The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1878-05-02
The sunday school.
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Juut.HH III

ArtachadrtEzAr, tie the mom correct
spelIlug q NebaehAiBszau. the great.
est kisg of Babylon, and great coz.
guoFor sad Pharaoh Hophra. King Of
EGYPT. wh0 came 70 the throne about
So i. & and feigasd nineteen yeAfs.
Ihis vas TIC Fhafash who helped Zed.
eAiaA against AebuohAdrezEaT, bot
sithoBt any success, As the Egyptian
army retired without eaecting any
valuable purpose leh. xvii 5 $;
Esck xvi N 49, No Pharaoh i
subsequently, mentioned ia The Scrip.
laIes and long since the prophecy in
kack. AK 10. began to be fal6lled ;
There shall be 20 more a priaee Of the
land 81 Egypt Hopbra was conquer
"a and ssrangled by Amasis. who from
common soldier became king Of
Egypt and that usurper made law
which would be beneficial 10 our day,
That every man u his subjects should
yearly give an account 70 the public
magistrates. Of the manner 10 which he
supported himself.
Prophets Jeremiah. in Jerusalem /;
aud Daniel and Ezekiel 10 Babylon
Ezekiel was amoug The cap,iyes by the
fiycr Chetar 10 Babylon lie war a
priest and the son Of Buzz, and receiv-
ei BIS call 10 the fifth year Of King
Jeb0iakim's captivity tEzek i; l-3g
aud Il c. 500; aud bis mission extend
ca over twenty-five years. lie was
married (oh. xiv Isl aud bad a
house 10 Babylon (ch. viii ~ aud is
said to have been murdered in Baby Ion
by some Jewish prince whom be con
yicted Of idolatry. and buried on the
banks Of the Euphratos.
Zcdekiah, the twentieth aud last
king Of Judah, and the youngest son Of
the good King Josiah, began to reign
Al the age Of twenty one, and reigned
eleven years, from b c. 500 to 5sS.
His original name was Mattaniab,
which the king Of Babylon changed to
Zedekiab q Kings xiv; H. The
ancient sovereigns gave new names to
their purchased and tributary servants
Gen. xii as Dan i;6, y; and those
persons were sometimes allowed to &C.
lect for themselves their new names,
After the death Of Josiah a success
sion Of wicked kings seduced the peo-
pie Of Judah farther and farther from
God, until their land and city were
given over TO utter destruction; aud by
that severe measure he sought to cure
them OF idolatry, and to convince them
Of the worlhlessness OF merely out.
ward and heartless worship. An an
alysis Of the lesson gives us
The sin and rebellion Of the king
u o.;
The seige and fall of the city 90;
The kings dreadful fate (S-1l)
Zedekiah, as other wicked kings be.
fore him, did that which was evil in
the eyes Of the Lord; and with him
joined his servants and subjects, in
contempt Of Gods reproois by his
prophet jeremiah (ch. xvii: ~.
They also violated their pledge to re-
lease their servants, as they were com
handed in Ex. xxi: 2, for which they
were visited with the sword, pestilence
and famine (oh. xxxiv; l2-lT. He
was very weak and wicked king
aud how sad for Judah and Jerusalem,
and what proof of Gods displeasure,
that another 80 bad a man should reign
on the throne Of David Through the
anger Of the Lord that came to pass ".
-, and the consummation of Judah s
ruin was FASTENED by the kings viola
ton OF the oath Of subsection and allie
glance which the King Of Babylon ex-
acted from him at the time Of his acces'
sion, or soon after IT, 10 that pledge
be proved treaeherous by allying him.
self with the Egyptians in vain hope
Of obtaining Biz independence Of Baby.
lou, Sec Ezek, xvii; is 90
Ills wickedness was according to all
which Jehoiachin had done; and that
man, vain, seliindulgent, extortionate,
and unjust to his subjects, and also
forgetiul Of God and ia sympathy with
idols, every way answered to the pic.
ture which the prophet gave Of him,
and meriled the death foretold
Kedekiah, so lacking in moral princi.
pie aud strength Of purpose, was car.
risd away by the bad current Of affairs,
aaQ from : OhrUu. x1GYli ~, auu Eek
viii : Is, il appears that toward The
close Of bis reign various rites Of idola.
try were introduced within the pre-
cincts Of the temple
The siege and fall Of the city Il
was 10 the ninth year Of Zedekiah, 10
the tenth monlh, Tebeth Esther il. l6)
answering to our January, and on the
tenth day Of the month, the siege Of
Jerusalem was begun. That was the
gloomy day for Judah tEzek xiv 3
II. IA, 2l)i and not until the ninth
DAY Of the fourth month u the eleventh
year, the month Tamuz, answering TO