Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-12-21
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
THOUGHTS WORTHY or CALM
REFLECTION.
A Piessants Interesting, and Instruct-
i've Lesson, and Where IL May he
Found-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same.

FOund-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same.
The lesson for Dec. "a Is lisa. 8: 2-7;
its subject is "Christ's Coming Fore
told" For this Christmas lesson we go
back to the time of Isaiah, the great
prophet of judah in the last third Of the
eighth century-300 years before Nal
achi. A brief review of the circum-
stances In which chapters I'll Of Isaiah
were delivered will be necessary. The
time was the reign Of Ahaz of judah
and Pekah Of Israel. In both kingdoms
weak and vacillating policies prevailed.
The power of Assyria, under the great
king Tiglath-Pileser, was nearly at it's
height. That monarch had already, some
years before, invaded northern Israel and
carried captive many of the people of
Galilee and adjacent districts. He now
threatened to return and complete the
ruin of the Hebrew kingdoms as mere
incident in the subjugation of Syria. The
danger was a real, not an imaginary one,
and the people of Judah had good cause
for fear. But, through the prophet
Isaiah, Ahaz and his people were assur-
ed that the threatened destruction would
be averted il they would trust in Jehovah
rather than in earthly helpers. This Is
the burden Of these chapters in Isaiah
the promise Of divine succor for judah,
the timorous and faith
less conduct of Jewish leaders. Ahaz
was hardly influenced mt all by Isaiah's
impressive warnings. Though he refus-
ed the peremptory invitation of the kings
of Israel and Syria to join in triple al
lance for defense against Assyrian in
vasion, he did even more foolhardy
thing when he appealed to Tiglath-Pile-
ser himself. BY paying a ruinous tribute
he succeeded in Shaving off for time the
actual crisis which soon afterwards over
whelmed the northern kingdom fall of
Samaria, 721 Il. c., but only at the cost
of an Assyrian suzerainty which proved
the curse of judah for century.
Explanatory.
THE people that walked in darkness:
surely the language is not too strong. A
nation whose king is both idOlater and
fool must walk in darkness. If in addi-
tion to this misfortune the people them
selves are the prey of false prophets
and self-seeking politicians, and the slaves
of their own passions, the darkness is
well nigh impenetrable. 1t was to such
a nation that Isaiah preached during his
earlier years. Later, under the good
king Hezekiah, things were vastly better,
though the improvement was only tempo
rary. "Have seen n great light: what
was the deliverance which Isaiah prom
ised? Well, in the first instance it was
from the threatened invasion
of Pekah and Rein, kings of Israel and
Syria, who were enraged with judah for
refusing to enter their alliance against
Assyria. That deliverance came speed
ily-only two years or so after the
prophecy was uttered, by the complete
defeat of those two monarchs by AS
syria.
But this and the other promises of the
prophet had broader horizon than most
men of his time could possibly sweep
within their vision. The prophet was
man who spoke for God a man whose
mind was so filed with the thoughts of
God that divine purposes of magnificent
and age-long compass, became percepti-
bic to his keen spiritual vision. He
preached to the present, it is true; but
he could preach wisely to the present be-
cause he looked forward to the future.
Isaiah had foresight of time when his
words in these verses should come true
n a larger sense than could at that time
be realized. How much he knew of the
future we have no means of knowing.
he supposed that the great de-
iverance, the coming OF the great war
-ior who should by his very victories
bring lasting peace, should in fact con-
luer war itself, would be more than 100
years later, we know not. The good day
was coming; that he knew, was sure Of,
md preached with all the conviction of
seer and prophet of righteousness. In
Jesus Christ his words received their
complete ful6llment.
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and
hot increased the joy: the revised ver-
sion, in all probability correct, reads d.
.ectly the opposite-''thou hast increased
heir joy" This is consistent with the
.est of the passage. The change Of
single letter in the Hebrew, by some
cribe's error. would account for the read
ng which is translated by the old YER
sion.
''As in the day of INDIAN: rs the lit
lie banG of Hebrews bad routed the Mid
ante army in the time of Gideon.
This verse also reads quite differently
n the revision: For all the arnor of
he armed man in the tumult, and the
rolled in blood, shall even be
-or burning, for fuel Of fire." That is,
al traces of battle shall be consumed,
destroyed. when the great victor of all
,omes. He will put an end to war, be-
,ause none can resist him.
Unto us child is horn: who is this
hid? Was there any thought in the
prophets mind of leader for the imme
late future to help Judah in its present
Some have thought so. One
is that the child Hezekiah,
who generation later did so much for
Judah, was in his thought. If there was
my such prophecy OF THONGS close at
land, it can have been only incidental
n the prophets thought; for the names
ie uses for the child could certainly not
DC applied in their entirety to Hezekiah
,r any other king that Judah ever had
ave the last king of all, Jesus Christ.
Wonderful Counselor (rather than Won
ierful, Counselor), the mighty God, tho
Father of eternity. the Prince OF peace"
hese are names too great for any one
)ut the Messiah. The Old Testament
prophets seldom spoke of the coming
Messiah in terms that indicated so close
md vital relation to God. More often
he was spoken of as servant, leader,
, branch, etc. But Isaiah prophesies
hat he shall be the actual vice-gerent
md representative of God upon earth.
"Of the increase or his government
md peace there shall be no end:
striking parallel of the familiar thought
II the gospels, that the kingdom of God