been justly immortalized by his discovery of the volume of God's law. Sum the silver. Count the sum of the money contributed by the people for the repairing of the temple. The keepers of the door. These were the Levites having charge of the building. Gathered of the people. This was a voluntary contribution made by all the people, not only in Judah, but also by the strangers in Ephraim and Manasseh. (5) Liberal giring benefits both the giver and the cause. 5,6. Let them deliver it. That was right; money given to benevolent objects should be used and not hoarded. That have the oversight. These " doers " are the master-mechanics, the overseers, as distinguished from the actual "doers," the laborers and artisans, who worked upon the building. To repair the breaches. The last renovation had been made two hundred and fifty years before, in the reign of Joash, and the temple had passed through several periods of neglect and desecration since. (6) God leaves his house to the care of his people, to test their devotion and to develop their self-denial. Timber and hewn stone. Stone for the walls and timber for the roofs. 7. There was no reckoning made. This seems to have been the custom (see 2 Kings 12. 15), perhaps because it was deemed unworthy to scrutinize the accounts of those connected with the house of God; perhaps because the men chosen to administer the trust were of such recognized honor that no accounting was considered necessary. They dealt faithfully. Just as men should deal with all trusts placed in their care. 8. I have found. A rare honor, thus to bring God's word out of darkness and neglect, and set it on high to illumine, not only the land, but also the world, for we too rejoice in the discovery of that day. So did Luther and the reformers of three centuries ago. (7) And so too does every teacher who sheds the light of the truth on young minds. The book of the law. How did he know that it was the book of the law? From reading its contents, which he found stamped with divinity: from tradition that there had been such a book; and perhaps because fragments of it may have been in circulation. In the house of the Lord. This was the temple-copy of the law, possibly an autograph-copy written by Moses, certainly containing the main body of the Pentateuch. It may have been carefully hidden to preserve it from destruction during Manasseh's persecution; or it may have been cast into the rubbish of the dishonored HOME READINGS. M. Josiah and the book of the law. 2 Kings 22. 1-13. GOLDEN TEXT. temple. Notice that it was found when its finders were engaged in a good work. (8) Those who frequent God's house shall find treasures in it. Gave the book to Shaphan. (9) Whoever finds or has the Bible, should see that somebody else reads it. He read it. The place for the book is not on the parlor-table, honored but unread; but in the hands of the reader. God's word is best honored when it is put to use. 9, 10. Came to the king. He came to report the accomplishment of the work intrusted to him. Gathered the money. Rev. Ver., emptied out the money," that is, have paid it out to the workmen, as directed. Delivered me a book. Its form was probably that of a manuscript upon two rollers, so that it could be rolled Read off from one and on the ther while being read. it before the king. (10) The best casket for God's word is the heart of an obedient hearer. 11. When the king had heard. There is a peculiar impressiveness in truth when it strikes the ear for the first time. We who hear the word so often can scarcely put ourselves into the condition of this young king, listening eagerly to the revelation from the Lord. (11) Let us impress God's truth on the hearts of the children, before their hearts become hardened. He rent his clothes. An Oriental token of alarm and grief. Kings have their troubles, but few have so kingly a sorrow as this of Josiah. 12, 13. The king commanded. The noblest in the learning the meaning of the word and the will of the realm were not too lofty to be sent on the errand of Lord. Inquire of the Lord. They were sent to Huldah the prophetess, the only member of the prophetic order who was at hand, as Jeremiah had not yet begun his ministry, and Zephaniah may not have been in the city. For me, and for the people. He felt, as every soul must feel, an anxiety for himself; and as a true shepherd of the people, an anxiety for those under his care. Great is the wrath. He realizes that the cup of Judah's iniquity must be nearly full, but hopes that God's just wrath may yet be stayed by repentance. Against us, because our fathers. Every generation must inevitably suffer for the sins of the generations before it, as our generation for slavery, and as France during the Revolution for the oppression and misgovernment of centuries before. To do according. The succeeding verses relate the reply of the prophetess, which was that a destruction was impending, but would not fall while Josiah lived. child; chose the service of God when sixteen years old; was Judah's last good king, and fulfilled prophecies His evil successors prespoken of him long before. pared the way for the keen denunciations of the prophet who was Josiah's contemporary, Jeremiah, one of whose prophecies makes our next lesson. DOCTRINAL SUGGESTION-The Word of God. QUESTIONS FOR SENIOR STUDENTS. He did that which was right in the sight of the 1. The Righteous King, v. 1. 2. Lord. 2 Kings 22. 2. LESSON HYMN. L. M. 67. To prove and do thy perfect will: But let me all thy words obey; TIME.-Josiah's accession, 640 B. C. Main incident, 622 B. C. In Greek history, 39th Olympiad. Year of Rome, 131. PLACE. Jerusalem, capital of Judah. scriptive Index.) (See De RULERS.-Josiah, sixteenth king of Judah: Asshur-bani-pal, king of Assyrian empire. 668-626 B. C.; Psammetichus, king of Egypt, 666-612 B. C.; Ancus Martius, fourth king of Rome: Drago, lawgiver at Athens. INTRODUCTION.-Josiah began to reign when a By what means had Josiah come to the throne? What men about him helped to produce such a reign? What evidence of personal character did he give while he was still young? What does our Golden Text declare concerning his life? 2. The House of the Lord, v. 3–7. What was one of the most valuable services for his people which this king performed? How was the expense of this work met ? What sort of repairs would any building of wood and stone be likely to need after centuries of use? What repairs did it need? 2 Chron. 34. 11. What other king had repaired the temple? Was there any peculiarity about the method of paying those who had charge of the work? What does Paul say should be the character of one who occupies a post of trust? 1 Cor. 4. 2. 3. The Book of the Law, v. 8-13. What did Hilkiah find among the ruins of the temple? What were some of the things written in this book? 2 Chron. 34. 24. To what part of the Bible did this book belong? What probably was the name of the book? What effect did the reading have upon the king? What judgment did he pronounce upon the deeds of his ancestors? How did he honor this book before the people? 3. The Book of the Law, v. 8-13. What report did Shaphan bring to the king? Where was the book found? 2 Chron. 34. 14. What did the scribe read? What did Josiah do on hearing the law? What did he mean by this act? Whom did the king summon in council? What did he desire to know? What had the neglect of the law brought upon the people? Teachings of the Lesson. Where in this lesson are we taught-1. To be careful of God's house? 2. To be faithful in his service? 3. To be careful of his word? QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER SCHOLARS. When did Josiah become king of Jerusalem? When eight years old. Over what tribes did he reign? The tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Who was Josiah's father and king before him? The wicked and idolatrous Amon. What was his shameful death? He was murdered by his servants. Of what was this a warning to Josiah? Of the end of the wicked. [one true God. Whom did Josiah seek when sixteen years old? The What did he do in the twelfth year of his reign? He threw down the altars of the idols and opened the house of the living God. How did he live? As David lived, loving and serving God. (Repeat the GOLDEN TEXT.) [heart. What was David called? A man after God's own What was Josiah's command? That the people give money to repair and beautify the temple. What was found in the temple by the high-priest? A copy of the law God gave to Moses. To whom was it read? To the king. How was the king affected? He was grieved and alarmed that God had been so long forgotten and despised. What did he do? He sent messengers to a prophetess to inquire the will of the Lord toward him and his people. What was the word of the Lord to Josiah? That he should not see the punishment of Israel. Why did the Lord thus spare Josiah? Because he turned to him with all his heart. Words with Little People. THOUGHTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 1. Every youth may be like Josiah a king, for God has given to each soul a scepter and an empire. He is king over his character, over his mind, over his opportunities, over his influence, over his destiny 2. Every youth should follow Josiah's example in an early choice of God and the right. At the age of sixteen he made his decision (2 Chron. 34. 3), and thus consecrated his young manhood to God's service. 3. Every youth should be like Josiah in the thoroughness and whole-heartedness of his service. He turned not aside; let no interests come between himself and his duty; he was "out and out" for God and the right. 4. Every youth should be like Josiah in exerting his influence. Read the story, and see how arde itly he labored to bring his kingdom into the servi e of God. Not content with true religion for himself, h strove to impart it to others. 