The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-02-05
AnAe.s covETcusNess.
transitional Sunday -schcol Lessen &
February D, 1iI01.

A0A6S COVe ISOSN6SSs
&nnssnaxIonal Sunday school Lssssn fer
February Q, 1il0s.
4 Especially Arranged from 8. 8. Quarterly.1
tr.RssoN TEXT Kings ef:1-16
( GOLDEN TExT-Take heed, and beware Of
4DCyetousness.-LulSe1 1878.
CENTRAL TRUTH-Selfshness Is the source OF
dnnnumbe-ed evils for ourselves and others
TIME-About d. G. 900. Five or six years
taIter tho last lesson, and four years before the
'neath OF Ahab.
PLAcE-Samaria, the capital. and Jezreel,
fhhe favorite royal residence. twenty-five miles
no the north
RULERs-Ahab, King of 1rseal, B. @. o1s9S8;
fJchoshaphat, Of Judah, B. c. 9i4ss9; Benhadad
IL, OF Syria.
HELPS OVER HARD pLAcEs-i. "After these
things:" the wars described In the previous
chapter 8. 1.-THE Lord forbid IT." Naboth re-
fused, because it was his home, and the home
sDf his father; moreover, IL was contrary to jew
Ssh law to part with 1t, except till the jubilee
year. O4ev. rs 1898. 8. 'She wrote letters in
.Ahab's name:" and therefore he was responsi
ale for what she did, as he gave her permission
my yielding up to her his seal. Sealed them
with his senl in the East all letters and docu-
tmeuts are stamped with SEAL instead Of sign
dng the name as we do. elders and mobiles !" the
popular assembly that tried such cases. (Dcut
lB:i8D. O. proclaim o fast:" as II great danger
tkhreatened the city on account Of some great
fnefore the assembly as prisoner. 10 ''Two
men:~ because the law required two witnesses
$ooforo any one could be executed. (Deut. 17:6).
i'3onsof Behalf" Belial is notsa propep name, but
,neans worthlessness They were worthless.
hnckless fellows. "Blaspheme Gods" had reviled,
3spoken evil Of the God Of Israel "And the
k1ng:" he had probably condemned Ahab's
3Wickedness and idolatry. ''Thot he may die ~
bis sons also were put TO death. q Kings 9:96).
DO that he would have no heirs; and, Is wes
Apommon custom, the property would revert to
tkAo King.
LESSON COMMENTS.
First Step.-The weak King. He was
weak as we'll as wicked. The story
brings out both of these traits Of charac-
feer. Ahab, we are told, wanted the
vineyard Of certain Naboth TO add to
fhis palace-grounds as garden of
therbs." He made fair offer to his
ineighbor, Of purchase or exchange. But
Naboth declined the offer, as he had a
perfect right to do, on the ground that
he did not wish to part with his ances-
ttral lands. So there the whole matter
SHOULD have rested. But babyish Ahao
was SO bitterly disappointed, that he
scame into his ivory palace, threw him
4Bef like spoiled child on his bed, and
tmoped. 1t is pity he could not have
5been spanked soundly, and put on bread
horses and chariots, and palace, and gar
dens, who had no more self-control than
the had, should have been thoroughly
ashamed of himself.
Thousands of such weak people are
etill living. They have set their hearts
dDn something, trifing enough in itself,
fbut when they can not have 1t they
tmope as Ahab did. All that they pos
sess seems now worthless, merely be-
cause this new desire is not gratifed.
The child refuses to play with her old
btOre Of playthings, because she can
mot have the new toy that has filled her
vision. The man becomes. surly, be-
cause he fails to win some distinction
which he had coveted, and frets himself
almost sick on this account. The woman
tands her life soured, because certain
family has passed her by in the sending
sDut of invitations to party. Was Ahab,
lying like baby on his bed, despicable?
Scare these modern weaklings thorough
~ contemplate in their pusillanimous
9p0mplainings.
Second Step.-The wicked Queen.
How utterly wicked she was, the story
SHOWS clearly. Bribery, perjury, in
ftmidation. murder, theft-all these to
here were mere nothtngs, and seemed
r<trifies light as air." She was bound to
have the vineyard, and to be revenged
ON Naboth for daring to decline the offer
4Da his sovereign. lin all this is it just
possible that she justified herself by
70 Ia 10 Oh 30
DrinhP II 30, what an example that
swould be Of the self-perpstuating ma
Euro of sin! So she planned vigorously
and executed relentlessly, carrying out
her will to the bitter end. Her feelings
might we'll have been expressed in the
vords of the unjust Judge: II fear not
4od, neither regard man." But in all
fhis was Ahab guiltless9 Impossible.
NOr he knew well that there was no
honest way Of getting hold Of that vine,
yard. and he knew Just as we'll his wife's
satanic character. So when he let her
go ahead to do what he dared not do
himself he rwas participstor in her
crime. Her guilt was his guilt, because
ho declined to Withstand her. Hislet-
fang her use his seal was an indorse-
sment of any thing she might do. No
fice that this wickedness Of the Queen
svas covered under legal forms. 1t was
= Judicial murder. But it was murder,
none the less.
Alas, that still men should be wicked
enough to sin through the form of the
law. as truly as Jezebel did! One Of the
rrying enormities of our times is just
this: that men use the courts as shields
ID iniquity, and lawyerssoften use their
Pkill to defend criminals and to defraud
honest folk. Many bills that men try to
pass through our Legislatures are pat.
ont swindles, and as devilish in their
way as was Jezebel's plan in her way.
Yes, neither the Jezebels nor the Ahabs
are dead yet.
The wrathful prophet. All this
time God was watching Jezebel, and
marking all that she and Ahab did.
When the time came, he, sent Elijah to
the King, just as Ahab was going to reap
the fruit of his Wife's evil scheme. did