It is a measure of the power of evil in the world that the preaching of the prophets is as pertinent today as it was in their own age. Circumstances have changed from their times, but the human heart can still be so "unteachably after evil". As nations and even as individuals, we are still very often locked up in our "hardhearted wickedness". The work of Jesus has still much fruit to bear. The seed sown is now in even greater danger of being lost before it can bear fruit.

The return from exile was a great promise for the prophets. They saw it as a renewal, not only for Israel but also for the whole world: "all nations will be gathered together". How far we are from that dream of Jeremiah! We do, of course, have the United Nations Organisation, but that is an organization and not yet the full realization of that union of all human minds and hearts that, in union with the prophets, we may still dream of.