Part 12

Now, sometimes a little child goes out alone, and some friend offers it something nice that it knows its mother would not like it to have. Or some person asks a little boy to come into a beer-shop, and drink a drop, when perhaps his father had told him not. Recollect, then, that if you are steady in minding what you are told, as those good Rechabites were, then God will be pleased with you, and own you for His good child, and give you His blessing.

QUESTIONS.

1. What is the Fifth Commandment? 2. Who are the people we hear of to-day who honored their father? 3. Who was their father? 4. What had he told them? 5. Where were they to live? 6. What were they not to drink? 7. Who tried if they would obey? 8. What did Jeremiah offer the Rechabites? 9. What did they answer? 10. What blessing did God give them? 11. How have they gone on ever since? 12. Why was God pleased with them? 13. What can you do to please God? 14. If you are out of sight of your father and mother, what must you still do? 15. If any of you are asked to do what your mother would not like, how must you behave? 16. Who is pleased if you are obedient?

Thirty-fourth Sunday.

_THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM._

FIRST READING.

"Behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God."--_Ezekiel 13:8._

WHEN King Jehoiakim was dead, and his son Jehoiachin carried away to Babylon, another king began to reign, named Zedekiah. He was Jehoiachin's uncle; he was Jehoiakim's brother; and he was son to good Josiah. The king of Babylon said that Zedekiah should reign as long as he would be obedient to him, and pay some money every year, so as to show that he owned the king of Babylon for his master. And God spake through His prophet Jeremiah, and said that if Zedekiah would obey the king of Babylon, the people should be left in peace, only they must be patient under their punishment.

But Zedekiah was more like his bad brother than his good father. He listened to people who pretended to be prophets, though God had never spoken by them. They told him to set up for himself against the king of Babylon, and that all the beautiful things that had been taken out of the Temple should come back again.

And when Jeremiah told them that it would not be so, and that if they rebelled against the Babylonians it would be worse for them, and the king would be put to death, they were so wicked as to let the holy prophet down into a pit, with mud and mire at the bottom; and there he lay sunk in the mire, and with no food to eat, nor water to drink.

At last a black man, one of the king's slaves, came and told the king that the prophet would soon be dead if he stayed there. Then Zedekiah was shocked, and he told the black to get Jeremiah safe out of the pit. So they threw him down soft rags, and told him to put them under his arms, that the ropes might not hurt him when they drew him up.

So Jeremiah came out of the horrible pit, and had some food; and the king sent to see him in secret. Then he told the king that it was God's will that he should bear to be under the Babylonian power, and that he must not make war; for that if he did, he would come to great misery, and die blind and a prisoner.

Zedekiah was not angry, as his brother had been, but all he had to say for himself was that he was afraid of his people. He was more afraid of them than of God, and he would not do what he knew to be right. So he told the black man to keep Jeremiah safe, and take care he had food every day; but he begged Jeremiah not to say one word to these wicked men about the conversation they had had together.

Was it not a foolish thing to be so afraid of men, when God could have taken care of him? He would have been quite safe if he had only been bold enough to do as God told him! Mind, that if ever idle children should want you to be as naughty as they are, and tease you till you feel afraid to stand out against them, the only way to be safe is to do as God tells you. Zedekiah, who was afraid to do right, was quite as much punished as Jehoiakim, who was bold to do wrong.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was the king after Jehoiakim? 2. What did the king of Babylon promise? 3. What did God say? 4. By whom did God speak? 5. To whom did Zedekiah listen instead? 6. What did he do to Jeremiah? 7. What kind of place was the pit? 8. Who had pity on Jeremiah? 9. How was Jeremiah taken out of the pit? 10. What did he tell the king? 11. Why did not Zedekiah mind him? 12. Why was it very foolish of Zedekiah to be afraid of the people?

SECOND READING.

"There was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."--_Ezekiel 2:10._

THIS is a sad text; but when people are wicked, sadness must always follow.

