Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-01-04
LESSONS REVIEWED.
FOURTH QUARTER OF THE INTER.
NATIONAL SERIES, JUST CLOSED.

Lesson XIII. for December so, lsss-Gen.
eral Topic. the Development of the
Commonwealth of Israel from Their
Occupatis~ of Canaan to Birth of Obed.
The thirdQ arter closed with the children of
Israel enteri-'g on the Promised Land, which
they soon OF spied, except the portions still
occupied by she Jebusites and other nations
whom God had left Ito prove them," because
they had partially failed to keep His COM
mandments. The remaining lessons of the
fourth quarter detail the wonderful history
of period of four centuries and more. during
which the chosen people went through sue
cession Of trials for the development of their
character. There is strange and remarka-
bly, interesting series of repetitions, each
phase having its own peculiarities, yet all
enforcing the same lesson-that unfaithful-
ness brings punishment
The processes are uniform: .lrst there was
peace, and with it prosperity till the people
forgot God, neglected His ordinances and
adopted corrupt practices from their neigh
bors; then God allowed those neighbors to
triumph over then, and reduce them to
slavery till in their misery they called on the
Lord for deliverer; then great hero arose,
delivered them from bondage and gave peace
till prosperity again brought in impiety and
its punishmentslavery, and then the reforma-
tory process was repeated. Nearly all the
nations whose records make history have had
similar experiences. Peace created pros
perity, prosperity was followed by cor
ruption, and that led to civil or foreign
war, sometimes to complete subjugation;
poverty and misery taught their hard lessons
and on the ruins Of the old civilization new
one sprang up, in turn to grow corrupt and
decay. But this process, which goes on slowly
in modern Europe and America, went on
rapidly in the warmer climate of southwest
ern Asia in the early ages of the world.
Since the beginning of written history, Pales-
tine and the adjacent regions have been held
by seven distinct races: the Hamitic, the Sc
mitic, the Persian, the Greek, the Roman, the
Saracen and the Turkish. And under each
there were minor, but bloody revolutions.
We have just completed the history of its
conquest by the Semitic lsraelites; let us
glance a moment at those nations who sur
rounded them, and part Of whom they ex-
PEELED.
They had many names and principalities,
but were all of one race, the Hamites, and
one general type of heathenism. They had
progressed far enough to have walled towns
and extensive writings, and those nearest
the Phenicians partook of the civilization of
that people; but all ancient writer's agree
that as they advanced in wealth and arts
they declined in morals. Their religion was
at first, probably, worship of the heavenly
bodies and the forces Of nature; from that
they went on to worship the images of ami
mails and to have in their temples such inn
pure and disgusting rites as cannot be de-
scribed with decency Ronlans i. 224). The
prophets tell us clearly of Gods intention to
annihilate people guilty Of such practices,
and wonderfully have those prophecies been
fulfilled. The Israelites finally exterminated
the Canaanites, and the Persians and others
blotted out those other nations; the Greeks
destroyed Tyre and the Romans annihilated
Tyres offspring, the Carthaginians; God
dwelt Gin the tents Of Shun," that is, the
lsraelites preserved the knowledge of His
word. He enlarged Japhet" and made the
offspring of Ham subject to him. The licen-
tious Canaanites have no representatives in
the modern world; the Israelites are among
US, an ever present proof of ever fulfilling
prophecy, ana glorious future is still in re-
serve for them.
After the conquest we are told that the
1sraelites served the Lord .sall the days Of
Joshua and all the days Of the elders that
outlived joshua" but the taint of idolatrous
practices was not yet worked out of their
blood, SO they soon ibid evil in the sight of
the Lord and served Baalim." Seven times,
in strikingly similar language, is this state
ment made about their serving the gods Of
the neighboring nations, and it is occasion
ally added that they adopted the impure and
cruel rites with which the heather celebrated
their worship. Their punishment was ter
rible 'They could not any longer stand be-
fore their enemies and sank into the most
calling slavery. Their first noted oppressors
were OF Mesopotamia, ard When they had
served their eight years the Lord raised up
Othniel to deliver them. He gave them rest
forty years, then they transgressed again,
and Eglon, king Of Moab, brought them
under for eighteen years. Ehud slew Eglon
and delivered them, and this time they had
rest for eighty years-that is, probably, till
the youngest children who could remember
the deliverance had died.
Then come twenty years Of still more gall
ing subjection to Jabin, king OF Canaan
meaning at that time small country just
south of the lsraelites. From this capt. yity
Barak and Deborah delivered them-'And
the land had rest forty years." Again they
worshiped idols, and the Lord gave them into
the hand of Midian And this was worse
than all before, for the Midianites were no
madic robbers who destroyed all the fruit
of the fields; SO the Israelites fled from the
valleys and ''rnade them dcns in the moun-
tains," Seven years Of horror and famine
they suffered, and then the Lord raised up
Gideon to deliver them "And the country
was in quietness forty years in the days Of
Gideon" Then the wearying story was re-
peated; there was apostasy, wholesale murder,
civil war and the wicked rule of Abimelech.
After him there was comparative peace
forty-two years, then another apostasy and
slavery for eighteen years. Jephtha deliv-
cred them and another peace was followed by
subsection to the Philistines, which brings
US to the wonderful story of Samson.
After Samson there was another civil war
and period when there was practically no
ruler. EVERY man did that which was
right in his own eyes, The sad narration
is then broken by the affecting story of Ruth.
Samuel, the prophet, was then called aud for
time Israel enjoyed better days.