The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-04-13

GOLDEN TEXT-"Bessed are they
that keep His testimonies. and that seek
Him with a whole heart"-Psa. 1892.
TIME-Athaliah came to the throne in
&9 Is. G. (Hastings) or 1913 b. c. (Beecher):
Joash S4S b. c. CHastings) or Ss7 Is. c!
(Beecher).
PLACE-Jerusalem. the capital of Ju-
dab.
KINGs-Joash's contemporaries were
Jehu in Israel, Hazael In Syria, Shall
manezer III In Assyria.
God always finds ways to Illustrate
the evil. John Wilkes Booth did not
reckon on the flag which tangled his
feet when he tried to escape. He
killed Lincoln, but up started host
of others to undo his evil deed. The
kingdom of God is not pillar which
can be thrown PROSTATE In the dust,
but cube that always falls upon a
base as broad as that from which it
has been dislodged. In fact, It Is
rather like the Irishman's stone fence,
which he built three feet high and
four feet wide, SO that if 1t was tipped
over it would be higher than ii was
before.
How can we apply this incident to
our modern boys and girls? For every
one of them kingdom is waiting, the
kingdom of noble, happy and useful
manhood or womanhood. This Is the
real kingdom, for Joash, and for every
boy and girl. Every young king and
! queen is surrounded by perils, as ter
| rible as those that threatened Joash;
and the only safety now is the safety
that he found then-the protection of
the church and of godly home.
noble woman has done her part
in saving the young king-the part
that mothers play In the preservation
| of the young kings of our modern
homes. Now man steps in, as the
! father comes to have the chief infiu-
ence over the life of the growing boy.
! Jehoiada, the high priest, was a man
of ability and fine character. Prob
ably it was becoming increasingly diff
ficult to hide the growing lad, and
| longer confinement would be most in
| furious for him physically and mental
| ly. The first step toward placing him
on his rightful throne was to gather
sufficient force of loyal adherents.
After obtaining the assurances,
| in addition to their own weapons,
which of course they would bear, they
were furnished by Jehoiada with the
spears and shields that, as relics of
| Davids time, hung somewhere within
the sacred precincts, just as his pre-
| decessor Abimelech had furnished to
David himself the sword Of Goliath.
These would remind them that it was
for David's heir they were contending
Wise steps were taken, under the
leadership of Jehoiada, in the opening
of the young kings reign. A covenant
was made between the Lord and the
| king and the people. This was a re-
newal of the original compact, in
which Jehovah and his people bound
themselves together-a compact bro
ken by the Baal-worship of Athaliah's
reign. What was the second step? The
immediate and thorough destruction
of the temple of Baal, with it's affairs
and licentious images, and the eXecu-
ton of its high priest Mattan. 1t
seems to be implied that the house
| of Baal' stood on the temple mount,
In ostentatious rivalry with the sane
tuary of Jehovah. And the third step?
Jehoiada appointed officers over the
| house of the Lord, re-establishing the
courses of the Levites, and proceed
ing at once to assign the custody of
the temple to particular course. And
the final step? Leaving the Levites
to keep order In the temple, Jehoiada
and the soldiers conducted the boy
king to the palace through the gate Of
the guard, doubtless that through
which the king regularly passed from
the temple to the palace and back
again, accompanied by his bodyguard.
When young Solomon started out in
his reign he was offered his choice of
blessings, and chose not long life or
riches or power, but wisdom; and in
that choice he gained the other bless
ings also. When Christ started out In
his great reign he was found in the
temple, seeking wisdom. When the
girl Victoria learned that she was to
become queen of earth's mightiest
empire she quietly said: Il will be
good" If our young kings and queens
would be well furnished for their
sovereignty they must go to the Bibli
and to the Bible school, and there they
will learn what true royalty Is.
1t is appropriate that we have for
Easter Sunday the story Of a corona
ton, for Easter is the anniversary OF
the greatest of all coronations, the
day when all mankind received the
possibility, at least, Of the crown of
life.
This is the crown to which all our
young kings and queens should look
forward as the blessed reward of no.
BILE reigning over the kingdoms that
God has given them. st. James wrote.
BLESSED is the man that endureth
temptation; for when he hath been APP
proved, he shall receive the crown Of
life, which the Lord promised to them
that love him."
st. John was hidden TO write to the
church in Syria: BE thou faithful
unto death, and will give thee the
crown of life"
The crown of life means the