You heard how kind God had been to the Israelites, and how much He had done for them; how He gave them their beautiful land, and their city of Jerusalem, and blessed them whenever they were good. And if they sinned, He sent punishment, that they might learn to do better; and when they were sorry He forgave them, and made them happy again. But they would not keep to what He told them; they would worship idols, and grow worse and worse, till at last God said that there could be only "lamentation, and mourning, and woe," for the trouble they had brought on themselves.

God sent a great army under the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem was given up to them. The fierce soldiers came in, and burnt the houses, and robbed the Temple; and as to the young king, Jehoiachin, they took him and his mother, and all his chief lords and priests, and carried them away to Babylon, where he was a long time in prison.

The chapter to-day was written by a holy prophet, whose name was Ezekiel, and who was taken away to Babylon at the same time as the young king. God came and spoke to Ezekiel, that he might go on warning the people, that if they did not repent now that they were punished, He would be obliged to go on punishing them still.

Think about that. You know if you have done wrong and been punished, it is that you may mind another time, and not do the same over again. If you are obstinate or careless, and go back to the old fault, then you will have to suffer more and more; and there can be nothing but "lamentation and mourning and woe."

QUESTIONS.

1. Who is the prophet whose chapter is read to-day? 2. Where did Ezekiel live? 3. Who took him to Babylon? 4. Who was taken there at the same time? 5. How old was king Jehoiachin? 6. What was his home? 7. Why were he and his people taken away from Jerusalem? 8. What had been their sin? 9. How had God tried to make them better? 10. Had they attended? 11. What must come of sin? 12. What is the use of being punished? 13. What will happen if we do not leave off the fault when we are punished?

THIRD READING.

"And ye shall be comforted."--_Ezekiel 14:22._

THE prophet Ezekiel had many sad things to tell the Jews; but he had some comfortable ones. They had been very wicked, and God took them away from their dear home at Jerusalem, and let it be burnt with fire; and put them to live far away in a strange land at Babylon. But He told them that if they would leave off their sins, and turn back to Him, and not worship idols any more, then He would forgive them, and bring them home again.

To-day the Lesson says that they must really be sorry in earnest, not only pretend to be sorry. If they said they would worship God, and were caring for their idols in their hearts all the time, then He must go on being angry, and punishing them; but if they were really sorry, and really prayed to Him, then when they had been punished enough, they should be comforted.

They should not always stay in Babylon, in the dull flat land, with the streams of water flowing lazily through it; but they should see their own dear hills and fields again, and live in their homes once more. That would be such gladness, that it would make up for all the sorrow. All that was wanted was, that they should be really sorry, and leave off all the bad things they had done, and repent from the bottom of their hearts.

Now when we have done wrong, and are punished, it is to make us sorry, that we may do so no more. Little children are punished by their friends; grown-up people are punished by God sending troubles. Then we must be sorry, not only for the punishment, but the fault, and really try with all our hearts not to do it again. If we only _say_ we are sorry, and then run back to our old ways, something worse will come of it. No, we must be sorry in earnest, and then God will forgive us, for His dear Son Jesus Christ's sake.

QUESTIONS.

1. What was happening to Jerusalem? 2. What was done to the houses? 3. What was done to the people? 4. Where had they to live? 5. Where did they wish to be? 6. Why were they taken to Babylon? 7. What wicked thing had they done? 8. But what hope had they? 9. What must they do to be forgiven? 10. Where should they go back again to? 11. Why are people punished? 12. What is the way to be forgiven? 13. How are children punished? 14. How are grown-up people punished? 15. What should we do if we are punished? 16. Will it do to go back to the fault?

Thirty-fifth Sunday.

_THE FALL OF JERUSALEM._

FIRST READING.

"Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions."--_Ezekiel 18:30._

VERY sad things were going on among the Jews. A great many of them were carried away out of their beautiful hilly land of Canaan, to live among the flat wet marshes round Babylon, and only a few were left with their king Zedekiah at Jerusalem.

