Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-12
The Return
From Captivity
SeAssl Lsssss fse 0ea. IS. I.
Specially Arranged for This Paper


MEMORY VERsEs-l:S, 4.
GOLDEN TExT-"He retaineth not his
anger forever. because he deliyhteth In
mercy."-Mic. 7:1S.
TIME-Cyrus takes Babylon sos. His
decree Of return $751;. First return. under
Zerubbabel, 6376.
PLACE-Babylon and vincinity. Jeru-
salem. And the long journey between.
RULERS-Cyrus was king OF Babylon.
and . large part Of the East. Zerubbabel
called also sheshbazzar (Exra 1:s; 2:2
from Babylon became the ruler Of Jeru-
salem.
MoNUMENTs-on stone tablets and
cylinders. are written records OF these
days.
The Cyrus Cylinder. found at Babylon
In 1879, now in British Museum.
The Nabonidus cylinders. in British Mu-
scum.
Annalistic tablet of Cyrus. a proclama-
ton by him. written shortly after his
conquest Of Babylon.
There were three eras Of captivity
for the children of Israel as there
were several eras Of return. The first
captivity was by Nebuchadnezzar,
when Daniel and his friends were car.
ried captive. Seventy years from this
brings us to B. c. $50, the time Of
the completion Of the return described
In this lesson.
Nebuchadnezzar again captured the
city, sent a great amount Of treasures
from the palace and the temple to
Babylon. with 10000 Of the more i'm
portant Of the people. Among these
were the prophet Ezekiel and the
great-grandfather Of Mordecai, Queen
Esther's cousin. The third captivity
was also by Nebuchadnezzar, who.
after a siege Of a year and a half, in
July, 6S6. completely destroyed the
city and the temple. Seventy years
from this time brings US to the com.
pietion Of the temple. B. c. 615.
The discipline OF the exile has az
complished its purpose 30 far that 1t
is wise and safe to permit q large
number to return and renew the an
cient nation. 1t would be useless to
bring back to Judea people who would
commit the same sins which made the
exile necessary and who had not
learned to some extent the lessons
which their hard discipline was sent
to teach.
The power Of idolatry was forever
broken. They never again yielded to
Its destinations. They were taught to
set q new value on the filing Of all
the forms Of worship with the spirit
: Of religion. God had allowed even the
. city which was the type Of heaven and
the most glorious temple dedicated to
his worship to be destroyed when
these became a substitute for true re-
, ligion instead Of an aid to 1t. They
: were also taught by their absence the
. value and necessity Of religious insti.
tutions, Of the e Of worship, of
the Sabbath day.
: 1t led to renewed study of the %.
cred Scriptures. The exile was the
. period In which the guardianship.
> transcription and study Of the written
Scriptures became the special care
: Of a distinct class. afterwards famous
. a. the great order Of the scribes. It
led, also, to the establishment Of the
synagogue for social worship and read
!, ing Of the Scriptures. with Its accom-
panying schools.
The captivity served as a mission
airy scheme to spread the knowledge
, Of God owe the world. 1t was an aid
in preparing the world for the com
ing Of the Lord Jesus Christ and fol
the spread of the gospel by the apos
ties. Thus there was the promised
= land, the homeland the center Of re
ligious life. and the dispersion as m
!, agency In every country Of the known
word.
The journey home and the whole
o movement may be made most real Il
;, all, and especially to children, b,
" tracing the journey on the map. Note
. !. the great rivers to be crossed without
bridges, the desert lands, the savage
4 tribes, the countries Of their old enc
mics. the rugged mountains to b
%traversed. hunger. thirst and pain, tn
!, long weary months Of travel on foot
= and the desolate city and devastated
homes at the end of their journey.
= II w may trust later traditions. tn
setting out Of the captivity" for Pal
estine was Joyous In the extreme. Al
escort Of 1000 cavalry accompanies
them. for protection against the dea
ert Arabs, tlten as now given to plum
der, and they started to the music o
tabrets and flutes. Forth from tn
= gates Of B,bylon they rode. to tn
u sound Of Joyous music-a band o
y horsemen playing on flutes and tab