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The Sunday School
FOUNDATION OF THE SECOND
TEMPLE LAID.
i
Ezra 3:1-15. Oct. 22, 1911.
Uoldeii Text: Eater iuto his gates with ,
Thanksgiving, and into his courts with .
praise.
1
In studying this lesson these Scrip
tures snouid be read: Ezra, chapters
4 to 6; Haggai, chapters 1 and 2; Zacha.
riah, Chapters 1 to 8; Psaluis, 84, 87, !
122 to 126, 130. ]
In the passage chosen for the lesson
we have two incidents mentioned. The ,
one is the building of the altar: the
other is the laying the foundation of the '
Temple.
For seventy years the children of
Israel had been in captivity in Babylon,
but in accordance with the prophecy of
Jeremiah (25:12 and 29:10), Cyrus, the
King of Persia, during the first year
of his reign, issued a decree permitting
them to return to Judea and to rebuild
the temple. !
The long journey across the plains
and the deserts must have taken them
five or six months. When they reached
the land from which their fathers and a
few of the oldest of those who returned
had been carried away captives, they
found it desolate and the cities in
ruins. But they did not wait long hefore
they established public worship.
They determined to rebuild the Temple,
which had been entirely destroyed. This
would be a great undertaking. The people
were few in numbers. They were
poor, having just returned from their
captivity. They had their own homes to
build and their farms to cultivate, for
they had probably only been in their
native land for a month or two. But
they felt the need of worshipping God.
It would take some time to build the
Temple. They could not wait for its
completion. During all the time of their
captivity they had not been allowed to
offer any sacrifice to God, for this could
only be done at the Temple. Most of
these people had never seen the smoke
of the burnt offering ascending from the
auar as a sweei-smeiimg savor 10 uou.
So now they all laid aside their own
work and gathered in Jerusalem from
all parts of the land. They went up to
tihe site of Solomon's glorious Temple
now a mass of ruins, and clearing away
the rubbish they discovered the founda.
tion of the altar of burnt offering. Upon
this foundation they again built the
altar of unhewn stones according to
God'B appointment. When the altar had
been built, the offerings were brought,
and thenceforth daily sacrifices were
offered in accordance with the law given
by Moses.
Work was at once begun on the Temple.
They collected money and materials
and employed workmen. But we
read nothing of "begging" for the money
needed, nor or entertainments oeing given
to raise it. It was all the free will
offerings of the people given out of their 1
poverty. "The Lord loveth a cheerful j
giver."
At the beginning of the seventh month 1
of the year (our October) they began
work on the foundations. This was in
connection with the celebration of the
feast of tabernacles. This feast was es.
tablished to commemorate Israel's deliverance
from Egyptian bondage, and
doubtless |t had a new meaning to these
Jews who new celebrated it for the first
time since their deliverance from captivity.
Tn the second month (our May) of the
next year, the foundation, or probably,
as we would now say the corner stone,
was laid with much ceremony and great
rejoicing on the part of most of the
people but some of the older people who
could recall Solomon's Temple, mourned
THE PRESS'S T E R I <!
and wept when they realized that this 1
building could not begin to equal the
glory and the splendor of that Temple
L.at they loved so much. But the rejoicing
of the others was so great that
mourning could not be beard.
We ought to build for God the very
best houses that we can put up. But
f we can build only a log house, or erect
a tent, it would not be right for us to
refuse to do this, because we ennlr! net
build a temple of marble adorned with
silver and gold. If we have done our
best we can worship him as well and as
acceptably in the one as in the other.
But do not let us be satisfied with the
og house, dingy and dirty, when it ought
to be of polished stone made and kept
bright and clean by much labor of love.
Many a time the people of God would
be entirely unwilling to live in such a
bouse as that in which they worship
their God. Make the house of the Lord
handsome, if possible, but certainly
bright, attractive and clean. ,
The Temple builders, like many others,
met with opposition which they
lid not withstand.
