The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-04-24
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared especially for The Republi-
can by Rev. U. S. Wright. D. D.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27.
AMOS AND HOSEA PLEAD

y
throne changed into surprised amaze
ment as the results of that revolution
began to appear in the life of Israel.
They believed that their devotion to
Jehovah meant continuous victory for
the nation, but instead they were fac
ing defeat at the hands Of Damascus.
Yet in the thinking of today the de-
struction of the leadership of the land
could result in nothing else. The
years passed and Jeroboam came to
the throne for the long reign of forty
years, during which Israel reached a
place of uneXampled prosperity. This
was due both to the strength of the
king and to the weakness of Assyria
where internal troubles prevented at
tention to the lure of the west. There
was an equally long period of prog
ress in Judah under Uzziah and dur
ing the rule of these two the old linn
its of David's reign were restored and
the prophetic belief in the gift of pros
perity through the worship of Jeho-
yah seemed to be confirmed.
But another cause of questioning
rose. This was an Indian Summer
period during which the clear eye
could discern that the land was over
Swallowed by the growing menace of
Chaldea and that ultimately it would
become a part of that greater empire.
In this time of prosperity riches
flowed into both capitals and there
rose a group of new rich folks diff
fering not at all from the new rich
that we ourselves know, who have
been created by profteering. They
lived in marble palaces, spent their
time in revelry, bribed judges, cheat
ed in business, sold the poor into OPP
pressive slavery and debauched the
whole social life of their time. Now
this was exactly what amazed the
prophets who had been supporting
the revolution and proclaiming uni
versal justice and peace as it's result.
Exalting Jehovah, teaching national
ism instead of cooperation, rituaism
instead of life, and passionately de-
voted to the democracy, these proph-
cts could find no explanation for the
failure of their dream. The nation
had followed their teaching, Jehovah
had mastered Baal, the affairs Were
never so filled with sacrifices, and yet
their vision of a righteous democra-
cy was unrealized. They had no ex-
PLANTATION to offer. The situation had
gotten entirely beyond their grasp.
The days of the old prophetic order
were numbered, and only the rise of
the new could save the real life that
the old had sought to build.
THE RISE OF A NEW ORDER.
The breakdown of the old order and
the dismay of the prophets called into
being a new interpreter of events
and of life; a new figure who said, 81
was no prophet" Not from the
schools maintained by the party of
Elijah and Elisha, nor from the rit-
ualistic followers of their teachings
came a new line of Voicers of Gods
will that lowered in Isaiah and Jer-
emiah. 1t was a complete break and
the replacing of the emphasis upon
ideas a sstrange to the old day as are
those of Fosdick on traditional relig-
ion or LaFolletts in machine poll
itics. Farmer Hayseed in the parlance
of Bethel lifted the new note. Living
in the wilderness region of Judea and
wrestling a scanty living from his
flock, eking out its insuficiency by his
business in sycamore fruit, he used
the trips to market for open-eyed OBJ
servation of the follies of the city
dwellers who weighed his sheep or
doctored scales and measured his figs
in shortened vessels. He saw the
crowded temples, he looked at the vO'
| luptuous dances, he observed in free
oriental fashion the banquets of the
rulers and the drunken revels of the
women whom he called cold cows.
Back under the stars and in the great
silences where life thinks it's way tt
true conclusion the farmer faced the
prophetic questioning and hot with
indignation against the injustice OF
the social order whose folly he haC
seen and whose dishonesty he had suf
| fered, found his way to a new truth
revolutionary then and unlived up tc
now. A righteous God demanded
righteousness instead of ritual. Sac
rifices could not take the place of life
and an unrighteOus devotee could hope
for no favor from Jehovah. Taking
this challenging thing that fully ex-
planned the impending doom of Israel
as the result of false living, he visited
Bethel with as shrewd a presentation
of an unwelcOme truth as can be
found in the Book. The new Jehovah
ruled all the nations, not Israel alone,
by the same great law of righteous
ness Of life and to refuse to obey