K I N G ’ S B U S I N ES S
382
T H E
June 1924
is an episode showing how th e opposition of th is tim e was repeated again and again. The narrativ e of th is era is taken up again in E zra 4:24. (B. C. 535-520). 11. Tho W ork on th e Temple Renewed. In th e second year of D arius Hystaspes, the new emperor. (B. C. 520). 12. In sp ired by H aggai and Zechariah, Haggai in four messages, urging th e people to go on w ith th e Temple. (Sep. 20-Dec. 518). 13. The Temple Completed in fou r years. (B. C. 516 ). |§—Peloubet. V. 8 . H is Babylonian name was Sheshbazzar and he was the Persian governor of Judaea, appointed by Cyrus. The choice was especially wise because Zerubbabel was of the royal fam ily of Jud ah , a descendant of David, and th ere fore an ancestor of our Lord. He was a man of fine char acter and of g reat executive ability.—Peloubet. V. 11. They were repeating th e psalm used when Solo m on’s temple was dedicated; (see 2 Chron. 5 :1 3 ;( 7 :3 ). “ one to ano th er” responsively. The verb very probably means th a t the chant of praise was responded to w ith a great bu rst of chorus, vocal and instrum ental, th e sub stance of which was some well-known sacred refrain , (cf. Exod. 15:20, 21).— Camb. Bible. V. 12. They wept (1 ) because of the contrast between th e beauty, the magnificance, the gold and gems of th e old temple, and the simplicity and poverty of the new stru ctu re (Hag. 2 :3 ; Zech. 4 :1 0 ). (2) because of th e absence of th e old associations, th e ark of th e covenant, the sacred fire, and all th a t came to Israel through the form er temple.— Peloubet. Not th a t th is temple was not a very grand and beautiful stru ctu re. But how great: soever its m aterial splendour, it was inferior in this respect to th a t of Solomon. Yet the glory of the second far outshone th a t of th e first temple in ano ther and more im po rtan t point of view, Viz., th e receiving w ithin its walls th e incarnate Saviour (Hag. 2 : 9 ) .— J . P . & B . On the other hand those who had known only thei exile conditions sang H allelu jah ’s because (1 ) I t was an unspeakable joy to have a temple a t all. It meant the saving of the nation ; it m eant th e retu rn in g favor of God. It was an infinite con trast to the templeless exiles and to the ru in s around them . (2 ) I t was th e beginning of better things. It was a movement in th e rig h t direction.— Peloubet. In both of th e passages selected for our study Ezra is very specific as to his dates, giving year and month. All through his book he is a scrupulously careful man. We have here to do w ith precise and accurate history. New discoveries are constantly marvelously confirming th e cor rectness of Bible history and discrediting th e “ scholarly criticism” in its attem p ts to reconstruct th e history of Is rael not from actual historical d ata bu t from its “ inner consciousness,” i. e. from its preconceptions and its pre judices. Ezra is as careful about names as about dates.— Torrey, •'“ God is not a man th a t he should lie................... h ath he said, and shall he not do it? or h ath he spoken, and shall he n o t m ake it good?” (Num. 2 3 :19 ). Indeed He will, as th e events of th is lesson clearly show. These words of Ezra 1:1 may be tak en as a key; “That the DEVOTIONAL word of the Lord by th e mouth of Jer- COMMENT em iah m ight be fulfilled.” The captiv- Jo h n A. Hubbard ity of Jud ah came to pass in fulfillment of “ th e word of th e Lord by the mouth of Jerem iah ” (2 Chron. 36:17-21), as well as th e ir release •and retu rn . It is helpful to note what in strum en ts God used in ful filling His word and accomplishing His purposes. He used a heathen king. " I will send Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, against th is land ” (Jer. 2 5 :9 ). In connection w ith the resto ration and rebuilding of th e temple He used another heathen king, Cyrus, king of Persia, having named, called, and “ g irded” him for th is very work before he was born (see Isa. 44:28 to 4 5 :1 4 ). A fter seventy years of captiv ity, “ th a t th e word of the Lord by the mouth of Jerem iah
( s e e ;Jer. 29:10) m ight be accomplished, th é Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, th a t he made a proclamation,” giv ing perm ission to th e Jews to re tu rn to Jerusalem , and commanding those who did hot go to give of th e ir means to- help forward the work. ;; '“Then rose up the heads of the F a th e rs’ houses of Judah and Benjam in, and the priests, and th e Levites, even all whose sp irit God had stirred to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is in Jeru salem ” (E zra 1:5, R. V .). Thus “when God lays a burden on one person concerning what some other person ought to do, God lays th a t same burden also on th a t o th er person. When God stirred up th e sp irit of Cyrus to proclaim the re tu rn of the Jews, he also stirred up the sp irit of Certain Jews to re tu rn to th e ir land (v. 5 ). When God told Cyrus to direct those who, rem ained behind to help those who were going (v. 4 ), God also worked in th e hearts of those who remained, to do th is very th ing (v. 6 ). W hat encouragem ent th ere is in th is for us, whenever we are impelled to pray or to work for m atters th a t concern other persons, as we remember th a t God also is dealing directly w ith those persons to accomplish the resu lt.” (C. C. T rum bull). L ater on God raised up th e prophets Haggai and Zech ariah to exhort and encourage Zerubbabel to complete the work of building, which had come to a stand still because of the opposition of th e ir adversaries (see Ezra 4, Hag. 1 and 2, Zech. 4 :8-10). “The Lord is m indful of His own,” and His purposes of g race and love will surely be realized, no m a tte r how im possible, it may seem a t times. Building A House F o r God. E zra 3:8-11; l6 :14-15. Memory Verse.-81“ I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of th e Lord.” Psa. 122:1. Approach.—-T h is morning I have brought a picture fo r you to look at, and see who can tell me w hat it is th e picture of. Ju s t see every hand is up, so every one knows it is a picture of a church. V ictoria can you tell me w hat a church is for, and whose house it is? ELEMENTARY Yes, it is God’s house, where we who Mabel L. M errill love Him go to show our love in wor ship. We love th e church becau se.it is God’s house. Let us bow our heads and th a n k God th a t we live in a land where th ere are churches, standing out as light-houses, to show people the way to be saved from th eir sins. Lesson Story.—Now boys and girls I am going to say a verse to you, and see how many can remember th e sto ry we heard about th is verse. ; “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not w ant.” R uth you tell us the story. That was ju s t fine, and shows you listened carefully to your teacher. God’s people Israel were in a strange land, and like lost sheep w ithout a tru e shepherd to lead and guide them , b u t God promised them they would be perm itted to re tu rn back to th e ir old home, and today we are to hear about th e ir going back to Jerusalem . A king by th e name of Cyrus was now reigning over God’s people, and th e Lord stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus, th a t he made a proclamation and put it in w riting, telling how God had charged him to build a house for God a t Jerusalem . Then king Cyrus told the people of Israel who wanted to re tu rn back to th e ir own land to get ready for th e long, hard journey, and he told the people who where not going back to help th e people who were by giving them money, goods and animals to carry the things back, and w hat ever they would need in
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker