1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah

Sophy. Oh, yes. It was at a very sorrowful part. God said He would give up Israel because they worshipped idols and did many wicked things. God said: They are not my people. And He let the king of Babylon come into their country; and he burnt down the House of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the fine houses of the people. And he took the king of Judah captive, and put out his eyes, and kept him a prisoner in Babylon till he died.

M. Why did God call Israel, "Not my people"?

S. Because of the sin of Manasseh the king, who killed a great many good people; and because they worshipped the calves of gold that Jeroboam made. For Jeroboam made Israel to sin, by making them worship these calves instead of God.

M. I am glad you remember so well. After this there were two kings reigning together. The one whose throne was in Jerusalem was called the king of Judah. He had only two tribes, and God called them the remnant of His people. And God sent prophets and good men among them, to warn the people not to forget Him. And God blessed Judah for His servant David's sake.

S. Was it the king's fault that the people were so wicked?

M. Yes. Because the kings ought to have taught their subjects the right way. God gave His people into their charge, and the king was God's servant to do judgment and justice on the earth. And when the king was good God blessed the people. God tried His people first by one thing, then by another. God tried Adam with everything delightful in the garden of Eden; and Adam fell by disobedience. Then God put man over every beast of the field, and gave Noah power over the animals. But Noah could not govern himself. Next, God called Abraham out from among the people who worshipped idols, and taught him how to walk by faith, and to trust God for everything. God blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and He separated them from all the nations of the world. And God called their children His chosen people. He brought them out of Egypt and led them through the wilderness. And there God gave them a law and commandments by the band of Moses. And what else did God give them?

S. A beautiful tabernacle, with the ark which was God's mercy seat, where God used to come in glory between the cherubim. And Aaron was God's high priest and he had beautiful clothes to wear, when he went into God's presence.

M. Yes. God tried His people by a law and by priesthood. They broke God's first commandment and made a calf of gold and worshipped it. God punished their sin, but forgave them when Moses prayed for them. And He brought them into the land that He had promised to Abraham.

S. That was the land of Canaan. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. And God helped them to drive out the Philistines and all the wicked nations.

M. God set up His people Israel in this land that the Lord God cared for, His eyes were upon it from one year's end unto the other. God gave every man his own possession in it, and He drove out all the wicked nations. But even in Canaan they were unfaithful, they forgot God, and they did not continue to drive out the wicked nations; but made peace with them and learned their ways and sometimes they even worshipped their idols.

S. Did not the priests always love God?

M. No, even the priesthood failed. You remember about Eli's sons; how wicked they were, and how sorrowful Eli was about them. In his time God allowed the Philistines to come and take away the ark; and the glory departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken.

S. Oh, yes; that was the time that Hannah prayed for Samuel.

M. Samuel was given in answer to his mother's prayer. He was the prophet of prayer, and he taught the people, that in the very worst state of things, the faithful one might always go direct to God, and get an answer straight from Him. Samuel never ceased to pray for the people.

S. But God gave them judges before Samuel?

M. Yes: When the wicked nations oppressed them, then they cried to God in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

S. I remember about Gideon, how he took three hundred men with only pitchers in their hands, and lamps inside the pitchers; sand when they blew with their trumpets all the armies of the Midianites and of the Amalekites fled, and God gained a great victory for him that day.

M. Gideon, by faith in the God of Israel, drove the enemy out of the land. I should like you to remember that the Midianites were descended from Abraham, and his wife Keturah. And Amalek was the son of Esau's eldest son. So that both were related to the children of Israel.

S. Why, then, were they always at war with Israel?

M. Because they tried to hinder God's chosen people from possessing the place of blessing that God had prepared for them. Our nearest relations are often the greatest hindrance to us in the things of God, because they would like to keep us from going on. The first time that Amalek came against the children of Israel was in the wilderness, when they were going up to Canaan. They tried to hinder them from going on, to the promised land. God was so displeased with Amalek for this, that He said He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

S. But, Mamma, this book that we are going to read now, seems to be nearly all names?

M. It is a chronicle, which God Himself has kept, of His people; and precious to us in this way, that it shews how God keeps account of every man by name. Every name is written in His Book. And, as we read on, we shall find that the Spirit of God kept account, not only of their names, but of their works; and of the way God's mercy and goodness acted towards each one, for correction, and for blessing.

S. Does God write our names in His Book?

M. Assuredly He does. The name of every one who has been washed from his sins in the precious blood of Christ, is surely written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.

S. Does God remember the names of people who do not believe in Jesus, too, Mamma?

M. Oh, yes; none is forgotten. When the great white throne is set, the dead, small and great, shall stand before God. Other books will then be opened, and the people will be judged according to the things that are written in the books, according to their works. On that day, every one whose name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, will be cast into the lake of fire.

1 Chronicles 1-9

1Ch 1-9Mamma. In this Book of Chronicles we are reminded that God began with Adam. You remember that Adam was the first man; God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and so he became a living soul. God placed him on the earth in responsibility and blessing. Adam was the bead of all creation, but he disobeyed God; and death was the result of his sin. Yet in Adam God took up fallen man, and taught him that the Child of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.

Sophy. Why does God count back from Adam when he was the first sinner?

M. Just because he was the first man and the father of all men, and all men were sinners: he was first of the race of fallen man. The story of redemption is the story of how fallen man got back to God, and this chapter shows us how it was God's purpose to save from the beginning.

Fallen man rebelled against God, and rejected His love. But we get Seth, Noah, Shem, Abram, as those who heard the voice of God, And followed Him; and we see here, how the blessing reached out to their families also; but many were unfaithful and rebellious.

S. Oh, yes; I remember. Even those who knew God best, like Abraham and David, were not always good.

M. Abram began a new family and God said: In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Then we get Isaac and Jacob, or Israel as God called him; and all the children of Israel set up in blessing on the earth, but also in responsibility.

S. What do you mean by responsibility.

M. I mean that they were obliged to answer to God for all that He had given them. If I tell you to do anything you have to do it; and you must answer to me as my child, for not doing it. They were accountable to God to do nothing to forfeit His favor. Responsibility means, that you have to answer for, to take the consequences of, all your actions; and of all you neglect to do, as well. When Moses gave them a law, they said: all that the Lord commands us, we will do; then they were responsible to obey all that the Lord said in the law. So, when God set them in their possessions in the promised land, every man was responsible to hold fast his possession, and to keep out the Amalekites and the Philistines. But, as we know, man always failed in responsibility, first in one thing, then in another. But God’s mercy and loving-kindness flowed on just the same; like the sun in its bright shining, it is always there, ready to burst forth at any moment, in favor and goodness to His chosen people. Judah is especially mentioned as the tribe from which David came; and here the Spirit of God makes an interesting mention of a man named Jabez, which means sorrow. His mother named him thus, because she was so sorrowful when he was born.

S. Why was his mother sorrowful?

M. God's word has not told us, but the state of God's people was sad enough to make any one sorrowful. God honored Jabez more than any of his brethren, because he called on the God of Israel, and he said, Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my coasts, and that thine hand might be with me, and that on wouldst keep me from evil that it may not grieve me!

S. What a nice prayer!

M. God granted his request, and I think the mention of it here shows how even our prayers are remembered by the great and, blessed God. He not only answers them, but He remembers the cry of the sorrowful spirit; and He forbids that it should be grieved by the evil around.

The names of the Levites are all given, because they were the servants in the house of the Lord. They lodged round about the house of God, because it was their business to open it every morning and to take charge of all the vessels belonging to the holy place. These lists of names were also used to mark the possessions belonging to each family. Do you remember about the first king of Israel?

S. Oh, yes; Saul. God was not pleased with him because he did not drive out the Philistines

M. Yes; and he died on the field of battle, conquered by the Philistines. It was a sad end for Saul and his three sons. The Lord had told Samuel to make David king, and all Israel gathered round David. The first thing told of David here is that he went up to Jerusalem, and drove out the Jebusites, and took the castle of Zion, which is called the city of David, and he promised that whoever smote the Jebusites first should be the chief captain. So Joab, the son of David's sister Zeruiah, went up and so became chief; then David became greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him. David had thirty mighty men, but the first three were more valiant than the rest. One day when David was being hunted by Saul and was in the cave of Adullam, he longed for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, and the first three put their lives in danger to get it for him. But David thought it was too precious to drink, so he poured it out for a drink-offering to the Lord. Bethlehem means the house of bread. It is the same as Bethel, where God met Jacob and gave him in a dream the vision of a ladder that went up to heaven. And Bethlehem was the place where Jesus (the true Son of David) was born, and where He was laid, a lowly babe, lit a manger.

1 Chronicles 12-16

1Ch 12-16Mamma. We also get the names of those who went to Ziklag to David, when he was persecuted by Saul. These were men who had not a double heart; they did not pretend to take David's part one day and leave him the next; they were men of war fit for the battle, whose faces were like the faces of lions —brave looking, and they were like the roes upon the mountains in their haste to help. The Spirit of God keeps account of their mighty works. At one time they owed over Jordan when the river was overflowing both its banks.

But why was David at Ziklag at this time?

S. Because Saul was so unkind m. He followed David from place to place, because he wanted to kill him. At last David fled into the land of the Philistines, and asked the king to let him live in his country. Then Achish, the king of Gath, gave Ziklag to David; and David lived there for a whole year, until Saul was killed in battle, then David became king of Israel.

M. Just so. And here we learn the names of those men who helped David at Ziklag, and we find that they were doing the very thing that was most pleasing to God at that moment; because He had determined that David was to be king. For they came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And they stayed with David for three days, feasting David, for their brethren brought all kinds of good thing to show their good feeling to David—asses and camels and mules and oxen laden with all the delicious things of the earth, cakes and figs and raisins and wine and oil, for there was joy in Israel.

S. Was David glad to be king?

M. Yes; and his first thought was of God, who had made him ruler of this great people; for he called together all the captains and leaders of the people, and he proposed to them to send word to all the people of Israel and to the priests and Levites, that they might come together and join him in bringing back the ark of God into his place. For they had not inquired of the ark in the days of Saul. And the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David gathered all Israel together to bring up the ark from Kirjathjearim, where it had remained since the Philistines had sent it back. Do you remember?

S. Oh, yes. The Philistines put it on a new cart, and sent it by two cows, and they locked up their calves at home; and the cows went the right way, lowing as they went, because God made them go the right way. And when the children of Israel saw it, they ran and took it off the cart, and offered the cows for a sacrifice to shew how glad they were.

M. Just so. And here David seems to have imitated them, for he put the ark of God on a new cart. And the sons of Abinadab drove the cart. And David and Israel played before God with all their might, with singing, and harps and musical instruments and with trumpets. But, when the oxen stumbled, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark. Anti the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark. And David was displeased and was afraid of God that day. And he said: How shall I bring the ark of God home to me? Therefore David did not bring the ark to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom, and it remained there for three months, and God blessed the house of Obededom and all he had.

S. Why was God displeased at David doing what the Philistine had done?

M. Because God had given directions about the ark and David ought to have known them, the Philistines did not. They only knew that God had all power, and that He could make even His dumb creatures go where He pleased. But God's own people ought to have said, That is not the way that we are to carry the ark, for God appointed men on purpose to do so. They were to carry it by the staves. (Ex. 25:14.) We read in the Book of Numbers (Num. 4) how the sons of Kohath were set apart to carry the holy things. David felt God's rebuke; but he did not give up the desire to have the ark, of God near him, for when he built houses for himself in the city of David, he also prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. And God shewed David what he had done wrong, for He said: None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for them path God chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto Him forever. So now David goes again to bring up the ark from the house of Obededom, and this time he is right; and, as God's anointed king, he calls together both priests and Levites, all the children, of Aaron. As God's anointed David is really above the priests, and it is the king who orders everything. All are to sanctify themselves, and David appoints the singers and the players on instruments of music for they were to lift up their voice with joy, and to bring up the ark with joy.

S. Was Obededom sorry that the ark was taken out of his house?

M. I think not; for David appointed him one of the doorkeepers to the ark. Doubtless Obededom knew how right it was that the ark should be in Zion—the city of David. God helped the Levites, and they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. David himself took the lead, he was clothed in a priestly garment, a robe of fine linen, and a linen ephod; for he was a royal priest that day. But Michal, Saul's daughter, did not understand this.

Then David gave a Psalm to the priests to sing: Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. He praises the Lord for His covenant with Abraham, and for His wonderful woks among the nations. He rejoices that the heavens will be glad and the earth also, when the nations shall know that Jehovah reigns.

1 Chronicles 17-21

1Ch 17-21Mamma. Here we read of David's desire to build a house for God, and of God's reasons for not allowing David to do so.

Sophy. Oh, yes. You read that to me in the Book of Samuel; because David was a man of war, God would not let him build a house; but God said that his son who should reign after him, might build a house for God. And God would put His name there.

M. Just so. David rejoiced in the blessing of the Lord, and the Lord prospered him in his wars with the Philistines, and against the children of Ammon who behaved so badly to David; and God allowed David's brother to kill another giant, son of the great Goliath whom David slew with a pebble from the brook, when he was only a shepherd boy.

But now, just as David was so happy and thankful, Satan, the old serpent and deceiver, stood up against Israel, and he provoked David to number the people.

S. Why did Satan do so?

M. Because he hates God's people and cannot bear that they should be prosperous; and he knew that if he could put it into David's heart to be proud of them, it would be a sure way to injure them. Joab told David that it was a wrong thing to do; but when Satan gets us to listen to him, our wills become very strong; so David was determined to do it. And God was displeased, and He smote Israel.

Poor David! at once he felt what he had done; and he said to God, I have sinned greatly, do away with the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly. Then the Lord sent Gad the prophet to tell David of God's judgment upon him for this. David's answer shows his confidence in God, for he said: Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for great are His mercies, but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord let seventy thousand people die from the pestilence and as He was destroying, the Lord repented from the evil, and He said to the angel: It is enough, stay now thine hand. And David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord stand between earth and heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said to God: I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me and on my father's house, but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. A little while before David was proud to think that they were his people. But when he turns to God to intercede for them, he says: Thy people.

S. Was God displeased with Israel before David numbered the people?

M. Yes. We learn from Samuel that they had provoked the Lord. Doubtless He would not have allowed Satan to tempt David, to do what would bring judgment upon them, if, in His holiness God had not seen that they needed to be chastened. Here, as so often before, we find mercy in the midst of judgment; for God stops the angel lest he should touch Jerusalem. And on the spot where the angel stands still, David sets up an altar and offers burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and calls upon the Lord. The Lord answers him from heaven by fire which came down upon the altar and burnt up the offerings.

S. Why did God answer by fire?

M. To shew that His righteousness was satisfied and that He accepted David and his offering. It is very beautiful to see the way that David always speaks to God Himself. Even when God only sent messages to him by the prophet Gad. Nothing would satisfy David but telling all his sin, his sorrow and everything about it, to God Himself. David knew that He would hear, and he felt that he must have God's own answer. Now having answered by fire, and having accepted David and his offering, the Lord commands the angel to put up his sword into the sheath. And when David finds that God has answered him, he again offers sacrifices to make sure to his heart the forgiveness of his God. And David said: This is the house of the Lord God and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel. And immediately David began to prepare stones, and iron, and cedar trees in abundance to build the house of the Lord.

S. Why did they not bring the tabernacle that Moses made to Jerusalem?

M. Because they had taken the ark out of it, thinking it would save them from their enemies, the Philistines, and God had let the Philistines take away the ark, and God had said, The glory is departed from Israel because the ark of God is taken. So God would no longer acknowledge the tabernacle, except as a judged thing that was set aside. The ark and the mercy-seat were not in it, and David longed for these; not for the tabernacle.

The tabernacle and the altar were still at Gibeon, but David could not go there to inquire of God, for he was afraid, because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. The place of judgment was David’s only place of safety, and there he stood beside the sacrifice, till God answered him by fire. And at this spot, where mercy rejoiced over judgment, God's house is to be set up in a new way. The person of the king is accepted and everything depends—not now on the keeping of commandments written on stone—but upon the Lord's Anointed:

1 Chronicles 22

1Ch 22Sophy. You read to me all about David in the Book of Samuel, why is it written over again in Chronicles?

Mamma. Because God's revelation of Himself would not be complete without these two accounts. In Samuel it is the history of God's people, as it actually occurred. But the Book of Chronicles was written long after.

When the people had been carried captive into a strange land, on account of their wickedness, God gave this history as explaining to them, and to us also, His reasons and the grounds He had for so punishing the people; and He also tells out His purposes about them, to His servant to write down. Chronicles is God's own account of them, as it appeared in His sight. Their names, their mighty deeds, God remembered all the good He could of them, and their evil deeds were only remembered to show how God treated them, and how His wonderful purposes were carried out to lead them into greater blessing.

