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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
because she herself had fallen into gross idolatry and sin. As«for the present, it need hardly be said th a t Israel has no testimony for God, because as a nation she rejected th e Messiah, Jesus Christ, and now stands in th e place of rejec tion. But our h earts are made to rejoice when, th rough th e prophetic Word, we are enabled to look into th e fu tu re and see in Israel (a fte r being restored to fellowship) a “mis sionary n atio n ” indeed, th e greatest th e world has ever known. (See, for example, Isa. 66:19.) Thus it is always. W here th e h ea rt relationship w ith Christ is right, th ere th e m issionary sp irit will be found. God’s K indness to H is People. E'x. 19:1-6 Memory V e rs e .-|l‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Psa. 23:1. Approach.S-Good morning, children! How nice you all look. I know some one loves you and has been kind and loving to you, and cared so well fo r you. They have gotten your clothes ready and fixed you up so nicely. I wonder who can tell us who in your homes it is ELEMENTARY th a t is always doing these nice things Mabel L. Merrill for us? Yes, our mothers. Do they love as we should be? Yes, they do, and I wonder why they do for us even when we are naughty? Because they love us. Yes, because we are th e ir children. Let us th a n k God for our mothers and fath ers who are so kind and good to us. P rayer. Lesson S to ry .& L ast week we had a story about being a blessing to others, and how many of you remembered, and have tried to be a blessing to some one? (L et th e children mention some of th e ways th ey were helpful to others.) We have ju st been talk ing of th e love and kindness of our mothers, bu t do you know, boys and girls, th ere is one who loves us even more th a n mother or fath er? It is Jesus, and He loves everybody in the world, even th e g reatest sinner, bu t He hates »the sin. A long, long tim e ago God chose a people to be His own. These people were caled th e children of Israel. These people were in g reat trouble, as slaves down in Egypt, and God sent a man by th e name of Moses to b ring these people ou t of Egypt into a beau tifu l land, which He gave to them . The wicked king who had made slaves of God’s people, would no t le t th e ‘children of Israel go, and because he was king he though t lie could keep them , b u t th is king forgot th a t God was more powerful th a n any king, or all th e kings of th e earth . (Tell briefly and vividly of th e going ou t of Israel, and the Red Sea experience, and th e defeat and destruction of Pharaoh and his army.) On th e ir long journey they came to a place where th e re was no w ater, and God told Moses to tak e his rod and strik e the rock, and when Moses did so, clear, fresh w ater came bubbling out, so th e re was plenty of w ater for all th e people and th e cattle. Do you know why God chose th e people of Israel, and was good to them , and placed them in such a beau tifu l land? He did it because He wanted them to show others how wise and good He had been to them . He w anted them to te ll th e o ther people about God, and He w anted th e people of Israel to do th e things He had asked them them to do, so other people would see by th e ir lives th a t they were a happy people and different from all other people. Some of th e people did this, b u t many did not. We are all so happy and well cared for, and God is so good to us, and do you know He w ants us to tell other boys and girls abou t His Son Jesus, so they will come to know Jesus too, and take us and care for us ju st th e same, even when we are not as good boys and girls
V. 6. A kingdom of priests— A royal priesthood as ex plained by 1 P eter 2:9. The whole nation being a priest w ith respect to other nations, as th e trib e of Levi for Is rael. Now in abeyance-—But in th e fu tu re it will be rea l ized (Isaiah 61:6; 6 6 :21 ).— Companion Bible. W hat a high calling, w hat a glorious destiny for a peo ple ju st delivered from slavery!— M. Berry. F o r all th e ea rth is m ine— Jehovah had chosen Israel as His costly possession ou t of all the nations of th e earth, because the whole earth was His possession, and all na tions belonged to Him as C reator and P reserver. The reason thu s assigned for th e selection of Israel th u s pre cludes a t th e very outset th e exclusiveness which would regard Jehovah as merely a n ational Deity.—Keil and Delitsch. Isaiah 43:9-11, 45:20-22. V. 9. L e t all th e nations be g ath ered tog eth er—The prophet’s vision sees all th e nations of the world brought together as in a vast courtroom .-^Amos R. Wells. L et them b ring th e ir witnesses:—Here begins th e proof by Jehovah of His divine rig h t: “Who among the gods can announce th is i. e., such things as th e resto ration of Israel, which I announced If they can, let them declare form er things, form er actual events foretold by them ; let them produce w itnesses of such form er prophecies and so prove themselves gods; namely by these w itnesses hearing th e ir statem en t and attesting its tru th .—Delitsch. Or le t them h ea r and say, I t is tru th— If, (as is the case) th e heathen nations cannot show anything corres ponding to Hebrew prophecy, then let them hear th a t prophecy and acknowledge its truth.-—P eloubet’s Notes. V. 10. My w itnesses—My serv an t whom I have chosen— I can appeal to you as to w hat I have enabled you to see and hear, and to th e relation in which I have graciously placed you to myself, th a t you may come to reflect how g reat is the difference between w hat you have in your God and w hat th e heathen have in th e ir idols.— Delitsch. Ys. 20-21. Declare ye and b ring it fo rth— A challenge to th e worshippers of idols to tak e counsel together as to the best argum ents wherew ith to defend the cause of idolatry.—J . F. and B. V. 22. Look un to Me and be ye saved—The second im perative expresses th e resu lt which will follow obedience to the first.—-J. F. and B. Jehovah desires two things, all men tu rn in g to Him and th eir blessedness by so doing.-—Delitsch. F o r I am God and th e re is none else—We know th a t an idol is nothing in the world, and th a t th ere is none o ther God bu t one.— P aul (1 Cor. 8 :4 ). Israel, th e people about whom we study in th is lesson, sprang from Abraham , to whom Jehovah said: “ I will make of thee a g reat n ation ” (Gen. 1 2 :2 ). The first of th is series of lessons on “The Missionary Message of th e Bible” had to do w ith Abraham , and th e title DEVOTIONAL of th e lesson ( “Abraham a Blessing to COMMENT th e Whole W orld” ) was in keeping w ith Jo h n A. H ubbard th e purpose of God for Abraham and th e nation which was to come from him, for God h ad said to him : “ In thee shall all th e fam ilies of th e ea rth be blessed.” W hatever of real sp iritual blessing has come to th e world since then has come, in a tru e sense, th rough Israel. The w ritten Word of God came th rough them , and th e living, E tern al Word, Jesus Christ, came in th e flesh th rough them also. Thus we and all th e world are, and will forever be, indebted to Israel. But in the sense in which we in th is dispensation of grace understand and use the word “m issionary,” Israel can h ardly be called a “m issionary nation .” It is doubtless tru e th a t God pur posed th a t in Israel th e surrounding idolatrous nations should see something of th e reality and blessedness of serving th e tru e God, and in th is sense Israel was to be His witness. But in th e past how m iserably th e nation failed to do even th is— being tak en captive by th e very heathen to whom she should have been a w itness, and th is
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