Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1924-06-12
IMPROVED UNIFoRM INTERNATIONAL
Lesson for June Is
THE RETURN AND THE REBUILD
ING OF The TEMPLE

LESSON TExT-Ezra 1.1-11; 3:S-6:22.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Comfort We, com
fort ye my people, saith your Cod
lisa. 40:1.
PRIMARY ToPIc-Building House
for God.
JUNIOR ToPIc-Lcye for Gods
House.
INTERMEDIARY AND SENIOR TOP
IC-The Rebuilding of the Temple.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-Signifcance of the Return.
|. The Return From Captivity Pre-
dicted der. 20 1919.
1t seems that false prophets were
fiourishing in Babylon, telling the peo-
pie that they would speedily be re-
stored to their own land. To counter
act this the Lord moved Jeremiah to
send a letter to the captives in Baby
Ion Ger % :1-9). In this letter he adj
vised them to settle down and quietly
pursue their regular callings Of life
and not to be led astray by false proph-
cts.
/. The Length of the Captivity ".
10Y. Their coming back was to be
after seventy years" From Daniel 2
1t is clear that seventy years means a
definite time. 1t dates from the time
when the first company was taken cap
tive among which Daniel was found.
II. The Prediction of Captivity Full
filled ezra lid.
l. The Proclamation of Cyrus wv.
1-4). This was not by accident, but
that the word of the Lord might be
fulfilled ". ~. God never forgets.
What He has promised He will do. 1t
was by divine initiation-the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. In his
proclamation he ordered that all who
desired should 60 back and build the
house of the Lord God, and those who
lacked this inclination should lend as
sistance by making gifts of silver, gold
and beasts.
ton (vv.' 5, 81. The company which
returned was largely made up of rep
resentatives of Judah and Benjamin.
3. Royal Favors wv. 7-1D. Cyrus
brought forth the vessels of the house
of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had
carried away from Jerusalem and
placed in the house of his gods. This,
no doubt, greatly encouraged the Jews,
for there were 5,400 vessels returned.
III. The Temple Rebuilt ezra 8 :8-
6:15).
l. The Foundation Laid. This was
an suspicious occasion and was cele-
brated with impressive ceremonies.
(1N Tho r,riac+c T., fhair anroral Nv
10). The priests garments symbolized
their conservation to the Lords serv-
Ice.
(2) The priests with trumpets ".
10Y. These trumpets were made of sill
yer and were used in calling the peo-
pie together
~ The Levites with symbols ".
10). These were to furnish the in
strumental music of the sanctuary, in
accordance with the arrangements
made by David Il Chron. Is :1O-21).
az They sang together by course
". 10, This means that they sang to
one another responsibility. The one
company sang THE Lord is good" The
other responded, For his mercy endur-
eth forever
90 Mingled weeping and shouting
wv. L., 49,. Some of the older men,
who had seen the magnificent and glo-
rious temple of Solomon, which had
been destroyed, wept much whef. they
saw how far short the present founda-
2 The Building Hindered ezra A..
The leading adversaries were the Sa-
maritans, mongrel people, the of
spring Of the poor Jews who were left
in Palestine and the foreign people
who were sent into Palestine after the
Jews were taken captive.
Q) An unintelllgent pessimism
ezra 3:13). Under the circumstances
this was a glorious beginning and gave
promise of great things for the future
Therefore 1t was no credit to the
priests, Levites and chief of the ia
theirs to mar this occasion with their
weeping.
(2) Worldly compromise ezra AZ
81. They said, LET us build with you,
for we seek your God" This Is Satan's
most common and effective method to.
day.
(3) Open opposition by the world
ezra 4:4-24). When refused part
in the work open opposition was re
sorted to-.
g. The Temple Finished ezra 5 :1-6 !;
8.15). Through the ministry Of the
Prophets Haggai and Zechariah the
people were encouraged to resume the
work of building the temple.
w. The Temple Dedicated ezra
6:16-22).
The people were united in this build
ing program and came together upon
its completion and solcnnly dedicated
1t to God.
The Executive
A m ON of