The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1891-12-18
We have been made a spec

i"ut S"ys' 4 nave Fought with
beasts Mt Ephcsus, IAN expression usual.
~ taken as tiguratvr. but | suppose IL
was literally true. for one OF the amuse.
ments at that Stadiumwas to nut n dis
llkeu man in the arena with "A hungry
non or tiger or panther, and let the
hght go ON until either the man or the
beast or both were slain. 1t must have
been great fun for these haters OF
christianity TO hear that on the morrow
In the Stadium in Ephcsus the mission
airy Paul would I'm the presence OF tho
crowded galleries fight u hungry lion.
The people were early there to get the
| best seats, and more alert and enthu-
slastc crowd never assembled. They
took their dinners with them. And
was there ever more unequal combat
proposed?
Paul according to tradition, small,
crookcd-b backed and weak eyed, tut the
grandest man in sixty centuries, is led
to the center rs the people shout:
There he comes, the preacher who has
nearly ruined our religion The lion
will make but brief mouthful Of him"
II is plain that all the sympathics of
that crowd are with the lion. In one
of the underground rooms hear the
Erowl of the wild beasts. They have
been kept for several days without food
or water in order that they may be
especially ravcnous and bloodthirsty.
What chance is there for Paul? But
you can not tell 10y "A mans size or looks
how stout blow he can strike, or how
keen blade he can thrust.
Witness, Heaven and earth and hell,
this struggle of Paul with a wild beast
The coolest man in the Stadium is
Paul What has he to fear? He has
dcfied all the powers, earthly and in
fcrnal, and if his body tumble under
the foot and tooth of the wild beast,
his soul will only the sooner find olsen
thralmcnt. But it is his duty, as far
as possible, to preserve his life Now,
! hear the bolt of the wild beasts
door shove back and the whole au-
dicnce rise to their feet as the fierce
brute springs for the arena and to-
ward its small occupant. / think
that the first plunge that was made
by the wild beast at the apostle was
made on the point of n sharp blade,
and the snarling monster with howl
of pain and rocking with gore turns
back.
But now the little missionary has his
turn of making attack, and with few
well directed thrusts the monster lies
dead in the dust Of the arena, and the
apostle puts his right foot on the lion
and shakes him, and then puts his left
foot on him and shakes nina scene
which Paul afterward uses for an illus
tration when he wants to show how
Christ will triumph over death: ale
must reign until He hath put all
enemies under Ills feet yes under His
feet Paul told the little truth when
he said: ~ have fought with beasts at
Ephcsus," and as the plural is used |
think he had more that one such fight,
or several beasts were let loose upon
him at one time. As we stood that day
in the middle of the Stadium and
looked around at the great structure
the whole scene came back upon us,
But we pass out of the Stadium. for
we are in haste for other places of in
terest in Ephesus. TO add to the ex-
citemcnt of the day one of our party
was missing. No man is safe in that
region alone unless he be armed and
knows how to take sure aim and not
miss fire. Our companion. DR.. Louis
KlopSch, now the publisher of the
Christian Herald, had gone out on some
explorations of his own, and through
the gate where Paul had walked again
and again, yet where no man unaccom-
panied should venture now. But after
some time had passed, and every min
ute seemed as long us an hour, and we
had time To imagine every thing hor-
riblc in the way of robbery and assas'
sunation, the lost traveller appeared, to
receive from our entire party volley
of eXpostulation for the arousal of so
many anXictes
In the midst of this city of Ephcsus
once floated an artificial lake, brilliant
with painted boats, and through the
River Cayster it was connected with the
sea, and ships from all parts of the
known earth floatcd in and out carry |
ing on a commerce which made Ephe-
sus the envy of the world. Great was
Ephcsus! Its gymnasia, its hippo
drome, its odcon, its athen@um, its
forum, its aqucducts (whosc skeletons
are stu strewn along the city, its tow
ers. its castle Of lladrian, its monument
of Adroclus, its quarries, which were
the granite cradles of cities its tenn
pies, built to Apollo, to Minerva, to
Neptune, to Mercury, to Bacchus to
Hercules to Caesar, to Fortune, to Jup' |
tier Olympus What history and poe
try and chisel and canvas have not pre-
scented has come up ut the call OF
archnologists' powder, blast and crow