best of men err. (2) T h at the Lord owns and speaks well of His servants, for all their faults. (3) And, particularly, that no one is worthy of the crown but Jesus, for whom It Is waiting. II. THIRTEEN OF JUDAH'S KINGS WERE TOTAL FAILURES, and some of these conspicuously vicious. 1. Rehoboam was a vain, headstrong fellow who lost his kingdom because from the first he presump- tuously viewed the kingdom as existing for him, and the people for his exploitation. H e reversed the principle of kingship, as most men do of existence, deeming t h at the world mu st serve him, not he- the world. Seeking to save his life he lost it, to enslave his kingdom, it revolted from him. If you serve others they will serve you. 2. Joash was the more blameworthy because piously rear- ed (2 Kgs. 11:2, 3), and beginning well (2 Chr. 24:2) he turned traitor at last (24:17- 19), wilfully apostatized over the prophetic pro-test (24:17-19), and stoned Zechariah, the Tord's messenger (24:20, 21; L u ke 11:51). 3. Ahaz and Manasseh were notorious idol- aters and cruel persecutors. 4. Jehoiaklm kbirrnt the proohetic roll; and his three suc- c e s s o r s brought the kingdom to an ignomin- ious end. III. IN THESE STUDIES WE HAVE MET THREE GREAT POLITICAL CRISES. 1. The end of the united kingdom, under Rehoboam, in the revolt of Jeroboam and the ten tribes—975 B. C. 2. The end of the Northern Kingdom, "Israel," under Hos- hea, in the Assyrian captivity, 718 B. C. 3. I. THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 1. Fifty years of criticism has vindicated the genuineness and authenticity of this book. No simple reader need be disturbed by the current denial of "scholarship." Stu- dents of prophecy, who have grasped the framework of inspired prediction, can never doubt the supernatural character of its rec- ord. 2. The book was not written primarily to inculcate self-control, faithfulness in t he dis- charge of trusts, constancy in religious con- victions, though all this is wonderfully ex- emplified incidentally (Dan. 1:8; 3:16; 6:10). Nor to show the folly and sin of idolatry, nride. envy, and dissolute conduct (3:28; 4:30, 31; 5:30), though nowhere are these set forth more graphicailv. Iniustice is done to the Word of God and damage to the soul by the prevalent custom of limiting instruction to the incidental moral and ethical teaching and suggestion of the Word, and passing by the primary ma t t er of revelation, prophecy, and doctrine, under the specious guise of "prac- tical" application. 3. A crisis in history had DANIEL AND HIS COMPANIONS. Lesson XI Daniel 1.
The end of the Southern Kingdom, "Judah," under Zedekiah, in the Babylonian captivity, 606 B. C. This last crisis ended the experi- ment with Israel to found a kingdom of God on earth. Since t h at time the Gentiles have been left to their experiments, and the n a- tions have successively failed, DO FAIL, and • LL FAIL "till He come whose right it (the kingdom) is" (Eze. 21:27). Meanwhile Christ shall reign in us though antichrist may reign over us. The s ame Lord t h at was so long suffering with Israel is bearing with the kings and peoples, not willing t h at they shquld perish (2 Pet. 3:9), b ut "Jesus shall reign where 'ere the sun Does his successive journeys r u n; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall w ax and wane no more." IV. OUR CALL AS CHRISTIANS IN THIS AGE is, like Israel's in theirs, (1) As a priestly nation, to worship the Lord, and intercede for men. (2) As a royal na- tion, as servant of Jehovah, to minister to men; the duty of all to whom ability and pre-eminence is given. (3) A prophet-na- tion, to bear witness for God and H is truth. For, like Israel, we are "the Lord's anoint- ed," THE CHRIST IN THE WORLD. The throne of David was overturned (Eze. 21, 27), for t h at which does not serve i ts purpose is, of course, destroyed (Luke 13:7). God has made us for HIS glory (Ecc. 12:13). This is realized by obedience to His will (purpose). Obedience is the annihilation of of* self, the recognition of authority, the rendering of service. In all this Israel came short. How is it with you? Jno. 15:2. come. The. call to empire withdrawn f r om the Jew, the opportunity now passed to the Gentiles, who have been striving to g r a sp and hold it ever since. At the dawn of this new era Jehovah made special revelation of H i m- self as the Lprd of all, the only king maker; of the duty of kings to give Him the glory, a nd to shepherd the people; of Himself as the judge of kings, the executioner of judg- ments; and the. mighty and faithful Re- deemer o f - H is people in all their persecu- tions; and outlined the course of history from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar; from Babylon, Persia, Greece and Pome to the end when "the God of heaven shall set up the kingdom," when the long Gentile parenthesis shall be ended, and cap- tive J u d ah return to wear the crown. To give this light to the Gentile, for revelation as. well as "salvation is of the J e w s" (Jno. 4:22), Daniel and his fellows were captive and exalted in Babylon, and all the recorded wonders (worthy of the event) took place, and all the representatives of t he nations were providentially gathered to see and tell it. The recognition of these facts, which all Scripture and history certify, leaves no doubt of the authenticity of the book and the actuality of its miracles. To ignore all this for the sake of a few dissertations on char- acter. temperance, and piety, would be dis- loyalty to truth, and discrediting to biblical exposition even In the Sunday school class. Children would soon grasp these things with
Lesson for September 10th
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