Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-04

President Hoover's appeal in his re-
cent speech before the Associated Press
for the observance of law and obedience
to the Constitution sounded a note SIM
liar to that of Josiah, when Shaphan
brought to his attention the Lost Book
of the Law" that Hilkiah found when
he was restoring the temple. He dis
covered 1t when he was about to pay
of the workmen engaged in work OF
restoration under his supervision. The
record in Second Kings places the find
ing of this book Of the nations ancient
faith preceding the inauguration OF
JoSiah's reforms. In all probability the
work OF restorating the Temple. the de-
struction of all idolatry and the crusade
against all forms of iniquity had been
started some time before the finding Of
Gods Law" and the entire work was
not completed for some time afterward.
Drastic reforms are never secured in a
day Reforma ton takes lifetime. The
recovery of the Lost Word of Jehovah"
gave q spiritual force to the movement
that Josiah had commenced. with the
result that 1t was brought to a successful
conclusion. Reforms must have spirit
ual backing to win.
1t was a great day in the nations
history when the faithful priest dis
covered the lost roll Of the law. The
scroll contained without doubt the whole
of Deuteronomy. 1t may have con-
tanned the whole of the Pentateuch or
o part of it in addition to the essential
portion of the law contained In Deuter-
onomy Books were few in those days
and the discovery of the sacred manu-
script created a great sensation. We
do not know how it was lost. 1t may
have been hidden during the persecu-
tons of Manasseh to prevent its de-
Struction. In all probability 1t was
the copy of the law that was required
to be placed in the ark of the covenant
just as the discovery Of manuscript
copies of the Bible have virtually given
US correct text of the Sacred Scrip
lures. so the discovery of the Lost
Word" must have corrected the errors
that had been transmitted from mouth
to ear as generation after generation
passed on from one to the other Gods
law. One OF the miracles of history is
the way that our Lord has preserved
for us His word.
Hilkiah, the priest, who had over
sight of the restoration of the Temple,
was busy trying to carry out his knowl-
edge of Gods word when he was guided
by Providence to discover the Lost
Word" in the place where it was hidden
in all probability during the stormy
PcIlOu NIlCt IhlC RIOpAACtO WCAG pCAoC-
cuted, the Temple neglected by heathen-
izing party that was seeking to crush
out the true worship of Jehovah. Every
person who uses all their knowledge Of
Gods revelations to men receives q
larger knowledge Of the Lord. If we
neglect the study of the Sacred Scrip
lures we will become careless concern
ing our lives, Indifferent to the needs
of others, and it will not be long before
we will reap the results of our neglect
Of the Holy Bible.
Results Of the Discovery.
The Bible possesses unique power
over men. Josiah, when he heard the
words of God read, rent his clothes.
He was filled with disnay, distress and
despair. The Kings spiritual attitude
of mind enabled him to understand the
Importance of its message. He recog-
nized the full meaning Of the law and
its application to him as the nations
chief and the peoples peril. He had
sought for larger knowledge Of Jehovah
and was helping forward the work of
restoring His Temple so that true re-
ligious worship of Jehovah could be re-
sumed by the nation. He had sought to
destroy idolatry and had opened cam
paign to influence the people to obey
God and worship Him.
Disturbed by the spiritual outlook,
Josiah summoned Huldad, the prophet
ess to advise him concerning the teach
ings of Gods word. She declared that
the prophecies concerning Jerusalem
would be fulfilled and history testifles
to the fact that they were literally full
filled In view Of the kings repentance
and desire to save the nation, she pre-
dicted that he would enjoy a reign of
peace. Recognizing the nations peril
from their lawlessness, Josiah sum-
moned all the elders Of Judah and
Jerusalem for a great assembly of the
people to hear read the word of God
that had been discovered in the rub
bish and ruins of the temple. When
the law was read to them In the house
of Jehovah they joined hands with the
prophets, priests and politicians in
covenant with God and one another to
keep His law and do His will in all
things. Their determination to meet the
requirements Of the recently discovered
book Of the law resulted in the re-estab-
fishing of the worship Of Jehovah in
the temple at Jerusalem, the complete
destruction of all the heather shrineS,
the offering of sacrifices for their sins
and the observance Of the greatest pass
over ever held under the patronage Of q
king followed as an evidence of their
repentance and desire to obey Gods
word. The nation that seeks to obey
Gods will and to do His work will be
law abiding and prosperous.
Green in his History of the English
People" traces the results that followed
the reading Of the Bible by the people
of Great Britain after the King James
version gave to them q translation of
the Bible in the speech Of the people of
that day. The marvellous influence of
this popular translation of the Bible
over the English-speaking world has
made its production one Of the greatest
events in history. 1t nodded the
speech, inspired the literature, shaped
the social life and framed the theologi-
cal thinking of all the English-speaking
nations.
Influenced American Life.
We owe directly or indirectly to the
reading of the Bible every reform or
advancement that we have made and
contributed to the cherished possession
of civilization. Civil and religious
liberty both came into being as a result
of the study of the Bible. Our fathers
who landed at Plymouth we're led here
by the decision to seek a land where
they would be free to obey the teach
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