The Tupelo journal., 1905-03-24

WnlplaSn as some tagging lOOlSlep WAN
hurried to its task.
Thus the days dragged on, and as the
walls reared themselves farther and far
Their toward the blue of the heaven, God
seemed farther and farther away. All,
if those broken walls and scattered brick
could speak to-day. what tales they
might tell of evils triumph, and the in
Fiction of suffering! What signs they
would give forth! What rivers of tears
would flow from their dusty piles! But
God ever liveth in the heavens, and evils
longest day must have an ending. The
long years of Babel's triumph must come
to a close.
Under the strain of the heavy tasks
and the heart anguish and worry, Rurig
grew thin, and pale and weak, and being
no longer able to stand the heavier work,
he was transferred to the lighter tasks
of the slime pits outside of the city.
These were located on the main road
leading to the city, and as over it passed
most of the slaves he had many oppor-
t~unities of gaining bits Of news of the
outside world, and he never failed to
speak the name of Alisha and to ask for
tidingS of her.
'Alisha? Alisha?" questioned one man
one day as the large group of fettered
prisoners came to a halt near where
Rurig was working. That sounds
something like a name | heard a mere
youth give who is one OF our company.
There he is now!" he exclaimed, as ne
pointed out a slight figure standing at
some distance.
Rurig looked in the direction indicat-
ed. and as the prisoners moved forward
he caught a glimpse of a face which re-
minded him of his OWL fair girl. But it
could not be she. fettered and wearing
the garb of a youth. No, Studying close
ly the form as it disappeared in the dis
lance, he became convinced that it was
not she. and yet he could not forget the
incident, 1t kept rising before him with
every recurring thought Of her. and as
often he dismissed it as unreasonable
and impossible.
Thus time dragged on its lengths, and
the vast tower was nearly completed.
Rurig and the others working with him
collecting the slime from the pits were
transferred back to the main works, as
all efforts were being concentrated for
the completion of the project that day.
But why that feverish haste On the
part of the Babelites? Does evil have its
premonitions Of impending calamity,
and seek by anxious, rvo hurry to
forestall defeat? Does there lingerin the
heart of the ungodly the thought that
after all God may be thwarted, and hui
man plans be realized regardless of the
Divine Will? Such is certainly the case,
and it marks with peculiar solemnity and
awfulness the Judgment when it does
fall.
On that last day all the Babelites were
gathered at the tower. Everybody
seemed busy. and the slaves were being
driven to their tasks with special rigor.
The building neared completion.
And God looked on.
Suddenly the black clouds rolled over
the heavens. shutting out the suns light,
and the inky blackness which settled
down upon the tower and city OF Babel
was pierced by the vivid flashes of light
ming. while the awful rumble OF the
thunder shook the structure to its foun-
dations. Is evil filled with terror in the
presence of the mighty elements which
it cannot control? Yea. verify. trans
erosion of Gods law and a violation of
His will makes towards of the strongest
hearts in the presence of impending
doom! So it was at the tower of Babel
when Gods Judgment fell. A huge bolt
of lightning hurled from the ramparts
OF Heaven came rushing down n rent
in twain the massive walls of the great
structure. In wild panic the people
rushed hither and thither.
But there were calm souls beneath the
frowning walls of Babel that day, devout
souls which looked upward and thanked
God that He had heard, and answered
prayer, and had spoken.
In confusion of tongues, and confusion
of spirits, too. the people We're hurled in
mad haste in every direction. and they
slackened not their speed until Babel
was left far, far behind.
- L II 81 SlOoAo dilh "a SileSi Va AASib
descended and rested on two figures
standing on the ruins. AS each looked
into the others face there was a glad
cry OF recognition.
"Alisha!"
"Rurig!!"
The lovers were in each others arms.
Faith had triumphed. On the spot
where evil had been hurled to judgment,
had been found joy and reunion! Where
evil had been scattered and confused
were ~estranged from each other, and so
changed in speech as to be incapable of
intelligent conversation, the friends OF.
God and those who longed to do His will
were, by the operation of the same i-
vine power, reunited.
God is love! And the expression of
that infinite love like a two-edged
sword cuts to the sundering of the evil
and to the reuniting of the good. And
so shall it be again when the judgments
of God fall upon the towers of Babel
which evil is constantly rearing. 1t
shall scatter them in confusion, but to
the man of obedience and faith it will
| come as the call to new and closer unity
and fellowship.
Rurig and Alisha on the ruins of Babel
| speak out of the past 4 newer and bright
er message, and as the reunited lovers
began that day a new life and new ex-
nerience So shall the Christian of to-day