Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-03-04
THE GREAT SURPRISE.
DIR. TALMAOE breaches IN THE
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
A Glowing Description of the Magnih-
oence OF Solom on -Llkenei. to the
Cleans OF the Chris tian Re-
liglon-Very Interes ting.


West. His text was I. Kings, 10: z. "Be-
hold, the half was not told me-"
Solomon had resolved that Jerusalem
should be the center of all sacred, regal,
and commercial magnificence He set
himself to work. ana monopolzed the sur
rounding desert as a highway for his cara
vans. He built the city of Palmyra around
one of the principal wells of the East, so
that the long trains of merchandise from
the East were obliged to step there, pay
toll, and leave part OF their wealth in the
hands of Solomons merchants. He
manned the fortress Thapsacus at the
chief ford of the Euphrates, and put under
guard everything that passed there. The
three great products of Palestne-wine
pressed from the richest clusters and
celebrated all the world over; oil which
In that hot country is the entire substitute
for butter and lard, and was pressed from
the olive branches until every tree in the
country became an oil we'll; and honey
VIII. CHI was the entire sub ititute for sugar
these three great products Of the coun-
try Solomon exported, and received in re-
turn fruits and precious woods and the
animals OF every cline.
He went down To Ezion-geber and or
dered fleet of ships to be constructed
oversaw the workmen and watched the
launching of the flotilla which was to go
out on more than years voyage, TO bring
home the wealth of the then known world.
He heard that the Egyptian horses were
large and swift, and iong-maned and
round-limbed and he resolved TO purchase
them, giving ei2hty-fve dollars apiece for
them, putting the best Of these horses in
his own stall, and selling the surplus to
foreign potentates at great profit.
He heard that there was the best OF tim
Der on Mount Lebanon, and he sent out
one hundred and eighty thousand men TO
how down the forest and drag the timber
through the mountain gorges, to construct
it into RATS to be hoated to Joppa, and
from thence to be drawn by OK teams
twenty-five miles across the land to Jeru-
salem. He heard that there were beauti-
full flowers III other lands. He sent Tor
them, planted them in his own gardens,
and to this very day there aro flowers
found IN the ruins of that city such as arc
to be found in no other part of Palestine,
the lineal descendants OF the very flowers
that Soloman planted. He heard that in
foreign groves there were birds OF rich est
voice and most luxuriant wing He sent
out people to catch them and bring them
there, and he p ut them into his cages.
Stahd back now and see this long trail
Of cames coming up to the kings gate,
and the OK trains from Egypt, gold and
silver and precious stones, and beasts of
every hoof aud birds of every wing, AMI
fish OF every scalel See the peacoCks
strut under tho cedars aud the horsemeu
run, and the chariots wheell Hark To the
orchestral Gazo upon the dancel Not
stopping to look into tho wonders of the
temple, step right on TO the causeway, aud
pass up to Solomon's palacei
Here we find ourselves amid a collection
of build ngs on which the king ad law
ished the wealth Of many empires. The
genius of Hiram, the architect, and of the
other artists is here seen in the long line
of corridors and the suspended gallery and
the approach to the throne. Tracericd
window opposite traceried window.
Bronzed ornaments bursting into lotus and
lily and pomegranate. Chapters sur
rounded by -otwork of leaves in which inn
itation fruit seemed suspended as in hang
ing baskets. Three brancncs-so Josephus
tells us-three branches scuatured on the
marble, so thin and subtle that even the
leaves seemed TO culver. A LAYER capable of
holding five hundred barrels of water OH
six-hundred brazen ox-heads. which gushed
with water and filed the whole place with
GOODNESS and crystalline brightness and
musical plash. Ten tables chased with
chariot wheel and lion and cherubm.
Solomon ,at on throne of ivory. AT the
seating pace Of the throne, on each end of
the steps "a brazen lion. Why, my friends,
in that place they trimmed their candles
with suffers Of god, and they cut their
fruits with knives OF gold, and they
washed their faces in basins of gold, and
they scooped out the ashes with shovels of
gold, anu vney stirred the altar fires with
tongs Of gold. Gold reflected in the water
Gold flashing from the apparel Gold
blazing in the crownl Gold gold gold
OF course the news of tho aflluence of
that place went out everywhere by every
caravan and by wing of every ship, until
soon the streets of Jerusalem are crowd
ed with curiosity seekers. What is that
long procession approaching Jerusalem!
/ think from the pomp of it there must
be royalty in the train. smell tho breath
of the spices which are brought as pres
ents, and hear the shout of tk5 drivers,
and see the dust-covered caravan show
ing that they come from far away Cry
the news up to the palace. The Queen OF
Sheba advances. Let all the people come
out to sec. Let the mighty men of the
land come out on tue palace corridors. Let
Solomon come down the stairs Of the pal
ace before the queen has alighted. Shake
out the cinnamon, and the saffron, and the
calamus, and the frankincense, and pass il
into the treasure house Take up the dia-
monds until they glitter in tho sun.
The Queen OF Sheba alights. She en-
ters the palace. She washes at the bath.
She sits down at the banquet The cup
bearers bow. The meat smokes. You hear
the dash of waters from the molten sea.
Then she rises from tho banquet and
walks through the conservatories. and
gazes on the architecture, and she asks
Solomon many strange questions, and she
learns about the religion Of the Hebrews.
aud she then and there becomes a servant
OF the Lord God.
She is overwhelmed. She begins 10
think that all the spices she brought and all
the precious woods which are intended to
be turned into harps and psalteries and in-
to ratings for the causeway between the
temple and the palace, and the one hun
dred and eighty thousand dollars in money
she begins to think that all these presents
amount to nothing in such a place, and she
Is almost ashamed that she has brought
them and she saws within herself: ~