t a k en place; t he glory of God will be seen a m o ng t h em (Isa. 5:5, 6); t h e land will be "like the garden of Eden" (Ezek. 36:35), it is a desolation; one king—I>avid—i. e.,. Christ —shall be over t h em (Ezek. 37:24); for t he t h r o ne of t he 'Messiah will be t he restored t h r o ne of David (Acts 15:15. 16); it is still a r u i n; all Israel's enemies shall be de- stroyed (Isa. 65:17), their perils and sor- rows continue'. Theirs is an "everlasting covenant" (2 Sam. 7:24); their land an f e v e r- lasting possession" (Gen. 17:8); their t h r o ne a n everlasting t h r o ne (2 Sam, 7:13); their K i ng an everlasting K i ng ( L u ke 1:32, 33); the kingdom an everlasting kingdom (Dan. 2:44; 7:27); their joy a n unprecedented joy (Isa. 35); t he N. T. confirms all this as y et f u t u re ( L u ke 1:32, 33; Acts 3:19-21; 15:15, 16; Rom. 11:25-27; Rev. 21 and 22 com- pared w i th Isa. 60:11, 19, 20; 65:17-25; 49:10). T h e' r e t u rn f r om Babylon w as a type of t he glorious r e t u rn u n d er J e s us the Messiah and "Glorious t h i n gs of thee are, spoken Zion city of our God (Isa. 2:1-5). kingdom comes its Ruler will be, Melchisedec, both P r i e st and K i ng (Gen. 14:18; Zee. 6:13), and H is co-rulers "unto God kings and priests" / R e v .. 5:10). So t h ey joined h a n ds and "built the altar" t h e re could be no worship no temple. It t a m e first m a p p r o a c h i ng t he temple. W e a re first justified by blood, and t h en h a ve access to God (Rom. 5:1, 9, 2) They offered burnt offerings thereon" (v. 3); this, too w as essential for it w a s a "whole burnt offer- Ing," and signified t he s u r r e n d er of t he whole m a n, his will, his all, to God and u n- less we first give our "own selves" to H i m nothing we do or give is acceptable to H i m. We can do w i t h o ut a temple, b ut not w i t h- T he a l t ar s t a n ds f or t he Cross, t he cross of Christ which is: t he sign of Justification a n d . t he cross of t he Chris- tian, which is t he sign of .our consecration. So they offered b u r nt offerings as an a t o n e- m e nt for sin, a nd a symbol of their own whole devotion to God. 3 "Fear was upon them because of the people of those coun- T he blood protects' f r om t he w r a th of God, a nd t h en God protects f r om all other evil. Always above t he sprinkled blood a re "the overshadowing wings" (Heb 9:5 "If God be for us who can be against us," like (3:2). 2. The a l t ar w as first. W i t h o ut it out an altar. tries." t he symbol of God's protecting power. up y o ur a l t ar in t he f e ar of God and you need h a ve no other fear. 4. "They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as It Is written," now to keep t he lawto t he l e t t er which their f a t h e rs had neglected to their u n d o- a n a this w a s good a nd r i g h t; their f a u lt c ame to be t h at t h ey k e pt it only in t he letter, and it b r o u g ht t h em t he g r e a t er 5. The apostate critics tell us these "customs" (v. 4) did not originate w i th Moses, b ut w i th E z ra B ut here b e- fore E z r a is. on t he scene t h ey a re observ- ing t h e se rites a s "written , in the law of customs" which had fallen into disuse • "They set up the altar on Its bases," t he old foundations of p a st cen- Set etc. (Num. 29:12-40). T h ey w e re resolved i n g , condemnation Moses," and etc. (Rom 8:31) The a l t ar had horns,
t h ey surely h ad i n s t r u m e n ts for a c c omp a n i- m e nt a nd m a de t he desert resound with e n- t h u s i ng strains of melodious h a r mo n y. "Children of t he heavenly King, A s ye journey sweetly, sing." IV. THIS RETURN TYPICAL OF AN- OTHER. 1. Many are teaching this lesson as a com- plete fulfillment of p r o p h et promise; as a final restoration, with no f u t u re hope for Israel. This is due to slowness "of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Duke 24:25). 2. It is written "The Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people" (Isa. 11-11). Every one shall r e t u rn (Isa. 27:12), b ut f ew r e t u r n e d; every one shall be con- verted (Jer. 31:34), b ut few w e re converted; they shall never be moved out of their land (Am. 9:15); t h ey a re now again s c a t t e r e d; geological changes a re to a c c omp a ny their final r e t u rn (Zez. 14:4, 5), such h a ve not RESETTLING THE OLD HOME. ' 1 The Exiles reached P a l e s t i ne in May or Time 537 B C h a v i ng been 5 or 6 m o n t hs on t he road f r om Babylon. 2. They found the country desolate (Lam. 5:18). F a r m s, vineyard". orchards, were desert; t owns a nd cities were in ruin. The land had enjoyed nninnelled to' provide shelter for t he 50,000 a n i to m a ke some provision f w such a crop as t he late season permitted. But practically t he people "sought first the (ivratt 6-33V- for we find t h em g a t h e r ed at J e r u s a l em to k e ep the Feast of qahhnth«! (Lev 26-32-35). Necessity, i mm i g r a n ts themselves as one man at Jerusalem." They were of one h e a rt to restore t he ancient which God in H is wisdom h ad or- to w eïd t h e tribes t o g e t h er a nd keep Inv.l to t he national capital and its K , liïïouslv observed this law t h ey m i g ht h a ve avoided the separation of t he tribes and de- H i S S i f r om J e h o v a h 's worship. It is an Forsake not the assemblfng of your- 5 2 f 0E t n n p t h e r" CHeb 10-25). As there w as one^ J e r u s a l em and one altar, there is "One one baptism one God and Father of all" ? Î „ | , 1 1 V around this multiple bond be- b l perfectly joined together In the same in thé same judgment" (1 Cor. W h en will thT church r e t u rn f r om 1 : } J ' ^ „ „ S and under t he reviving spirit ossemble as o^e man" a r o u nd t h l one Lord CTiMHSMWrR g", r i t o n e Lord, one faith, lievers should as semble as on e man," and n? D c s T i i n i NG THE OLD ALTAR. 1 J o s h u a the Priest and Zerubbabel the Prince h ad "the counsel of peace" b e t w e en church and t he minister of t he s t a te joined in the p r omo t i ng of t he t r ue religion. M an £ faUen Trery low since it is expedient to i l n a r f t to t he secular and t he religious. N e c- essarv as it m a y be in t he present circum- s t a n c es there Is no g r e a t er fallacy t h an t h a t e o v e r a m e n t h as nothing to do with religion b u t t o ^ c e ep its h a n ds off. W h e n t he ideal S S S R s H I K it) T he minister of t he I T a b e r n a c l e s " -rho imitv of !n the seventh month." 3. DurDOse. "They gathered S H S S K B I 23-17) H a d t h ey a l w a ys r e- fection t r om j e n o v a i is apostle t h at savs a s s e mme as. one M
THE EXI LES RETURNED REBUILD TEMPLE. Lesson IV—October 22. Ezra 3—4:5.
6. "The continual"
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.
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and
turies.
all the set feasts."
In fact, t h ey m e a nt
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