LESSON X.—SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1900
1 "Now AFTER these things the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself was about to come. 2 And He said unto them, The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your ways; behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no wallet, no shoes; and salute no man on the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye shall enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in that same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. 8 And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you; 9 and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. 10 But into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, 11 Even the dust from your city, that cleaveth to our feet, we do wipe off against you; howbeit know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh." 17 "And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in Thy name. 18 And He said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall in anywise hurt you. 20 Howbeit in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." NOTE.—Read Luke 10: 1-24, and commit to memory verses 2-6. It will be well in connection with this lesson to refer to the sending out of the twelve, which will be found in Matt. 9:36 to 10:16; Mark 6:8-11, and Luke 9:1-5. Bear in mind that the fact which Jesus Himself states in John 4:35 is present truth to-day much more emphatically than it was then; that is, the harvest is nearer, and the fields are whiter. Golden Text: "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few." Luke 10:2. (1) What widening work of the Gospel is brought to view in the first verse of this chapter? How did Christ send these out? To what places did He send them? V. 1. Note 1. (2) What statement did the Saviour make as He sent them forth? What subject of prayer did He then lay before them? V. 2. (3) What did the Saviour tell them in regard to their surroundings as they went forth? V. 3. Note 2. (4) What articles did He say they should not take with them? What prohibition did He give them in regard to those whom they should meet on the way? V. 4. Note 3. (5) What salutation were they directed to give to any house they might enter? V. 5. (6) What would occur if the house were not worthy of the salutation? V. 6. (7) What directions did He give in regard to their place of abode in these different villages? Why was it right that they should do this? What prohibition did He make on this point? V. 7. Note 4. (8) If they were received in a city to which they went, what should they do? V. 8. (9) What work of mercy were they to perform? What gospel message were they to proclaim in such places? V. 9. (10) In the cities where they were not received what were they to do? Nevertheless, what testimony were they to bear? Vs. 10, 11. Note 5. (11) What were the feelings of the seventy as they returned from this work? What did they say in reference to their work? V. 17. (12) What declaration did the Saviour then make in reference to Satan? V. 18. Note 6. (13) What authority did the Saviour give to these disciples? What would be the result to them in a personal way? V. 19. (14) What should this authority not lead them to do? But in what were they to rejoice? V. 20. 1. Appointed seventy others.—The work of Christ was beginning to broaden. He had previously appointed twelve; now He appoints seventy, and sends them out ahead of Him to do earnest work, which He Himself would follow up. The lesson we may draw from this is that wherever He sends out a missionary in His work, Christ will Himself follow up the work. The number was the same as the number of the elders of Israel, and also the members of the Sanhedrin, who should have been doing active work for Christ. By sending these out two and two, Christ had thirty-five different missionary operations going on at the same time. There were many advantages in this two-and-two plan. The testimony of two witnesses is more effective than that of one; each would supplement the work of the other; they would reach different classes of minds; they would aid and encourage one another with plans and suggestions; and each would help to keep aglow the spiritual life of the other. 2. Lambs in the midst of wolves.—They were unarmed, defenseless, and innocent as lambs, and yet they went forth unhurt into the midst of foes wily, cruel, and malicious as wolves. These were the leaders of the Jews, the armed Romans, and a reckless populace. Christ gives no permission for His workers to arm their mission stations or their converts for their defense. The arm of carnal flesh is not recognized by the Saviour as the defensive agent of Gospel workers. 3. Purse.—A small leather bag for carrying money. Wallet.—A leather bag or haversack for carrying provisions when traveling. Nor shoes.—In addition to the sandals they were wearing. They were to take nothing not absolutely necessary for their journey. Salute no man by the way.—"The Jewish salutations, like those common in the Orient to-day, were elaborately formal, and occupied so much time as to be a serious hindrance when there was reason for haste. The lesson to the disciples was that their business was urgent, and that the time was short. The lesson to us is, that we are not to allow the formalities of life to interfere with our Gospel ministry." 4. In the same house remain.—The oriental law of hospitality allows a traveler to stay three days in a house to which he may come for entertainment, without even disclosing his business. The reason why they should remain in one house, and not go from house to house, is obvious to one acquainted with oriental custom. "When a stranger arrives in a village or encampment, the neighbors, one after another, must invite him to eat with them. There is a strict etiquette about it, involving much ostentation and hypocrisy, and a failure in the due observance of this system of hospitality is violently resented, and often leads to alienations and feuds among neighbors."—Land and Book. By remaining at the one house, they would avoid an appearance of conforming to this custom partially, or showing partiality. 5. Even the dust . . . wipe off against you.—A symbolic act, indicating not anger or revenge, but warning. They would clear themselves of all responsibility for the great loss which the inhabitants of such a place would sustain. They would express their sense of the terrible ruin which these people were bringing upon themselves, and show their unwillingness to be partakers in it. 6. I beheld Satan fallen.—In the defeat of the demons over which Christ had given His disciples power, He saw the downfall of the kingdom of Satan and sin. It was a vision of what the Gospel would accomplish in the earth, where Satan had worked so long for the destruction of souls.