Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1924-05-29
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'Sil1nldaySclool
! Lesson
(By REV. p. b. rIrxwArrR. DID. Teacher
tute OF Chicago.l
CO. 1924. Western Newspaper union)
Lesson for June /
THE BAByLoNiAN EXILE OF
JUDAH

THE 6AByLoNiAN EXILE OF
JUDAH
LESSON TExT--II Chron ae:li-fl.
GOLDEN TExT--"Rig hteoueness en-.
altsth . nation; but sin L. . reproAch
70 any people."--Prov l4:sl
PRIMARY ToPIC-what Boy King
Did.
JUNIOR ToPIc-The Destruction Of
Jerusalem.
INTERnEDIArr AND SENIOR TOP
IC-The Last Days OF Jerusalem.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP.
IC--A Nation in Ruins.
!. The Sins Of the Nation tvv,
I1-1o).
1. zedekiah, the King (vv. 11-13l.
~ INSTRUMENTATION to Gods prophet
". 12). In the theocratic government
Of Israel Gods prophet occupied q
higher place than the king himself.
The prophet was Gods messenger. In
stead Of receiving jeremiah ~ Gods
messenger and conforming his life "a
Gods will, a. made known by the
prophet he refused to humble him.
self before Cod
3 (2) Rebellion against Nebuchad nez-
ear ". la). 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. SS:17, 1s; 81 :S), he re-
belled against the king Of Babylon.
90 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 (vv.
14-16).
a. They followed the heather ".
14). Even the priests who ministered
In the house of God were practicing
the sins of the lieathen nations sur
rounding them.
(2) They polluted the house Of the
Lord (v. 14). The house Of the Lord
was sacred, having been dedicated to
the Lord and consecrated to His serv-
ice. For priests to of1iciate while liv-
ing lives Of impurity was pollution to
Gods house.
go They Knocked Gods messengers
". 16), Instead Of receiving them as
from God, they Knocked them
(4) They despised Gods word ".
16). To set at naught Gods counsel
Is to despise His word prov. 1:25).
60 Misused Gods prophets ". 49,.
They not only smocked them but inn
prlsoned some and slew others This
they persisted in until God could no
longer restrain His wrath.
u. The Judgment Falls wv. 17-2D.
1. Slaughter by the Sword ". ~.
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 n.a;l or maiden, old man or him
that stopped for age
2 The Treasures and Sacred Yes
sels Carried to Babylon ". 49, This
Included not only the treasures of the
house Of the Lord, but Of the king and
his princes.
3 Burned the House OF God ". 19).
This was the sacred. temple built by
Solomon with certain additions and
notifications.
A. Broke Down the Walls OF Jerusa-
lem w. 19). The aim in this was to
render the walls useless as q means Of
defense
5. Burned the Palaces ". 1917. 1t
would seem that the common houses
were left for the poor people who re-
manned In the land.
6. Destroyed All the GoodIy Vessels
". 19). This w0nld mean that the
palaces were pIundered OF all that was
valuable.
Z. Carried the People Into Captivity
and Made Slaves of Them {v. 20).
Those who had escaped the sword
were now carried away and enslayed.
II would seem that = number Of poo
pie had deserted to the Babylonisns.
From II Kings IL we learn that
the 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 GedalIah was appointed
with headquarters at Mizpeh. When
the stills were broken Zedekiah fled
by night, his object being doubtless to
cross the Jordan at Jericho and, hide
in the mountains east of Jordan. He
was overtaken in the plains Of Jericho
I'll Kings .25:5) by the Chaldean
army. He was captured and taken to
the king of Babylon who was at Rib
lab, 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-
mained prisoner until the day OF |
his death (Jer. Sid.
Duty to Your Neighbor
Your duty" to your neighbor will
hava IN ha IaoIad NJ in tIa Iivbt of /