The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1905-07-26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON v. THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 80.

Prepared by Rev. ID. " StcnrnS.
tCoryrsh, 1928, !,y American Press isSocia;ion.1
We return from ulIr two studies con-
corning Him who IS and was the ahso-
lutcly perfect One the Messiah OF Is
racl. the King OF kings, the Great Head
of the church. to those who were cN-
pcrtcd to represent Him. sitting on
His throne Il Chron. xxx, 81. Anon:
the kings of the ten tribes there WaS
not one who did right in the sight OF
the Lord, bat I'LL w:llScd il the steps
of .lcroDoam, the son OF Ncpat WHO
made Israel 10 sin. Among the kings
Of Judah there were some who did
right III the sight Of the Lord and mag
uiticd His name, such us IIcZcliah, the
father OF AlanaSSch and others. III
some respects there Wa' no king Ike
urxekiah. while iu other respects there
was none like Josiah I'll hinGs Xviii,
): xiii. 21j in the matter OF trusting
and turning to the Lord. But as these
two exceeded in Righteousness. though
far from perfect. the son Of l1czcliiall
exceeded in wickcdncss until near the
close of his reign, when he turned to
the Lord and WAS forgiven.
An illustration Of He will album
dantlv pardon" his fathers name,
uczckiah. signifies the might or
strength of jehovah While his moth
er's name. IcphZibah. signifies my de-
light is in her" and points us onward
TO the future glory Of Israel rs q na-
ton UI Kings xxi. /: 1sa. Xii. ~.
NIanasseh signifies forgetting and
this man certainly did forget God and
Ills commandments and turned from
Him with all his heart. Joseph called
his iirStb0rn Manusseh. for God, said
he, hath made me forget all my tolP'
(Gen. Xii. ~. That was i joyful and
lawful forSctfulEeSs, but that Of Mat
nasseh the king. WAS desperately wick
ed and rebeliouS.
The two statements evil in the sight
Of the Lord" and "riSlt 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 Lorl:" His word to Abraham IS
good word for each Of us, Walk be-
fore Me and be thou perfect or sincere
jGen. Xvii. /. marginl. One Of the
Lords first words to Israel rs 4 nation
was. Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me" (I;X. XX. 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 d.
rect forsakinS 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: Il have nourished and brought
up children. and they have rebelled
against Me-" My people have for
saken Ne, the fountain Of living wa
terS;" 20 Israel. thou hast destroyed
thyself. but in Ne is thine help Usa.
!, .: .Icr. ii. 10; Hos. xiii, 81.
AS VIC read the record Of A1anassehs
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 heathen and refusing to
hearkcn when Goa spoke to him, we
can only wonder at the long suffering
OF God and are reminded Of their story
recorded in ps. evil, Nch. * and else
where. 1t was God dethroned and Sa-
tan enthroned.
The consummation Of their rebellion
is recorded in these words: They
mockcd the messengers Of God ana de-
Spjsed His words and mlsused His
prophets until the wrath Of the Lord
arose against His people, till there was
no remedy" Il Chron. XxXvi, 1G>. These
words mo remedy were used by COO
to open the eyes Of noted Jew Of our
day to see the only remedy. even Je-
sus of Nazareth, ISrael's Messiah, the
ONLY remedy for sin and sinners, Tor
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 book and 20 find in 1t Him
who has redeemed us from the curse OF
the law, having been made i curse Tor
us (G;,l. iii. 49,.
How gracious it was on the part OF
God, whom MunaSseh had so rcbelled
against and detied, not to take hlm
AWAY. as He did Koran and his COM
panons Or AnaniaS ard Sapphira, but
to permit him to be taken captive by
the king of AsSyrla and carried in fet-
ters to Babylon. that he might have
time to think and be led to repent.
When he was in atfliction he bcSought
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
(verscs II and 49,. What an illustration
Of the truth God is not willing that
any should perish" III Pet. iii, y, aud
how wonderfully this is set forth In
Rev. tx, where we read Of hell being
let loose on earth If perchance men,
having had Il taste Of Satan's admins
tration may repent and turn to COD
and escape the lake Of fire prepared for
the devil and his angels.
Hczekiah and HephZibah had doubt
less prayed much and belierinSly for
this boy, and in His own time and way
God answered their prayers. There
are today many wayward and sinful
sons Of godly parents who are the