The Tupelo journal., 1909-09-03

o. - hb0" tAAo
there are some of our brethren who
have been to the king and secured
license to do after the ordinances of
the heather as though they were
Gentiles indeed. And thou knowest
how they have built places of wor-
ship in our holy city Jerusalem &C.
cording to all the manner and custom
of the heather, and have made them.
selves uncircumcised and have for
saken the holy covenant. Yea, they
have sold themselves to do mischief"
This earnest plea had its effect and
it was plain to see ere he had finished
speaking that all were determined to
stand against the ~enticements of the
Gentiles except the n who had
brought the message. 1t was evident
that he appreciated that further ar.
gument was of nc avail, for he turned
and as he stepped through the door
he turned and with a sheer on his
face he said:
you are foolish, indeed. Trouble
will surely come to you"
Not long after this the king Anti
ochus returned in triumph from Egypt,
where he had been waging war. and
came down upon Jerusalem with a
great army. And when he had taken
the city he entered proudly into the
sanctuary of the temple and took
away the golden altar and the candle
stick of gold and all the vessels there
of. And the table of shew bread, and
the pouring vessels, and the walls, and
the censers of gold, and the precious
vessels, and all the gold and silver.
and much hid treasure. And he caused
all kinds of indignities to be prac-
ticed upon those of the Jews who re-
fused to conform to all the customs
of the heather. Those were terrible
days in Jerusalem, for the strength of
the young men and the young women
was taken, and the beauty of women
was changed. Thsu matters continued
for two years and then the king sent
his chief collector to gather tribute
from Jerusalem and the cities of Juda.
This collector spake ~peaceable
words unto the Jews, but all vas de-
ceit, for when they had paid him all
his demands he fell suddenly upon the
city for loot and destroyed much
people. Having done this, he brought
in great companies of heather, and
they strengthened the walls of the
city and brought in armor and victuals.
And whenever any heather coveted
aught which was a Jews he ruthless
ly slew the Jew and toook his ALL.
Now the king, Antiochus, was not a
little annoyed because of the obsti-
macy of some few of the Jews, and he
sent a decree into the land of Israel
that every n should leave his laws
and obey only those laws which the
king himself had made.
And very many of the Jews were
c~onsenting to this thing, prizing their
lives higher than obedience to Gods
law and acceptability with Him, and
they sacrificed unto the strange idols
with which the city became filled and
they profaned the Sabbath days.
Now among the few who refused to
obey the commands of the king was
that faithful Jew who had kept that
little company from compromising
with evil some two years before. And
not one of that group had proved
faithless to the stand taken that
night. Some had been put to death
and others had fed into the Businesses
of the mountains. But their leader
still remained in Jerusalem, and now
1t became evident that he was the
upon whom the wrath and enmity of
the officials of the city was centering.
But that they might cause him all the
suffering possible before putting him
to death, they seized his wife and his
infant son and put them both to death
before one of the affairs erected to
the idols, All of which they forced
this devout Jew to witness. There
lay his wife in the awful agonies of
the slow and t%orturing execution,
while their little son was strung by
the neck along the street with other
infants much as bead pendants might
be hung from a string.
"Wilt thou not yield now, seeing
the sure fate which awaits you If you
do not?" demanded the official. He
was hoping that he would be able to
get a recantation from the man, for
he knew hat if he did, this mans in
fuence was so great that many others
too would bow before the idols and
conform to the requirements of the
king.
But no, he would not, exclaiming
with a voice which sounded above the
groans of the dying and the shrill,
bloodthirsty cries of the gathered null
titudes:
Death is sweet when it comes
because of obedience to Gods law, for
every stroke of the executioner is but
the added blow which opens wide the
gates of heaven and gives entrance
to the presence of God"
Would you get others to stand
with thee?" exclaimed the execution
er, angrily. "Thy bold tongue sounds
queer in the presence of DEATH" and
with that he made one clean sweep
with his sword and cut off the mans
head. And the echo of the words
came back as the mar sank a lifeless
heap upon the ground:
Death is sweet when it comes be-
cause of obedience to Gods law"
A Prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, we pray that
thou wilt take possession of our
hearts and illumine them with the