head might be one spring of tears, for nothing less can do justice to the woes of his nation. For the slain. Either those slain with Josiah in the battle of Megiddo, or those who perished in the civil feuds, or those whom the prophet sees as destined to perish in the coming captivity. (4) Do we feel as we ought for those who are dying in sin?

2. O that I had. He wishes that he could fly from this daily striving with evil that he was powerless to subvert, and find refuge in some quiet place far from his fellow-men. Such was the spirit that first prompted the hermits and monks, a desire for rest away from the world of sin. But God has work for us in this world, and we must wrestle with sin, rather than fly from it. That I might leave my people. Not because he would escape personal violence, but because his soul was in trouble with the contact of wickedness. All adulterers. Idolatry was regarded as a breach of the covenant between God and his people, and generally it led to open immorality. Treacherous. Devoid of honesty and faith in their dealings with each other. (5) The fear of God is the only safeguard for honor among men. 3. Bend their tongues. Just as archers bend their bows for battle, so do they prepare their tongues for falsehood. But they are not valiant for the truth. Mr. Valiant-for-truth is one of the noblest characters in "The Pilgrim's Progress." But the Rev. Ver. reads this sentence, They are grown strong in the land. but not for truth." They proceed from evil to evil. There is an inexorable law, by which sinners tend downward, from one degree of guilt to another lower. (6) Teacher, urge your scholar to pause above the rapids, ere he shoots Niagara.

4, 5. Take ye heed. Watch even your own brother.

Utterly supplant. There is an allusion here to the meaning of the name Jacob, supplanter." It might be read, "Every brother is a thorough Jacob," supplanting, as he did Esau. Deceive every one. (7) Those who are faithless to God are unjust to men. Taught their tongue. As if their tongues would not learn lying fast enough. Weary themselves. Do we not find now that some men take more trouble to get into the State-prison, as burglars and counterfeiters, than would suffice to give them a good living as honest men?

6. Thine habitation. Either addressed by the Lord to the prophet, or a continuation of the same warning as in the previous verses. They refuse to know me. They deceive themselves, as do sinners in every age,

and so refuse to hear God's word.

7. Therefore. Because every other form of discipline has been tried in vain. I will melt them and try them. The people were to be melted in the crucible of war and captivity, the baser elements destroyed, and the true gold brought forth to shine more brightly So it came to pass the irreligious, idolatrous part of the people were either slain or lost among the heathen, while the godly portion returned from captivity to make a new Israel.

8. Their tongue is as an arrow. In verse 3 it was like a bow here it is like an arrow. Speaketh peace. ably. Just as Joab talked with Abner when intending to destroy him. 2 Sam. 3. 27. (8) The vilest of all sinners is the hypocrite.

HOME READINGS.

M. Jeremiah predicting the captivity. Jer. 8. 20-22;

9. 1-16.

Tu. The calling of Jeremiah. Jer. 1. 1-10.

W. Mourning for destruction. Jer. 9. 17-26.

Th. The time to be saved. Isa. 55. 1-7.

F. The summer ended-saved. Matt. 25. 14-23, 34-40. S. The summer ended-unsaved. Matt. 25. 24-30, 41-46.

S. The cause of disobedience. James 3. 1-18.

GOLDEN TEXT.

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. Jer. 8. 20.

LESSON HYMN. C. M.

Hymnal, No. 367.

Lovers of pleasure more than God,
For you he suffered pain:
For you the Saviour spilt his blood:
And shall he bleed in vain ?

9. Shall I not visit them? If any one supposes that God is careless of the world, or will leave sin to go unpunished, he is greatly mistaken. Shall not my soul be avenged? We must not imagine that God's anger and vengeance are like human feelings. passionate and selfish. They are his settled attitude, just and terrible, against sin and sinners, and thoroughly consistent with the fullness of love.

10, 11. For the mountains. Palestine is a land of mountains, and the Israelites were a mountain people, rarely dwelling on the plains. In Israel's prosperity, the hill-sides were terraced with gardens and vineyards; the prophet saw them as the traveler sees them now, desolate and uncultivated. They are burned up. In some places already destroyed when the prophet wrote, in others soon to be devastated by invading armies. Even the fowl of the heaven, the birds of the air, have forsaken the land where they can no longer obtain sustenance. And the beast are fled. Driven away by the predatory hosts. Only those who have lived in a land ravaged by war can conceive of such ruin. Jerusalem heaps. Bear in mind that this prophecy was given while Jerusalem was still standing, and loved by its people as "the holy city." A den of dragons. Rev. Ver., "A dwelling-place of jackals." More than once has this prediction been literally fulfilled.