5. Every youth should be like Josiah in his love for God's house. Let us contribute to its support, attend its services, and take a deep interest in its welfare. 6. Every youth should be like Josiah in his interest in God's word. Not only did he have it read to himself, but he read it to others, and made it the law of his realm. But, once found, its importance was recognized. The book is read to the king. The words he hears are evidently new to him, for he shows his grief and consternation by weeping and reuding his clothes. Ver. 19. And then he sends a deputation to Huldah the prophetess to ask for further light upon what he had heard. Nor is this all. We read An English Teacher's Notes on the in the next chapter of all the elders of Judah being Lessons. BY SARAH GERALDINA STOCK. gathered together at Jerusalem, and the book read aloud in the ears of all the people, and then of a In that popular story for children, "The Wide, solemn covenant entered into by king and people to Wide World," a letter accidentally found among obey the word that they had heard. The purging the papers of her aunt is brought to the heroine of of the land from the abominations of idolatrous the tale, the child Ellen-a letter addressed to her- worship is next related. In 2 Chron. 34 this purgself, but which has never before reached her. This ing is put first, before the finding of the book, and letter causes her both joy and sorrow, and alters since both accounts are equally definite as to the completely the current of her life. What could time given, it is very probable that the work begun give an old letter such power? First, the source by Josiah in the twelfth year of his reign was rewhence it proceeded. It was the writing of her de-newed with still greater zeal and thoroughness after ceased mother, the one person whose love for her was beyond that of all others, and the one whose authority over her was before that of all others. And secondly, because of the message it contained. There was in it distinct direction what the child was to do, direction which left to an obedient daughter no room for doubt, uncertainty, or evasion, and this direction, acted upon, produced a complete change in her life. The finding of that letter was a turning point. We Our passage for to-day relates the story of a find, an unexpected discovery, which exercised the greatest influence upon those concerned in it. It is at times of turning out and setting to rights that lost things come to light, and things which have been completely forgotten reappear on the scene. had, a short time ago, the repairing of the temple under King Joash brought before us. The repairs under Josiah were still more needed, and were most searching and thorough. And while the carpenters and masons were at work upon the long-neglected building, there was found among the rubbish an ancient roll. The high-priest at once recognizes it as the "Book of the Law," perhaps the book of Deuteronomy, or a still larger portion of the Pentateuch. The discovery is at once communicated to the king. "We have found," is Hilkiah's message, "the book of the law in the house of the Lord." It strikes us as strange that such a book needed to be found, or that the recovery of any single copy of it should be related as an important event. And this very circumstance shows the depth of sin and ignorance into which the kingdom of Judah had sunk since the time of Hezekiah. The repentance of Manasseh had not availed to undo the evil which had grown rampant during his long reign, and this evil had been further strengthened and encouraged during the two years' reign of his successor, Amon. And so it came to pass that in Jerusalem, the city of David, in the temple, the place chosen by Jehovah to put his name there, the book which was to be kept for use, for teaching, and for direction, was found among a mass of rubbish, a long-neglected, disused, forgotten thing. he had heard the words of the book. Of the passover, which was kept at the conclusion, we are told that "there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges;" and of Josiah himself that "like unto him was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses." Why had the reading of an old book such an effect upon King Josiah and upon Judah? 1. Because of the source whence it proceeded. It was the writing of the one whose authority over them was supreme. They knew that Jehovah was the one living and true God, in whose hand were all created things. They knew, too, that Jehovah was in a special manner the God of Israel, and they his people. And it came from the One whose love was supreme. The Lord was he who had loved their fathers (Deut. 7. 8; 10. 15), and had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. 