The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-12
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Jewish temple were restored to the
returning exiles by Cyrus
By w. T. ELLIS

Jewish temple were restored to the
returning exiles by Cyrus
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform
He had made Israel a nation by
the bondage in Egypt; row He had
cured them of idolatry by the exile
in Babylon. So He had strangely
preserved for them, in the hands of
their enemies, the utensils for tenn
pie. use. They could not have kept
these themselves; so Jehovah provid
ed a Babylonian storage vault for
them We may yet learn that He has
likewise kept the Ark of the Cove
Moriah, to be restored in His own
good time.
The return-which a later lesson
will enable us to study more in de-
tail-was in sharp contrast to the
, journey from Jerusalem TO Babylon.
Then the Jews were captives in tears
and misery, spoiled of all their pos
sessions, torn from their homes. Now
| they were a well organized company,
numbering about forty-two thousand,
with more than seventy thousand
servants. They had the royal favor
were properly equipped. and had
great treasure, both for their own
use and for the rebuilding of the tenn
pie. They were a broader minded
and a more worldly wise company
than they had been half a century
before. Their sojourn at the seat of
the worlds finest civilization had
taught them many lessons that would
tinge all their future experience.
Back Home.
t'Hard-headed'' men would be likely
to approve of the Jews who stayed in
Babylon, rather than of those who
went back to the ruined city of Mount
Zion. The contrast was complete.
Babylon was a great city. The whole
world centered there, and sent it's trib-
ute of trade and people in rich and
constant stream. Babylon was full of
commercial, social and political oppor-
! tunities. As the cases of Daniel and
his friends proved, the right sort of
man might any day fall under i'm
perial favor and contract profitable
| alliances. So far as prudence could
! foresee, Babylon was safe from the
ravages of war; who would dare at
( tack this SO great city, the capital of
| the earth? The comforts, pleasures
and luxuries of life abounded there.
! On the other hand, Jerusalem was
only ruin. There were none of the
| comforts of home, even of the old
home that their father used to know.
Business opportunities would be slight,
and agricultural opportunities less.
| Robbers and hostile armies both were
to be feared. Every man who went
\ back would be severely taxed in purse,
body and mind for the rebuilding
project.
i That sort of reasoning would have
| kept Abraham in the prosperous city
of Ur of the Chaldees; and the Pill
| grim Fathers in Holland. 1t was the
| old. old choice that was offered the
| eX1les- They could have the best, at
| a high price. Up in Judea awaited
various hardships-but also the pure
worship of God. They had to make
choice between the material and the
spiritual Sentiment and spirituality
called them back to the old home,
where they could honor Jehovah, by
the restoration of his pure worship
upon Mount Zion. Personal ease and
profit bade them remain in Babylon.
One out of six chose the better part:
it is eternal wisdom to seek the free
dom and growth of the soul, and to
put the concern of the spirit above the
concerns of the body.