The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-06-26


birth of a nation.
Following Solomons death came
the division in 937 into Israel and !
Judah who kept up an intermittant |
war for fifty years until the days of |
Ahab when an alliance and marriage
of the royal families brought peace
Elijah led the forces of Jehovah
against the incursion of a foreign
god and Elijah completed the task of
revolution that wiped the slate clean
of first-rate leadership but secured
the dominance of Jehovah worship.
Damascus rose to supremacy over
Israel until beaten into weakness by
Assyria after which there came the
indian-summer prosperity of the long
reigns of Jeroboam ii and of Uzziah
in Judah. Commerce and riches were
side by side with dire poverty and
brutal slavery that called forth the
indignant protests of that first of the
later prophets, Amos, and of his con-
temporary, Hosea. Both of these
voiced a new note in demanding a
changed life instead of a correct rit-
ual as Gods requirement Isaiah and
Micah began their ministry to Judah
under the shadowing threat of Assy-
ria who deported Samaria's people in
722 and closed the story of that king
dom forever. In Judah the clutch of
Tyrian Baalism had been shaken off
and Isaiah had begun his ascendency
ekiah thr uthe perilous days of As
syrian invasion and fixed in the minds
of the Jew the idea that, right OF
wrong, Jehovah would preserve Jeru-
salem. Reaction followed in which
Isaiah died for his faith, but pres
emily Josiah set on foot the greatest
reform that had been attempted with
the repair of the temple and the set
ting up of Deuteronomy as the su-
preme law of the land. His tragic
death burst the bubble of belief in
ritual as a good luck symbol and Jer-
emiah's martyrdom began as the ma
ton riotously refused to follow his
advice But he saved the nations
soul and made possible religious re-
turn tho Jerusalem was in ashes.
Ezekiel in Babylon preached an in
dividual religion and fostered the
synagogue and home religion until he
had planted the idea of church-state
that was realized in the return from
exile, the restoration of the temple
and the rebuilt city with it's scribe
and its priest as the chief figures in
the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The
prophet passed from sight and the
Book of the Law became the rule of
life, all of whose intricacies needed to
be interpreted by the coterie about
the temple. Most of the rolls of the
prophets We're written, much of the
Psalter, much of the history, much
of the law were in circulation, so that
we have entered the period of fixed
forms, settled ritual and priestly dom
nance that extended till the close of
the Judean period after a thousand
years of history in 20 A. D., in smoke
and utter destruction. The last 400
years we hav enot touched, but we
will take up the most vital years that
followed that as we study the life of
our Lord.
PRIMARY: Selected Stories of the
Quarter.
Use Wilde or Perry pictures for re-
call and let them become gifts to the
scholars so that they will be a per-
manent reminder of the story in the
home where in these days signs of
religion are all too few Protestant
homes are often hopelessly pagan in
the pictures used. If the pictures
have not been used during the quar-
ter las they should be) quarter will
be well invested in securing them for
some special feature of the review.
JUNIOR: Main Events of the
Quarter.
Use pictures with an auction fea-
ture, bidding to be in terms of expla-
nation of what the picture tells. Or
have one boy only see it and other
guess what lesson is represented from
his description. A map drill is an
excellent basis for the history taught
Make your outline with dots for the
places to be emphasized with little
pin banners with name of place or
event or person that you intend to
use. These can be stuck in as you go
along and then by taking them out
and a1Owing the pupils TO replace
them Will give an extensive drill as
l., VrysII p...l-r