Kings »"d nations shall marvel at Him. "They shall all be confounded," Micah 7:16. The Sorrowing Servant, verse 3. He was a man of sorrows. Men despised Him, Isa. 49; Psa. 22:6; Matt. 25:67-68. His heart was heavy with the pain which H e bore, Jer. 10:19. The Submissive Servant, veise 4. He bowed His heart to the will of the F a t h er a nd His head to a crown of thorns. He was stricken of men and smitten of God, John 19:7; Matt. 27:46. The Suffering Servant, verse 5. H e re are four assertions concern- ing the substitutionary sufferings of Christ, l îerced by tholns, nails, spear. He was crushed, beaten to pieces, Isa. ! 3:15; 55:15. Chastened, t h at the enmity between sinful man and a Holy God might be at an end, Eph. 11:15-17. Striped, t h at We might be healed. 1 Pet. 2:24. The Sin-bearing Ser- vant, verse 6. God made Him to be sin for us, 2 Cor. 5:21. He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 1 Jno. 2:2. MANASSEH: APOSTATE, PERSECUTOR, PENITENT. Lesson III.—1 Kgs. 21:1-18; 2 Chr. 33:1-20. I. MANASSEH: (1) Son of Hezekiah; (2) "Did evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the heathen, wnom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel." Leviticus 17 de- scribes their doings. (3) Why do good men have bad sons? (a) P e r h a ps he was too busy as king to do business as f a t h e r; • (b) he made great prayer for great things, per- haps small prayer for the small boy; (c) his public virtues filled the public eye; his private faults, perhaps, filled the boy's; (d) but, perhaps, g r a n d f a t h er Ahaz passed a taint on to his grandson; (e)-and little Man- asseh was in a big world, too, a progres- sive world; the old theology, and the old piety were out-of-date; Ninevah was its cos- mopolitan city, and set the fashions of cul- ture according to its king's philosophy, which was: " 'Eat. drink, and die, Wh a t can the rest avail us?' So said the sage Saraanapalus." (f) So much the more reason to make the father-business the main business; the home virtues the chief virtues; the family prayer the prevailing prayer. II. MANASSEH'S APOSTASY. (1) Hetekiah's reform was short-lived. The boy "built again" what the f a t h er de- stroyed. and destroyed what the father built. The prospect of reforms is not bright. T h ty "put on the lid" today; the town's "wide open tomorrow;" the country goes "dry" to- day, It goes "wet" next election. The his- tory of reform was long ago written. This is the ultimatum, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Jno. 3:3). That is the lesson of the whole Old Testament story; if men would only see it! (2) We mu st labor for little Manas- seh's regeneration, nothing less t h an that. (3) But there was no excuse for Manasseh. Neither heredity, training, nor environment, were responsible; for thè wrong-doing was
The Silent Servant, verse 7» in the midst of it all, the L a mb of God, with no reproof upon His lips. He was in the will of God, Psa. 38:13-14; 39:29. The Separated Servant, verse 8. Cut off like a flower before His time. In the midst of His youth. In the midst of His service; Job. 14:2; Ezek. 33:11. The Sinless Servant. H e claimed to be with- out sin, Jno. 8:46, and the spirit declares Him so. Heb. 7:26-28; 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jno. 3:15. The Sacrificial Servant, verse 10. He is the sin offering for the soul. God laid upon H im the iniquity of us all, verse 6. The Satisfied Servant, verse 11. T h at servant who was stricken, smit- ten. bruised, despised, shall see His loved ones as His Bride and be satisfied. Rev. 7:14-17; 19:7-10. The Sovereign Servant, verse 12. He shall have a name above every name, Phil. 2:9. The Sympathetic Servant, verse 12. As intercessor, He loves to s ymp a- thize with His own. Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:21. his own. He had faithful monitors in the godly prophets (2 Kgs. 21:10); David - had said, "Wherewithal shall a . ¡young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto ac- cording to Thy word". (Psa. 119:9). He had the Divine precept for a successful career^ (Josh. 1:8). But he freely chose to "walk" in the counsel of the ungodly, to stand in the way of sinners, and to sit in the seat of the scornful" (Psa. 1:1). So he became; the Nero of the Old Testament. He defied all law natural and revealed. In open disregard of public. and private de- cency he practiced and caused to be prac- ticed, under the guise of religion and the pleasure of the gods, abominable rites i n- vented for the purpose of g'/atifying the basest and vilest passions. Lev. 18 and Rom. 1 faintly suggest them, but they are not to be named among saints (Eph. 5:3-6). All is 8tlII practiced in all the great "Chris- tian" cities of the world (without the pre- tence of serving the gods). And the author- ities cannot suppress it (if they would) for w a nt of a sympathetic majority, and the demands of business. (5) Manasseh "caused his children to pass through the fire;" threw' them into the embrace of the idol Moloch, whosa shrine was in the valley of the Son of Hinnom (Gehenna, Mat. ,18:9); while brazen d r ums were beaten to drown t h e" "Cry of the Children." Little John and Mary may thank the dear ¿.ord no such f a te threatens them, or the baby, now (Mat 19:13-15). But there a re Moloehs to- day, and fires more perilous to souls of chil- dren than those of Hinnom. P a r e n ts are devoting their children to the Moloch of "dress"; the Moloch of "society"; the Mo- loch of " a mu s e m e n t "; the Moljch of wealth. The social system exposes t h em to the u n- christian, and non-Christian teacher and school; to the Moloch of lust and crime- breeding press reports; the-Moloch of the dance -hall; of the play; of the saloon, and of the brothel. Through this Gehenna the children must pass and- in these fires how many perish! (6) "He also observed times, and used enchantments, ana dealt with fa- miliar spirits and with wizards." All this was and is strictly forbidden (Deut. .18:9- 12; Lev. 19:26V. And it is closely paralleled today; by adopting false gospels and super- stitions, such as "Christian Science," Spirit-
Lesson for July 16, 1911
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