ISAIAH LXVI-THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP 1211 shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. 15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. 17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. 18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory? and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah The prophet Jeremiah and his book rose to such distinction in the view of the ancient Hebrews that he came to be known as "the prophet," exalted in distinction above all the others. Jeremiah lived and began his prophecies during the reign of Josiah, the last reforming king of Judah, and continued his mission until after the destruction of Jerusalem. He is thrice mentioned in the Second Book of Chronicles. The honor and reverence which have been accorded the great prophet since his death, were not his in life. On the contrary, he lived in sharp antagonism with the majority of his countrymen. He reproved them for their errors, which they could not see, for their sins, which they would not abandon, for their rebellion against Babylon, the disastrous result of which he foresaw. He was charged as a false prophet and a traitor; he was persecuted by the Jewish authorities, imprisoned, almost slain. Only after the calamities which he prophecied had been accomplished upon his people, and the stern discipline of their exile and captivity in Babylon had chastened their hard spirits, only then did the Jew recognize the greatness of the man they had rejected. As to the authorship of the book, we are told within it that much of it was dictated by Jeremiah to his disciple, Baruch, and written down by the latter. The work has apparently undergone the revision of some later editor, who has gathered the various prophecies without regard to their chronological order. Scholars have given much study to the effort to arrange the prophecies in the succession in which they were probably origina ly delivered, and thus gather a clearer knowledge of the human life of Jeremiah. But this study is in some places filled with uncertainty. From a literary standpoint the entire book of Jeremiah ranks very high. It is written with tremendous passion and power, and the prophet visualized all he saw with an intensity and directness often startling in their effect upon the reader. 1212 Amos Rebukes Israel's Luxury BY GERHARD HOET, THE DUTCH MASTER OF BIBLE ART, DIED 1773. "That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall."-Amos, 6, 4. T HE career of Amos was not unlike that of the earlier and more celebrated Elijah. Just as Elijah had appeared suddenly before King Ahab over a century before, so Amos now stood among the rich nobles and mighty priesthood of the court of Jeroboam. This period seems to have been that of Israel's greatest material splendor; the ivory palace and other gorgeous structures of King Ahab had been added to, until Samaria was one of the most imposing cities of the world. But wealth and ease, alas, had bred as they so often must, a people languishing in idleness, seeking excitement in physical excesses or in cruelty, and dwindling into spiritual death. Amos did not begin by denouncing the Samarians. First he denounced their enemies. Damascus had savagely plundered Samaria, so Damascus should perish; Tyre had been false and treacherous, she should perish; Ammon had been brutish; Judah had neglected to worship God. Then suddenly, as the Samarians listened in satisfaction, Amos turned upon them. They had committed all these crimes in fuller measure than any of their foes. In vivid words the prophet pictures Israel's idleness, and cruelty and debauchery. He points to the inevitable result: "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord |