Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1899-04-20
4 VOW OF JEPHTHAH
1t Is Cited as a Warning Against
Parental Heedlessness.
Dr. Tsimasr Lodges Protest
Against the >ncrihcr of the
Young On the Altar OF
Worldly Ambition.

| In his sermon to-day DR. Talmage
lodges "A protest against the parental
nccdlcSSnc>> and worldly ambition
which are threatening the sacrifice of
many American children: text, Judges
il;@6: My father. if thou has opened
| thy mouth unto the Lord. ,lo To me ac-
t"rding I" that which hath proceeded
"ut Of thy mouth"
.lcphthah MAS frrrbootcr. Early
| turned out from u home here he ought
Ia have been cared for, he conSurtcd
with rough men aud went forth Ia earn
his living a. best he could. In those
times il Was considered right for "A man
To go out on independent military rN-
pcditi"nS. .Icphthah Was n good man
according Ia the light Of his dark age.
| hut through waudcrin" and u prcda-
tory life he became reckless and prccipi-
| tate. The grace ot tod changes Il mans
heart. hut never rr,crscs his natural
| temperament. The lsraclitcs wanted
| the AmmonitcS driven out of their
| country. So they sent u delegation to
.Iephthah, asking him To become com
mandrr-in-chirf of all the forces lie
might have said. You drove me out
when YOU had no use for me- and now
You are in trouble you want me back"
hut he did not say that. lie takes com
| mand of the army. sends messengers to
the AmmonitcS 10 tell them To vacate
the country. and, getting no favorable
| I,,l, D.; e
Before going out To war Jephthah
makes Il very solemn VOW that if the
Lord will give him the victory then.
on his return home, Whatsoever first
comes out of his doorway he will offer
| in sacrifice as a burnt offering. The
battle opens. II was no diminishing
ON the edges of dangers. no unlimber-
| ing of batteries two miles away. but
the hurting of men on the point OF
swords and spears until the ground
| could no more drink the blood and the
| horses reared To leap over the pile of
| bodies of the slain. In those old times
| opposing forces would fight until their
swords were broken and then each one
would throttle his man until they both
r ~
| stare To death stare. until the plain was
one tumblcd mass of corpsrs from
| which the last trace Of manhood had
| been dashed out.
.Icpht hah wins the day. Twenty
| cities lay captured ut his feet. Sound
| the victory all through the mountains
of t'ilcad. Let the trumpcters call up
and children. Ilomeward with your
| elittcring treasures. IIomcward to have
| the applause of an admiring nation.
Build triumphal arches. Swing out
flags all over Mizpah. Open all your
doors To receive the captured treasures.
| Through every hall spread the banquet.
Pile up the yiands. Fill high the tank
ards. The nation is redeemed. the in
Naders are routed and the national hon
or is indicated.
HuZZa for Jephthah, the conqueror.
Jephthah, seated on a prancing stced,
advances amid the acclaiming multi
tudes, but his eye is not on the excited
pOpulace. Remembering that he had
made a solemn VOW that, returning
|
came out of the doorway of his home
that should he sacrificed as barnt
Offering. he has his anxious look upon
the door. ! wonder what spotless lamb
| what brace of doves. will be thrown
upon the fires of the burnt offering,t
Oh, horrors! Palcncss of death
blanches his cheek. Despair seize. his
heart. His daughter, his only child,
PUSHES out the doorway To throw herself
in her fathers arms and shower upon
him more kisses than there w<re
wounds on his breast or dents on It's
shield. All the triumphal spiendor van
ishes. Holding back this child from his
hcaving breast and pushing the locks
| back from the fair brow and looking
into the eyes of ineXtineuishable ar
iec!ion, with choked utterance he says:
Would to God lay stark on the bloodg
plain. My daughter. my only child,
joy of my home. life of my life. thou ar.
the sacrifice
The whole matter was explained TO
| her. This was no whining hollow
hearted girl into whose eyes the father
looked. All the glory of sword and
shield vanished in the presence of ths
,alor of that girl. There may have been
a trrmor of the lip, as rose leaf trcm.
bles in the sough of the south wind;
there may have been the starting of n
tear like a raindrop shaken from the
antler Of Il water lily. But with self
| sacrifice that man may not reach and
| only wuman's heart can compass she
suirenders herself to lire and 10 death
She cries out in the words of my text,
| MY father. if thou hast opened thy
mouth unto the Lord. do unto me what
soever hath proceeded from thy
mouth.
She bows To the knife. and the blood,
| which 80 often al the fathers voice had
| rushed 10 the crimson cheek. smokes in
the fires of the burnt offering. No one
can tell us her name. There is no need
| that we know her name. The garlands
| that Mizpah twisted for .Jephthah the
| warrior have gone into the dust, but
| all ages are twisting this girls chaplet.
| II is well that her name came not to
| ms. for no one can wear it. They may
take the name of Deborah or Abigail or
Miriam. hut no one i'm all the ages shall
have the title of this daughter of sacri-
| flee.
OF course this offering was not pleas
ing To the Lord, especially as a pro-
vision was made in the law for such a
contingency. and Jephthah might have
redeemed his daughter by the payment
Of 80 sheclsles of silver. But before YOU
hurl your denunciations at Jephthah's
cruelty remember that in olden times,
| when VOWS were made. men thought
they must execute them, perform them.
whether they were wicked or good
There were two wrong things about
Jephthah's vow. First, he ought never
70 have made it. Next, having made il.
ft were better broken than kept. But
do not take on pretentious airs and say:
II could not have done as Jephthah
did" IL in former days You had been
| standing on the banks of the Gauges
| and you had been born in India. YOU
might have thrown your children to
the crocodiles. Ii is not because we are
naturally any better, but because we
have more Gospel light.
Now ! make very practical use of
this question when I tell you that the
sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter was a