Evening star., 1924-06-07
Sunday School Lesson

, peared to he essential to their re-
| ligious life. Mans extremity opened
up to. Jehovah an opportunity of re-
moving the deep-seated malady OF
| reEg1ous despair and dependency.
He summoned Ezekiel to become the
spiritual leader of the Jews, who had
been scattered abroad by the exile
| throughout Babylon. In the SCRAP
| with the breaking up of the Jewish
| nation Ezekiel found a message of
| comfort and consolation for the de-
pressed and disconsoIated people who
a strange land. They .wept by the
waters of Babylon whenever they
| thought of the city of Jerusalem and
| the temple that had been destroyed
| To them God sent a great spiritual
leader with spiritual message that
proved He had not forgotten His
| word.
A Message of Life.
Ezekiel was called upon to point
out that the future of Judah was in
the hands Of the exiles. The prophet
| omitted to say anything about the
power of heredity to the sons of
| Abraham and the influence of the
social environment of Palestine when
he sent home the gospel of hope and
| courage by sounding the new note
| of personal responsibility. The germ
| of modern democracy can be found in
| Ezekiers vision that stimulated their
| imagination. aroused their hopes and
! developed their faith. He interpreted
| to his fellow countrymen the pur-
| pose and power of God as seen in
| their own experience. He insisted
| that each had part to perform in
| the religious reconstruction of Judah.
In Ezekiers message there can be
/ found remarkable anticipation Of the
| teachings of our Lord concerning the.
| worth of human soul, as we'll as
Paurs teachings about redemption.
q hn hat ha iS
| trymen would have to undergo a
| complete change in their inward life
| through regeneration and the i'm
parta ation of the Divine Spirit, which
| would cause them to live in accord
| ance with Gods word and do His will
| Ezekiel found in the character Of
Jehovah the foundation of his ap-
peal to his countrymen, claiming that
that He would prove that He was a
true shepherd toward scattered Is
rael. The best figure by which the
| eXiles could understand the passion
of the Lord for their salvation and
His persistent purpose and His pow
er to carry out His program Of
preserving and protecting them in
| their period of trial, tribuiauon and
testing, was that of the good Shep-
herd. David used il in the 23d Psalm
Christ identified Himself as being
one with Jehovah in the shepherding
of His flock. claiming that mo one
shall snatch them out of my hand"
The prophecy assigned for our study
has been fulfilled in John 10.
| The assurance that those who d
ton, who would return to the home
land from the exile. was based upon
Gods grace. Ezekiel saw Jehovah
| saving the remnant out of the na-
tion and restoring them to Palestine.
He pointed out that in all their ex-
perience God was moving to make
| them what they ought TO be charac-
ter and conduct. 1t was because the
prophet saw how the Lord was fight
ing their battles for the nation
upon them to mend their ways in ac-
/ cordance with Gods word.
He summoned them to make the
covenant with Jehovah that would
| through His protecting care. He
| taught them that the Divine pro-
gram called for making the restored
nation enjoy continuous blessing in
| the old ancestral home. By Impress
| ing upon them their personal re-
| and national acts, Ezekiel sought to
| secure a reconstruction of those
| habits, arts and institutions which
| would increase the possibilities OF
| life among them and the generations
| to follow" In doing this Ezekiel de-
veloped the synagogue, which con-
tanned the germs of modern democ-
racy. the study OF the Scriptures as
a guide for daily living and the de-
| velopment of a spiritual life. The
greatest need of the nations of the
earth at this very moment is fer
them to learn the lesson of Ezekiel,
50 that the work of reconstruction OF
the modern world should be bull:
upon the character ef God through
the deepening of the spiritual life of
man so that we should all be united
in the ties of love instead of the
spirit of hate. which separates men
and breeds war.