The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-10-19

Rebuilding The Temple.

the Jews might have telt excused
from celebrating the Feast of Tab
ernacles this was it. They had
well earned a rest after their long
and toilsome journey from Baby
Ion. They were just fairly dis
persed to their ancestral cities.
They were busy building homes
and fencing fields. Mott to provide
for ones own were to be worse
than an infdel. Going up to Je-
rusalem, too, could not fail to ex-
cite the suspicion of their heredi-
tary foes. The dread Edomite for
tress called, significantly, the Scor-
| pions, must be passed. Then, too,
there was no temple on Zion yet,
nor 50 much as an altar, even. All
these well-turned arguments could
be and probably were used by the
conservatives against the call to
observe the feast. The gains of
the exile are evident in the quick
and cheerful obedience on the part
of the people to the call of Cod.
When the feast-time comes the
. people are in Jerusalem, under
leadership Of prince and priest.
There was nothing in sight to
make them joyous. All to the
contrary. On that spot, once,
gold was as stones and cedar as
sycamores. Now there was moth
ing left but stones and sycamores.
Yet in spite ofall, "A joyous thanks
. giving day is spent amid the ruins.
Altar fires irradiate the night.
Blackened walls echo the sweet
notes OF silver trumpets. Anti
phonal Choruses, to the accompan-
iment of clashing cymba1s, resound
across the moldering mounds.
so, give thanks unto Jehovah,
For His mercy endureth forever"
How was this triumph over an
environment 50 unfavorab1e achiev-
ed? If they had come separately,
one by one, to Zion, its desolation
might have overpowered them.
But in union there was strength
to resist the uncanny gloom of the
place, They gather themselves
together as one man. They re-
press all idle and sentimental mu-
sings, plunging at once into relig-
ious service. They shovel away
the derbis, find the base, and rear
again the altar of burnt sacrifice.
They resume the morning and ev-
ening ritual-the whole burnt off
ering, typical of an entire conse-
Grafton to God. Thus they are
able to observe their national
thanksgiving-day in spite of the
unfriendliest of environments.
They go from strength to
strength, every one of them in
Zion, They find themselves
heartened even to undertake the
gigantic task of rebuilding the
temple. They give out the con-
tracts, and set forward the work
men in the house of God. Soon
there is rejoicing over the compile
ton of the foundation. Trumpet
and cymbal, responsive choirs and
the loud acclaim of all the people
make a praiseful torrent that
breaks in joyous reverberation up
on the Judean hills afar.
Just at this juncture a subtle
and capital crisis occurs. The Sa-
maritans, apparently in good faith,
proffer aid and beg the privilege of
cooperation in building the tenn
pie. 1t was an ancient and real
case of tainted money" 1t was a
covert effort to infuse a heather
spirit. If it had succeeded the
history of Judah from this date on
ward would certainly have to be
rewritten. The Samaritans were
mongrel people with a mongrel
creed. Their admission as a recog-
nized and constituent element in
the Hebrew Church would have
lowered its tone and eclipsed its
faith.
Zerubabel, an everything hero,
stood out against the proposition
in forceful and uncompromising at