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The Commoner
- X,
JUNE, 1922 -.w-.
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:
Mr
Bryan's
oK OF HISTORY'S
GREATEST
By. WIlKm JENNJ$ BRYAN
P DISCOVERIES
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BIBLE !TBX;fiLESSOlJvbR M4Y 21,, V
(II Chronic xxxiv:1416, 29-32) .-
And when thoy- brought. oUt.the money-thatowas
brought into the house of the Lord Hilklah,, the
priot foUnd a book 6f tho law of the Lord given
by Moses. "
And Hilklah answered and said to Shaphan the
scribe, I 1 ave found the book of the law in the
house of tho Lord. And Hilklah delivered the book
to Shaphan.
And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and
brought the king word, back again, saying, All
that was committed to thy servants, they do It.
Then tho king sent and gathered together all the
ciders of Judah and Jerusalem.
And the king went up into the house of the Lord,
and all the men of Judah, and tho inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and the priests, andi the Levitcs, and
all the people, great and small: and he read in
their cars all the words of the book of the cove
nant that was found in the house of the Lord.
And the king stood in his place, and made "a
covenant before tho Lord, to walk after the Lord,
and to keep his commandments, and his testi
monies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and
with all his soul, to perform tho words of the cove
nant which are written in this book.
And he caused all that were present In Jeru
salem and Benjamin to stand to it. Arid the in
habitants of Jerusalem did according to the cove
nant of God, the God Of their fathers.
This is the age of. discovery. Archeologists,
inventors, chemists, astronomers are continually
bringing forth new wonders for. us to contem
plate. Within the span of a few years we
have been given the automobile, the flying ma
chine, the submarine, the wireless telegraph, tho
radio telephone, and from ugly and apparent
ly useless substances come forth, under " the
magic touch of the chemist, wondrous colors to
make brilliant the garments ' of ' the world and
modiciues to heal the sick.. Discovery is -piled
upon discovery in such rapidity- that ' of ten
times we are bewildered thereby.
But, wonderful and far-reaching in their of
fects on life as these- discoveries are, you will
have to turn to the 34th- chapter of Second
Chronicles to learn of what is still, and always
will remain, one of the greatest discoveries 'in
history.
For twenty-five hundred years ago, in tho
reign of Josiah, king of Judah, the Bible, that
had been lost, was found again the "book of
the law of the Lord given by Moses."
Just how and for liow long the Book that has
shaped the destiny of the world was lost is not
definitely known, but the fact that in the course
or the history of the Jewish kingdom it was
lost is proof that it was neglected. If it had
jeen in daily use, if the people had shaped
their lives according, to its precepts, its disap
pearance would have been at once noted and
ua recovery soon announced. But the Jews
were led by rulers who oscillated from fidelity
o God to subservience to .heathen gods, and
ine punishment that follows wrongdoing, ear
ned many captive intov foreign lands. And
some time during these biack years the "book
oi the law of tho Lord given by Moses," tho
"Me, was lost .,
AN EXAMPLE OF EARLY PIETY
It was during this dismal time in the history
oi the Jews that Josiah, who was the son of a
2S father, began his reign -in Jerusalem at
eight years of age; when he was only 16 he
sought after "the God of David." He is one of
X many illustrations in the Bible of early
pin Wo aro ' not informed as to. the influ
ences thatmoiildod, him, but as he could not
fiT ,,n the PUP1'1'" of- his father tho honor
ZL his mother, Jedidah, or to some of tho
priestly class. .
nn7w0ro takinS up his' work that led to. the
a ,nes recovery, it-may be 'well to observe .that
Chris?0 porcentaee ' dt those who enter upon a
rnJ! u, life eein young. There are several
reasons for this.
crpYfn81, tUe environment 0f a Christian homo
Thp 7?nC1onditiona ,n 'which- faith germinates,
hoivf . , r. sohGfthan many suppose, finds its
Christ S h0l.d upoi ?iUl,iu God an'd In
Ajnwi1? is a mu earlier growth than reason,
oramg to-lawtho ybutfg: man is. tfrpsuraod
lO1
Bible
I alks
to be immature in his reason until he is 21 No
evidence of precocity can overthrow thinre
sumption Tho calendar is the only proof hat
the courts will receive. Until a hoy is 21 li in
Wm, 'I "?fc 1Id aUd his votc is t received!
While maturity in woman is prosumed to arrivo
a little earlier than in man, it, too, is calculated
by years; differences that manifest themselves
wivld? 8.Aro not tuken int0 consideration.
With faith it is different. Faith in tho parent
springs up early in the child and this faith
naturally broadens into faith in others until the
child, long before it reaches legal maturity, can
worship God and give its love to Christ in re
turn for Christ's love.
THE PERIOD OF REBELLION
The second reason is to be found in the fact
that every child passes through a period of re
bellion, latent or expressed, against parental
authority. The prodigal son gives us an ex
hibition of this rebellion carried to the point
of separation from home.
In most cases affection, if not wisdom, re
strains the child during tho years when youth
is passing into maturity. This is especially
true if, before this transition period comes, the
child has learned to supplement the authority of
tho parent with the authority of a loving
Heavenly Father. Obedience to parents makes
obedience to God easier, and obedience to God
strengthens the child's respect for its parents.
The peril of the child is increased by the
fact that just at the time when the spirit of in
dependence is taking the place of parental au
thority he begins to study tho universe about
him.
At this period any theory that relieves the
child of a sense of responsibility is more attrac
tive than it is earlier or later, and, therefore,
many are led away from faith in God. Some
afterward return as intellectual prodigal sons;
some wander off into a starless night oven
though they recognize, as Romanes did, the aw
ful contrast between the "hallowed creed" of
their youth and "the lonely mystery of exist
ence" as they find it to. bo when they abandon
belief H God.
