The Tupelo journal., 1905-03-10

his brothers restrained him. n the
weeks dragged YEARLY on, and they
waited, but no sign or word came
from God. Nearly two months thus
passed, and only the firm faith OF
Noah, and his unwavering obedience
to God, kept the impatient, rebellious
spirit of Ham from stirring uI
trouble.
AS the days dragged on, the deter.
mination to leave the ark with OF
without his fathers consent took pos.
t session of Ham. For the last few
days he had been secretly preparing
to &c. and had told his wife his plans
and won her reluctant consent to &C
with him. The morrow was the time
he set for action. He vas astir early, fol-
he planned to get away before the
others were up.
AS he crept by his fathers room he
heard voices, and paused to listen. II
was a strange voice speaking. and he
heard the words:
GO forth of the ark, hot and thy
wife and thy sons, and thy ons wives
with thee"
He waited to hear no more, but
FASTENED to find his wife and tell hel
what he had heard.
at must have been God speaking tc
your father" said Mrs. Ham. "Let
us wait and see what your father will
say to-day"
Thus it came to pass that Ham was
saved from his wicked folly. and his
father and the rest of the family never
knew what he lad planned to do
Presently he heard his fathers voice
calling. and when he and his wife
reached the place whore Noah was
standing they found the others there
before them listening to the glad mes.
sage.
The Lord hath spoken, children
Noah triumphantly ard joyfully said.
and has bid US go forth this day, with
all hat are in the ark, Let us pro-
coed at once"
The creatures in the ark were no
less eager to be free from their narrow
quarters than were Noah and his fam
lily. and the work of Decentralization
was speedily accomplished. But ere
they moved down the mountain side
into the valley below, Noah took of
the stones ling about and buiideG an
altar unto the Lord. Hethen took of every
clean beast and of every clean fowl,
and offered burnt offerings on the al
tar. Thus at the very beginning OF
the new life on the earth was there
the confession of mans sinfulnesS be-
fore God. and the need of cleansing
through the shedding of blood.
And the Lord smelled a sweet Sa-
vor: and the Lord said in His
heart: Il will not again curse the
ground any more for mans sake;
though the Imagination of mans
heart is evil from his youth; neither
will | again smite any more everything
living, as | have done. While the
earth remaineth. seedtime and har-
vest, and cold and heat, and summer
and winter, and day and night, shall
not cease"
While Noah stood thus minlsterins
at the altar, and the others were
bowed in silent worship about him,
there came a cloud and o~vershadowed
them, and a voice spoke out of the
cloud, and Ham instantly recognized
it as the same which he had heard
speaking with his father early that
morning. And God said, as He
blessed them:
BE fruitful, and multiply, and re-
plenish the earth Long and earn
estly God communed with them, and
spake of the laws which should govern
the new life on the earth.
The voice ceased, but the cloud still
| o~vershadowed them. and as they gazed
upon it a rainbow of the most dazzling
brightness spanned it's white folds.
"How beautiful" they all ex-
claimed, as they Toasted their wonder
ing eyes on the s%plendor of the scene.
'In the long. years of my life" said
Noah, Il have seen many rainbows,
but none which could compare with
this one. God has some message for
our hearts in this glorious display"
While they stood beholding and
talking together, the voice of God
again came out of the cloud, saying:
"And l. behold, I establish My COW
enant with you, and with your seed
after you. And this is the token of
the covenant which | make between
Me and you, and every living creature
tons: | do set My bow in the cloud,
and it shall be for a token OF a COW
enant between Me and the earth. And
it shall come 70 pass, when | bring
q cloud over the earth, that the bow
shall be seer in the cloud: and will
remember My covenant, which is be-
tween Me and you. and every living
creature of all flesh; and the waters
shall no more become a flood to de-
stroy all flesh. And the bow shall
be in the cloud; and / will look upon
it, that l may remember the %everlast-
ing covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is upon
the earth"
The voice ceased, and the cloud van
ished from their sight. Noah and his
sons and their wives and every living
creature with them then moved down
the mountain side to the valley be-
low, where they took up life anew
upon the earth which God had re-
stored to man, but the memory and
the record of that day has continued
to the present time, and the testimony
and the token of Gods covenant still
brings cheer and hope to the hearts of
-4Ioxx 4ho h0W in tho