The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-01-20
"WHERE'S MOTHER?"
The Subject of a Late Discourse
by DR.. Talmage.
The Mother Is at the Window, Whether
on Earth or In U~caven-"she Is
In Your Present Char
actcr."

The Mother Is at the Window, Whether
on Earth or in U~eaven-.she Is
in Your Present Char
actcr.'
In n late sermon at Brooklyn Rev. Il.
Dewitt Talmage discoursed upon the
mothers influence in the home, taking
his text from Judges V. IS: The mother
of Sisera looked out at a window" The
distinguished preacher said:
Spiked to the ground of Jaers tent
lay the dead commandments of the
Canaanitish host, Gen. Siscra, not far
from the river Kishon, which was only
n dry led of pebbles when in 1889, in
Palestine, we crossed il, but the gull
lies and ravincs which ran into it indi-
Gated II possibility of great freshets
like the one at the time of the text.
Gen. Sisera had rome out with 900 iron
chariots, but he was deserted, and his
chariot wheels in~terlocking 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 Jael's tent for
bditlys sNHc uiu JuSt DtCh tlu hihk
and when he asked for water she gave
him buttermilk, which in the east is
considered n most refreshing drink.
Very tired, and surprising he was safe,
he went to sleep upon the floor, but
Jael, who had resolved upon his death,
took q tent pin, long and round and
sharp, in one hand and n hammer In
the other, and putting the sharp end
of the tent pin to the forehead of Sisera
| with her other hand, she lii. ed the
hammer and brought it down OF
the head of the pin with n stout
stroke, when Sisera struggled to rise,
and she struck him again, and he strug-
gled to rise, and the third time she
struck him, and the c~ommander-in-
chief of the C~auaanitish host lay lead.
Meanwhile in the distance Sisera's
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 regi-
ments of men vanquished and enslaved.
The ladies of her court stand round
and she tells them of what they shall
have when her son comes up-chains OF
gold n c~arcanets 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. / hope
that freshet of the river Kishon has not
impeded him. l hope those strange
appearances we saw last night in the
sky were not ominous, when the stars
seemed to fight in their courses. mol
MOI! lie is so brave in battle ! know
he has won the day. He will soon be
here" But alas for the disappointed
mother: she will not see the glittering
head-gear of the horses at full gallon
bringing her son home from victorious
battle. As n solitary messenger arriv-
ing in hot haste rides up to the window
at which the mother of Sisera sits. and
cries: Your armies are defeated and
your son is dead" there is n scene OF
horror N anguish from which We
turn away.
Now you see the full meaning of my
short text: "Thc mother of Sisera
looked out of a window" Well, my
friends, we are all out in the battle OF
life; it is raging now and the OF
us nave n mother watching and wait
ing for news of our victory or defeat.
If she be not sitting at the N OF
earth she is sitting at a window OF
Heaven, and she is going to hear all
about it.
BY all the rules of war Sisera ought
to have been triumphant. He had 300
iron chariots n a host OF many thou-
sands vaster than the armies OF israel.
But Tod was on the other slde'
and the angry freshets or klshon
and the hail, the lightning n
the unmanageable war-horse and
the capsized chariots and the
stellar panic in the sky discomfitted
Sisera. Josephus in his history de-
scribes 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 guam
tity of rain and hail. and the wind
blew the rain in the face of the Canaan
ties, and so darkened their eyes their
arrows and sings were OF no advantage
to them, nor would the GOODNESS of the
air permit the soldiers to make use OF
their swords: while this storm did
not so much incommode the
Israelites because it came on their
backs. They also took such
courage upon Inc apprehension hat
God was assisting them that they fell
upon the very midst of their enemies
and slew a great number OF them; SO
that some OF them fell by the Israel
ties, some fell by their W horses,
which were put into disorder, and not
a few were killed by their own
chariots-"
Hence, my hearers, the bad news
brought to the mother oil Sisera look
ing out AT tue III our
mother, whether sittihg at d wihooW
OF earth or a wihoow OF heaVen' VIII
hear the news Oh our victory or deieat'
MOI according 10 our TALENTS Ut eouca-
tlohai equlpihenIo UT our oPPor'uh'roS'
but according as 10 whether uoa Is ior
us or against us.
where's motherE Is the question
most frequently asked IN many mousse
holds. 1t Is asked by the husoand as
well as the child coming IN at night
fall where's mother'' IL Is asked
by the iitI'e ohcs Wheh .ney se' ~.
come In crying win inc pam
where's motherI ~ asNeu ny