13. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps. 126: 1. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. 3. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. 4. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 13. Righteousness, etc. "Righteousness shall be both his herald and attendant." Without this the blessings cannot come. And shall set us in the way of his steps (Am. R., "And shall make his footsteps a way to walk in "). Problems for To-day. The principles unfolded in this Psalm apply to us and to our nation as perfectly as they did to the ancient Jews. They belong to the very nature of things as created by God. There is no escape from them. Therefore choose ye this day whom ye will serve. III. PSALM 126. This Psalm, which Professor M. R. Vincent calls "The Gate to the Harvest field," was doubtless written later than Ps. 85 which we have been considering, probably nearer the Ezra period. 1. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion (Am. R., " When Jehovah brought back those that returned to Zion "). We were like them that dream. "The first colony of exiles had returned to Palestine. The permission to return had been so unexpected, the circumstances which led to it so wonderful and so unforeseen, that when it came it could hardly be believed. To those who found themselves actually restored to the land of their fathers it seemed like a dream. It was a joy beyond all words to utter." Perowne. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. The natural expressions of the highest joy. "Even the heathen for once refrained from scoffing. The deliverance, the return, were so wonderful, so directly in the face of all probability, that they were forced to acknowledge the interposition of a higher power." Professor Vincent. These songs of deliverance voice the praises of God's people for his wonderful deliverances from the captivity of sin, into his own dear kingdom of righteousness and love; from the captivity of sorrow into the blessedness of a nobler and more useful life, into the rest of faith and love, into the regions of heavenly peace; from the captivity of our earthly life into heaven. "Thy feet at last shall stand on jasper floors; Thy heart, at last, shall seem a thousand hearts - 4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord. Bring back our captives that still remain in Babylonia. Why? because there was great need of more helpers. Jerusalem is in ruins. The streets must be cleared, the walls built to keep out the plundering Samaritans, the Temple completed, the nation enlarged, giving so much more hope, and cheer, and strength. As the streams of the south. "We must not fail to notice the beautiful figure in which this prayer is couched. Bring back our captives as the streams of the South (Am. R.). The South was the general term for that plain which stretched southward from Jerusalem to the edge of the Arabian desert. In the heats of summer it lies parched and barren, the watercourses dry, not the smallest rill trickling over the hot stones, every remnant of vegetation withered. But when the winter snows melt, and the spring rains begin to fall, the streams in an incredibly short time convert the wilderness into a fruitful field. Thus the exiles pray that their brethren may return as abundantly as these streams of the South. Flood our land with men. So shall the wilderness be glad, and the desert shall rejoice." Gates to the Psalm Country. Sowing in Tears and Reaping in Joy. 5. They that sow in tears is not only oriental imagery, but literal fact. Many things might conspire to send the Eastern husbandman to his field in tears. Sometimes the supply of grain is so scanty that to use it for sowing is almost to take the bread out of the children's mouths. Often there is very much to make the Eastern farmer's seed-time a time of sorrow and weariness and danger. He might have to go 6 or 7 miles from his village to his field, and thus so much nearer to the desert border, from which a robber band could easily make him their prey, or take his life, and carry off the seed on which the life of his household depended." Shall reap in joy. "The valleys stand thick with grain. There are no tears now, but only the shouting and the happy faces of the reapers, and the joy of the harvest home." - Gates to the Psalm Country. Verse 6 gives a double emphasis to the promise of verse 5. Practical Suggestions. 1. The whole of our earthly life is a sowing time, often at times a sowing in tears. But it is a sowing time for eternal life in heaven, a discipline to prepare for immortality. 2. The sowing in tears ever precedes the reaping in joy. This is true of education, of our school days, before we can reap the glories of literature, the hard practice and long study before one can produce and perfectly enjoy the most heavenly music; the struggle of life before success can be won. GOLDEN TEXT.-Jehovah hath done great things for us; THE TEACHER AND HIS CLASS. In lesson IX of the last quarter we studied the story of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the captivity of Judah, by the Babylonian armies under Nebuchadnezzar. The lessons which followed were concerned with events during that captivity. To-day we take up the story of the Return; and we consider the marvellous events that made it possible. In order to understand it, we need to study carefully on a map the geographical situation; and with it the political changes. It will make these things more vivid if we place a modern map by the side of the ancient one, and make clear the modern names and conditions and rulers of the countries in which the ancient history of the Return occurred. First Return reaches Jerusalem May or Temple foundation begun, B.C. 536. Cylinder of Cyrus. Inscribed with account of his capture of the city of Babylon B.C. 539. This cylinder is barrel shape, about 9 inches long, with diameter of 3 inches at the end, 4 inches at the middle. THE LESSON IN ITS SETTING. Monument. The Cyrus Cylinder Cyrus captures Babylon, found in the ruins of Babylon in 1879, now B.C. 538. Decree of Cyrus, B.C. 538, 7. in the British Museum. LEARN BY HEART. Isaiah 40: 28-31. THE ROUND TABLE. FOR RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION. Cyrus and his conquest of Babylon. Why he changed the policy of the previous rulers, and sent the captives home. The Lord's control or guidance of Cyrus (Isa. 44: 28; Prophecies of the Return. Jeremiah 25: 12; 29: 10; The effect of the exile upon the Jews. THE TEACHER'S LIBRARY. Hunter's After the Exile. The Bible Com. International Crit. Com. on Ezra and Nehemiah. The Cambridge Bible for Schools. Expositor's Bible. Stanley's Jewish Church, vol. 3. The New Century Bible. Professor Sayce on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, and his Higher Criticism and Pinches' the Monuments, pp. 537-554. The uniting of the Israelite and the Judean captives Old Testament in the Light of the Historical into one nation, Ezekiel 37: 16–22. PLAN OF THE LESSON. SUBJECT: The Return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity. I. THE EXILE PERIOD OF THE JEWS IN II. THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF THE III. THE HOUR for Return hAS STRUCK, V. I. IV. POLITICAL CHANGES WHICH MADE VS. 5-II. VI. THE RETURN OF THE EXILES TO JERUSALEM. Records, "Life at Babylon during the THE LESSON IN LITERATURE. Herodotus, vol. 1, on Cyrus and Babylon is very interesting. Mrs. Browning's Poems, "The Drama of Exile." Whittier's "The Reformer." Xenophon's Cyropedia. Jacob Abbott's Cyrus the Great. THE LESSON IN ART. Return of Jews from Captivity, by an unknown artist.* Cyrus Restoring Temple Vessels, by Doré. THE BOOK OF EZRA. 1. Originally Ezra and Nehemiah were counted as one. 2. Language. Like the book of Daniel, the book of Ezra is written in two languages, both of which were at that time familiar to the Jews. The main portion is written in Hebrew; but chapters 4: 8 to 6: 18 and 7: 12-26 are in Aramaic (Syriac). This change is natural, since these chapters are chiefly taken up with documents and letters which must have been originally written in that tongue. 3. Sections. The book consists of two distinct sections. The first six chapters cover a period of twenty years, 536-516, and are a compilation from documents written more than half a century before Ezra's appearance in history. Between chapters 6 and 7 intervenes a period of fifty-eight years. Chapters 7 to 11 are the personal memoirs of Ezra himself. 4. Extent of the history (in Ezra) is about 80 years, B.C. 538-458. I. THE EXILE PERIOD OF THE JEWS IN BABYLON. For many years the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had lived side by side; but the northern kingdom had wandered far away from the God of their fathers, had worshipped heathen gods with all their abominations, till there was no hope of their restoration to obedience to the true God. They were a failure for the purpose of God to uphold the true religion. In the wars and siege of Samaria B.C. 722-718 all the principal citizens were carried away captives to Assyria, and the Northern Kingdom was blotted out forever. These were the enterprising ones, and were among those that returned with the Exiles of Judah. About 130 years later, B.C. 586, Jerusalem was destroyed, its temple laid in ruins, and the best of the people carried captives to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, its King. There were three eras of the captivity, covering a period of 20 years (605-586). THE FIRST CAPTIVITY (606 or 