order had been flagrantly disobeyed. During several years, the priests had been accepting all the gifts and collecting all the taxes, but had not spent one shekel on repairs. Indebted to the priesthood though he was, the king would not permit such gross injustice to continue. Calling Jehoiada and other priests to him, he sharply rebuked them for their faithlessness, and then took away from them both the right of receiving money from the people and also the authority of repairing the Temple. In place thereof, a new arrangement was decided on, according to which a contribution box was placed to the right of the entrance of the sacred building, in which box the people deposited their offerings. At certain intervals, the high priest and the secretary to the king took out the money, counted it together, and then handed over the proper amount to the superintendents of labor, who in turn distributed it among the workmen employed to renovate the building. Thus, the structure was henceforth kept in proper repair, but no money was wasted in vain ornamentation, such as in buying gold and silver cups, as had been done by Solomon. V. ILLUSTRATION AND SUGGESTION. Questions. Who looks after the money in the contribution box in your temple? How did God use the boy Isanc to teach Abraham a great lesson? Why did God take such loving care of the baby Moses? What is God doing for you? What are you doing for Him? Illustration. The rabbis well understood the valuable service that children render in the world. Two of their sayings are these: "Jerusalem was destroyed, because there ceased to be school children"; and "The world is saved by the breath of school children. Even to build the Temple, the schools must not be closed." Further, they tell us that in the days of King Ahasuerus of Persia, when Mordecai was bowed down in grief because of the cruel decree that Haman had just issued against the Jews, two boys were seen merrily skipping along on their way home from school. They chanced to pass by Mordecai who, though wrapped in the deepest gloom, was for the moment relieved at the sight of their unrestrained happiness. In the hope of diverting his mind for the moment from the doom hanging over his people, Mordecai called the boys to his side, and to the first one said, "What did you learn in school today?" "I learned Prov. 3:25," responded the boy, "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh!" Comforted by this answer, Mordecai addressed the second boy, "And, my son, what did you learn?” "My teacher taught Isaiah 46:4," was the prompt answer, "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoary hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you!" At these words from the lips of school children, hope revived in Mordecai's breast. He turned to walk back to the palace gate and then, for the first time, noticed that Haman had been standing directly back of him. "You here!" exclaimed Mordecai, "I am glad of it. Did you hear what these boys said? They have been sent to me by the Lord in this hour of sadness to bid me take heart; for with God's help, I will yet find a way of defeating your nefarious plot." Suggestion. Have some of your pupils make a contribution box, such as is described in the text, and, hereafter, use it in taking up the class collection. Let the pupils color Map No. VI, in the booklet of Littlefield Outline Political Maps. Helpful Thought. "Ah! what would the world be to us -Longfellow. Lesson 58. A SHEPHERD WHO BECAME A PROPHET. Amos at Bethel (Taken from II Ki. 14:23-27; 18:9-11; Amos chs. 1-7.) I. THE TEACHER'S PREPARATION. The Method of Teaching. In St. John, Stories and Story Telling, study pp. 86-100 and write out paragraph 3 in the "Outline for Study of the Topic." The Material for Teaching. Do all the work assigned in Lesson LVIII of the Junior Bible. Consult Montefiore, Bible for Home Reading, Part I, pp. 351-365; Graetz, History of the Jews, Vol. I, pp. 228-245; Kent, Kings and Prophets, pp. 53-111; articles, "Prophets and Prophecy," "Amos" in the Jewish and other encyclopedias, and in Hastings, Greater Men and Women of the Bible; Carl H. Cornill, The Prophets of Israel, pp. 1-55. Judaism. In Abrahams, Judaism, study pp. 90-105 and write answers to the following questions: 1. Distinguish between the Messianic hope as held by Dr. Greenstone, and by the Central Conference of American Rabbis. 