The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1891-06-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
AN INTERESTING AND INST2UC..
TIVE LESSON.
Reflections of an Elevating Character
Wholesome Food for Thought - study
ing the scriptural Lesson Inteiligentiy
and Profitably.

Inc lesson Tor SunuOy, June II, may 10
| found In Kings 25 lie.
INTRODUCTORY.
A sad lesson, In many respects. and yet
| very profitable one, IL read Alright The
truth is always wholesome. This Scripture
reveals To us certain facts regarding our
relations with the great Head OF the uni
! verse, facts that ought t. be received and
| pondered. 1. God is king, not man. p God
means what he says. 3. Gods messages are
| To be needed. 4. Sin means destruction and
| death. .. Man Is his own worst enemy. d.
| God is mans truest friend Z. The man
that speaks Gods truth, however search
| ing, speaks kindness. S. Heavens laws OF
righteousness are for earth's good; they
are the barrier To evil .. Be sure your sin
will find you out. TO- The wicked also
serve the righteous will OF heaven. These
ami many other such truths may be learned
from perusal OF this dark chapter in Is
rael's career. Why not learn from the eX
| perience OF the race? "And thine ears shall
hear word behind thee. saying, This is
the way, walk ye in IL. when ye turn TO the
right hand and when ye turn To the left"
| IL is the voice OF eXperience--heed It,
WHAT THE LESSON SAYS.
In the ninth year. 5SS to $50 Il. c., al
though the Babylonan captivity of seventy
years counts from the first expulsion, 606 Il.
&. (Jer %: Ole and 20: TO- )-Nebuchad-
nezzar, son OF Naborolassar the destroyer
| OF Nineveh and founder OF Babylonia.
Reigned at Babylon nearly half century.
one OF the great men of history
against. 10 settle down about. hence TO
invest Revision, encamped, 1t is this
same wCrd that is rendered "encampethn at
! Ps. "a: ("the angel OF the Lord en-
campeth") .-Forts, or towers Original
ly, watch-t-wers, from the verb TO look
out
Besegcd. The word literally means t.
come upon or enter, hence TO attack. The
Douay suggests, probably in amplification
/ Of hn ht lint md h.a.ia rad
! Unto the eleventh year BEGINNING IA year
and IA half before this time.
Ninth day of the fourth month Hebrew,
ninth Of the month. The rest being sup
! piled, probably from Jer 50: q. The DOuay
is graphic. "The ninth day OF the month
and,n etc, like our "high noon, and the
hour Is come Prevailed. In the sense
of conquering. They were undone. The
famine was too stronE for them
Broken up. Literally To cleave. So rem
dercd ut tx. Il: Is (divide). A very lumin-
Gus translation i that at sam. %; rs.
Where the three mighty men broke through
the ranks of the phlistines. Here the
enemy broke through the walls. made IA
breach. See Douay. between two walls.
| Better, between the two walls. The word
is in the dual meaning, more nearly, pair
Of walls.--Tho kings garden, or, park;
probably an extensive tract on the south
side OF the city. This is the word used at
Gen >: OF the garden OF Eden.--The
plain, Hebrew, arabah A wilderness dis
| trict, mentioned at Josh. 3: IL.
Pursued. The word means 10 chase or
drive.--OvertoOk, or seized. ALL his
army. All his force. The word "army"
means literally strength - Scattered.
Rendered dispersed at Zeph. 3: 10.
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES
Pitched against. So are We at times In
this world, beleagured on all sides by the
rmies of the aliens, and at n loss; and il is
! fair question whether we are not, in large
part, responsible for this pitiful state OF
things. Jerusalem had brought upon her
self here the poverty OF resources that shut
her up like an eagle i'm a cage. 1t was hers
t. go abroad. il was hers TO be on the ag-
gresslve. but here She is penned in and dcs-
tined for destruction. But was il not her
own sin that came upon her? Were not
these that pitched so fercely and fatally
against her the children of her own dis
trust? Was il not her own unfaith that
builded those forts against her around
about? Have a care "The angel OF the
Lord encampeth around about them that
fear him. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, be-
! cause he trusteth in thee" "The Lore Is
nigh unto all them that call upon him, 60
all that call upon him in truth.n Mind the
emphasis.
And the city was broken up. The city OF
God, No, the city OF God despisers. This
was not that Jerusalem that Jehovah
planted. the city of the great King. Read
! Jeremiah's terrible portrayal and see. The
city had become a place of idolatry and
| impiety. Now there was room for an
! other such city-certainly not on Zion $ hill.
| There was room there for city devoted 10
the one God and TO his holiness; but the
world, under God, had no use for such an
| mpiOus city as Jerusalem had become, so
the heather who are Gods sword and
scourge. rose up and wiped IL out. There
are sober lessons here. There is room on
American soil for God respecting, Sab
! bath keeping people There is no place
here for another piece OF corrupting Eu-
! ropeansm To depart from God and his
truth as nation is 20 forsake the regulat-
ing principle about which we were estab-
lished from the first. II will mean the for
feiting of our right 20 live, the signing of
| our own death warrant. Heaven has no
need for another Sodom.
And they gave good judgment upon him.
1t was Gods judgment too. Zedekiah had
not only sinned against the nation. he had
sinned against Jehovah also. The assizes
of earth are often made the bar for the
vindication OF heavens claims and the
heather, as Gods ordained executioners.
perform, albeit unwittngly, the will of hi yh
heaven. After all, judgment Is not an eX-
ternal, arbitrary thing, something foisted
unto the affairs OF men because OF some far
away but angry potentate. IL inheres, IL
belongs to the very deed itself, as fruit be-
like the thorn on thistle and brier. growing
out of the nature and character of the
plant. And the time is coming when all
men shall see IL so. In the great final tri-
bunal there shall be no one be he the VIII
est, To say nay to GCd'S decisions in right
eousness. Man shall virtually give judy
ment and righteous Judgment upon him
self.
Vinedressers and husbandmen. Safe en-
ployment. doubtless, but o. what a degra-
dalton OF the high vocation OF Israel. No
temple, no city on the hills, just n group ~
toilers for this earths necessities. Alas for
the church of Christ when 10 shall approach
such "A pass, That eloquent warning Of the
honored President Of the Missionary Union
at Cincinnati, was 10 else than timely? Is
tho church OF Jesus Christ fulfilling its
lordly mission 10 this earth? We're we sim
ply left here to get living and expend IL
on ourselves2 God pity the people OF ZION
when they lose the zeal OF the Lords house
and the mind which was in Christ Jesus.
and are content TO grovel here beloS rs
mere vinedressers and husbandmen. "Go
we into all the world" said the Master.
sand In / am with yOu.u Co 4 he wit IA