He will do-search,
seek, deliver bring them out, bring
them in, feed them, make them to
lie down, seek the lost, bind up the
brollenhearted, etc. You can imag-
! inc what balm to their hearts would
be such Il message as this: Il will
gather them from the countries and
will bring them to their own land,
! and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed them in a good
pasture, and upon the high noun
tains of Israel shall their fold be. AS
they sat down by the rivers of Baby
lon and wept when they remembered
| Zion, it would be good news to know
that God would bring them to those
very mountains of Zion to have an
abiding place.
But the best promise of ALL and the
one upon which all the others de-
! pend, is this one: And I will set up
| One Shepherd over them, and He
! shall feed them, even my servant
David. And ! the Lord will be their
! God, and my servant David a prince
among them. Now David had been
dead many hundreds of years; yet
1 this promise is future. on ahead Of
| them, He could not therefore have
any reference to David himself. but
to the Seed of David, the Son of
David through whom the blessings
were to come. We learned last week
that there was only one person in
| all history who has fulfilled the nee
essary conditions, and this one is
| Jesus, the Son of David through
! Mary His mother; the legal son of
| Joseph of the royal line of David;
and yet the Son of God. Israel re-
! jected Him when He came as their
King. He claimed to be the Good
Shepherd who would feed His flock.
who would do for them everything
that had been promised as the work
of the True Shepherd, and more. Yet
| they had rejected Him.
Ezekiel, however, looked forward
to the time-he had no idea how long
it would be-when the valley of dry
bones would be made full of life be-
cause of the power of the Spirit of
God upon them. He saw the time
when Israel and Judah would be join.
ed together and be no longer divided,
but an united, nation. He saw the
time when the nations of the world
should gather in battle at Cog and
Magog against the King of Kings
and Lord of lords, and the conquered
by HIM. Read the closing verses of
| Eek. 80 and see the wonderful vic
tory toward which Ezekiel looked.
and towards which we still look. And
rrI.,, y.
stored temple with its magnificent
/ dimensions and glories, and its
browning straightforward sham
nah. the Lord is there.
Can YOU imagine what encourage
! ment such messages as these gave
to the eXiles in Babylon? And yet
Lot n