=Josiah's reforms.=--Josiah was deeply impressed and gave orders that the reforms called for by the new law should be carried out. Officers went all up and down the villages and towns of Judah tearing down the little temples, or "high places," where so much heathenism had been practiced. And the people were told that several times each year they were to bring their sacrifices to the temple at Jerusalem. Those were also good days for the common people. There was a king now who "judged the cause of the poor and the needy." Many a poor debtor, when his crops failed, appealed to the king's court in Jerusalem and he himself and his children were saved from slavery and their home from ruin. The reform only lasted a few years--some twelve or thirteen--and then King Josiah was killed in battle, and much of the old heathenism and greed and injustice came back again in a flood. But the memory of the good days did not quickly fade. It was the first great triumph of the teachings of the prophets--the men who kept alive the true ideals of Abraham and Moses. STUDY TOPICS 1. Read any part of Deuteronomy 1-5. Select any passages which seem to you truly eloquent. 2. Read Deuteronomy 12. 10, 11. What place is referred to by the author, when he writes, "The place that Jehovah your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there"? 3. In the light of the history in this chapter, which is the more likely to change human history, a battleship or a Bible class? Explain. CHAPTER XX A PROPHET WHO WOULD NOT COMPROMISE The new law-book seemed a great victory. Yet sometimes victories are more dangerous than defeats. They lead to self-satisfaction. This was certainly the case with this victory of the authors of Deuteronomy. The people were careful to offer up their sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, and very few offerings were brought to the old village shrines. But the real kernel of the truth which the prophets had proclaimed was in danger of being forgotten. This was the truth that _no_ forms of sacrifice, _no_ solemn religious feasts are of any account in the sight of God unless accompanied by simple justice and brotherly kindness between neighbors. This was the state of affairs against which one more great reforming prophet was raised up to fight--Jeremiah, of the little town of Anathoth, five miles north of Jerusalem. A CONVERSATION IN A JERUSALEM STREET To understand clearly what Jeremiah's message was and why it was needed let us listen to a conversation between two citizens of Jerusalem. This one is imaginary. But there must have been many, in reality, very similar to this. _First citizen:_ Did you hear of my good fortune? I have just got a fine piece of ground for almost nothing. _Second citizen:_ How?