The Holly chieftain., 1922-07-27
LESSON FOR JULY 80
THE FIRST RETURN FROM EXILE

THE FIRST RETURN FROM EXILE
LESSON TExT-Jer. 2s:lo-l4; Ezra l:
ILL.
GOLDEN TEXT-we know that all
things work together for good to them
that love God.-Romans s:2s.
REFERENCE MATERIAL-Psalms Sc:
l30; 131; Jer. %.
PRIMARY ToPIc-Gods People Re-
JUNIOR ToPIc-How God Kept a
Great Promise.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
How God Kept q Great Promise
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Striking Manifestations Of Gods Provi-
dence.
I. The Return From Captivity Pre-
dieted go :1O-14).
It 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 captiyes in
Babylon (vv. 8, 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.
| /. The length Of the captivity
| ". 10Y. Their coming back was to be
"after seventy years." From Daniel
9:2 1t is clear that seventy years
means 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-
tices. 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
all the nations and bring them into
their own land
II. Prediction of Captivity Full
filled (Ezra 1:1-1D.
/ 1. The proclamation Of Cyrus
wv. 1-4). ~ This was not by ac-
cident, but that the word Of the Lord
-I | AAASAI DC w. -. i" oS's
has promised He will do; He never
fOrgets. Wherever we find promise
which He hath made we can rest upon
1t; He will make good. (2) By divine
initiation ". u. ''The Lord stirred 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 lisa. A :28 !;
Jer. 25:12). 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 a
piece of statecraft-the creation of a
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-
tlon wv. 2-4). (a) 1.-The Lord God Of
heaven hath charged me to build Him
house in Jerusalem" ". p. This
makes clear that he had some impress.
sion Of Gods hand upon him. (b) Ap-
peal to Jewish patriotism ". 81. He
inyokes Gods blessing upon such as
possess the national religious feeling,
and commands them to go and build
the house Of the Lord God. (c) 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 90 to do Gods work
should strengthen the hands of those
who do go.
2. The response of Cyrus proclaim.
alton wv. s. 81. The cAlef of the
fathers of Judah and Benjamin and
the priests and Levites presented them
selves as willing and ready to 60.
The company which returned was
largely made up Of representatives of
Judah and Benjamin.
| 8. The royal favor wv. 7-11)
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 u great encourage.
ment to every loyal Jew whose heart
hat. been grieyed over the proclamation
Of these sacred vessels. Now to have
6,4O0 Of these vessels returned to their
owners and sent back to Jerusalem to
be put to their original use, met a
hearty response by the Jews.
|
Who knoweth the Lords Mind.
He that Is spiritual judgeth all
things, yet he himself is judged of
NO man. For who hath known the