The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-08-30
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR SEPTEMBER 3.

NUN. Nrxif., ~3-memory verses, 1871
documentary ON the Days Lesson.
l. zedekiah's character and folly
Tvs. lib. IL. "Zedekiah." He was
one OF the younger sons OF the good Jo.
siah and uncle OF Jehoachin. He was
a weak king, with no strength of char.
acter to do what he knew to be right
Anxious to follow the counsels of .Jere
miah, but without courage to do so. he
became the mere sport of factions, and
at last was brought into ruinous con.
filct with Babylon against his own bet.
fer judgment 12. "Humblcd not him.
self" Although jeremiah repeatedly
entreated Zedekiah TO obey the word
of the Lord, yet the king through the
pride of his heart and for fear of of.
Tending his princes would not listen
to the prophets advice.
IL. "Rebelled." etc This was the
height of folly. Had lie possessed wis.
dom and courage enough to obey the
words of jeremiah and remain true
to his allegiance to Babylon, Jerusalem
might not have been destroyed. MADE
him swear" ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS had
bound Zedekiah by most solemn oath
to keep the peace by fidelity to the
conqueror who had set him on the
throne. In Jer. 27:3 we find messen-
gers from the kings of Edom, Moab,
Ammon. Tyre and Zldon consulting
with Hezekiah. perhaps concerting a
plan to throw off the Babylonian yoke;
and in Ezek, 1715. Zedekiah is repre-.
sented as sending his ambassadors into
Egypt that they might give him horses
and much people. Thus he seems to
have laid broad plans for his rebellion,
and In all this he was encouraged by
the false prophets of his time der. 2S).
III. Gods effort TO save His people
Tvs. II, 15).
H. 'Trangressed very much" Here
we see the vile depths into which Ju.
dab had fallen. All classes were cor.
rupted. Restraint was thrown Off and
the people openly practiced all the
heather denominations, even polluting
the house of the Lord.
10. The Lord-sent to them" God
did everything He wisely could to pre-
vent His people from rushing down to
their own destruction. He laid upon
them several lesser evils as warnings
These We're devastations of the country
from which a few years would suffice
to recover. Then Jerusalem was cap
tured and part of its treasure removed.
but the city was not destroyed, and the
temple stood. Kings We're made cap
tive as warning to coming kings
Prophets We're sent to warn and en-
treat
Ill Judah utterly rejects the Lord
". 16D.
16. "Mocked.' etc. jeremiah was
imprisoned, beaten and threatened
with death; Urljalf was put to death
der. 26:20-23). mo remedy" The ma.
tion had gone beyond all hope. The
body was hopelessly corrupt 1t is
possible to sin too long, to sin away
the day of grace. o sinner. awake.
repent.
~. Jerusalem destroyed Tvs. 17-2D.
II. Therefore" Because of their
great wickeduess. He brought-the
Chaldees." The siege lasted about one
year and six months. The fortifica-
tions were strong. and the defense was
brave and skilful. The thud of the
battering rams shook the walls day and
night; archers made the defense in
creasingly hard by constant showers of
arrows from the high wooden forts;
catapaults of all sizes hurled stones
into the town with force as deadly
as that of modern bullets. and darts
tipped with fire kindled the roofs of
the houses; mines were dug under the
walls, and attempts at escalade by
ladders were renewed at every favor
able opportunity. "Who slew" etc.
The siege was full of horrors. The
city was reduced to the last extremity.
Fearful pictures are presented by Jer-
emiah in his prophecy and in the La
m "a efrtt fvn nP
the besiegers was aided by a severe
famine der. $500. and all the terrible
expedients had been tried to which the
wretched inhabitants of besieged
town are forced to resort in such cases.
Mothers boiled and ate the flesh of
their own infants Uam. 4:10; EZek.
5:1O); ladies in magnificent robes wan
hered about searching the refuse heaps
for morsel Of food Uam. 4:5-1O.
mo compassion" So hideous were
the crueltles practlced by Oriental vic
tors upon their captors that were 1t
not for the most convincing evidence In
sculpture and inscription, where the
perpetrators glory in their deeds, we
should hardly believe it possible for
men to treat their fellow creatures
with such barbarity. When the assail-
ans hclt OuSC lhubtCiS VI tue pldCt
an indlscriminate slaughter appears
to have succeeded, and the city was
generally given over to the flames.
The prisoners were either impaled and
subjected to horrible torments or car
ried away as slaves. "He gave them"
etc. God permitted the Chaldeans to
thus destroy Jerusalem. He might
have done to Nebuchadnezzar's army
what He did to Sennacherib's host.
20. Carried he away" When the
Chaldeans finally entered the city the
Ring and his men of war fled, but they
were pursued and captured. Zede-
kiah's sons were slain before his eyes;
his eyes We're then put out and he was
carried to Babylon in chains. He was
put in prison till the day of his death
der. 52:7-1D. 'yro him and his sons"
There were three kings after Nebu-
chadnezzar before Cyrus established
Persian rule. Eyil-Merodach q Kings
25:2O, Nerigllssar and Nabonidus.
81 "Fultill the word" See Jer. 25:
IL, II; 29:10, Enjoyed her Sabbaths."
See Lev. 26:34, 30, 43. God had COM
manded them to let their land rest
every seventh year. and because they
bad violated this command He now pre-
posed to give their land long Sab
bath, or rest, for seventy years.
Found Eleven Young Foxes.
Josenh Gone who lives in Scott