ny chapters. Chapters
1, 2, 4 and 5 have each 22 verses or just the number of the Hebrew
alphabet. Chapter 3 has 66 verses or just three times the number of
the alphabet. The first four chapters are acrostic, that is each verse
begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter three, each
letter is used in order and is three times repeated as the initial
letter of three successive lines.

Analysis.

I. The Misery of Jerusalem, Ch. 1.

II. The Cause of the People's Suffering, Ch. 2.

III. The Basis of Hope, Ch. 3.

IV. The Past and Present of Israel, Ch. 4.

V. The Final Appeal for Restoration, Ch. 5.

For Study and Discussion. (1) Make a list of the evils predicted
against the people because of their sins. (Example 19:7-9). (2) Make a
list of the different sins and vices of which Jeremiah accuses Israel.
(Example 2:12; 3:20, etc.) (3) Point out all the prophesies of Divine
judgment against other nations and analyze the punishment foretold.
(Example 5:18-25). (4) Study the case of fidelity to parents given in
Ch. 35. (5) Collect all passages in both books which tell of the
Messiah and of Messianic times and make a study of each (as 23:5-6).
(6) Select a few of the striking passages of Lamentations and show how
they apply to the facts of history. (6) The sign and type of the
destruction of the land. Chs. 13-14. (8) The potter an illustration of
God's power over nations, Chs. 18-19. (9) The illustration of the
return, seen in the figs, Ch. 24. (10) Jeremiah's letter to the
captive, Ch. 29. (11) Jeremiah's love for Judah-it saw their faults,
rebuked them for their sins, but did not desert them when they were in
suffering, because they despised his advice.

* * * * *

Chapter XVII.

Ezekiel and Daniel.

Ezekiel.

The Prophet. His name means "God will strengthen". He was a priest and
was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. B. C. 597. He had a home
on the river Chebar where the Elders of Judah were accustomed to meet.
His wife died in the ninth year of his captivity. He was a man of very
powerful intellect and apparently from the better classes of those
carried into captivity. He is less attractive than Isaiah and less
constant in the flow of his thought than Jeremiah. He is not so timid
or sensitive as Jeremiah but has all his horror for sin and all of his
grief, occasioned by the wickedness of his people and the suffering
which they endured. In his boldness of utterance he was not surpasse