IN the second book of Esdras, one of the Apocryphal writings of the Old Testament, there is found this beautiful prophecy: "For evil shall be put out, and deceit shall be quenched. As for faith, it shall flourish, corruption shall be overcome, and the truth, which hath been so long without fruit, shall be declared."
Glancing backward over the centuries, weighing cause and effect in the history of Christianity, the thinker to-day may discern with this isolated Esdras that the truth "hath been so long without fruit;" but that whensoever and wheresoever it has been declared, fruit has been borne. The first great national declaration of the truth was given to the children of Israel in that formulated statement known as the Decalogue. Moses perceived enough of the Truth of being to know that obedience to the law of God is man's only way of salvation, but his people, perhaps, could bear no more than the "Thou shalt not" which, through its law of exclusion, leads thought gradually to love the better way. From the clearness of Moses' vision sprang these formulated commandments which are indeed truth declared, for that time and all time, in that they set forth the mode of conduct which alone leads to a knowledge of Christ, Truth.
Following Moses, there came the long line of leaders and prophets, emphasizing, in their degree of understanding, the truth about man, and crying out against the teachings, the customs, and the sins of their times; recognizing, one and all, that a fact must be declared, to be established, and working to that end through denunciation, encouragement, exhortation, rebuke, exalted example, praise, and prophecy. Isaiah describes this divine announcement as "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness" and says furthermore, "Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, . . . O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God." David in his Psalms implores, "Keep not thou silence, O God." This king of Israel stood sublimely in the assurance that "He will speak peace unto his people," and declares, "He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." In the book of Isaiah we read, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
