The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1899-09-21
QUARTERLY REVIEW.
for sefember -, iS30-Goiden
rext, Psalm 3i,7.

priEipe to the period we have been
stutyiig, the period extends over
ubolt 90 years, from the beginning OF
theeyile, b. Z. COS, to the completion OF
thetemple, b. c. SAC, and dedication in
Mach, 5i5.
LACES.-Babylon. the river Che
ba. near Babylon, Jerusalem.
POPEETS.-llosea, jeremiah, Dan
lei Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Isaiah
4O6, belong In effect to the exile, what
evr view we may take of the date Of
thir authorship.
CONNECTION WITH SECULAR
NSTORY.-Their contact with other
ntions made marked impression up
Ci the Jews. The oriental monarchs,
Nbuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and Darius.
IIstaspes, are we'll known in secular
history.
In Italy the Tarquins were reigning
n Rome (6l6-5l0). The rape of Lucre-
ii by SeXtus, son Of Tarquin the
Poud, b. G. $40, five years after the
completion of the temple at Jerusalem,
Id to the expulsion of the kings and
The formation of the republic at Rome.
In Greece, the seven sages tlourished
abut =. c. 500, during the siege and de-
sruction of Jerusalem.
GENERAL REVIEW.
THE PAST.-From small beginnings
tlr kingdom of Judah had been grow
ir to Il kingdom of power in the moral
wrld. But instead of keeping in the
stady flowing stream of Gods will for
thm, they kept turning toward the
raids of disobedience and idolatry.
Nde how much God did to save them
fren the threatened ruin. He warned
2n entreated and encouraged them
10y His prophets. He sent pun
islnents for sin. lie gave pros
petty that His goodness might
lea them to repentance. The wreck of
lsrel was a solemn warning. But in
spit of all, they went on to their own
destruction, as boat in the rapids has
ten over the falls of Niagara.
TIE EMILE DISClrLlNE.-For 20
Yeas the kingdom was a wreck, float
ing on the stream of time, with only
sanly wastes Of hopelessness on every
side But all this time God was disci-
plinng and training them for better
things. The prophets were their teach
crs. The people learned to hate idols,
to appreciate their religious privileges,
to bng for the presence of God. The
warnings were everywhere. Hopes
wer, held out before them. They saw
the need and blessing of new hearts
ard iew lives.
THE FRESH START.-At the end of
20 vars, when they had learned in
som, measure the exile lessons, Gods
providence made return possible
throigh change in the nations. About
5000 eMles returned to Judea. They
slowly built up the city. They insti-
tutel religious services. They began
to build the temple. The beginnings
wese very feeble and small. Amid pow
ert- and opposition they went on till
the temple was again built. Prophets
cane to them and opened visions of
hope. They saw down the ages the
glry that was to come. They saw he
sun rising above the horizon, which
should flood the world with glory.
MONUMENTS.-"Nine-tenths of all
tn, bricks brought from Mesopotama
bar the stamp OF Nebuchadnezzar."-
bishop Walsh.
In the British museum was shown
bronze doorstep, weighing 1900 pounds,
lately brought from the temple of El
Saggil, at Borsippa, near babylon. On
it is an inscription saying that it was
a rotive offering in commemorauon of
Nebuchadnezzar's recovery from sick
ness. This confirms the account in
Daniel of his severe sickness with
kind of insanity. Lenormant also has
directed attention to "a strange hiatus
which appears in the history of Nebu-
chadnezzar, which comedies with the
period of the kings insanity" There
are number of other inscriptions by
NeDucnauneZZar.
A cylinder discovered at the ancient
Ur mentions Belshazzar, the son Of Ma
bmidus, the last king of Babylon. 1--WE
now possess the account given by Cy-
rus himself, of the overthrow of Nabon-
idus, the Babylonian king, and of the
permission to the captives
in Babylonia to return to their homes.
The account Is contained in two docu-
ntnts, written, like most other AS
syrian and Babylonian records, upon
clay, and lately brought from Babylonia
10 England by Mr.. Rassam. One of these
documents is tablet which chronicles
The events of each year in the reign
Of Nabonidus, the lntest Dabylonian
and continues the history
nto the first year Of Cyrus, as king of
Babylon. The other is a cylinder, on |
which Cyrus glorifies himself and his |
son Cambyses, and processes his ad-
herence to the worship of Del-Mero- |
ZACH. the patron god of Babylon
Prof. A. II. Sayce.
The inscription on the rock Of Behis- |
:un, near Bagdad, is by Darius Hyst-
lspes, giving AN account of his reign, in
hree languages. The rock rises 100 |