The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-04-24

be Sutlclent lOT HLih' "lu pc .iiou ="
helm from his enemies" Next comes
the tribe of Levi. And now comes, or
ought to come, the Benjamites oh, woe
to the unhappy nation, let US see
whether he will pronounce the blessing
on the absent tribe. He clasps his
hands toward heaven and raises his eyes
streaming with tears-yes. with broken
voice he is pronouncing the beautiful
formula. the blessing of Moses on Benja-
min. The beloved BENJAMIN means
beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety
by him; and the Lord shall him
all the day long, and he shall dwell be-
tween his shoulders" Now come the
hosts of Joseph-their blessings is a
long one, but how thrillingly eloquent"
And now Zebulon and Issachar together,
Rejoice Zebulon in thy going out, and
Issachar in thy tents.
The attention of the two Gibeonites
was at this moment arrested by a traveller
who diverged from the highway and
Joined them. 1T is my brother, Erech"
said Azur as he greeted him, whence
come you?'
From the land of Benjamin" an
swered the newcomer. w Ill their
elders obey the to Mizpah p
Not one of them answered Erech
they are defiant-they declare that
they have both the right and the power
to manage their own affairs and will sub
nit to no interference. You know
some of the ruling men Of Benjamin
have heather wives who have no faith
in the God of Israel. and the influence
of these women makes the Benjamites
different from every other tribe. But
what is going on over there in Mizpah?
Are their generals reviewing their
troops by torch-light? No. answered
Azur the assembling hosts are receiving
the blessing of Moses, pronounced on
all solemn occasions by the high priest.
Is it not IA splendid spectacle"
at is indeed answered Erech they
are c~ertainly-a peculiar people: Il be-
lieve in their GOd-we have seen evil
dences enough Of his power to wonder
at the blindness of the Beniamites.
They are mad enough to think they can
defy the power of Isael. They have, it
is true, an army Of %, 900, and they are
wonderfully powerful and skillful sol
diers but no human power can with
stand the most high God, against whose
laws they have sinned so fearfully.'
As Erech stated the Benjamites were
defiant refused to surrender theircrimi-
mails when applied for by the sanhedrim
and the army of Israel. after receiving
the directions of Phineas, the ~high-priest
marched straight for the fortress of
There were four hundred
thousand lsraelite> and the Benjamites
numbered twenty SIX thousand within
heir city walls. 1t required three days
. conquer them, and the loss of life on
both sides was great. Only 600 fugitive
escaped of the whole tribe,
While the ISraelites lost 40. 900 men. In
mr. 9 e we cannot understand the in
luman cruelty of destroying women and
children but at that period it was
or God never would have
permitted it. 1t was necessary to strike
error into the hearts of atrocious sin
lers. And we know that sins, ever in
ur age, are transmitted from parents to
hildren, and there seems no hope,
ometimes. of reforming a vicious
They become extirpated, in
ime, by their own crimes but in the
arly ages Of the world God deputed
agents to destroy them. We
ave repeated instances of this in the
istory of the Israelites, but none so
striking as the destruction of
ne tribe by the other twelve.
TO BE CONTINUED.