The Sabbath-school lessons have been discontinued. The Lesson Quarterly may be obtained, containing three months' lessons and notes, for five cents. Address, Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal. The Sunday-school lessons will continue.
INTERNATIONAL SERIES THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON 12.—DECEMBER 18.—REVIEW OF THE QUARTER.
Golden Text.—"Thou shalt worship the Lord Thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Luke 4:8.
LESSON 1.—Elisha Succeeds Elijah.2 Kings 2:12-22. Golden Text: "Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." Verse 9. Elijah's mantle is Elisha's parchment, and his commission is verified in the dividing of the waters of the river. The confidence of the young students is strengthened by their fruitless search for Elijah in the mountains, and the people of Jericho are convinced of Elisha's divine approval by the purifying of their unwholesome water supply.
LESSON II.—The Widow's Oil Increased.2 Kings 4:1-7. Golden Text: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Ps. 37:3. Elisha helped the poor widow by setting her and her sons to work in a way that tested their faith. So the blessing that came to her and her family was the reward of faith.
LESSON III.—Elisha and the Shunammite.2 Kings 4:35-37. Golden Text: "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. The prophet's staff had no virtue in the hands of Gehazi, whose deceptive, selfish heart was afterward exposed when Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27). But Elisha demonstrated that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16.
LESSON IV.—Elisha and Naaman.2 Kings 5:1-14. Golden Text: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved." Jer. 17:14. In this lesson we have a "little maid," who is a captive among the enemies of her people, doing missionary work in behalf of her master. We have also a heathen man healed of leprosy by a very simple act, because he obeyed the direction of a prophet of Jehovah. And the leprosy of this same heathen attached to a professed child of God because of his covetousness.
LESSON V.—Elisha at Dothan.2 Kings 6:8-23. Golden Text: "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." Ps. 34:7. That Jehovah overrules in the affairs of nations is shown by His revealing the secret plans of the commander of the Syrian army to the king of Israel through His prophet. That He has forces for the protection of His servants that are unseen by the natural eye; was demonstrated by the invisible army that protected Elisha and his servant at Dothan.
LESSON VI.—Joash, the Boy King.2 Kings 11:1-16. Golden Text: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice." Prov. 29:2. Athaliah was the daughter of the notorious Jezebel, wife of Ahab, king of Israel, and inherited her mother's cruel and ambitious disposition. When her son, King Ahaziah, died, Athaliah thought to put to death all his children, and seize the throne. All were slain excepting the infant Joash, who, with his nurse, was hid in the temple by his aunt, the high priest's wife, until he was seven years old. Then, by an uprising of officials, Athaliah was slain and Joash was placed on the throne.
LESSON VII.—Jehoash Repairs the Temple.2 Kings 12:1-15. Golden Text: "We will not forsake the house of our God." Neh. 10:39. Joash, or Jehoash, was for many years under the guidance of Jehoiada, the high priest, and for this reason his earlier inclinations were toward the religious interests of the kingdom. And his determination to repair the house of the Lord was beyond any suggestion of even his aged and pious uncle. The king was at this time about thirty years of age.
LESSON VIII.—Isaiah's Message to Judah.Isa. 1:1-9, 16-20. Golden Text: "Cease to do evil; learn to do well." Verses 16, 17. Israel had been often and sorely chastened, and the Lord appeals to her once more by His prophet, "Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more?" The Lord does not willingly afflict His people; the necessity for it causes Him sorrow; and with it all He holds out the offer of pardon even for the worst of offenders.
LESSON IX.—World's Temperance Lesson.Isa. 28:1-13. Golden Text: "They also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way." Verse 7. Samaria, the "crown of pride" in Israel, sat in the midst of fertile valleys with extensive vineyards. Through perversion of these vast resources, the rulers and priests had become drunken to the extent that the kingdom was about to be overthrown. The warning is given to Judah, whose people were inclined to follow in the same way. "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Prov. 20:1.
LESSON X.—Hezekiah Reopens the Temple.2 Chron. 29:18-31. Golden Text: "Them that honor Me I will honor." 1 Sam. 2:30. Hezekiah came to the throne after a season of great decline both in temporal affairs and in morals. His grandfather (Jotham) and his father (Ahaz) had each left a bad influence upon the people. Hezekiah was but twenty-five years old when he began to reign, having been given a pious mould through the influence of his mother, and he immediately set about restoring the work of the temple and the worship of Jehovah.
LESSON XI.—Captivity of the Ten Tribes.2 Kings 17:6-18. Golden Text: "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." 1 Peter 3:12. After the division of the kingdom of Israel in the time of Rehoboam, the northern kingdom had a trial, or probation, of 215 years. The cause of the final rejection is brief—the people did the things that caused the rejection of the nations who were cast out to make room for Israel. And God is not a respecter of persons; they that persist in transgressing the law of the Lord must eventually be cast out.
