St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1935-11-15

the time when the first company
was taken captive, among which
Daniel was found.
2. Recovered by God wv. 1O-14).
Gods purpose in the captivity was
to cure them of their idOlatrous
practices. He assured them that
when his purpose was accomplished
he would visit them and convince
them of his good purpose toward
them. Their captivity he would
turn away, gather them from, all the
nations, and bring them into their
own land.
q. The Predicted Captivity Full
filled ezra 1870.
/. The proclamation Of Cyrus
wv. 1-4).
a. This was not by accident, but
that the word Of the Lord might
be fulfilled ". u. What God has
promised he will do; he never for
gets.
b. By divine initiation ". u.
"The Lord stirred up the spirit Of
Cyrus" How this was done we do
not know. Possibly Daniel brought
to his attention the prophecy Of
Isaiah and jeremiah Elsa. A :28;
Jer. % :12). Every impulse to do
good in all men Is caused by the
Lord. It may have been that Cy-
rus only saw his own action as a
piece Of statecraft-the creation
of a buffer nation between his king
dom and that Of Egypt.
c. The content Of his proclama-
ton wv. PA.
% 1.-THE Lord God of heaven
hath charged me to build him a
house in Jerusalem" ". p. This
makes clear that he has some i'm
preston of Gods hand upon him.
(2) Appeal to Jewish patriotism
". 81. He invokes upon such as
possess the national religious feel
ing, the blessing Of God, and COM
mands them to go and build the
house Of the Lord God.
(3) Lend assistance ". ~. Many
Of the Jews were established In
business and therefore were not
free to 60. Many, no doubt, had
lost their national spirit and there
fore did not desire to 60. All such
were to lend friendly assistance in
silver, gold, and beasts.
2. The response to Cyrus procla-
nation wv. 5, 81. The chief of the
fathers Of judah and Benjamin and
the priests and Levites presented
themselves as willing and ready
to go. The company which returned
was largely made up of represent
atives of Judah and Benjamin.
8. The royal favor wv. 7-11). o.
rus brought forth the vessels of the
house of the Lord which Nebuchad-
nezzar had carried away from Jeru-
salem and put into the house Of his
gods. Now to have 5,4O0 of these
vessels returned to their owners
and sent back to Jerusalem to be
put to their original use, met a
hearty response by the Jews.
III. The GIadness and Rejoicing
of the Returning ExiIes FPS. 1925:
1-6).
l. The proclamation of Cyrus as
a dream ". u. They recognized
that their going-back was through
the favor of the Lord.
2. Their laughter and singing
wv. 2, 81. They not only recog-
nized this as the favor of the Lord
upon them, but testified thereof in
the hearing Of the heather round
about them.
8. Their prayer for prosperity in
the land &c. a. They were not only
going back with the consciousness
Of the good hand Of the Lord upon
them, but were trusting him for
fruitfulness Of the land.
4. Sowing in tears wv. 5, g.. The
seed which they were to SOW in the
land was so precious that they
seemed to have hesitated in sowing,
and yet they recognized that joy
would follow their sorrow as they
brought with them the sheaves Of
the harvest.