The Yale expositor., 1905-07-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON V, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 80.


Text, Prov. xiv, "a - Commentary
Prepared by Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.
Copyright 1905, by American Press Association
We return from our two studies con-
corning Him who is and was the abso-
lutely perfect one, the Messiah of Is
rael, the King of kings, the Great Head
of the church, to those who were eX-
pected TO represent Him, sitting on
His throne q Chron. xxx, 23). Among
the kings of the ten tribes there was
not one who did right i'm the sight of
the Lord, but all walked in the steps
of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
made Israel 10 sin. Among the kings
of judah there were some who did
right in the sight Of the Lord and mag
nitied His name, such as Hezekiah, the
father Of Manasseh, and others. In
some respects there was no king like
Hezekiah, while in other respects there
was none like Josiah Oh Kings xviii,
8; xiii, 90 in the matter of trusting
and turning to the Lord. But as these
two exceeded in Righteousness, though
far from perfect, tie son Of Hezebidh
exceeded in wickedness until near the
close of his reign, when he turned to
the Lord and was forgiven.
An illustration Of lie will album
dainty pardon" his fathers name,
Hezekiah, signifies the might or
strength of Jehovah, while his moth
er's name, Hephzibah, signifies my de-
light is in her" and points us onward
to the future glory of Israel IS ma
ton or Kings xxi, 1; Isa. xii, Il.
Manasseh signifies forgetting" and
this man certainly did forget God and
His commandments and turned from
Him with all his heart. Joseph called
his firstborn Manasseh, "for God" said
he, hath made me forget all my toil'
Gen. Xii 81. That was joyful and
lawful forgetfulness, but that of Ma
nasseh, the king, was desperately wick
ed and rebellious.
The two statements "evil in the sight
of the Lord" and fright in the sight of
the Lord cover the life of every one,
for every life is lived in the sight Of
the Lord and it is either good or evil
in His sight. The all important ques-
ton is, What is my life in the sight of
the LordY His word to Abraham is a
good word for each of us, walk be-
fore Me and be thou perfect or sincere
Gen. xvii, l, margin). One of the
Lords first words to Israel as q nation
was, Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me" Gen Xxx, 81. They were to
be unlike all other people in this mat
ter of their worship Of the one only
living and true God.
Any turning to idols or conformity
to the ways of other nations was Il di-
rect forsaking of and rebellion against
God. yet this they constantly did from
the days Of Solomon onward, with the
few exceptions Of the good kings al
ready referred to. How pitiful the
cries: al have nourished and brought
up children, and they have rebelled
against Me- MY people have for
saken Ne, the fountain Of living wa
ters;" 80 Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself, but in Ne is thine help Qsa.
l. o Jer. ii, IS; Hos. xiii, 81.
AS we read the record of Manasseh's
sins, his affairs in the very house Of
the Lord and in the two courts of the
house of the Lord, substituting idols
for God Himself and making the in
habitants of Jerusalem to do worse
than the heather and refusing to
hearken when God spoke to him, we
can only wonder at the long suffering
OF God and are reminded OF their story
recorded in Ps. evil, Neh. tx and else
where. 1t was God dethroned and Sa-
tan enthroned.
The contamination of their rebellion
is recorded in these words: "They
Knocked the messengers of God and de-
spised His words and misused His
prophets until the wrath of the Lord
arose against His people, till there was
no remedy" q Chron. XxXvi, 10. These
words mo remedy" were used by God
to open the eyes OF noted Jew Of our
day to see the only remedy, even Je-
sus of Nazareth, Israers Messiah, the
only remedy for sin and sinners, for
apart from Him there Is none. The
last word in the Old Testament as we
have IT, "a curse" was the means Of
leading another Jew to read the sequel
to such a book and to find in it Him
who has redeemed us from the curse Of
the law, having been made a curse for
us (Gal. ill, 49,.
How gracious it was on the part of
God, whom Manasseh had so rebelled
against and defied, not to take him
away, as lie did Koran and his COM
panions or Ananias and Sapphira, but
to permit him to be taken captive by
the king of Assyria and carried in fet-
tiers to Babylon, that he might have
time to think and be led TO repent!
When he was in afIliction he besought
the Lord his God and humbled himself
greatly and prayed, and the Lord
heard him and saved him and restored
him to Jerusalem and to his kingdom
oversees IL and 49,. What an illustration
of the truth God is not willing that
any should perish" III Pet ill, -, and
how wonderfully this is set forth in
Rev. tx, where we read of hell being
let loose on earth If perchance men,