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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Him as th e ir Saviour, and th en He can care for them ju st a s He does for us. Jam es brought a new boy th is m o ilin g , so he is doing w hat Jesus w ants us all to do. Our memory v erse tells us how good God is to all th a t are His children. W e are not His children un til we have tak en Jesus as our
Saviour. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all th e days of my life.” The word mercy means loving kind" ness. (See Revised Version.) Love makes us kind, and when we love we ju st can no t help being kind. Closing prayer.
M m m OCTOBER 21, 1928 ISRAEL IN THE MIDST OF THE NATIONS
Golden Text: “ Look unto me and be ye saved, all the end s of the e a rth .” Isa. 45:22. LESSON TEXT Josh. 1:1-4; Isa. 2:2-4; 19:23-25; Ezek. 5 :5 ; Devotional R eading— Psa. 48:9-14. In tro d u c tio n : P alestine was th e geographical center of th e g lo b e ., The traffic of th e ancient world passed through th e land of Canaan. A g reat opportunity was thus created to magnify th e tru e God and lift up H is moral standard s before tile nations of th e earth . Had Israel only LESSON been tru e to h er calling th e Divine EXPOSITION purpose m ight have been fulfilled. Dr. F . W. F a rr ISRAEL AMONG THE NATIONS BUT APART FROM THEM. Josh. 1:1-4. God had said th a t th e people should dwell alone and n o t be reckoned among th e nations. Their power over the nation s should be in direct proportion to th eir aloofness from them . Lot had no testimony in Sodom because he lived there. Contam ination follows contact. The entire land of promise was-open before them bu t how much they should actually possess depended upon th e ir faith and cour age. On th e other side of Jo rdan , th e land was th eirs bu t th e crossing of th e Jo rd an gave them possession and enjoy ment. “Every_place th a t the sole of your foot shall tread upon th a t have I given unto you.” ISRAEL AMONG THE NATIONS OF THE FUTURE, Is. 2:2-4. This is a picture of th e age to come, when th e Abraham ic covenant will have a world-wide fulfilment. The king dom age of Israel follows th e second coming of Christ. I t will be ushered in by a work of purifying judgment, Isaiah 1:25-27, afte r which th e kingdom will become su preme. Jerusalem will be the center from which Divine power will go forth and be recognized as th e capital of Divine rule. This is the tim e when th e folly and fu tility of m ilitarism will be seen and th e nations shall learn w ar no more. ISRAEL THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL BLESSING TO THE NATIONS, Is. 19:23-25; Ezek. 5:5. It is usually said th a t the blessings of th e Old Covenant were tem poral and earth ly while those of th e New Covenant are eternal and heavenly. This is tru e b u t a t th e same tim e it must be adm itted th a t the blessings of the Gospel age are not exclusively sp iritu al since, godliness is profit able for th e life th a t now is. The blessings of th e Jewish age on th e other hand have a marked sp iritu al quality. The list of worthies mentioned in th e eleventh chapter o f Hebrews are all Old Testam ent characters. They are th e fru it of the covenant und.er which they lived. In th e coming age while all m aterial blessings will abound, the sp iritu a l will predom inate. The same essential principles underlie both Old and New Covenants. Separation is th e key-note of both. Power over the world comes from
separation from th e world. As th e Bible is a world book, Israel will be a world people. W hat a glorious list of leaders Israel has given to the world from Abraham to Paul! P atriarch s, prophets, kings, poets, historians, philoso phers, statesm en, apostles and many others! Jonah is a type of the Jew. A lthough the Jew has been swallowed by nation afte r nation, he retain s identity and life. Assyria, Babylon and Rome have passed away. The Jew survives, having out-lived all conquerors and persecutors. Mono theism and th e Mosaic law are th e two powerful forces th a t have combined for th e ir preservation while o th er n a tions have decayed and perished. “By me thy days shall be multiplied and th e years of thy life shall be increased.” Jo shu a 1:1-4. V. 1. Now—Heb. “ and”— Brings this book in immediate connection w ith the P entateuch and th u s makes it a regu lar continuation of th e sacred, narrativ e begun and carried on by Moses.— George Bush. Joshua—Moses’ m in ister— In the COMMENTS sense of an immediate atten d an t, FROM THE one who waited upon his person and COMMENTARIES assisted him in business.— George H. G. Dean Bush. V. 2. The Lord spake— saying— Go over th is Jordan-—When it is considered th a t Joshua was n inety-three years old, nothing sho rt of th e divine as surance he now received could have sustained his courage in such an arduous position.— George Bush. Jo shu a’s courage therefore, was in proportion to his own response to th e revelation of God.—H arr. The land which I do give to— Israel—We a t once see th a t th e Israelites were not to en ter Canaan under the covenant which God made w ith Abraham . T hat covenant was for, an unconditional possession.— Berry. Vs._3-4. Every place— have I given un to you—Under Jo shu a’s leadership, th e condition of possession was “ every place th a t th e soul of your foot shall tread upon” and the extent of th e te rrito ry given them was much less th an under the Abraham ic covenant.— Berry. Deuteronomy 4 :5 , 6; 8:7-10. Vs. 5-6. I have ta u g h t you sta tu te s and judgm ents— Keep th erefo re and do them— Their wisdom and th e ir un derstanding were to consist in th e ir simply keeping and doing th e divine statu tes and judgm ents. It was no t by learned discussion or argum ents th a t th e ir wisdom was to be displayed, bu t by childlike, unquestioning obedience. All the wisdom was in the sta tu te s and judgm ents, no t in th eir thoughts and reasonings respecting them . The pro found and marvellous wisdom of God was seen in His Word, and th is was w hat th e nations were to see and adm ire.— C. H. Mackintosh. Vs. 7-8-9-10. F o r th e Lord th y Godi b rlug eth th ee into a good land— th en th o u sh a lt bless th e Lord th y God— These things are mentioned to show th e g reat difference between the w ilderness through which God had led them and the good land into which He was bringing them .— Matthew Henry. These things speak typically of our blessings, th e sp irit ual blessings^ w ith which we are blessed in Christ Jesus, to which we are fully entitled b u t which we can only enjoy if we walk in faith and obedience to His Word.—A. C. Gaebelein.
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