Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1907-02-21

the beautiful Achsah as his wife. The
bitter enmity Of those who were
leading Israel astray seemed to
center upon him and he found it ex.
pedient to withdraw from the midst
Of 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 It like the
great nations about them. In order
20 do this II was deemed necessary
TO introduce some Of the social Gus
toms OF the other nations. and this
led To- inter-marriagcs. and II 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 not2" asked
the liberals. DO not these. our
nelghbors. sojourn among us 10 buy
and sell, and why should we refuse
to let them have their gods to wor.
EAAH anu EfNNFs fNtu ~ VIC NONculH
and serve our Cod"
Then as they became familiar with
the more festive and elaborate serv.
Toe Of the heather worship. they be
gan { o feel that the worship OF their
God vas too narrow and severe and
unattractive. And so II came TO pass
that in time their worship was cor.
rupted. until finally II was an easy
and natural step 10 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 thSy 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 Mesopotamia. who. learn
ing OF the richness OF the country, de
scended upon 1t and placed II under
tribute. Then was II that the bur
dens Of oppression rested heavily
upon the land. The king demanded
more and more sad as the tribute
money vas 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 s~ustenance.
In these sore straits the people be-
gar 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 I'M
happy condition.
"Ah. II we had only listened to
NihAt Wv AhN INV WIN tuulstttl
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, Gonei And
what hope is there for us? Where
shall we go for one to help u.s."
AT these words they all shook their
heads orrowfully and were about to
separate. when n of them spoke up
and said:
Let us go to othniel. 1t may be
that he will help us"
But what can Othniel do against
this powerful king OF Mesopotamia?"
spoke up another. d~ejectedly.
But nevertheless let us go anyway"
urged the other.
And ever as they went the spirit
of the Lord came upon OthnIel and
he went forth and met them in the
way. and when he had gathered to
himself an army he went out aud
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 the life of
Othniel.