The Red Cloud chief., 1892-12-16
RIZPAH ON THE ROCK.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Discourses on In
herited Sin.
The story OF the Jewish Woman Taken ~
an Example to show That children
suner For the Sins OF tho
Father.

being III. Samuel, xxi. 10: And Rizpah,
h daughter of Allah, took sackcloth
and spread it for her upon tho rock,
from the beginning of harvest until
water dropped upon them out of heaven,
and suffered neither the birds OF the air
to rest on them by day. nor the beasts
of the field by night" The preacher
said:
Tragedy that beats anything Shake
sperian or Victor Hugoian. After re-
farming from the Holy Land l briefly
touched upon II, but I must have n
whole sermon upon that scene. The
explosion and fash Of gunpowder have
driven nearly all the beasts and birds Of
prey from those regions, and now the
shrek of the locomotive whistle. which
ia daily heard at Jerusalem, will for
many miles around clear Palestine
OF cruel claw and beak. But in
the time of the tex those regions
were populous with multitudes
of iackals and lions. Seven
sons of Saul had been crucifed on a hill
Rizpah was the mother of two and rela-
tive to five Of the boys What had
these boys done that they should be
crucifed? Nothing except to have u
bad father and grandfather. But now
that the boys were dead why not take
them down from the gibbsts. No.
They are sentenced to hang there. So
Rizpah takes the saclicloth, q rough
shawl with which in mourning for her
dead she had wrapped herself, and
spreads that sackcloth upon tho rocks
near the gibbets and acts the part OF q
sentinel watching and defending the
dead. Yet every other sentinel Is re-
lieved, and after being on guard for n
few hours some one else takes his
place. But Rizpah is on guard both
day and night for half a year. What
nerves she must have had to stand that.
All! do you not know that u mother
a stand anything.
o. IL she might be allowed to hollow
a place in the side of the hill and lay
the bodies of her children to quiet rest.
might find for them Christian sepulture.
o, IL she might take them from the glib.
bet Of disgrace and carry them still fur
Their away from the haunts Of men and
then lie beside them in the last long
sleep! The thrilling story of Rizpah
reaches David and he comes forth to
hide the indecency. The corpscs had
been chained to the trees. The chains
are unlocked with horrid clank and the
skeletons are let down. All the seven
are buried. And the story ends.
But it hardly ends before you cry out;
'What n hard thing that those seven
boys should suffer for the crimes of a
father and grandfather Yes, but II is
always So Let every one who does
wrong know that he wars not only, as
In this case, against two generations,
children and grandchildren, but against
all the generations Of coming time.
That is what makes dissipation and un-
cleanness SO awful. IL reverberates in
other times. 1t may skip n genera.
ton, but 1t Is apt to come up in the
third generation, as Is suggested in the
ten commandments, which say: Visit.
ing the iniquities of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth
generation" Mind you, it says moth
ing about the second generation, blu,
mentions the third and fourth.
That accounts for what you some
III bSC, very koOu D8TCuUo
with very bad children. Go far enough
back in the ancestral line and you find
the source Of all the t%urpitude. "visit'
ing the iniquities of the fathers upon
the children, unto the third and fourth
generation" II, when Saul died, the
consequences OF his iniGuity could hsvs
died with him, It would not have been
so bad. Alas, no! Look on that hill q
few miles out from Jerusalem and see
the gastly burdens Of those seven glib
beta, and the wan and wasted Rizpat
watching them. Go to-day through the
wards and aims houses, and the re
formatory institutions whore unfortu
nate children are kept, and you will
find that nine II of ten had drunken
or vicious parents.
Furthermore. this strange incident ir
Bible story shows that attractiveness o.
person and elevation Of position are moi
security against trouble.
Who is this Rizpah sitting in desola
ton? One OF Saul's favorities. Hel
personal attractions had won his heart
She had been caressed Of fortune. With
q mothers pride she looked on heI
princely children. But the scene
changes. Behold her In banishmen'
and bereavement. Rizpah on the rock
Some of the worst distresses have
come TO scenes of royalty and wealth
What porter at the mansions gate In,
not let in champing and lathered steet
bringing evil dispatches? On wha'
tcsselated hall has there not stood tn,
solemn bier? Under what exquisit.
fresco has there not been enacted 9
tragedy or disaster? What curtainet
couch hath heard no cry of pain? Wha'
harp hath never trilled with sorrow
What lordly nature hath never leaned
against carved pillar and made utter
'ance of woe? Gall is not less bitter
when quaffed from a golden chalict
than when taken from a pewter mug
Sorrow Is often attended by running
footmen, and laced lackeys mounted
behind. Sickness will frost the rosies'
cheek, wrinkle the smoothest brow
and stiffen the sprightliest step. Rizpaf
quits the courtly circle and sits on tn,
rock.
Perhaps you look back upon sceneI