The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-05-30
Lesson for June I
THE BAeYLoNiAN EXILE OF
JUDAH

LESSON TEXT-II Chron. se:11-21.
GOLDEN TExT-"RiGh ex-
alteth Q nation; but sin II . reproach
TO any peopis."-Prov. l<:s&.
PRIMARY ToPIC-what Boy King
DID.
JUNIOR ToPIc-Ths Destruction OF
INTERMEDIATES AND SENIOR TOP
IC-Ths Last Days Of Jerusalem.
YOUNG PEOPLE-AND ADULT TOP
Ic-A Nation in Ruins
l. The sins Of the Nation wv.
la.le).
I. Zedekiah. the King (vv. 11-1s).
a. Insubordination to Gods prophet
". 12). In the theocratic government
q Israel Gods prophet occupied a
higher place than the king himself
The prophet was Gods messenger. In
stead Of receiving Jeremiah as Gods
messenger and conforming his life to
Gods will, as made known by the
prophet he refused to humble him.
self before God.
<2) Rebellion against Nepuchadnez-
Ear ". 49,. Zedekiah was made king
Of Judah by the king Of Babylon but,
In spite of this kindness and the word
Of the Lord spoken to him by Jere-
miah (Jer. 3s:17, IS; :3). he re-
belled against the king Of Babylon.
(3) He stiffened his neck and
hardened his heart against God ".
13). Those who rebel against rightly
constituted authority soon are resist
ing the will and grace Of God.
2. The Priests and People wv.
14-16). B.
ID They followed the heather ".
14). Even the priests who ministered
In the house Of God were practicing
the sins Of the heather nations sur
rounding them.
(2) They polluted the house Of the
Lord ". 14). The house Of the Lord
was sacred. having been dedicated to
the Lord and consecrated to His serv-
ice. For priests to officlate while liv-
Ing lives Of impurity was pollution to
Gods house.
90 They Knocked Coos messengers
". 1877. Instead Of receiving them as
from God. they Knocked them.
az They despised Gods word ".
49,. To set at naught Gods counsel
Is to despise His word prov. :25).
(5) Misused Gods prophets ". 16).
They not only Knocked them but i'm
prisoned some and slew others. This
they persisted In until God could no
longer restrain His wrath.
%. The Judgment FaIls wv. 17-21y.
1. Slaughter by the Sword ". ID.
So severe did this judgment fall that
the King Of the Chaldees slew young
men even In the house Of the sanctu-
airy and had no compassion upon
young man or maiden, old man or him
that stopped for age"
2. The Treasures and Sacred Yes
sells Carried to Babylon ". 49,. This
Included. not only the treasures Of the
house of the Lord, but Of the king and
his princes.
8. Burned the House of God ". 19).
This was the sacred temple built by
Solomon with certain additions and
notifications.
4. Broke Down the Walls Of Jerusa-
lem ". 19). The aim In this was to
render the walls useless as a means Of
defense.
s. Burned the Palaces ". 1917. II
would seem that the common houses
were left for the poor people who re-
mained In the land.
g. Destroyed All the Goodly Vessels
". 10Y. This would mean that the
palaces were plundered Of all that was
valuable.
Z. Carried the People Into Captivity
and Made Slaves Of Them ". 20).
Those who had escaped the sword
w0U now carried away and enslaved.
II would seem that a number Of peo-
pie had deserted to the Babylonians.
From ii Kings 25:12 we learn that
me poorest Of the people were left In
the land. Those who would not like
ly make any trouble were left as vine
dressers and husbandmen. Since the
custom was to colonize conquered ter
ritory by foreign peoples, the object
In leaving the poor people was that
the country might be ready and over
these people Gedallah was appointed
with headquarters at MIzpeh. When
the walls were broken Zedekiah fed
by night. his object being doubtless to
cross the Jordan at Jericho and hide
In the mountains east of Jordan. He
was oyertaken In the plains Of Jericho
Oh Kings 25:5) by the Chaldean
army. He was captured and taken to
the king Of Babylon who was at Rib
iah. a town north Of Damascus. Zede-
kiah was tried before Nebuchadnez.
EAR, his eyes were put out, he was
bound with letters Of brass. and car.
ried away TO Babylon. where he re
NAMED O prisoner until the day of
his death Ger. b2:11).
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