Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-09-17
NATIONS ARE JUDGED
COO REWARDS AND Furnishes THEM
! ON EARTH.

Razor-NationaI Sins Call Down the
Lords Wrath.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16.-Dr. Taimage,
in his journey westward through Eu-
rope, has recently visited scenes of
thrilling historic events. He sends this
tons are judged in this world and that
God rewards them for their virtues
and Furnishes them for their crimes
The text is Isaiah vii, 20, I'm the same
day shall the Lord shave with a razor
that is hired, namely, by them beyond
the river, by the king Of Assyria-"
The Bible is the boIdest book ever
written. There are no similitudes in
'Dssian or the Iliad or the Odyssey SO
daring. Its imagery sometimes seems
on the verge of the reckless, but only
seems so. The fact is that God would
lstartle and arouse and propel men and
nations. A tame and limping simili-
:tude would fail to accomplish the OBJ
ject While there are times when he
employs in the Bible the gentle dew,
and the morning cloud, and the dove,
OF truth, we often find the iron chariot,
the lightning. the earthquake, the
spray, the sword and in my text the
razor. This keen bladed instrument
has advanced in usefulness with the
ages. In Bible times and lands the
beard remained uncut save in the sea-
sons of mourning and humiliation, but
the razor was always a suggestive
symbol David said of Doeg, his an
tagonist, ''Thy tongue is sharp razor
working deceitfully'-that is. it pre-
tends to clear the face, but is really
used for deadly incision.
In this striking text this weapon of
the toilet appears under the following
circumstances: Jud9a needed to have
some of its properties cut off, and God
sends against it three Assyrian kings
first Sennacherib, then Esarhaddon
and afterward Nebuchadnezzar. These
three sharp invasions. that cut down
the glory of Jud9a. are compared to SO
many sweeps of the razor across the
face of the land. And these devasta-
itions were called hired razor because
God took the kings of Assyria, with
whom he had no sympathy. to do the
work and paid them in palaces and
spoils and anneXatiOns. These kings
were hired to execute the divine be-
,hests. And now the text. which on its
first reading may have seemed trivial
or inapt, is charged with momentOus
import ''In the same day shall the
Lord shave with a razor that is hired,
namely, by them beyond the river. by
the king of ASSyria."
Well. if Gods judgments are razorS,
we had better be careful how we use
them on other people. In careful
sheath these domestic weapons are put
away, where no one by accident may
touch them and where the hands of
children may not reach them. Such
instruments must be carefully handled
or not handled at all. But how reck-
1essly some people WELD the judg-
ments of God, If man meets with
business misfortune, how many there
are ready to cry out: 'That is n judg-
ment Of God upon him because he was
unscrupulOus or arrogant or overreach-
ing or miserly. l thought he would
get cut down! What a clean sweep of
everything! His city house and coun-
try house gone. His stables emptied
of all the fine bays and sorrels and
grays that used to prance by his door.
All his resources overthrown, and all
that he prided himself on tumbled into
demolition. Good for him. Stop. my
brother. Don't sling around too freely
the judgments of God. for they are ra-
zorS.
Two Sides to Every Story.
nf %hA toll
men succeed. and they live and die in
prosperity. and some of the most hon
est and conscientious are driven into
bankruptcy. Perhaps the unsuccessful
mans manner was unfortunate and he
was not really as proud as he looked to
be. Some of those who carry their
heads erect and look imperial are hum
BILE as q child, while many man in
seedy coat and SLOUGH hat and unblack-
ed shoes is as proud as Lucifer. You
cannot tell by q mans look. Perhaps
he was not INSCRIPTIONS in business,
for there are two sides to every story,
and everybody that accomplishes any
thing for himself or others gets indus
triously lied about. Perhaps his bust
ness misfortune was not a punishment,
but the fatherly discipline to prepare
him for heaven. and God may love him
far more than he loves you. who can
pay dollar for dollar and are put down
in the commercial catalogues as AL"
Whom the Lord loveth he gives $780,
900 and lets die on embroidered pill
lows? No; whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth. Better keep your hand off
the Lords razors lest they cut and
wound people that do not deserve it.
If you want to shave off some of the
bristling pride Of your own heart, do
SO, but be very careful how you put the
sharp edge on others. How / do dis