12. Who is the wise man? Here is the question which the wise man is called upon to answer. For what the land perisheth. The politician has one theory to account for national evils, the prophet another. One sees their cause in a mistaken tariff, a neglect of sanitary science, the unwise policy of the adverse party; the other looks deeper, and sees that national evil has its root in national sin. Every nation that has died has deserved to die, and in the outcome the best people live and grow strong. (9) May our nation be found worthy to live!

13. The Lord saith. God gives his own answer to his own question. Because they have forsaken. God had given them his law, thereby honoring them above all other nations, and he had sent them prophets to explain and impress their duty of obedience. But they had rejected his commands, and chosen their own way, and for this destruction was coming upon them.

14. Walked after the imagination. Just as now many people frame their creed to suit their conduct, rejecting every doctrine that is disagreeable, and interpreting Scripture to their own taste. Baalim. The plural of Baal, the national divinity of the Phenicians, Israel's nearest neighbors, here taken as a general name for idolatry.

15. With wormwood. No special plant is intended, but the expression may refer to the utter bitterness which sin was bringing on the people. (10) The fruit of quilt is always bitter. Look at the faces of drunkards, criminals, men and women of sinful pleasure, and mark the lines of misery on them.

16. I will scatter them. This prediction, oft repeated, was fulfilled during the prophet's life-time, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the exile of the best among the people. Till I have consumed them. Not consumed them all, but consumed the evil elements among them, for the captivity proved one of the greatest of blessings.

To earth the great Redeemer came,
That you might come to heaven;
Believe, believe in Jesus' name,
And all your sin's forgiven.
Believe in him who died for thee,
And. sure as he hath died,
Thy debt is paid, thy soul is free,
And thou art justified.

TIME.-Reign of Jehoiakim. perhaps 609 B. C. In Greece, the 42d Olympiad. Year of Rome, 144.

PLACE.-Same as Lesson I, Jerusalem.

RULERS.-Jehoiakim, eighteenth king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 604-568. PharaohNecho, king of Egypt, 612-596. Cyaxares, king of Media. Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome. Annual archons in Athens.

CONNECTING LINKS.-Thirteen years have passed since last lesson. Josiah has reigned thirty-one years, and has been killed trying to prevent Pharaoh's passage through his land. Jehoaház has been made king and deposed, and Eliakim, with his name changed

to Jehoiakim, is now king. It was an evil reign, and the prophet Jeremiah began his utterances of woe.

DOCTRINAL SUGGESTION-The wrath of God.

QUESTIONS FOR SENIOR STUDENTS.

1. The Weeping Prophet, v. 20-22, and 1, 2. What wish does the prophet utter in chap. 9, v. 1? What reason does he give for the wish? chap. 8, v. 20. How was the harvest past and the summer ended? Was the reason for this condition a lack of gracious means on God's part?

Who was the author of the condition pictured in ver. 21 ?

2. A Guilty People, v. 3-8.

Find the sins with which the prophet charged the people in verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.

What was the effect of these sins? ver. 6.

How is the law of growth in evil shown in these verses ver. 3, 8.

What was to be their punishment?

3. A Desolate Land, v. 9-16.

From what power was this desolation to come?
What was to happen to the mountains?
What should be done to Jerusalem ?
What was to become of the people?
Why were these terrible desolations to come?
When and by whom was this prophecy fulfilled?

What was the cry of Jesus for a sinful people? Matt. 23.37.

Why did the prophet desire separation from his people?

2. A Guilty People, v. 3-8.

Of what were the people guilty?

What reason is given for their wickedness?

What warning does the prophet give

Why was this warning necessary?

How does the Lord regard deceit ? Prov. 12. 22.

3. A Desolate Land, v. 9-16.

What question does the Lord ask?

What does he prophesy about Jerusalem ?

What about the cities of Judah?

Why is the land to be desolated?

On what condition had God promised his blessing? Deut. 5. 32, 33.

In what way had the people walked ?

What had God promised to the disobedient? Deut. 28.58, 64.

