Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-11-14
REV. DIR. TALMAGB.
The Eminent Brooklyn DiVine's Sun
day Sermon.
Subject, "The Wonderful Distance Ira
versed by Christ"

with its divine boy in His fathers carpenter
shop, and the most glorious lake that ever
rippled or flashed
Blue Galilee, sweet Galilee,
The lake where Jesus loved TO be;
and Damascus, with its crooked street called
Straight, and a hundred places charged and
surcharged with apostolic, evangelistic, pro-
phetic, patriarchal, kingly and Christly rem
iniscences.
In travelling along the roads of Palestine
am impressed, as / could not otherwise have
been, with the fact that Christ for the most
part went afoot. We find Hin occasionally
on a coat, and once riding in triumphal
procession, as it is sometimes called, although
it seems to me that the hosannas of the crowd
could not have made a ride on a stubborn,
unimpresSive and funny creature like that
which battered with Him into Jerusalem
very much of triumph. But we are made
to undertand that generally He walked. How
much that means only those know who have
gone over the distance traversed by
Christ
We are accustomed to read that Bethany
is two miles from Jerusalem We'll, any man
in ordinary health can walk two miles with
out fatigue. But not more than one man
out Of thousand can walk from Bethany to
Jerusalem without exhaustion. It is over
the Mount of Olives, and you must climb up
among the rolling stones and descend where
exertion is necessary to keep you from fall
ing PROSTATE. 1, who am accustomed TO
walk fifteen or twenty miles without lassi-
tude, tried part of this road over the Mount
Of Olives, and confess that ! would not wa at
to try it often, such demand does it make
upon ones physical energies. Yet Christ
walked it twice a day-in the morning from
Bethany to Jerusalem, and in the evening
from Jerusalem to Bethany.
Likewise it seemed a small thing that
Christ walked from Jerusalem to Nazareth.
But it will take us four days of hard horse
back riding sometimes on a trot and some
times ON a gallop, to do it this week. The
way is mountainous in the extreme. To
those who went up TO the Tip Top house on
Mount Washington before the railroad was
laid will say that this journey from Jeru-
salem to Nazareth is like seven such Ameri-
can journeys. So, all up and down and
across and recrossing Palestine, Jesus walked.
Ahab rode David rode. Solomon rode.
HerOd rode Antony rode. But Jesus
walked With swollen ankles and sore
muscles of the legs and bruised heel and stiff
/ Joints and painting lungs and faint head,
along the roads and where there were no
roads at all Jesus walked.
We tried to get new horse other
than that on which we had ridden on the
Journey to the Dead Sea, for he had faults
which our close acquaintanceshp had deve-
bped But after some experimenting with
other quadrupeds Of that species and finding
that all horses like their riders, have faults
we concluded to choose a saddle on that
beast whose faults we were most prepared
{ 10 pity or resist. We rode down through the
valley and then up on Mount Scopus and,
rs our Gragoman tells us that this is the last
opportunity we shall have of looking at Je-
rusalem, we turn our horses head toward
the city and take long, sad and thrilling
lock at the religious capital Of our planet.
This is the most impressive view Of the most
tremendous city OF all time.
! On and around this hill the armies of the
/ crusaders at the first sight of the city
! threw themselves on their faces in worship.
/ Here most of the besieging armies en-
camped the night before opening their vol
| leys of death agar Jerusalem. Our last
/ look FareN ell, Mount Zion, Mount
/ Moriah, Mount of Olives, Mount Calvary
! Win we never see them again. Never
| The world is 80 large and time is so short
and there are so many things we have never
/ seen at all, that we cannot afford to duplicate
/ visits or see anything more than once. Fare
well, yonder thrones of gray rock, and the
| three thousand years OF architecture and
battlefelds. Farewell sacred, sanguinary,
| triumphant, Inundated Jerusalem Across
/ this valley Of the Kedron with my right
hand throw thee kiss Of valedictory. Our
/ last look. like our first look, an agitation Of
| body, mind and soul indeScribable
And now, like Ezekiel in my tent, ] lift
up mine eyes the way toward the north.
! Near here was one Of the worst tragedies Of
1 the ages mentioned in the Bible A hOspitable
old man coming home at eventido from his
/ work in the fields finds two strangers, a hus-
( band and WIFE proposing to lodge in the
street because no shelter is offered them, and
/ invites them to come and spend the night in
/ hi home. During the night the ruffians of
the neighborhood conspired together, and
surrounded the house, and left the woman
dead on the doorstep and the husband, to
rally in revenge the twelve tribes,
cut the corpse Of the woman into
twelve parts and sent twelfth of it to each
tribe and the fury of the nation was reused,
and peremptory demand was made for the
surrender OF the asSassins, and, the demand
refused. in one day twenty thousand people
were left dad on the field and the next day
eighteen thousand. Wherever our horse to-
dav plants his foot in those ancient times a
coipse lav. and the roads were crossed by red
rivulets OF carnage.
Now VIC Pass on to where seven youths
we're put to death and their bodies glib
beted or hung in chains not for anything
they had themselves done, but as repair.
alton for what their father and grand
father Saul, had done Burial was denied
these youths from May until November
Rizpab, the mother of two OF these deaf
boys. appointS herself as sentinel TO guard
the seven corpses from beak of raven anC
tooth OF wolf and paw Of lion. She pitche.
I no roctr rlQQa hU fli
gibbets Rizpah by day sits on the grount
in front Of her tent, and when a vulture be
gins to lower out of the MONDAY sky seeking
irs prev among the gibbets RiZpah rises, bel
/ long hair fying in the wind, and swinging
her arms wildly about Shoes away the
bird Of prey until it retreats to its eyrie. A
night she rests under the shadow OF her tent
end sometimes falls into a drowsine-s or hal
sleep. But the step of Il jackal among IN
cry leaves or the painting Of hyena arouse
her, and with the fury OF maniac she iushe
cut upon the rock crying, Away! Away
and then. examining the gibbets 70 see tina
they still keep their burden, returns again t
her tent till some swooping wing from tn
midnight sky or some growing monster o.
the rock again wakes her.
A mother watching her dead childre
through Nay, June, July, August, Septem
Der and Octoberl What a vigil Painter
rave tried to put upon canvas the scene, ar
they succeeded in slletching the hawks in tn
sky and the pantherS crawling out from tn
jungle, hut they fail to give the wannes'
The esrnestness, the supernatural courage
the infinite self sacrifice of Rzpah, til
mother Another in the quiet home water
ing by the casxet of dead child for on
night exerts the artist to his utmost, but VIII
Is sufficient to put upon canvas a mother 70
six months Of midnights guarding her Who'll
family dead and gibbeted upon the mount
aiuss
Go home, Rizpahl You must be awful
tired. You are sacrificing your reason an
your life for those whom you can neve
bring back again to your bosom. As | sa
tlat from the darkest midnight Of the eel
fury Rizpah turns upon me and cries: "EO
Care you tell me to 90 homer am a mott
er. am not tired. You might as well e.
pect God to get tired as for a mother 70 g
tired. | cared for those BOYS when they IL
On my breast in infancy, and will not TO
sake them now that they are dead. Inter
'rupt me not There stOops an eagle that
must drive back with my agonized CRY
There is a panther l must beat back with m
'clubr'
Do you know what that scene by our ROAD
side IN Palestine makes me think of II is II
unusual scene. Ri2ht here in these tire
ties by the American ssacoast there are
thousand cases this moment worse tnan that
Mothers watching boys taat the rum saloon
that annex Of hell, has gibbeted in a Twin