Arizona sun., 1947-06-13

cause Of their own inSincerlty, ana
partly because Josiah was soon
killed in battle. Yet God did not
leave his wandering people with
out good counsel, for 1t was in those
days that the great prophet Jeremi-
ah ministered. He had been the
helper of Josiah in his good pur-
poses; now he continued to plead
with Judah to submit themselves
to God and to his will.
His efforts proved to be fruitless as
far as Judah was concerned, for we
see that
1. Judah Would Not Respond to
Gods Mercy (Jer. 36:2, 81.
God commanded his prophet to
write down his words in order that
the people might not only know the
inevitable impending judgment, but
especially be reminded Of Gods de-
sire that they should turn from their
evil ways and be forgiven.
One would have thought that they
would have responded to such mer-
cy with an immediate and grateful
return to the Lord, but they did not.
jeremiah, a unique man OF great
ability, was so tenderhearted that he
has often been called the weeping
prophet. Do not infer that he was
weak, emotional character, for he
was strong in the Lord, and coura-
geous in the face Of rejection and
persecution. He urged upon Judah
the necessity of submitting to Bab-
ylon, to whom God had given power,
and above all to the Lord, for a
spiritual cleansing and revival.
Our second section brings before
us the further sin of King Jehoiakim,
who led his nation on to destruction.
We see that
III. Judah Would Not Receive Gods
Word (Jer. 36:28-3D.
At Gods command jeremiah and
his scribe Baruch had prepared the
scroll with Gods Word upon it. One
of the nations leaders was moved
by it, and through his urging, the
scroll was brought to the attention
of the king.
Jehoiakim, sitting before the fire,
heard only part of it, and then in
defiance of God he took penknife
and cut it up and burned it.
One cannot help but think of those
in our day who call themselves
modern thinkers, or liberals, who
have also used their penknifes on
Gods Word. They cut out of the
Bible everything they do not like,
and offer the hungry people the stone
Of their own PHILOSOPHERS in place OF
the Bread of life. Think what their
judgment will be!
Gods Word is not so easily got
ten out of the way! The prophet
was commanded to rewrite the
scroll, and in it to declare the
awful judgment of God upon the one
who mutilated his Word.
. To try to destroy Gods truth by
fire and violence is as fruitless as
to try to tear the stars from the
heavens or to keep the sun from
shining. The wicked leaders of a
great nation have tried that once
more in recent years. and they now
lie dead for their sins, with the ma
ton a subject people, broken and all
but destroyed.
One wonders why those who pro-
fess to serve the Lord will engage
in such activity, even as one won
ders at Judah, a favored people OF
God, refusing to receive his Word.
God is not willing to give up, and
now tries chastisement. But we see
that
iii. Judah Would Not Recognize
Gods Providences III Kings 24:1-N
Jehoiakim had become the vassal
of Babylon, but after three years
he decided to try to throw off the
yoke of his oppressor, Nebuchad-
nezzar. He was not able at the time
to deal with the situation, and so he
melted marauding bands from vari-
GUS other nations to harass judah.
We see, however, that this came
about at the commandment Of God
wv. 2, 81. Evidently he was now
using the distressing experiences OF
life to turn judah back to him; but
once again it proved to be in vain.
God does deal with men through
what we call his providences, and
these may include not only his mer.
cies, but his chastisement. Trouble
and sorrow may be Gods means OF
leading us to the place Of repent
ance and blessing.
What folly it is to disregard the
hand of God in our daily lives, or
to become embittered at the cir.
cumstances which are intended to
bring us to Gods place Of blessing.
Happy is the man or woman who,
being reproved in this way, profits
by the Lords admonition (Heb. IL:
I'D.