T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S and their houses were burned and even God’s temple was in ruins. Their beau tiful gardens were all overgrown with weeds. But these people would remem ber how good God had been to them, for over and over, again and again God sent His faithful ministers to the peo ple when they were living in their nice homes in the beautiful city of Jerusa lem, to warn them of their disobedience to God, and they never would have been carried away and their homes destroyed if they had obeyed God and listened to His ministers. Even now the Lord had
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done great things for them in watching over them all through the long journey, for it would take them about four months to get back to Jerusalem. The Lord is good to us also, for He has given us our comfortable homes, and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. He has given us warm clothes to wear, and food to eat. Who can say this new verse with me? “ The Lord hath done’great things for us; whereof we are glad.” Shall we thank Him for all His goodness to us? Closing prayer.
JUi m AUGUST 6, 1922. THE TEMPLE REBUILT AND DEDICATED Golden Text: My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. Ps. 84:2. LESSON TEXT Ezra 3:8-13; 6:14-18. (Read Ezra 3:1-6:22; Hag. 1:1-2:23; Isa. 62; Rev. 21:1-22:5.)
before their eyes, wept w ith a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy : (13) So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout o f jo y from the noise of the weeping o f the people: fo r the people shouted 'with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (6:13) And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechar- iah the son of Iddo. And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment o f the God of Israel, and according to the com mandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes k in g o f Persia. (15) And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year o f the reign of Darius the king. (16) And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the ch il dren o f the captivity, kept the dedi cation of this house o f God with joy. (17) And offered at the dedica tion of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offer ing for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. (18) And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jeru salem, as it is w ritten in the book o f Moses.
(3:8) Now in the second year of their com ing unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Sheal- tiel, and Jeshua the son o f Jozawek, and the remnant o f their brethren, the priests and the Levites, and all them that were come out of the cap tivity unto Jerusalem ; and appoint ed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forw ard the w ork of the house of the Lord. (9) Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons o f Judah, together, to set forw ard the workmen in the house of God; the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. (10) And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance o f David king of Israel. (11) And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his m ercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted w ith a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation o f the house of the Lord was laid. (12) But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men that had seen the first house, when the foundation o f this house was laid
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