The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-01-19
MOTHERS IN ISRAEL.
REV. OR. TALMAee'S ELOQUENT SER
MON AND UNIQUE TEXT.

now sisera Was killed by Jael-The Bad
News brought to Ills SIother-sitting at
the Palace window-A Euiogy Of this
NeedIe--Anxious Mothers.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 14.-This novel and
unique subject was presented by DIR.
Talmage this forenoon to the usual
ihrongs crowding the largest Protestant
rhurch in America. The congregation,
led by organ and cornet, sang gospel
hymn to the tune of Home, Sweet
Home" Text, Judges v, 2s, 1.-THE
mother of Sisera looked out at VIM
dow"
Spiked to the ground of Jael's tent
lay the dead commander in chief of the
Canaanitish host, General Sisera, not
far from the river Kishon, which was
only dry bed of pebbles when in 1899,
in Palestine, we crossed it, but the gul
lies and ravines which ran into it indi-
Gated the possibility of great freshets
like the one at the time of the text.
iron chariots, but he was defeated, and,
his chariot wheels interlocked with the
wheels of other chariots, he could not
retreat fast enough, and SO he leaped to
lhe ground and ran till, exhausted, he
went into Jael's tent for safety. She
had Just been churning, and when he
asked for water she gave him butter
milk, which in the east is considered a
most refreshing drink. Very tired, and
supposing he was safe, he went to sleep
upon the floor, but Jael, who had re-
solved upon his death, took tent pin,
long and round and sharp, in one hand
and 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 stout stroke, when Sisera strug-
gled to rise, and she struck him again,
and he struggled to rise, and the third
time she struck him, and the command
er in chief of the Canaanitish host lay
dead.
MEANING OF THE TEXT.
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 moth
er looked out at the window expecting
to see him drive up in his chariot fol-
lowed by wagons loaded with embroid-
cries and also by regiments of men van
quished and enslaved. | see her now
sitting at the window, in high expecta-
ton. 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 ladies Of her court stand round,
and she tells them of what they shall
have when her son comes 1p--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. lie ought to be here by
this time, says his mother. "That bat
tie 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
| orninois, when the stars seemed to fight
in their courses. No! No! He 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 sec
the glittering headgear of the horses at
full gallop bringing her son home from
| victorious battle. As solitary mes
senger arriving in hot haste rides up to
| the window at which the mother of Sis
era sits, he cries, Your armies are de-
feated, and your son is dead" 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 look.
ed out at window" Well, my friends,
we are all cut in the battle of life: il
is raging now, and the most Of us have
mother watching and waiting for news
of our victory or defeat If she be moi
sitting at the window of earth, she il
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 600
iron chariots and a host of many thou.
sands vaster than the armies of Israel
But God was on the other side, and the
angry freshets of Kishon, and the hail,
the lightning and the unmanageablt
warehouses;, and the capsized charioti
and the stellar panic in the sky dlscom
fitted Sisera. Josephus in his history
describes the scene in the following
words: When they were come to 6
close fight, there came down from heav
en- great storm with vast quantity
of rain and hail, and the wind blew the
| rain in the face of the Canaanites anG
SO darkened their eyes their arrows ant
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 in
commode the Israelites because it came
on their backs. They also took sucl
courage upon the apprehension that Goo
was assisting them that they fell upor
the very midst of their enemies anC
slew great number of them, so thai
some of them fell by the Israelites, som,
fell by their own horses which were pu
into disorder, and not few were killed
by their own chariots. y
Hence, my hearers, the bad new
brought to the mother of Sisera looking
out at the window. And our mother
whether sitting at window of eartl
or window of heaven, will hear tn,
news of our victory or defeat-not &C
cording to our talents or educationa
equipment or our opportunities, but &C
coIding as to whether God is for us o.
against us.
Where's mother?" is the question
most frequently asked in many house
holds. 1t is asked by the husband a
well as the child coming in at nightfall
Where's mother?" 1t is asked by tn
little ones when they get hurt and COM
in crying with the pain, Where
motherf" 1t is asked by those VIII
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