Abbeville progress., 1917-10-13
LESSON FOR OCTOBER ID.
RETURNING FROM CAPTIVITY.

GOLDEN TENT-The Lord hath done
great things for US; whereof we are glad
Psalms 1858.
Israel went into captivity because of
her sins. The time of her disciplinary
process was about to end. as its pur.
pose was now accomplished: namely,
the cure of Israel's idolatry. Ever
since the BahylOnian captivity the He,
brew people have been wOrShipers of
the one God. MOnOtheism has stood
forth as a vital characteristic. The
main reason for the Jews maintenance
of racial identity in spite of their ma
tional dislOCatiOn and the breaking up
of their social ties, is the unity of their
faith. around the one God.
!. The Proclamation of Cyrus wv.
1-4).
Q) The Time of ". ~. The first
year Of Cyrus; that is the first year
after his conquest of Babylon.
(2) How 1t Was Brought About ".
y. The Lord stirred up his spirit.
The Lord often uses very unlikely
agents in the accomplishment of his
purposes. There is nothing too hard
for him. He can readily use n heathcn
king to accomplish his purpose. He
can find a way Of approach to any
heart. Likely Daniel was the agent
used to bring the matter to the kings
attention. Daniel was still the inflU,
ential prime minister of Babylon.
From his study Of the prophecies Of
Jeremiah (Jer. % 70; Isa. As com
pare Daniel 9:2), he knew that the
time was near for the return of the
people to their own land, so he likely
brought the matter to the attention of
the king and persuaded him to thus
favor his people.
(3) Its Contents (vv. 2-4).
(a) A confession Of the true Goo
(vv. .. 81.
He acknowledges him to be the God
of heaven, the Most High, the Supreme
God, God of goodness. He declared
ale has given me all the kingdoms Of
the earth" and tnat God had with au.
thority laid upon him the charge OF
building him n house at Jerusalem.
(b) A Generous Permission to Israel
". 81. All who desired to go up t.
Jerusalem and build the Lords house
were permitted 10 go. He even com
mandcd the blessing Of the Lord to be
upon them.
(c) A Positive Cooperation (v. ~.
None were obliged To go up, but a pos
tive obligation was laid upon those
who did not 60 up to render assistance
to those who did, They were TO aid
inztbk bpildIns OF the heusezo God byl
.gsy7pE psesfss.- orlgssx 7fui su1t1fss, Il II |
was moro ti,an d fr~c-dilf offering. al
eb,igation In addition thereto. The ob. |
liTntion wns even wider than the peo |
pie Of Israel. The benther were asked
to render aid.
a. Response to the Proclamation q
Cyrus wv. 5, 6).
O1 by iracl Z. 81. Strange to SO,
tho decree of Cyrus was not met with
graf enthusiasm. Only small nun
hcr. chi"flY from Judah and BENJAMIN |
rC!ufIe,l &. 81. lUr most nf them i.
mcnai giving M business interests, 70;
thoy ha'l settled down tn the rcgula,
c3ll.n~S of life. Besides the SaCri.
Acc Of business interests it iavolv"
great ria'.S rs 70 tte future. The cn-
tire cn!Hrany. including servants W.
about tifv thousand cen. Of III,
c1mDanv we note the following div.
Si0r~: first. ClriefS Of the falh2rS Of |,
Judah and Rrdiamin. that is mnEiS
tratcs: second. priests and Lcvite:,
leader. in religion: third, skl!lful ar.
tihccrs. head workmer.
(2) b. Their Ncighbors ". 8). This
response was apparently more hearty
than that of the Jews themselves.
Their ucighhors gnve freely of gold. si!.
vcr, beasts and goods. God had not
only graciousiy disposed the heart of
Cyrus toward his people, hut they
found peculiar favor from their neigh.
bors, so that their wants were abund
antly supplied.
III. Restoration Of the Sacred Yes.
sells wv. 7-11). These vessels had been
carried away to Babylon many years
before. Little did Nebuchadnezzar re.
alize that he would put into safe keep
Ing the vessels which would he needed
ut this time. They were carefully nun.
bered and turned over to the proper
officers. Except for their desccratlon
IN Belshezzar's feast, they were none
the worst for having been carried away.
These were brought up to Jerusalem
from Babylon.