Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-24
Golden Text: righteousness ex-
ateth nation, but sin is a reprOach
o any people," Prov. 14:34.

Golden Text: righteousness ex-
ateth nation, but sin is reprOach
any people" Prov. 4:34.
A rapid sweep of history is like
a mountain top view-you can see
all the windings of the road along
which you have been travelling and
It's relation to the surrounding coun-
try. We have been studying people
and events in the history of the
Jewish nation during the period
from the disruption of the Kingdom
under Rehoboam down to the return
from the captivity under Nehemiah
Inc purpose of this survey today
VIII be to discover God and His part
IL the events of that period? What
was His purpose? What was He
trying to do? Did He succeed? If
He failed, what was the reason?
What effect would that have had
on the ultimate success of His plan
To discover this we must take a
glance backward, behind the period
Of history. In fact, we must go
back to the Garden of Eden, and
there we find that God placed per-
1ect man, made in His own image
and after His likeness-not a crea-
ture just emerged from animal
existence and in an incomplete de-
velopment-God placed a perfect
man in charge of all His creatures
to have dominion over them. He
had a reason for this: another crea.
ton of Gods had usurped the au.
thorlty given him and had wrought
disaster, and God was preparing to
bring back his lost dominion, and
ied man for the job.
But this man, exercising the right
of choice which his creation in the
likeness of God necessitated as his.
yielded to the subtle suggestions of
this other creature of Gods, and
placed himself under Satan's power.
God then began a series of efforts
10 get man away from the power
or Satan and to get back the do.
mlnion which Satan had usurped
In the outworking of this plan, God
lchose a people to- whom and
through whom He might reveal
Himself-His love, His mercy, His
righteousness and His grace. He
gave them a land and promised
them a King, not that He loved
them more than any other people
(since He is no respecter of per-
sons but in order that He might
eventually give through them to the
world another Perfect Man who
would do all His will, and who
would not yield to the power of
Satan but break it, and set all his
captives free
AS time went on God became more
explicit in the outworking of His
arg n q l.;
sons 1t was Isaac through whom
the world should be blessed; of
lsaac's two sons it was Jacob: of
Jacobs twelve sons it was Judah;
0. Judah's descendants it was Da-
via. With David He made a COW
enant and confirmed it with an oath
That his Son should reign forever.
And one of the remarkable things
about this covenant was that it was
made In perpetuity-it could never
De broken e. Sam. 7:14.16). If Da
vld,s sons sinned, God would child
train them, but not cast them off
And thine house and thine king
dom shall be esta blished forever be-
Tore thee; thy throne shall be es-
tabl1shed forever"
Well, Solomon sinned. His son
Rehoboam, paid the price Of it. The
Kingdom was disrupted and part of
1t given to man of the house of
Joseph. This northern kingdom was
a record of continued rebellion
against God OF every one of its
kings without exception it was said.
ne sinned against jehovah" They
walked in the statutes of the hea
then; they did secretly those things
which were not right against the
Lord thy God; they did as the
heather did whom Jehovah had car
rled away before them; they would
not hear, but hardened their necks:
they sold themselves to do evil.
The history of the southern king
dom was some better, but in gen
eral it was the same as that of her
northern neighbor. There were nine
dynasties in the northern kingdom.
but only one in the southern-Da.
Vidis son was constantly on the
throne. Some of these were so in.
fluenced by his LIES example that
they walked in the ways of David
their father. Some of them were
men devoted to God. Others followed
Him, but not wholly; while some
turned from Him as badly or worse
than some of the kings of Israel.
The nation lasted 1876 years LONGER
man that of the northern kingdom.
and then Acknowledgement took their
king to Babylon and destroyed their
city and temple.
During all of this time God was
at work. He was making every pos
sible effort to keep them from sim
ming. He testified against them by
all the prophets and seers, plead
ling with them to turn from their
evil ways @d keep His law which
would insure khem the greatest hap.
piness. Elijah was the first of these
prophets; Jonah the first of those
who have left us a record of the
pleadings and warnings. Even a
cursory glance at the warnings of
Elijah, the miracles of Elisha the
graciousness of God as He dealt
with Jonah. the pleadings of Isaiah,
the startling visions of what might
be expected by Ezekiel the plain de.
nunciation OF sin made through
Amos, the heart breaking expert.