The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-10-25
TO JERICHO.
DR.. Talmage Describes Biblical
Scenes in Palestine.
The Valley OF Jehosaphat-The story of the
Good amarItan-1h he Worth of Prao-
teal ChrIstianlty-Many
Reflections.

X. 30: "A certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho" DR.. Tai
mage said:
1t is the morning of December 5 in
Jerusalem and we take stirrups for h
road along which the wayfarer OF old
fell among thieves who left him wound
ed and half dead. Jobs p cture of the
horse in the Orient as having neck
clothed with thunder" is not true of
most horses o in Palestine. There
Is no thunder on their neck, though
there is some lightning in their heels.
Poorly fed and numerically whacked
they sometimes retort- To Americans
and English, who are accustomed to
guide horses by the bride, these horses
Of the Orient, guided only by foot and
voice, make eq~uestrianism an uncer-
tainty, and the pull IN the bride that
you'intend for slowing up OF the pace
may be mistaken for a 1 n that you
want to out gallop the wind or wheel in
swift circles like the hawk. There were
eighteen Of our party, and twenty-five
beasts of burden carried our camp equip
ment We are led by an Arab sheik
with his black Nubian servant carrying
a loaded gun in full sight, but 1t is the
fact that this sheik represents the Turk
ish Government which assures the safe
ty of the caravan.
We cross the Jehoshaphat valley
which, II 1t had not been memorable in
history and were only now discovered.
would excite the admiration of all who
look upon it. 1t is like the gorges of
the Yosemite or the chasms of the yell
lowstone park. The sides of this Je-
hoshaphat valley are ~tunneled with
graves and overlooked by Jerusalem
walls-an eternity Of depths overshad-
owed by an eternity of architecture.
Within sight of Mount Olivet and Geth-
semane and with the heavens and the
earth full OF sunshine, we start out on
the very road mentioned in the text
when it says: "a certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho and
fell among thieves." No road that I
ever saw was so we'll constructed for
brigandage-deep gullies, sharp turns,
caves on either side. There are fifty
places on this road where a highway
man might surprise and o%yerpower an
unarmed pilgrim.
With the fresh memory Of some recent
violence in their minds Christ tells the
people of the good Samaritan who came
along that way and took care Of q poor
fellow that had been set upon by vii
famous Arabs and robbed and pounded
and tut. We encamped for lunch that
noon close by an old stone building.
said to be the tavern where the seem
spoken of in the Bible eliminated.
There were 10, 900 priests living at
Jericho and they had to go to Jerusalem
to officiate ut the temple. And one OF
these ministers Of religion, / suppose,
was on his way to the temple service
and he is startled as he sees this bleed
ing victim in the middle of the road.
10" he says, ''here is a man that has
been attacked OF thieves" "Why don't
you go homer" says the minister. The
man in a comatose state makes no
answer. or, with a half dazed look, puts
his wounded hand to his gashed fore
head and drawls out "What?" "Well,"
says the minister, 81 must hurry on to
my duties at Jerusalem. / have to kill
a lamb and two pigeons in sacrifice to-
day. l can not spend any more time
with this unfortunate. l guess m
body else will take care OF hin. But
this is one Of the things that can not DO
helped, anyhow. Besides that, my
business is with souls and not with
bodies. Good morning. When you get
we'll enough to sit up / will be glad to
see you at the temple" And the min
lister curves his way out toward the over
hanging sides of the road and passes.
Soon afterward q Levite came upon
the scene. The Levites looked after
the music Of the temple and waited upon
the priests and provided the supplies
Of the temple. This Levite passing
along this road where we are to-day,
took a look at the masses OF bruises and
laceration in the middle Of the road.
s'Myl My!' says the Levite, 'this man
is awfully hurt and he ought to be
helped. But my business is to sing in
the choir at the temple. II / am not
there no one will carry my part Be-
side that, there may not be enough
frankincense fCr the censers and the
wine or oil may have given out, and
what q fearful balk in the service that
would make. Then one Of the priests
might get his breast plate on crooked.
But 1t seems too bad to leave this man
in this condition. Perhaps l had better
try to staunch this bleeding and give
him a little stimulant But, no! The
ceremony at Jerusalem is of more i'm
portance than taking care of the wounds
of q man who will probably soon be
dead anyhow.
But a third person is coming along
this road You can not expect him to do
any thing by way Of alienation, because
he and the wounded man belong to diff
ferent nations which have abominated
each other for centuries. The unded
man Is an Israelite and the stranger
now coming on this scene OF suffering
is a Samaritan. They belong to nations
which hated each other with an objur-
CATION and malediction diabolio. They
had opposition temples, n on Mount
Gerizim and the other on Mount Mo-
riah, and l guess this Samaritan when
he comes up will give the fallen Israel
tie another clip and say: GOOD for you'll
/ will just finish the work these bandits
began, and give you n more kick that
will put you out Of your misery. And
here is a rag Of your O that they did
not steal and l will take that What
Do you dare to appeal to me for mercyP
Hush up! Why, your ancestors wor-
shipped at Jerusalem when they ought
to have worshipod at Gerizim. Now
take that! And that! And that!" will
say the Samaritan as he pounds the
fallen ~Israelite.
No; the Samaritan rides up to the
scene Of suffering, gets of the beast and
steps down and looks into the face Of
the wounded man and says: This poor
fellow does not belong 70 my nation,
and our ancest ors worshiped in differ
ent places, but he is q man, and that
makes US brothers. God pity him. as 1
dol" And he gets down on his knees
and begins to examine his wounds, and
straighten out his limbs to see II any Of
his bones are broken, and says: my
dear fellow, cheer up, you need have no
more care about yourself. for l am going
to take care Of you. Let me feel Of your
pulse! lie me listen to your breathingl
j ave in these bottles two liquids hat
will help you. The one is oil, and that
will soothe the pain Of these wounds,
and the other is wine, and your pulse Ia
feeble and you feel faint, and that will
stimulate. you. Now ! must get you to
the nearest tavern" 80, no." says the
man; 81 can't walk; lot me stay here
and die" Nonsense" says the Sa-
marian. you are not going to die. 1
am going to put you on this beast, and I
will hold you on till l get you to a place
where you a have a soft mattress and
an easy pillow"