Jeremiah was speaking God's words to the people of Jerusalem; Ezekiel was speaking God's words to the people who were captives by the river side. They both said the same thing--that the only way to be peaceful, and not to suffer worse and worse, would be to repent and leave off their sins that had displeased God, and pray to Him to spare them, and then to bear patiently the punishment that had begun. But this was just what Zedekiah and his people would not do.

They misused Jeremiah for giving them such advice, and they would not own the king of Babylon for their master; and instead of believing God's true prophets, they listened to the false ones, who said, that in a very little while the captives would come back again, and all would be well.

Then Ezekiel took a tile, a great flat piece of pottery, and he drew on it the walls and towers of the city of Jerusalem, and made little tents and banks round it, and he lay down by it on his side, and watched it. And he weighed out for himself a very little bad bread to eat.

Then, when the people came to ask him why he did this, he said that it was to show them how it would be with their own Jerusalem far away. The Babylonians would come round it, and set up their tents, and make banks of earth to keep the people in, and shoot stones and arrows, and climb the walls. Inside there would be no better food than Ezekiel was eating--no, nor so good--and everyone would be starving, and dying of thirst.

Then the enemy would break in, and carry all the chief of them away to Babylon, and keep them prisoners there--till the whole people had come to repent of their sins, and had turned to the Lord with all their hearts.

For God has no pleasure in man's being punished. He only punishes that we may turn away from our sin and do right, and be saved at last. If only these Jews would have listened to Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and repented, they would have been spared; but instead of that, they went on growing worse and worse, till they had to have seventy long years of punishment before they could be forgiven.

We must take care when we are punished that we are sorry, and not obstinate and hard, or we shall have to be punished more and more.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who were the two prophets? 2. Where did Jeremiah prophesy? 3. Where did Ezekiel prophesy? 4. What did they both tell the people? 5. Would the people mind them? 6. What did King Jehoiakim do to Jeremiah's prophecies? 7. What did King Zedekiah do to Jeremiah? 8. What did Ezekiel take? 9. What did he draw on the tile? 10. What did he put round the tile? 11. Where did he lie? 12. What did he eat? 13. What was the tile to stand for? 14. Who were coming round Jerusalem? 15. What would they set up?

SECOND READING.

"Woe to the bloody city."--_Ezekiel 24:6._

SO Jerusalem had been taken, and pulled down, and burnt; and King Zedekiah was dead, and all his sons, and most of the great people had been carried away to Babylon. Only the poorer people were left, that they might plough and sow, and gather the corn and the grapes, and keep the land from getting waste and full of weeds. The Prophet Jeremiah was left among them. There is one book in the Bible called the Book of Lamentation, for it is the sad verses that he made to mourn over the beautiful city and the glorious Temple, all burnt with fire because the people had been so sinful.

Still Jeremiah told the people that were left, that if they would be patient and obey the king of Babylon, that after the seventy years of punishment the troubles should be over, and their friends should come back, and the Temple be built up again. But still, after all that had happened, these wilful Jews would have their own way. They said they were afraid of the king of Babylon there, and must go to Egypt to be safe; just as if they were not safer where God told them to stay, than they could be anywhere else. So off they went, and they carried Jeremiah by force with them, whether he would or no.

But almost as soon as Jeremiah came there, God told him to take some great stones and put them into the clay of the brick kiln near Pharaoh's house, and say that upon those very stones the king of Babylon himself would set up his tent in a few years' time.

And so it was. The Babylonians raised a great army, and came marching into Egypt, and there they burnt and destroyed, and killed and made slaves of the people they found there. Then these foolish Jews saw that if they had only stayed quietly at home the king of Babylon would have done them no harm. But now they had run away just where he was coming, and would hurt them most. That came of not trusting God's Word, but trying to run away from Him; for truly nothing is so foolish as to try to hide from God.

QUESTIONS.