S. How did the story of David numbering the people, show that God had a purpose to bless them?

M. By making a new beginning for the people of God. At the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite they began again, not under the law, though the law was there to judge them if they broke it. But it was a new thing to have a king who was always in favor, and to be set in the rest that God had made for His people. I think God gave this account to His servant to write in order to show how, all along, He was thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come as the true Solomon, the son of David. He will do all God's will, and will be king over His people Israel.

It must have been a wonderful comfort to the prophet to think of this, when he saw the children of Judah captive in Babylon, and the other ten tribes scattered in Assyria. And to know that the day would come when a greater than David, and a greater than Solomon, would lead their praises, and gather together, not at Gibeon in the place of fear; but round His own blessed Person, as the King of Righteousness and King of Peace. He will come forth with bread and wine to bless the people in the name of Jehovah.

S. How soon will that be, Mamma?

M. As soon as Jesus has saved all the members of His body, the church, which is His fullness, and taken them to be with Him where He is. Then He will come back to the earth, where a very few of the children of Israel will be watching for Him to come; the rest will be like the nations of the earth, following after a king who will set himself up in his own name. But Jesus will reign till all His enemies will be put under His feet. Then, like David, He will appear before God for His people and lead them into God's rest.

S. But Jesus did no sin as David did.

M. Quite true. In Him is no sin. But Jesus took the sin upon Him before God, as if He had done it; and Jesus bore the judgment of it in His own body on the tree. So when Jesus comes as God's "Man of rest," it be a rest that He has made Himself, by shedding His blood upon the cross. So that He can then say of Satan, and of all the, enemies of God, they are sunk like lead in the mighty waters. David quite understood this, when in his psalm he sung of the everlasting covenant; and of the joy of the whole earth at the presence of the Lord, when He should come to judge the earth. Then they shall say that He is good, and that His mercy endures forever! Then also they will say: Blessed is the Lord God of Israel forever and forever!

S. Why did David get the stones and cedar-wood if he might not build the house of God?

M. Because his heart was set upon God's house being built, even if he was not to do it himself. God had taught David what suited His presence. In all his sufferings, David had learned the mind of the Lord in a peculiar way. And because Solomon, his son, was young and tender; and the house to be built for God ought to be exceedingly magnificent, of fame, and of glory throughout all countries.

David called for Solomon his son and told him the great things God had said about him, and that he was to have the great work to do of building a house for God. Then David prayed that God would give him wisdom and understanding to take care of God’s people, and to do what was right himself; so the Lord would prosper him. In David's trouble about his sin in numbering Israel, he had prepared for the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and brass and iron abundantly; and Solomon was to add still more. And David commanded all the princes to help Solomon, and to set their heart and soul to seek the Lord, and to build a sanctuary for the Lord, and to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels, into the house that was to be built to the name of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 23-25

1Ch 23-25Mamma, Now when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon, his son, king over Israel. And David appointed all the people to their right place in the kingdom. He chose those who he could judge, to be judges; and who could keep the door, to be porters; those who could sing were to praise the Lord. Whatever they could do, they were to do for the house of the Lord. He said the Levites might begin to serve in the house of the Lord when they were only twenty years old. Moses had not allowed them to serve till they were thirty.

Sophy. Had every one something to do for God's house?

M. |iI| think all the Levites in the kingdom had something to do. They cast lots that they might know that God approved, the small as well as the great, the teacher and the scholar. The lots fell to, twenty-four families, and to twelve in each family—in all two hundred and eighty-eight persons. Some might prophesy others might give thanks and praise. Heman, who was a Levite, had fourteen sons and three daughters, all these were, under their father for song in the house of God, singing, with harps and musical instruments.

S. Why did they play on harps in God's house?

M. Because music is an expression of joy. In God's presence is fullness of joy. In His house they were to be glad and rejoice in Him. God says, Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me. God likes to hear the praises of His people.

S. What is praise?

M. It is telling of His mighty acts, and of all His excellent greatness; saying in simple words how great and good we have found Him to be. No one can truly praise God, who does not know Him. You could not say, What a good mother I have! if you had never known your mother. People talk of praising God sometimes, who do not know Him. Those who have never felt His love cannot sing of it truly. Those who have not known what it is to receive blessing from God, cannot really praise but because all true praise is the answer from the Christ's heart to what it has found in God, and the kind of praise that each one of His children gives, exactly shews the kind of blessing that each one has received from Him. The first thing that David learned of God was that He helped him to kill a lion and a bear.

S. Oh, yes; and that made David able to kill the giant.

M. Just so. And long afterwards he gives thanks to God, saying, To Him who slew great kings, for His mercy endureth forever: that was praise.

S. Is there anything about music in the New Testament?

M. No. In the New Testament we are told to sing, making melody in our hearts to the Lord. We can only do this by the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit does not want harps or instruments of music to express His joy in God. Singing and making melody in the heart, is connected with giving thanks always, for all things, unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When God came down to dwell with His people upon earth, everything beautiful was to be seen—a magnificent house and magnificent service, because God was there and His glory was. But now God's own beloved Son is not seen: He has been rejected by His own people. He has been driven out of the world by man's wickedness, so everything is quite changed; because Jesus is gone back to heaven where the people of this world cannot see Him. He is hid in God until He comes again to show Himself to this wicked world as its judge. Then it will see Him, but now it cannot see Him, nor can the world understand anything about Him. But those, who by faith see that Jesus is their Savior, they see Him where He is—passed into the heavens.

S. How can that be, Mamma?

M. By faith. Faith is, seeing things that are not seen.

S. Must I shut my eyes, then, to see by faith?

M. Yes; a blind person can see nothing around him, and yet by faith he can see God—above him, beside him, and all round him. And now God will not have anything that is seen; no magnificent service, no harps and instruments of music can delight Him now. But God has still a place on earth; and He still takes pleasure in His people. Can you tell me where God dwells now?

S. With those who love Him?

M. Yes. When Jesus was going away to heaven, He said: If a man love me he will keep my words; and my Father will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. The heart of the Christian is God's dwelling-place on earth now. It is the only clean place where His Spirit can dwell. The church is the habitation or dwelling place of God, by the Spirit. The Christian's heart is the only place where Jesus can set up His throne now. Man and Satan have it all their own way in this world, and there is not one single spot in all this world where Jesus is called king.

S. Why do you say the Christian's heart is the only clean place for God?

M. Because all the world is under judgment for rejecting God's Son; but the Christian is one called out from the place of Judgment, and washed from his sins in the blood of Jesus. Then God's Spirit takes possession of that person, and, as the sons of Aaron were anointed on the ear, the hand, the foot, so the Christian is sealed as God's child; his heart is kept as a dwelling-place for God; and, if he keeps the word of Jesus, the Father and the Son are known in his heart, he keeps company with them, and they keep company with him.

S. That is very wonderful.

M. It is wonderful, but it is true. And it is by faith. No one can see when I have the Father and the Son dwelling in my heart. Nor shall I want a harp to express my joy, because the Spirit of God will be there, making melody in my heart to the Lord. And once that blessed Spirit has taken up His abode in a Christian's heart, He will never give it up, until God has made these poor bodies alive again, and just like Jesus' glorious body, by His Spirit that dwelleth in us. The Holy Spirit who makes us know that God loves us— shedding abroad God's love in our hearts—is the very same Spirit by whom God will raise us from among the dead to dwell with Him forever.

Christ's grave is vacant now,

Left for the throne above;
His cross asserts God's right to bless

In His own boundless love.

‘Twas then the blood was shed,

'Twas then the life was pour'd,
There mercy gain'd her diadem,

While justice sheath'd her sword.

And thence the child of faith

Sees judgment all One by,
Perceives the sentence fully met,

"The soul that sins shall die.”

Learns how that God in love

Gave Christ the sins to bear

Of all who own His lordship now,

That they His place might share;

And cries with wondering joy:

As He is, so am I—

Pure, holy, loved as Christ Himself—

Who shall my peace destroy?

Nay! for He purged my guilt,

By His own precious blood,
And such its virtue, not a stain

E'er meets the eye of God.

1 Chronicles 26-29

1Ch 26-29Mamma. Obededom and his eight sons are mentioned among the porters, for God blessed him because the ark was in his house.

They were all mightymen, strong, and able to serve in the house of the Lord. These porters, or gate keepers, cast lots to know which gate the Lord would appoint each family to keep, and some were set at the east gate, some at the north, some at the south, and some at the west. Some of the Levites were also appointed to take care of the treasures of the Lord's house. And one of the descendants of Moses was ruler of the treasures.

Sophy. What were the treasures?

M. They were the precious things that were given to the house of the Lord. David and his captains dedicated treasures of silver and gold from the spoils taken from the nations whom he conquered.

S. What does dedicated mean?

M. It means set apart for some special purpose. In Joshua 6:19, we read that the children of Israel were to bring all the silver and gold and brass and iron, they might get from their enemies, when they conquered them, into the Lord's treasury. You remember how Achan kept a piece of gold for himself, and what terrible judgment came upon him for this sin. All the gifts that Samuel had given, or Saul, or Joab, or that every one in Israel gave to the Lord, were all kept as the treasures of the house of the Lord, You must remember this, for you will hear afterward how wickedly some of these kings used and gave away these treasures. And David sought out all the men of valor to give them something to do in the kingdom. Even those who had chosen to live on the other side of Jordan were not forgotten by David, they also had to serve God and the king.

S. Were the children of Israel very many at that time?

M. Yes. But David would not count those who were younger than twenty years old; because the Lord had said that He would make Israel as many as the stars in the heavens. And those that David did count were not written down in God's account, because it was not for God that David numbered the people; but to shew his own greatness. And the king appointed men to take care of all his treasures, and his storehouses, his vineyards, and his olive-trees. He also put men over his herds, his camels, his asses, and his flocks.

Then David called together all the princes and captains of Jerusalem; and he stood up before them all, and told them, how he had wished to build a house of rest for the ark of the Lord; and how God had told him that he must not do it, because David was a man of war; but that his son Solomon should be the chosen one, for David had a great many other sons. But God chose Solomon to be His son, and God said He would be a Father to him. Then David turned to Solomon, before all the people, and told him how everything would depend on the way that he continued to serve God with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. Then David gave Solomon the pattern of the things that he should make: the porch and the house and the mercy-seat, and the treasuries and the ordering of the priests.

S. Did God shew David things in heaven as He did to Moses?

M. Not in the same way. Moses was taken up into the mountain away from every one, where he was alone with God; and there, in secret, God showed him the pattern of things, by which man could draw near to God. Moses stayed in the mount for forty days, until he had learned the pattern and form of the heavenly things. But God taught David by the Spirit. He says, The Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the works of His pattern. He gave to Solomon, his son, the exact weight in gold for all the vessels of gold, and the weight-in silver for all the vessels of silver. And David said: Be strong and of good courage and do it; fear not nor be dismayed.

S. That is what the Lord said to Joshua when he was going up to conquer the land.

M. Yes; and it is repeated to Solomon; for all now depended on the king. God had set up His people in blessing in the promised land. He was going to dwell among them—a people at rest from their enemies. And David says, "my God" will be with thee. David thus encouraged Solomon to walk with God.

Everything was at his command in great abundance. David had made preparations with all his Might; for he had set his affection upon the house of his God. He had given of his own wealth to that house. The priests and the Levites, the princes and the people were to be wholly at the command of Solomon. And David said; Who is willing to give as I have given? Then all the people offered willingly.

S. What did they give?

M. Whatever they had. Those who had gold, gave gold; those who had precious stones, gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord. The people were very happy, because they offered willingly, with a perfect heart. David also rejoiced with great joy, and he blessed the Lord before all the congregation and said Blessed be the Lord God of Israel our Father, forever and ever.

His heart was always full of praise. And now, before the whole congregation, I suppose for the last time, they hear him proclaim, that greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty all are the Lord's; riches and honor, every good thing comes from God; and even Solomon in all his glory had nothing of himself or from himself—it was but the overflowing of God's goodness to; him. David owns this, and repeats with delight that it was, all God's own. He says, Who are we that we should offer willingly after this sort? For all things come of Thee, of Thine own have we given Thee.

S. Was that praise?

M. Yes; the purest praise, because it was the heart overflowing with the sense of what God is; the nothingness of the creature rejoicing in the fullness of God. Now David prays to God to keep His people and to keep Solomon; then he calls upon the people to bless the Lord. They bow their heads and worship the Lord and the king. They offer sacrifices in abundance, and eat and drink before the Lord with gladness. Then Solomon is anointed king a second time, and he sits on the throne of David, all Israel being subject to him, even the rest of David's sons. And the Lord magnified Solomon in the sight all Israel.

S. Do, we hear no more of David?

M. No. In Kings we read bout his last days; but here we lose sight of him praising God in the midst of the congregation of Israel, and at the same time interceding for them.

David reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem; he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 1-2

2Ch 1-2Mamma. Here we read that the Lord was with Solomon and magnified him exceedingly. The first thing that Solomon did was to go up with all the chief people in Israel, to sacrifice to God at the brazen altar that was at Gibeon.

Sophy. Was that the altar that Moses made for the tabernacle?

M. Yes; the tabernacle was still standing at Gibeon. But David had brought up the ark of God to Jerusalem; there it remained in a tent, while Solomon was building the house of God. Solomon offered a thousand burnt-offerings upon the altar. It was an expression on the part of the king and his people that they were a people redeemed out of Egypt, and brought near to God in blessing; because, I hope you remember, that burnt-offerings were always offerings of a sweet savor to God, as we read in the Book of Leviticus.

S. I remember; you said the offerer put his hand on the burnt-offering, and it was accepted for him.

M. Just so. And that night God appeared to Solomon, and asked him a wonderful question. It was a question that we should all like to be asked by the great God, who is able to do for us far more exceeding abundantly than we have asked or thought.

S. I know. God said, What shall I give thee?

M. Yes; and Solomon's answer shewed what is the deepest desire in the heart of man, ever since-Eve ate of the fruit of the tree, because she believed it would make her wise. Solomon longed for true wisdom and knowledge. Solomon felt the great place that God had given him as David's son to rule over so great a people as God's people; and he felt that he wanted wisdom to go in and out before them, and to judge them truly according to God. God was pleased with the king's answer, it showed his sense of his own nothingness and his dependence upon God, and so His gave him wisdom and knowledge above any other man; and a great deal more besides, riches and honor such as no other king had before or after him.

S. Does God ever ask people what they would like now?

M. Not in that way, but I think God often tests His children by setting before them what He means to give them, and then trying whether they understand or value it. God likes His gifts to be valued, and when we choose one thing more than another it shows that we value it. Solomon valued the wisdom of God; he said, all the things to be desired are not to be compared to it; that it is much better to get wisdom than gold or silver. Solomon had more gold and silver and precious stones and beautiful things than any other man ever had, and yet he says: Wisdom is the best thing of all, wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore he says to every one: Get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding.

S. Does God give wisdom to a little child?

M. Oh, yes; for we read in the Bible of a child who knew the holy scriptures, which are able to make "wise unto salvation," and it is of wisdom that it is written, They that seek me early shall find me, A little child may know Jesus, and He invites little children to love Him. Jesus is made unto us wisdom, and even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. When Jesus was a little child He was "filled with wisdom," and when He was only twelve years old, all that heard Him speak, were astonished at His understanding. One thing it is very important to remember; that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And people who try to be wise without the true beginning, are like the child who takes up a book and thinks he is reading it when he does not even know his letters. In all God's teaching there is first an alphabet-the first letters to the lesson He sets us to learn; and those who learn the first letters well, get to understand His teaching and the wisdom of His ways of love.

S. What is His first lesson? I know my alphabet.

M. God's alphabet, or first lesson, is to fear Him. Even a little child may fear Him, and may try to please Him and to avoid evil because God hates it. God is light and God is love, that is His alphabet. Solomon called every one a "fool" who did not know God.

As soon as Solomon had worshipped at Gibeon, he came back to Jerusalem and reigned over Israel. And he gathered chariots and horses, and silver and precious stones in great abundance.

S. Did Solomon begin to build the house at once?

M. Yes. He built a house for the name of the Lord, and a house for his kingdom. He called upon the king of Tire to help him by sending him cedar and fir trees out of Lebanon. And Solomon counted the people and set them all to work. The house was to be wonderfully great, because it was the type of the Lord's kingdom, and the house was to be connected with the glory of His name. It took some time to collect all the beautiful things that the house was to be made of; but he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

The tabernacle which Moses set up in the wilderness, was set up on the first day of the first month. The month that they came out of Egypt and when the Lamb was killed for the Passover.

The place where Solomon built the house was on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David had prepared to build there, because it was there the plague was stayed when He prayed to the Lord for Israel.

2 Chronicles 3-4

2Ch 3-4:5

Sophy. Did Solomon build the house of God on the same Mount Moriah where Abraham offered up Isaac?

Mamma. It is supposed to be the same place, though the Bible does not say so. But the truth is the same for those who find that spot. It is the place where God has found Himself a Lamb. In the Mount of the Lord it should be seen that He was Jehovah Jireh, which means, The Lord shall provide. And in the place where—because He would provide a Lamb—His mercy would rejoice over judgment; there He would put His name and He would choose that spot for His dwelling-place among His people.