2. Which of these hopes makes the stronger appeal to you? Why? 3. Why in your opinion should Judaism continue to survive? II. THE AIM. No person can possibly engage in a more important piece of work in this world than that of introducing our children to our prophets. Adequately to present this subject one should possess all the qualifications of the ideal teacher. It is not enough to be gifted merely with a ready faculty for imparting knowledge; it is not enough to have pursued a thorough course in pedagogical theory and to have had long experience in educational practice. What is requisite, is all this and something more-a life consecrated by prayer, glorified by righteousness, hallowed by religion, the life of an inspired teacher. Approach every lesson on the prophets, therefore, in that devout frame of mind in which religious men are accustomed to perform the most holy and solemn acts of their lives. Your primary aim should be to radiate from your person such an atmosphere of reverence that your pupils will ever look upon the prophets with sublime veneration. As for Amos in particular, he was the first of these inspired teachers whose sermons have been preserved for us in much the same form as they were when he delivered them. The central theme in his preaching is this, that the Lord is a God of justice. Let your aim be to imitate the example of your predecessor by attempting to teach to your class the very truth that he taught to his generation; namely, that the Lord is indeed, a God of justice. III. THE POINT OF CONTACT. Hold up before, or describe to, your class a picture of the figure of Justice, with eyes bandaged, holding a scale in one hand and a sword in the other. Why do men paint Justice thus? Yes, in order that the judge might be unable to see which one of the litigants before him is lowly, and which exalted, and so, with impartial mind weigh their respective deeds in the scale, and strike with the sword the one found wanting. Unfortunately, however, judges are sometimes biasedseldom in America, but more often in such a country as Russia. Even among our own fathers in ancient Palestine, the courts at one time were notoriously corrupt, the decisions being always rendered in favor of the wealthy nobles and against the needy people. Let us hear the story of the heroic man who was sent by God to teach the world a totally new conception of justice. IV. EXPLANATORY NOTES. Ethical Topic-Justice. Date. The lesson opens in the year 781 B.C.E. when Jeroboam II ascended the throne in Samaria, and closes with the year 721 B.C.E. when Israel became subject to Assyria. The rulers in Judah during this period were Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah;* in Aram, we need mention only Ben-hadad III and Rezon II; in Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser IV, Shalmaneser IV and Sargon. Places. The royal sanctuary at Bethel, the capital Samaria, and Tekoa, a mountainous city almost three thousand feet high, about twelve miles south of Jerusalem. U. & U. Stereograph-10954-"Syrian shepherd and flock in Amos' home country near Tekoa, Palestine.' FROM JEHU TO JEROBOAM II.-After a single lesson on Judah, we now return to Israel, where we had left Jehu on the throne. This king, anointed as he had been by the prophets, waged a relentless and bloody warfare against Baalism. He continued the siege of Ramoth in Gilead, *Consult table on page 201. which, as we have already seen, he had been carrying on when he began the rebellion against Joram, but was unsuccessful both in this siege and elsewhere in his campaigns against Aram. Jehu bears the distinction of being the first of our kings whose picture we possess; for he came in contact with the mighty Assyrians, whose king, Shalmaneser II, erected the black obelisk on which Jehu is depicted in the submissive attitude of kissing the foot of the Assyrian monarch. This obelisk is now in the British Museum. The successor of Jehu was Jehoahaz, who continued the war against Aram, at first with such ill-fortune, that our army was at one time reduced to only fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand infantry, but later, with such success, that he started Israel on a half-century of phenomenal prosperity. He was followed by his son Jehoash,* during whose reign all of our enemies seem to have grown very weak, so that the new king won back, without great difficulty, all the east-Jordanic provinces. Next Jeroboam II mounted the throne, under whose guidance Israel rose meteor-like to the very zenith of wealth and splendor. The history here recapitulated may be found in II Ki. 10, 13, 14:23-31:17. THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF ISRAEL.-This extraordinary and unexpected success in war, due not so much to any marvelous increase in our military ability, but more to a decline in the enemies' fighting power, rapidly filled to overflowing both the coffers of the State and the purses of the ruling classes. The nobles vied with one another in building the most luxurious summer and winter palaces, lavishing enormous sums of money on the idle display. In these houses they drank wine by the bowlful, and stored the spoils of their robbery. Worse than the men were the lazy and pampered women who revelled in pomp, extravagance and parade. But as might be expected at a time when the rich set no limit to the gratification of their appetites, the condition of the poor had become well nigh unbearable. The small land owner kept gradually sinking to lower and lower stages of destitution, until his property was finally taken away from him, and he and his 3 *This king of Israel is not to be confused with his namesake in Judah about whom we studied last week. |