April 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
227
them to get wisdom and knowledge, and he made Daniel to understand visions and dreams. And the king talked with them, and found that among all those who had been chosen, none were like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; therefore they stayed at the palace and waited on the king. God has given us these bodies, and he wants us to keep them pure and well, and wine and too much rich food hurts the body, and when the body is not well, the mind is dull and we can not learn the lessons we should. Tobacco is another thing that is hurting the boys and girls and men and women. Those with the bright, clear minds are the ones that can fill good positions and earn good money. Our memory verse says, “We will drink no wine." And we will say too, we will use no tobacco. Closing Prayer. MAY 4, 1924 THE ASSYRIAN EXILE OF ISRAEL Golden Text: “I will delight myself in thy statutes; will not forget thy word.” Psalm 119:16. The northern kingdom of Israel continued about two hundred and fifty years. It began in the revolt against Re- hoboam, the son of Solomon, as a protest against oppres sion. There were nineteen kings who ruled in such an ar bitrary and despotic way that the people LESSON were the greatest sufferers. God permit- EXPOSITION ted them to continue as a part of his F. W. Farr chosen people, but their prosperity de pended upon their recognition of His claims and obedience to His commands. When they ig nored His law and defied His authority they met with dis aster. God sent them faithful prophets, who warned them of the consequence of their sins, and besought them to re pent and turn from their evil ways. It was all in vain. Their idolatry was too deeply rooted to be so easily plucked up.. Their doom was sealed. They fell an easy prey to the Assyrian invader, and were carried away into captivity. The king of Assyria had twice invaded the northern king dom but had departed after exacting tribute from the king of Israel. Various kings sought to throw off the yoke thus imposed by different political alliances, but in vain. A few years later the Assyrian armies returned, captured the city of Samaria, and carried the inhabitants away to Mesopo tamia. Thus Israel lost her national existence and ident ity as a people, and was cut off from the covenant mercies of Jehovah. “O Israel, thou has destroyed thyself.” The nation committed suicide. Had the people remained true to God, their national life would have been perpetuated. During the early period of their separate existence Is rael was by far the more powerful and prosperous nation of the two. Judah was limited in territory and inferior in re sources as compared with her northern neighbor. In the days of Amaziah Judah became, for a time at least, a tribu tary of Israel. Even after Uzziah had brought the nation up to a semblance of its former power, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the days of his grandson are found to be trembling like trees in the wind before the alliance of Samaria and Damascus. Judah, in spite of being weak and defenseless, made a heroic fight for her liberties and survived the downfall of the northern kingdom by more than a hundred years. Had she not followed the course of Israel and become apostate from Jehovah, she might have continued in unbroken prosperity and power. With the fate of Israel before her, she would not be instructed. Lesson Text: 2 Kings, Chapters 11 to 17. Devotional Reading: Psalm 119:33, 40.
Blind to her own interests, and deaf to the warnings of the prophets, she kept on in her sinful course until she also met her doom. Her long night of sorrow and exile came at length to its close. After seventy years in Babylon, about fifty thousand captives availed themselves of the privilege of returning to their native land. So far as we know, none of the Israelites accompanied them. Thus while Judah re turned from exile, Israel did not. The prophets, however, see their future rajtoration and conversion. Ezek. 37:15-28. The successivejio^mvard steps in their apostasy were ingratitude, hypocrisy, idolatry, disobedience, obstinacy, sorcery and unbelief. The same beaten path is trodden by individual sinners in each successive age. Hardening of the heart, after enlightenment and warning, is invariably followed by disaster and destruction. Whatsoever a nation or an individual sows, that must they also reap. The law of the harvest knows no interruption or exception. Is rael sold herself to idols and idols destroyed her. Men sell themselves to Satan and Satan destroys them. Idolatry I is esentially putting something in the place of God. It need not be a carved statue or a graven image. Money, power, success, fame or even friends and loyed ones may occupy the place that belongs to God alone. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 2 Kings 17:9-18 Vs. 9-11. The progressive development of evil. 1. Be gins in secret. 2. Gradually gains the mastery over con scientious scruples. 3. Soon acquires a shameless effront ery in public. 4. Becomes universally established by popu lar usage and example. 5. Reckless COMMENTS °f consequences, to either God or man, FROM THE cares not how deeply God is grieved or COMMENTARIES man is injured.—Horn. Com. V. V. Morgan V. 12. When Israel was rescued out of Egyptian bondage, they became God’s covenant people, and pledged themselves to obey Him. The fact of this great and signal deliverance stands at the head of the covenant law (Ex. 20:2) and is always cited as the chief and fundamental act- of the Divine favour, (Lev. 11:45; Josh 24:17; 1 Kings 8:51; Psa. 81:10; Jer. 2 :6 ). The discipline of the wilderness and the awful displays of the Divine power and majesty, were intended to divest them of the remnants of heathenism that still clung to them, and to instruct them in the knowledge and worship of the only true God. Every relapse into idolatry was a loss of moral stamina, weakened the bonds of obligation and made obedience more difficult. We have need to be on our guard every moment against the seductive lures of idolatry— all the more dangerous because there is so much in us ever ready to respond to its bewitching overtures.—Horn. Com. Vs. 13-14. Israel was not allowed to drift to her fate unchecked and unwarned; the most gifted prophets of the Hebrew school were sent to instruct and admonish the peo ple. Doubtless some gave heed to their teachers, and mourned over the infatuation of their countrymen. But the bulk of the nation, following the lead of those high in authority, shut their ears to instruction, disdained reproof, and persevered in their sins.— Selected. V. 16. This refers to the worship of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. Divination and enchantments. The finding of omens of the future by means of the manipula tions of rods, watching the flight of arrows, inspecting the entrails of sacrificial victims, etc.fe-Peloubet. V. 17. The responsibility of the sinner: 1. Is grounded in his freedom of volition. 2, Is abused by every act of iniquity he voluntarily commits. 3. Cannot be destroyed by the most frantic efforts of self-forgetfulness and sin. 4. Will one day make him terribly conscious how deeply he has offended God.—Horn. Com. V. 18. The kingdom of Israel had nineteen kings, and not one of them was truly pious. Wonder not at the wrath, but at the patience of God in that He endured their evil ways for many hundred years, and at their ingratitude that
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