S. Why did Solomon call it the house of his kingdom?

M. Because it was the Lord's kingdom, and the house was connected with the glory of His name.

It took some time to collect the beautiful cedar wood from Lebanon, and the gold and silver and precious stones; but he began to build in the fourth year of his reign, on the second day of the second month. The house inside was overlaid everywhere with fine gold. And the cherubim, with their wings stretched out, reached from one side of the house to the other, and their faces looked outward to bless the people. Then Solomon put up the vail which shut in the most holy place, where the ark and the cherubim were. And at the door of the temple were two pillars: one was called Jachin, which means, He will establish; and the other Boaz, In Him is strength.

S. Why were they called by those names?

M. Because the Lord will establish His kingdom, and its strength shall be in Himself. The story of Chronicles, as I tried to shew you before, is intended to point us to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will come to reign on the earth, as the true Son of David, in glory far greater than Solomon's; great though that was, it was only a figure of the Lord's. And as we study this book, we learn what God's purpose is, as to His chosen people by-and-by on the earth.

S. When will that be?

M. In the thousand years of blessing, or the Millennium, as it is generally called; when Satan will be bound, so that he cannot tempt people to be wicked; and Jesus will reign in righteousness, and keep everything in order and blessing by His own glory.

S. What a happy time that will be!

M. It will be a happy time for those who love Him; but it will not be a perfect time, because it will come to an end, and after the thousand years, Satan will be let loose again, and men's wicked minds will be acted upon by Satan; so that they will even join together to fight against the Lord. But He, who is the Lamb of God, shall overcome them, because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

S. Where will all the Christians be when Jesus is reigning as a King?

M. They will be reigning too, they shall reign with Him. All those sinners saved by grace, who confess the name of Jesus now, while He is not here, He will take up to heaven to be with Himself before He comes to reign. They will be the bride, the Lamb's wife, they will sit with Him in His throne; where He goes they will go, for they are united to Him eternally by the Holy Spirit. Nothing can ever separate Him, unto the ages and ages, from those who are now made members of His body, the church of the Firstborn.

S. Then is it a greater thing to be a member of Christ's body than to be blessed for a thousand years?

M. Far, far greater! we cannot conceive how infinitely great it is. It is the fullest blessing possible. God has revealed to us nothing else so blessed, or so wonderful, as that His own Son should pass through death because He loved the church, and gave Himself for it. The apostle Paul holds out this prospect to those who suffer-for the sake of Jesus now: If you suffer with Him, he says, you shall also reign with Him. And he counted the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. While Jesus is not here His people must expect to suffer—till He comes.

S. What is glory?

M. The glory of God is the expression of what He is; it is that which shines out from Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ always had a glory of His own; but He gained another glory by becoming a Man—the glory of the Son of man. That was the glory that the Father gave Him, because He did all His will so perfectly. But man, driven out of the garden of Eden, could have nothing to do with glory, until the God of glory had accepted an offering for him. And so here, the moment we get outside the temple, the first thing that meets us is the altar of brass; where the burnt-offering was offered for a sweet savor to the Lord. The next thing to the altar was a very wonderful thing—twelve great oxen of brass held up an enormous basin of brass which was always full of water, like a great lake or sea, and this was for the priests to wash in. The oxen were set in rows of three; three had their faces to the north, and three looked toward the west, three toward the south, and three to the east.

S. Could any one wash there but the priests?

M. No. There were also ten lavers, which were smaller basins, placed five on the right hand and five on the left; for them to wash the parts of the burnt-offering in.

Oh what a bright and blessed world

This groaning earth of ours will be,

When from its throne the tempter hurl'd,

Shall leave it all, O Lord, to Thee!

But brighter far that world above,

Where we, as we are known, shall know;

And, in the sweet embrace of love,

Reign o'er this ransom'd earth below.

Oh, blessed Lord! with weeping eyes,

That blissful hour we wait to see;

While every worm or leaf that dies

Tells of the curse, and calls for Thee.

Come, Savior, then, o'er all below

Shine brightly from Thy throne above;

Bid heaven and earth Thy glory know,

And all creation feel Thy love.

2 Chronicles 4-5

2Ch 4-5Sophy. Why were the priests to wash so much?

Mamma. Because they had to do with God. The washing with water was a type of the cleansing of the believer now; which is called the washing of water by the word. The Holy Spirit brings the word of God to the conscience in such a way that the believer knows what is unclean in the sight of God, and thus he gets separated in heart from it. The Lord Jesus said to Peter, If I wash you not you have no part with me. Peter could not have communion with the Lord he loved so much, if his feet were not washed. A priest's happy office was to be always worshipping Jehovah; and for this he had to be constantly washed. If he touched any soiled thing it made him unclean. If he touched a dead body by accident he became unclean. A believer now is nearer to God than any priest of Israel ever was.

And the Lord Jesus makes it His own business to wash our feet, and, by His word, to keep us in communion with Himself, for He likes us to have part with Him. We are before Him as purged worshippers, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

S. How are Christians washed with water by the word of God?

M. The Lord by His Spirit applies the word of God to our hearts in such a way that we know He is speaking to us by it. Hearts must let the word speak to them; he that has ears to hear let him hear; it is quite possible to turn a deaf ear to the voice of God's word, and sometimes we do not want the word of God to speak to us, we like to go in our own ways; and if we are not loving Jesus much, we are careless about having part with Him. But Jesus never gives up His desire that we should have part with Him, and His word is sharper than a sword with two edges which cuts on every side, so that we cannot escape from it.

Solomon made all the vessels which were for the inside of the temple of fine gold. And those things which were to be used outside, were of bright brass.

S. What was brass the type of?

M. Of righteousness. It was the reign of righteousness. The Gentile king did the work for Solomon. And all the vessels that David had dedicated beforehand, Solomon put among the treasures of the house of God. Do you remember what was the last thing brought into the temple with such great pomp and rejoicing?

S. The ark, with the mercy-seat, where God had His throne.

M. Yes; we read in Kings how Solomon assembled the chief of the people that all might join, and be of one mind in bringing up the ark of the Lord out of the city of David. It is a beautiful scene of heavenly joy upon earth.

“And all the mind of heaven is one.”

They all came to the king and offered sacrifices to the Lord. Their offerings were not counted and measured as the law commanded, but they were over and above, beyond counting and measurement; filled into the fullness of the glory of their king. This was the feast of the seventh month which we talked about when we were reading Leviticus.

S. Was it the feast of tabernacles when they made tents of the branches of the trees?

M. Yes. But it does not appear that they remembered this part of it here. The reason that the Lord gave for their dwelling in booths during the seven days of the feast of tabernacles, was that they might remember how the Lord had made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when He brought them out of Egypt.

S. Perhaps they were so happy that they forgot.

M. It is just like our hearts to forget the word of God, even while rejoicing before Him in a wonderful moment like this, when one sound went up to Him—the music, the praise, and thanksgiving saying: For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever. Then the house was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Then Solomon praised the Lord who said He would dwell in the thick darkness, but who had allowed him to build a house for Jehovah's dwelling-place; and as he spoke to the Lord, he turned his face and blessed the people, and the whole congregation of Israel stood. Then Solomon recounted all that the Lord had done for, His chosen people, and for His servant David.

2 Chronicles 6-9

2Ch 6:12-9Mamma. Now Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all Israel. He had made a scaffold of brass, and upon this he kneeled down, before all the people, and spread forth his hands toward heaven to pray.

Sophy. Did he pray out loud?

M. Oh yes; and all the people stood. Solomon prayed from no book, neither did the congregation; but God's Spirit taught His servant what to say and to ask for, according to the mind of God. He begins by owning, for his own heart's comfort, who God is, and what He is. God over all heaven and earth. A God who keeps covenant, and shews mercy to His servants. And such a God as this had promised to David his father, and had said He would dwell among men. Therefore Solomon prays that His eyes might be upon this house by day, and even by night; when it might seem to be dark and desolate, God's eyes would still be there—the God whose mercy endureth forever!

And if He punished man for iniquity, yet when there were confession and turning to God, He would forgive; for God knew the hearts of the children of men. Solomon had proved that, and he pleads that they were God's people, and the land was God's land. But he asks also that the stranger might prove the blessings of God's great name, and if even the stranger came to pray in this house, that God would hear the voice of a stranger, and would give to him what he asked for. Then he calls upon Jehovah to enter His resting-place, as he says, "Thou and the ark of thy strength; let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness! O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed; remember the mercies of David thy servant." And as soon as Solomon ceased, fire came down from heaven upon the burnt-offerings, and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces upon the ground and worshipped, praising the Lord in the words of the king, and saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.

S. Why did fire come down from heaven?

M. To show that God accepted their offerings. Do you remember that, when Aaron and his sons were consecrated, on the eighth day, when Aaron blessed the people, and the glory of God appeared to all the people, fire from the Lord came down, and burnt up everything on the altar? Then the people shouted, and fell on their faces. But at that time they did not sing about His mercy enduring forever. Not until they were at peace in the promised land—until God had come into His resting-place, with the ark of His strength—then His priests were clothed with salvation, and then His saints rejoiced in His goodness.

Here all were in their right places: the priests waited on their offerings; the Levites had their instruments of music, which David had made to praise the Lord, because His mercy endureth forever. It was as though David was praising with them, when they played his music. Then Solomon and all Israel offered sacrifices, and kept the feast for seven days. We are reminded of that wonderful psalm in which David tells of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He gave Himself to be God's perfect offering. He says, "In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." And again, "My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation.”

S. Will Jesus sing praises with His people?

M. Yes; He will lead their praises; He will join with them in praising the Father for what He Himself has done, and the fullest note in all their praises will be that He has done it. (See Psa. 22)

Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all that came into his heart to do.

Now we get the Lord's answer to Solomon's prayer. He appears to Solomon by night. The Lord says that He has heard Solomon's prayer, and that He will do all that he has asked, but on the condition of the king's faithfulness. If the king was faithful, the Lord would bless both the king and the people. But if the king departed from the Lord, He would no longer have His eyes and His heart perpetually there. He would give up this house that was so high and great; and all the nations should know that the reason the Lord did not defend His people was because they had forsaken Him, who had done so great things for them.

After this Solomon brought home his Gentile bride; she was a type of the Gentile being brought into blessing, because she is united to the man of God's purpose.

S. You told me that Solomon had many wives?

M. Yes; after this he married a great many wives, and they led away his heart from the, Lord. But this is not told here as it is in Kings; because all is grace in this book, and the perfection of the Lord's own purposes for Israel. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Here Solomon commands the priests and the Levites. The nations around pay tribute. He reigns from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The Gentiles in distant lands speak of his greatness.

S. I remember about the Queen of Sheba coming to see him, and she brought camels with all sorts of precious things for king Solomon.

M. The Queen of the South came to him with her hard questions; because she had heard of his wisdom. She had great riches and power, but her heart was not satisfied. She wanted the wisdom which was better than rubies. She came to hear something about Solomon's God; who had said, I love them that love Me, and those that seek Me early shall find Me. And when she heard the words of Solomon, and saw all his greatness, she said half had not been told her; for the Lord must indeed have loved His people to bless them with so rich a blessing. She gave great offerings to Solomon; but his rich gifts to her were greater. Then she returned to her own land, she, and her servants.

S. Did Solomon give wise answers to all who came to him?

M. Yes; for all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom that God had put into his heart; and they brought him gifts out of all lands. He built a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. Six steps led up to the throne, with six lions on each side. Two lions on every step; and a footstool of gold. All the rest of the acts of Solomon are written by the prophets. For even a wise man and a great king must die. One event happens to us all. So Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, while his son Rehoboam reigned in his stead. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem for forty years.

2 Chronicles 10-13

2Ch 10-13Mamma. Now Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, went to Shechem, and all Israel went there to make him king. But Jeroboam, who was in Egypt, came back, and they made him their leader to go to Rehoboam to ask him how he was going to treat them now he was king, and whether he would be kinder to them than his father had been, Rehoboam told them to come again in three days, and he would give them an answer. So he asked the old men, and they advised him to speak kindly to the people, and to try to please them. But he did not like the old men's advice; so he asked the young men: they advised him to say that he would make their yoke much heavier, and if his father chastised them with whips he should do so with scorpions.

S. Was that right?

M. No. It was very wrong and very foolish. And after three days when the people came to him, he spoke roughly to them. But God had said the kingdom should be divided, and as soon as the children of Israel saw how the king behaved, they shouted, What portion have we in David? To your tents, O Israel; and none stayed with Rehoboam but Judah and Benjamin. All the other tribes rebelled, and when he sent to collect the tribute they killed his messenger. Then Rehoboam gathered an army of one hundred and eighty thousand men out of Judah and Benjamin to fight against Israel, and to win back the kingdom. But the word of the Lord came to the prophet Shemaiah saying, that they should not fight against their brethren; for the Lord had ordered it so.

S. Was Rehoboam a good king?

M. In some respects; for he obeyed the word of God through the prophet. For three years he followed the example of David and Solomon; and all the priests and Levites who were driven out of Israel, and were obliged to leave their own cities and their possessions because of the ungodly ways of Jeroboam and his sons, came over to Rehoboam; and all the godly ones in Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, came up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. Thus was formed a faithful remnant who clung to Jerusalem, and to the house of the Lord, where He had put His name.

S. Why do you call them a remnant?

M. Because they were but few, just what remained. And from that day God has had a remnant; and He will have, on to the end of time, a faithful remnant—a few among the many. A few who walk in the narrow path; that hold fast God's word and do not deny His name; while the many are walking in the broad road that leads to destruction.

These faithful ones strengthened the kingdom of Judah. But as soon as Rehoboam had strengthened himself in his kingdom, he forsook the law of the Lord, and his people followed his bad example. So the Lord allowed the king of Egypt to come up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and they took the fenced cities of Judah that Solomon had built.

S. I remember God told Solomon He would not save them from their enemies if they forgot Him.

M. Yes; and how soon they turned aside! Then the prophet of the Lord came to Rehoboam, and told him and the princes of Judah that the Lord said, You have forsaken Me; therefore I have left you in the hands of Shishak, king of Egypt. When they heard this, the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, The Lord is righteous. The Lord saw this and He said He would not let Shishak destroy them, but they should be his servants; that they might feel what a different thing it was to be the Lord's servants, and the servants of the king of Egypt. And the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord's house and the treasures of the king's house, and he carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Rehoboam made shields of brass instead; because he thought brass shields polished would look like gold and do as well; but the meaning of gold shields was quite different and he thought nothing about that. This king reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which God had chosen out of all the tribes of Judah to put His name there. It was a very solemn thing to reign in the place God had chosen.

S. Why does it say that so often?

M. That we may know how the Lord loved Jerusalem, and how He mourned over her unfaithfulness. Now Rehoboam's acts, first and last, the good and the evil, are written by the prophets; and he died, and was buried in the city of David, and his son Abijah reigned after him.

In the book of Kings we are told that Abijah followed in his father's steps. But here nothing but what is good is told of him. He went out to meet Jeroboam with an army of chosen men, and he stood upon mount Ephraim, and called Jeroboam, and all Israel to listen to him. Then he told how Jeroboam was the servant of Solomon, and he had rebelled against Solomon's son; and they had made golden calves and done much wickedness. But he said, The Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him. We have His priests and Levites, and they offer sacrifices to Him; and they keep the shew bread on the pure table; and they keep the lamps of the golden candlestick; and God Himself is with us, for our captain; and His priests sound the trumpets to cry alarm against you; therefore do not fight against the Lord for you will not prosper. But Jeroboam did not mind what Abijah said; and he came cunningly behind the army of Judah, and when they looked, the battle was before and behind. Then they cried to the Lord, and the priests sounded their trumpets, and the men of Judah shouted. And when the Lord heard their shout, he smote all their enemies, so that they fled before Judah, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.

S. The shout and the trumpets make me think of the time when the walls of Jericho fell down flat.

M. Yes; it was the same God mighty in purpose, doing wonders for His people, and yet angry with the wicked every day. And the Lord struck Jeroboam that he died.

2 Chronicles 14-16

2Co 14-16Mamma. Now Abijah died, and was buried in the city of David, and his son Asa became king. And the land was quiet for ten years. Asa did that which was good and right in the sight of the Lord. He took away the altars of strange gods, and the high places, and the images.

Sophy. Did the people really worship images, when they had that beautiful temple that Solomon built?

M. They did indeed! It is amazing to us to read this history and to see how a people brought near to God in intelligence and blessing could continually turn to false gods. How often they turned aside from God's magnificent ritual, and perfect, beautiful order of worship, to invent some folly for themselves. But if we know our own hearts, we shall find that we are just as prone to go after other gods and serve them. Fame, or riches, or praise, or power, may become false gods to us. Anything that comes between the heart and God is an idol to us, if we love it and try to keep it. The apostle says, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," which shows that even Christians may have idols, though it is very sad to think so.

