St. Tammany farmer., 1909-11-06

Now when Apollonius had brought
these things to the attention Of the
king, and how it was possible for him
to bring these riches into his own
realm, the latter chose out Heliodorus,
his treasurer, and sent him with Il
strong force to Jerusalem. But that
he might take the city by surprise he
made as though he would make jour
ney to certain other cities, and having
come to Jerusalem en- route was re-
ceiVed courteously by Onias the high
priest of the city, who suspected
nothing.
Nay" cannot deny that such mon
ey is in the treasury" Onias admitted
when questioned by Heliodorus, but
it is trust fund laid up for the relief
of widows and fatherless children.
And some of it belongs to Hircanus,
son of Tobias, great man of the
city. It is altogether impossible that
such wrong should be done that we
should give it to your king. Think
you that money which has been COM
mitted to the holy sanctity of the
temple of God can be thus laid under
tribute? Never"
What holiness hath the temple, or
what claim has it upon this treasure
which is greater than the claim of our
king" proudly spoke Heliodorus. Il
have come for the treasure. Deliver
it into my hands"
Il cannot" declared Onias
"Thou canst and thou must. To-
morrow at this time l shall enter the
temple prepared to receive from thy
hand this money" and having thus
said Heliodorus departed.
Now when it was nOised abroad
throughout the city that the treasure
of the temple was in peril, it caused
no small agony. The priests prostrat.
ing themselves before the altar in the
priests, yestments, called unto heaven
that the Lord should help to be safely
kept that which had been committed
to his temple. And while the priests
| prayed the people of the city f1ocked
| forth from their houses and joined
in the supplication. And the women,
girt with sackcloth under their breasts,
| filled the streets. And the virgins that
were kept in, ran, some to the gates,
and some to the walls, and others
looked out of the windows II And all
with hands raised towards heaven
made supplication for deliverance
from the enemy whom Simon, the trail
| tor, had sent into the city.
| But Notwithstanding all this heart
rending scene, at the appointed time
Heliodorus advanced upon the temple
| to execute his decree.
Now as he presented himself with
his guard about the temple a wonder.
full thing happened, for the Lord OF
spirits, and the Prince of all power
| caused a great apparition, so that all
| that presumed to come in to the tenn
| pie with Heliodorus were astonished
at the power of God and tainted and
| were sore afraid. For there appeared
unto them horse with a terrible rider
upon him, and adorned with very
| fair covering, and he ran fiercely and
smote Heliodorus with his forefeet,
and it seemed that he that sat upon
| the horse had complete harness of
| gold. Moreover, two other young men
appeared before him, notable n
strength, excellent in beauty, and
| comely in apparel, who stood by him
on either side and scourged him con,
tinually, and gave him many sore
stripes, so that Heliodorus fell sud,
denly to the ground, and was com.
passed with a very great darkness.
And those that were with him took
him up and laid him on litter and
carried him forth.
Then did great shout of praise
arise from the lips of the inhabitants
of the city, and the temple which a
few moments before had been filled
sounding with the glad cries of the
| people.
Then a hush fell as the word was
passed around that Heliodorus was dy.
| ing. Then certain of his friends sought
out the high priest, Onias, and be.
, sought him that he would offer sac.
rifice for the recovery of the stricken
| man. And Onias, moved with COM
passion, did SO, and while he was max
| ing atonement for the sacrilege which
Heliodorus had sought to commit
against Gods holy temple, the same
two young men, in the same clothing,
which had smitten Heliodorus in the
temple appeared before him and said:
"Give Onias the high priest great
| thanks, insomuch as for his sake the
Lord hath granted thee life. And see-
| ing that thou hast been scourged from
| heaven, declare unto all men the
mighty power of God"
And when they had thus spoken
they vanished.
So Heliodorus, after he had offered
sacrifice unto the Lord, returned to
his king, testifying to the mighty
power of God.
True Goodness.
TIo onIv ic pOO0 who donc Cood