1. What had been done to Jerusalem? 2. Where were all the chief people gone? 3. Who was left? 4. Where did Jeremiah stay? 5. What sad book did Jeremiah write? 6. Why was he sorry? 7. What did he tell the Jews that were left? 8. Where did they want to go? 9. Why was it wrong to go to Egypt? 10. Why did they choose to go to Egypt? 11. What did God tell Jeremiah? 12. Where was the king of Babylon to set his throne? 13. Where would they have been safest? 14. Why?

THIRD READING.

"I will cause you to pass under the rod."--_Ezekiel 20:37._

GOD told His prophet Ezekiel to put the Israelites in mind of all that He had done for them, and how ungrateful they had been--always worshipping idols, and turning away from Him, though He had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and led them through the wilderness, and given them the beautiful land of Canaan. But they would not serve Him there, so punishment had come.

SOME ISRAELITES WERE CAPTIVES.

Some of the Israelites were captives already in the land of the king of Babylon. Ezekiel was one of them; and just four years after he spoke this prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and took it once more, and made King Zedekiah prisoner as he was trying to flee away. Zedekiah's sons were put to death before his eyes; and after that his eyes were put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon, and there slain.

Beautiful Jerusalem was set on fire, the walls were thrown down, and all the gold and silver in the Temple was carried off to Babylon; and the Jews themselves were made to go there too, and live as prisoners there.

This was the way God punished them to make them sorry for their sins; and still He gave them hope that when seventy years were over, they should come back, and build up their city; and after that they would always remember their old fault, and never turn to worship false gods again. So God was merciful even in His anger, and sent their sorrow to make them know Him and serve Him better.

QUESTIONS.

1. Where had God led the Israelites from? 2. What beautiful place had He given them? 3. What were they to do for Him? 4. Did they serve Him? 5. What did they worship? 6. How did He punish them? 7. What young king had they lost already? 8. Who was the king that came up against Jerusalem? 9. What did Nebuchadnezzar do to Jerusalem? 10. Who was the king Nebuchadnezzar took? 11. What was done to king Zedekiah? 12. What was done to the city? 13. What was done to the people? 14. Were they ever to come back again? 15. How soon were they to come back? 16. What did they learn by their troubles?

Thirty-sixth Sunday.

_THE JEWS AT BABYLON._

FIRST READING.

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion."--_Psalm 137:1._

WHEN the Jews came to Babylon, some were made to live in the city, where they worked at trades, and kept shops. Others lived in the country and worked in the fields. These were not like the fields at home. The goodly land at home was full of hills and valleys, with sloping pastures for the flocks, and vineyards on the sides of the hills; but the land round Babylon was quite flat, with broad rivers flowing slowly and lazily through the meadows, with weeping willows upon their banks.

While Jerusalem was being besieged, Ezekiel, at Babylon, drew the picture of the town on a tile, and shut it in with a wall, and lay watching it, and weighing out a little bit of bad bread for himself to eat every day, that the other Jews who were with him might know what was going on among their brethren at Jerusalem, as God told him.

And in a vision he saw the angels come and mark in their foreheads all that were good, that they might not be hurt in the siege; while the bad would die by sword, and hunger, and sickness. So it is still, God saves His own good ones. The angels know and mark them, when all the rest are given up to God's terrible anger.

QUESTIONS.

1. What sort of place was Babylon? 2. Was it like the land of Israel? 3. Who was the prophet there? 4. What did he do while the siege of Jerusalem was going on? 5. Where did he draw it? 6. What did he eat? 7. Who were eating bread like that? 8. Who saw him? 9. What did he see an angel doing? 10. Who were marked? 11. What became of those who were marked? 12. What became of those who had no mark? 13. Who will always be safe? 14. How are you marked?

SECOND READING.

"Son of man, can these bones live?"--_Ezekiel 37:3._

THE great prophet Ezekiel was shewn by God how the Jews should be brought back after all their troubles. The Lord made him have a sort of dream, when he saw a whole valley spread over with dry bones, and the Lord said, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And Ezekiel said, "Lord, Thou knowest."