Teachings of the Lesson.

Where in this lesson are we taught-1. That neglect of opportunity endangers the soul? 2. That the sins of the wicked are an affliction to God's people? 3. That the path of obedience is the path of safety?

Why did Jeremiah mourn over the people? Because they continued to do evil.

What did he boldly declare unto them? God's wrath and punishment.

What punishment did he prophesy? The desolation of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people. Does God love when he punishes? Yes; punishments are a sign of his love.

What is truest love? Love that seeks to make us better, even if it must be by punishment.

If God did not punish us for sins what would we think? That he had forgotten us.

When do we forsake God? When we refuse to obey him.

What always follows disobedience to him? Sin and sorrow and suffering.

Words with Little People.

Our lesson to-day is only part of a long story, but it teaches us that it is a dreadful thing to disobey God and put off coming to him. Why do you wait, dear little people? Every day you wait it will be all the harder to come. There is danger and death in delay. Yesterday is gone. To-day is ours. To-morrow may never come. The Saviour is reaching out loving arms for you to come to-day. O don't let the GOLDEN TEXT be true of any of you.

I. A HARDENED PEOPLE.

1. Harvest is past....not saved. v. 20.
"Exhort one another daily." Heb. 3. 13.

2. Why is not the health....recovered? v. 22.
"Harden not your hearts." Heb. 3. 15.

II. A SORROWING PROPHET.

1. O that mine head were waters. v. 1.

"Rivers of waters run down mine eyes." Psa.
119. 136.

2. O that I had........a lodging place. v. 2.
"That I had wings like a dove." Psa. 55. 6, 7.

III. A GROWTH IN WICKEDNESS.

1. Grown strong... not for truth. v. 3. [R. V.] "Evil men....shall wax worse." 2 Tim. 3. 13. 2. Proceed from evil to evil. v. 3.

"Will eat as doth a canker." 2 Tim. 2. 17.

IV. A MUTUAL DISTRUST.

1. Take ye heed........of his neighbor. v. 4. "Trust ye not in a friend." Micah 7. 5.

2. Every brother will utterly supplant. v. 4. "Brother shall deliver up....brother." Matt. 10. 21.

3. Habitation... midst of deceit. v. 6. "Words....softer than oil....drawn swords." Psa. 55. 21.

V. A SUFFERING PEOPLE.

1. I will melt them and try them. v. 7. "A refiner and purifier of silver.'

Mal. 3. 3,

2. Shall not my soul be avenged? v. 9. "I also will laugh at your calamity." Prov. 1. 26.

VI. A DESOLATED LAND.

1. I will make Jerusalem heaps. v. 11.

"Not....one stone upon another." Matt. 24. 2.

2. For what the land perisheth. v. 12.

THOUGHTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

Some Sins which God Hates.

1. God hates the sin of neglecting opportunities. v. 20-22. He gave to his ancient people special privileges, the temple, the prophets, the law. yet they failed to improve them. But think how much more he has given us; count up some blessings which we have, which were denied to Israel, and then consider how much greater will be our sin if we neglect them.

2. God hates the sins of falsehood and dishonesty. v. 1-6. See how earnestly the prophet warns against lying, deceit, and fraud. Let us be named, like Bunyan's hero, Valiant-for-truth." We need to be true to our word, true to our friends, true to our con sciences.

3. God hates the sin of hypocrisy. v. 8. How mean it is to pretend peace and friendship, while in heart one is an enemy, plotting evil! Every body despises Judas Iscariot, who kissed while betraying. Let us be honest and open in our character.

4. God hates the sin of backsliding (v. 13), or forsaking his law and service. We belong to him, have given ourselves to him, let us never forsake his way. One of the best of our hymns, "Come, thou Fount of every blessing," was written by a man who afterward renounced the Christian name. He said once, hearing the hymn sung, "I would give all the world to feel now as I felt when I wrote that hymn!"

English Teacher's Notes.

THERE have been few sadder events in the history of England of late years than the fall of Khartoum and the death of its heroic defender, Gordon. Month after month he looked and hoped for succor, and month after month friends at home hoped and longed that deliverance might reach him. At length the news reached England that succor had come too late. The most strenuous efforts, the most gallant achievements, were powerless to save him now. The past could never be undone. And the whole country mourned for him it had failed to

rescue.