The Samaritans were a mixed race,
jeing the descendants of some of people
)f Israel who had been left in the land
)f Samaria when Xebuchadnezzer earned
most of the people to Babylon. These
lad intermarried with the heathen people
who had been sent into the land
)y the Babylonian king to take the place
>f those carried away. Their religion
vas a mixture of the worship of God and
he heathen worship of the Babylonians.
It was said of them (2 Kings 17:32),
'They feared the Lord and served their
>wn gods." These people came to the
fews and asked that they be allowed to
oin with them in the building of the
remple. They were "adversaries of Julah
and Benjamin," and so they did not
nake this offer of help from any good
motives. They either wanted to get pos. 1
session of the Temple and its worship
so that they might make it what they
wanted it to be, or else they wanted to
be In a position to hinder the Jews
From building the Temple, feeling that
this would result in their giving up the
;ffort to re-establish themselves as a
lation. The Samaritans knew that they
)ccupied a part of the country that God
lad given his chosen people, and they
'elt no doubt that the Jews, as soon as
hey were strong enough, would demand
possession of the land and drive them
>ut of it. The Jews would not let the
Samaritans join with them in the build.
ng, and in this they were right. The
tvorship of Gcd should be controlled by
his own people. Then they began to oppose
them in various ways, with the result
that the Jews ceased from their
work, and for many years the Temple
was unfinished. They should have
pressed on regardless of opposition, re
lying upon God to give them the help
they needed.
Many of the builders in God's king,
[lorn today are easily discouraged and
give up in the face of any opposition.
Let us not be disturbed by the enemies
of God whether they come as open enemies
or disguised as friends. Remember
that God is with us, and "if God be
For us, who can be against us?"
Does it pay to do that which will
hln^AkA AlinnVo uritVi foQr fltlH TT1 flVfl
you dumb with terror when at last
ycu stand in the presence of the Judge
of the quick and the dead??Presbyterian
Advance.
The prison dungeon suddenly became
Illumined. God is light, his children are
the children of light, the entrance of his
word giveth light. He hath shined into
our minds.
According to estimates based on collections
of federal corporation tax, net
income of St. Houis corporations in 1910
aggregated $67,500,000.
L N OF t H ? SOUTH
Young People's Societies
LESSONS FROM THINGS.
Topic for Sunday, October 22: Lessons I
Have Learned From Things. Jeremiah,
13:1-10; Matt 22:15-22.
DAILY HEADINGS. 1
V
Monday: Victory of Christ. Matthew *
13: 31-32. 8
Tuesday: Humility. Romans 11:17.18. 1
Wednesday: Barrenness. Mark 11:- 8
12-14; John 15:6. {
Thursday: Fruitfulness. John 15:1.5. s
Friday: Citizenship. Matthew 22:16- 1
21. [
Saturday: Redemption. 1 Corinthians
11:23-26. >
t
Teaching by object lesson is a favorite i
method of the Bible. It was practiced f
by prophets and apostles and the Great ?
Teacher himself. f
The method illustrates the wondrous "
adaptability of the word and the power t
of spir tual truth. There is some line 1
of approach to every soul.
Christ's fondness for the parable was
marked. It was not often that he taught
without a parable. It was because of
this, in part, that the common people
heard him gladly.
The impression made upon the mind
by an object lesson is not easily remov.
2d. What goes in at one ear often goes
out, as we say, at the other. What goes
in at one eye does not go out at the
other.
The ruined girdle, the bitter brook, the
:ree seeking a king, the fleece and the
lew are specimens of Ol'l T.^tament ooiect
lessons. They enforced truth as no
mere statement could have done it.
The flocks, the shepherd, the pearl
seeker, the merchant, the sower, the
iiuubcwiic, iuc v*c\y w ai u bum, iiic uuuu ^
Samaritan, the hidden treasure, the lost ,
coin, the flowers and birds, were among
the familiar objects that our Lord used.
Is it not proof of primitive methods,
or undeveloped civilization, or low grade
of mental training, or immature powers
of thought when a master teacher uses
such methods. The wisest and best and
most scholarly are attracted and profit
by them.
Analogy is one of the most effective
of all methods of teaching. It is ca.
pable of the most profound use in the
p.cfoundest studies and subjects. The
object lesson draws its effectiveness
frcm the power of analogy, the paralleling,
as it were of trruths.
