The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-02-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.

International lesson FOR T~bruary Ia
1923 = >cheniinh's Prayer Soh
1;s-it.
GOLDEN TExr Lord. be Thou my hrlpcr-
- 1910
fimE-B c an Ninety years after tho rrst
return. and seventy years after our last lesson
PLACE -susa or Shusan GA lily" from she
abundance Of ,ilies IN the nsirhborhooil. TIE
chief az the three capitals o. the Persian empire,
two hundred miles south OF Ecbatanc. III" sum
mer capital in the mountains II was TWO nun
bred and ns,y miles cast OF Babylon. the third
capital ani was situa ed on the Choaspcs
modern kcrshah). d branch OF the Tigris IL
was n tourney AZ one Thousand miles from Jcr-
usalern by way Of Tadmor Here lived Queen
Esther and here Daniel spent part Of HIS timo
dan. s2i
RrtrEs -Art1xcrxes called Longimaus COR
long -handei). began 10 reign DC 800. reisncd
III December n, "a lie was the son 81 xerNes.
the Ahasuerus Of Esther Egypt was con-
quercd and added 10 the kingdom in his reign
PRoPnrr Malachi. tho last OF the Old
Testament proph, Is
INTERVENING HISTORY During the nifty
seven years between chapters and OF Ezra
belongs tie Book Of Esther the Queen t'3).
Then follow the remaining chapters OF Ezra,
with the account Of the second return and great
reformation under Ezra
THE BOOK or NEnEMIAH Il ~ a continue
ton OF the book Of Ezra. and in the earliest
form OF the Jewish canon was joined with IT,
~ The author The main part 81 this book
was doubtless written by Nehemiah, being In
the first person. hut portions are evidently
drawn from the state archives. and part Is writ
ten In the third person, as II b. some other his
torlan 49, Time. The narrative OF this book
extends over about fourteen years-the first
visit OF twelve years. and the second visit q year
or two later
THE sEcrios OF HISTORY includes not only
Nj I.1r ehnn - yi IL I
Esther.
LESSON NOTES.
The Second Return, and Reformation
under Ezra. In order To keep in mind
the continuity of the history. and to
understand the mission of Nehemiah. 1t
is necessary 10 glance at the work OF
Ezra, the scribe. For though we have
been studying his book. yet the history
recorded in that part took place years
before he was born. Fifty-seven years.
! intervening between chapters and Z.
pass away without a record, except the
glimpse which the story Of Esther gives
US. The new community certainly did
/ not prosper rs well rs we should expect;
their religious zeal and patriotism
waned. and the people yielded to the
bad influences around them, instead Of
being the golden candlesticlz on which
the divine flame should burn and shine
into the surrounding darkness.
About Il. G. ass. there was conjunc-
ton of two men, each of whofs. was the
focus of many provilential influences.
These two were like the two carbons of
an electric light, by whose approach
- l,r1.
liant illumination, while each without
the other was Intellectual. First, Ezra. the
scribe, who counted among his ancestors
IIillSiah, the priest CAD, who found the
book of the law in the days of King
Josiah e Chron. 34). and traced his de-
scent back To Aaron. He was man OF
great ability. lie organized the great
council. lie instituted the order OF
Scribes. lie wrote probably the bool
of Chronicles. as well as the book OF
Ezra, and collected the fifth book of th'
Psalms. He probably edited the earlier
books of the Bible. SO as 10 be adapted
| To the changed condition Of the Ian
guage Of the people. Ezra was born
I about b. C. 4o5 tRawlinsonl. II year
after the completion Of the temple III
J was twenty-four or twenty-five years OLE
at the time Of Esther and the terri BILE dc
, cree of Xerxes for the destruction of tn
J Jews. The condition Of affairs both a
BABYLON, where he lived. and in Jrdea
stirred the soul Of Ezra. He was
, thorough student of the Bible. especial
: ly of the law Of Moses t.:6-lo). and Co
!. had filed his heart with n desire Z
q teach the law To the people. Hence h
q proposed TO 90 up to Jerusalem with an
q other body of men, TO renew and re
h form the feeble nation in the Hol
:. Land. lie could not do it under tn
' weak and capricious Xerxes-
q Second. Artaxerxes. Longifnanu'
1.-THE long-arined." the son and .acccssc
of Xcr..cs to the throne Of Persia, cam
TO the throne Of Persia. Il. &. iG5. sage
:. thinks that the letter from the jew
a enemies in Palestine. recorded in Ezr
q 4:--oa, was written to this king. and I'll
Jewish efforts to rebuild the city Of j
IN rusalem were delayed at first ti:23. "A
t. But in his fifth year Egypt. which ha
" pccn tributary 10 the Persian empir
IS rose in a rebellion which was not sui
N ducd for six years. Now .Icrusalcrl ";
IS on the route between Persia and Egyp
IL When well fortified it was as Gibralta
al 1t would be great advantage to Art
5, xerxes TO have powcrfui fortress hcl
e as center Of operations against Egyp
>, or a solid barrier against her advan'
ne into the east The colonis;s Were
8 present too few and poor TO fortify al
ID defend the position.
VI Artaxerxes named Ezra for his pu
y poses. and Ezra needed Artaxcrxcs
.. order to accomplish his work. Accor
y ingly. after two years Of Intellectual a
n tempts to put down the rebellion. U
no king gave Ezra permission to raise vc
~ untecrs for Jerusalem. and made by
n decree the otherwise surprisingly libe
~ al offers and contributions of mono
nc and supplies recorded in Ezra I'll.
~ Even their enemies were compelled
y help them on pain of death. banis
~ ment. or confiscation Of their propcrt
:. Ezra's company numbered 1900 lea
- ing men Ezra s:l-20l: but with Z
~ women and children the number mu
Z, have been 6,C00 or 1000. They carri
- up as frccwill offerings for the temp