The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-05-29
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Prepared especially for The Republi-
can by Rev. U. S. Wright, D. D.
SUNDAY. JUNE l.

JODAH. Ii kIngS Zl-25; III ChrOn.
Sc.
Righteousness exalteth nation; but
sin is reprOach to any people
Proverbs 14:34.
SHIPWRECK
What is more beautiful than
great vessel breasting the waves cres-
ted with the flying spume that dashes
above the prov and with decks wet
with the spray still faces the storm
undaunted? There is thrill and Ella
ton in pictures of the sea and its
ships but the darker colors appear
when one views the shore line where
some gallant craft is beating its tim
bers into pulp upon the rocks. And
far darker is the canvass when that
wreckage has come from the follow
ing of false lights. And when it is
a Ship of State that has broken up
and lies rotting upon the beach of
Times unresting sea there comes a
sadness that grips ones heart like
the clutch of Deaths fingers.
And there is many an old hulk as
one walks along history's pathway
and none holds more horror than that
of Judea. How proud had been the
launching! What hopes leaped as
Saul took the helm and as David
climbed the bridge! There was much
disatfection among the crew but
hearts beat high as Solomon piled the
hold with cargo and enriched her
altar place. Surviving a mutiny that
finally lost the men who went off with
the boats in the swirling world cur
rents it began to breast more troubled
waters. Now the same ship, with
mad captain and frenzied crew, with
the Prophet Pilot chained in the hold,
with chart tossed overheard and the
compass smashed, dashed upon the
reef of disaster leaving only broken
timbers to tell the tale of past glory.
Zedekiah, the chameleon king, had
completely lost control and in the face
of the strong ruler of Babylon, then
at the height of her power, Joined
Egypt in secret treaty and ran rebel
lions colors to the masthead. That
was in $50 and by January 5SS the
enemy was all about her and in July
$50 she was on the rocks with naught
but wreckage left. The remnant per-
mitted by the clemency of Babylon to
salvage what could be secured and
use it in rebuilding a smaller boat
were soon scattered by mad murder,
Jeremiah's final hope vanished and he
himself was carried away by the de-
parting semblance of a crew.
THE HEROIC JEW
Tho the despised OF all the world
the Jew has never been accused of be-
ing a coward. Utterly unwise in their
revolt, swayed by fanaticism instead
of by truth, discarding jeremiah who
was the master statesman of his time
for group of blind prophets and
priests who fattened by fostering the
peoples whims, and guided by third
rate incompetents without experience
they nevertheless held the greatest
arm of the age at bay for eighteen
months. The strategy of position had
something to do with this as it had
at Verdun but it was the men of
France who said, "They shall not
pass" and crowned its crests with
coronet of courage. And there were
men in that far-off day as we'll as in
these latter years who knew how to
hold walls in the face of scaling lad
ders and flying missiles. Lamenta-
tons give a perfectly terrific picture
of the sufferings of the besieged in
that old desperate day. Women
dressed in costly garments wandered
thru alleys picking over piles of re-
fuse for bite that might stay hunger
for an hour. Bread and water were
rationed and sold under the peril of
falling arrows. Women boiled their
babies for a meal of horror that
would keep alive the power to repel
the advancing hosts. Gaunt with
famine, with bones almost showing
thru the weakened skins in the midst
of the black deprivation these men
fought on and held back the fulfilled,
unnumbered masses that flung them
selves against the gates Lamenta-
tons is one of the worlds great epic
pictures of the possibilities wrapped
in flesh housing an indomitable spirit. ,
But the walls were preached and
with defense no longer possible the
king and his few remaining warriors
staggered out under cover of the
darkness and stole thru the encircling
camps. How they did it will remain
a mystery but only daring men could
have accomplished it. Hail to the
heroic Jew With God and the world
against him he refused to yield until
the sword was stricken from his hand
and the arm that welded it was brok-
en-. The tragedy was taken and suf-
fpred flIll npnaltV The citV was