The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-12-16
RIZPAH ON THE ROCK.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Discourses on In
herited Sin.
The Story of the Jewish Woman Taken rs
an Example to show That Children
suffer For the Sins of the
Father.

Dewitt Talmage took for his subject
"Rizpah on the Rock" the text selected
being ii. Samuel, xxi. 10: And Rizpah,
the daughter of Allah, took sackeloth
and spread it for her upon the 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-
turning from the Holy Land l briefly
touched upon it, but l must have Il
whole sermon upon that scene. The
explosion and flash of gunpowder have
driven nearly all the beasts and birds of
prey from those regions, and now the
shrek of the locomotive whistle, which
is daily heard at Jerusalem, will for
many miles around clear Palestine
of cruel claw and beak But in
the time of the text those regions
were pOpulous with multitudes
of jackals and lions. Seven
sons of Saul had been crucified on hill
tive to five of the boys What had
these bows done that they should be
crucified? Nothing except to have a
bad father and grandfather. But now
that the boys were dead why not take
them down from the gibbets- No.
They are sentenced to hang there So
Rizpah takes the sac1cloth. a rough
shawl with which in mourning for her
dead she had wrapped herself, and
spreads that sackcloth upon the rocks
near the gibbets and acts the part of Il
sentinel watching and defending the
dead. Yet every other sentinel is re-
lieved, and after being on guard for a
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 a mother
can stand anything.
o, if she might be allowed to hollow
a place in the side of the hill and lay
the bodies of her children to quiet rest!
If in some cavern of the mountains she
might find for them Christian sculpture.
o, if 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 corpses had
been chained to the trees The chains
are unlocked with horrid clanl1 and the
skeletons are let down. All the seven
are buried. And the story ends.
But it hardly ends before you cry out:
what hard thing that those seven
boys should suffer for the crimes of a
father and grandfather" Yes, but it 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 UNI
cleanness so awful. 1t rcverberates in
other times. 1t may skip one genera
ton. but it 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, but
mentions the third and fourth.
That accounts for what you some
times see, very good parents
with very bad children. Go far enough
back in the ancestral line and you find
the source of all the turpitude. ''Visit-
ing the iniquities of the fathers upon
the children. unto the third and fourth
generation" If, when Saul died, the
consequences of his iDiquity could have
died with him, it would not have been
so bad. Alas, no! Look on that hill n
few miles out from Jerusalem and see
the gastly burdens of those seven glib
bets, and the wan and wasted Rizpah
watching them. Go to-day through the
wards and aims houses, and the re-
formatory institutions where unfortu-
nate children are kept, and you will
find that nine out of ten had drunken
or vicious parents.
Furthermore, this strange incident in
Bible story shows that attractiveness of
person and elevation of position are not
security against trouble.
Who is this Rizpah sitting in desola-
ton? One of Sauls favorities. Her
personal attractions had won his heart
She had been caressed of fortune. With
4 mothers pride she looked on her
princely children. But the scene
changes Behold her in Punishment
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 has
not let in champing and lathered steed
bringing evil dispatches? On what
tesselated hall has there not stood the
solemn bier? Under what exquisite
fresco has there not been enacted a
tragedy or disaster? What curtained
couch hath heard no cry of pain? What
harp hath never trilled with sorrow?
What lordly nature hath never leaned
against carved pillar AID made utter
ance of woe? Gall is not less bitter
when quaffed from a golden chalice
than when taken from pewter mug.
Sorrow is often attended by running
footmen, and laced lackeys mounted
behind Sickness will frost the rosiest
cheek, wrinkle the smoothest brow
and stiffen the sprightliest step. Rizpah
quits the courtly circle and sits on the
rock.
Perhaps you look back upon scenes
different from those in which now from
day to day you mingle. You have ex-
changed the plenty and luXuriance of
your fathers house for privation and
trials known to God and your own
heart The morning of life was flushed
with promise. Troops of calamities
since then have made desperate charge
upon you. Darkness has come. Sor-
rows have swooped like carrion birds