Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-10-27

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SGlTNAI%I important eraS in
-SEa} the h / tory of
Israel. 1t intro
duced new force
in the making of the nation. It's in
fiuence was religious and political. In the
words of Dean Stanley. 1T was far more
than mere architectural display. 1t
supplied the framework of the history OF
the Kingdom of Judah AS in the Grecian
tragedies we always see in the back
ground the gate of Mycenae, so in the
story which we are now to traverse we
must always have in view the Temple of
solomon. There Is hardly any reign
Which Is not in some way connected with
lts construction or it's changes In front
OF the great church of the Escurial in
Spalh-in the eyes of Spaniards itself a
hheness OF the Temple-overlookng the
court called from them the Court of the
Kings. are six colossal statues of the
kings of Judah who bore the chief part
in the Temple of Jerusalem: David. the
proposer: Solomon, the founder: Jehosh-
aphat. Hezekiah, Josiah, Manasseh, the
successive purifiers and restorers. The
idea there so impressively craven in stone
runs through the history which We have
henceforward TO consider"
The section includes / Kings and G.
and the parallel account in . Chronicles
2 and 3.
Time. The building of the Temple was
begun on the second day of Zif (bril-
liancy, the month of flowers), correspond
ing to our month of May. in the year l012
b. c., the fourth year of Solomon's reign.
and $50 years after the exodus Il Kings g.:
], 81. $50. 1t was completed in seven and
one-half years, in the eighth month. Bull
(October-November). b. c. 1905. and the
eleventh year of Solomon's reign q
e. ha Of ArfS
13: 20 relieves the difficulty from Paul's
chronology there given.
Place. Jerusalem. The Temple was
built on Mount Moriah, the eastern hill
of Jerusalem G Chron. 3: ID. the place
which when threshing floor David
bought of Araunah in order TO offer sac
riiices for the cessation of the great
plague e Sam "a: i6-25,. Here. too. al
most 900 years before. Abraham in the
great trial of his faith. brought Isaac for
sacrifice Gen. %: p.
Contemporary History. Tyre flourish
ing under King Hiram. The Sabean King
dom of Yemen, the queen of which came
to see Solomon. Commerce extended 10
Europe. Africa and India.
To-day's lesson includes | Kings liz.
as follows:
/. And Hiram king of Tyre" the
rich, commercial and industrial kingdom
on the northwest of Israel Sent his SER
wants unto Solomon" Seemingly with a
message of congratulation on his access
sion. Josephus can't. VIII. BY 81 says so.
Cambridge Bible. Hiram was ever a
lover of David" See Samuel 5: IL;
Chron. IA: 1; %: a. 2 Chron. 2: 3.-Cook.
L. EVIL occurrent." "Occurrent" is the
old English form of the noun for which
we now use occurrence"
s. "Cedar-trees out of Lebanon" (See
Ezekiel 81 S-5.) The cedar is one of the
most majestic trees of the Eastern for
ests. and is found in its greatest perfec-
tion on Mt. Lebanon. 1t grows to the
height of seventy to eighty feet. The
wood is of n red color and bitter taste,
which prevents it's injury by insects. 1t
continues to grow for LOCO years. 1t Is
very durable. There is no such thing as
a rotten cedar. There is a specimen in
the British Museum labeled Cedar OF
Lebanon. from Palace of Nimrod; 5000
years old"
3. Convey them by sea in floats" re-
vsed version. RATS made of the trees
fastened side by side. and formed into
long raft-like structures. somewhat like
those which may be seen often on the
Rhine. sent down from Switzerland Such
floats would keep close to the shore and
be anchored at Notwithstanding Bible.
Unto the place" Joppa e. Chron. 2: 16),
the most convenient port to Jerusalem.
The pay was an annual supply of the pro-
ducts of Palestine, in which Pboenicia
was deficient.
IL. Twenty thousand measures of
wheat" The measure was cor" or
homer, equal to eight bushels. Twenty
measures of pure OIL" This amount is so
insignificant in comparison that it seems
best TO adopt the Greek reading here
agreeing with 9 Chron. 2: 10. and with
Josephus). of 10000 baths. or 1900 cors of
oil.-Ellicott. A bath is six or seven gal
Ions, or one-tenth of a cor.
The Temple was built upon Mt Morlah,
where had been the threshing floor of Or
nan (Auraunah).-2 Sam "a: 1926. This
was probably the spot where Abraham
was 10 offer up Isaac This was the
eastern hill of Jerusalem overlooking the
Kedron and the Mount of Olives. and sep
arated from Mt. Zion by the Tyropoean
Valley. We can hardly be wrong in iden-
tifying the remarkable rock known as the
Sakrah. over which the mosque of Omar
(Kubbet-es- Sakrah is built,-the pierced
rock of the Jerusalem Itinerary,-with
the threshing-tloor of Ornan.-Pulpiit
Commentary over this rock is scupposed
to have been the Holy of Holes, Be-
meath this area are still aqucducts pas
sages and tanks once used for the
proper drainage ana use of the Temple.
The rugged top of Morlah was leveled
with immense labor; its sides. which to
the east and south were precipitous were
faced with wall of stone built up per-
pendicularly from the bottom of the val
ley, so as to appear to those who looked
down of most terrific height-a work of
prodigious skill and labor. as the inn
mense stones were strongly mortised to-
gether and wedged into the rock. Mil
man. The magnificent wall on the east
side. known as the Jews wailng- place,
h.. n
after outlasting the drums and tramp
lngs of hundred trumphs' II remains
TO this day i'm unnjurcd massivtness.
One of the finely beveled stones is $50
feet long and ! feet high, and weighs
more than 100 tons. These vast stones
were hewn from a quarry above the
level of the wall. and lowered by rollers
down an inclined plane