The habit of seeing lessons and illustrations
may be cultivated. This will
be done not so much by a facility in the
stretching of the imagination as by being
in that temper of mind and attitude towards
truth that will incline us to look
for the illustration and proof of It.
The interest that attaches to the meth_ ;
od is not less marked than the effective,
ness. It is the story of life and act'on.
Life is not only the deepest subject of
study men have, but is also the one of .
most aosorDing ana inriinng lnieie*..
It grips the mind and holds the mem ry ,
as nothing else.
The advantage of the object lesson
is that It makes truth as it were selfApplicatory.
The student does not need
to he told the lesson. He sees It for ,
himself and he sees Its fit. A lesson
self-applied Is worth immeasurably
more than one that somebody else must 1
drive In.
The greatest object lesson is the Bible
Itself. It teaches religion and tells of
the schemes of redemption by describing
them as a life. It is all a history
of the redemption purchased for us by
Christ, in its need, in the covenant, in ^
the methods, in the working cut, in the
application, and in the results.
[October 11, 1911
The Prayer Meeting
ANSWERS TO PRAYER.
Wool HfifWii vif 111* Ootnlwir 1.V Anfa
12:5-12.
This is one of the remarkable answers
o prayer recorded in the Scriptures.
3ome of these answers may be described
is extraordinary, or miraculous; others
is ordinary, that is, such as the an.
iwers which believers are constantly reviving
to their petitions. The circum.
itances here emphasize the miraculous
lature of God's response to the petiions
of his people in this case.
Herod, the godless and cruel ruler
vhom the Roman authorities allowed
o call himself a king, found it -to his
nterest, as he conceived, to become
riendly and indulgent toward the Jews,
md to openly persecute the growing
raternity of believers. Accordingly he
put forth his hand to afflict certain of
he church; and he killed James, the
>rother of John with the sword, and be.
:ause he saw it pleased the Jews, he
)roceeded further to take Peter also."
rhis apostle was thrown into prison
mu every precaution was laaen 10 mane
lis imprisonmenet secure and humiliatng.
'i his is an instance of the early persecution
of the church. The martydom of
Stephen had already occurred and Saul
if Tarsus had run his course of breath.
ng out threatening and slaughter
.gainst the disciples of the Lord under
,ne authority of the high priesu Such
acts indicate the inborn antagonism of
.he natural heart to the faith of the gosiel.
It is true today that they who will
ive godly in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution. Men are still persecuted
or righteousness sake and possibly the
reason why there is no more open and
ivowed persecution is, there is propor:ionately
less open and avowed rightousness
than in apostolic times. The
:piiit of the world and that of the Gospel
we esseuuaiiy antagonistic. mey uave
10 common interests and between them
:here is no neutral ground. Our Lord
said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation."
"Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than
bis Lord, if they have persecuted me
they will also persecute you."'
But persecution does not mean defeat.
Many times the light of truth has been
extinguished thereby, oniy to flame
more brightly elsewhere from sparks
borne by the hunted and scattered victims
of persecution. In this case it
was certainly a means of fortifying the
faith of the wavering disciples. Many
of these had assembled at the home of
Mary the mother of John Mark, and
were praying for Peter's deliverance,
as we gather from the statement that
"prayer was made without ceasing of
the Church unto God for him."
It was while this prayer was in progress
that the answer was received.
While Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers, bound with two chains, and the
keepers before the door kept the prison,
Denoiu, mc angei or tne L#ord came upon
him and a light shined into the prison;
and he smote Peter on the side and raised
him up, saying, "Arise up quickly;
and his chains fell off from his hands."
He was instructed to gird himself, bind
on his sandals and cast his garments
about him, and follow the angel, and he
obeyed. They passed the first and second
wards, came to the iron gate which
leadeth into the city, which opened un.
to them of its own accord. They went
out ana passea on through one street
then the angel departed from him. After
this the apostle realized what had
been done and came to the home of Mary
where many were gathered together
praying.
Itk*