The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1915-11-05
INTERNATIONAL.
.SUNLNYSCIIOOL
LESSON
LESSON FOR NOVEMBER 7
JoAsH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE.
BY e. o, SELLERS, Acting Director OF
me sunday School Course, the Moody
Bible Institute, ChicagoD

LESSON TENTH Kings 12:4-l5.
GOLDEN TEXT-God loveth cheerful
giver.-II Cor. 9:7.
The time of this lesson was about
SIS b. c., and it follows within a few
years last Sundays lesson. Inaugu.
rated as king and instructed by A
faithful priest, yet Joash discovered
great lethargy on the part of the
prlestly class with regard to the house
Oh COO. lie set himself to arouse great
hDerality and to repair the temple.
!. .Letharsy, v. 4, 8. ID It's cause.
we should read in this connection II
enron. "a. From the two accounts
and the previous history of the ma.
ton we conclude that the condition
OF the temple was due, TAI to the
weak and frequently vicious charac.
tiers of the rulers of the nation: (bl
TO the evil companions of both princes
and priests and (c) to the cupidity OF
court and curate. (2) The result OF
thls lethargy regarding God's cause
was evidenced (a) upon the temple,
and CD upon the lives of the people
OF the kingdom. CD The cure. Joash
instituted great reforms in Judah and
III these Jehoiada the priest ". p hau
no small part. In this particular les.
son the prince ". y seems to lead
the priest Unfortunately the godly
priest did not long survive the crown
ing OF Joash and hence when he came
under other influences he soon went
back to the evil practices of ms prede.
cessors and his reign ended in an
eclipse of evil Gil Chron. 24:15-26)
In this lesson we have however. a
suggestion OF what is needed to cure
religious lethargy. (a) A vision of
the real condition of affairs ". q;
also II Chron. 24:O. Joash saw the
resultant ruin of the temple after
10 years of misrule; he also saw
the misconduct of the priests and
did not hesitate to call them to
account. IT'S no easy task to un.
dertake reformation and restoration
such as this; witness Moses, Luther,
Wesley and Cary. These priests had
aided him to gain his throne and
doubtless had had part in his boy
hood training. Joash had inaugu.
rated certain reforms before he be.
gan this task which suggests the sec
ond need of OBJ persistence Csee /
enron. 24:5, 81. Such work also de
mands (c) systematic effort and Civ
ing. Joash placed himself among Is.
raels best kings by undertaking the
restoration of the temple and won a
place alongside of Hezekiah and 10
siah. Modern churches are not, strict
ly speaking, "a house of the Lord
such as the Jewish temple, yet the
condition of many of our churches
would indicate great indifference to
the cause of the kingdom Our bod
les are indeed a temple" | Cor. 3:
16; GID and both the body and
church buildings alike should be kept
in proper condition.
u. LiberaIity, VS.. e-15. The plan to
have the priests gather funds fol the
repairs was Scriptural (EXod. 25:
2-S) God does not look upon the
measure but upon the motive of our
gifts (II Cor S;12). The priests did
not hasten the matter" so the king
took 1t into his own hands ". 81.
In this remissness Jehoiada, as the
chief priest, is held accountable for
all ". y.
We have in this story a rich sug.
gestion as to Gods plan of Christian
giving. ~ The object. It was dis.
tinctly for the glory of God and not
to outbid others or to wastefully use
the money for selfish purposes. (2)
All were to participate voluntarily,
out of their abundance 0I Chron.
24:1O), systematically and faithfully.
(3) The results were a house repaired
Oh Chron. 24:12) beautiful I'll Chron
24:13) with the worship restored III
Chron. 24:14). Joash seems TO nave
laid great emphasis upon the 'taber-
nacle of witness (24:6) and we need
to recall that each and every part
of that temple was a testimony to the
truth of God and had in 1t a spiritual
suggestion and prophecy. AS a whole
1t suggested that God dwelt in the
midst of his people. The sons OF
Athaliah Goash's grandmother had
80 conducted themselves as to cause
1t to need repairing QI Chron. 247)
When we turn to II Chron PASTA and
read the record OF the restoration OF
the temple, we discover: ID Each
had its part in the work. ~ Each
did a perfect work, e. g., did mis-
task faithfully, fully and to a finish.
t3) Each did an orderly work, I'm MS
state" None sought to supplant or
defraud Others in the work assigned
"a Each did strong work, 1t was
strengthened" and not trining WORK
as men-pleasers or for the moment
Try more prayer and like Joasn
give the people a chance and there
will no No Iapk