But there is a sadder story than this underlying the passage before us to-day. The passage gives the lament, not of a nation over one man, but of one man over a nation. And the key-note of the lament is, as indicated by the Golden Text, disappointed hope. When winter days are dark and dreary, when skies are misty, and winds are chill, we look forward to the summer which is to come; we anticipate with delight the genial sunshine, and blue sky, and soft showers, and long daylight. And when the seed is sown, when it begins to show itself above the ground we look forward to the future harvest. We desire and expect a rich return, a plenteous supply. How great the disappointment should the summer turn out cold and unfriendly, and should the harvest be spoiledshould the very things on which we have been

The failure of the rice crops in India means starvation and death to multitudes. Bearing this in mind we can better appreciate the prophet's words, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

In this lament there are three separate notes of bitterness:

1. The opportunity for deliverance has actually been there. There has been a 66 summer" and a "harvest" time.

Jeremiah began his prophetic work in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. He was then young—a “child," he calls himself. Chap. 1. 6. He saw the outward reformation effected by the good king, the cleansing of the land from the practice and the signs of idolatry, the covenant made by king and people to keep the commandments of Jehovah, the upright and faithful walk of the king. No wonder that he mourned when Josiah was cut off! 2 Chron. 35. 25. Such a reign was a genial "summer" time, from which a harvest of good might have been expected. There had been such a time years before, under King Hezekiah; that had come and passed without any lasting fruits. The time of Josiah was another reason of hope. But,

2. The opportunity had been lost. In spite of all that Josiah had done, the prophet had to cry, "We are not saved." The reformation, as far as the nation was concerned, had been merely surface work. The people did not, it is true, give up the outward worship of Jehovah--they even prided themselves on their temple and their religious privileges (chap. 7. 4); but their hearts were far off from God, thus proving that they had never really turned to him with true repentance. In fact, the root sins, over which the prophet laments, are deceit and hypocrisy. Chap. 9. 2-8. And now, 3. The opportunity was gone. past, the summer is ended." ing it, no hope of its return. last godly king. Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, had been carried away into Egypt, after a wicked reign of three months, and the throne was now occupied by his brother Jehoiakim, who followed in the same evil way. It was in the beginning of his reign that Jeremiah was bidden to stand at the gate of the temple and publish, to those who came up to worship, the message of doom, of which this passage is a fragment. Chap. 7. 1, 2, etc., and chap. 26. 2, etc.

"The harvest is There was no recallJudah had seen its

But from chap. 26. 8, we find that although the golden opportunity had passed, the gate of mercy was not yet closed. It was still possible for the "hurt" of Judah to be recovered. Ver. 21. There "balm in Gilead;" there was a "Physician there (22), if they would only apply to him. But the prophet foresaw that they would not do so, that the long-suffering of Jehovah would be all in vain,

was

and that the threatened judgments (vers. 10, 11, 15, 16) must surely fall, and hence his bitter and overwhelming sorrow.

It is a sad story, an old story, more than two thousand years old-surely far enough off from ourselves we might think. No; it is a story continually recurring. Disappointed hopes are constant. What parent, what teacher, does not hope for the welfare and true happiness of his children? Yet how often are these hopes sadly quenched! Why? Because the opportunity is lost.

It is spring time with the young; sowing time. They may sow what genial summer will mature, and what will ripen to the golden harvest, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come. 1 Tim. 6. 19. Over and over again the Lord gives opportunity. And when one and another have been neglected, his mercy is still there. The great Physician is still "able to save." But sadder far than England's loss when her hero, Gordon, was slain; sadder far than the loss of earthly opportunities and the failure of earthly harvests, is the despair of the soul that will one day have to say, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved;" because it would not accept the healing value nor resign itself to the good Physician.

Berean Methods.

Hints for the Teachers' Meeting and the Class. Read in the Bible dictionary or commentary the life of Jeremiah, and tell the class about his times, his mission, his character, and his treatment.... In reading the lesson with the class let the scholars find and name all the sins that are here specified, and the teacher show how evil they are, and what results follow them.... Find illustrations of the sins of treachery, dishonesty, etc., in the life of to-day.... Find in this lesson how God punishes sin, as shown in the Analytical and Biblical Outline... Now, how may we escape from these sins? By living lives opposite to them. Show, then, what kind of character God approves and will reward.

