The Baptist headlight. (Topeka, Kan.) 1893-1894, 1894-01-25

afternoon. Text. Judges V, %, "Ihe |
mother of Sisera looked out at win |
dow"
Spiked to the ground of Jaels tent
Law the dead commander IN chief OF the
Canaanitish host. General S'sera, not
far from the river KishOn, which was
only dry bed OF pebbles when In 1889,
in Palestine, we crossed 1t, but the gull
lies and ravines which ran into 1t lndl-
Gated 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 interlOcked with the
wheels of other charlOts, he could not
retreat fast enough, and so he leaped TO
the ground and ran till, exhausted, he
vent into Jael's tent for safety. She
had lust been churning, and when he
asked for water she gave him butter
milk. which in the East is considered q
most refreshing drink. Very tired, and
,unpOsing he was safe, he went to sleep
mon the floor. but Jael, who had re-
| solved upon his death, took tent pin,
ong 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 a stout stroke, when Sisera strug-
pled 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
lead.
| 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, ana
his 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. | see
her now sitting at the window, in high
expectation. She watches the farthest
turn of the road. She looks for the
living 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 up-chalns
Of cold and carcanets of beauty and
dresses of such wondrous fabric and
5plendor as the Bible only hints at,
but leave 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 klshon
has not impeded him. hope those
J 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 | know he has won the day. He
will soon be here" But alas for the
disappointed mother. She will not
see the glittering headgear of the
horses at full gallOp bringing her son
: home from victorious battle. AS
, 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 dead" There is scene OF hor
, -Or and anguish from which we turr
away.
Now you see the full meaning of my
+ short text, The mother of Sisers
looked out at the window" Well, my
friends, we are all out in the battle o
: life: ii is raging now, and the most o
l us have mother watching and wait
: ing for news of our victory or defeat
. If she is not sitting at the window o
earth. she is sitting at window Q
Heaven, and she is going to hear al
about it.
b Bv all the rules of war Sisera Ough
20 have been triumphant. He had 9O
iron chariOts and host of many thou
sands vaster than the armies of Israel
S But God was on the other side, and tn
; angry freshets of Kishon, and the hail
/, he lightning, and the unmanageabl'
4 war horses. and the capsized chariot
G md the stellar panic in the sky dis
| romftted Sisera JOsephus in his his
/. tory describes the scene in the follow
mo words: when they were come t
It i close fight, there came down iron
# Heaven q great storm with a vas
!, quantity of rain and hall. and the win
. blew the rain in the face of tn
II Canaanites and so darkened their eye
II their arrows and slings were of no &C
vantage to them, nor would the colo
ness of the air permit the soldiers
make use of their swords, while thi
II storm did not so much lncOmmOde tn
a lsraelites because 1t came on thel
~ backs. They also took such cOurag
= upon the apprehension that God was a.
III sisting them that they fell upon tn
n very midst of their enemies and slew
"A great number of them. so that some
:, them fell by the Israelites. some fe
ia BY their own horses which were pl
~ into disorder. and not few wer
Id / killed by their own chariots."
= Hence. my hearers. the bad new
= brought TO the mother o. Sisera lool
D. ing ont at the window And OIL
al mother, whether sitting at a windo
h of earth or a window OF Heaven. wi
hear the news of our victory or defe;
. not according to our talents or edl
er cational equipment or our oppOrtun
IL ties. but according as TO whether &c
is Tor Us or against us.
Where's mother?" is the ouestic
H. most frequently asked in many hous
It holds. Ii IS asked By the husband