The L'Anse sentinel., 1908-02-29

como to live on that sensual plane
where the pleasure of the moment IL
OF more concern than any reward
which self-denial might claim In the
future.
productive soil In which the seeds of
trouble may grow. Solomon with his
growing love for the ease and pleas
ures Of life became more and more
petulant and exacting with those upon
whom rested the administration Of the
affairs Of the kingdom. There was q
constantly increasing extravaganza In
maintaining the royal household, for
with the multiplying of the high-places
to the gods of the many princesses Of
the harem, had come the luxuriance
and voluptuousness attendant upon
the ceremonies and festivities. This
placed an additional burden upon the
people, for from them must be raised
the increasing amounts needed by the
king. The collectors Of the tribute
were forced to be more exacting. and
all manner of corrupt methods were
countenanced so long as the required
amount was forthcoming. This must
naturally lead to discomfort on the
part Of the people and undercurrents
of murmuring began to be heard upon
every hand.
Whether these murmurings of dis
content reached the ears of the king
or not certain 1t Is that they spread
| to the surrounding nations so that
Hadad the Edomite heard Of 1t in
| Egypt whittier he had fed years be-
| fore to escape the unrelenting ven
geance which Joab, the captain Of
David's army, had inflicted upon his
fathers house and his fathers people.
And way to the north to the city Of
Damascus came tidings of these things
and were as sweet music in the ears
Of Recon, the son of Eliadah, for said
he:
Now, perchance will be able to
repay Solomon for all the evil which
his father David did unto my master
Hadadezer when he destroyed
Zobah and killed the people thereof"
Secretly, therefore, Recon sent
| emissaries into the land of Israel, and
they found no difficulty In reaching to
the very heart Of the royal city of
Jerusalem, for the open relations
| which Solomon had established with
all the nations about had made of
Jerusalem perfect thoroughfare for
those of other lands, and as one after
another the high places were set up
and the gods of all the nations about
were openly honored and served, these
| foreigners came to feel quite at home.
| Thus 1t was that the spies of Recon
found 1t an easy task to remain at
Jerusalem and to follow the trend Of
affairs, and enable their king to make
incursions into the northern part Of
the kingdom. And when the army Of
Israel was sent to intercept and pun
ish these marauding bands, these
same spies in Jerusalem were able to
keep Recon informed Of every move
of the advancing army.
Thus 1t was that Recon became a
sharp thorn in the flesh to Solomon,
and brought to him days and nights of
anxiety and distress. And well 1t
would have been II these periods of
trouble had driven the king from his
sinful pleasures and the following of
the strange gods back to the true God /;
but, instead, Solomon sought to drive
away his troubled thoughts and to
stifie his uneasy conscience by plung-
ing yet deeper into the whirl of fes-
tivities and pleasures which marked
this period Of his reign. Not day
but what some one of the many, many
high places was the scene of a gor-
geous and gay assemblage, and often
there were half dozen festival oc-
casions In full play simultaneously,
and to these idolatrous celebrations
Solomon suffered himself to be drawn
by his wives.
So 1t came to pass that the sins of
Solomon offered the opportunity to
his enemies Of troubling the king
dom and bringing distress upon the
people. And while Recon served as o
menacing hand at the north, Hadad
returning from Egypt, where he had
won great prestige and power with
Pharaoh. having married the sister of
the wife of Pharaoh, came into the
south country and was not long In
stirring up trouble for the king there
who is this Hadad that would
dare to narrow the borders of Israeli
demanded the king one day, petulant
ly, as report reached his ears of the
increasing power Of band OF mer
who had come into the south countr.
and were extending their influence
over the people there.
And when the king was told that he
was the son Of the Edomite king whom
Joab the captain OF his fathers arm,
had slain, he was troubled, and whei
he learned further that he had jus
come from Egypt and was In speoia
favor with Pharaoh, the powerful
ruler of Egypt, he feared greatly, say
ing:
"Shall we indeed suffer the loss OF
our kingdom to the south?. Now IL
coming to pass that which the prophet
Ahijah declared should be-"
YEA, but did not he say that II
should not be during thy days. but
during the days OF thy son when he
should come to the throne?" asked one