Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-07-27
IMPROVED UluFORM INTERNATIONAL,
Siln9daySc1loel
' Lesson '
By REV. p. B. FITZWATER, d. D.,
Teacher of English Bible In the Moody
Bible Institute OF Chicago.)
Copyright, 1922. Western Newspaper Unioa-
LESSON FOR JULY 80
THE FIRST RETURN FROM EXILE

THE FIRST RETURN FROM EXILE
LESSON TExT-Jer. 2s:1o-14; Ezra 1:
Ill.
GOLDEN TExT-we know that all
things work together for good to them
that love God.-Romans 8.23.
REFERENCE MATERIAL-Psalms So;
1870; 1871; Jer o.
PRIMARY ToPuc-eod's People Re-
turn Home.
JUNIOR ToPIC-How God Kept
Great Promise
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
How God Kept q Great Promise.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Striking Manifestations Of Gods Provi-
dence.
!. Tho Return From Captivity Pre-
dicted go :1O14).
1t seems that false prophets were
fourshing In Babylon telling the peo-
pie that they would speedily be re-
stored to their own land. To counter
act this the Lord moved jeremiah to
send this letter to the captives In
Babylon wv. s, 81. In this letter he
advised them to settle down and
quietly pursue their regular callings
Of life and not to be led astray by the
false prophets wv. 6, y.
l. The length Of the captivity
". 10Y. Their coming back was to be
latter seventy years" From Daniel
9:2 It is clear that seventy years
means a definite time. 1t dates from
the time when the first company was
taken captive among which Daniel
was found.
2. Recovered by God wv. 1914.
Gods purpose In the captivity was
to cure them Of their idolatrous prac-
tees. He assured them that when His
purpose was accomplished he would
visit them and convince them Of His
good purpose toward them. When once
this was done they would call upon
Him in sincerity and He would be
found Of them. Their captivity He
would turn away; gather them from
oil the nations and bring them into
their own land. M
u. Prediction Of Captivity Full
Allied (Esra :l-11).
l. The proclamation of Cyrus
Nv. 1-4). ~ This was not by ac-
cident, but that the word Of the Lord
might be fulfilled ". ~. What God
has promised He will do; He never
forgets. Wherever we find a promise
which He hath made we can rest upon
II; He will make good. (2) BY divine
initiation ". ~. 1.-THE Lord sti red up
the spirit of Cyrus How this was
done we do not know. Possibly Daniel
brought to his attention the prophecy
Of Isaiah and jeremiah Elsa. A: %;
Jer. IS :12). Every impulse to do good
In all men is caused by the Lord-even
heather king who may not have been
conscious Of doing HIS will, at Gods
appointed time took the initiative In
this matter. 1t may have been that
Cyrus only saw his own action as q
piece Of statecraft-the creation Of
buffer state nation between his king
dom and that Of Egypt. Be that as
1t may, God stirred him up to do His
will. (3) The content Of His proclama-
ton wv. Pa. (a) 1.-THE Lord God Of
heaven hath charged me to build Him
a house In Jerusalem" ". p. This
makes clear that he had some impress
sion of Gods hand upon him. CD APP
peal to Jewish patriotism (v. 81. He
invokes Gods blessing upon such as
possess the national religious feeling,
and commands them to go and build
the house of the Lord God. Co Lend
assistance ". ~. Many Of the Jews
were established in business and there
fore were not free to go. Many, no
doubt had lost their national spirit
and therefore were not anxious to go.
All such were to lend friendly as
sistance in silver, gold and beasts,
Those who cannot go to do Gods work
should strengthen the hands Of those
who do go.
2. The response of Cyrus proclaim
fathers Of Judah and Benjamin and
the priests and I.evites presented them
selves as willing and ready to go.
The company which returned was
largely made up of representatives of
Judah and Benjamin.
3. The royal favor wv. 7-1I
Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the
house of the Lord which Nebuchadnez-
Ear had brought forth out of Jeru-
salem and put into the house of his
gods This was great encourage
ment to every loyal Jew whose heart
had been grieved over the proclamation
of these sacred vessels. Now to have
$500 of these vessels returned to their
owners and sent back to Jerusalem to
be put to their original use. met q
hearty response by the Jews.