S. How were little children to keep themselves from idols?

M; By keeping near the one true God, and His Son Jesus Christ. The Psalmist says, "I have set the Lord always before me, therefore I shall not be moved." And "My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." He did not want a false god, he had something better. Just so with any poor Israelite, if he went up to the temple to pray, he would not want to go home and worship an image, nor would he set to work to make one for himself. But when God is forgotten, then the heart of man looks round for a false god, and it is wonderful what foolish, worthless things man will be content with then, because Satan, who is like a roaring lion, and goes about seeking whom he may devour, is pleased when he sees us forgetting God, and he makes it pleasant to us to follow the desires of our own hearts.

S. But why did they care for a calf of gold?

M. True, it was a stupid god to bow down to, but all false gods are quite as stupid to a heart that knows the Lord. I think they got the idea of a golden calf from Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped bulls and calves; and Jeroboam had just come from Egypt, and thought he would please the people by something new, which would keep them from wishing to go up to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. You may remember that when God brought His people out of Egypt, they sinned against Him in the wilderness by making a calf of gold.

When Abijah was dead, his son Asa succeeded him, he did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord; for he took away the altars of the strange gods, and broke down the images, and cut down the groves.

S. What were the groves for?

M. It was a heathen custom to plant trees round their idols. If you go to France now, you may see at one end of a fine garden, a sort of little arbor, and inside this an image of the Lord Jesus on the cross, or of the Virgin Mary.

S. Do the people in France worship idols?

M. I speak of Roman Catholics, they bow before images and pray to them; and hurt and ill-treat their bodies to make the images hear them-images of saints who are sleeping in Jesus and who can do them no more good than the image itself. Even the happy, honored Mary, the mother of Jesus, cannot hear our prayers. The Lord Jesus always said: Come unto Me. He never once told a poor sinner to go to any one else.

S. Why do they make an image of Jesus on the cross?

M. Because they only know Him as the dead Savior, and so they worship the cross and the nails and even the hammer and crown of thorns. If they knew that He had passed through death, and gone up to God's right hand, to be the living Savior, alive from among the dead, then they would know that His work was finished, and that there was nothing left for us to do. They are taught to think that Jesus only did part of the work of our salvation, and that we have to do the rest ourselves.

S. How glad I am that you do not teach me that

M. I desire to teach you nothing but what is in God's own word, where you may search and find it all for yourself; for this word is written that even a child may become wise unto salvation. The Roman Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible, or to search it for themselves as we may.

To return to king Asa. We find that he built fenced cities, and the Lord gave him rest, so that there was no war for ten years. And when the Ethiopians came up against Judah, Asa cried to the Lord and He helped them. After this God sent a message to Asa by His prophet. He said the Lord would be with them as long as they sought Him; and Asa felt encouraged by the Lord's goodness to him, and he was more diligent in searching out every evil in his kingdom that it might be put away. Then he called all the people to come up to Jerusalem; not only those of Judah and Benjamin, but a great many out of Israel came, and they offered to the Lord together and made a covenant to seek the Lord, with all their heart and with all their soul; and he said that whoever did not seek the Lord should be put to death. They sware to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with music. And Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they sought the Lord with their whole desire. Even the king's mother was put away from being queen, because she had an idol and Asa burnt her idol; for Asa's heart was perfect all his days.

Now there had not been war for thirty-five years, until the king of Israel came up against Judah, and built the city of Ramah, that he might prevent the children of Israel going up to Jerusalem to worship or going to Asa the king. And now we hear of Asa doing something very sad, he made a league with the king of Syria, and gave him treasures out of the Lord's house, to make him go and fight against the king of Israel.

S. Was God much displeased?

M. He sent a message to Asa by Hanani the seer; saying because he had relied upon the king of Syria, and had not relied upon the Lord, he had lost the opportunity of conquering the king of Syria; God would have helped him against Syria as He had helped him before. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him. And from that time the rest that God gave was gone, and God allowed Asa to have wars.

S. Did Asa know that the Lord was displeased?

M. I am afraid he did not listen to the Lord's word by His prophet, for he got into a rage with the prophet, and put him in prison. But the Lord did not take His hand off Asa, for he got a disease in his feet, yet he sought not the Lord, but went to the doctors to cure him. But he only lived two years longer, and they buried him with great honors in the city of David.

2 Chronicles 17-20

2Co 17-20

Mamma. The first thing that is told us of Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, is that he strengthened himself against Israel, and he was blessed for this.

Sophy. Why was it right for him to do so?

M. Because they were his relations, and therefore his most dangerous enemies, as we shall see, No people do us so much harm as those who profess the Lord's name, but who do not walk in holiness. Jehoshaphat, in the first freshness of his zeal for the Lord, treated every one as an enemy who was careless about the Lord's honor. The Lord blessed him for this, and made him to prosper in his kingdom, "For he that honoureth me I will honor, saith the Lord." But alas, when Jehoshaphat got riches and honors in abundance he joined affinity with Ahab, king of Israel. Now Ahab was a very wicked king, but he was glad to have the friendship of the king of Judah—he knew that Jehoshaphat was rich and powerful, and that the Lord was with him.

S. Why did Ahab like his friendship?

M. Because he thought he would gain something by it. A wicked man often likes a good man to join with him in things, and flatters him as Ahab did, by making a feast in his honor. But it always ends in the man of God coming down to the level of the other, and saying, like Jehoshaphat, I am as thou art.

And now Ahab persuades him to go to war with him. Jehoshaphat promises, but he would like to know the Lord's mind about it. Ahab sends for the prophets, and they all say what the king wishes them to say, "Go up, for “God will deliver it into the king's hand." But Jehoshaphat is not quite happy, though four hundred prophets have said it. He is not quite sure—he feels he is not quite in his right place. Ahab, wishing to please him, sends for another prophet, Micaiah; but Ahab said, I hate him because he always prophesies evil against me. Then the two kings sat on their thrones, with their royal robes on, to hear what the prophets said. The messenger who was sent to Micaiah told him to be sure and say the same as the other prophets had said. At first he did so, but the king begged him to tell the truth in the name of the Lord. Then he said, I have seen Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Ahab understood what he meant, and he was much displeased, and put the prophet in prison, with only bread and water for food till he should return in peace, Then the two kings went off to battle.

S. Why did the four hundred prophets say what was not true?

M. Micaiah explains how the Lord allowed Satan to deceive the prophets of Ahab, because the Lord had said by Elijah what his end would be.

S. Oh, I remember, Elijah said the dogs should lick his blood in the same place where Naboth was killed.

M. Yes; it was God's judgment for Ahab's cruelty to Naboth, Ahab knew this, so he said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself to look like a common soldier, and you put on your robes. This was cowardly, for he thought they would kill Jehoshaphat in mistake for him. And this very nearly happened, for the king of Syria gave orders that they were to try to kill the king of Israel, and him only. But Jehoshaphat cried out that he was not the king of Israel, and the Lord helped him, and made the soldiers of Syria move off.

S. Jehoshaphat did not deserve to be helped, when he was in a wrong place.

M. True. But grace never fails, and God never turns away from the cry of distress. But the Lord was displeased with His servant, as we shall see. And as for Ahab, a man drew a bow and shot an arrow, not knowing where it would fly to, and it struck Ahab, king of Israel, between the joints of his armor, and wounded him, so that he died, as Micaiah the prophet of God had foretold. Jehoshaphat returned to his house in peace; but Jehu meets him and says, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore wrath is upon thee from the Lord.

After this the king set himself to make the Lord honored in his kingdom. He charged the judges and the Levites to do their duty faithfully, and he said, Deal courageously and the Lord shall be with the good.

S. Did the Lord punish him for his unfaithfulness?

M. We are only told that other enemies were allowed to come up against him, so that he was afraid. But he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast in Judah. And the whole people came together to ask the Lord's help; with their little ones, and their wives, and their children. And Jehoshaphat prayed to the Lord to do for them as He had ever done; and to hear their cry, and help them. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon a Levite, one of the sons of Asaph, and he said: Be not afraid nor dismayed, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head, and all the people worshipped the Lord.

S. They believed what the Levite said?

M. Oh, yes; and the Levites and the sons of Kohath stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. Next morning, they went out early to battle, as the Lord had said. But Jehoshaphat stood still and addressed his army first; and what do you think he said to them? He did not say, as Joshua did, Quit you like men, be strong, or fight bravely. But he said, Believe in the Lord your God. Then he appointed singers to the Lord, that should praise the beauty of holiness; and say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth forever. When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord fought for them and made their enemies fall upon one another, so that when they went up to the watch tower to look out, the enemies of Judah were all lying dead on the ground. They took three days to gather the spoil, it was so much; for riches and precious stones were left upon the battle field. On the fourth day they met to gether to bless the Lord, and they palled the valley where they met Herachah, which means, Blessing.

Then they returned to Jerusalem with joy, Jehoshaphat taking the lead; Because the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. They came with psalteries and harps and trumpets to the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all those countries when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So God gave Jehoshaphat rest round about.

Though Jehoshaphat did so Much that was right, he failed a second time in the same way, for he joined himself with another king of Israel to make ships to go to other countries. But the Lord sent him a message, that because he had done this the Lord had broken his works. And his ships were broken, so that they were not able to go.

He reigned for twenty-five years, and his son Jehoram succeeded him.

2 Chronicles 21-25

2Co 21-25Mamma. Jehoram was a very wicked king. He married the daughter of Ahab; and he walked in the wicked ways of Ahab. The first thing he did was to put his own brothers to death. His ways were so evil that the Lord would have destroyed him; but for David's sake He did not. The Edomites and others revolted against him, and a writing came to him from Elijah, saying that the Lord would punish him by sending a dreadful sickness upon him, and upon his family. He died a dreadful death, and they would not bury him in the sepulchers, of the kings. His son Ahaziah succeeded him, and was also a bad man; for his mother was the daughter of Ahab, and she gave him bad advice. He was found in company with the wicked sons of Ahab, and met the same terrible end. And when his mother heard that he was killed, she tried to kill all the royal children in her rage. But one of Jehoshaphat's granddaughters was married to Jehoiada the priest, and she took her little nephew and hid him, so that Ahab's wicked daughter could not kill him. He was quite a baby, and his name was Joash, he was hid in the house of God for six years; while the wicked Athaliah reigned over the land. But when the little Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada the priest thought it would be right to make him king; because he was the proper heir to the throne of David. So Jehoiada talked about him to all the people of Judah; and to the priests and Levites. They did not love the wicked queen, and they were very glad to do what the priest desired. Then he made the Levites form a guard round the person of the young king; and round the house of the Lord. Every man with weapons in his hand, for every man was to keep the watch of the Lord.

S. Why were they to carry weapons?

M. Because the wicked queen was reigning, and she would try to kill the royal child if she could. But he was wonderfully preserved by God, and the ministers of the house of the Lord were his bodyguard. Then they put the crown upon his head, and gave him the testimony, and made him king.

S. What a little king—only seven years old!

M. He was the youngest of all the kings. When Athaliah heard the noise of the people praising the Lord, and saw the king standing by the pillar of the temple, she was very angry and cried out: Treason, treason! But the people put her to death, and then the city was quiet; and they placed the king upon the throne. He reigned for forty years, and as long as Jehoiada lived the king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He repaired the house of the Lord, where the wicked sons of Athaliah had broken it up. Then the king put a chest, with a hole in the lid, at the gate of the house of the Lord, and said that every one who cared for the Lord's house might put his money in the chest. It was like a very large money-box. The people rejoiced at this, and they gave heartily. Then the king and Jehoiada took the money out of the chest to pay the workmen. But Jehoiada was very old—one hundred and thirty years, and he died. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings.

S. Why did they bury him among the kings?

M. Because he had been almost a king in Judah, and he did good in Israel, toward God and toward His house. After the death of this good old priest, the king took counsel from the princes of Judah, and they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers and served idols, and the wrath of God came upon Judah, and Jerusalem. The Lord still sent prophets to warn them, and the Spirit of God came upon the son of Jehoiada, and he spake against their wickedness; but they would not listen to him, and the king commanded him to be stoned in the court of the Lord's house.

S. Oh, how cruel and ungrateful!

M. It was indeed! The son of his old friend and protector the faithful Jehoiada; and only because he said they could not prosper if they forsook the Lord. But Joash forgot the kindness of Jehoiada, and what wonder when he first forgot the Lord his God In less than a year the Syrians came against Judah, and the Lord delivered them into their hands; so the Syrians executed judgment against Joash. He also suffered from disease, and his own servants slew him in his bed; one was an Ammonite and the other a Moabite, both people with whom a godly Israelite ought to have had nothing to do. But when God is forgotten and our own evil hearts do what they like, everything goes wrong. They buried Joash in the city of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings—sad and terrible end for one who began his life with so much favor; a child hid in the house of the Lord; and watched over and preserved by Him.

Amaziah, the son of Joash, reigned for twenty-nine, years; he did what was right, but not with a perfect heart. God allowed the king of Israel to smite him, because he would not listen to His prophets; and he went after the idols of Edom. He too was slain, and buried not in the sepulchers of the kings.

S. Were there a few people who loved God in the time of all these wicked kings?

M. Oh, yes; there were the prophets, and those who tried to lead the people to do right. But God had said that all His favor should depend on the conduct of the king. While the king served the Lord, God prospered the nation. When the king forsook the Lord, God made him feel the consequence of losing His favor. The saddest part of this story is that very often those who once knew the favor and blessing of the Lord departed from Him more grievously than others.

2 Chronicles 26-28

2Co 26-28

Mamma. The next king was Uzziah; he was only sixteen when he was made king. He did what was right as far as his father had done; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. There was a good prophet in his time, named Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. God helped Uzziah against the Philistines. And this king had many cattle, and vines in the mountains, for he was fond of tilling the ground. He also made engines to shoot arrows and stones off the high walls, they must have been something like cannons. God helped him greatly; but when he became strong his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he did a very daring wicked thing; he went into the temple to burn incense to the Lord.

Sophy. You said no one was owed to do that but the priests.

M. Just so, none but the sons Aaron, who were consecrated to touch the holy things. There were eighty priests all faithful men, and they followed the king into the temple, and ordered him to go out of the sanctuary; for he had trespassed against the Lord. Uzziah got very angry with the priests, and as he stood by the altar of incense with the censer in his hand, leprosy broke out upon his forehead; so that the priests drove him out of the temple, and he was glad enough to rush out of it himself; for he knew that the Lord had smitten him.

S. I wonder he was not afraid to do what was wrong in God's house.

M. It is true what Solomon said: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil; but the fool rageth and is confident.

Uzziah was a leper till the day of his death. You know a leper was obliged to live alone, and to cry "Unclean, Unclean," if any one came near him. So his son Jotham was put over the king's house, and he judged the people till the king's death, Uzziah lived in a house by himself till he died, and then they buried, him in a place by himself, because he was a leper.

S. Why did he not go to the priest to be made clean?

M. I suppose he was not subject in heart and spirit; and did not judge himself for the evil he had done; or, perhaps he did not know what God had written in His word, about going to the priest and offering two birds for his cleansing. If he had done this, he would have confessed his sin. The first duty, of the king was to know the law of God. But the kings of Judah neglected this duty. We read that the priest gave the testimony into the hands of Joash, the child king. But if we do not obey the word of God—to have it in our hands, only increases our judgment. When Jotham became king he did right, and avoided the sins of his father. But the people were very wicked.

Yet God had to do with the king; and while he did right God blessed the nation.

S. Were the children of Israel as wicked as the tribe of Judah?

M. Yes, they were wholly given up to idolatry. From the time that Jeroboam made the golden calves, they became worse and worse; till God gave them up as we read in the Book of Kings. But God had long patience with Judah, for His servant David's sake. He would not turn away His face from His anointed. He sent them prophets again and again; and when there was any little turning to Him, they were wonderfully helped. But it is a very sad story of constant unfaithfulness.

The next king was Ahaz, Who did as wickedly as the kings of Israel; for he made images for Baalim.

S. Who was Baalim?

M. It is a name that was given to false gods. The Phœnicians had an idol called Baal, and Baalim means a great many Baals. He burnt incense to these Baalim, and even, offered his own children in sacrifice to them! A sin that was abominable in the sight of the Lord, when committed by the heathen, whom He cast out before the children of Israel. And how much worse when done by the king of Judah! For this the Lord allowed the king of Syria to come up and carry away a number of the people captive to Damascus. The king of Israel also conquered him, and carried away a great many captives, and brought them to Samaria with great spoil. But Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there, and went to the chief of the people, and told them not to add to their sins by making their brethren of Judah captives. And the chief of the people went out to meet those who came from the war, and they told them, not to bring their captives into their cities, because it would displease the Lord. So they fed and clothed the captives of Judah, with the spoil they had taken in battle and let them go home.

S. Did God make them kind to the captives because they belonged to Judah?

M. Yes. It is wonderful to see such grace to ungrateful man, and touching to see how the prophet knew the heart of God; and that He would not allow His people to be made bond servants, or slaves to their brethren. Because captives taken in war were always slaves or bondmen.

