The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1893-01-19
the SUNDAY scnool..

Tint y passed Int We nsAv<AA Sesn1 tAs bea
sf God HEX l:k
TInl.--zeshsriaA began - prsphssy In Ns.
vcnbsr. D. G. p2o, ths month following eur lass
lesson. between the second and third prophecies
Of Haggai (Haggai Sc aad 10; zesh i:l). The
Dext series Of visions. 70 which our lesson 10
dag belongs, were seen In the night. snd spoken
in the morning Of the twenty-fourh day q ths
fore in March. 3. G. Sic. just ave months after
the people began AAew THAR wsrk n Ne tsmpls
CHaygei i:1k; Zech l:7D. tt
PI.ACn-SerusaienA
PRoPHm.-Haggai wos seateunpeeasy with
Zeehariah They prophesied In the Same
place. as The sssns tna, and with ths saas OBJ
jeat .,' ts4
PI.Acn n BnIn HsroBr.--Ths histerical
setting sf zechariah's prophecies is found In
Ezra. ehaps. 3 aad Z The nrss prophecy Of
ZeshayiAh belongs Ssswssa vers aad 10 Of
BagRN q; and sha Series ef visionN 10 which
this and tho following lesson belong. were sooa
and spoken tust tive nosths afssr ~ sasss II
Hagcn's prophecy.
zrtuAkIAn f.ths LsrA ssnsmbsrs7 wa&
the son Il Bsrachish and grandson sf I&aN
who was one of tho hcads Of tho twelve ooursos
Of priests iNsh. n:A7>. end whose ssoosssor
zeehariah became (Neh. 1919. He was there
fore priest ~ well a. = prophet, the head Of
enc Of the DAvidis ssurseA sf prissts Hs was
probably bora IN Babylen, and went - Jorv.
salem when cutie youns. with xerubbenel and
Joshua He began 70 prophecy about tvs
months after HasyA txesh Ill; Esrs 81; s:il:
Hsggai i:D, in the second year OF Darius Hys.
taspes, and continued 70 prophesy for tive
years T:i). He had the same general object ~
Hnggsi " encourage and urge tho jews to re.
build the temple. Tho Jews, We are told, "pros.
pered through tho prophesyin9" (EEra sac;
and IN about four years the temple was finished.
TnH SECTION or HISTORY belonging 70 this
lesson includes xeohAriah, chaps Is, Ezra.
chaps and q and . review Of the prophecies
Of Hsggai
LESSON NOTES.
TheC,rcemstdaces. The cxiles had re-
turned, remnant Of them. only so, ,o0e
strong. to rebuild the nation. With
great rejoicings they had laid the
foundations of the temple. But through
the fierce opposition of their neighbors.
the Ssmaritans, they had ceased to
build, and for fifteen years nothing
moro was done Then Haggai, In Sep
temb.r b. c. $50, az with trumpet
call, summoned the people in the name
Of Jehovah to arouse themselves and
build and finish the house of the Lord.
Their fine houses and their wretched
crops, from fields dried up with drought
and blasted with nildew, reechoed the
strain. They entered upon the work
with fresh enthusiasm. Haggai again
brings them a message from the Lord
of cheer and promise, after they had
worked month. The next month
another prophet, Zechariah Q:1), ap-
poals to them to repent and return to
God A month later and Hsgeai brings
two more Divine messages.
But there was much to discourage
their hearts and dsmpen their srdor.
Picture 'the scene on which the prophet
and his hearers gazed, in it's contrast,
with the past: the House. which had
once been exceeding m&gnifcsl, of
fame and Of glory throughout al coun-
tries Il Chron. ss:5l. now slowly riAing
above its foundations. the poor and fec
BILE representative Of its former celf;
the city, which had once been 'beauti-
full for situation, the joy of the whole
earth,' now such a Nehemiah some
sevcnty-fve years after sAw il amongst
tho gigantic masses of ruin and rub
bish; the agate, outside Of which
lay the piles Of the sweepings and on
scourlngs of the streets; the inasses of
fallen masonry, extending, As it would
seem, all along the western and north
ern side: the blackened gaps left where
the gates had been destroyed by fire."
The Eight Nstons Of ZecA1ySah. II
was in these circumstances of depres-
sion that God one night sent to Zecha-
rish q series Of eight visions--living
pictures before his mind. It was on the
night of the twenty-fourth of the elev-
enth month, some time in March, B. G.
$40. The next morning the prophet re-
hearses these visions to the people, to
encourage them with great and precious
promises.
RsdempsisS from Sin. Chap. 3;vers. lie.
In order to the fulfillment Of tho prom
ises formerly given and by the prophets
Of old,as Isaiah and Ezekiel, there must
first be = moral and spiritual reforma-
ton. The more serious among tho
citizens of Judah apparently feared
that their guilt was too great for the
Almighty to pardon, and that this was
the cause.of tlieir misadventures since
their return" Indeed, Haggai had told
them so and Isaiah. Their disasters
and dangers had made them feel their
guilt. They looked in the face of the
fcDelllOnS Oh the ndClOn
in all it's past history. as well as upon
their present sin. Could such great
sinners be restored to Gods fayor. and
be made the instruments of building up
this glorious kingdom of Gcd? The
vision of this chapter is the answer.
PRAcrICAE SUGGESTIONS.
l. 1t is good for prophets to work two
by two, as Jesus sent forth His disciples
to preach the Gospel.
2. There is great power in object
lessons and in symbols. to set forth and
impress the truth. The Bible and the
world arc full OF them.
5. Every great cause has its periods
OF discouragernent, its hills of difficulty,
its gardens of Gethsemane, it's long
nights of prayer
4. Gods cure for encouragement
comes from the voices of His messen-
gers, from promises Of help. from
visions of triumph and success of the
cause to which we are devot;ng our