Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-03-29
REVIEW OFTHEQUARTER
LESSON XIII, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MARCH 20.

fzation of the Two Sections Despite the
Labors of Elijah, Elisha and Others.
The quarter just completed and the next
tpgether cover one of the saddest passages
IA history. Borrowing a term from pro
fame history; it might be called the Ode
dine and Fall" Of the divinely established
nation. Every gracious promise to Israel
had been coupled with a condition, ex-
pressed or clearly implied Again and
again had the people been warned; again
and again had they disregarded the warn
ing, violated the laws against idolatry and
entangled themselves with neighboring
nations, until their measure of iniquity
- complete and the judgment came.
Nor convenience it is customary to divide
~the history Of the kingdom into three
stages. Samuel may be said to have organ.
ked the nation, but with so poor an instru
ment as Saul he could not organize the
kingdom. That was the work of David,
xbo was, in the broadest sense, a man of
war. He brought the national spirit to its
highest development. He repealed all the
attacks of his neighbors and compelled
fhem to respect Israel To his son and
Successor he left a united people, whom no
} other nation dared to attack and a fair
Geld for the arts Of peace Solomon brought
Che kingdom to its highest point Of glory.
Education, agriculture and commerce were
brought TO a 1ourishing condition. This
was the golden age of Israel The fame OF
Solomon filled the earth. He is still the
theme of thousand legends among the
nations Of southern Asia, and the Jews
through all the twenty-nine centuries
-, L. I.vv L i
l pride and sadness to the glory of Solomon
The third stage-the four centuries of al
lost continuous decay and decentralization
began with Rehoboam, though the seeds
Of decay were thickly sown before For
some reasons not well understood there
had long been division in feeling, the
tribe of Judah and some fractions of other
tribes standing together, and the rest of
the nation occasionally breaking away
Again and again during the life of David
did this spirit produce dangerous or bloody
results, nor did David succeed in uniting
the tribes till the heir OF Saul, Lshbosheth,
bad been assassinated. Twice during that
reign there were bloody instructions. 1t
Is but reasonable to conclude that the men
OF Judah were greatly favored at the court
Of Solomon, and that the jealousy Of other
tribes smoldered all through the forty
years of his glorious reign.
Nevertheless the kingdom left by Solo
mon extended northeast 70 the Euphrates
and south as far as the Red sea His death
was the signal for the old jealousy to re-
avive, and the folly OF Rehoboam completed
the division. There were thenceforth two
kingdoms and internecne strife, and the
hatred on both sides was 50 intense that
Yen the prophets were affected by it, As
we see in many Of theirutterances. Against
the dark background of war and apostacy
stand out the mighty figures Of Elijah and
Elisha, heroes and patriots, almost mar.
tyrs, yet miraculously sustained and pre-
served, struggling nightly but in vain TO
bring back deluded people to their duty
to God and their native land.
AS the northern kingdom began its
career under JerobOam by systematically
Excluding the Mosaic institutions, so its
downward career was most rapid Idol
airy, despotism and corruption were its
methods; conspiracy, revolt and regiciUe
determined the choice Of rulers through
most of the $50 years Of it's troubled exist
ence. Once Elisha succeeded in restoring
faint spirit Of piety and patriotism, and
under the dynasty of Jehu (who WAS an
ointed by Elisha there was a show of order
during the reigns Of Jehoahaz, Joash, Zero.
Il boam III and Zachariah; but the latter was
4 murdered by Shallum C773 b. c. who was
murdered a month later by Menahem,
4 whose son Pekahiah was slain by Pekah,
: who was in turn assassinated by Hoshea,
1ith whom the kingdom was destroyed
Xmid unspeakable miseries. The ten tribes
were taken into captivity, and so disap-
peared from history. Many fanciful &C
counts Of them have appeared, and many
learned men, whose learning was not tenn
pered with judgment, have maintained ex
travagant theories concerning '+rhe Lost
Tribes" but there is every reason to be
\ heve that they were never reunited. Their
idolatry and neglect Of the Mosaic law
would naturally cause them to be absorbed
and lost as a race in the nations among
whom they settled.
The history Of the other kingdom, com
monty called Judah, is far more important
and interesting; for it continued king
dom till 5Ss b. c., was partially restored
after the captivity, and maintained des-
;erate struggle for nationality for nearly
Eve centuries longer. Nor was the Jewish
community completely broken up and the
people scattered till the reign Of the Ro
man emperor, Hadrian, about 13l A. D.,
When the last instruction under Bar-Cok
heba was suppressed in frightful massa-
cres after which the Jews were forbidden
TO enter Jerusalem under penalty Of death,
and the dispersion was complete. Never
theless it is Judah that has preserved the
national name and blood, and the Jews re-
main people apart among all nations to
tais day.
Ut IL fitting to cite here a few facts as to
thSt portion Of Jewish history between the
close of the Old Testament and opening OF
the New. Cyrus decreed the return Of the
Jews but of the whole dispersion certainly
not more than third, and some think no
More than a fifth, came back, and these
completed the new temple about $40 b. @.
Ezra somewhat later brought colony from
beyond the Euphrates, and Nehemiah
another in As b. G. There was long
:, peace, during which the sacred books were
= completed, and the canon of the Hebrew
Scriptures made up. Nor was this peace
broken till Alexander the Great conquered
the Persian empire 1884 TO s31 b. c..
Palestine remained Greek province,
though under various rulers, for century
and half; all the educated people read
and to some extent spoke Greek, and the
u Scriptures were translated into that