January, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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u n io r KING’S BUSINESS . . . B y M a r t h a S. H ooker
great teachers there will answer these questions for you.” And so, as the years went by, He prob ably looked forward to the many things He would see and know when He made the longed-for visit to the temple. When did the people know it was time to go ? In the fields, when the first heads of barley were formed, the people knew that the time had come. One springtime, a lit tle Lad must have eagerly watched from seed-growing time until the barley heads began to form. At last, the time came! Mary and Joseph and the others were off on that long-awaited trip. For one little Lad, the wish of many years was being realized. Sometimes the people went in groups, to meet together in the evening as they rest ed overnight. Then, after several days of traveling, they would draw near the great and beautiful city. Those who had friends in the city went to them, while the others pitched their tents on the grassy hillside. At sunrise of the first morning of the great feast, a Lad, with Joseph and Mary, was waiting for the beautiful bronze gates to be swung open by the white robed ser vants of the temple. At last the hour ar rived, the signal was given, twenty silver trumpets sounded, the gates swung quietly open, and the praises began. How beauti ful and wonderful it all was, far beyond anything we can imagine today! At last the Child was in the presence of the great teachers. The time had come to ward which He had looked so long. Quick ly the days slipped by. And then some thing happened. As Mary and Joseph came together with the different groups on the first night of their homeward jour ney, their little Lad was nowhere to be found. The next day they returned to Jerusalem, and on the third day, when they reached the temple, they found Him there with the great teachers, both asking and answering questions. “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and an swers.” How glad Mary was when she saw Him 1 She said, “Son . . . thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” And He answered something that meant this, “Didn’t you know that I would be about the things of my Father?” These are the first recorded words of the Lord. The Bible says He returned with His parents to Nazareth, and, as always, was obedient to them. In that happy little home so far away, we can imagine a little Lad often going apart by Himself to the top of a hill back of the little village, and look ing off in the distance toward the hills of Judaea, recalling the visit to the beauti ful temple, and saying, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” New Things God’s Word speaks of many new things. Read the following verses and make a list of all the new things spoken o f : 1 John 2:7, 8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Revelation 21:1, 2; Hebrews 10:20; Ezekiel 18:31; Colossians 3 :9,10; Revelation 3 :12; Lamentations 3 :22, 23; Psalm 40:3.
The Unguarded Gate B y B eatrice S p ie s
“That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him" (2 Tim. 1:12). As we face the new year with its uncertainties and p ro b l em s and darkening shadows, we rejoice that our hope and trust is in a liv ing Lord who changeth not. We are confident of this, that He who has so faith fully led in the past will continue to lead, upholding us with His strong right arm, and encouraging us with His blessed presence and His words of comfort: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
story is told that once upon a time, in a far-away country, there lived a prince who desired to have a castle all his own. He chose a beautiful site on the side of a hill. From here he had a wonderful view of all the country round about. Workmen were chosen, and soon the work of building the castle was in progress. In those days, people often had bitter enemies, so to insure safety, the prince had a thick wall built all around his castle, and beyond that a deep trench was dug. But since he must have a way to reach the outside world, and his friends must have a way to reach him, five gates were made in the strong wall. These gates could be lowered across the trench, making bridges. A brave guard was placed at each gate.
M artha S. H ooker
T he V isit to the Temple B y M rs . A n n a L. D e n n is
•y j r cross the ocean, in a land far away, # ’ll a little town nestles among the 7— green hills of Palestine. Many years ago, when the Lord Jesus was here upon earth, there were low, flat-roofed houses then, as now, and boys and girls played in the streets of this quiet, little village. In that long-ago time, the hills were green with velvety grass and beautiful with many bright-colored flowers which grew along the road that led up to the quiet and restful village, which lies half-way up the side of the hill. Don’t you think this must have been a beautiful place in which to live? Our Heavenly Father thought so, for this is where our Lord Jesus lived as a Lad, with Mary and Joseph. This was the little vil lage of Nazareth. When the Lord Jesus was a very little Child, He must have learned about many things from His mother, Mary. Perhaps as they sat together on the quiet hillside and heard the songs of the birds or en joyed the beauty of the flowers, Mary may have told Him of the music of the beauti ful temple at Jerusalem, which far excelled the songs of the lovely birds in spring time. As the Lord Jesus grew older, He would no doubt visit the carpenter shop where Joseph may have told Him of the beautiful woods—of the cedar wood and others which were used in this wonderful tem ple at Jerusalem. At such times, too, the Child may have asked, “When may I go to the temple in Jerusalem and hear the music and see the beautiful things there?” And Joseph may have replied, “Son, when you are twelve years old, you may go along with us to the feast.” How eagerly the Boy must have waited for the years to pass, and for the time to come when He might go with Mary and Joseph and all the other people who trav eled from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the great feast of the Passover! When the Lord Jesus was nine years of age, He must have gone daily to the syna gogue, there to be taught the “precious knowledge of the law,” that He might be ■ready to meet the great teachers when He went to the temple in Jerusalem. He may have asked some questions that were hard to answer, and the rabbis may have said, “When you go to Jerusalem, the
“ F ive G ates W ere M ade in th e S trong W all / ’
When the castle was finally complete, the prince took possession of it. He was very happy in his beautiful, new home, and he felt safe and secure there, too. Of course, there were enemies round about who longed to enter the castle and capture the prince, but because the gates were guarded, no entrance could be made. All went well with the prince, until one night an ememy stole stealthily about the castle, and found one gate unguarded. Quickly he gave a signal to his followers, and in another moment, the foes were in the castle. There, in the prince’s own castle, they took him captive. God’s Word says that these wonderful bodies of ours are temples, or we may call them castles. When a person accepts the Lord Jesus as Saviour, his body becomes a temple in which the Lord Jesus dwells. “What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:19). How won derful that He should choose to live in these bodies of ours I Our temples, like the prince’s castle, have five gates. There is the Gate of Hearing, the Gate of Smell ing, the Gate of Seeing, the Gate of Feel ing, and the Gate of Tasting—five gates through which contact is made with the outside world. As the prince had enemies in the long ago, so there is an enemy of the soul, strong and terrible. His name is Satan, and God’s Word says that he goes about as a “roaring lion . . . seeking whom he may devour.” How important it is that each gate of our temples be guarded by a strong guard 1
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