But nothing softened the heart of Ahaz. He sent to the king of Assyria to help him, because the Edomites rebelled against him; but the king of Assyria gave him no help, he only added to his troubles, and took away all his treasures. Ahaz gave him the treasures out of the house of the Lord. He shut up the doors of the temple and spoiled it, and set up an altar to the god of Damascus; he removed God's altar and put this one in its place; he had it made after the pattern of an altar he had seen there. For he said: They help the Syrians, perhaps they will help me.

S. How very silly to think that the idols of Damascus could help him!

M. When people get away from God they generally become superstitious, that is, they have a fear of something, they do not know what; like the people who worshipped the "unknown God." Many have even worshipped devils from a superstitious dread. The fear of the Lord is quite a different thing. It is a holy fear; it is a fear of sin; and a feeling at the eyes of the Lord run to and fro upon the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him. The Lord Jesus came to tell of the love of God; and His perfect love casts out our fear.

No wrath God's heart retaineth,

To us-ward who believe;
No dread in ours remaineth

As we His love receive.

Returning sons He kisses,

And with His robe invests;

His perfect love dismisses

All terror from our breasts.

2 Chronicles 29-31

2Co 29-31Mamma. It is pleasant to turn from the wicked reign of Ahaz, to that of his son Hezekiah; he was the first king since Jehoshaphat who walked in the ways of his father David. The Spirit of God always connects each one with David; because he was the head of the family in whom they were blessed. He began his reign by trying to undo what his father had done in Jerusalem. He opened the doors of the Lord's house which Ahaz had shut, and repaired what Ahaz had broken. And he brought back the priests and Levites, and made them sanctify themselves to serve in the Lord's house. Then they put away all that was unclean and threw it into the brook Kidron, and Hezekiah mourned over the way the lamps had been put out, no incense burnt to the Lord; so that Israel had become a disgrace before the nations. And the king said it was in his heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that He might turn away His anger from them. And after their eight days of cleansing, the king went up with all the rulers to the house of the Lord. And they killed burnt-offerings, and peace-offerings, and sin-offerings and sprinkled the blood upon the altar to make atonement for Israel. For the king commanded that it should be for all Israel.

S. Did that mean that he made atonement for all the children of Israel as well as for Judah and Benjamin?

M. Yes. Atonement was needed for all, and his faith took in all Israel. This pointed on to the one offering by which the Lord Jesus Christ has perfected forever, them that are sanctified. Hezekiah goes back to the word spoken by the Lord's prophets, Nathan and Gad; for there is no recovery for the people of God until they go back to His word. The instruments of David are there. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the king invited the people to bring thank-offerings to the Lord; which they did; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.

And here the Levites had to do priests' work, because all the priests had not sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests. When all was set in order, Hezekiah rejoiced that God had prepared the people. For God, alone could make this sudden change. Hezekiah had a heart for all the people of the Lord; for he wrote letters to all the other tribes, inviting them to come up to Jerusalem to keep the passover.

S. Did they not keep the pass-over every year?

M. No. It had not been properly kept for a long time, and now they could not do it till the second month. It ought to have been on the fourteenth day of the first month. And the men who carried the letters from the king went from city to city, God's ambassadors, inviting the people to turn to the Lord. For God was saying: Seek ye My face. Some here and some there, said, Thy face, Lord, we will seek. But others laughed and mocked, just as lost sinners do now when God's servants tell them of God's salvation from coming judgment.

S. Was it wrong to keep the passover the second month instead of the first?

M. No. For in the book of Numbers (9:10) it is said that if any one is unclean, as Judah was; or if any one is far away, as Israel was; they might wait till the second month, in order to give every one time to sanctify himself. It was a confession of their state before God, to say that they were not ready to keep the passover in the first month. A very great congregation gathered at Jerusalem-many from the other tribes, from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, who had not cleansed themselves, yet they were allowed to eat the Passover; the Levites killing it for them: They could not kill the lamb themselves, because they were not clean. And Hezekiah stood as intercessor and prayed for them, saying: The good Lord pardon every one The Lord heard his prayer and healed the people. They kept the feast for seven days, with gladness and singing, and the king spoke comfortingly to the Levites who taught the people the good knowledge of the Lord. They feasted before the Lord, and offered peace-offerings and made confession for the people. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; there had been nothing like it since the time of Solomon.

S. Solomon said they would be blessed when they came to pray in that house.

M. Yes. And now they proved the faithfulness of God; for when the priests and Levites rose up to bless the people, their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling-place, even into heaven.

When the feast was over the people all went home, to cast out all their false gods; not only in Judah, but through all the land of Israel. Then the king invited the people to bring a tithe, or tenth part, of all their possessions to the Lord. And they offered in abundance the first-fruits of their fields, so that they made great heaps. It must have been a remarkable sight. In one place an enormous heap of grapes, in another of corn, and so on, wine, oil, honey, and sheep and cattle.

Then Hezekiah questioned them, to see if they had enough to eat themselves; and they said, Oh yes, we have more than enough, because the Lord has blessed His people, and there is still this great store left. So the king had chambers made to the house of the Lord, to keep the things in that were given to the Lord. These were kept by faithful men, whose names are remembered; and also the genealogy of their wives and their little ones.

Whatever the king began to do, he did it with all his heart and prospered.

2 Chronicles 32-36

2Co 32-36Mamma. I dare say you remember in the history of the kings how Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came up against Judah. And he told the people not to fancy that God could save them out of his hand.

S. Oh yes, and he wrote a letter which made Hezekiah very unhappy, so he spread it out before the Lord, and prayed.

M. Just so. And the Lord sent His angel in the night to smite the Assyrians, and the next morning they found their enemies lying dead upon the ground. And Hezekiah was magnified in the sight of all nations.

After this Hezekiah was very ill, and thought he would die, but the Lord made him well. But when the men of Babylon came to him, God allowed him to follow the vanity of his own heart, that he might know what a, poor heart he had after all God's goodness to him.

S, That was he time that he shewed all his beautiful things to the men of Babylon; and God was displeased, and He said that some day they would carry off all his nice things to Babylon.

M. This came to pass very soon. Hezekiah died and was buried, in the very chief of the sepulchers of the kings of David and with all honors. His son Manasseh was only twelve years old, and he was very wicked, and tried to undo all the good his wise father had done. So the Lord sent the king of Assyria to carry him away captive into Babylon. But when he was in affliction, he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, so that God brought him again to Jerusalem. After this he tried to banish the strange gods that he had set up; but it is easier for a man to do evil than to undo it. He died and was buried in a place of his own, and Amon his son succeeded him. He was wicked also, and was slain by his own servants.

The next king was Josiah. He was only eight years old when he began to reign. He began at once to seek the Lord while he was yet young, and when he was twelve years old he began to banish idolatry from the land; and he set men to repair the house of the Lord. The faithful few who loved the house of God, brought their money and gave it to the high priest. Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord, which was given by Moses, and he sent it to the king who had never read it before. Do you remember that God had directed that each king of Israel was to write with his own hands a copy of the law, and to read in it daily. It shows how they had forgotten Him that they did not do so. As soon as the king heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent his clothes, and called for the high priest; and for all those around him who feared the Lord; and he sent them to inquire of the Lord for him; for he said, there must be great wrath from the Lord for all the wicked deeds of our fathers, and because they had not kept God's law. So they went to a woman who was a prophetess, to ask her.

S. Why did they go to a woman?

M. I suppose there was no prophet in Jerusalem at that time. It is always a proof of the low state of things when God uses a woman. It shows that there was not a man to be used. Thus a Deborah may lead an army to battle; and a prophetess may answer the king's questions. Huldah's reply was that wrath would surely be poured out upon the place, and upon the land for their idolatry. But, she said, the Lord had seen that the heart of the young king was tender, He had seen his tears and how he humbled himself before the Lord; therefore the evil should not come in his time. Thus, again the nation was saved, for a time, by the faithfulness of the king.

S. But there were some good people still besides the king?

M. Oh yes. God never let His testimony be lost; in the very darkest times He always had His faithful few; or, as they began to be called, His remnant.

S. Was the king comforted when he heard what the prophetess said?

M. He was encouraged by the Lord's grace to him. He called all the people together, great and small; and he read out before them all the words of the book that was found. And the king stood in his place against the pillar Jachim, where the young king Joash had received the testimony from Jehoiada, and made a covenant with the Lord, to keep His word with all his heart. And he caused all who were present to join in the covenant. And as long as he lived they did not depart from it.

Now having got the word of God, he kept the passover, as God had appointed it, in the fourteenth day of the first month.

The king did everything according to the law of Moses, as he read in that precious book which had been found. There had not been such a passover in Israel since the days of Samuel; not even in the times of David, or Solomon.

After all this, Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, came up to war with the king of Assyria; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent word to Josiah, saying, that God had sent him, and he must not hinder him; but Josiah would not be warned; and disguised himself to fight against the king of Egypt.

S. Did God send the king of Egypt to fight?

M. Yes. God intended judgment. Josiah would not listen to the warning; and the archers shot at him with their bow and arrows, so that he was wounded; and he told his servants to carry him away. He died at Jerusalem, and was buried in the sepulchers of his fathers; and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. The prophet Jeremiah lamented for him; he knew that Josiah was the last good king, and that he was the last hope of Israel; and that now God's judgments would surely come. And with all the singers of Israel, their singing was turned into mourning.

God's people had done idolatry with the false gods of Egypt; and He was going to let them feel what it was to be ruled by the kings of Egypt. For Necho came up to Jerusalem and put the land under tribute.

The people made Jehoahaz king when Josiah his father died, but he only reigned a month in Jerusalem, doing evil all the time. Then the king of Egypt took him captive into Egypt, and he died there; and the king of Egypt made another son of Josiah king instead of Jehoahaz, and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

S. Why did he change his name?

M. To show how completely the king of Judah was in his power. He treated him as a slave, and he made the people of Judah give their silver and gold to pay the tribute to the king of Egypt. He also did evil in the sight of the Lord, who bore with his evil ways for eleven years. Then God sent Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to fulfill His word which he had so often told His prophets, even that He would allow His people to be carried away into a strange land, because they had forsaken Him. They bound the king in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and they carried away the vessels of the Lord's house, and put them in their temple in Babylon.

S. How could they have a temple in Babylon, when God only chose Jerusalem to put His name there?

M. It was an idol's temple. Ever since the days of the tower of Babel, when men made a city and a tower, that they might do without God, Babylon has been a place where man's inventions were worshipped; and they always liked to imitate God's people, even in their false worship.

S. Is there a Babylon now?

M. In the sight of God there is; the spirit and ways of Babylon are everywhere, and alas! the people of God are mixed up with it. Babylon is really the world mixing itself up with the people of God. But those who are drawn away by the false worship of Babylon, are captives in a land which is not their own.

Jehoiakim was also a wicked king, as was Zedekiah, the last king. He swore by the Lord that he would obey the king of Babylon, yet he rebelled against him; and added this to all his other transgressions, that he broke his word, given in the name of the Lord. And when God sent Jeremiah the prophet to speak to him, he would not humble himself. Both king and people despised God's messengers, and mocked the prophets; thus God's holy anger rose against His people, till there was no remedy. We have seen what great mercy He sheaved them, because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling-place. Then God gave them over to the king of Babylon, who had no compassion. He burnt up and destroyed everything; and left the land desolate, that the land, which was still God's land, might enjoy her sabbaths.

S. What does that mean?

M. You may remember, that God said, every seventh year should be a year of rest. They should not sow or reap, but God would make everything to grow so plentifully in the sixth year, that there would be enough for three years. They were not to reap anything that grew of itself in the seventh year, for the joy of the Lord would be meat for them. But for four hundred and ninety years the children of Israel had forgotten to keep the seventh year holy, therefore the land was to lie waste for seventy years; because in that time they had lost seventy Sabbatical years. (Read Lev. 25-26:34.)

Read Leviticus 25

Sophy. Why did God tell them to keep the seventh year holy, and to do no work?

Mamma. For several reasons. To show His care for them. To show that the land was God's land. And also to prove whether they would be faithful and trust Him. The people were to do nothing that year. All was to be left in the hand of God. Thus the people being entirely dependent on Him, His rights and power were fully owned, and enjoyed by them. A very blessed place! All God's ways of grace became tests of His people's faithfulness; and the sabbatical year was the first thing they lost.

S. Why did keeping the seventh year show God's care?

M. Because God promised that He would command His blessing on the sixth year, so that the land would bring forth enough for three years; thus while they were sowing their corn in the eighth year they had still plenty to eat. It also shewed God's right to the land. It was the place He had given to them when He redeemed them from Egypt, the place where His name was; and the place of His rest. His people, the stranger, and even the beast of the field were to enter into His rest. This His earthly people failed to do, because of their unbelief, and the hardness of their hearts. God was the Lord of the soil; and every fifty years it all went back to Him, so no one was oppressed, and all had their rights that God had given. If an Israelite lost his possession, it could only be for a time; for on the fiftieth year it all went back to the Lord, and He gave it again to him whose inheritance it was. This was called the year of jubilee, or the year of rejoicing. But the year of jubilee was lost when the sabbatical year was lost.

S. What was the seventh year a type of?

M. Of God's eternal rest. When God had created this earth, and man to live on it, He rested on the seventh day, and blessed it, and sanctified it, because He rested on that day from all the works, that He had created and made.

But when sin came in there could be no rest, until God made atonement for sin. We have read how He saved His people from the judgment of Egypt by the blood of the lamb on the doorpost; how He led them through the Red Sea, where all their enemies sank like lead in the mighty waters, and on through the Jordan, where the ark of the covenant stood firm. How He conquered the Philistines and all the power of Satan, and when the land had rest from war, how David sang; and Solomon proclaimed: "Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting place, Thou, and the ark of thy strength." God's people then ought to have rejoiced in His salvation.

S. Why did they not?

M. Because of their unbelief. God had said: "Be ye holy, because I am holy." He meant them to be a separate people; and to walk in separation of heart and mind from all the evil around. But, as we have seen, they got mixed up with evil almost at once. Solomon fell into sin as you remember in the end of his reign, and Jeroboam brought in false worship with his calves of gold. And though Judah was blessed under faithful kings, they were constantly drawn away by the evil. We saw what was the loss of power and blessing to Jehoshaphat when he joined affinity with Ahab; and how much sorrow the wicked daughter of Ahab caused all through her evil reign. The Book of Chronicles is intended to teach us this great lesson: that if the people of God are not separate from evil they have no power against their enemies, they have no sense of the favor of the Lord, and they do not enjoy God's rest.

God is the Lord—the Lord on high,

Salvation's all His own;

And He now brings His people nigh,

To bow before His throne.

His love conceived the wondrous plan,

The Father sent His Son

To do the work for fallen man,

Who naught but sin had done!

Jesus has conquer'd death and sin

For little ones like you;

He open'd heaven by entering in,

That you might enter too!

'Tis little ones who need His grace

Whom Jesus loves to bless;

And they will see His blessed face

Who now His name confess.

All power is His, in earth, in heaven,

Who stoops to say to thee;

"My little one, thy sin's forgiven,

Come trust, and rest in Me.”

Read Daniel 1-12

DAN 1-23Sophy. Were the children of Israel very sorrowful when they were carried away into Babylon?

Mamma. Yes. Those who loved God were very sorrowful indeed. If we read the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah we shall see what he felt about it; how he prayed to God, and confessed the people's sin. For the words of Hosea the prophet had come to pass. God had called them "not my people," because they had forsaken Him, God had had great patience with them. He was always sending His prophets and messengers to warn them, but they mocked His messengers, and despised His words, so the wrath of the Lord rose against His people till there was no remedy. Now Jerusalem was left desolate, the throne of God was no longer there.

S. Was there no king any more?

M. No. God gave kingly power to the Gentiles from that time. It is called the times of the Gentiles. Now God has no king on earth—nor will He have again until the Lord Jesus Christ takes to Himself His great power and reigns. But God allows kingly power to be in the hands of the Gentiles, and His people have to obey and to be subject to them; for the powers that be are ordained of God. The captives were told to pray for the cities which they were carried away to, because if God kept the city in peace, they would have peace. It is touching to see how God thought of His people, even when they were in disgrace. Do you remember in Solomon's prayer at the consecration of the temple, what he said about captives praying in a strange land?

S. Oh yes. He said: If they prayed toward the house that he had built, God would hear in heaven and forgive His people.

M. Just so. And we find there were some, a godly, sorrowful remnant in Babylon, who prayed to the God of Jerusalem, and who counted the days of their captivity.

