The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-17


TaImage this forenoon to the usual
throngs crowding the largest protest
ant church in America. The congrega-
ton. led by organ and corent sang a
gospel hymn To the tune OF Home.
Sweet Home" Text, Judges v. %.
1.-The mother Of Sisera looked out at a
window"
Spiked to the ground of JaeIs tent lay
the dead commander-in-chief of the Ca
naanitish host, Gen. Sisera, not far from
the river KishOn, which was only a dry
bed Of pebbles when in 1889, in Palestine,
we crossed il, but the gullies and ravines
which ran into il indicated the POSSIBLE
ity of great freshets like the one at the
time of the text. Gen. Sisera had gone
out with 900 iron chariOts, but he was
defeated. and, chariot wheels interlOcked
with the wheels of other chariots, he
could not retreat fast enough, and so he
leaped to the ground and ran till, ex-
hausted 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 con-
sidered a 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 a 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 it down on the
head of the pin with a stout stroke,
when Sisera struggled to rise, and she
Id 90.
rise, and the third time she struck him,
and the commander-in-chief of the Ca
naanitish host lay dead
Meanwhile in the distance SiseraS
mother sits amid surroundings of wealth
and pOmp and scenes palatial waiting
for his return. Every mother expects
her son to be victorious and this mother
looked out at the window expecting TO
see him drive up in his chariot, followed
by wagons loaded with embrOideries and
also by regiments of men vanquished
and enSlaved. 1 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 flash of the bit Of the
horses bride she will catch.
The Death of sisern.
The ladies Of the court stand round,
and she tells them Of what they shall
have when her son comes up-chains of
gold and carcanets of beauty and dresses
of such wondrous fabric and splendor as
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. I hope that freshet of the
river Kishon has not impeded him.
hope those strange appearances we saw
last night in the sky were not ominOus
when the stars seemed to fight in their
courses. No, no! He is so brave in
battle L know he has won the day. He
will soon be here
But alas for the disappointed mother,
She viii not see the glittering headgear
OF the horses at full ga.Ilop bringing her
son home from victorious battle. As a
solitary messenger arriving in hot haste
rides up to the window at which the
mother Of Sisera sits he cries, your
armies are defeated, and your son is
deadr There is a scene Of horror and
anguish from which we turn away.
Now you see the full meaning Of my
short text, THE mother Of Sisera looked
out at a window" Well my friends, we
are all out in the battle Of life. 1t is
raging now, and the most of US have
a mother watching and waiting for news
Sf our victory or defeat. If she be not
sitting at the window OF EARTH she is
sitting at a window Of heaven, and she
as going to hear all about it.
have been triumphant He had 900 iron
chariots and a host of many thousands
Vaster than the armies of Isreal. But
God was on the other side, and the
angry freshets of KishOn, and the hail,
the lightning, and the unmanageable
war horses. and the capsized chariOts
and the stellar panic in the sky discom-
flied Sisera- Josephus in his history de-
scribe5 the scene in the following words :
When they were come to a close fight
there came down from heaven a 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 sings 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 incomnode
the Israelites because it came on their
backs. They also took such courage
upon the apprehension that God was
assisting them that they slew q great
number Of them, so that some of them
fell by the Israelites. some fell by their
own horses which were put into disorder.
and not few were killed by their own
chariOts.''
At Heavens Window.
Hence, my hearers, the bad news
brought to the mother of Sisera looking
out at the window And our mother.
dl Il WINDOW OF edItn or
a window of heaven, will hear the news
OF our victory or defeat, not according
10 our talents or educational equipment or
our opportunities, but according as to
whether God is for US or against US.
Where's mOther?" is the question
most frequently asked in many house.
holds. II is asked by the husband as
well as the child coming in at nightfall.
where's mother2'' 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
goods news or received some beautiful
gift. Where's mOther?"
She sometimes feels Wearied by the
question. FOR they all ask It and keep
asking IL al the time. She is not only
the first 10 hear every case of perplexity.
but she is the judge in every court Of
domestic appeal. That is what puts the
premature wrinkles on so many ma
ternal foreheads. You see il is a aues-
tion that keeps on for all the years OF
childhood. 1t comes from the nursery
and from the evening stand where the
boys and girls are learning their school
lesson. and from the starting out In the
morning, when the tippet or hat or slate
or book or overshoe is lost, until at
night, all out Of breath. the youngsters
come in and shout until you can hear
them from cellar to garnet and from
front door to the back fence of the back
yard. where's mother?"
Indeed a child's life is so full of that
question that If he be taken away one
OF the things that the mother most