The Bible Story Part 316

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: They all gather themselves together, they come to thee: Thy sons shall come from far, And thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.

Then thou shalt see and be lightened, And thine heart shall tremble and be enlarged; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee.

The mult.i.tude of camels shall cover thee, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; They all shall come from Sheba, they shall bring gold and frankincense, And shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. {294}

All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered unto thee, The rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee; They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, And I will beautify the house of my glory.

Who are these that fly as a cloud, And as doves to their windows?

Surely the isles shall wait for me, And the ships of Tarshish first, To bring thy sons from far, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord thy G.o.d, And for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

And strangers shall build up thy walls, And their kings shall minister unto thee: For in my wrath I smote thee, But in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

Thy gates shall be open continually, They shall not be shut day nor night; That men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, And their kings led with them: For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, The fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together; To beautify the place of my sanctuary, And I will make the place of my feet glorious. {295}

And the sons of them that afflict thee Shall come bending unto thee; And all they that despised thee Shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.

And they shall call thee the City of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, So that no man pa.s.sed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, A joy of many generations.

For bra.s.s I will bring gold, And for iron I will bring silver, And for wood bra.s.s, And for stones iron.

I will also make thy officers peace, And thine exactors righteousness; Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, Desolation nor destruction within thy borders; And thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, And thy gates Praise.

The sun shall be no more thy light by day, Neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, And thy G.o.d thy glory. {296}

Thy sun shall no more go down, Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

Thy people also shall be all righteous, They shall inherit the land for ever; The branch of my planting, The work of my hands, That I may be glorified.

The little one shall become a thousand, And the small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in its time.

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JEREMIAH

(The life of Jeremiah was a very sad one. He lived in those days just before the captivity when the nation with its splendid history was drifting to certain doom, as a ship drifts upon the rocks. The people were sunk in corruption; they had no ambition and no hope. Jeremiah could not save the nation from the fate which the selfishness and wickedness of the people had brought upon it, but he could cry out with all the strength of his strong soul against the evil. Politically he saw that submission to Egypt or to Babylon was inevitable, and he favored Babylon, because the northern kingdom was much stronger than the southern. The time of the activity of Jeremiah as a prophet was about forty years, from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah until after the beginning of the captivity. When the people of Judah were carried into captivity Jeremiah was allowed to remain behind. He hoped that the little remnant of people which was left in the land by the conquerors might be the seed of a new and better nation, but in this he was bitterly disappointed. The governor of the colony was a.s.sa.s.sinated, and Jeremiah was dragged off to Egypt by the frightened people. It is said that the prophet met his death by stoning, at the hands of his own countrymen. Jeremiah has been compared to Milton and to Savonarola. His life was one of those which seem to fail in their immediate purpose, but which have very great influence upon the progress of humanity.)

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I

THE CALL OF JEREMIAH

(Jeremiah was not as eager as was Isaiah when G.o.d's call first came to him. He was reluctant and slow to obey.)

The word of G.o.d came to him saying, "I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations."

Then said I, "Ah, Lord G.o.d, behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."

But the Lord said unto me, "Say not, I am a child: for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid because of them: for I am with thee to deliver thee."

Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and the Lord said unto me, "Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth: see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant."

Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Jeremiah, what seest thou?"

And I said, "I see a rod of an almond tree."

Then said the Lord unto me, "Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it."

And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, "What seest thou?"

And I said, "I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is from the north."

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

A STREET IN JERUSALEM, WITH THE HOUSES BUILT OVER THE STREET.

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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Then the Lord said unto me, "Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness; because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other G.o.ds, and worshipped the works of their own hands. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee."

II

THE POTTER AND HIS CLAY

(The people of the East, where the prophets lived and spoke, understood teaching which was put before them in the form of pictures and images and symbols better than any other way. So the prophets would often use figures of speech and do striking things to attract the attention of the people. One day Jeremiah went to the workshop of the potter, and found him at work with {302} his wheel. This is the way in which he used what he saw to teach the people of G.o.d's power over them):--

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words."

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought his work on the wheels. And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Now therefore go, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord: 'Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.'"

But they say, "There is no hope: for we will walk after {303} our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart."

Therefore thus saith the Lord, "Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up? For my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to false G.o.ds; and they have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up; to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; everyone that pa.s.seth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will look upon their back, and not their face, in the day of their calamity."

(At another time he took an earthen vessel which the potter had made and broke it in the sight of the people.)