The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1904-05-07

-SIIxAze "a of King Rehoboam.
2sJ % Heir to the glory,
riches, honor and power Of Solomon, his
father, he had great opportunities ana
possibilities before him. At the mature
age of Al he began his reign, but he for
sock the law OF Jehovah, and all lsrae4
with him." and within five years time
the judgment of God had fallen upon
him by the hand of Shishak. king OF
Egypt, who came up against Jerusalem
with an immense army and captured all
the fortified cities Of judah and looted
the treasure city, Jerusalem. The mag
nificent temple which Solomon had
builded and furnished with its golden
vessels and gold-covered furniture was
stripped of its treasure. The kings pal
ace did not escape in the raid, and all
that was precious was carried on.
Among the things specially mentioned
as being seized by Shishak and his army
were the 300 shields which Solomon had
made of beaten gold. Three pounds Of
pure metal had gone into each shield.
These shields were in the hail OF the
house of Lebanon, and were carried by
the guard which attended the king when
he went from his palace in state pro-
eessiOn 70 the temple to worship.
U HE shield was symbolic and sug-
Il gestive of the Divine protection, and
the gold from which they were made was
indicative of that purity which God de-
sired in His people. Mere display is
never pleasing to God. He is not to be
flattered and appeased by glitter and
show. The flashing of those magnifi-
cent gold shields in the sunlight as the
king passed in royal state to pay his
VOWS unto his God was not pleasing and
acceptable to God, unless every blazing
shield proclaimed the protection God
gave to His children who were pure and
sincere in their worship. AS every part
of the temple service and worship was
significant and symbolic, so we are war
ranted in believing that Solomon in maxi
ing these shields of gold for the dec
Grafton of the walls Of the beautiful
house of Lebanon, and for carrying when
he went to the temple, desired to con-
vey the thought of purity and the Divine
protection. And these were the shields
which came into the possession Of Re-
hoboam, and which we have reason to
suppose he took delight in displaying and
using because his vanity was gratfied.
Although he had forsaken the law of
Jehovah and drawn all the people away
with him in heathenish and idolatrous
practices, nevertheless 1t Is to be pre-
sumed that he continued his stately and
magnificent professionals to the tenn
pie, fianked ON either side by the splen-
didly caparisoned guard bearing the 300
glittering, golden shields. So it contin-
ned through five years. Five years of
glorious display, but meaningless wor-
ship. Five years in which God patiently
waited, and then the judgment fell and
the king was stripped of all his treasure.
DUT although Rehoboam had lost the
~ golden shields, he was not to be de-
MED the vainglorious pleasure Of his
parade to the temple and return. The
300 shields must flash in the sunshine
as of yore and dazzle the eyes of his
people. The 300 shields in the hands
of the guard must circle the temple
door and must tell waiting people
that their king was within worshiping
The 300 shields must open to receive
him as he reappeared and must move
In stately magnifcence back to the pal
ace. And to crafty this passion for
display, having lost the gold shields, he
made in their stead shields of brass. y
This may appear on the surface like 2
very innocent and proper procedure on
the part of the king. 1t may seem
that in so readily and quickly adaptive
himself to the circumstances of his
misfortune he displayed skill and wis.
dom, but when we consider what these
shields signifed. and the circumstances
which eliminated in their confiscatior
by heather king. We shall begin tc
understand the real meaning Of the
making OF the brass shields and b,
able to make deductions that will teacf
important lessons.
III HERE are three periods or epoch'
Il in this experience of Rehoboam-
the possession Of the gold shields; tn,
loss of the gold shields. and the max
ing of the brass shields. And unde
these three divisions we wish to con
slider our topic: Spiritual Counterfeit
ing. Rehoboam was I c6unterfeiter
and people to-day are prone to commi
tho same error and sin. Losing God
gofd, there IL the temptation to substi
tute for 1t the worlds brass. We pu