S. Did they expect God to bring them back to Jerusalem?

M. Yes, for the prophet Jeremiah (see Jer. 29:10) had sent them a letter, telling them the word of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel. God had said that when seventy years were accomplished in Babylon, God would visit them, and would cause them to return to their own land. For, when they sought the Lord they should find Him, This is why I read you the ninth chapter of Daniel, to show you that this Daniel remembered the letter of Jeremiah, and he understood by books the number of the years, and he found that seventy years had nearly passed; so he set his face unto the Lord his God, to seek Him by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. He said: We have sinned and done wickedly; we have not hearkened to Thy prophets; and to us belongs confusion of face. But he also said: To the Lord belong mercies and forgiveness, although we have rebelled against Him. Daniel owned that it was worthy of God to forgive, and to have mercy; but he confessed the rightness of God's judgment, for he said under the whole heaven there had not been such evil done as at Jerusalem. But as God had brought His people out of Egypt at first, Daniel besought Him that He would now bring them out of Babylon; and make His face to shine upon His sanctuary, for His own name's sake. He implored the Lord to hear, to forgive, and not to delay, because His city and His people were called by His name.

S. Was God pleased with Daniel's prayer?

M. Oh yes. God had said (Psa. 10) of the humble, that He would prepare their hearts, He would incline His ear to hear. Daniel was a humble man, of a broken and contrite spirit, with a heart prepared of God. So while he was speaking, the man Gabriel touched him, and said he was come to give him understanding, for at the very beginning of his prayer God had heard him, and he was greatly beloved.

S. Who was Gabriel?

M. He was God's special messenger to His own people. Sometimes he is called the angel Gabriel, He was always God's messenger, who came with good tidings. He told Daniel a great deal more about God's people by-and-by—about Jesus coming into the world, and about His being rejected by His own people: but we will not speak of this at present.

Now when the seventy years of Israel's captivity were fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of the Gentile king, and Cyrus king of Persia made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it in writing, saying: Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: all the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given to me, and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people, the Lord God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God. And let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, and with beasts, besides the free-will offering for the house of God at Jerusalem.

S. Had the king of Persia any right to do that?

M. God gave him power to do it; and God put it into his heart to do it, that His own word might be fulfilled. Then all those whose spirit God had raised came up to build the house of the Lord. And all who were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, and with gold and precious things, besides all that the people, offered willingly.

Then Cyrus brought back all the vessels belonging to the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his idols, Cyrus sent them all back and gave them to Sheshbazzah the prince of Judah; and he brought them to Jerusalem to be put in the house of the Lord.

Ezra 2-3

EZR 2-3Sophy. How did the king of Persia get the treasures of the Lord's house which were carried to Babylon?

M. God had allowed the king of the Medes and Persians to conquer Babylon. This was God's judgment on that wicked nation. God had allowed them to punish the children of Israel for their wickedness, and they served the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when the seventy years were accomplished God determined to punish the king and the nation of Babylon, because they had no mercy on His people. Babylon had become great and powerful, and was called the lady of kingdoms; they thought themselves so great and rich that they never could be brought low. The nation had said: I shall be a lady forever! But God had brought them low in a moment. Now God was going to call His people back from Babylon as if to try once more if they would be faithful; and they began well.

S. How did they begin?

M. By separating themselves from all who were not Israel. Every man who came up to the work, had to show his family and his tribe; and each one was numbered accordingly-the priests, the Levites, the singers and the porters. And those who were not able to show their genealogy were put away from the priesthood.

S. Why was that?

M. Because they were polluted. If they could not show that they were really of Israel, it was clear that they had got mixed up with the Babylonians, and had not cared enough about being Israelites to preserve the record of their family. So, if they ever had any connection with Israel they lost it by their own neglect; just like Esau, who despised his birthright and sold it for some food. A day might come when God would have a high priest again who would wear the Urim and Thummim, and he would be able to tell; but here in their weakness and difficulty they could not be too particular to shut out everything that would hinder their blessing.

S. Why did they think they must be so separate?

M. Because they had suffered so terribly for not being so. All the sorrows of God's people from first to last, were caused by their receiving amongst them or connecting themselves with those who served other gods than Jehovah. We read in the book of Chronicles how the children of Judah suffered by being mixed up even with the other tribes after Jeroboam made calves of 'gold which made Israel to sin.

God said: "Be ye holy because I am holy." And in a place where evil is, if a man desires to be holy he must be separate from the evil, as God is.

Now the children: of Israel were called out of Babylon, only a little remnant of that mighty nation which God had once led out of Egypt, and they were going to make a new start, so their first act was to show that they were all true Israelites, of the family of God, going up to join in the work of the house of the Lord. They offered freely, and gave according to their ability. And all Israel dwelt in their cities. And when the seventh month was come, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

S. Why did they come in the seventh month?

M. The first day of the seventh month was the time when the priests were to blow with the silver trumpets to call God's people together. I think it was also a remembrance of the year of jubilee; for in that year on the tenth day of the seventh month, Moses had said they were to make the trumpets sound throughout the whole land, to proclaim their liberty (that they were no longer captives in Babylon); and that every man was to return to his own land. The first thing they did was to set up an altar, and to offer burnt offerings as Moses had written.

S. Did they read God's word?

M. Yes. It has marked the faithful remnant in every time, that they always valued the written word of God. These poor people had nothing else for their guidance or comfort. They were in fear because of the people of the countries around. They had no fine army now to defend them, no king to lead them to battle, no fenced cities to protect them from their enemies; and their enemies were all there round about them as strong, and as much against them as ever. But they had their altar, and God was in their midst. They had faith in Jehovah, and they were trying to hold fast His word, and to confess His name, and the great things He had done for them. This was expressed in their feast of tabernacles, when they owned how God had led them out of Egypt, and made them dwell in tents, until He brought them to a good land and large, a land that flowed with milk and honey. Now they were brought back to it again, and as soon as they had laid the foundation of the house of the Lord, the priests blew with their trumpets and the sons of Asaph came with their cymbals, to praise the Lord, as David had ordained. They sang together, and, gave thanks to the Lord, saying, in the words of David: Because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout; but some of the old men wept!

S. Why did the old men weep?

M. Because they had seen the house that Solomon built, and they remembered the time of Israel's greatness. They wept to think of the difference know. The thought of their sins was humbling and sorrowful, and they did right to weep. I think too they were moved to tears by the sense of the goodness and grace of God, that had so far restored them in spite of all their sins and failures, as to have the foundation stone thus relaid. God meant His people to rejoice that He was among them again, and it was right that the noise of their shouting should be heard by those who were far away.

Perhaps it reached the ears of their enemies, for they at once tried to hinder their work.

Ezra 4

EZR 4Mamma. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple, they came to Zerubbabel and the chief of the fathers, and said to them: Let us build with you, for we seek your God, and we sacrifice to Him. But they answered, ye have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God; we ourselves together will build it, as Cyrus commanded us.

Sophy. Why would they not let them help in the work?

M. Because they were not true Israelites. They had not separated themselves from the defilement of the heathen, as the children of the captivity had sought to do. This is the way all false worship has crept in, by men of the world proposing to help the people of God in the Lord's service.

S. What is the Lord's service?

M. Building a house to His name, was the service of the faithful in that day, just as gathering a people to His name is the service for this day. Now God's Spirit does not dwell in a temple built with hands. I explained to you that God has always had a testimony on the earth since the day He called out Abraham from his own country. That means that God has always had a people living on the earth, sometimes many, and sometimes but a few, who were witnesses of His salvation from the judgment to come; and of His mercy and love to sinful man.

S. But would they not build more quickly if they had more help?

M. It is quite true that more work might be done, but it would not be true work. The Bible says, many have built wood and bay and stubble, and this sort of work will be burnt up. It was quite right of Zerubbabel not to let these people work with him; what could these uncircumcised ones know about a habitation for the living God? We see how entirely it was an effort of Satan to hinder them, for as soon as their help was refused, these people tried in every way to weaken their hands, and to trouble them in building. They even tried to get the king of Persia to stop their work. Cyrus would not do so, but in the time of another king who came after him, they all joined together in a petition, the people of Samaria, and from the other side of Jordan.; and they wrote a letter to the king, and pretended to be very loyal to him, for they said that Jerusalem had always been a rebellious city; and that if the children of the captivity were allowed to build a house for their God, they would not pay tribute to the kings of Persia.

King Artaxerxes believed what they wrote, and he ordered them to go at once and stop the work at Jerusalem. So it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.

S. Was it right of them to stop building?

No! certainly not—they paid more attention to the word of the king than to the message of God.

M. If they had had faith to go on in spite of persecution, no doubt God would have helped them; but they were afraid of the people of the land. Yet the work was God's work, and He would not allow it to be stopped. He sent His prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to stir up the people. Haggai said: How can you live in nice houses while the house of the Lord lies waste? He said you are all thinking of your own things instead of the Lord's things. Then they wrote to the king, and told him how king Cyrus had commanded them to build the temple. And Darius, made inquiry, and he found it was quite true, so Darius ordered his people to help them in every way, that they might offer sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. And in the sixth year of his reign the house was finished. Even the tribute which was paid by the men on the other side of Jordan, Darius said was to be given to them, to help in the work at Jerusalem.

S. Those were the men that stopped them before?

M. Yes. We often see this kind of retribution in the ways of God.

When the house was finished, the priests and Levites, and all the children of the captivity, came up to dedicate the house of God, with joy. They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; and a sin offering for all Israel.

S. Were only Judah and Benjamin there?

M. Yes, but faith always takes in all the people of God, so they offered twelve he-goats for one sin-offering for the twelve tribes of Israel.

S. That was like Hezekiah when he prayed for all Israel.

M. Yes. When he said: The good Lord pardon every one!

They set the priests and Levites in their order, as it was written in the book of Moses. And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month; for they had all separated themselves from the idolatry and wickedness of the heathen, in order that they might seek the Lord. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful.

S. Tell me more about the way to serve God now.

M. To serve a person greater than ourselves two things are necessary. One thing is to know something of the thoughts and feelings of the person you want to serve; and the other is to be so subject that you would be willing to do whatever he desires and nothing more.

S. What do those who preach about Jesus know about His thoughts and feelings?

M. They ought to know two things. That He likes His people to be comforted; and that He, loves them so much that He says, whatever is done to them is done to Himself. Just as Ezra knew that to teach God's people, and to build God's house was pleasing to God in his day. The apostle Peter was one who longed to serve the Lord, and when Jesus was going away, He said to Peter: "Feed my sheep; feed my lambs." Peter spent his life in doing it, with all love and tenderness. And in the end he was put to death because he would not cease from telling of Jesus and His love; and entreating sinners to believe in Him. This is service to God, and this is being a witness to Christ, who has loved us, and washed us from our Sins in His own blood.

Ezra 7

EZR 7Mamma. In this chapter we get another proof of the wonderful loving kindness of God to His people, notwithstanding all their unfaithfulness. For God made king Artaxerxes grant Ezra's request, which was, that he might go up to Jerusalem with all those who wished to bring their offerings to the house of the Lord.

Ezra was one who had kept the record of his family. He was descended from Aaron, God's first high priest. He was a scribe in the law of Moses.

A scribe was one who wrote copies of the law, and taught it to the people. Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord; and to do it, and he wished to teach the law to the children of Israel. This was true and faithful service.

The king of Persia wrote a wonderful letter to Ezra; for he said, that all those in his kingdom who wished to go up to worship might go, and the king and his counselors gave them silver and gold to take with them, and the king told Ezra to take all that he could get besides, through all the province of Babylon, and buy offerings for his God; and whatever he needed more he might take out of the king's treasure house. And he told Ezra to teach the people the law of God, and any one who did not do the law should be put to death.

Sophy. Was the king a child of God?

M. He certainly feared the Lord, and knew that He was the God of heaven, but he always spoke as if He were only the God of the Israelites who had power over all men. The king knew that God would avenge His people if he was unkind to them. He said: Why should there be wrath against the king and his sons?

S. Was Ezra surprised at the king's kindness?

M. Yes. But he knew it was God who made the king so kind, for he said: Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing into the king's heart. Then Ezra gathered all the chief men of Israel to go up with him. He brought them to the river Ahava, and stopped there for three days, that he might see all the people who were with him, and when he had counted them he found that there were none of the sons of Levi in the company. So he called together some of the priests who were men of understanding, and told them to go to Iddo the chief, and to ask him to send ministers for the house of God. So they brought a man of understanding, of the sons of Levi, and eighteen others, besides the sons of Merari, and the Nethinims. Then Ezra proclaimed a fast at the river Ahava, that the people might be sorry before God, and that they might seek of Him a right way for themselves and their little ones.

S. What is a fast?

M. To fast means to take no food. It was an expression of sorrow for sin; fasting is always connected in God's word with prayer, because it was refusing what is necessary to a man, as food is, in order to be dependent on God. Ezra felt that there were enemies all around them; and he thought it would be dishonoring to the Lord if he were to ask the king of Persia for a band of soldiers to protect them; for he had told the king that the hand of God was upon all those who seek Him to do them good. But Ezra knew that they did not deserve anything good from God, so he invited the children of the captivity to seek the Lord with fasting and prayer; that is, with humbled hearts. They confessed that there was no good in themselves, but that God was unchanged to His people; and God heard their prayer.

Then Ezra weighed out all the treasures of the house of God, and gave it to the twelve most trusted of the priests to take care of, until it was weighed again in the house of God in Jerusalem.

S. Where is the river Ahava?

M. It is in Babylon. They were on their way to Jerusalem, and this chapter is describing how they went up, when God put it into Ezra's heart to bring up the people out of Babylon. God took care of them on the journey and did not let their enemies hurt them; so they came to Jerusalem and waited there three days; and on the fourth day they weighed the treasures again and found they were all right.

Then all those who had come out of the captivity offered sacrifices to the God of Israel; twelve bullocks for all Israel, for a burnt offering, and twelve he-goats for one sin-offering.

And they gave all the king's messages to his officers; so they were well disposed to the people to the house of God,

S. Were they building at that time?

M. No. Ezra, the priest, was trying to occupy them with their own state before God. We read that the princes came to him with the sad tidings that the people of Israel had not separated themselves from the evil of the heathen, and that the priests and Levites were as evil as the rest. They had married the daughters of the people of the land, and had learned their wicked ways. When Ezra heard this he rent his garment, and sat astonied till the evening sacrifice.

S. What does that mean?

M. He was so overcome by the news of the people's unfaithfulness, and he was so shocked and grieved by it, that he could only sit still and be silent, broken hearted before God until a sacrifice was offered. Then he got up, and having rent his garment, threw himself upon his knees fore the Lord, and prayed and confessed the sin of the people with tears and great sorrow.

When he had ceased a very great company of men and women and children came to him, and they all wept. But Ezra's sorrow was so great that he would neither eat nor drink.

Then they made a proclamation that every one should separate himself from evil company, or whatever had made him unclean, and if any one did not do so in three days he should be separated from the congregation of Israel. When they heard this, all the men of Judah and Benjamin came to Jerusalem, and God made a great rain to come, and they sat in the street trembling because of their sin and because of the great rain.

S. Were they frightened?

M. Yes; because God was wroth with them. And Ezra appointed men to go from house to house among the people to see that they obeyed the proclamation, that God's anger might be turned away.

You see how much sorrow the people of God may bring upon themselves by keeping company with wicked people and learning their thoughts and ways. David said, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly; nor standeth in the way of sinners; nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Nehemiah 1-4

NEH 1-4Sophy. Who was Nehemiah?

Mamma. He was a captive of the children of Israel, and held the office of cup-bearer to the king of Persia. Nehemiah lived in the king's palace which was called Shushan. One day some men of Judah came with his brother Hanani to see Nehemiah, and he asked them all about the captives who had gone back to their own land in the time of Ezra.

S. How long was it since Ezra went up to Jerusalem.

M. It was only eleven years since Ezra and his company had gone up, but it was nearly eighty years since the first decree of Cyrus was given to build the temple at Jerusalem. You may remember they were stopped by fear of their enemies, and nothing was finished until Ezra came in the reign of this same Artaxerxes. Ezra connected the people with God, and insisted on holiness and separation from evil, He made them put away all their strange wives, and he appointed priests and Levites to take charge of the house of the Lord.

But these people who came to see Nehemiah gave him a very sad account. They said that the remnant that were left were in great affliction and reproach; and the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and the gates were burned with fire. When Nehemiah heard this he wept and fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

S. Why did he say God of heaven?

M. Because the Lords glory had no dwelling-place on earth. Besides it was the day of the Gentiles' power, and it is the God of heaven who rules over the Gentiles in His sovereignty. They had defiled His holy place, and the city where He had put His great name. So now God's servant cried: Oh, Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God! Then he confessed the sin of the children of Israel, and reminded God of His promise to hear them if they cried to Him; and now he begged for mercy in the sight of the king of Persia. For he was the king's cup-bearer.

S. What was a-cup-bearer?

M. One who handed the king his cup or goblet of wine at his feasts. You remember Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had his chief butler—one who had charge of the king's wine. Soon after this Nehemiah had to take the king's cup of wine and hand it to him, and he looked very sad, for he had been crying before the Lord. Then the king said to him, Why are you sad? You are not ill. You must be unhappy. And Nehemiah felt afraid. And he said: How could he help being sad when Jerusalem was waste, and the gates were burned? The king replied: For what do you make request? And Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven.

