May 1924
296
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
(V. 35) The literal rendering is a metaphor, picturing the Lord’s protection as a great bird spreading its wings over its young; compare Christ’s words in Matt. 23:37. God would do this for His own sake, that the heathen might know His power and the weakness of their false gods, and that God’s own people might come to trust Him im- p1 icitlyjSj-Peloubet. It would be difficult to find greater arrogance or inso lence than that shown by Rabshakeh in his words and let ter to King Hezekiah. Think of a man using such words as these: “ Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be —DEVOTIONAL given into the hand of the king of As- COMMENT Syria” (Isa. 37:10); and with blatant John A. Hubbard voice declaring that Jehovah God would prove to be as helpless before the Assyrian army as the gods of the surrounding heathen na tions had been! The men who heard Rabshakeh’s defiant speech wisely followed Hezekiah’s instructions and kept their mouths shut. “ They held their peace and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not” (Isa. 36:21). Instead of replying to Rabshakeh, a request for prayer was sent to Isaiah (see Isa. 37:1-4). And when a little later Hezekiah received Rabshakeh’s in solent letter, he “ went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord and prayed” (Isa. 37:14, 15). This reminds us of our Lord Jesus, of whom it is said: “When he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself (the R. V. margin says, ‘his cause’ ) to him that judgeth righteously" (1 Pet. 2:23). God heard and answered the cry of His servants. Con cerning the Assyrians he said: “ Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook into thy nose, and my bridle in the lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest” (Isa. 37:29, R. V.). Hezekiah did npt find it necessary to raise a hand against the Assyrian army; for after the angel of the Lord had smitten 185,000 of his men, king Sennacherib departed without even having reached Jerusalem. Verily, “ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Ps. 62:8). How God Answered A Letter Isa. 37:14-23, 33-35. Memory Verse.— “ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. Psa. 118:6. Approach.—What is this I am holding in my hand? A letter. How many of you like to receive a letter from some one you love? We all do, and some of us are big enough to write letters. Did you know there was a story in the Bible about a letter that God an- ELEMENTARY swered? We are going to hear about Mabel L. Merrill that letter today. Prayer Lesson Story.—Once upon a time a lit tle baby was hid in the house of God by his aunt. Con stance can you tell us about that baby, his name and what happened to him when he was seven years old? We learn from this story that God can save even a baby boy if He has a work for him to do, just at he saved baby Moses and baby Jesus. A long time has passed since king Joash ruled
as king, and some of the other kings did not obey God, and of course they could not lead the people in the right way when they did not do right. Our story today is about king Hezekiah and a letter he received from one of the kings of a heathen nation. Heze kiah was a good and noble king who obeyed God. He had a hard place to fill for the king who reigned before was a very wicked king who worshipped idols, and led many of the people into idol worship. One of the first things king Hezekiah did was to destroy the places of idol worship, and sent out messages all over the country inviting people to come together at Jerusalem and keep the passover. (Al ways explain the meaning of the passover.) King Hezekiah had had the temple repaired and all put in order. After the celebration of the passover many of the people came back to God, giving up the worship of idols. The king of Assyria, sent a letter to king Hezekiah telling him he was coming with his big army to take the city of Jerusalem and all the people; in this letter he told of the many cities he had already taken, and killed the kings ruling over them. He also told Hezekiah it would do him no good to trust in God. Now listen and see what happened. King Hezekiah took the letter and went to the house of God and spread the letter out before the Lord, and' prayed’ a most wonderful prayer. He told the Lord he knew he was the true god of Israel and of all the world, and that He had made heaven and the earth. Then he told the Lord to read the wicked letter and see what the wicked king had said about him (God). He said the reason the wicked king had been able to destroy the other cities, was because they had no true God, but only idols made by men’s hands. Now Isaiah; God’s faithful prophet was living at this time, and God told him to go and see Hezekiah, and tell him that the wicked king would not come to Jerusalem, nor even shoot an arrow toward it, for I will defend the city saith the Lord. But the king and his great army were gathered ready to march upon Jerusalem. But God kept his promise and answered the letter by sending an angel over the camp of the enemy king one night, and the next morning, the great army was dead bodies. Those who were still alive, became frightened and ran away, the wicked king returned home, and a number of years later was killed by his own sons. Hezekiah really and trully believed our memory, verse. Let us learn it. “ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.” If we obey God, He is always on our side. What a wonder ful life to live, when we do the things that are pleasing to God. Closing Prayer. Golden Text: “ Amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Jeremiah 26:13. Lesson Text: Jeremiah 26:8-16 (Read Jeremiah 7:1-26; 9:1-9; 15:1-10; 18:1-12; 25:1-14; 26:1-24; 36:1-32; 38:1-28.) Devotional Reading Psalm 86:1-8. S tory o f l^raVe Prophet tending JDraVeh? for Right Thou, Jehovah, hast helped me.— Psa. 86:17 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah made an earnest and moving appeal to the princes and the people. The reforms of Josiah had passed into history and MAY 25, 1924 Jeremiah and the Babylonian Crisis
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker