E ARLY—“And very early in the morn ing the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the ris ing of the sun.” (Mark 16:2) A NGELS—“ But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping; and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” (John 20:11, 12) 5 1TONE—“And they,said among them- | selves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepul chre? And when tjiey looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.” (Mark 16:3, 4) T OMB— “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock:” (Matt. 27:59, 60a) E ARTHQUAKE—“And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.” (Matt. 28:2) R ISEN—“And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” (Matt. 28:7) captivity in a strange land because of their sin and disobedience. The Lord God chose one of His faithful servants, Eze kiel, to bring His message to them. God commanded Ezekiel to receive the mes sage into his heart as well as to hear it with his ears. Ezekiel was warned that the people might refuse to hear God’s message, but he was to be faithful in giving it to them whether or not they were willing to receive his words. Some men would have refused to deliver a message that they thought people might not like. Ezekiel trusted God and knew that His people needed to hear and to know the word of the Lord. God richly blessed this prophet who was willing to be His messenger. God speaks to His people in various ways today: sometimes through a min ister of the gospel, an evangelist, or a Sunday school teacher. Sometimes He speaks to parents through their children and to children through their Christian parents. Frequently the Holy Spirit speaks to Christians through God’s Word, the Bible. Often He speaks to hearts in a still small voice that no one else may hear. Whatever way God uses to speak, His command is always the same, “Hear ye the word of the Lord.” After Christian boys and girls hear God’s voice and know what He desires them to do, He speaks to them again saying, “ But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
A p r il 4, 1948 A PROPHET AMONG EXILES E zek . 1 :1-3; 3:11, 17-21; 4:1-3
women in regard to the awful conse quences of sin. The responsibility for ac tion after the warning has been faith fully sounded rests with the hearers, but a solemn obligation rests upon the prophet to make sure that he has faith fully dealt with souls. These truths have a present application (Col. 1:28).
Pointers on the Lesson O UR lesson this week takes us to the banks of the Chebar in Babylonia. Judah was in captivity. The children of Israel were in need of a spiritual minis try. Ezekiel, priest and prophet, was called of God to perform that task. Many in Babylon looked with longing eyes to ward Jerusalem. It was Ezekiel’s duty to show these people that before they could hope to return to their own land, they must turn to the Lord in sincere repentance. The present lesson acquaints us with God’s prophet and the character of his ministry. T he P rophet ’ s P reparation E zek . 1:1-3 Four things of peculiar interest ap pear in this section, each one of which is important to any prophet’s prepara tion for service: 1. The heavens were opened (1) . Eze kiel is the only prophet in the Old Testa ment of whom it is stated that he saw the heavens opened. There are four such occasions in the New Testament (Matt. 3:16; John 1:51; Rev. 4:1; 19:11). Be fore a man can represent heaven on earth, he must have definite contact with that place and know something about it. 2. He saw visions of God (1). No one can speak for God who does not know Him. In this present dispensation it is the privilege of every one to understand what God is like through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:18; 14:9). 3. The Word of the Lord came unto him (3). In other words, he received a call to service. In this call doubtless he was given to see the need of the people at Babylon and made to understand his responsibility toward it. A call to service is always an appeal to respond to some pressing need. 4. The hand of the Lord was upon the prophet (3). This suggests enablement for the service to which he was called. God never expects anyone to enter a field of service for Him without furnishing the necessary ability to accomplish the task. When the Lord putteth forth His own for any work, He always goes on before to prepare the way (John 10:4). T he N ature of the P rophet ’ s M inistry E zek . 3:11, 17-21 Actually, the prophet’s ministry was that of a watchman. The ordinary mean ing of the word watchman in the Scrip tures is one who is a sentinel or guard on the city walls or hilltops. Apparently, in Old Testament times there were also watchmen to go about the city, like mu nicipal 'police (Cant. 3:3, 5:7). The watchmen cared for the physical welfare of the people. God’s prophet too is a watchman in spiritual matters, minister ing to the spiritual welfare of men and women. He is to speak God’s message: “ Thus saith the Lord God” (3:11); that message is to be in the nature of a warn ing (3:17-21). No prophet is true to his calling who fails to admonish men and Page Twenty-four
Pointers on the Lesson H o m e r A . K e n t , T h .M . Helps for the Children A l l is o n A rr ow o o d
Lesson material is based upon outlines of the International Sunday School Les sons, copyrighted by the International Council of Religious Education; used by permission. A n O bject L esson E zek . 4:1-3 In the time of the prophets, God sanc tioned the employment of object lessons to enforce truth. Ezekiel and Jeremiah used this type of teaching frequently. Many Sunday school teachers could im prove their effectiveness if they would utilize this method; some chalk, a black board, maps would enhance their lessons greatly. The passage before us presents an object lesson: ‘Jerusalem’ inscribed upon a brick, a siege is laid against it by some sort of representation not sug gested, an iron pan between the prophet and the brick (Jerusalem) pictures the sin separating God’s people from victory (Isa. 59:2). Thus the captives in Baby lon were warned of complete, irrevocable judgment upon their beloved city. Helps for the Children A M essenger of G od E zekiel 1:2, 3; 3:4, 5, 10, 11 M e m o r y V e r s e : “Hear ye the word of the Lord” (Ezek. 13:2). God’s people, the Israelites, were in
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