Topic for Sunday, September 10, 1911.
faithfully as David did, the kingdom of Is- rael shall be confirmed to him as J u d ah was to David. But Jeroboam forfeited these promises through sin, and there were fre- quent changes of dynasty until the last of the nineteen kings, Hosea, was taken cap- tive to Assyria in 722. The complete story is found in 2 Kgs. 17. Throughout the later writings of the Old Testament, Jeroboam is referred to as the o n e - who "caused Is- rael to sin." For wh at political reason did Jeroboam break up the religious unity of all Israel by establishing altars and golden calves in Bethel and in Dan? Wa s this s ma rt politics? W as it bad r e- ligion?' How ma ny of the Ten Command- me n ts did he break in this way? Wh at other commandments were broken? Did t h e penalty for the king's sin fall on himself alone or on others as well? Wh at prophecy did God u t t er against Jeroboam's false altar? (1 Kgs. 13:1-3.) How was this fulfilled? (2 Kgs. ¿3:15, 16). Was this fulfilment lit- eral?. Can you -tnink of any prophecy t h at •has been fulfilled t h at was not fulfilled lit- erally ? (Lev. 25:23, 24). Wh at may be said o f ' the conduct of Ah ab on receiving Naboth's refusal? Was Jez- ebel a strong character? May a strong char- acter be a bad one? By wh at crime did she bring about the possession of Naboth's field? Afterward Elijah met Ahab in this very field and pronounced great j u d gme nt upon him, saying t h at he would destroy his posterity. His son Ahaziah reigned two years a f t er him and another son, Jehoram, reigned twelve years, but he was shot through the heart by Jehu and his body Was thrown into the field of Naboth. (See 2 Kgs. "9:24-26.) The kingdom then passed from Ahab's f a m- ily to t h at of Jehu. Ahab was sobered by the prophecy of Elijah and God softened the penaltv by postponing it for a time. Read 1 Kgs. 21:25-29. Phillipians breathes the spirit of heroism. Let the Juniors cite the most heroic things they can recall from Paul's life. Tell some of *.ie strong stories of heroism on the part of modern missionaries t h at are so abundant. For example, Horace T. Pitkin, during the Boxer rebellion, was with a few others m a k- ing his last stand against the Chinese when he saw t h at the end was inevitable and he wrote a last note to his wife who was then in J a p an with their son, bidding her good- bye and urging t h at she rear their son for the Saviour t h at he might r e t u rn to China to take up the work his father was laying down. Not only do the missionaries suffer hardships. The native Christians are equal- ly brave. A Christian Chinese whose p a r- ents and brothers and sisters had all been slain by the Boxers, when seeking appoint- ment as a preacher, named as his choice of field the very village where his family had been massacred, t h at he might lead the murderers to the Saviour. an ancestral possession?
JEROBOAM, A LEADER IN WRONG- DOING. 1 Kgs. 12:26-30 ; 2 Kgs. 17:21, 22. A simple lesson in history will be the best setting for this topic. I It will be pos- sible for the leader to make plain Just wh at is meant by the division of the king- dom and the far-reaching results of this secession. The promise of a perpetual king- dom had been made to David (2 Sam. 7:12- 17). Solomon had ruled wisely for much of his reign, but had finally wandered into the sin of idolatry, worshipping thè gods of Zidon, of Moab and Ammon. For this cause, God sends the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam to tell him t h at he is to be ruler of ten of the tribes of Israel. Jeroboam w a s. of the tribe of Ephraim (Ephraim and Manas- seh were sons of Joseph). This was a strong tribe and is sometimes n amed in place of Israel when the ten tribed kingdom is re- ferred to. In other, words, Jeroboam led a rebellion which established a separate kingdom a f t e r w a r ds known as "Israel," " E p h r a i m ," "Samaria," etc. Details are given in 1 Kgs. 11:26-40. God promises in verses ,37 and 38 t h at if Jeroboam will serve Ahab was weak morally, b ut strong in his sins and in his misrule. He was the sev- enth of the kings of Israel and worse t h an his predecessors. He had no excuse for his sinfulness, for he had the advantage of faith- ful prophets and- of the good example Of both Asa and Jehoshaphat, kings of Judah. He reigned 22 years. His wickedness is sum- marized in 1 Kgs. 16:29-33. If a ma n 's choice of a wife shows his own character, A.hab was bad indeed. How many specific things can be named t h at Ahab did in the' way of sin? In the passage selected for the lesson was Ahab-'s proposition to Naboth a fair one? W a s -Naboth right in refusing to part with (Home and Foreign Missionary Meeting.) In the reference given with the topic Tim- othy is exhorted to suffer hardships. It would be well to ask the Juniors in how many chapters of 2 Timothy they can find this same exhortation. P e r h a ps they can find many similar directions. In one place, Paul says to "suffer hardship with me." Do we know much of Paul's suffering with the Gospel? He mentions things he has un- dergone in 2 Cor. 11:23-33. It would be well to- compare this with the amount of suffer- ing undergone by most people in their ser- vice of God. Does Paul mention these things to boast? In verse 17 he says he s p e a ks "not a f t er the Lord, but as in fool- ishness." He is compelled by the conditions of controversy to mention some things here and in Galatians t h at he would not other- wise have done, The entire epistle to the AHAB THE WEAK KING. 1 Kgs. 21:16. MISSIONARY HARDSHIPS. 2 Tim. 4:5.
Topic for Sunday, September 17, 1911.
Topic for Sunday, September 24, 1911.
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