The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-02-15


The beautiful Achsah as his wife. The
bitter enm.ty of those who were
leading Israel astray seemed to
center upon him and he found II ey.
pedient TO withdraw from the midst
eff Israel and to dwell in a portion
OF his Inheritance quite apart from
them.
When this had been accomplished
the false leaders congratulated them
selves that now there was no hin.
drance to their undermining the ma
ton of Israel and making 1t like the
great nations about them. In order
to do this 1t vas deemed necessary
to introduce some of the social Gus.
toms of the other nations. and this
led to inter-marriages, and 1t was not
long before the strange gods of the
other nations had found their way
into the cities Of the lsraelites,
"And why should they not?' asked
the liberals. DO not these, our
neighbors. %sojourn among us 10 buy
and sell, and why should we refuse
to let them have their gods to wor-
ship and serve. wen as we worship
and serve our God2"
Then as they became familiar with
the more festive and elaborate serv.
ice of the heather worship, they be.
gan to feel that the worship OF their
God vas too narrow and severe and
u~nattractive. And SO 1t came to pass
that in time their worship was cor
rupted, until finally II was an easy
and natural step to share with their
heather associates and neighbors In
the festive worship of the strange
gods.
More than once Othniel and the
few who had stood with him had
cried out against this thing, but
had met with such sharp rebuff and
ridicule, that with great sorrow Of
heart they ceased further protest,
realizing that the, must let the evil
run Its course,
And the evil was not long in bring
ing Its penalty. for, weakened by
their sinful indulgences, they were
unable to Withstand the demands OF
the king Of Mesopotamla, who, learn.
ing Of the richness OF the country, de-
scended upon 1t and placed 1t under
tribute. Then was 1t that the bur
dens Of oppression rested heavily
upon the land. The king demanded
more and more and as the tribute
money was increased. the taskmas.
tiers multiplied to collect the same.
For eight long bitter years did they
serve this powerful king, and they
found that the friends and associates
from among the nations about them
were no longer kindly disposed TO-
wards them, but sought by many
ways to trouble them and rob them OF
their sustenance.
In these sore straits the people be.
gan to call upon the name Of their
God, and repented OF their folly In
going after the gods of the people
about them and In following their
customs.
One day a group Of men had gath.
cred and were bemoaning their un.
happy condition.
"Ah, II we had only listened to
Othniel and the few who counseled
with him. exclaimed one. Where,
now, is our boosted prosperity?
Where now are the friends we made
among the nations about us? Where
now is the greatness and glory OF
our nation? Gone! Gone! And
what hope is there for us? Where
shall we go for one to help us?"
AT these words they all shook their
heads orrowfully and were about ia
separate, when one of them spoke up
and said:
Let us go to othniel. 1t may be
that he will help u.s."
"But what can Othniel do against
this powerful king of Mesopotamia? p
spoke up another, dejectedly.
But nevertheless let us so anyway
urged the other.
And ever as they went the spirit
of the Lord came upon Othnlel and
he went forth and met them In the
way, and when he had gathered to
himself an army he went out and
made war upon the king Of Mesopo.
tamia and the Lord delivered him
into othniel's hand, and he judged
the land. and the nation had peace
for 40 years, even during tho life Of
Othniel.