Songs from the Epworth Hymnal.

194. Come, ye disconsolate.

165. What a Friend we have in Jesus.

202. Jesus, Lover of my soul.

130. Just as I am.

127. Why do you wait?

Primary and Intermediate.

LESSON THOUGHT. Disobedience leads to Destruction. The Jews' love of their own way. Recall the idolatry into which the Jews fell, over and over again. Tell some of the ways in which the Lord tried to lead them back to himself. Jeremiah was one of the prophets sent to warn them of the sad consequences of their sin. God sent Jeremiah, as he did other prophets and teachers, but the people would not listen. Why not? Teach that they wanted their own way, and illustrate by story of a disobedient child who is told not to do a certain thing lest punishment follow, who yet continues to do it because he loves his own way. Teach that every time we disobey God we are telling him that we do not want him to be our God. This is what the Jews were saying by their acts, and Jeremiah knew that they must suffer for it. This is why he was so troubled. Read verse 1, chapter 9.

The Lord's love for the Jews. See if the children believe that the Lord really loved the Jews while they were disobeying him. There is a deep heresy on this point among grown-up Christians, and therefore among little people. We cannot teach too emphatically that God loves us, though he does not love our sins, and that he lets trouble and punishment fall upon us, to make us run into his arms and be safe.

man can tell what will happen one day ahead; much less

many years. But God knows, and he told Jeremiah, who wrote it down. Ask what a sword is for. Tell that God used it upon the Jews who disobeyed him, and that he uses it now upon people who will have their own way. What for? So that their own self-will may be cut in pieces, and they may choose his will. He said that he would make Jerusalem "heaps," etc. Tell how literally all this prophecy has been fulfilled.

Practical truth for us. Make two ways on the board; print above one, "God's Way," the other, "My Way." Teach that whatever we do to please self, without asking or caring what God wants, is taking

our way, and is therefore disobedience. Show that God is interested in all the little acts of our lives, and wants us to recognize him in them all.

EXPLANATION. The prophet predicts the captivity of Judah. The road is represented by the downward line. Sin is at its commencement, and indifference marks its course. Just so is the way of those who, hardened by sin, are indifferent in regard to the end of life. The hour-glass may be omitted from the diagram if it is too difficult to draw. It is placed here as an emblem of the passing hours that mark the swift flight of the seasons, when opportunity is given for the sowing, planting, and harvesting. Soon they all pass, and the year, like life, draws to a close, and yet we are not saved. Beware of indifference. Remember that an object going down an inclined plane moves more quickly as it goes on.

Lesson Word-Pictures. Another harvest gathered. The reaper's merry shout has died from the land. Gone is the timid gleaner with his golden burden. Only dry, dead stubble in all the weary, silent fields. Gone, too, is the summer. Dreary skies lower above. Sharp, searching winds

wail across the land. Harvest-time past, summer-time ended, and still the weary watchers from Judah's walls see no deliverance from the idolatrous invaders. O how sick and sore and wasted is "the daughter of my people!" Look at her on the bed of her affliction. Wander now in Gilead's rich fields, aloug her flowerscented valleys, under her odorous balsam-trees. Is there

no remedy, no relief, no balm in Gilead? Weeping, the prophet seems to stand and look across the land. Deceit and treachery, he sees every-where. And then comes a terrible vision of scattering every-where, a fleeing of bird, of beast, of man. It is the sad hour of exile, and with drooping head and fettered hands and weary feet Israel goes out to its long exile.

THE

B. C. 606.]
Jer. 35. 12-19.
RALLY
ROUND
TOTAL
ABSTINENCE

FLAG

General

About the year 610 B. C., while Jehoiakim sat on the shaking throne of Judah, the old Assyrian Empire was destroyed, and its western provinces were possessed by the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar, the son of the reigning king of Babylon, and joint-ruler with his father, led an army into Palestine in order to secure its obedience to the new Chaldean Empire. At this time Daniel, and many other young nobles, were carried captive to Babylon as securities for the loyalty of the Jews. The coming of the Chaldean army filled the land with dismay, and from the country and the villages the population thronged into the capital for safety. Among those who came to Jerusalem were a strange, nomad people, related to the Israelites as descendants of Abraham, though not of Jacob. These were the Rechabites, whose great ancestor, Jonadab, or Jehonadab, lived in the time of Jehu, and aided in his reforms in Israel. Foreseeing the evils destined to grow with the increase

