Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-10-15

I've LcooOu, ana WDc1S - ~ -
Feund-A Learned ard Concise Re-
view Of the sane.
Lsssou for October 10.
Golden Text.-"Them that honor me I
win honor, but they that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. SAM, 2: 80.
Solomon's 'Wealth and Wisdom" IL the
subject of this lesson. which Ii found In
/. Kings, A: 25-34. Solomon early mani
tested the wisdom for which he had pray
ed in the dream described In the previous
lesson. He also became possessed OF i'm
mense wealth, through the natyyal re-
sources of his kingdom, whose revenues
must have been large. The lesson de-
scribes his wealth and wisdom, which
surpassed that Of any other Hebrew mon
arch.
Explanatory. n
"Judab and Israeli" OF course the pas
sage was written after the division of the
kingdom, which took place in Rehoboam's
time.-"every man under his vine and
under his fig tree:" proverbial phrase
indicating peace and individual liberty
See Mic, A: 4, also Isa., SO: 10 and Zech,
3: 1O.-"From Dan even to Beersheba:
Dan. on the headwasers of theoJordan.
not far south of Mount Hermon, and
Beersheba, forty miles southwest Of He
bron, were the northern and southern
limits of the land of Canaan. See /. Sam.
3: 20, IL. SAM, "a: 10, etc.
"Forty thousand stalls Of horses:" III.
Chron.,. o.: 25 gives 1900, which may be
the correct figure.
"The prominence here given to provis-
ions for the royal household Is in accord
ance with eastern ideas of wealth. In the
Arabian Nights" it will be remembered.
luxurious feasts are always an accom-
paniment' of wealth. Numerous banquet
scenes are pictured on the Egyptian mon
uments.
"Dromedaries:" revised edition, swift
steeds." The word occurs in Esther 8:
10, IA, for swift horses; probably spe-
cial breed.
"Largeness of hearts" Not what we
mean by the phrase, but rather, broad
mindedness, vigor of intellect.
''The children of the cast country" the
sages of the desert, whose works have not
come down to us, and perhaps also those
of Babylonia.-"All the wisdom of
Egypt" EgyI. had large wisdom of
literature A familiar example is the
proverbs of Ptah Hotep, which have been
translated into English fromsa papyrus in
the Berlin museum.
wiser than all men; than Ethan the
Ezrahite," etc: who these wise men were
is not known. The names, however, sug-
gest the fact, obvious but often forgotten,
that the portion of Hebrew literature
which we have in the Old Testament is
only fragment of the national literature.
There were without doubt many poets,
IL
phets, whose works have persisted. -.
'"Three thousand proverbs:" only frac-
ton Of these are preserved in our book of
Proverbs.-"His songs were a thousand
and fve:" none of these are preserved,
unless it be some of the Psalms. The
book called the "Song of Solomon" or the
"Song of Songs" is thought by many to
belong to later age. 1t does indeed deal
with the court of Solomon, but its COM
position can hardly be attributed to that
king. The authorship, however, depends
on the Interpretation of the book which
Is adopted.
"He spake of trees ;. of beasts 49,.
and of fowl" etc.. probably this indicates
close knowledge of the appearance and
habits of the vegetable and animal king
doms. Tradition has exaggerated this
of the magical properties of various
plants, ETC., which appears in the Arabic
romances that cluster about Solomon. His
position in that legendary literature, as a
sort Of master of the magicians' may be
compared to the peculiar reverence in
which the poet Virgil was held during the
middle ages. Naturally, these traditions
must have had basis of fact, 80 that
they afford a confirmation of the Biblical
record.
"There came of all people to hear the
wisdom of Solomon" Among them the
Queen of Sheba 40: 1-13). Such royal
visits were not unusual.
Teaching Hints.
The wealth and wisdom of Solomon is
not an especially fruitful subject for NOR
al instruction The career of Solomon as
whole should be familiar to students of
the Bible, but when spread out over nine
lessons, considering the proportionate rep
resentation allowed other important char
acters IN the lesson system, it is given too
much space. However, the teacher will
have to make the best of it.
In saying that the Lord gave Solomon
his wealth, it is not implied that he ac-
quired it without exertion. Undoubtedly
he managed shrewdly the revenues of his
kingdom and thus made the best of his
splendid inheritance. The lesson of in
dustry and perseverance as necessary to
success may be brought in here. tits not
an ignoble ambition to desire wealth and
power. The fact that God bestows them
on some of his servants shows that there
Is nothing intrinsically evil In them.
Wealth gives It's possessor unbounded OPP
portunities for doing good, and also
brings great responsibilities.
1t cannot be rightly used without the
blessing of God. AS soon as Solomon be-
gan to forget God, in the pride of his
heart, his wealth and power became a
curse. Wealth does not come to all, but
great opportunities of some kind come into
every life. If there is no chance Of
achieving earthly success, there is always
the possibility of laying up treasures in
heaven" Those treasures Solomon neg
lected, when once he had become safely
established in his prosperity. Poverty
may often be n blessing when II keeps one
from self-confdence and pride.
Next Lesson-'"The Proverbs of Solo
mon. Prov. 1; LILO.
Philosophy.
would be human-toiling like the rest,
With tender, human heart-beats in my
breast.
do not know; ~
i think he conQuers oil who wins con-
tent. AZ
Take what you may