The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-12-21

xnternatioaal Lesson for Dec. -. 1904
The Prince 81 Peace-IsAish 0;s-1.
Especially Arranged from Peloubet's Noteal

xneernaesooAl Lesson for Dee. -. 1904
The Prince Of Psace-IsAiah 0;s-7.
Especially Arranged from Peloubet's NoteAl
CHRISTMAS LESSON
GOLDEN TExL-Of the increase Of his gov.
eminent and peace there shall be no end
Isaiah OF
PLACE IL BIBLE HIsroRy.-Tne Bible his
tory Of the tlrne OF Isaiah is found In Kings,
chaps. 1921. ? Chron.. chaps e6-33
CONTEMPORARY PRoPuETs.-IIosea was con-
temporary In Israel with Isaiah and Nahum
and Micah In Judah Possibly also Joel in
judah. and Amos and Jonah In Israel may
have been SIN living. old racn. IL TIE early
days Of Isaiah
THE TIME or THIS LEssoN.-Probaply In the
time OF Akaz. IL Z. 73s-7s2.
PLAcE--It was delivered IN Jerusalem. tho
pr. pact's home, to judah. the prophets people
LESSON NOTES.
The Need Of Rc!ecmer.-2. THE
people that walked in darkness" The
people Of Judah at this time were
under twofold darkness.
First They were in the darkness Of
outward trouble. See . Kings 1897;
lG:a-s. IL; Chron. es:5-s. Compare
Isa. I'll. .. which Is portion of the
same prophecy as the lesson.) They
were attacked by the king of Israel.
and by the king Of Damascus, and
afterwards by the king Of Assyria-
Great multitudes were carried captive
or were slain. In this deep affiiction
of the Jewish nation her old foes. more
over, rose up against her. Tho
Edomites on the southeast, and the
Philistincs on the southwest. poured
In their troops upon the devoted land,
and added to its calamities. Tho
Philistines took permanent posses
sion Of the territory which they
had overrun, occupying 1t, and
adding IL to their dominion. Ju-
dab was indeed brought low, and
made naked" e Chron. 2s:ls.) Her
country was desolate. her cities were
burned with fire; her land-strangers
devoured 1t In her presence; 1t was des-
olatc, ~ overthrow by strangers"
Qsa- In. The territory that remained
TO her was truly but "a very small
remnant" lisa. l:9). and even this was
threatened.-Rawlin To escape
from these troubles Ahaz appealed TO
Tiglath-Pilczer III. Of Assyria, for help.
lie came, and the result was that Ahaz
had 10 despoil the temple and his pal.
ace Of their treas ures, mutilating the
sacred vessels e Kings 16:s-l6), in order
to pay the required tribute, and still
more, he sacrificed the independence
and honor Of the realm itself. Tig.
on the stone tablets Of Nineveh."
Second. Moral darkness Ahaz In
troduced the worst Of idolatry among
his people. The worship Of Moloch,
the savage god Of Anmon, was now es-
t2blishcd. not only on the heights Of
Olivct, but in the valley Of Hinnom, on
q spot known by the name Of Tophet,
close under the walls Of Jerusalem.
There the brazen statue Of the god was
erected, with the furnace within or at
his feet, into which the children were
thrown {: Kings is). Superstitions APP
peared in every part of the country.
Gold and silver statues glittered
throughout Judea. Soothsayers. spir-
its. ghosts, were consulted" lisa. &c, 8,
20; $40. Stanley.
Thus was true religion almost who'll
~ extinguished under this wicked
king. In vain did Isaiah warn him,
rebuke him. offer him signs, threaten
him, urge him to rely on Jehovah.
He doggedly pursued his own course,
sough. help in every quarter but tho
right one--Rawlinson. dwell in tho
land Of the shadow Of DEATH This
expresses the intensity Of the darkness.
They dwelt where death cast its
shadow over them as . great mountain
hides the light and brings chill and
darkness into the valley. The influence
Of death II felt before death itself
comes ''This darkness Is shadow Of
death because II leads to perdition."
The World in Darkness. The moral
Christ's coming was very low indeed.
II Is hard for us, with even the worst
governed parts of our cities before
us, to realize the state Of things.
Canon Farrar's late story. Darkness
and Dawn and Uhlorn's Conflict OF
and Heathenism." gives
us some idea Of the moral darkness Of
that age. There is still great darkness 70
be removed, "the darkness Of blind
heart, Of crooked and corrupt will.
Many still dwell in ..ic shadow Of
death, in the darkness that does not
see God or goodness or Heaven, in the
darkness that knows no way Of saliva
ton or pure and holy life. a hopeless
painful darkness, full OF dangers and
sins"
A Vision of the Birth Of the Redeem
er.-6. For unto US achild Is born" In
the far distance the prophet foresaw
the child who should be Emmanuel, the
Redeemer of the world. With the cir
Of His birth we are well
II is interesting 10 notice
how this promise gradually dawned
upon the world through the prophets.
a little later came the vision Of the suf-
fering Saviour lisa. 53). Then the town
where he should be born Micah 5. .,
b. c. 70O). A fuller revelation came
Daniel
These prophecies were 80 spread
abroad that ut the time Of Ills coming.
~ we are Informed by Tacitus. by Sue
tonius and by Josephus. there pre-
vailed throughout the entire east an
Intense conviction that ere long a pow
erful monarch would arise In Judca and
gain dominion over the world. Far
rar. Virgil. who lived little before
this, owns Fourth eclcguc) that child
from heaven was looked fol. who should
restore the golden age and take away
Confucius and Zoroast-
rr had in their times similar expccta-
ton
Persistent Effort.