S. I suppose he thought God would make him say the right thing?

M. Yes; he was but a slave to the conqueror of his nation, so no wonder he felt afraid. The queen was sitting by the king and perhaps she pitied the sorrowful cup-bearer, for when he made his request to go up to build Jerusalem, the king said, How long will you be away? and when will you come back? Nehemiah told the king, and then he begged him to give him letters to the governors to desire them to help him on his journey, and to give him wood from the forests for his work.

God made the king kind to him, so that he granted Nehemiah's request. The king sent some of his soldiers with Nehemiah to take care of him; for his enemies were very angry that any one should go up to Jerusalem to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

S. Were the children of Israel glad to see him come?

M. They did not know who he was at first, for he did not tell any one for three days, but he used to go out at night to see exactly what was wanted to be done. At length he said to the priests and the nobles and the rulers, and the workmen, that it was very sad to see the city lying waste and the wall broken down; but that God had made the king kind to him, and now he wished to set to work. So they all said, Let us rise up and build! Their enemies laughed and mocked; but Nehemiah said, The God of heaven will prosper us; we are His servants, but you have no portion in Jerusalem. For Sanballat was a Horonite, Tobiah was an Ammonite, and Gesham was an Arabian. Now all the people went to work. Of one it is recorded that his daughters also worked; of another, that he worked earnestly; but the nobles did not put their necks to the work of the Lord.

S. Why is so much said about walls, and locks, and bars?

M. Because they were surrounded by enemies. The walls shut them in as a separated people. In days of evil the people of God have no strength, except in separation. If the wall is broken down, an enemy can get in. It is the same now; if a Christian leaves a place unguarded by the Spirit of God, evil may steal in and he may suffer. But when we say to people who laugh at us, as the Ammonite laughed at Nehemiah, we are servants of a heavenly Master, and we wish to be quite separate from you, our enemies feel that there is a great wall between us. Tobiah pretended to despise their wall; he said that even a fox would jump over it; but he could not get over it himself. As long as the people prayed to God and had a mind to work, not all the armies of their enemies could stop them.

S. Did all the children of Israel in Jerusalem trust God as Nehemiah did?

M. Those who builded with him did, but there were some who complained that their strength was gone and there was much rubbish to be cleared away; and the Jews ten times over declared that their enemies were coming upon them. But Nehemiah set a guard to watch night and day. And he gave all the people swords and spears, and he said, Do not be afraid; remember the Lord is great and terrible, and He will fight for you. And they carried their burdens in one hand and held a sword in the other. And each of the builders had a sword girded by his side. And he that sounded the trumpet stood by Nehemiah.

S. Why did one sound a trumpet?

M. To gather the people if an enemy came; because they were not all working close together; so Nehemiah told them to come when they heard the trumpet and that God would fight for them. These workmen were not in a hurry to stop at night, for they worked from the early morning until the stars shone out at night. They all lodged inside Jerusalem at night. But Nehemiah and his brethren and his servants and the men of the guard which followed him never undressed at all, that they might be always ready if an enemy appeared!

Nehemiah 5-8

NEH 5-8Mamma. In this chapter we read that there was an outcry, made by the poor Jews against the rich; because, when food was scarce, the poor families had given over their lands and their vineyards to the rich men, for money to buy food. And these rich men had made some of their children slaves. When Nehemiah heard these things he was much displeased. And he rebuked the nobles and rulers, and reminded them that these men whom they were illtreating were their brethren. Nehemiah himself acted very differently; for he took no pay as other governors did, but on the contrary, he helped and fed others who needed it. Then' the rich men were ashamed of what they had done, and they promised to restore to the poor men their lands and vineyards. And Nehemiah shook his lap and said, So may God shake out of His house every man who does not keep this promise. And all the congregation said Amen, and praised the Lord.

S. I think Nehemiah loved God's people as you said Moses did, because they belonged to God.

M. Every true servant of the Lord must have a heart for His people. Now their enemies began to tease him more than ever, for they tried first to coax him, and then to frighten him, and to get him to come down to them. But Nehemiah would not go. He said he had a great work to do, and could not leave it. Them others tried to make him fly and hide from them, but they were only false friends. Nehemiah walking with the Lord did not give heed to any of them, and so the wall was finished in fifty-two days, and all his enemies and the heathen knew that God had helped them in the work. But sad to say, some of the nobles of Judah kept up a friendship with Tobiah, one of the enemies of the people of God.

S. Why did they do so?

M. Because they liked the friendship of the world too well. Some were also connected by marriage with Tobiah.

Now when the wall was built, and the doors set up, Nehemiah appointed porters to keep the doors; and singers, and Levites to their office, and he made his own brother Hanani ruler over the palace, and over Jerusalem; because he was a faithful man. He ordered that the gates were not to be opened until the heat of the day, because no one would, think of going out to fight then. And while the doors were being shut they were to stand by and see that they were well barred, and every one was to watch that no enemy got in. For the city was large, but there were few people in it, and few houses. Then God put it into Nehemiah's heart to count the people to see that they were all of Israel.

Nehemiah found the register that had been made when they first came up out of Babylon.

S. You told me about that when we read the book of Ezra.

M. Yes; and here Nehemiah counts all the people again with the priests and singers and porters and Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants; besides those who could not show their true descent from Israel. Then they had men-servants and maidservants, singing men and singing women; and a great many horses and mules and camels and asses. And they all gave to the work of the Lord, and by the seventh month they were all at home in their own cities. It was the time of the blowing of trumpets. But their trumpets were silent. They hardly knew what God was doing for them. When they were all assembled, Ezra the scribe read out the law to them, and explained it so that every one could understand; and the people wept when they heard the word of God.

S. Why did they weep?

M. Their hearts were touched by the grace and goodness of God, and no doubt they felt how sadly they had behaved towards Him. However, Ezra told them not to weep; for this day was holy to the Lord and it became them to be glad and rejoice in His goodness, for the joy of the Lord was their strength.

On the second day they came together to hear Ezra read again, and they learned that God had told Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month.

S. Oh, yes; that was to remind them that they were strangers when God brought them out of Egypt and lived in tents.

M. Exactly. When the people heard this, they went to the mountains and got all sorts of branches, and they each made a booth on the roof of their nice, new houses, and in the courts of the house of God; and they all sat under their booths, and were glad for seven days.

S. I suppose it looked like a number of little arbors. It must have been very funny to have one on the roof of the house.

M. The roofs of the houses were flat so that you could walk upon them; and some were quite large arbors to hold all the family, little children and all! And on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, they did no work, but offered sacrifices to the Lord. But here we do not get anything said about the temple or about the altar, as we do in Ezra. For here the Gentile is master of the land, and Nehemiah is still servant to the king of Persia. But God did not disappoint the faith of those who turned to Him.

Nehemiah 9-13

NEH 9-13Mamma. In this chapter we find the children of Israel coming together to fast before the Lord and to confess their sins, and the rest of the day they spent reading the law of God. And they separated themselves from everything that they knew to be unholy. They did this of their own accord this time, and then like men with hearts and consciences set free from their own burdens, the Levites stood and called upon all the people to bless God's glorious name which was exalted above all blessing and praise. Then they prayed to the Lord, and told what wonderful things He had done for His people, ever since the time when God called Abram out of his own country, and father's house; and how bad and wicked they had been in spite of all God's care to keep them holy; God had been to them a gracious and merciful God. Now they were servants to the Gentiles because of their sins, and the kings of the Gentiles ruled over them, But they wished to make a covenant with the Lord, and all the princes, and Levites, and priests, put their seal to it.

S. What was the covenant they put their seals to?

M. It was a confession that they were separated from the heathen to the law of God; and they promised with an oath to walk in God's law, as it was given by Moses, to keep the Sabbath and all the ordinances, and that they would not forsake the house of their God,

S. I wonder they were not afraid to promise to keep the law when they had broken it so often before.

M. It is surprising. But then it had not been fully proved that there was no good in man; and so every one thought that he might do better if he tried.

S. When was it proved that there was no good in man?

M. At the cross. Divine perfection was seen by man day after day, and year after year, and it made man no better. Jesus abode alone. Men only hated His perfection, and ended by putting it as far away from them as they could. What do you think that proved about man?

S. That he did not love God, or like what was good.

M. It proved that there was no good in man, because at the bottom of his heart he hated God. And after that was proved, God never asked an unconverted man to do anything again. Since Jesus was crucified God has never asked man to keep the law or to do sacrifice. An unconverted man cannot do anything for God, nor come near God, except to stand and confess that he is a sinner. And when he knows that, as the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ shows it, he does not promise to keep laws because he knows he could not; but he asks God to enable him by His Spirit to live Christ, and then he does not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

S. Was it right of Nehemiah and the rest to put their seals to that covenant?

M. Oh yes. They meant to do right, and it had the effect of separating off those who desired to be faithful to the Lord from the rest, because men, women, and children, all who were old enough to understand it, were reckoned among those who said they would not forsake the house of their God.

Now there were very few people living in Jerusalem, as they liked living on their own lands in the country better. So they cast lots to see who should live in Jerusalem, and one man out of every ten was chosen, and they blessed those who willingly offered themselves to dwell in the holy city; and to keep guard there against the enemy.

Then the Levites purified themselves, and the people, and the work that they had done, and singers were appointed to give thanks to God; and as they offered their sacrifices the wives and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. And on that day they read out the law to the people, and there they found what God had said about the Moabite and the Ammonite, who were never to be allowed into God's assembly; because the Ammonites would not give the children of Israel anything to eat or drink when they were going up to Canaan, and the king of Moab tried to get Balaam to curse God's people.

S. But God made him bless them every time. Did He not?

M. Yes; Nehemiah reminds the people of this, and he finds that there is still a mixed multitude among them from whom they must separate. This was terrible work, they had had to separate even from their wives and their children before, and there was still a number of Moabites and Ammonites among them. It is the old story of the children of God getting mixed up with the enemies of God, as I showed you, all through the book of Chronicles, it was the cause of all their sufferings. So here, even when Nehemiah went back to the king for a little is while, as he had promised, Tobiah (the enemy of God's people) actually got a room in the court of God's house, and he filled this room with his own things. When Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem and found this out, he was dreadfully grieved, and he turned out Tobiah and his heathen rubbish and commanded the place to be well cleansed; and then he brought in a meat-offering and frankincense.

S. Why did they let Tobiah into God's house?

M. Just because he was related to the priest who had charge of the chambers, and who ought to have been the very one to keep out whatever would defile the house of God.

Poor Nehemiah must have been nearly heart-broken to find these very people who had so lately sealed the covenant, and promised to be faithful and separate as the people of God should be, so soon falling into every kind of carelessness; neglecting the Levites, working on the sabbath days, and buying and selling from the Gentiles. Nehemiah put a stop to this by locking the gates on the sabbath day, so that the people who came to sell their goods on that day could not get in; and at last they ceased to come. The next thing that grieved Nehemiah was finding out that some of the children could not speak their own language, because their mothers were of Ammon or of Moab. He was very angry with the fathers of the children, and told them how even Solomon who was so great and wise, had been disgraced because he had married strange wives. Thus this man of God tried to set everything to rights, and he says, Remember me, O my God, for good.

S. After that did he go back to be cup-bearer again?

M. We are not told in God's word. Other books take up the outward history of the Jews. But here God's history ends.

S. How do you mean? We have not read half through the Bible yet?

M. True, but God's history of His people as connected with Himself ends with Nehemiah. He had brought them back to their own land, and allowed His city and temple to be rebuilt by order of the Gentile powers; and the faithful few who mourned over the desolation in Zion waited there with humbled hearts for the Messiah. Who was He?

S. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was to be called Son of David.

M. Yes; He was to come and save His people from their sins. The true-hearted remnant waited for Him to come to set things right; the rest went on in careless indifference about God.

S. But Jesus did not build up the temple or make a grand palace in Jerusalem.

M. No; because the Jews did not receive Him as their king. They rejected Him before He was two years old, when Herod ordered all the baby boys to be killed, with the foolish thought that the holy child Jesus could be thus destroyed. And they ended by saying, We have no king but Caesar!-that was the Gentile emperor of Rome. They preferred him to their own true Messiah.

S. But the disciples believed in Jesus.

M. Oh, yes; and many more besides. Simeon and Anna, and thousands more, knew He was their Messiah come from God. But the nation received Him not, and now all these eighteen hundred years the veil is upon their hearts—the veil that they asked Moses to put upon his face that they might not see God's glory. It was to be seen in the face of Jesus, but their hearts were blinded, and they saw no beauty in Him.

JESUS! cans't Thou receive

A feeble child like me?

My little heart can scarce believe

That I may come to Thee!

With children I can go

And all I think can say;

With those I've often seen, and know,

I do not fear to stay.

But, Lord of heaven art Thou,

And dwell'st far off on high;

Tho' at Thy name I'm taught to bow,

Can I to Thee draw nigh?

That name is far above

My thoughts, howe'er I try

How can I know Thou dost me love,

Nor fear before Thine eye!

J. N.D.

=============================

As Son of man it was,

Jesus the Lord!

Thou gav'st Thy life for us,

Jesus our Lord!

Great was indeed Thy love,

All other loves above,

Love Thou did'st dearly prove,

Jesus our Lord!

Kings of

JUDAH AND ISRAEL

1. Rehoboam. 1. Jeroboam.

2. Abijah. 2. Nadab.

3. Asa. 3. Baasha.

4. Jehoshaphat. 4. Elah.

5. Jehoram. 5. Zimri.

6. Ahaziah. 6. Omri.

7. Athaliah. 7. Ahab.

8. Joash. 8. Ahaziah.

9. Amaziah. 9. Joram.

10. Uzziah. 10. Jehu.

11. Jotham. 11. Jehoahaz.

12. Ahaz. 12. Jehoash.

13. Hezekiah. 13. Jeroboam II.

14. Manasseh. 14. Zachariah.

15. Amon. 15. Shallum.

16. Josiah. 16. Menahem.

17. Jehoahaz. 17. Pekahiah,

18. Jehoiachim. 18. Pekah.

19. Jehoiachin, 19. Hoshea,

20. Zedekiah.

Questions on 1 Chronicles

CHAPTER 1-3.

1. Why are all these names given?

CHAPTER 4

1. What kind of man was Jabez?

2. What request of his did God grant?

3. How did the sons of Simeon get good pasture for their flocks?

4. Whom did they smite?

CHAPTER 5:25.

