"mocked"; and their word was to some "a ^ savor of death, to some a savor of life" (2 Cor. 2:16). (4) A great multitude assem- bled (Rev. 7:9, 10), for God's Word accom- plishes its purpose whether men "hear or forbear" (Isa. 55:10, 11; Eze. 2:7).' (5) Some were ceremonially unprepared. It was now too late to comply with the ritual. But * the King said " He t h at prepareth his heart." He saw that "to worship in spirit and 4 t r u t h" is -the essential thing (Jno. 4:24) and that "if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to t h at a man h a t h" (2 Cor. 8:12). Praise the Lord. («) "Heze- kiah prayed. The good Lord pardon every t one t h a t ," etc; It is a king's business to pray for his people (Rom. 8:34) as -well as people's to pray for those in authority" (1 Tim. 2:2). Ncr do they or we need to v " m a ke long prayers" (Mark 12:40). Short, Hezekiah's Great Passover. This lesson brings us face to face with the heart of the Gospel. Blood is the very > f jundation of the Passover Festival. Heze- klah brought the people back to first prin- t ciples; to the theme of their redemption. The Bible is bound with a scarlet thread. T h at which is woven into the wa rp and woof of its very life is the red blood which flowed on Jewish altars. We are told t h at they kept t h e ' f e a st seven days with great glad- ness. Birst there was cleansing awdy of % the filth of idolatry, then there was conse- cration. This is God's uniform Order: There was great joy in Jerusalem, and well there might have been. We need such a revival" in our own midst tcday. We need to get back to the fundamentals. We need to mag- nify the Gospel of blood. There are those Pith and Pi
to the point, simple.
(1) The
gladness;
They felt "like singing all the time. sins were washed away." How different such holy joy from the sensual pleasures of the pagan orgies! Great contrast be- tween the pleasures of sin (Heb. 11:25) and " t he Joy of the Lord" (Rom. 4:17). They had so good a time t h at they could not ad- journ the meeting, but kept it up another week. (8) These Were the feast of unleav- ened oi-ead. heaven is, in Scripture, al- ways, the symbol of corruption. The Pass- over, then the unleavened bread, and its cemmuniorh Propitiation, purification, par- ticipation. III. T HE GIVING (31:1-21). Grace makes gladness, gladness grace (giving). The gifts were to make p e r ma- nent support for the restored s'ervioo. ot.—T.C.H. who tell us they do not care for the Gospel of the shambles; the more shame to those who can lightly speak of t h at which cost Him so much to give. Wa s not the Passover the beginning of months, the opening of a new era, when the people were brought into a new relationship with Jehovah? The people were not all t h at they should have been; neither a re we, but God was looking into the hearts and saw t h at the Intent of their hearts was to honor Him and by reason of the blood of the sacrifice which they offered, which atoned for their sins, which satisfied the demands of God's justice, which purified and cleansed them in His sight, He accepted them, and thank God..He now accepts in the Beloved, whose blood cleanses us from all sin. Their
Lesson for June 18, 1911
T HE PASSING OF A KINGDOM. Lesson XII.—2 Kgs. 17:1-18.
king is Hoshea, i. e., "Savef" but there is no Je(hovah) to it, and hence there was no Saviour; no salvation. It was a cry to gods in whom there was no help; to E g y pt which was a broken staff (Isa. 30:1-5; 36:6; 2 Kgs. 17:4). Let all outcries for help begin, and end too, with "Je"(sus). (a) Between Jehu (our last study) and Hoshea have reigned Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zacharia, Shallum, Menahem, Pekaiah, Pekah. See how even kings rise and: fall and pass atoay, and how little t he glory of this world counts
I. ISRAEL'S LAST KING. (1) Always distinguish between "Israel," the ten-trjhp division, and "Israel" the un- divided'¿eprenant people which shall rise again aijti never pass (Dan. 2:44). (2) The true' lirael's "last king" is the everlasting King ( T er. 10:10). His name is. Jehoshua, i. e., (Grk.) Jesus, "Je(hovah)save," this last
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