The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-01-18
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JANUARY %.
Lesson Text: Joshua the High
Priest" Zech. ILL.,, 1-1O-GoId
en- Text: Hebrews iv.,
14-Commentary.


14-Commentary.
BY comparing verses IA and Is with verse
of bag. /. it will be seen that in about
three weeks after his first message the work
was re: umed. Then he had other MESA ges
Tor them in the seventh and ninth months
Of the same year (aag. H., l, II, 20). The
first message came to Zschariah in the
eighth month Of the same year (Zsch. l., II,
and on the night Of the twenty y-fourth day
OF the eleventh month he receives series Of
seven or eight visions which ara recorded in
chapter l.. I, to vi, 15. Our lesson is the
fourth of these visions, the first three teach
ing that the hosts Of heaven act on behalf of
Gods people; that for every destroyer there
is repairer. and that God, having chosen
Jerusalem, will surely perform all His pleas.
ure concerning her.
]. "And he showed me Joshua, the high
priest, standing before the angel Of the
Lord, and satan standing at his right hand
to resist him." A prophet represents Col
to the people, while priest. represents the
people before God. This high priest repre-
sents the nation Of Israel as appearing before
God for blessing, and tbs great adversary
is there also to prevent this blessing Il he
possibly can. suppose that no individual
or nation ever came to God without know.
ing something Of the resistance OF the adver-
sary. s.g.s i.
2. "And the Lord said unto satan: The
Lord reouke thee, o satan; even the Lord
that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is
not this brand plucked out of the freY'
See chapter Il, II; Pa. cxxxii., 13. God had
chosen Israel and Jerusalem, and that set
tied it. Ananias thought that Saul Of Tar
sus was too desperately wicked to expect
anything good from, but Gods 'sGo thy
way, for he Is chosen vessel unto, Me-
settled all that (Acts tx, 15,. God knows
dis instruments before he chooses them,
ana Is prepared to cleanse and qualify for
His service at any cost.
8. snow Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the ange.n
Here is the ground Of. satan's resistance.
Israel could not deny her filthy garments;
no more can we. We must cry out with
Isaiah, "Woe Is me, for am man Of un-
clean lips" Qsa. vi. 81, and with Job, 81 abb
hor myself dob xiii, o., for, s'all our right
eoumesses Jour very best things are as
filthy rags" lisa. Xiv, o.. Every mouth
must be stopped and all tho world plead
guilty" before God fRom. ILL, 19,. E..5,
4 Take away the filthy garments from,
him, And unto him he said, Behold, I
have caused thine iniquity to pass from
thee, and will clothe tnee with change OF.
raiment.n' Thus He will yet remove the In.
iquity OF that land and OF that people in one
day (verse 81. and they shall be all righteous
lisa. X, 2lI. Thus BE, now forgiyes sins
and says to every true penitent who con.
fesses all and hides nothing. ''Son, daughter,
thy sins are forgiven thes' tMath. *, Q, %.
ALI our efforts at goodness are like Adam
and Ewes fig Leaf aprons compared with the
garments OF light which they lost. But the
To-. n,d l. -
and we have only to drop our fig leaf aprons,
cast aside all our own righteoumess and
gladly accept Gods provision, and then sing
lsa. lxi., 10.
s. $50 they set a fair miter upon his
head and clothed him with garments, and
the angel Of the Lord stood BY" Tue miter
was the linen headdress worn by the priest,
the most conspicuous part OF which was the
golden plate or crown, upon which was in
scribed, "Holiness Unto the Lordn Ex.
xviii, 36-S6. In the days Of IsraePs res.
toration ana salvation Jesua their king,
win be "a Priest Upon his Tarone' CHAP.
:ter-yi., 49,, q priest king after the order Of
Malchizedec. The church will reign with
even now by faith in Hum REV. ", 9, 10; L,
81.
6, Z. Sand the angel OF the Lord protested
unto Joshua, saying, Thus saith the Lord Of
Hosts, II thou wilt walk In Ny ways and
il thou wilt keep My charge" Salvation
from beginning to end Is Of the Lord. he
alone Is the author and the fnisher, and we
are the recipients But being plucked from
the burning and cleansed and separated unto
God, Israel is to walk with Him and show
forth His power and glory. So with the be-
lever. He Is saved not simply TO- escape the
wrath OF God and reach heaven atdeath, but
to abide here In mortal body amid conflict
and trial as long as it please the Lord, show
ing forth the life of Jesus in His mortal flesh
III Cor. w.; 10. III. This is to the natural
man impossible; but nhat Christ has done in
a mortal body He can surely do again, and
one of the Christians notices is, "Not
but Christ. VINO ivsth In me" Gal L., 2O.
8. "Hear, now, o Joshua, the high priest,
Behold l will bring forta My servant, The
Branch" While the words or the Book have
to do with the time when the words were
spoken, there is always looking forward TO
come in power and glory for the complete
overthrow of all enemies and the permanent
establishment of His kindom on the earth.
In connection with His name, The Branch, I
hope you will look up chapters vi, IL; lsa.
iy.. 2: Jer, xiii, 5; nxlii., Is. Here BE Is
the servant fully seen in MARKS Gospel; In
Jer. xiii, 5, Re is the King of Matthew q
Gosoel: In Zech. vi, He Is the man OF Lukes
Gospel, while in lisa. iv., 2, He is the beauty
and glory of Johns Gospel. He is alpha and
omega, the altogether lovely one, in whom
dwelleth all the fullness OF the Godhead
bodily. g.. .
laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be
seven eyes" he is the stone OF Israel, De:
spissd by the builders and rejected, and
- - ha. 4 oor,, Ho Ia fha uf0na
cut out without hands who shall break in
pieces all kingdoms and fill the earth with
His glory tGen. xlix., "a; PA xviii, 9; Isa.
vii, IA; xviii, Is, I Pet. IL, 6-S; Math.
11i., AZ: Dan. H., A, 45. The seven eyes
suggests omniscience, as the seven horns and
eyes of Rev. ". g. suggests both omnipo-
tence and omniscience. The engraving sug-
gests the Righteousness Of the law craven by
God upon tables Of stone, and which was
fulfilled in Him and shall be in Israel when
their iniquity shall be taken away
Hosts, shall ye call every man his neigh.
Dor under the vine and under the fig tree"
In Kings iv., 25, this language describes
the peace and prosperity OF the Kingdom
under Solomon. Here and in Mic. w., 4, ie
describes the tranquil prosperity and
millennial blessefiness Of the coming king
dom under a greater man than Solomon, OF
the increase Of whose government ana peace
there shall be no end upon the throne OF
David and upon his kingdom, to order It
and to establish it with judgment and with
Justice, from henceforth even forever. The
seal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this
lisa. ix., n.-Lesson Helper.
Enrants Terrible Indeed.
In the Caucasus Mountains there
are many wild, uncivilized tribes OF