Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-11
Mothers of great men are always great


Mothers of great men are always great
i personalities. Most men who have
achieved success in the ministry owe it
to the influence of their mothers, who
nodded their character. Many a man
learns after he has entered upon the
work of preaching that his mother dedi-
Gated him, her son, for Gods service
before he was born. Paul had con-
viction that strengthened him in his
missionary endeavor, for he felt that
God had separated him from his
mothers womb, just as He had predes-
tined jeremiah for his lifework. God
does not wait for chance to produce His
man in the critical hour of history. He
sees ahead and knows the work needed
to be done. He selects the family, as in
the case of Samuel, David and Jere-
miah. Our Lord Jesus was no eXcep-
ton. In the birth of jeremiah, the
Old Testament character, whose life
was a marvellous prototype of the
Master, Jehovah selected family
where the prophet would from his birth
be in touch with the finer traditions of
Israel. He gave him a priest. Hilkiah-
not the one who found the lost copy of
the Sacred Scriptures, of last weeks
lesson-for father. jeremiah was
born into a priesthood that he was des-
tined to condemn for infidelity to Gods
cause.
From his birth jeremiah enjoyed life
and a religious home in Anathoth in
Benjamin, near enough to Jerusalem
for the growing boy to have the advan-
tage of the country life and close
enough to the nations capital to be in
huenced by its complexed life. There
in that priests home jeremiah was
reared under the watchful care of his
mother, who lives in the annals of men
in the great work Of her son. He evil
IDENTIFY was a shy, sensitive soul, whose
deeply religious life felt keenly the
reality of Gods presence. purpose and
power. The early religious training OF
the mother dominated his thoughts and
his devotion to her, and the high ideals
of religion had evidently made him re-
served in nature and not popular
playmate with the rougher element of
the community. We cannot overeSti-
mate the part the prophets mother
played in the development of his life
during his days at Anathoth. In all
probability, during these early days,
may have come into fellow
ship with Josiah, the young ruler, whose
ideals were seen in the reforms
which he tried to force upon the nation.
The Prophet Divinely Called.
jeremiah, the priest, was called to be
a prophet of God because of the evil
times In which he was born. The
nation was ignorant, Indifferent and
insensible to their spiritual mission.
The national degeneracy called forth
the efforts Of Josiah sS . reformer.
Probably five years before the Book Of
the Law was found in the Temple God
jeremiah to assist the young
King in his work of reformation, to
resist Jehoiakin in his reckless iniquity,
to demonstrate with zedekiah in his
weakness and folly, and to reveal TO
the nation in their captivity Gods grace
and their future glory, if they would
repent and do His will. He was called
to enter a lifelong ministry of more
than 40 years, that was to be char
acterized by destruction "to pluck up
and to break down and to destroy and
to overthrow" But not all of his work
was to be so destructive, for he also |
was ito build up and to plant"
When Jehovah made known to the |
timid Anathoth youth, by means OF
q divine revelation, that He had given |
him an international mission, 1t was
natural for jeremiah to hesitate. His
tory's pages tell US that nearly all who
their unfltneSs and lack Of prepare
ton, When God wants . man, as IN
the case of jeremiah, whom He had
selected before his birth, there Is but
one answer. No truly religious soul |
can refuse Gods call once he Is con-
WINGED that the summons Is a divine
one
Jehovah met the questions of fitness
and capacity of jeremiah by the as
surance of supernatural assistance.
When the prophet faced the fact that
he had been summoned he hesitated.
He was summoned to the sublimeSt
task to which any human being could
possibly be called-the task OF trying
to uplift with Gods message his gen.
Grafton One of the greatest souls OF
the Old Testament dispensation re-
touched the prophets lips. From that
hour he would speak. without hinching
or fear. the word of the Lord. From
that moment jeremiah became
prophet of God His mission and mes
Saees have, in the Judgment OF many
students of the Old Testament dispen-
sation, made q profounder contribution
to the religion of Israel than that Of
any other Hebrew.
His Early Ministry.
No prophet ever faced a sterner task
than did jeremiah. 1t may have been
because he had found out, a prophet
was without honor" in his home town
that was responsible for his removal TO
Jerusalem. We do not have any record
of any ministry earlier than the one
recorded in this weeks lesson. 1t was
a message of judgment that Jeremiah
was called upon to deliver. 1t called
for heroic courage to stand IN the
temple and declare the message Of doom
and destruction. If he had not spoken
boldly that day, we would not be study
ing the prophets words today. 1t called
for more than boldneSs to tell a Jerusa-
lem audience that the city and temple
would soon be like Shiloh. Twenty miles
away, on the historic site where once
stood the tent sheltering the ark Of the
covenant, was a mass of ruins. Some
thought he was disappearing. Others
charged him with being a traitor. 1t
cost the prophet agony Of soul, mind
and body to deliver his message. He
was true to his commission and, like
Nathan, Elijah. Amos, John the Baptist,
Peter and Paul, he delivered Gods mes
sage of warning Of the coming destruc-
ton.
The sensitive soul had declared the
message Jehovah had given him with
such clearness and convincing power