The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-08-30
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR SEPTEMBER 3.
Subject: The Captivity of Judah, II.
Chron. x1xvI., 11-21 - Golden Text,
Mum. xxxii., 23-Memory Verses, 1874
IN tho navJa r Taaann

!. Zedekiah's character and folly
Tvs. 11-13}. H. "Zedekiah." He was
one OF the younger sons Of the good Jo-
siah and uncle Of JehOlachin. He was
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-
fict with Babylon against his OWL bet
ter judgment. -. "Humbled not him
self" Although jeremiah repeatedly
cntreated 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.
13. "Rebellad," etc. This was the
height of folly. Had he 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" Nebuchadnezzar had
bound Zedekiah by most solemn oath
to keep the peace by fidelity to the
eonqueror who had set him on the
throne. In Jer. 27:3 we find messen-
gers from the kings of Edom, Moab,
Ammon, Tyre and Zidon consulting
with Hezekiah, perhaps cOncerting q
plan to throw off the Babylonian yoke;
and in Ezek. 17:15, 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,
md in all this he was encouraged by
the false prophets of his time Uer. 2S).
II. Gods effort to save His people
Tvs. IA, 15). l
II. "Trangressed very much" Here
we see the vile depths into which Ju-
dah had fallen. All classes were cor
rupted. Restraint was thrown off and
the people openly practiced all the
heathen denominations, even pollutinS
tie house of the Lord.
Is. 1.-THE Lord-sent to them" God
lid 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 were 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 were made cap
tive as q warning to coming kings.
Prophets were sent to warn and en-
treat. .- y 3.
III. Judah utterly rejects the Lord
u. 1G). .,..
l6. "Mocked," etc. jeremiah was
imprisoned, beaten and threatened
with death: Urijah was put to death
(Jer. 26:2O-23). mo remedy" The ma
ton 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, H.
". Jerusalem destroyed Tvs. 1172I).
II. Therefore" Because Of their
great wickedness. "He brought-the
Chaldees." The siege lasted about one
year and six months. The fortifca-
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
MS 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
mentations. The destructive fire OF
the besiegers was aided by severe
famine (Jer. 3S:9. and all the terrible
expedients had been tried to which the
wretched inhabitants Of q besieged
town are forced to resort in such cases.
Mothers boiled and ate the flesh OF
their own infants Uam. 4:1O; Ezek.
5:1U; ladies in magnificent robes wan
dered about searching the refuse heaps
for a morsel of food Uam. 1910.
mo compassion" So hideous We're
the cruelties practiced 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-
ants were once masters of the place
an indiscriminate 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,' y
etc. God permitted the Chaldeans to
thus destroy Jerusalem He might
have done to ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS army
what He did to Sennacherib'S host.
20. Carried he away" When the
Chaldeans finally entered the city the
king and his men Of war fed. but they
were pursued and captured. Zede-
kiah's sons were slain before his eyes,
his eyes were then put out and he was
carried to Babylon in chains. He was
put in prison till the day of his death
(Jer. 52:1-1D. ITO him and his sons. y
There were three kings after Nebu'
chadnezZar before Cyrus established
PERSIAN RUE: ENli-Melouaen AlhSS
""5:2O, Neriglissar and Nabonidus.
q. Fulfil the word See Jer. %
II. p; 29:10. Enjoyed her Sabbaths.' y
See Lev. 2G:S4, 80, 43. God had com
manded them to let their land rest
every seventh year. and because they
had violated this command He now pro
posed to give their land q long Sab
bath. or rest, for seventy years.