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T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
November 1924
trouble. The Levites, each with a glistening spear and shield, lined up across the court yard at the great stone steps leading into the Holy Place of the Temple. The Cap tains and the soldiers stood near the gate of the courtyard, while the whole court was filled with the princes and chief men, and a great assembly of happy people, probably lots of boys and girls, too, rejoicing that the rightful King was to be crowned. At a sound of the trumpets the priest, Je-hoi-a-da, came leading the little boy, and stood him on the topmost step hear a large stone pillar, where all the people could see him. Then the priest placed a small golden' Crown upon his head and poured fragrant oil upon his forehead, anointing him to be the King of Judah. All the singers and players with their harps and cymbals filled the Temple with sweet music. The trumpeters blew their trumpets loudly and the people shouted, “ God save the King!” Queen Ath-a-li-ah, hearing the singing and shouting, hur ried to the temple to see what had happened; but as she reached the gate the soldiers seized her. She saw little King Jo-ash standing by the pillar in the temple, wearing the golden crown and smiling down upon the people who were shouting and singing. The wicked Queen knew that she was defeated, but she tried to make the soldiers release her. “ Treason! Treason!” she cried. The soldiers took her away and she was executed, for indeed, she was the real traitor-—not the little King Jo-ash whom God had protected all those., six years. Shall we repeat softly our memory verse? “ Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God.” And when we come to the Lord Jesus we know that God will take care of us. Of what song does this lesson remind you? “ God will take care of You
12:6. How is it possible for any Christian to behold the neglected, and, in places, the wounded and dying church, without crying with one of old, “ O Lord, revive thy work.” (Hab. 3 :2),-—Pract. Com. 12:7 Jehoiada was an old man, probably an hundred years old, for, as reported in 2 Chron. 24:15, he died at the age of 130 before the end of Joash’s reign. He was too feeble to direct the repairs or enter any protest.— Peloubet.
ELEMENTARY Mrs. S. W. Barrett Scripture: 2 Chronicles 22:10-12; 23:1-13
Memory Verses: Luke 18:16; Matt. 18:10; Psalm 91:11. Can you remember two stories in the Bihle about babies who were cared for by God, when a wicked King wanted to kill them? Yes, Moses; and the Lord Jesus, when He was a tiny baby and King Herod wanted to kill Him.
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The Lord Jesus loves chil dren. When He was here on earth He said, “ Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is ,the Kingdom of God.” Today our Bible story is: Why a Baby King was Hidden in the House of God The people of Jerusalem were greatly shocked for King A-ha- zi-ah had been brought home dead, from a visit to his uncle in Samaria. They laid him in the tomb of his father. His mother, Queen Ath-a-li-ah, was very wicked; she was a daugh ter of Queen Jezebel. When Ath-a-li-ah learned that her
To Co me li iy F o he, Luke18-16
Thro’ every day, O’er all the way. He will take care of you, God will take care of You.”
son, the king, was dead, she was not one bit sorry for she wanted to sit upon the throne and rule the people. She had other sons and grandsons, but she plotted to have them all murdered so that she could fulfill her desire. She ordered the soldiers to bring all the heirs to the throne and put them in prison. The very youngest son of King A-ha-zi-ah was just a tiny baby named Jo-ash. He was not more than a year old but he was to he killed with the other heirs. Baby Jo-ash’s aunt loved him very much and when she heard of the ter rible plan of Queen Ath-a-li-ah, she went secretly to the room where the soldiers had taken all the king’s sons, and she picked up little Jo-ash and took him back to his nurse. Then, fearing that he would be taken again, she asked her husband, who was a priest in the Temple, to hide Baby Jo- ash and his nurse in the House of God until he was old enough to be crowned King. After the soldiers reported to the Queen that all the king’s sons and heirs had been killed, she took her place on the throne and ruled the people for six years, hut she did not know that near by, in the House of God, was hidden the rightful ruler. When Baby Jo-ash was seven years old, his aunt and her husband, Je-hoi-a-da, the priest, secretly sent word to the captains of the army and all the priests and the Levites throughout the country of Judah, and to the princes and the chief men of the people to come to Jerusalem. When they came the priest told them about little Joash. Perhaps he let them see the happy little fellow playing in the temple with his nurse. They all made a promise that the boy, Jo-ash, should be proclaimed King and rule over God’s people. The next sabbath the people gathered in the court of the Temple without wicked Queen Ath-a-li-ah suspecting any
NOVEMBER SO, 1924 (LESSON 61) DEATH OF ELISHA TO DEATH OF AH A Z 2 Kings, Chapters 13-16 Golden Text: “ Every tree that hringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire.” Matt. 7:19. OUTLINE
(1) The Counsellor of the King. (2) The Crucial Test of Faith. (3) The Chastisement for Failure of Faith. (4) The Contact with the Grave. (5) The Counterfeit Altar. INTRODUCTION
These four chapters are chosen in order that the teacher may continue to read the story of the kings of Judah and Israel. It would he impossible to cover all the details in any way which would be satisfactory to the ordinary scholar, but, as always, they contain some les- LBSSON sons of real importance, well worth EXPOSITION meditating upon. 2 Chronicles, Chap- T. C. Horton ters 25, 26 and 28, will throw some light upon the rise and fall o’f the kings whose history is recorded in our lesson, as follows: In Israel— Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Joash, Jeroboam XI, Zach- ariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah. In Judah—Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah. These kings reigned during a period of about 110 years, during which time there was a constant decline in righteous-
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