Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1905-10-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR OCTOBER 22.
subjecti Rebuilding the Temple, Ezra
ILL.,, 10 to iv., 5-Golden Text, 1. Cor.
ILL.,, 17-Memory Verses, 10. l1-Con.
inentary on the Days Lesson.

Subject, Rebuilding the Temple, Ezra
ill.,, 10 to iv., 5-Golden Text, 1. Cor.
Ill.,, 17-Memory Verses, 10. i1-Con.
mentary on the Days Lesson.
I, The foundation of the temple laid
Tvs, 1O-13) 10. 1.-THE builders" Jes-
hua and Zerubbabel as managers, with
the people as workmen. The people
did all they could during the winter i'll
making preparations for building the
temple, for great labor must have been
required in clearing the ground for the
foundation as well as in providing ma
terials. In little more than year
after they left Babylon, Zcrubbabel
and Joshua having appointed the
priests and the Levites to attend to
their courses, laid the foundation.
The Joshua of verse 8 is not the high
prizes of verse 9, but another-a Levite
mentioned in chapter 2:40. priests
in their apparel" The elegant and
beautiful official robes used by the
priests in their celebrations, especially
the blue and scarlet and purple robes
with gold and gems of the high priests
and others, described in Exodus 80.
Priesthood was an ordinance peculiar
TO Israel. "With trumpets." For sum-
moning assemblies and joyful an
nouncements. "The Levites.' God
chose the descendants of Levi for the
service of His tabernacle and temple.
In the wilderness they encamped
around it as guardians. and III moving
conveyed it from place to place.
II. "They sang together by course
Sang alternately, or responsively; one
party saying, 1.-The Lord is good and
the other responding. For His mercy
endureth forever "All the people
shouted" Those who had known
only the misery of having no temple
at all praised the Lord with shouts of
JOY when they saw the foundation
laid, for to them this was as life from
the dead" 12. "Many--ancicnt men
wept." To them it was the day of
small things Czech. 4:1O). The new
house, in comparison with the old one,
was "as nothing" (Hag. 2:3,. The
temple would not be overlaid with
gold. as Solomon's. nor surrounded
with such magnificent buildings. The
ark. the tables, the mercy seat were
lost. No visible glory would appear in
the holy place. There were no an
swers by Trim and Thummim. There
was no fire from heaven. Is. could
not discern" This mixture Of sorrow
and ioy is q representation of this
world; some are bathing in rivers OF
iOy. while others are drowned in
floods of tears.
III. A tempting offer Tvs. ], y. l.
."The adyersaries." These were the
Samaritans and different nations with
which the kings of Assyria had peo-
pled the land of Israel when they had
carried the original inhabitants away
into captivity. See verse g. Doubt
less they We're enrious OF the laVor
shown them by Cyrus, the king OF
Persia. The worst enemies Judah ana
Benjamin had were those that sald
they were Jews and were not (keV.
80.
.. "Let us build with you This
people no doubt were desirous OF par
taking of the privileges granted to the
Jews by the king of Persia llearlnS
that the temple was being Dullt they
were aware that it would y" Il latal
blow to their superstition, and there
fore they set themselves TO oppoS" IT,
But as they had not power to DO IL
openly and by force they endeavored
to do it secretly and by cunning. Ihey
offered their services, that by this they
might pry into their counSels, hhd
some matter of accusation against
them, and thereby retard the work
while they pretended to further 1t:
..We seek your God" The religion OF
the Samaritans was a mixture OF IDOL
atry, superstition and ignorance; far
worse at this time than it was when
orr Lord Himself declared that they
knew not what they worshiped. Inc
Samaritans were neither 1sraellteS by
birth, nor yet true proslytes. since
the days of Esar-haddon." King OF
Assyria and Babylon. He is the only
Assyrian king who reigned at Babylon.
History tells us that he took a large
number of people from Palestine to
dwell in Babylon, and placed large
number of Babylonians in Palestine In
their place. Those Assyrian settlers
intermarried with the remnant OF
Jsroelite women, and their descend
ants. mongrel race, went under the
name of Samaritans.
III. A positive reply ". y. 3. "1e
have nothing to do with us we can
not acknowledge you as worshlpers OF
the true God and cannot participate
with you in anything that relates 10
His worship. No compromise meas.
ures could be considered. Zerubbabel
md his associates saw that to enter
into an alliance with these semi-heath-
on would mean the breaking down or
tho Jewish institutions and relapse
into idolatry. "We--will build" Thus
was great peril averted. They
saved a nation, for the time. at any
rate, from the danger of having thelf
religion corrupted and adulterated by
intermixture with a form of belief ana
nroctice which was altogether of an
inferior type.
". The work delayed Tvs. 4, %. 4.
"Weakened the hands" Thls oppose
tion is supposed to have begun soon
after the foundation was laid. during
the remainder of the reign of Cyrus,
about five years. they did not openly
oppose work he had commanded, but
discouraged the people and perhaps in
tercepted their materials for building.
and by bribing counselors 10 oppose
their application to the ministers OF
CYRUS for supplies or protection tney
greatly obstructed the design. Thls
would be more easily done, as it IS
probable that Daniel died about this
time dan. 6:25-2S).
:, Until the reign Of Darius This
king began to reign B. c. 522. Permls-
sion was given to complete the Dulio-
ing in B. G. $40.