Explanatory and

Verse 12. Then came. This was at the time when the land was first invaded by the Chaldeans, under Nebuchadnezzar, then acting as joint-king with his father. It was at this time that Daniel and many other nobles were carried into captivity at Babylon. The word of the Lord. How it came we know not, but probably by an inward consciousness so clear as to be undoubted. Unto Jeremiah. He was peculiarly the prophet of sorrows, for he lived in a sorrowful time, and was compelled to bear sad messages. He prophesied during the last thirty years of the kingdom of Judah, and was taken after the destruction of Jerusalem by a company of exiles to Egypt, where it is believed that he was slain.

13. The Lord of hosts. A title applied to Jehovah, as ruler of the armies of the universe. The God of Israel. Though God of all the earth, he was the God of Israel in a peculiar sense, since he had chosen this nation to be the depositary of divine truth and the bearer of salvation to the whole world. Tell the men of Judah. This was at a time when the kingdom was reduced within the narrowest limits, its cities destroyed, its villages depopulated, the people huddled in their capital in dread of their Chaldean foes, and the state heaving with the throes of speedy dissolution. Will ye not receive instruction Here God shows his people their sin, by a striking illustration, and thus indirectly reproves them. (1) The wise parent first counsels and then reproves.

14. The words of Jonadab. More correctly, Jehonadab. He was the founder of the Rechabites, a family related to and allied with Israel, and descended from Abraham, though not from Jacob. Jonadab was one of the puritans of his day, and took an active part

[Jan. 17.

you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

16 Because the sons of Jon'a-dab the son of Re'chab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Is'ra-el; Behold, I will bring upon Ju'dah and upon all the inhabitants of Je-ru'sa-lem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

18 And Jer'e-mi'ah said unto the house of the Re'chab-ites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Is'ra-el; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jon'a-dab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you;

19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Is'ra-el; Jon'a-dab the son of Reʼchab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.

of population and a luxurious life, he laid upon his descendants the vow not to settle down to permanent homes, not to drink wine, and not to dwell in the cities. His people were to be shepherds and cattle-raisers, not farmers or merchants. Two hundred and fifty years afterward, in the days of Jeremiah, a clan of his people were in Jerusalem, still obeying their ancestor's injunction. In order to make their obedience a lesson to the Jews, the prophet Jeremiah summoned a company of them to the temple, and in one of its chambers set wine before them. When they refused to taste it. he made their conduct a text for an address to his own people, who for centuries had disobeyed the commands of their heavenly Father. The obedience of the Rechabites and the disobedience of the Jews were thus set in strong contrast, and to one was promised a reward, while the other was warned of impending punishment.

Practical Notes.

in Jehu's bloody revolution. 2 Kings 10 15-23. He strongly enjoined upon his descendants the maintenance of their nomadic customs, forbidding them, 1.) To build or inhabit houses; 2.) To sow seed or plant vineyards; 3.) To drink wine or strong drink. They were commanded to live in tents in the open country, apart from the temptations of a city life. The purpose of these peculiar usages was doubtless to preserve their individuality in an ascetic life, of a semireligious character. On the invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, they took refuge in Jerusalem. where Jeremiah held them up as an example to the Jews. After the captivity, they settled at Jabez in Judah. 1 Chron. 2. 55. Not to drink wine. Wine was then, as now, the symbol of a luxurious flesh-pleasing life, besides being dangerous as tending to drunkenness. If the pure wines of that day were to be discountenanced, certainly the vile, drugged compounds now in use ought to be cast aside. (2) Let every parent and teacher stand upon the only safe and consistent ground, total abstinence. Unto this day. Though two hundred and fifty years had intervened since Jonadab's command, it was still sacredly observed in Jeremiah's day. This was in accordance with the Oriental trait of reverence for parents; a trait in which we may wisely copy them. (3) Teacher, impress the lesson of love and honor to parents. I have spoken unto you. God had given his commands to Israel as well as Jonadab to the Rechabites. 1.) One was from human authority, the other from divine; 2.) One was from a man long dead, the other from a God ever-living; 3). One was given once for all, the other had been repeated and urged again and again; 4.) One was without sanction or penalty, the other carried with it the crown of reward and the sword of punishment; 5.) One involved no moral obli