1. How did the children of Israel transgress against the Lord?

2. How did the God of Israel punish them?

3. What tribes were carried away?

CHAPTER 9

1. How were the children of Israel reckoned?

2. Why were they carried away into Babylon?

3. Who were the first to return to their possession?

4. What tribes dwelt in Jerusalem?

5. What had the porters to do? What had the sons of the priests to do?

6. What was the duty of the sons of the Kohathites?

CHAPTER 10

1. Why had king Saul so sad a death?

CHAPTER 11

1. Why did David become greater and greater?

2. What actions are recorded of David's mighty men?

3. What noble action marked the three mightiest?

4. What of Abishai the chief of the second three?

5. What of Henaiah?

CHAPTER 13

1. What mistake did David make?

CHAPTER 14

1. What was the effect of the Gentile king's civility to David?

CHAPTER 15

1. What had David learned about the Ark?

2. Why did Michal despise David?

CHAPTER 16

1. What was Asaph's office?

2. In what did David take the lead?

3. What reason did they give for praising the Lord?

4. Where was the altar?

5. When David had praised the Lord and blessed the people, whom did he bless besides?

CHAPTER 17

1. What did David say to Nathan?

2. What answer did the Lord send by Nathan?

3. How did David behave when he heard the Lord's purpose for him?

CHAPTER 18

1. Who became servants to David?

2. From whom did David take gold and brass?

3. What use did David make of all the gold, silver, and brass?

CHAPTER 19

1. What caused this battle with the Syrians?

CHAPTER 20

1. Who defied Israel, and what was his fate?

CHAPTER 21

1. What was wrong in David numbering the people?

2. What answer did David give the Lord?

3. What did David pray?

4. What did David see?

5. Who else saw the angel and where?

6. What request did David make?

7. Why would not David take the land for nothing?

8. How did the Lord shew His acceptance of David?

9. Why would not David go to Gibeon?

CHAPTER 22

1. Where did David put his altar now?

2. Why was David not allowed to build the house?

3. What command did David give to the princes?

CHAPTER 23

1. What did David do before he got old?

2. What is the difference between the commands David gave to the Levites and those given by Moses?

CHAPTER 24

1. Why did Nadab and Abihu die?

CHAPTER 25

1. What did they cast lots for?

CHAPTER 26

1. What did they do with spoils taken in battle?

CHAPTER 27

1. What were the king's treasures that the officers were appointed to have charge of?

CHAPTER 28

1. What advice did David give to the people?

2. What did he give to Solomon?

3. How did David know the pattern of things for the Lord's house?

4. Who was to command all the priests and Levites?

CHAPTER 29

1. How did David feel about this house of the Lord?

2. How did the people feel?

3. What is there remarkable in David's prayer?

4. Who was chief priest when Solomon was king?

Questions on 2 Chronicles

CHAPTER 1

1. What did Solomon do first?

2. How soon did God appear to him

3. How much did God give him?

4. Where was Solomon when God appeared to him?

CHAPTER 2

1. What did Solomon ask the king of Tire for?

2. What sort of man did he send to work for Solomon?

3. How did Solomon carry his wood?

CHAPTER 3

1. Why did Solomon build the house in Mount Moriah?

2. Why did he overlay it with gold?

3. Why did he garnish God's house with precious stones ?

4. What was the meaning of the Cherubim ?

5. Why was there a vail?

6. What was the meaning of the two pillars?

CHAPTER 4

1. What was the brazen altar for?

2. What was this great basin or "sea" used for?

3. What were the smaller lavers for?

4. How many candlesticks were there?

5. How many tables? and basins?

6. Why were the doors overlaid with brass?

7. What difference was there between the outer doors and the inside doors leading to the most holy place?

CHAPTER 5

1. What did Solomon put into the house when it was finished?

2. For what did he assemble the people?

3. Why did they take the staves out of the ark?

4. What was in the ark?

5. What was written on the tables?

6. How were the musicians clothed?

7. What happened when they sang: For He is good; For His mercy endureth forever?

CHAPTER 6

1. What had God said about Himself so that sinful man might not see Him?

2. But what especial favor did He show to His chosen people?

3. What made it possible for God to dwell with men?

4. Tell the chief points in Solomon's prayer?

CHAPTER 7

1. What were the two ways in which the Lord answered Solomon?

2. What effect had the Lord's twofold action on the children of Israel?

3. What were they doing for those twenty-three days?

4. What did the Lord do in the night?

5. What six "Ifs" did the Lord say?

6. What alone would cause Jehovah to forsake His house or His land?

CHAPTER 8

1. Why did Solomon fence in his cities with walls, and gates, and bars?

2. How did Solomon treat the nations around?

3. Of whom did he not make servants?

4. Who commanded the Priests and Levites?

CHAPTER 9

1. What made the Queen of Sheba come to Solomon?

2. How did she come?

3. Was it to show her own riches, or to do honor to Solomon?

4. What impressed her so much?

5. How much, greater was sight than hearing in this case?

6. What did Solomon's glory prove to her mind about God?

7. Which gave most to the other, the Queen of Sheba or Solomon?

8. Describe Solomon's ivory throne.

9. What sort of drinking vessels did Solomon make?

10. What did his ships carry home?

11. What did all the other kings come to him for?

12. What did they bring to him every year?

13. What was the boundary of Solomon's dominion?

14. How long did Solomon reign?

CHAPTER 10

1. Who succeeded Solomon?

2. Where did Jeroboam come from and for what purpose?

3. What was the advice of the old men?

4. What advice did the young men give?

5. How did the king answer the people?

6. What was the result?

CHAPTER 11

1. Why did Rehoboam not fight to recover the lost tribes?

2. How many tribes did he lose?

3. What tribes did he keep?

4. By what titles did these two kings reign?

5. Which king held Jerusalem and the temple?

6. What did the godly ones in Israel do for a place to worship God?

7. How did Rehoboam go on for three years?

CHAPTER 12

1. When Rehoboam was established in his kingdom how did he behave?

2. How soon did his punishment come?

3. What was the effect of the prophet's message?

4. Why did the Lord let the children of Judah feel what it was to be slaves to the king of Egypt?

5. What did the king of Egypt carry away?

6. How did Rehoboam and Jeroboam feel to one another?

7. Does this Book of Chronicles give the history of Judah or of Israel?

8. Can Toil tell me why?

CHAPTER 13

1. What did Abijah say to his army?

2. What is a covenant of salt?

3. Who was Jeroboam before he was made king?

4. WHOM did Abijah say was with the children of Judah?

5. What had Jeroboam set up instead of the true God?

6. When did God smite Jeroboam and his army?

7. Why did Judah prevail?

8. What was Jeroboam's end?

9. How many wives, and sons, and daughters had Abijah?

CHAPTER 14

1. What kind of king was Asa?

2. What did Asa say to the Lord?

3. How did the battle end?

CHAPTER 15

1. What had been the state of Israel for a long time?

2. What did the prophet Azariah say?

3. What effect had his words on the king, and on the people?

4. What did Asa do to his own mother's idol?

5. What did he do to the house of God?

CHAPTER 16

1. Why did Baasha king of Israel build Ramah?

2. What did he want them to do at Ramah?

3. What sad acts was Asa guilty of?

4. How did Asa lose an opportunity of conquering the Syrians?

5. What did Hanani say about the eyes of the Lord?

6. Why was Asa displeased at that?

7. How was he treating the people?

8. Why did Asa not get well of his disease?

9. Where was Asa buried?

CHAPTER 17

1. How did Jehoshaphat begin his reign?

2. What did the princes and Levites go through the cities of Judah for?

3. What did the valiant men do?

CHAPTER 18

1. What wrong alliance did Jehoshaphat make?

2. Why was Jehoshaphat so anxious to hear what the prophet would say?

3. What did the prophet say?

4. How did Ahab think he could prevent this prophecy coming to pass?

5. What was his end?

CHAPTER 19

1. What did Hanani reproach the king of Judah for?

2. What good did Jehoshaphat continue to do?

3. What did he say to the Levites?

CHAPTER 20

1. Why did they proclaim a fast?

2. Who stood before the Lord?

3. What did Jahaziel of the family of Asaph say?

4. How did Jehoshaphat and the people receive his words?

5. What time did they get up next day?

6. What did the singers praise?

7. What was their war song?

8. Who destroyed their enemies?

9. What were they doing for three days?

10. Why was it called the valley of Berachah?

11. How did they come to the house of God?

12. What did the nations hear?

13. What did God give Jehoshaphat?

14. Though Jehoshaphat was a good king what did he fail to do?

15. Why did the Lord break his ships?

CHAPTER 21

1. How did Jehoram reward his father's choice in making him king?

2. Whose conduct did he imitate?

3. Why did the Lord not destroy him?

4. Why was he not able to overcome the Edomites?

5. What letter did Elijah the prophet send to him?

6. How did the people show that they were not son?' for him when he died?

CHAPTER 22

1. Whose advice did he follow?

2. By whom did God cut off the house of Ahab?

3. What did Athaliah do?

4. How did Jehoshaphat frustrate her wicked purpose?

CHAPTER 23

1. How did Jehoiada bring about the Lord's purpose?

2. What did Jehoiada and his sons say?

3. Relate the end of Athaliah?

4. What covenant did Jehoiada make?

5. How did the people shew that they meant to keep this covenant?

CHAPTER 24

1. What sort of king was Joash?

2. What was the chest placed at the gate for?

3. What did Jehoiada do with their offerings?

4. What occurred after the death of this good priest?

5. What did the son of Jehoiada say before he died?

6. How soon did judgment come upon Joash?

7. Of what nation were the men who conspired against him?

CHAPTER 25

1. Why was it wrong to hire soldiers from Israel?

2. What contemptuous answer did the king of Israel send to Amaziah?

3. Why did God allow Amaziah to be defeated?

CHAPTER 26

1. What sort of king was Uzziah?

2. Who helped him to do right?

3. What was Uzziah's amusement?

4. What were his engines for?

5. What was his sad end?

6. What was the cause of it?

CHAPTER 27

1. In what state were the people in Jotham's reign?

2. Why did Jotham become mighty?

3. Who succeeded him?

CHAPTER 28

1. What awful form of idolatry was Ahaz guilty of?

2. How was he punished?

3. What did Odad the prophet hinder them from doing?

4. Where did they bring the captives?

5. Why did the Lord bring Judah low?

6. What wicked act was Ahaz guilty of?

CHAPTER 29

1. Who was Hezekiah's mother the daughter of?

2. Whose example did he follow?

3. Where did they put everything that was unclean?

4. What did Hezekiah restore?

5. What was the difference between the Levites and the priests?

6. What was done suddenly?

CHAPTER 30

1. What were Hezekiah's letters about?

2. How were they received?

3. How did the Lord answer Hezekiah's prayer?

4. Why did people come up from the land of Israel to Judah?

5. Why was there joy in Jerusalem?

CHAPTER 31

1. How did the people of Israel shew their zeal for the Lord?

2. What did they finish in the seventh month?

3. How had God blessed His people?

4. What did Hezekiah ordain about the priests?

5. In what did he prosper?

CHAPTER 32

1. Why did Hezekiah stop the fountains of water?

2. Why did he say there were more with him than with Sennacherib?

3. What did Sennacherib say?

4. Who prayed to God besides Hezekiah?

5. How did the Lord deliver them?

6. How did Hezekiah return the goodness of God in making him well?

7. How did they bury him?

CHAPTER 33

1. Whom did Manasseh behave like?

2. In what sort of things did he offend the Lord God?

3. What did he set up in the temple?

4. What effect had affliction upon him?

5. How was Amon his son like Manasseh and how was he unlike?

CHAPTER 34

1. What did Josiah begin to do when only eight years old?

2. Ten years after, what did he begin to do?

3. What work did they do faithfully?

4. What was found?

5. What was the effect on the young king of hearing the word of God?

6. What did the prophetess say?

7. What covenant did Josiah make?

CHAPTER 35

1. How did they follow the word of God given by Moses?

2. When was the passover kept before in like manner?

3. What was the cause of Josiah's death?

4. Who were sorry when he died?

CHAPTER 36

1. What did the king of Egypt do?

2. What kind of king was Jehoiakim?

3. What enemy came against him?

4. What did Nebuchadnezzar do to the Lord's house?

5. What is written about Jehoiakim?

6. Relate the history of his son who succeeded him?

7. Who tried to turn Zedekiah from his evil ways?

8. What especial sin is recorded of him?

9. How did the priests and people behave at this time?

10. What did the Lord God of their fathers do, and why?

11. What effect had this upon this rebellious people?

12. What was the consequence of their sin?

13. Until when were they in Babylon, and why?

14. How many years of sabbaths?

15. Who stirred up the heart of Cyrus?

16. What proclamation did Cyrus make?

Questions on Ezra

CHAPTER 1

1. Who was Cyrus?

2. Why did he rule over Babylon?

3. What charge had God given him?

4. What did he proclaim about the God of Israel?

5. What response did Cyrus get?

6. How do you know that God appointed some to do this work?

7. What did Cyrus contribute?

8. To whom were the treasures given?

9. What did he do with them?

CHAPTER 2

1. What men were they whose names are recorded here?

2. What was the object of keeping their genealogy?

3. What was lacking to the 652 of Ezra 2:60?

4. What did the governor say about the priests who had lost their family records?

5. How did the people offer?

6. Where did each family dwell?

CHAPTER 3

1. What was remarkable about the seventh month (see Lev.)?

2. What did Joshua and Zerubbabel set up first of all?

3. Who made them afraid?

4. What protection had they?

5. How did they spend the seventh month?

6. When did they begin to build the house?

7. What accompanied the laying of the foundation?

8. How did the ancient men feel about it?

CHAPTER 4

1. What did their enemies propose?

2. How did Zerubbabel and Jeshua reply?

3. How did their enemies show their revenge?

4. How did the king reply?

5. Why did the work cease and until when?

CHAPTER 5

1. What stirred up Zerubbabel and Jeshua to resume work?

2. Who tried to hinder them?

3. Why could they not hinder them?

4. What did they write to the king of Persia?

5. What did they ask him to do?

CHAPTER 6

1. What was found in the king's palace?

2. What answer did Darius send to the governors?

3. What decree did he make?

4. Why did this Gentile king wish the Lord's people to offer sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven?

5. What was the punishment for any one who disobeyed the decree of Darius?

6. Who encouraged the people to work?

7. When was the house finished?

8. Describe the dedication of the house of the Lord.

9. When did they keep the passover?

10. What is keeping the passover a remembrance of?

11. How had God made them joyful?

CHAPTER 7

1. What came into Ezra's heart to do?

2. Who was reigning in Persia then?

3. What had Ezra prepared his heart to do?

4. What did Artaxerxes call himself?

5. To buy what, did he give Ezra silver and gold?

6. Why was the king anxious to obey the God of heaven?

7. What command did the king give to Ezra?

8. What was the consequence of disobedience?

9. For what does Ezra praise the Lord?

CHAPTER 8

1. Where did Ezra gather the people and for what purpose?

2. Who were missing in the company?

3. Why did they fast?

4. To whom did Ezra commit the treasures?

5. Where were they three days?

6. What did they do on the fourth day?

7. What did they offer in sacrifice and for whom?

CHAPTER 9

1. What was discovered about the Levites?

2. What was the effect upon Ezra?

3. What had God left in His grace?

4. What commandment of the Lord had they disobeyed?

5. What had come upon them in consequence?

CHAPTER 10

1. What did the people come and say to Ezra?

2. Why did they say there was hope in Israel?

3. What covenant did they make?

4. What proclamation did Ezra make?

5. Why did they tremble?

6. What did Ezra tell them to do?

7. Why did the sons of the priests offer a trespass offering?

Questions on Nehemiah

CHAPTER 1

1. What was the substance of Nehemiah's prayer?

CHAPTER 2

1. Why was Nehemiah sad?

2. Who were displeased at the king's kindness to Nehemiah?

3. What did Nehemiah go out at night to do?

4. What nations did his enemies belong to?

CHAPTER 3

1. Who worked well, and who did not work?

CHAPTER 4

1. What did the Ammonite say about their work?

2. How did this affect Nehemiah?

3. Why was Judah discouraged?

4. Why did Nehemiah tell them not to fear?

5. What did one half of the people do, while the other half were working?

6. How were the builders equipped?

7. What was the trumpeter for?

8. Why did they not undress at night?

CHAPTER 5

1. What had the rich Jews done to their poorer brethren?

2. How did Nehemiah deal with them?

3. How had he acted himself?

4. How long had he been ruling in Jerusalem?

5. By whom did Nehemiah expect to be rewarded?

CHAPTER 6

1. Why did the enemies of Nehemiah ask him to go down and meet them?

2. Why would Nehemiah not flee?

3. When was the wall finished?

4. What did their enemies perceive?

5. What wrong did the princes of Judah do?

CHAPTER 7

1. What did God put into Nehemiah's heart to do?

2. Why do you think God did this?

3. Name the different classes of men whom Nehemiah numbered?

4. What was done to those priests who could not shew their genealogy?

5. What was remarkable about the seventh month?

CHAPTER 8

1. What did the people come together as one man for?

2. Who stood on a pulpit of wood, and for what purpose?

3. How did the people answer when Ezra blessed the Lord?

4. Why did the Levites tell the people not to weep?

5. What did they discern in this law of God?

6. Since when had they omitted to keep the feast of tabernacles in the way that Moses commanded?

CHAPTER 9

1. For what did the children of Israel come together in this chapter?

2. What did they say of God and what did they say of the people?

3. Why were they in great distress?

4. What did they put their seal to?

CHAPTER 10

1. What did all they that had knowledge and understanding do?

2. What did they say about the sabbath day?

3 What tax did they put upon themselves and for what purpose?

4. What were they to do with their first-fruits, and with the firstborn of their sons and their cattle?

5. What were these firstfruits called?

6. What would they not forsake?

CHAPTER 11

1. What did they cast lots for?

2. Why were these men blessed?

3. What sort of men were the sons of Perez?

CHAPTER 12

1. What did Nehemiah appoint two great companies to do?

2. How did the wives and children join in?

3. What two men of God had given them these songs of praise?

CHAPTER 13

1. What did they learn by reading the word of God?

2. When had Moab and Ammon tried to hinder the people of God?

3. What was the mixed multitude from whom they separated?

4. What grievous thing had Eliashib done?

5. Where was Nehemiah at that time?

6. How did he deal with Tobiah?

7. How had the people neglected the service of the Lord in his absence?

8. What did he set faithful men to do?

9. What were they doing on the sabbath day?

10. How did Nehemiah stop it?

11. Why did some of the children speak a strange language?

12. Why was that wrong?

13. What did the history of Solomon teach?

14. Why would Nehemiah not allow the son-in-law of Sanballat to be with him?

15. What did Nehemiah succeed in doing?

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1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah

Table of Contents

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 1-9

1 Chronicles 12-16

1 Chronicles 17-21

1 Chronicles 22

1 Chronicles 23-25

1 Chronicles 26-29

2 Chronicles 1-2

2 Chronicles 3-4

2 Chronicles 4-5

2 Chronicles 6-9

2 Chronicles 10-13

2 Chronicles 14-16

2 Chronicles 17-20

2 Chronicles 21-25

2 Chronicles 26-28

2 Chronicles 29-31

2 Chronicles 32-36

Read Leviticus 25

Read Daniel 1-12

Ezra 2-3

Ezra 4

Ezra 7

Nehemiah 1-4

Nehemiah 5-8

Nehemiah 9-13

Questions on 1 Chronicles

Questions on 2 Chronicles

Questions on Ezra

Questions on Nehemiah