Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1893-02-08
NE SUNDAY scAool
International Lesson for February n
1898 NehemiAh's Prayer - Seh-
1s1-1I.

| FLACA-Sns1- or S1cSan "a lily. - from tie
/ abundance % ilies In tn netrh hcrAoo.t, -
chief OF the three capitals o. ths f,--sa, ,-,r,.-
Two hundred niles south % Echatauc. n. sum
/ Ter capital In tie mountains Il uas two m
/ cred and hfty niles cast Of Babylo-. the third
| capital and vas situated On 80 Cho.s,~s
/ trnodern kcrkhahl. a branch o, the TiErts II
vas journey % one thousand rnres frura Jer~
/ usalera- % Way % Tadrnor. Here lived Once,
Esther. and here Daniel spent part % his time
| Dan s-sl
/ long-ha1decl. began 20 reign BIC s5S: reirrei
/ I'll December n. 81 He was The son Of xerxeS
he Ahasuerus CT Esther. E-vpt ras con-
9uered and added 70 the kingcoza In his rc.gn
PEoPHEr -Mslaehi. the last OF TIE Old
! Testament prophets
INTERVENING HIsroRr.-Durfr- the n,tr-
| seven years between chapters and : OF Era
belongs the Book OF Esther the Queen (s75l
Then follow the remaining chapters OF Ezra
With The account OF the seoo-d return and rrcat
reformation under Ezra
The BOOK or NEHEMIAH Is Cd = continue
uonof the book OF Ezra, and in tho earliest
form Of the Jewish canon was ycincd with IL
% The author The main part % ms book
was doubtless written By Nehemiah. being IN
the urst person. but portions arc evidently
drawn from The state archives. and part IL writ
ten In The third person. as II By some Other his
torlan 90 Tine The narrative OF this book
extends over about fourteen years-the first
visit % twelve years, and the second visit year
or two later
THE SECTION OF History iuclades not oniv
Neh l, but Ezra chaps 40. with glance ~
Esther
LESSON NOTES
TRs Second Return, and Reformation
Under Ezra. In order to keep in mind
the continuity Of the history. and 20
understand the mission Of Nehemiah. IL
IS necessary TO 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 :.
pass away without a record. except the
glimpse which the story Of Esther gives
US The new community certainly did
not prosper as well as we should expect;
their religious zeal and patriotism
waned, and the people yielded 10 the
bad influences around them, instead Of
being the golden candlesticll on which
the divine flame should burn and shine
into the surrounding darkness
About B. C. ass, there was q coniunc-
ton Of two men, each Of whom was the
focus Of many providential influences.
These two were like the two carbons of
an electric light, by whose approach
the electric currents can produce a bril-.
liant illumination, while each without
the other was Intellectual. First, Ezra, the
scribe, who counted among his ancestors
Hilkiah, the priest (7:D, who found the
book of the law in the days of King
Josiah e Chron. 34), and traced his de-
scent back 70 Aaron. He was a man of
great ability. He organized the great
council He instituted the order of
Scribes. He wrote probably the book
of Chronicles, as well as the book of
Ezra, and collected the fifth book of the
Psalms. He probably edited the earlier
books of the Bible, so as 70 be adapted
to the changed condition of the Ian
guage Of the people. Ezra was born
about 3. c. 49S (Rawlinson). II years
after the completion of the temple. He
was twcnty-four or twenty-five years old
at the time of Esther and the terrible de
cree of Aerxes for the destruction of the
Jews. The condition of affairs both at
Babylon, where he lived, and in Judea,
stirred the soul of Ezra. He was a
thorough student of the Bible, especial
" of the law of Moses C7:G-lO). and God
had filed his heart with a desire to
teach the law 10 the people Hence he
proposed TO go up to Jerusalem with an
other body of men, TO renew and re-
form the feeble nation in the HOLY
Land. He could not do it under the
weak and capricious Xerxes
Second, Artaxerxes, Longimanus,
"the long-armed," the son and successor
of Xcrxcs TO the throne of Persia, came
TO the throne of Persia, b. c. 465. Sayce
thinks that the letter from the Jews
enemies in Palestine, recorded in Ezra
4:5-22. was written 20 this king, and the
Jewish efforts TO rebuild the city Of Je-
rusalem were delayed at first C4:o3. oD.
But in his fifth year Egypt. which had
ocen tributary 20 the Persian empire.
rose in a rebellion which was not sub
dued for six years. Now Jerusalem was
on the route between Persia and Egypt.
When well fortified it was as Gibraltar.
1t would be great advantage to Arta-
xerNcs 70 have a powerful fortress here
as center OF operations against Egypt,
or solid barrier against her advance
into the east. The colonists were at
present too few and poor 20 fortify and
defend the position.
Artaxerxcs named Ezra for his pur-
poses. and Ezra needed Artaxerxes in
ingly, after two years OF Intellectual at
tempts 10 put down the rebellion, the
king gave Ezra permission 70 raise vol
untcers for Jerusalem, and made by a
decree the otherwise surprisingly liber-
al offers and contributions OF money
AID supplies recorded in Ezra titles.
Even their enemies were compelled TO
help them on pain Of death Danish
mont, or confscation Of their property.
Ezra's company numbered 500 lead
ing men fEzra s:1-2Ol; but with the
women and children the number must
have been G,0OO or 1000 They carried
mp rs frecwill offerings for the temple.
from tho king and his mobiles. gold and
silver % the amount Of s3,OO0. 900 ~ the
talents named are the Persian talents
weighing hfty-scven pounds avoirdu-
pois). They started in March ,45s) and
arrived IN July C7:9). after a four
months journey.
FACTS ABOUT THE U. S.
t. a f. a