King's Business - 1922-05

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

502

nounces it. There must be repentance and a return to God, or else the rod. So God records it in His prophetic Word and we have it. We need it.' The church needs it. Sinners need it. It is the unchanging, unchangeable Word of God, for “ The Word of the Lord en- dureth forever.” (2) THE RECORD READ, REJECT­ ED AND BURNED, vs. 9-26. A fast day had been proclaimed for Judah, and, in accordance with custom, the bugle had been blown to call the people together. (4:5 ) Baruch the scribe of Jeremiah, is on hand with the prophetic Word and, obedient to the command of Jeremiah, he is ready to read the message (v. 6 ). He read to the princes and to the gathered crowds of people the same message which we have given by Jeremiah in our lesson- from the 26th chapter— a word of warning concerning the coming curse, telling them that Jerusalem was to be punished as well as Shiloh. If Jeyemiah cannot go, he has a man to go for him. So Paul had his mes­ sengers such as Timothy and Titus. We should thank God for these willing helpers— always ready to answer the call and run the risk in joyful; though dangerous service (John 4:37, 38) "A n d herein is th at sa y in g tru e, One sow eth and an oth er reapeth. I sent y o n to reap that w h ereon y e b e­ stow ed n o la b o r; oth er m en lab ored , and y e are entered in to th eir lab ors.” One man heard the message who was moved by it— one of a multitude— Mi- caiah—well descended— a grandson of Shaphan, the scribe (2 Chron. 34:18) trained in the Word. He was conscious that the princes should know and hear these solemn words and told them the story. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon this service of Micaiah. Note the order; Jeremiah, Baruch, Micaiah, the princes;— and finally the word reaches the king himself. So it is with the Gospel— first, per-

Introduction : The kingdom of Judah dates from about 980 to 530 B. C.—a period of some four hundred years. The king­ dom lasted for about a hundred and •forty years after thè LESSON fall of the kingdom of EXPOSITION Israel. T. C. Horton Judah i s nearing the close of its history and king Jehoiakim — knowing the nearness of the Babylonian army— fears that the prophecy of Jeremiah will hasten the disastrous close of his reign. The Whole chapter is essential to a proper understanding of the lesson, and can be briefly outlined. ( 1) TH E RECORD COMMANDED RECORDED AND READ, vs. 1-8. Here you have an associated service, — the prophet and his amanuensis— Jeremiah, a true servant of the living God who has given him a message of great and grave import Which is not to be 'overlooked or unheeded, a message for the times; a message of warning; a call to repentance. For twenty years Jeremiah had been voicing God’s words to the people, and now God commands him to put his mes­ sage in writing. It was not only for Judah, but for all the centuries. Every -Scripture is God-breathed and is profit­ able for us and for every age. We can picture the prophet and his scribe taking from dictation the words which we have recorded in our Bible. No man would desire to Write such searching words of rebuke, such sen­ tences of coming disaster, and yet no true man would refuse to follow God’s command, God loved His people and sought to bring them to their knees. His bless­ ing cannot rest upon rebels. He can­ not approve of violation of His law. There must be a law against sin and God has made it. Sentence must be given to the lawless and God pro­

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