Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-04-02

out of all the cities of ISRAEL, singing and
dancing "Let them praise his name in
the dance" Thou hast turned for nae
mourning into dancing" The deliver.
ance here spoken Of was recovery from
sickne IS. and the dancing an expression
of religious gratitude and 10y. "As soor
as he came nigh unto the camp, he saw
the calf and the dancing" From this il
appears that dancing was also part o1
idol worship. 20 virgin of Israel, thou
shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets
and 60 forth in the dances of them tha,
make merry This passage predicts
the return from captivity, and the resto
ration of divine favor, with the conse
quent expression of religious joy. 1--WE
have piped unto you, and ye have no,
danced we have mourned unto you
and ye have not lamented." That is
neither the judgments nor the mercies Of
God produce any effect upon this incor
rigible generation. They neither mourn
when called to mourning by His provi
dences, nor rejoice with the appropriate
tokens of religious joy when his mercies
demand their gratitude. "Now his elder
brother was in the field and as he came
and drew nigh unto the house, he heard
music and dancing" The return of the
prodigal was joyful event, for which
the grateful father, according to the
usage of the Jewish Church, and the
exhortations of the PsaImist, praised the
Lord in .hc dance.
a time to mourn, and time to dance. -
Hence, since the Jewish Church knew
nothing of dancing. except as a religious
ceremony, or as an expression of graft
tude and praise, the text is declaration
that the providence of God sometimes
demands mourning, and at other times
gladness and gratitude.
The following passages mention an
other kind of dance, in which the "vain
fellows and silly women make display
of their empty heads and light feet But
when Uerod's birthday was kept, the
daughter of IIerodias danced before
them (no: before the Lord). and pleased
Herod." In this case, dancing was per-
verted from its original object to purposes
of vanity and ostentation, and ended in
taking off the head of John the Baptist
We have also passage in Job 2l:7-1l
w therefore, do wicked men live, be
come old. yea, are mighty in power !!
They send forth their little ones like n
flock, and their children dance. They
spend their days in wealth, and in mo
ment go down to the grave. Therefore
they say unto God. Depart from us, We
desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty. that ~e should
serve Him, and what profit shall We have
if we pray unto Him p Their wealth
and their dancing are assigned as the
reason of their saying unto God, " De
part from u.s." and of their not desiring
the knowledge of His ways, or of rcrv
ing Him, or Of praying unto Him.
From tic preceding passages We learn
the following Lessons:
/. That dancing was religious &c;
both of the true, aud also of idol wor-
ship.
2 That i. was prac,iced exclusively
on joyful occasions. such as national fes
tivities or grea. victories.
3. That men who perverted dancing
from sacred. religious use to purposes
of mere amusement, were deemed infa-
nous and sacrilegious.
4. Tha, no instances OF dancing are 10
be found IL: the Bible, in which the two
sexes united in the exercise, either as an
act of worship, or amusement
5 That there is no instance in the
Bible of social dancing for amusement.
except that of the "vain fellows de-
void of shame; of the irreligious fani-
lies described by Job, which produced
impiety. and ended in destruc
ton and of Herodias, which terminated
in the rash vow of Uerod and the mur-
der of John the Baptist.
We congratulate YOU, sir, or madam
on the assured hope which you seem to
have attained, that you are "a true chris
tian," and on the meekncss and modesty
with which you have been able TO ex
press it /; and most sincerely 90 we join
with you in the condemnation of all
"hypocrites and sticklers."
We recommend that this reply be care
fully read by every dancer, and that it be
re read just before going to each ball and
dance-it will fill the head, and give
steadiness to the feet.
l am afectionately yours, &c.
A flock Of wild boars entered French
village recently and took refuge in a