The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-12-27

'sits Y when he refnes his people,
watching with patient love and CON
tinuing the trial only so long and SO, in
ftensely as he sees to be best. "The
sons Of Levi" The ministers o. re-
Mgion. 70
ie' 81 He9now enumerates some Of the
sins from which the people must be
cleansed.
81. TFor Am the Lord. Jehovah,
the self existing, eternal being, as the
very name implies. Il change not
etc. 4 will keep my covenant with my
people, and therefore will refine and
save them. They shall not be utterly
destroyed. They may be assured that
the troubles God suffers to come upon
them are a purifying, not destroying,
process, as in the case OF hardened
sinners.
b. The Sacond Condition of Enjoying
the Better Times--A. Return to the
Sincere Service of God.-Vs. 7-12. Put
ting away sin is never enough. The
mere cutting off one bad habit or an
otter, although essential, never by it.
self makes good community or a
good man.
& Z Even from the days of your
fathers" Through all their past his
tory there had been tendency to turn
away from mine ordinances" the re-
ligious service Of God, and the worship
represented by the temple and its serv-
ices. Return unto me-" To my sery-
ice, to my law, to my love. Wherein
shall we return?' They did not real
ize how far away they were Their
conscience had become dulled. Then
follows his answer by another ques-
tion, spoken in astonishment and in
dignation.
! 5. Wherein have we robbed thee2
In tithes and offerings" The tithes
were tenth part of their income and
increase of property, orchards, vine
yards, cattle. These corresponded to
/ our taxes for the poor, for education
and for the support of ministers and
churches (Lev. 27:30-33; Deut 14:2S,
29l.
g. Eye are cursed with a CURSE
! (See Deut. 28) They had expected to
gain for themselves by so much as
they withheld from God. The arith-
metic was plain, IF add to my store
the grain, instead of carrying it to the
temple storehouse, / must have so
much more wealth for myself" But
they left God out of the calculation,
and, in fact, they were poorer instead
of richer They lost Gods favor; they
lost his presence and blessing. a curse
| rested upon them for the promised
| tithes which they had withheld. From
i V. 10 we learn that drought was upon
4 the land; from " IL that the locust
had destroyed their crops and the
! nildew their fruits. A similar expert
.ence befell the nation in Joel's time,
and for the same reasons (Joel LA, 8
12).
10. Bring ye all the tithes into the
storehouse." The chambers which sur
/ rounded the temple on three Sides
4 These had been SO empty that in Nehe-
miah's absence one of them had been
fitted up for the abode of the heathen
Tobiah (Neh. 1928; 1859. u, 13(.
"And prove me- Even If you are poor
and may have to deny yourselves, put
me to the test, and see if my way is
not better than yours. Yours at the
best has been a failure. If you have
doubts as to my way, you can easily
solve them by the test of fact IF
viii not open you the windows of
heaven" "a poetical and proverbial
expression, signifying a great Down
pouring which is fancifully ascribed to
the opening of windows in the sky
tGen. I'll; 2 Kings 7:2),'5J. E. Todd.
"Pour you out" Empty out, as if
God meant that he would empty forth
his vast reservoir of blessings -
Cowles. There is evidently allusion to
copious rain; and the choice of mag
cry plainly implies that the land had
been suffering from a severe drought" /"
Todd
IL. Il will rebuke." Warn off, pre-
vent from coming. ''The devourer. +"
Literally, eater; that is, any insect,
especially the locust, that would de-
your the fruits of the earth Plump
tire. God in many ways can control
these pests.
12. CAN nations shall call you bless
ed" Happy. So great will be your
prosperity and happiness that the fame
thereof will extend to all nations, as in
Solomon's time. "a deIightsome land.
A lovely place to live in, paradise.
The Heart Of the Lesson.
The principles which Malachi ap-
piled to the Jews twenty-three cen
turtles ago apply to us to-day, God
sends the same message to us as indl.
viduals, as families and as nations.
There is no other way than those de-
scribed here to true success and pros
perity.
Be purified from all dross of sin, as
gold is purified by the fire. Accept OF
all discipline, of all failures, of all out.
ward evils as means of refining from
all sins and wrongs of every kind
Keep up to its highest degree inter,
est in religious things; in the Sabbath
as Gods tithe of our time, in church
buildings and services as the best and
worthiest things in any community, in