Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-12-27

LESSON 1.-The limo of the Judges
(Judg. ii, IL, 1G Golden Text, .Judg.
H. 16, "Tho Lord raised up judges, which
delivered them" Tho people of Israel
were raised up by the Lord that they
might be unto Him peculiar people for
| His own possession; that He might through
them make Himself known to others for
their benefit We cannot emphasize this
too much. nor say it too often. To this
end they were to be completely separate
from all other nations unto the Lord alone.
| The sin of .Iudg. i and ii is that of fellow
ship with idolatrous peoples and conse-
! quent oppression, but when they cried UNI
! to the Lord He raised them up Judges and
the Lord was with the judge and delivered
them iii, 49,
LESSON 1.-The Triumph of Gideon
(Judg. vii, 13 23) Golden Text, Ps. xvii,
| 3, Though an host should cncamp against
me, my heart shall not fear" Gideon is
II good sample of the Judges; he delivered
Israel from the Midianitcs and the land
had rest 40 years in his days (chaptcr viii,
! PSI. Gideon was nothing in himself but
| the Lord was with him. The Spirit of
! the Lord came upon him. and his strength
| was that the Lord had called him and sent
! him (chaptcr vi. -, II, IT, 34D 1t is not
men and women of strength who are need
ed for the Lord work, but such as are
filed with the Spirit.
LESSON III-Ruth's Choice (Ruth i, IL
22). Golden Text, Ruth i, III, "Thy pco-
pie shall be my people and thy God my
God. - All good Judges, prophets, priests
and kings were typica. of Him who is the
only Drlivcrcr, the King of Kings, and
now in the book of Ruth the principal
person is not Ruth, but the mighty man
,.f ,1el. a
Ruth CLEANED, the kinsman rcdccmer
whose wife Ruth became, and because of
whom her name appears in Math. i, ). Let
us, with the same purpose of heart that
Ruth had, clcave unto Him and wait pa
tientlv till the morning.
LESSON IN.-The Child Samuel Il Sam
iii, 1-l0. Golden Text, l SaI,. iii, 8.
Speak, Lord, for thy servant N.arcth"
! Old Eli was not walking with God as he
should have done, and 50 the Lord raised
J up Samuel to judge His people Samuel
was given To Hannah in answer to PRAYER,
and from the lips of Hannah we have the
name Messiah for the first time in Scrip
ture (chaptrr H. 100 II. c. Trumbull says
/ on this lesson that even child may have
il place in Gud's house, an ear for God :
/ call. Il mind for Gods service and IA mes
! sage at Gods bidding.
/ LESSON N.-Samuel the Judge Il Sam.
vii, 5-l3). Golden Text, l sam. vii -.
| "Hithcrto hath the Lord helped us ON
/ the return of the ark to Israel from the
land of the Phili-tincS, Samuel cXhults the
/ people to turn To the Lord with all their
hearts and serve Him only In answer to
samuel prayer the Lord gave u very
manifest answer Of dclivcrncc from tho
Philistincs, and they came no more against
Israel all the days Of Samuel (vcrSe 49,.
for all his days he walked before the Dcu.
| pie in the fear of the Lord (chaptcr Xii
,, 81
LESSON NI.-Saul Chosen King q Sam.
Y, 17-2O. Golden Text, Ps Xcvii, +: "Thc
Lord rrigncth. Let the earth rejoice" Is
racl WAS chosen that they might be unlike
all other nat ions in that the Lord Himself
was their King. dwelling in their midst in
the building specially prepared for Him.
and this desire to have IL king like all other
nations was IL virtual rejection of Jehovah
as their king (chapter viii, 90 They pre-
fcrrcd to walk by sight rather than by
faith. and weary of God and His ways.
The sin of many today is that they do not
care To he the Lords own possession. but
prefer To he like other people
| LESSON Nll-Saul Rejected Il sam XIV,
lO-23). Golden Text, sam. Ky, %, "To
obey Is better than sacrifice God gave
them Il king who lie knew would please
the people, fine man to look upon. "A
choice man and head and shoulders above
the people (chaptcr tx y and had he been
a. fair To God a. NE was L. the people it
had been well for him and for them. too.
bat lac proves di>obcdiout to God i'm order
To please the people Nerse 24), and yet pro
feS~e- loyalty To cod.
LESSON NllI-The Woes of Intcmper.