Evening star., 1924-03-29
Sunday School Lesson

which he himself composed Solomon
| folloWed. making the most OF the ma
| ttons resources, and being remem-
oered as the builder OF the first tenn
vah. He was not strong enough to mas
ter the external magnificences. He
was dazzled by IL and failed to make
the material prosperity of the nation
people. 1t led him to compromise in
religious matters, so that at the close
| of his reign the heart of the nation
was filled with spirit Of disloyalty
all he might have been in life, labor
| and love for the glory of God and
the advancement Of the nation, its
| future story would have been entirely
| different.
The element that made the repre-
sentative leaders whose careers we
have studied great men was. fret of
all. their faith in God. They were
men of prayer. who accepted His rev.
They were loyal to Jehovah against
all foes, when the main purpose of
their life is considered, They CO.
| operated with Him and awaited with
patience the fulfillment of His
Looking back over the period of
| history that we have studied, we can
| see the providential purpose far bet
ter than the agents chosen of God to
| did through their great personalities
working out order from great disor-
der, and new forms amidst the fresh
difficulties Of life in the transforma-
sufferings of slavery. the teachings
| of the wilderness walderings. the
! transitional days of the judges and
the reign OF the kings. Some Of the
events Of those days have a meaning
! for US that the people OF that far-off
day did not realize.
| Hebrew history shows US more
| clearly than any other the providen-
tial factor Of Gods hand in the affairs
of men. Jehovah has in every hour
ready to meet the emergency of the
moment. The annals of our nation
are filled with similar records of
men who, In a peculiar sense, were
made great by His training and fell
with the Hebrew worthless, whose
careers we have studied, we have seen
how the Lord has overruled defects
and weaknesses by imparting self
control, loyalty to Him and COOP
| GRAFTON with His purpose through
! their personal faith in Him.
| The providential purpose Of God
was the redenptio of the race. He
selected Abraham to be the progeni-
called to make of Abraham and his
descendants a blessing to all man
kind. The fact that the Hebrews
were to be the channel through which
redemption was to be provided for
the world explains the slowness and
| the mystery of the profess. 1t took
| centuries for the selected man, then
/ family and then nation to be devel-
oped in the school of suffering, sor-
row and sacrifice for His service.
The heart of the lessons has been the
| way Jehovah has impaired religious
| instruction to his people. In the
| great studies of religious experience
we have seen in all the stages Of
! religious development that God was
/ the fashioner of history. His pur-
pose determined the life of men and
the nation.
| Abraham proved his faith by sepa-
lrating himself from his old life in
lobedience to His command. Joseph
Twas sustained in his trials by faith
lin Jehovah's promises. Moses revealed
his faith by his reverence and obedi-
|ence to Gods command, Samuel
lshowed his faith by hearing Gods
lcall and answering the Lords voice.
IAll the leaders obeyed His commands,
lalthough some of them failed to do
iby moving forward; Abraham to the
Promised Land, Joseph to the palace
lfrom the prison, by exercising faith.
lso at times. They lived a life of faith
lJoehus showed his trust when he adj
svised entering the Promised Land. Hl
exercised it in winning Canaan. Ths