605) by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year of his father's reign. It was at this time that Daniel and his friends were carried captive to Babylon (Dan. 1 : 1-6), and from this date is to be counted the 70 years of captivity foretold by Jeremiah (259-12; 29: 10). I SECOND CAPTIVITY (B.C. 598). Nebuchadnezzar again captured the city, sent a great amount of treasures from the palace and the temple to Babylon, with 10,000 of the more important of the people (2 Kings 24:10-16). Among these were the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 1 : 1, 2), and the great-grandfather of Mordecai, Queen Esther's cousin (Esther 2: 5, 6). THE THIRD CAPTIVITY was also by Nebuchadnezzar, who, after a siege of a year and a half, in July, 586, completely destroyed the city and the temple. THE CAUSE OF THE CAPTIVITY was the moral condition of the people. Every effort possible by slighter punishments, by revivals of religion, by prosperity, by prophets, by warnings, and by promises had been made to save the nation. But they went on in disobedience and idolatry and ungodliness and in all the crimes which are their natural fruit, till nothing less than the exile could restore the nation and save true religion to the world. Condition of the Captives. "The exiles lived in peace without interference with their own customs, social and religious. They were burdened with heavy taxation, and forced to labor without hire in building the temples and palaces of Babylon, a hard bondage from which old age was not exempt. But they were allowed to form settlements of their own. Some of them in Babylon shared in the prosperity of the empire. But they were homesick. They could not forget the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, and they longed for revenge. The Babylonians held them in contempt. They were spat upon, laughed at, pulled by the beard. They became a byword among the Gentiles.". Hunter's After the Exile. "Gradually, however, matters improved. The general superiority of the Hebrew character, both intellectually and morally, to that of other Eastern nations, would commonly secure the advancement and prosperity of the captives. Some rose to the very highest situations, such as Daniel, who became prime minister; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who also got high promotion; and afterwards Nehemiah, who became cup-bearer to the king of Persia. Many would be employed as craftsmen or artisans. Many doubtless followed the advice of Jeremiah in the land of their captivity-Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them' (Jer. 29 : 5, 28).”. Professor Blaikie. II. THE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE OF THE CAPTIVITY. It was impossible for the Jews to return and the kingdom to be restored till they had renounced the sins which brought them into captivity, and had learned the lessons the exile was intended to teach. The purpose of the captivity was to bring the exiles back to God, and his righteousness; and to fit them to be his people who would uphold and proclaim to the world the true religion with all its blessings. The hard discipline of the Exile had at length after 70 years so far done its work that it was safe for volunteers to return to Palestine and renew the ancient nation. The First Result was, that it broke the charm idolatry had hitherto exercised. "Henceforward, through all the future, they and their descendants were fierce monotheists, haters of all idols. Some, indeed, became imbued with the demoralization of Babylonian idolatry, but these did not return; and in later years there was a great revival among the Jews in Babylonia, and they became as zealous for the Law and the temple as their brethren in Judah." Geikie. Second. They were taught to set a new value on the filling of all the forms of worship with the spirit of religion. God had allowed even the city which was the type of heaven, and the most glorious temple dedicated to his worship, to be destroyed when these became a substitute for true religion instead of an aid to it. They were also taught, by their absence, the value and necessity of religious institutions, of the means of worship, of the Sabbath day. Third. It led to renewed study of the sacred Scriptures. The exile was the period in which the guardianship, transcription, and study of the written Scriptures became the special care of a distinct class, afterwards famous as the great order of the Scribes. It led, also, to the establishment of the synagogue for social worship and reading of the Scriptures, with its accompanying schools. To this period and that of the return belong the authorship of some of the noblest and highest religious literature. The Fourth Result was a sifting of the people for the renovation