Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-08-26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON TX. THIRD QUARTER. INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, AUGUST az

Comments by VIM. X. Tishsr-~subjeet;
Returning From Captivity. Ezra II ILL
Golden Text: The Lord nash Done Great
Things For Us, Psa. 1866 3.
In his "Suggestions to Teachers" for
this lesson. Peloubet says:
I'VE now come to the great event
which has been the focus Of All the
previous lessons OF this quarter. What
was then prophecy Is now becoming
history. what was then hope is now
beginning to be realized. But our
lesson to-day and those Tor the reuain-
der OF the Quarter are only the begin
ming. and g reading in detail, Oh the
long period concentrated By the proph-
cts into one glorious picture. as we
l1ak ait landscape which II takes
hours or days Ia traverse; as We speak
Of the chaSnS falling from three million
slaves all the stroke al q pen. although
e takes long years to realize the fact.
.Iset It's study tAc whele period, not
merely the few verses selected as q
sis Ie as study. TIA period II lss re-
latlens to the past and to The future
as en- epoch 81 the history Of 5od
kin9d8m Ell earth Lot us realize it,
meaning. aad 5hsa we cen best learn
e lessons IL te4eses for oar own
tne
laeasa FIRST return from exile was
aEaef Is e. 1856
Yme. fhe tilne covered by sha
ho0ks cf Ezfa ana Nehemiah Il lIlsie
iaa9e than eensrs II q 5a6-tss
Places kshvi0a aud Jerusalem d1e
lame q Israel new begins to he called
Judea. and tie people Judeans, short
ened to Jews
Ezra was s. Jewish scribe, d Levite.
and descendent 81 Aaron and Of That
high priest flilkisb. who found the
Book ~ the Law in the temple in the
days OF Josiah lie was born about
b. G. 1876" tRawlinsonl According
TO Jewish tradition, he was the founder
of the Great Synagogue, out OF which
the latter Sanhedrim grew; was the
collector of the books Of the Bible,
which he edited and revised; the author
Of chron, Ezra. and Nehemiah, aud
the author Of Synagogue The latter
part of his life was spent chiefly at
Jerusalem. He was famous for his
knowledge of the law and for his zeal
for its observance"
Cyrus captured Babylon b. G. 53S.
and "the first years refers either to
this victory, after which it took at
least a year to make preparations for
return. "or it refers to his first year
Of taking personal possession of Baby
lon after his other conquests, and the
death of the Darius in Dan. 5:31." Prof.
w. ]. Reecher says: He was prob
ably not a worshipper of one God, for
his Inscriptions show that he was APP
parentiy only a political religionist.
and ready apparently to honor any
god that had priesthood and a fol-
lowing powerful enough to make it
worth while.
The proclamation" which the king
made was an official document, and il
given more fully in Chapter 6. 1t was
written so that it might become mat
ter of record.
While Bible students no doubt are
right in their declaration that this
was in sympathy with the usual course
pursued by Cyrus, sight must not be
lost of the fact that Cyrus did not do
this because 1t came natural to him,
but because the Lord charged him to
do it,
3. Who is there among you of all
his people? his God be with him, and
let him go up to Jerusalem, which Is
in Judah, and build the house of the
Lord God of Israel, Che is the Cod,
which is in Jerusalem"
This was to be a 'free-will' move
ment; those who wanted to return were
to volunteer.
4. And whatsoever remaineth In
any place where he sojourneth. let the
men of his place help him with silver.
and with gold, and with goods. and
with beasts, besides the free-w will offer
ing for the house of God that is in
Jerusalem"
whatsoever remaineth" is rendered
whatsoever is left" in the revised ver-
sion. Various reasons are advanced
to explain why all did not return; 1T
is suggested that some had inter-mar-
ried, others were involved in business.
and some did not wish to undergo the
hardships of return; these were to be
helped by his neighbors. Prof Beech
er says Authority is given to raise
funds for two purposes; a free-will
fund for the temple itself and emf
grant-aid funds for the benefit of those
who may need them
The return described in to-days les
son was under Zerubbabel, prince of
the royal line of David, called the
Tirshatha, or Pasha 2:63), and under
Joshua, the hereditary high priest
$3.50. These were among the chief
of the fathers and the priests. (Pe-
loubet).
z. also Cyrus the king brought
forth the vessels Of the house OF the
Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had
brought forth out of Jerusalem. and
had put them in the house of his gods"
Some one has said that Nebuchadnez-
Ear was unconsciously preserving
the sacred vessels Of Israel in safe
and inviolable stronghold. till the
day when Jehovah would bring about
their restoration to his people"
8. Even those did Cyrus king of
Persia bring forth by the hand OF
Mithfsdath the treasurer, and number
ed them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince
of Judah
BY the hand OF Mithredath" as ex-
planned as meaning given by or ded-
ieated 70 Mithra, the Snn-god. He
had these treasures in his keeping.
Sheshbazzar is fire-worshinner The