as a rod of correction upon Judah. The prophet recognizes that Jehovah is so holy that He cannot look with any sort of approval upon iniquity. But this fact stirs up another question in his mind. W hy should He use a nation more sinful than Judah to chastise them? The Watch Tower Experience 2:1-4 It was in the quiet place where Habak- kuk was alone with God that it was re vealed to him that in the end everything would come out alright. The Chaldeans would be punished in due time and Israel would be exalted. It should be enough for God’s people to know that God always does that which is right. Such people as the Chaldeans who are lifted up with pride shall not stand before God but “the just shall live by faith.” Helps for the Children Trusting God in Times of Danger Hab. 1:1-4, 12, 13; 3:17-19 MEMORY VERSE: "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee" (Ps. 56:3). Habakkuk, a prophet who dearly loved God and who sought to help his people, wrote one of the shortest books in the Old Testament. Some of the prophets were eager for God to keep His people from being punished for their sins. Habakkuk was more eager to have the people know how holy their God was. The prophet reminded God’s people that God was “ of purer eyes than to behold [see] evil.” God told Habakkuk of the captivity into which enemies would soon take the Jewish people. The Jews no longer would have their own nation; they would be scattered all over the world. Mixed with God’s promises of punishment to His disobedi ent people are promises of blessing for them in the future years. God sends his ministers and missionaries and teachers and Christian parents to us today to help us to know His Word and to help us to live in a way that will be well pleasing to Him. The Jewish people did not appreciate God’s messengers preaching or writing to them. Sometimes today Christian boys and girls do not care to listen to what God’s messengers tell them about God and His laws for them. When Christians listen to God’s Word and talk with Him in prayer, they can say, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” July 17, 1955 Disobedience Leads to Disaster 2 Ki. 24:8-15a; Ezek. 1:2, 3; 18:30-32 Pointers on the Lesson Second Kings, chapter 24, shows us Ju dah plunging headlong to its doom, the victim of their own folly. Josiah had acted as a break in their downward plunge for a little time, but when the break was released tragedy was not long delayed. The first step in the captivity is seen in 2 Kings 24:1-5 where we see Nebuchad nezzar coming against Judah. Also bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites and Am monites are seen coming against the Southern Kingdom. It has been faithfully declared that the Lord would punish Judah (20:17; 21:12-14). Now judgment
was coming to pass. It was all the direct I result of the nation’s rebellious spirit. Second Step in the Captivity 24:8-15a In this passage it is recorded that Ju dah’s king, Jehoiakim, was taken captive (8-12). It was an experience that he de served because he sinned just as his father had done (9). How slow men are to learn the awful havoc of sin. There is a subtle attraction in sin for the natural man. He succumbs to it and ends up in bondage. The precious things from the temple and the king’s palace were taken (13). Sin does not hesitate to defame the holiest of things and places. It would enter heaven itself if it could. W e are shown also that the very elite of the nation were taken into captivity (14,15). “ None remained, save the poorest soft of the people of the land” (14). Grace Mixed With Judgment Ezek. 1:2, 3, 18:30-32 Ezekiel was carried into captivity before the last phase of it. From the neighbor hood of Babylon he spoke for God, both to his fellow captives and to the people still in the land of Judah. Both groups needed to know that sin brings destruc tion. Beyond Judah the prophet’s message was to the whole “house of Israel.” And, of course, it has a practical application to any nation or any people at any time. The message was a plea for repentance (18:30). It was an exhortation to turn away from sin and unto the ways of the Lord. True repentance involves both. For several weeks we have been learn ing about the sins of the Jewish people and their kings. For many years God warned His people that if they did not stop worshiping idols and refusing to obey Him, He would allow their enemies to take them captive to foreign lands. The Jews refused to listen to God’s warnings. Finally, He allowed enemies to carry most of the Jewish people captive to another land. How lonely they were; how they wished that they might again see their beloved land of Palestine. Even in their captivity God did not forget His people. He sent several prophets to tell them of His love and mercy and to promise that they would again return to their own land after 70 years in captivity. Ezekiel was one of the prophets who brought God’s message of comfort to the Jews. ( God promised that the Jews would once again have His blessings upon them in the future, for in the future, “ they shall be my people and I will be their God.” Helps for the Children God's Care for the Captives 2 Ki. 24:11-14; Ezek. 1:3a; 3:11; 11:16, 17, 20 MEMORY VERSE: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trou- I ble" (Ps. 46:1).
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