of the nation when the time should come to plant it again in Palestine. The captives were sifted by Nebuchadnezzar. He sifted them on two principles. (1) He was not looking out for religious men ; but he had need of men who had some force in them, some capability for labor and service. (2) The men of vigor and valor were the men whom it would be dangerous for him to leave behind. They might head another revolt. Therefore it was wise to take them away. “Thus (unwittingly as to God's plans) he took away not merely such men as he wanted, and dared not leave behind, but such Cowles. men as God wanted wherewith to replant his Canaan in his due time." Fifth. When the time came for the best men to return to Palestine, the captives were sifted by the call for volunteers, who would naturally be the most religious, the most zealous, and the most vigorous ones. "Some one has said that in looking for seed to plant New England three centuries ago the Lord sifted two kingdoms (England and Holland) for the best they had. With equal truth it may be said that the Lord of Providence, on the same wise principle, sifted the Jewish people twice over to get out the best seed for replanting the land of promise.". Cowles. Sixth. Contact with the great world extended the views and enlarged the sympathies of the nation. They came in contact with new ideas, a new literature, a new language. They could not live so exclusively as in Palestine, but each individual met the individuals of other nations. The exiles were not all in Babylon but were scattered over the whole empire. Thus the fires of their punishment purged away some of their dross. Seventh. "The captivity served as a missionary scheme to spread the knowledge of God over the world." It was an aid in preparing the world for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, by having in every large place a body of people who believed the Old Testament, and had places of worship where the Gospel could be preached. nace. Eighth. The Uniting of the best families of Judah and Israel into one nation. The exile brought together the representatives of the divided kingdom, and made one nation where there had been two, welding the twelve tribes together like iron in a furGod represented this union through Ezekiel (37 : 15–28) by two sticks, on one of which was written Judah, and on the other The House of Israel. These sticks were joined together, " and they shall become one in thine hand." This was done in the presence of the people, to show that the exiles of Israel carried to Babylon B.C. 722, when Samaria was destroyed, were to unite with the captives of Judah. "And I will make them one nation,” “and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." Thus we see that there are no "lost ten tribes" for whom there has been so much seeking. "It is cross-fertilization and not grafting which has given us our richest varieties of fruits and flowers." 66 Ninth. The whole period of the exile was one of sifting. Through a thousand. trials, a thousand purifications, numerous exiles, and infinite selections, the flock required for the divine work was set apart. The elimination of the dross was complete. . . . Here on its way is the band of saints who will realize the ideal dreamed of by two centuries of Puritans. It was the greatest triumph of faith. . . . Great love alone can work these miracles." Renan. A Lesson for Boys. We learn some of life's best lessons from our burdens, our difficulties, our struggles, our sufferings. It is a pity that the Jews refused to learn their lessons in an easier way by being obedient scholars in God's other schools. For as Carlyle said, "Experience is a good teacher; but her tuition is so high." In the school of life there are many beautiful and attractive lessons; but there are also many temptations, and hard duties, and self-denials. "The father who tries to save his son from struggle and work is irreparably hurting the boy's character and crippling him so that he cannot run the race of life nor fight its battles with any measure of success. The men who stand up among other men, strong, wise, victorious, are the men who have been brought up in the school of hardness. London S. S. Chronicle. And when any have yielded to evil and gone astray God allows troubles and pains, and various trials, to come, with the loving purpose of making the way of transgressors so hard that they will turn back from their downward course. Object Lesson from Sermons in Candles. In Mr. Spurgeon's famous address, "Sermons in Candles," now published in book form (American Tract Society), is an illustration of a burning candle, on which he sprinkles steel filings. "This candle has fallen upon evil times. I have a bottle here full of black material which is to fall |