Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1891-05-29
TIE TEMPLE REPAIRED.
LESSON TX, SECOND QUARTER, m
TERNATIONAL SERIES, MAY 81.

Cor' IN, documentary py tne lev ~
NJ. Stoarns.
tCompilcd from Lesson Hnlper Oucrtcrly by per
mission Of II. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel-
phia.l
T. And it came to pass after this that
JoaSh was minded to repair the house of
the Lord"
We now 20 backward in the history to a
period about hundred years earlier than
the last lesson. Joash was tho seventh king
of the two tribes, and began to reign about
n hundred years after tho death Of Solo
mon. Only seven years old when he began
to reign, he reigned forty years Tvs. u.
s. And he gathered together the priests
and the Lcvites."
'io out unto the cities Of Judah, and
gather of all Israel money to repair tho
house OF your God from year 30 year, and
Zee that We hasten tho matter
This would have been sort of compul-
sorry taxation for the house OF God and
wac contrary TO the principle laid down in
Elk. xSv, 2-"Of every man that CIV
eth it willingly with his heat We shall
take my offering" And again in Elk xxxv,
s. Nv hosoever is of a willing heart let
him bring it, an Offering of the Lord"
G. "And the king called for Jehoiada,
the chief, aud said unto him, Why hast
thou not required Of the Levites to bring
in ont of judah and Jerusalem the collec-
tom"
TIE priest and the Invites probably
understood their business better than tho
king did. 1t was not in their commission
to 20 out collecting money, but ii was
commanded that the people should bring
in their offerings according to their ability
| Ocut. xvi, IL, II; Nal. iii, l0l
Z. FOR the sons Of AthalIah, that wicked
woman, had broken up the house OF God"
This was the woman who counst lei her
aon Ahszah the last kng) to do wiok eddy,
and who, after his death, reigned six years
tchap xxi, >, 3, ~ See her miserable end
in chap. xxiii Is. She was the daughter
/ of Ahab xxi, O., and when we reinen Der
that JeHebe was AhaO's wife we cannot
wonder at her conduct and that Of her sons.
And also all the dedicated things of the
house Of the Lord did they b.>tJw upon
BaIiim.'
$. and at TIE kings commandment
they InAiic a chest aud set il without NJ
the gate of the house Of the Lord"
There was a hole in the lid OF this Ghost
and it was set beside the altar on the right
side rs one coneih into the houAe Of the
Lord Oil Kings XII, o.. Things are looking
| better now; this is more lie Gods way
and there viii surely be a blc3sing.
Q. And they made proclamation
through Julgh and 1e"uslle:l, to bring IN
to the Lord tbs collection THAI Moses, the
servant OF God, laid upon Israel ia the
wilderness"
THIS is more fully stated in II Kings XII,
4, 3, and arries r,s back 20 TX. xxx, ll-l6,
where all who were numbered we're 70 give
half shekel ~ an Offering unto the Lord
to mike an atonc,acpt for their souls, the
rich not giving more and The poor not Civ
ing les than half a shekeL
10. Aud nil the princes and all the PEG
pie raioiced and brought in and east into
the chest until they had made an emu
This pleased the Lord TOR God lovet.b a
cheerful giver.' and "if there be frat q
willing mind, IL is accepted according TO
that man hath, and not according to
that lie he1h lrot III Cor TX, !; viii, ~.
II. Thus they did. day by d., and
gathered monay n abundance.
As the chest was filled it was c,al tiel,
counted, pun up in bags and Sc. in its place
again q! Kings, xii, llJ. At the building
o. tie tabernacle N Nose. the money ana
material from tho willing hearted of-rers
came ia So alum dainty that orders had 70
be Issued 70 restrain tho people from b'in (
ing, Tor thGy brought much moe tnan
enough ok. xXxyi- ., =.
70 And she king aud Jehoieda gave II
10 suoh us dia the WORK OF the service oi
the house Of The Lord"
And they lail it out to the car7,euter rs
and builders, and to InasJns and hewers Of
stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone
to repair the breaches of the house of the
Lord Oh Kings xii, II, 12l They did not,
Ike many nowadays, get the work done
first and then look for the money TO pay
for il, but they first saw the wherewithal on
hand and then went forward with the work
II does seem 50 unscriptural TO have debt
upon any building dedicated to God. or to
undertake any work for CfOd without see
ing how u pay for it.
IL. so the work men wrong ht, and the
work was perfected by them"
King priest, people and workmen, ali
laborers together SO now every preacher,
teacher. missionary, evangelist, or the hum
blest scholar who gives q penny to help
send tho gospel 10 others, are all laboNr rs
together in building up the great temple
the church or body OF Christ, which shall
in due time be perfected (Eph. ii. 1929,
Cor iii, 81. A strange thing is written
concerning the overseers OF this work so
whom the money was given % pay the
worknlen, which is also written of others
IN the days Of Josiah-vtz-, that they dealt
so faithfully thai no reckoning was kept
with them on Kings, XII, Is; xxi, ..
And they Set the house OF God in his
state and strengt heped it,
In the margin OF the r " "ffis state" is
"according to the proportion thereof. u
The Spirit had given David the plans for
the temple q Chron- xviii. l2-10). and
they now repaired It according to the de
sign of the Spirit When we by the Spirit
act and speak according to His will we
shall then giorify God.
II And when they had finished 1t they
brought the rest of the money before the
king and Jehoiada,"
Why did they NOT use up all tho money,
or put In a bill for e1tCfLsf Whag fools
they would be IN the eyes of many today
How easy TO say that the work cost more
than they expected But see their faith
fulness. The surplus was made into YES
sells Of gold and silver for the house Of the
Lord. Let the surplus of wealthy Chris
taus DO devoted to sending forth vessels ~
mercy 70 the unsape,1, and what Joy such
faithfuineSs would bring both in heaven
and on esrthl
They offered burnt offerings In the
house Of the Lord continually all the days
of TehOt,lla. "