Evening star., 1927-10-22

| 1 dUIu6H LSAls hHu ICuiN |
the voice of the Lord, saying,
Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us? Then / said,
Here am !; send me.-Isaiah,
| Wis.
prophecy Is the dominant and dis.
tinctive element in 1sraeIs religion.
Unlike the priests, who off1ciated In
the worship Of the temple and per
petuated the observance of the ritual,
and were supported by the state,
the prophets touched every phase OF
human life, entered into contracts
| with their fellow countrymen, and
to a large extent earned their own
living. They were looked upon as
men possessing superhuman power,
especially in the ability to understand
| the otherwise unknowable. 1t was
due to their fellowship with God and
understanding Of His plans that gave
the prophets their leadership In the
| life of their age.
These holy men Of God nodded the
Hebrew people by their own per-
sonality and power to persuade men
to go Gods will. They mingled with
men in their hour of adversely ana
helped them overcome. They healed
them Of their ailments. They cleansed
their fountains and assisted in their
building enterprises. They were
statesmen, scientists and philosophers,
leading their countrymen in the So
luton of life's problems, aiding them
to solve the riddles and mysteries or
life.
The prophets were men Of heart
power. They possessed sympathetic
natures. In the darkest moments
they sought to inspire men to be
hopeful with their interpretations of
life. BY their missionary spirit they
broke through race pride and gave
their message to other races and ma
| tions, Always unselfish in their own
| life. they taught that men should be
| unselfsh in thought and deed. They
proved their courage in their patriotic
efforts to curb the errors and sin of
those in authority. The messages
that they delivered still grip men by
their spiritual power and sincerity.
Every prophet of ancient times. as
| well as today, breaches his message
because he is called of God to be His
spokesman and to deliver the gospel
| of divine love and grace to all.
The Prophets Call.
We can learn something of the ma
ture of a prophets call by studying
how Elisha, Amos and Isaiah were
called to be prophets. The successor
of Elijah is the only prophet who was
summoned by another. The beloved
son of the wealthy farmer, Shaphat,
was plowing in the fertile field of
Abel-meholah, literally, 'the meadow
| of the Dance" when he was called.
It is located ''in the plain of the Jor.
dan, about 10 miles south of Beth
shean, and between that and She
chem" He was experimenting the
movements of the IL plows (which
were made by shortening and point
ening a stout branch Of tree, from
which projected another limb,
the others had made, when
mand, Elijah suddenly appeared
upon the field and cast his mantle
upon the shoulders of Elisha. He rec
ognized the meaning of the act, for its
symbolism is well understood through
out the East. The Brahmans and the
Persian suf1s are appointed in that
way. Immediately he responded to
the call, requested the privilege of in
forming his parents before becoming
Eiijah's servant and commencing his
ministry that lasted for about so years.
Amos was called of the Lord when
| he was shepherd on the wild up
lands of Tekoa, supplementing his In
come from the sale of his wool by
caring for sycamore trees. One of the
| interesting things about his call to
be a missionary to the northern king
dom of Israel Is that he was not sum-
moned to a lifelong service, but he
was appointed to deliver definite
message Of sin and judgment. His
efforts to reach the people with whom
rested the real responsibilities for the
nations life resulted in an effort to
officially silence the man whom God
had called from his f1ocks to under
take spiritual mission, free from any
pecuniary rewards. When they
thought that they had stopped his
preaching, then Amos wrote in book
the vision that God had given to him
and confirmed the revelation by out.
ward events, which was the first
prophecy written out and preserved.
His words rank in their literary char
acter with the best. The principles
that he outlined are relevant to the
questions of our own day.
The Greatest Prophet.
Isaiah, the worlds greatest prophet,
was crushed with sorrow over the
death of UZZiah when the divine call
came to him. He was, according to
Josephus, the biographer of that brill
liant man, who in a moment or IN
discretion committed an act OF irreV'
erence. He was Immediately smote
with Ieprosy, left the temple and died
a leper. Isaiah was a member OF his
court and deeply attached to the
King, whose death filled the nation
with despair. The people believed that
the tocsin of Judah's doom had been
sounded in his death because UZziah
represented the nation in his person.
His condemnation meant theirs, for
his sin was their besetting sin. 1t
is ours today. 1t is seen in our
"callousness in worship, carelessness In
life and the temper, which employs
the forms of religion" for the advance
ment of selfish interests or self-ag
grandizement.
The young politician, who was
fitting himself for a career as a diplo
mat or statesman, had given unto
him in the temple, where UZZiah had
failed. a vision of the eternal and
everything God that changed his
whole life. He saw beyond the ark
the covenant, and the sacrifices
Jehovah as the supreme ruler of the
universe. lifted high above all the dis
| turbed political condition of his times
ruling Judah in accordance with His
, eternal principles Of righteousness
and justice.
Isaiah was gripped by the appear
. ance of the seraphim, that the mod
ern mind would have considered iE
I refarAuea IN avi1 fiou with itM nfy