2. Because of the distinctness of the message it contained. There was nothing vague about the commands of the law. There was nothing vague about its warnings. Obedience was a definite duty, with definite blessing attached to it. The danger and the punishment of disobedience were equally definite. Now apply this subject to ourselves. We have not got to find the word of God. It is in our hands. In the class it is certainly not a forgotten thing. But what is too much forgotten, and what the Christian teacher will desire to impress upon each scholar is this: that the book of God is addressed to him individually, as the "book of the law" to Josiah, or as that letter from the mother to the child; that it contains very definite directions and Flee from the wrath to very definite warning. come," and "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved," are not to be mistaken. Nor are "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," and "The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." words make in a life! What a difference should these Berean Methods. Hints for the Teachers' Meeting and the Class. Songs from the Epworth Hymnal. BY J. B. PHIPPS, ESQ. IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD" JOSIAH DID RIGHT SUGGESTION. Draw the eye, and the lines of light 'INQUIRE OF THE LORD" FAITHFUL WORKMEN IN HIS HOUSE. Primary and Intermediate. BY M. V. M. Another year of opportunity, dear teachers, another year of personal contact with little minds and hearts I not yet possessed by the world! LESSON THOUGHT: The Word Sought. The Young King. Print "Josiah, the Boy-K the board, and interest the children in him by talk about boy-kings. See if children can rec and tell a little about the young King Edward th of England. Tell that Josiah was the son of a king of Judah, named Amon, but that Josiah b serve the Lord while he was yet a boy. Teach t wisdom is found by serving God, and therefore siah was better fitted to be king when a little b many kings have been when forty years old. Golden Text, and teach that all we do, right or is done in God's sight. The Young King's Work. Tell that Josiah we among the people, and where he found altars to B images set up to be worshiped he had his servan them down. Then he came back to Jerusalem, gan to repair the temple, so that there might be in which to worship the true God. Tell how the was gathered for repairing the temple, and ho phan was sent to the high-priest to tell him to ha work begun. The Law of God Found. Show a long roll of and tell that in those times God's law was wri such rolls, only they were of parchment. Moses God's laws on such a roll, which was called a boo commanded that it be read once in seven years the wicked kings had not cared to hear it, and Now the high-prie been lost and forgotten. found it, and Shaphan took it to the king and Practical Truth for Us. We knowing and minding him, our GOD'S WORD TO MI spirits are dead. We can only have true life th the word of God. Lesson Word-Pictures. Josiah is still young. His eyes are fastened s on the straight, shining line of the right. His l low his eyes. What a blessing to the nation young king's righteousness! How all things pr How the money grows in the treasury of the It has been gathered by "the keepers of the doo has come from many sources. A shekel was gi this man out of Manasseh or that one from E from the farmer who raises corn at Hebron or th dresser cultivating the sweet, large grapes o. "E One coin was dropped yesterday by one of "remnant" at Babylon, a pilgrim from the phrates. What a good thing, not so much to money as to spend it aright! How well it is to king earnest in his youth for God and anxious t gathered gold shall be laid out on the dilapidated of God! Listen, and you will hear the hurryi of workmen, the sound of busy hammer and But what is this new stir about? Hilkiah, th priest, has made a strange discovery. It is n where or how, but it was in the temple, and see -a book, a musty, dusty, yellow scroll in the hands of the priest. He is opening it. He is bending his sharp, searching eyes toward the strange Hebrew characters so old and so dim. How great is his excitement! It is the book, the sacred book of the law! He hurriedly rolls it up and hastens away. He carries it to Shaphan, the scribe. How eagerly the scribe unrolls and reads it, that dusty, musty old bundle of parchment ! Yes, it is the precious book of the law! Shaphan now bustles away. He takes the roll to the king and reads it. Great is the astonishment of Josiah! He hears God's sharp denunciations of sin. He trembles for Judah. He rends his clothes. He sends messengers to inquire of God concerning the meaning of the law. He would deprecate the divine wrath. He would see the people in penitence for their sin. A revival begins in Jerusalem. It starts in a good place, the very heart of the king. It is the heart, too, of a young man. B. C. 610-599.] LESSON II. JEREMIAH PREDICTING THE CAPTIVITY. Jer. S. 20-22, and 9. 