Then the Lord bade Ezekiel sing; and as he sung there was a shaking, and the bones came together again and joined in their right places; and as he sung on, the flesh came back on them; and then the Lord bade him call to the winds of heaven, and they came and filled them with breath again, and they rose up and lived.

Just so God said the kingdom of Judah was dead and scattered, but He would breathe on it, and wake it, and join it together again, like the dead bones rising to life.

And just so, we know, when all our bodies are dead, and our bones lie in the grave, the call of the Lord's voice will wake them up, and we shall rise on our feet, and His breath will come to us, and we shall stand before Him an exceeding great army. For that is the resurrection of the body which we look for.

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was the prophet? 2. What had happened to the kingdom of Judah? 3. Who had conquered it? 4. Why had Nebuchadnezzar conquered it? 5. 5. What did God shew Ezekiel? 6. How did the bones look? 7. What did God bid Ezekiel do? 8. What happened? 9. What came back to the bones? 10. What was dry and dead like the bones? 11. But what did God promise to do? 12. When did the Jewish people come to life? 13. What will become of us by-and-by? 14. What will be done with our bodies? 15. When will they wake? 16. What will wake them? 17. What will be joined together? 18. Will they die any more? 19. For what do we believe in?

THIRD READING.

"God gave them knowledge and skill."--_Daniel 1:17._

AMONG the Jews who were carried away to Babylon there were some little boys, young princes of the king's family, who had been brought up in the palace of the house of David. They could not have been more than twelve years old when they were thus taken from their homes.

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, thought he should like to have them to wait on him. So he desired the steward of his place to have them taken into his care, to be taught both to wait on the king, and to know all the learning of Babylon.

Slaves instead of princes. That was sad enough, but what grieved these boys most of all was that the dinners that were sent to them all came from the king's own table, and they knew that all the meat there came from creatures that had been offered up to idols.

Now there was one boy, whose name was Daniel, who knew that it was very wrong for any Jew to eat meats that had been offered to idols. Some of the boys said they did not care, and some said they were very sorry, but they could not help it. Yes, Daniel said, they could help it if they would leave off eating meat and drinking wine, and only have beans and water.

LOYAL TO DANIEL.

Then three more of the boys said they would stand by Daniel, and have only the beans and water rather than break God's holy Law. Their proper names were Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, but the king had changed all the boys' names, and he called them Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

So Daniel asked their master, Melzar, to give them none of the rich wine and fine dainties, but only water and pulse--that is, beans.

But Melzar said they would grow thin and weak on such poor food, and then the king would be angry with him.

"Only try us for just ten days," Daniel said.

And God so blessed the food, that at the end of ten days, Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, were fairer and fatter than all their cousins and friends who had been eating the king's dainties.

And Melzar had found that none were so true and honest and obedient and painstaking, so he trusted them very much; and they grew wise and learned, and still loved and feared their God, though they were slaves so far away from home.

Now remember how they began. It was by giving up the things they liked when they found it was wrong to have them. When you are tempted to be greedy, would it not be a good thing to recollect Daniel and the other boys eating beans and drinking water?

QUESTIONS.

1. Who were the boys carried to Babylon? 2. What were their proper names? 3. What did the king call them? 4. What was the name of the king of Babylon? 5. How did he desire these boys to be brought up? 6. What had they been at home? 7. What were they to eat? 8. Why did they not like to eat these meats? 9. What did Daniel beg for? 10. Who joined with him? 11. Who was their master? 12. What did Melzar say? 13. How long was it to be tried? 14. How did Daniel and his friends look? 15. Why was this? 16. Why did God bless them? 17. How did they behave? 18. What was the beginning of all their holiness? 19. What ought we to keep in order?

Thirty-seventh Sunday.

_DANIEL AT BABYLON._

FIRST READING.