Hours with the Bible, Or, the Scriptures in the Light of Modern Knowledge (Volume 6) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. The guilt which was about to bring down the ruin of the Jewish State had been, as we have seen, the constant theme of Jeremiah and Ezekiel for many years; but the hope of future reformation so entirely depended on its being kept before the public mind, with all its terrible results, that no repetition seemed too frequent. It was, in fact, by this unwearied presentation of the truth, to the minds of their contemporaries, however much they disliked it, that these great preachers ultimately awakened the national conscience, and led to that amazing reaction from the idolatry of the past, of which Judaism, in its later development, became the embodiment. Never in the history of nations, so far as appears, has a sacred order anywhere risen, more earnest, self-sacrificing, noble in their purity of life, lofty in their realization of the true and eternal, or bravely faithful in their battle with sin, than the Hebrew prophets. They really believed what they said, and spoke accordingly. No fear of the great, or of the multitude, could silence them. Appointed to proclaim the whole truth, without circumlocution or mitigation, they did so, however invidious, "vulgar," "censorious," unpopular, or perilous the duty. Self-seeking, worldly-minded members of the order abounded, as they do in all ages among the public ministers of religion;men who toned down the AVord of God to suit their audiences; astutely careful to let abuses lie undisturbed, to flatter the great, to avoid whatever was disagreeable to their patrons, and, like keen and crafty men of the world, to make sure of as much of this life as they could, lest they should by any chance come short in the other. The fidelity of the true prophets was ill calculated to promote their world...