St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1905-02-25


occasions, when she spied the serpent
and as he called to her, she came near
and stood under the shade of the for
hidden tree. ..z1s,. .-,z
Yea, hath God said, We shall not eat
OF every tree Of the garden?" said the
serpent, SO graciously that she did not
sense the unholy taunt, although il
pierced her heart like poison dart.
we may eat of the fruit of the trees
OF the garden" Eve quickly replied, a
note OF apology sounding in her voice.
But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said,
We shall not eat of it, neither shall We
touch it, lest We die" 4
All, soul! why finger in debate over
the command which God has given you.
Here was where the downfall of man
began, and it has ever proved the begin
ming OF transgression of Gods laws. s
With incredulous smile, the serpent
spoke in confident and positive tones:
aYe shall not surely de-
! and Eve recalled her questionings as
to- what death meant But why had
God spoken of death if there was no
death? In reply to her questioning look,
the serpent continued: For God doth
know that in the day We eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened; and We shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil 'F
With downcast eyes Eve listened to
the words Of the serpent, which brought
to her heart the first doubts she had had
OF God, and the desire to examine more
closely the fruit of this tree took pos
session of her. Never before had she
come SO near to the tree; never before
had she allowed her eyes to rest in ques-
tioning or longing upon its fruit, but
now with it hanging so temptingly near
she looked, and as she looked she saw
that it was good for food" How true
it is. as James says, that man is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own lust
and enticed." How pleasant the fruit
appeared to her eyes now. Surely twas
to be desired to make one WISE" How
foolish and unreasonable the prohibition
OF God appeared. Reaching up, she took
q great, luscious cluster of the fruit
in her hand and did eat, and gave also
to her husband, who had joined her
whileshewasy yet talking with the serpent.
And the eyes of them both were
opened. What an awakening that was!
In fear and confusion they fed from the
place, and hid in that part of the garden
where the trees were the thickest and
the shadows the darkest, for sin loveth
darkness, and the evil doer cometh not
to the light. The covering of Gods
Righteousness had been torn from them,
and they realized that they were naked
Naked before God! Fearing His appear
ance! With feverish haste and trem-
bling hands they sewed fig leaves to-
gether and made them aprons, and hard
ly had they completed their task before
they heard the voice of the Lord God
walking in the garden.
Where art thou, Adam God called.
The call which heretofore had been
such sweet music to the souls of Adam
and Eve, and been listened for with
such joyful longing, now came with
piercing conviction to their hearts, and
they were filed with an awful dread.
With trembling voice Adam replied:
II heard Thy voice in the garden, and
I was afraid, because was naked; and
l hid myself
; WHO told thee that thou vast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof
l commanded thee that thou shodldest
not eat?" the voice of God asked
Oh, the anguish of that moment, as the |
souls of this guilty pair were brought |
face to face with their sin and realized |
their first separation from God, and felt |
His sore displeasure. The tragedy OF |
the garden has rung down through the |
ages, and in its train has stalked hid
eous sin and grim death. The Divine |
judgments were spoken, and lest the
man and the woman should partake of |
the tree Of life and live forever, there
tore the Lord God sent them forth from
the Garden of Eden" But ere they 60.
He must clothe their nakedness, for no
covering which man may provide for
himself will suffice to make him present
able to God. From Adams gentle flock
il sheep, the Lord selects two precious
ambs, type of the lamb from Heaven
which God in the fullness of time was to
provide for sinful man, that man might
,e cleansed from sin and clothed upon
With the righteousness of God
Who can know the feelings of that
sinful pair, as they beheld the hand Of
Tod slay the lambs ant take from them
heir skins! A life given up for each
hat each might have covering for his
lakedness Death the result of sin, but
heir lives not forfeited first, because
# the wonderful grace of God All, may
We not sit and ponder this first revela-
ion to sinful man of Gods wonderful
way of salvation through sacrifice, and
he shedding of blood, for without the
bedding of blood thereis no remission.
So God drove man out; and He placed
It the east of the Garden of Eden,
ana q flaming sword which
urned every way. to keep the way OF the
rec Of life
Indian Chief q Bank President.
A bank with an indian chief as III
resident has been organized to do
BUSINESS at Skiatook, l. T. The insti-
utions opens with Chief w. G. Rogers,
I the Cherokees. a. its head. The
- en- NNN4 e. r ,