. Fortunate for tho child if its religious faith
becomes firmly rooted before it encounters the
strong temptations that come as it approaches
manhood or womanhood. . No one who has
come in contact with shipwr:cked lives will take
the responsibility of advising a child to post
pone a confession of its faith when its hear', is
ready to make a confession.
HILKfAEl FINDS THE BOOK
"At the age of 20 Josiah began to purge his
country of every form of idolatry that had he
come rife throughout its borders during the
brief reign of his wicked father and the long
reign of his grandfather; at 2 G ho began to re
pair Solomon's temple, that had been allowed
to fall into decay while the idolatrous held
their revels and orgies and human sacrifices. It
was at this time that Hilklah, the high priest,
unearthed the lost word of God, what is sup
posed to have been the Pentateuch.
When the book was brought to tho king
there was great rejoicing. He gathered to
gether all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem
and then he brought to the house of the Lord
all the inhabitants, the priests and the people.
Standing In his place, he read to them all the
words of the book of the covenant that was
found in the house of the Lord;" and he "made
a" covenant before the Lord to walk after the
T.nrd and to keep his commandments and his
testimonies and his statutes with all his heart
and wUh all his soul" to perform the words of
the covenant that were written m the book.
- He not only made a promise for himself, but
he brought his people into the covenant with
hhn and they "did according to the covenant
nf rnd the God of their fathers."
Several of those who write upon the lessons
w the i Bible teaches have found In this ac
that the "We wk yery o the Bible a
CLtl0,i as to te numerous ways, in which
?hf Wo d of God is lost now, for it goes with
th? JSin that art' individual, as'weirasa.na
tit.maf lose the Bible, and lose it today as
Well as in the past
tkfftotaSd S?ih.BlbI. will serve
to banish It from tho thought. If ono obeys tho
first commandment, "Thou ahalt have no other
gods before mo;" ho will be anxious to'koep in
touch with God's word and will want to know
God's will that ho may obey it. If he worship
any of tho many false goods, ho Will feel Ilttlo
intorost in tho Word of God. In fact, ho will
deliberately avoid it because its languago will
accuse him.
THE FALSE GODS OF TODAY
It is hardly necessary to say that there are
as many false gods today ns thoro Wore iri'tlw
days, of tho Ilobrow kings, or that t'he. tamftm
tion 16 worship thogo gods is as" strong' tdd ay
as then. ' ' ; ' "'"'
W'o have the god 'of gold, worshipped bV'tbdsd
who put money above everything disc; the gbll
of fashion, worshipped by those who Icing for
distinction in tho social world; tho god of
fame, hoforo which those prostrate themselvoa
who set their heart upon tho distinctions that
can bo won in any department of activity.
Wo havo tho god of oaso, which those wor
ship who think only of food and bodily com
fort who eat and oat and eat, and sleep and
sleep and sleep, and then rise up to eat and
eat and eat again.
Wo have the god of intellect, worshipped by
thosp, who, putting the brain above tho hoart,
and reason above faith, proudly follow, tho wan
derings of tho mind instead of humbly trust
ing the Word of God.
We have the travol god, worshipped by thoso
who dovolop the wanderlust and associate with
rare and unusual things until tho little tasks
that make up everyday life pall upon them.
Wo have the god of chanco, worshipped by
those, who are bent on getting something for
nothing; the god of passion, worqhipped by
those who subordinate tho mind and tho soul
to thp appetites of tho body; tho rum god, in
whoso worship Americans used to spond more
than an onducation and religion combined; and,
last and most deceptive of all, tho great god
self, of which all tho other falso gods are but
masks.-
THE GREAT GOD SELF
It Is self that obscures the Creator self that
is puffed up with its own Importance and seoks
to mak.e tho world subservlenfto It; self .'that
could not live .an hour if it had to give Its. at
tention to its own vital organs. Ono would
die of exhaustion if he had to swing the pend
ulum of the heart or pump the bellows of the
lungs or direct the digestive organs in their
unceasing work.
But the Heayonly Falhor has provided that
man can live without conscious effort in order
that man may devote his thought- to God's
work and to tho welfare of his fellows. And
yet, many give to their Maker no thought at
all and are indifferent to. His revealed word.
Josiah 2,500 years ago recognizod the, value
of God's word and led the people In the mak
ing of a covenant for the worship of Jehovah.
Ho entered into these covenants with "all his
heart and with all his soul." If Josiah and his
people so highly prized the Pentateuch, what
should be our estimate of the Bible as we havo
it tho Old Testament enlarged and a New
Testament added?
WHAT THE BIBLE GIVES US .
I venture to sav that tho Bible has d'nnr. mnm.
to determine the civilization of today thanall
other books combined. -' .
'It gives the conception of God entertained
by the.civilized world; it gives us an infallible
guide a lamp unto our feet and a light unto
bur path.
It gives us the only authentic account of
Christ, whose life" on earth began with a virgin
birth and ended in a resurrection the great
est fact of history and the growing figure of all
time.
The world never noeded the Bible more than
now; It needs a personal God, near enough to
hear prayer "and. willing to answor; it needs-ari
inspired Word of God it needs tho full-statured
Christ of whom the Bible tolls. . -'
,-W.;
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STANDING UP FOR GOD
By WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
.tv
. , BIBLE TEXTLESSON FOR '.MAY 28'
(Jeremiah xxvl:8"-16) '"
Now It came to pass, when Jeremiah had mad
an end of speaking all that the Lord had qom
raarided him to speak unto. all. the people, that, tha
priests and tho prophets and all the people toolc
him. saying-, Thou shalt surely die.
.Why hast thou prophesied In. the namo of tho
Lord,' sayingf This house shalj bo like Shlloh. &nd
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