The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1894-01-18
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE's SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Mothers in Israel"

at ndon."-Judges ", 2e.
Spiked to the ground OF Jael's tent Law the
dead commander I'm chief OF the Canaanitish
host. General Sisera, not far from the river
Kishon, which was only dry bed OF pebbles
when In 1889. in Palestine. we crossed II, but
the gullies and ravincs which ran into II In
dicated the possibility OF great freshets like
the one at the time OF the text. General Sisera
had gone out with 900 iron chariots, but he
was defeated. and. his chariot wheels inter-
locked with the wheels of other chariots, he
could not retreat fast enough, and 80 he
leaped TO the ground an ran till, exhaust
cd, he went into Jaels tent for safety. She
had just been churning. and when he asked
for water she gave him buttermilk, which In
the east is considered most refreshing
drink. VERY tired, and supposing he was
safe, he went to sleep upon the floor, but
Jael, who had resolved upon his death, took
n tent pin, long and round and sharp, In one
hand and a hammer In her other hand. and,
putting the sharp end OF the tent pin TO the
forehead OF sisera, with her other hand she
lifted the hammer and brought IL down on
the head OF the pin with stout stroke,
when Slsera struggled TO rise, and she
struck him again, and he struggled TO rise,
and the third time she struck him, and the
commander In chief OF the Canaanitish host
lay dead.
Meanwhile In the distance Slsera's mother
sits amid surroundings of wealth and pomp
and scenes palattal waiting for his return.
Every mother expects her son to be victori-
Gus, and this mother looked out at the win
dow expecting to see him drive up In his
chariot followed by wagons loaded with en-
broideries and also by regiments of men van
quished and enslaved. see her now sitting
at the window, in high expectation. She
watches the farthest turn OF the road. She
looks for the flying dust OF the swift hoofs.
The first fash Of the bit OF the horses bride
she will catch.
The ladies of her court stand round and
she tells them OF what they shall have when
her son comes up--chains OF gold and carca-
nets OF beauty and dresses of such wondrous
fabric and splendor rs the Bible only hints
at, but leaves us to imagine. "He ought TO
be here by this time" says his mother. THAT
battle Is surely over. hope that freshet of
the river Kishon has not impeded him.
hope those strange appearances we saw last
night In the sky were not omtnous. when the
stars seemed to fight in their courses. No
MOI He Is so brave In battle know he has
won the day He will soon he here" But
alas for the disappointed mother She will
not see the glttering headgear OF the horses
az full gallop bringing her son home from
victorious battle. As a solitary messenger
arriving in hot haste rides up to the windows
at which the mother Of Sisern sits, he cries.
''Your armies are defeated, and your son Is
dead" There is q scene of horror and
anguish from which we turn away.
Now you see the full meaning OF my short
text, 1.-The mother Of sisera looked out at a
window" Well, my friends, we are oil out in
the battle OF life II Is raging now and the
most of us have mother watching and
waiting for news OF our victory or defeat
II she be not sitting at the window of
earth, she is sitting at window of
heaven. and she is going TO hear all about 1t.
BY all the rules OF war Sisera ought to
have been triumphant. He had 900 iron
char!ots and host OF many thousands
vaster than the armies OF Israel. But
God was on tho other side, and the
angry freshets OF Kishon, and the hail,
the lightning and the unmanageable
warhorses, and the capsized chariots
I'D sisera. Josephus In his kistas
I" hen they were come to close fight there
caiAe down from heaven great storm with
a vast quantity OF rain and hail and the wind
blew the rain In the face of the Canaanites
and SO darkened their eyes their arrows and
slings were OF no advantage TO them, nor
would the GOODNESS OF the air permit the SOL
diers to make use Of their swords, while this
storm did not so much incommode the Isra-
elites because It came on their backs. They
also took such courage upon the apprehen-
sion that God was assisting them that they
fell upon the very midst OF their enemies and
slew great number OF them. so that some of
them fell by tho Israelites, some fell by their
own horses which were put into disorder,
and not few were killed by their own char
lots"
Hence, my hearers. the bad news brought
to the mother OF Sisera looking cut at the
window. And our mother, whether sitting
at window of earth or window OF heaven,
Will hear the news of our victory or defeat
not according to our talents or educational
equipment or our opportunities, but accord
Ing as to whether God Is for us or against
US.
"Where's mother?" is the question most
frequently asked In many households. 1t is
asked by the husband as well rs the child
coming In at nightfall, "Where's mother?" 1t
Is asked by the little ones when they get hurt
and come In crying with the pain, where's
mother" 1t is asked by those who
have seen some grand sight or heard some
Food news or received some beautiful gift,
"Where's motherp" She sometimes feels
wearied by the question, for they all ask and
keep asking 1t all the time She is not only
The first to hear every case OF perplexity, but
she Is the judge in every court OF domestic
appeal. That Is what puts the premature
wrinkles on 80 many maternal faces and pow
ders white so many maternal foreheads. You
see, Ii Is question that keeps on for all the
years OF childhood II comes from the'nurs
ery, and from the evening stand where the
boys and girls are learning their school les
sons, and from the starting out In the morn
ing, when the tippet or hat or slate
or book or overshoe Is lost until
at night, all out of breath, the young
sters come in and shout until you can hear
them from cellar TO garret and from front
door TO the back fence OF the back yard,
"Wheres motherW Indeed, childs life Is
so full OF that question that II he be taken
away one of the things that the mother most
misses and the silence that most oppresses
her Is the absence Of that question, which
she will never hear on earth again, except
she hears II in a dream which sometimes re-
stores the nursery just as 1t was, and then
the voice comes back SO natural, and SO
sweet, and so innocent, and so inquiring
thatthe dream breaks at the words, where's
mother?"
II tina. question were put to most OF us
this morning. We would have TO say, II we
spoke truthfully, like Ssera's mother, she is
at the palace window. She has become a
queen unto God forever, and she Is pulling
back the rich folds OF the kings upholstery
to look down at US. We are not told the par
ticulars about the residence of Slsera's
mother, but there Is In that scene In the book
of Judges so much about embrolderies and
needlework and ladies In waiting that we
know her residence must have bean Drincelv