Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1886-10-06
TEE BIRTH OF CHRIST AT BETHLEHEM

| TEE BlKTH UF CHRIST Al BETHLEHEM.
Connected with Bethlehem are sweet
memories, which overshadow it like per.
fumes of flowers. 1t is the scene of the
beautiful and touching idyl of Naomi and
Ruth.
| Hence went Elimelech with his beautiful
wife and two noble sons in the days of fam
inc to the land of Moab and thither return.
ed broken-hearted widow and bereaved
mother with her faithful and devoted
daughter-in-law. sAnd it came to pass
when they were come to Bethlehem that
all the city was moved about them, and they
said, Is this Naomi? Aud she said unto
them. Call me not Naomi (beautiful and
happy); call me Mara, the bitter one, whose
life was grievous; for the Almighty dealt
very bitterly with me. went out full,
and the Lord hath brought me home again
empty. Why then call ye me Naomi see
ing the Lord has testified against me2''
The simple and natural pathos of this story
has never been surpassed, if, indeed, it has
anything equal to it in the literature OF
other nations. The touches of nature by
the divine hand has never been equalled by
those of the mere human.
In the fields adjacent to Bethlehem, Ruth
cleaned. and they were the fields of Boaz
and he saw her and was moved by the story
of her sufferings and her devotion to her
bereaved mother-in-law, and was doubtless
impressed by her modest aud shrinking
conduct, her beauty and her grace. He
married her; to them "Obed was born. He
is the father of Jesse, the father of David,
of whose house and lineage was Mary, the
mother of Jesus
| If the spirit of prophecy had fallen upon
the heart of the disconsolate widow and
broken-hearted mother, aud the vail of the
future withdrawn from before her fearful
eyes, she would not have said, "The Lord
has testified against me" but would have
rejoiced to see his day and said, "Behold
the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy will; for thou hast made
me the instrument of bringing from the
benighted land of Moab unto the fold of
Israel her through whom should come the
Messiah, the redeemer of mankind
How passing strange are the ways and
providences of God!
| At Bethlehem David was born, and here
he reigned seven years as king of Judah,
and hither came Joseph and Mary to be
| taxed, for they were of the house and line-
age of David, and here the heavens above
us were opened and angels appeared to men.
and here an angel had announced 'to the
shepherds watching their flocks by night
the good tidings of great joy" suddenly
there was multitude of the heavenly host,
who united in that anthem which has filled
| the earth with light and Joy, ''of glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace
good will towards man, and here the Son
of God was incarnate, and as a babe was
wrapped in swadding clothes and laid in a
manager.
To those who believe, and are therefore
persuaded that the Bible is the word of
God, it is sufficient to know that "thus it
is written" and though to our finite and
weak minds ''the oracle be sealed" we
accept it as true, and neither question nor
doubt. But whilst God deals with us as
with children, yet he does 80 as creatures
of intelligence and reason, and by the in
junction ''search the Scriptures" the duty
is imposed of examining for ourselves, so that
our minds may be satisfied and the highest
attributes of our intellectual nature approve
and confirm all that the heart desires and
loves. We seek, therefore, and are greatly
gratified when we are prepared and ready
'sto give reason for the hope that is in
u.s."
In the progress of examination we will
be more and more impressed with the con-
descending goodness and mercy of God in
giving to the soul that seeketh such con-
vincing proofs Of the facts stated in his
word, and often stamping them upon the
face Of the earth to be seen and read by the
wayfarer and pilgrim of every land.
There is a striking instance of this in the
preservation of the tomb of Rachael.-
sWhen Rachael died and was buried on
the way to Ephrath. which is Bethlehem"
(Gen xxxv, 1920, and Jacob set a pillar
upon her grave, who could have foreseen
that that spot would have been regarded as
sacred and identified ''unto this day?" The
storms of war have spent their fury and the
besom of destruction swept from the face
of the earth all traces of human monuments
in that region from time to time, and yet
there fingered in the minds of some sad des
cendants of the beloved wife of Jacob the
recollection of the place where this sorrow
stricken patriarch had erected pillar to
her memory, and when they returned from
their dispersion, or emerged from their con-
cealment, they renewed the monument
erected to commemorate human love and
sorrow. And there it stood when was full
filled ''that which was spoken by Jeremy
the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a
voice heard, lamentation and weeping and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted be-
cause they were not;" and there it stands
"unto this day." though covered by Mo-
hammedan mosque.
How appropriate and particularly beauti-
full is this quotation by St. Matthew. The
image of the mother is almost palpable, and
seems lowering over the scenes upon which
her eyes last looked, and weeping in SYM
pathy with the lamentations and great
mourning of that multitude other daughters
for their children because they were not"
pity the man who can visit these holy
places and not have Ibis heart stirred with
iu him" and all his purer emotions excited
to fervent heat, and yet he should not per-
nit them to repress or silence his reason
nor cloud his perception of Truth. Still
more he is to be commiserated who accepts
with unquestioning eredulity the vain
cover, as with thick cloud, every sacred
shrine of the Holy Land. The mind loves
truth as its proper food, and naturally re-
volts from falsehood and deception. Lei
us, then, with unbiased minds and honest
hearts, examine the foundation upon which
we rest our belief that Jesus of Nazareth
was born in Bethlehem of Judea. If he
were not, then he is not the Messiah, for,
according to the prophecy of Micah, v, 2
''Out of Bethlehem he was to come that il
to be ruler of Israel"
Two of the evangelists asserted that he
was born therein. st. Matthew says iii, y
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, be
hold there came wise men from the east tt
Jerusalem saying, Where is he that is borr
King of the Jews? for we have seen his stal
in the east and are come to worship him
When Herod the king had heard these
things he was troubled and all Jerusalem
with him, and when he had gathered all tht
chief priests and scribes, of the people to
lgether he demanded Of them, where Chris