58 THE PROMISE BROKEN. AND an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. THE GOLDEN TEXT. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me."-Isaiah i. 2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of Subject." The Promise Broken.”—Judges ii. 1-16. this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the Lord. And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their athers and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim : And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. OUTLINE LESSON. Whose promise broken? God's to Israel, or Israel's to God? They were now in the "Land of Promise"-could not look out upon the country without being reminded that God had kept His. So He always does, 2 Cor. i. 20; 1 Thess. v. 24; 2 Thess. iii. 3; Heb. vi. 13-18, x. 23. And He expects us to be like Him, even when keeping our promise will be to our hurt, Ps. xv. 4. But keeping our promises to God will never be to our hurt. Breaking them will be! See what came of Israel's breaking theirs. In ver. 11-18 we have a summary of all Israel's history at this period. (a) They rebelled, ver. 11-13. (b) God punished them, ver. 14, 15. (c) Yet He forgave and delivered them, ver. 16. (d) When? When they cried to Him, ver. 18. So we see in turn four things: (1) Rebellion, (2) Rejection, (3) Repentance, (4) Restoration. Now (1) and (2) always go together: those who rebel against God will certainly be rejected. And (3) and (4) always go together: those who repent shall be restored. But do (1) and (2) always lead on to (3) and (4)? Do (2) and (3) always go together? That we cannot be sure of. King Saul rebelled, and he was rejected: did he repent? was he restored? What is the only safe way? To keep our promises to God. Think of His faithfulness in the past; think of the "exceeding great and precious promises " He gives us in the future, and which He will keep as faithfully. Then we shall sing with all our hearts "O Jesu, I have promised To serve Thee to the end; Trace out the four things mentioned above in the subsequent narratives of the Book of Judges. In chap. iii. Ver. 7, rebellion; ver. 8, rejection ; ver. 9, repentance and restoration. Also: ver. 12, rebellion; ver. 12-14, rejection : ver. 15, repentance and restoration. In chap. iv. Ver. 1, rebellion; ver. 2, rejection; ver. 3, repentance; ver. 4, &c., restoration. In chap. vi. Ver. 1, rebellion; ver. 1, 2, rejection ; ver. 6, repentance; ver. 7, &c., restoration. In chap. x. Ver. 6, rebellion; ver. 7, rejection; ver. 10, 15, repentance; restoration in next chapter. In chap. xiii. Ver. 1, rebellion and rejection; ver. 5, &c., restoration. (Repentance only implied here.) "GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT." I HAD in my room a beautiful and delicate flower. Day after day I cherished it, watching its growth till I rejoiced to see it put forth a blossom. One morning, in my hurry, I neglected to water it. The day was sultry, and breathed its hot breath upon the neglected flower. When returned from business, I looked upon my little favourite and found it withered and drooping. I hastened in the evening to remedy the error of the morning, but in vain. It had been fatal, and no care could arrest the work of destruction. It was scorched and dead. Like this flower is the work of God's Holy Spirit on the soul. It must be constantly cherished, or it will droop and die. Remember my plant, dear children, should you ever be tempted to neglect prayer and the reading of the Bible. THE BIBLE. OH, may we love this precious Book, In mercy to us given; Its blessed truths, how bright they shine A lamp it is, our feet to guide BAD BARGAINS. A. A SABBATH-SCHOOL teacher once remarked that he who buys the truth makes a good bargain, and inquired if any scholar recollected an instance in Scripture of any one making a bad bargain. "I do," replied a boy: "Esau made a bad bargain when he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage." A second said, "Judas made a bad bargain when he sold his Lord for thirty pieces of silver." A third answered, "Ananias and Sapphira made a bad bargain when they sold their land, and then told Peter a falsehood about it." A fourth observed, "Our Lord tells us that he makes a bad bargain, who, to gain the whole world, loses his own soul." REPENTANCE. SINCE Jesus Christ was sent To save us from our sin, And kindly teach us to repent, We should at once begin. 'Tis not enough to say, "We're sorry and repent," And still go on from day to day Just as we always went. Repentance is to leave The sins we loved before, And show that we in earnest grieve, By doing so no more. A CHILD'S WISH. A GROUP of children were talking together, when the question was asked, "What is the thing you wish for most ?" Several of the children said they would like to have nice or pretty things. But when it came to the turn of a little boy, ten years old, to speak, he said, “I wish to live without sinning." These were not idle words, for the child showed by his conduct that his wish was sincere. BIBLE READING. "MAMMA," said little Emily, coming to her mother's side, as she sat reading, "why do you read the Bible so very, very often ?" "I need it, my dear. Why do you take bread and milk so very, very often ? " "Mamma, we must take food often, you know, or else we should die." "What has God given to you, Emily, and to me, besides our bodies?" "Our souls, mamma.” "What would die without food?" "Our bodies." "But I feel that my soul needs food as well as my body now where am I to find that?” "Oh, I understand now, mamma. We must read the Bible every day to get food for our souls, just as we take food for our bodies." "Quite right, Emily. And if you were to refuse to take your breakfast and your dinner to-morrow, what would be the result?" "I should be sick or ill." "Yes; and so when we do not care for studying the Holy Word of God, it shows that our souls are not in good health. Other books may feed our mind and understanding; but only the Book of God, or what good men have written to explain it, can nourish and strengthen the soul. Now, here are two verses about this, which you may sit quietly down and learn." So Emily learned, Jeremiah xv. 16, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." Psalm cxix. 103, "How sweet are Thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" To Sunday and Day-school Teachers, &c. THE WEEKLY WELCOME. With Engraving, Letter-press, and Music, in BOTH notations, with special reference to the "International Series of Sunday-school Lessons for 1875." Four pages. Price 4d. per dozen, or 2s. 6d. per 100. Published every Tuesday. Sunday-school Teachers, will you PRESENT these papers to your scholars ? It is particularly requested that the weekly orders be given through local booksellers. All the Back Nos. may still be had. |