1-16. [Commit to memory verses 8. 20-22.] ALMOST IN CHAINS JEWS 20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. 22 Is there no balm in Gil'e-ad? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? 10 that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 20 that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. 4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders. 5 And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. 7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I General The ministry of Jeremiah began a little before the opening of the great reformation under Josiah, and it extended until after the destruction of the city of Jeru salem, so that it represents the period of the decline and fall of the kingdom. Josiah perished in the flower of his years while resisting the Egyptians; his young son, Jehoahaz, was deposed by the Egyptian king. Necho, and his elder brother, who took the name Jehoiakim, was appointed in his place. Jehoiakim was one of the weakest and worst of men, the pliant tool of the nobles, now cringing to Egypt, now to Babylon, and again rebellious at the wrong time. In an age of general wickedness, in the reaction after the strain of Josiah's reforms; while idolatry and immorality and oppression were running rife; when each was for himself, and none were for the common good; while the throne of David was sinking lower and yet lower in dishonor-in such a time appeared Jeremiah the prophet, face to face with his age. He was not like Elijah, the lion of Gilead, [Jan. 10. will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. 9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burnt up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle: both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. 11 And I will make Je-ru'sa-lem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Ju'dah desolate, without an inhabitant. 12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth through. 13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Ba'al-im, which their fathers taught them: 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Is'ra-el; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. Statement. Explanatory and Verse 20. The harvest is past. The prophet mourns over the fact that opportunities for the redemp tion of his nation have one by one passed away, and still the people will not embrace them and be saved. We are not saved. Salvation to Judah meant the restoration of its ancient power by the possession of its former devotion to God. To us it means more-deliverance from the power of Satan and of sin. (1) Every year of delay only makes salvation the more difficult. 21. For the hurt. Literally, "Because of the breaking....I am broken." He feels for his people in their calamities, even though their calamities have been caused by their crimes. The daughter of my people. By the metaphor of a fair young woman, "the daughter of Zion," the prophets represented the Jewish people. I am black. Either dressed in mourning garments, or with a face express nor yet like Isaiah, the eagle, soaring into the sky of faith. He was a man of gentle and tender feelings, sensitive to his surroundings, yet called upon to deliver God's message of doom to a degenerate people. But though his soul within him sank, though he often mourned over his hard lot, he never faltered in his mission. He rebuked the king for his treacherous spirit, the nobles for their greed, the people for their idolatry, and declared that for the nation's crimes the temple should be burned, the city destroyed, and the people carried into captivity. He was rewarded with scourgings, with stocks, with imprisonments, with the dungeon where he stood for days in mire, with the hatred of the people whom he served so faithfully. Yet he stood true to his duty, even to the last, and lived to see the fulfillment of his every prediction. Our lesson is a typical example of his teaching, proclaiming the wickedness of the people, and the ruin which it was destined to bring upon the land. Practical Notes. ive of sorrow. Astonishment. An alarm and amazement at the troubles of his people. (2) Those who love God are the ones who most love their fellow-men. 22. Is there no balm in Gilead. Gilead is the section of Palestine east of the river Jordan, where grew some aromatic or medicinal plant which was sought for by other nations. "Israel can send healing to other nations, why has it no cure for its own ills?" is the thought of the prophet. Why then is not the health? It was not for lack of the provision of mercy that Judah was in her wretched state. God was willing to heal their moral maladies, but the people were not willing to be made whole. (3) So now, souls are perishing while church-bells are pealing and pulpits are pleading. 1. 0 that mine head were waters. The prophet can only weep for his people, and he wishes that all his |