Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-01-26
ISRAEL'S DELIVERER
DR.. TALMAGE DRAWS LESSONS FROM
A SUMNER HOUSE TRAGEDY.
Ehud's Divine Commissions to De-
stroy an Oppressor-Dcnuncintio
Of W~orsbipers of Mammon, who
ScoT at the Sins of the World.


ICopyright, 1899, by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22.-From a scene in
Ancient story Dir Tol,nege In th;s die.
oo,rs dr,,rs ,ossors ne o,rroori,+o cor
49,
'n'' VI az .''' "'io "pProPr."Uo v Nv
'iihe "hoh 'he event occurred many cen
turtles ago; text Judges ILL., 10, 'But
when the children of Israel cried unto the
Lord, tho Lord raised them up u deliverer,
Ehud tho son of Gcra, n Bcnia1nitc, u man
left handed; and by him the children of
Israel sent II present unto Eglon, tho king
of Moab.
Ehud was a ruler in Israel. He was left
handed, and what was peculiar about the
tribe OF Benjamin, to which he belonged,
there were in it 700 left handed men, and
yet so deXterous had they all become in
the use of the left hand that the Bible says
they could sling stones Mt a hairhrcadth
and not miss. Well, there was u king by
the name of Eglon, who was an opprcssOr
of Israel. He imposed upOn them u most
outrageous tax. Ehud, the man OF whom
] first spoke, had n divine commission to
destroy that oppressor. He came pretend
ing that he was going to pay the tax and
asked to see King Eglon. He was told he
was in the summer house, the place to
which the king retired when it was too
hot to sit in the palace. This summer
house was a place surrounded by flowers
and trees and springing fountains and
warhling birds. Ehlld entered the sum
MGR house and said to King ERlon that he
had n secret GRAND with him. lminedl-
atcly all the attendants were waved out of
the royal presence. King fglon rises up
to receive the messenger, fhud, the LETT
handed man, puts his left hand To his
right side, pulls ont a dagger and thrusts
ERlon through until the haft went in after
the blade. Eglon falls. Ehud comes forth
TO blow "a trumpet of liberty amid the
mountains of Ephrain, and n great host
is marshalod, and proud Moab submits to
the conqucror, and Israel is free. So, o
Lord, let all thine enemies perish! So, y
Lord, let all thy friends triumph!
| learn first from this subject the power
Of left handed men. There are some men
who by physical organization have rs
much strength in their left hand as in
their right hand, hut there Is something
In the writing of this text which implies
that Ehud had some defect Ill his right
hand which compelled him to use his left.
Oh, the power of left handed men Genius
Is often self obserVant, careful OF itself,
not given to much toll, burning incense
to its w ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, while many u
man. with no natural cndowmentS, actu-
ally defective III physical ana mental or
ganization, has an earnestness for the
right, patient industry, an all consuming
perseverance, which achieve marvcls for
the kingdom of Christ. Though left hand
ed, IA Ehud, they can strike o a sin as
great and imperial as Eglon.
FogEy Pool Of S~elfshness.
have seen men of wealth gathering
,bout them all their treasures. SMILING Mt
the cause of a world living i'm wickcdncss
roughly ordering Lazarus off their door
stcn, sending their dops. not TO lick his
sores. but to hound him off their premises
catching all the pure rain of Gods bless.
ING into the staQnant. ropv. frog inhabited
pool of their wv elfishncss-riaht handed
men. worse thnn uselcss-vbile MANY a
man with large heart and little purse has
out of his limited means made poverty
leap for ioy and started an influence that
oyerspans the crave and will swing round
and round he throne of God world with
ont end. Amen.
All. me, 1t il high time that Won left
handed men. who have been lonrinp for
this gift and that eloqucnce and tho other
man's Woalth. should take vour left hand
out of your pockets. Who made all these
railroadsY who set up all these ciries.
Who started all these churches and schools
and asvlumsy Who has done the tu1eiup
and running and purinQ? Men of no
wonderful cndowmcnts. thousands of them
acknowledging themselves to be left hand.
II a.l - A.. a. -. -.