The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-06-28
THE SUNDAY SCH00
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENT
FOR JULY 2:

1. Sennacherib's defiant MESSAGE
Tvs. 9-19). 8. After this" After re
ceiving the present from Hezekiah
Kings IS: 14-16). "Sennacher'b." Eli
son and'succeSsor Of Sargon. He say
he built towers around Jerusalem and
shut Hezekiah in like a Gagged bird.
"Assyria." This was a great and pow
erful country lying on the Tfgris. LII
boundaries differed greatly at different
periods. Send his servants See !
Kings Is: II. Tartan, or general; thu
rabsaris, the chief of the eunichs; and
the ~rab-shakeh, the chief cup-bearefI
these being the offices which thefA
names imply, with a great host. Non
or these are proper names. TartaI|
was the ordinary title Of an AssyrialL
general. They were to demand the UNI
conditional surrender Of the king and
capital. ITO jerusalem" S%ennacheri1
was encamped before Lachish, thirty
miles southwest of Jerusalem, seated
in state. From this proud position hd
sent q large detachment to jerusalem
They took up their position on the
north OF the city, OF a spot long after
wards known as the camp of the AsSy1
rians. Hezekiah feared to appear; OF
perhaps, careful OF his dignity, he sent
officers of his court, who were neargI
the rank Of those sent. In his plaed
came Eliakim. now chief minister5
Shebna, now in the Office Of secretarya
and Joah, the royal historian. .!All his
power" All his army.
10. "Whereon do We trust?' Liter4
ally, "Whereon are ye trusting and Sit
ting in restraint?" judah was in all
lance with Egypt, Assyria's arch-en5
envy; and reference Is here made to-
this. II. Doth not Hezekiah;" He'd
ekiah is abused most Wiley and oyerd
whelmed with scorn and insult. IN
"Eyorship before II altar" Rab-sllai|
kah was not familiar with the JEWISH
law, and Ii, naturally $, posed ;hnt|
the destruction of so many aItarkI
would incur, the displeasure OF the
gods; but the reason lie gave to provc|
that Judah was weak was thc'very rel-|
son why God was with them to inakeI
them strong. 1915. Know We not.,y|
etc. This boast was natural. The ASH
syrlans had had sn uninterrupted catl
reer Of success and might well believed
that their gods were more powerful
than those Of the nations around thenl{
They had utterly over-run and DEF
stroyed the kindred tribes Of Gafflee4
Gilead and Samaria. They had fcfi
years exercised lordship over Judea}
and the very king who now defie61
them had purchased his safety by thel
payment Of a heavy fine. 16. Against
tae Lord" Hezekiah treated this
blasphemous speech as he ought. Hea
refers the matter to jehovah.
II. Wrote also letters" A little
later another insulting message in the
form of "a letter. (R. ", margin) was
sent. The king took the letter and at
once went again to the house Of the
Lord. He spread out the letter before
the Lord and poured out his soul In
earnest prayer e Kings 10: 14-9: 1sas
81: 1920. Is. "a loud voice. An al:
fusion is here made to what occurred
e Kings IS: 2S-35) before Sennacheribl
wrote his letter. Jews speech" The
Hebrew language. The Syrian Ian
guage was not understood by the com
mon people. ITO alright them" 1t
was a day Of great suspense. Already
there was a that the king OF
Egypt was on his way to the rescue.
Senacherib had heard the rumor. and
it was this which caused him to put
forth every effort to intimidate Jerusa-
lem into submission. 10. "Spake
against" etc. They saw no difference
between the Jehovah Of the Jews and
the gods of the other nations.
II. Hezekiah and Isaiah call on the
Lord ". 2O. 20. Prayed" King
Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on
sackcloth and went to the house OF
God, while his messengers sought out
the prophet Isaiah to know what to do.
The prayer expressed the deepest need,
the highest faith, the utmost earnest
ness, the wisest plea, the highest mo-
live. 1t was united prayer, q prayer
meeting. Isaiah joined with Hezekiah-
But they not only prayed, they worked.
The king built walls and towers, and
prepared arms and shields and encour-
aged the people to be strong and cour-
ageous, and not to be afraid Of the AS
syrian king, "for there be more with US
than with him" (Ys. 6, y.
III. The Lord destroys the Assy-
rians ". 21.
81. The word angel means "a mes
senger," lone sent" and may be ap-
piled to any messenger sent from God,
whoever or. whatever that may be.
Thus in Psa. 1O4: 4 the winds are said
to be His angels or messengers. The
use of the word "angel" here does not
determine the manner in which the de-
Struction vas accomplished. It may,
have been q storm, a pestilence or
food. 1t is generally understood to
have been the simeon. "Cut off," In
one night Gods messenger smote 1885,
900 men e Kings 10: 35). This gives
some idea of the immense size Of Sem
nacherib's army. HE returned" The
king and q few others were preserved.
Own land" Nineveh. when he
was Gomez Just how long q time
elapsed between this calamity and Sen
nacherib's death we do not know, but
1t was probably about twenty years.
He records other campaigns, but he
never again came to Palestine. His
god" Nisroch. "Slew him." "Adram-
melech and Sharezer his sons smote
him with the sword; and they es~
caped' e Kings 10: 81.
Nv. Hezekian is exalted Tvs. p, 23).
These verses tell US that God not only
saved His people from the hands Of
%Sennacherib, but from all others and
guided them on every side" Many
presents were brought to Hezekiah,
and he was exalted in the sight Of all.
Wooden-Legged Hen as Teacher. :
A wooden-legged hen proudly struts